Our 125 Build

[The Staffords]

We are upgrading from 75's at both of our parents homes to a 125 in our new home. We decided to have our buddy Stephan help us weld our steel stand together. We will skin the stand and use magnets to hold the skins to the stand. We are in the middle of this build so i will get you up to date.

Equiptment List:
MSX200 skimmer
55g converted to a sump
Quiet One 3000(Ordered)
Quiet One 1200(Backup)
two Koralia #4's
Koralia controller
two Koralia controlable #4's
72" Current USA Nova Extreme Pro 12 bulb T-5 Fixture(Ordered)
18" Current USA Nova T-5 fixture(Refugium light)

2"x2"Material Being cut
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/4002975893_6f31e8c0b5.jpg

Our buddy prepping to weld the stand
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2500/4003754004_d957722c48.jpg

Relieving stress after being welded
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3510/4003007709_3a467aa18c.jpg

A view of the notches we placed on the stand to clear the plumbing
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/4055711917_f6c7c93602.jpg

The stand after being coated with Herculiner Bedliner
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4056453578_50b0ac95b8.jpg

My nephew and Lindsey
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/4056453738_79efcba716.jpg

im uploading more pics to my account and will post the rest shortly

[marinelife]

Very nice, keep us updated on this build.

[The Staffords]

More pics

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3528/4066467035_c1b6a6efd5.jpg

Durso Standpipes
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/4067268212_0339d9b51d.jpg

and how it sits now with just Lindseys liverock
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3526/4066483243_3837fe14ec.jpg

[marinelife]

I like the return setup, that is a very good way to return the water.

[TechGuy40]

I like the return. I bet it flows alot better than the LocLine nozzels I am useing.

[The Staffords]

Its full and the sump is running. We are still moving stuff from my tank over but we have made a lot of progress this week. The stand still needs two panels skinned but its no biggie. Here are some awesome pics my sister took with her D60. The FTS are not the D60 though.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4088589586_2535f9066d_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4088606364_db525b86d0_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2500/4087876121_6eaf9b7cee_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/4087888637_daa84aefd3_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4087903219_db7a71e165_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2496/4088677454_cb0c691655_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/4088689728_e1695c5b1b_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/4088703534_fb08dcc237_b.jpg

[The Staffords]

more

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/4087557259_e6979672f1_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2500/4088321004_95653106d6_b.jpg

[marinelife]

Tank looks Great!!
Love the Mandarin, I need to get me another one someday.

[satch12]

looks great guys and tell stephan i said hey and good job on the stand. Those pics are awesome +1 on mandrin pics too. I'd love to come check it out some time joel.

[chromiumlux]

Your tank is awesome. Can't wait to see it in person on Sunday.

[chromiumlux]

Even nicer in person. Thanks again for hosting the meeting

[The Staffords]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that all is good and that we have just been busy lately with work, school, and the holidays.

Unfortunatly we lost the clown tang unexpectedly shortly after the meeting. It was fine one day, It hid in the rocks the next, and was dead shortly after that. We decided to let the tank sit without fish additions for a while after the death. We went to florida after christmas and picked up a few corals. We also ordered in some ricordias and deepwater zoas after we got back from our vacation. I still havent had time to finish the skins for the stand. I did get a tablesaw for christmas so hopefully when work calms down I will be able to knock that project out. We are also now cycling about 75-100lbs of rock that was originally from one of the 75's.

here are a couple pics
Favia from Florida
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01368.jpg
Our red monti cap on the right side of the tank
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01370.jpg
The prism favia that we have had for a while
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01365-1.jpg
new zoanthids
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01377.jpg
angled FTS
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01387.jpg
Left
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01376.jpg
Center
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01375.jpg
Right
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/2-15-10%20coral/DSC01374.jpg

[Jshroom86]

Looks really good I really like the return its looks really clean and well hidden

[marinelife]

WOW, Tank looks great!!

[The Staffords]

Thanks. We were able to rid most of the hair algea by raising alk and mag a bit as you suggested Eric. As you can see we have had some bubble algea growth now. I need to test again soon to make sure that alk and mag are still where I would like them.

I will have to post up some pics of the puppy sometime soon. She has grown a little since the meeting.

[Aquatic Specialists]

The tank looks really nice guys!

[jeremyreef]

yes, looks great glad to hear y'all are still doing well!

[jeremyreef]

I will have to post up some pics of the puppy sometime soon. She has grown a little since the meeting.

yes please, my girl would love to see some pics of her. she couldnt put her down at the meeting. :tongue:

[satch12]

tank looks great guys, sorry to hear about the clown tang.

[The Staffords]

Here are pics of Lacie. She got a trim and hasn't filled back out yet.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/lacie/misc21810012.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/lacie/num1.jpg

[chromiumlux]

Wow!!! Looking great!!!

[TechGuy40]

Here are pics of Lacie. She got a trim and hasn't filled back out yet.


[IMGhttp://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/lacie/num1.jpg

Cute dog. I am considering shaving my pug. Any thoughts guy?

Very nice tank BTW!

[jeremyreef]

Here are pics of Lacie. She got a trim and hasn't filled back out yet.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/lacie/misc21810012.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/lacie/num1.jpg

she says "awww she is so cute!" thanks for the update!

[mayhem_audio]

WANTED TO SAY YOUR TANK LOOKS AWSOME AND GREAT hope to see you at the meeting next weekend

[The Staffords]

Thanks! we are hoping that i dont have to work next sunday. So i hope to see everyone there.

[The Staffords]

I finally got our BRS reactor with some carbon hooked up. The rock we are cycling in a rubbermaid is almost done too. I'm hopin to maybe to a decent size water change today or tommarow.

[jeremyreef]

. The rock we are cycling in a rubbermaid is almost done too.

are you adding more rock to the display?

[The Staffords]

Yep time for a reaquascape. We need to make more rockwork spots for the corals we have. Im hoping to get some of them off the sandbed. I want the pillar on the left to be a bit taller so its more like the one on the right. The center pillar will also hopefully get a little bigger. It will have an open look rather than a rock wall. Some extra rock will go in the fuge. I may eventually set up a project 10g in the spare bedroom and lindsey is talking about taking our 14g nano in the garage to her office at her new job.

[jeremyreef]

nice sounds good! please post pics when you are done. :)

[The Staffords]

all my pics are now links on page 2. Is there a way to edit the old posts and fix them?

[The Staffords]

Updates:
-We had some low ALK issues the other week that are now fixed but caused some recession in some of our LPS. We need to invest in some dosing pumps.
-This past weekend we got the skins for the stand together and painted. Its looking good but there are a couple of small details I need to finish on them.
-Also added some rock the other day while waiting on the paint to dry on the stand.
-Got some loose Mushrooms that were floating around and downsized one of the mushroom rocks and made some frags out of them. I am waiting for them to attach and recover.
-Fixed a seeping bulkhead.

Next Plans:
-2x dosing pumps for 2 part
-Reefkeeper Lite basic for now. Farther down the road we hope to get the SL2 module, the NET module, and another PC4
-Setup and auto topoff
-Change RO DI filters

I will have to post up some pictures sometime this week.

[rayviv]

Updates:
-We had some low ALK issues the other week that are now fixed but caused some recession in some of our LPS. We need to invest in some dosing pumps.
-This past weekend we got the skins for the stand together and painted. Its looking good but there are a couple of small details I need to finish on them.
-Also added some rock the other day while waiting on the paint to dry on the stand.
-Got some loose Mushrooms that were floating around and downsized one of the mushroom rocks and made some frags out of them. I am waiting for them to attach and recover.
-Fixed a seeping bulkhead.

Next Plans:
-2x dosing pumps for 2 part
-Reefkeeper Lite basic for now. Farther down the road we hope to get the SL2 module, the NET module, and another PC4
-Setup and auto topoff
-Change RO DI filters

I will have to post up some pictures sometime this week.

Mushrooms, Hairy????????????:cool::cool::cool:

What caused the low ALK and could you define "caused some recession in our LPS". I might have same problem.

[The Staffords]

Yes, I have a couple shrooms for you. I'm going to wait a bit to make sure that they are healthy looking.

The cause of low alk would probably be the demand of alk from the LPS SPS corals. I got busy and didnt keep up with the demend so it droped between 6-7 DKH before I fixed it. Toping off with Kalk instead of RO would probably help.

What I ment by "caused some recession in our LPS," would be that we lost several heads of frogspawn, tissue receeded on that pink favia pictured on the last page

Salinity, Alk, Cal, and Mag are the most important things to test for IMO.

[rayviv]

thanks 4 info and shrooms.

[The Staffords]

Here is a cell phone pic of the stand.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh88/joelbegt/3-23-10/stand.jpg

[chromiumlux]

Sweet! maybe some day we can get together and check it out. you will have to check out my 150 build.

[chromiumlux]

What's Ray tradin ya for the shrooms? I bet he has all kinds of nice stuff to trade.

[The Staffords]

The first shroom i gave him didnt make it because of my dull razor and no time to heal. This time I'll set him up with a couple nice frags of hairy shrooms and maybe a purple or green one if he wants. I'm just waiting for them all to attach to rocks.

We will have to get together when your 150 is setup. Let me know if you need any help during setup. Have you decided what lighting yet? Are you keeping both or swapping over?

[chromiumlux]

I have decided to plunge into the LED world on this build. After seeing the threads on Reef Central, I am thoroughly stoked. I am waiting to see Erics led build. Looks like it is going to be really nice!! I will be keeping the 30g for the bedroom. The 14g bio will go up for sale. this little tank has been modded for a fuge in the back chamber. Would make a nice little counter top tank.
I am off work today, a little under the weather, but I am trying to put together my sump build for the 150...specs and such. Thanks for the offer to help. I saw your sump build. Sweet

[rayviv]

What's Ray tradin ya for the shrooms? I bet he has all kinds of nice stuff to trade.

Just dont you worry about it BUB!

I' got a frag for you, (chalise)

[rayviv]

If you guys, (The Staffords), would like anything or have something you been wanting just let me know and if I have it I'll see if I can Frag it for you .:cool:

[The Staffords]

Yay! Our reefkeeper lite has shipped! I didn't get dosing pumps yet because the ones I wanted were out of stock. I'm glad I did pegboard on the back of the stand and suggest it to anyone building a stand. It gives you alot of places to mount things. I use zip ties to mount stuff because they are cheap to cut off if you need to change something.

[marinelife]

I hear good things about the reefkeeper!

[jeremyreef]

nice purchase! i want a controller, in time :D

[chromiumlux]

Yeah that is on my list as well now with the new build.

[The Staffords]

for $100 and expandablity up to 4 modules its perfect. The main plan is to be able to control dosing pumps precisely. Im going to use an aqualifter on a short timer to help keep up with evaporation until i get some float switches.

Should I use one of my 2.5g jugs as a top off container, or go buy a 5.5g aquarium with a lid for my top off container?

[rayviv]

Which Reef controller, dosing pumps did you get and what were the pest prices you found?

I think the size of top off container should correlate to amount of evap. you have.

If I remember right you have water line close to your tank so if you plan to use ato with make-up water the 2.5 jug should be fine.

Because I do not have a way to get water line to my tank, I want a container that will hold at least a weeks worth of top off water.

[The Staffords]

It's the ReefKeeper Lite made by Digital Aquatics. It was around $100 from marinedepot. I just ordered 2 Drew's Doser Peristaltic Dosing Pump from Bulkreefsupply for $90 a piece and they dose aprox. 1.5-1.6 ml per min. We store R/O in the corner of our garage so we should be able to go between 1-2 weeks on a jug depending changes in evaporation.

[rayviv]

Thanks 4 reply.
What are you gonna be dosing?

I really need to get a setup like that. Maybe when money comes my way I can get some advice from you guys?
I've been dosing for alk. and thats about all except ph a couple times.

[The Staffords]

I dose Bulkreefsupply 2-part. So i will be dosing Alk and Cal with pumps then i manually dose Mag. Instead of a controller you can just put them on cheap timers and it will do the same thing. Let us know when the time comes to do your own setup. You should also go to Bulkreefsupply.com and check out the dosing calculator for there product I find it to be very helpful when using there 2-part.

On another note, We ordered a couple of replacement bulbs due to some burnt out bulbs. Also got RO/DI filters and resin coming.

[rayviv]

I have looked at the dosing calc on BRS. It is really nice. I just need to understand the chemistry. I just get baffled at Farly Holmes site.

Keep us posted as you go. Take pics b4 and after you been running controller for awhile.

[The Staffords]

We have had the reefkeeper hooked up for a bit now and my water parameters seem to be really stable so far. Magnesium is a little low and i am going to bump it up to around 1300 or so over the next week.

SG-1.026
CAL-450
ALK-9DKH
MAG-1125

Dosing a total of 75ml of alkalinity and 75ml of calcium a day

We have a problem :( We replaced RO/DI filters and within a week 1/4 of the DI resin had changed colors :confused: I didnt replace the membrane since we have only made a couple hundred gallons on this membrane. We are getting a softener installed sunday so hopefully that will help. I think we may be getting iron/ or heavy metals thru the RODI but I dont have a test kit for that. The filters i took out had a light tint of orange rusty color. We are going to run a poly pad to suck up any heavy metals and do a large water change after the softener is installed.

[rayviv]

:Hi ya!: The resin is suppose to change color, guess you know that, but sometimes mine will change quicker than at other times. Not sure why but I believe it is because I haven't packed it as tight. And sometimes I have had a (I forget the word used to describe this) run or stream in the resin.

I wound not not think of rust or metals in the water since the building is not that old. I poured the concrete on several of those houses and think yours was one of them.
What is a poly pad?

So hows my hairy shrooms? And I Really,Really,Really,Really Need another green bubble tip anemone. I have lots to trade or I can kidnap .......... to get money. :evil:

[The Staffords]

Well, about 1/4 of the di changed only running about 40g of RO thru the unit. Im not sure what heavy metals i would have but i have heard that newer copper pipe "leaches" worse than older copper pipe that has a build up in it. Im excited to get the softner in and a new dishwasher.

link to poly pad - http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4136+4335&pcatid=4335 - changes colors as it absorbs different things.

I'll check the shrooms tommarow, and our big BTA hasn't split lately.

[rayviv]

Well, about 1/4 of the di changed only running about 40g of RO thru the unit. Im not sure what heavy metals i would have but i have heard that newer copper pipe "leaches" worse than older copper pipe that has a build up in it. Im excited to get the softner in and a new dishwasher.

link to poly pad - http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4136+4335&pcatid=4335 - changes colors as it absorbs different things.

I'll check the shrooms tommarow, and our big BTA hasn't split lately.

Have you used the polypads b-4?

[coral ranch]

We were burning up DI resin at an insane rate at the green house when we first set up.I had the water tested at a lab and it was full of heavy metals especially iron.We added a new softner that helped but did not solve the problem so we bought a self regenerating iron filter and ever since our RO/DI water has been great and our resin last about 2 months.We also did change from mix bed resin to seperate anion and casin resins.

[The Staffords]

Here's a long awaited update. Everything is back to normal and we are starting to get some good growth and color.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5385803589_1f255bd32e.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5385803905_4c2f9b9216.jpg



This is the smaller of two frags that I recieved from Eric at the first meeting at our house.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5386407288_49c8ca77f3.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5386406976_0d44c3c7ed.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5385803261_2ab48858aa.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5386405558_58d647bebf.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5386404938_37dfb37c47.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5386404462_bd79dac3bb.jpg

And last but not least, a bleached rescue coral from Coral Ranch for $15! I figured it was worth a try. It has only been in the tank a short time and has darkened up alot.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5386404236_7d7f5211e2.jpg

[marinelife]

Tank is looking great!!

[chromiumlux]

Man, it is looking Awesome!!!

[The Staffords]

We would like to thank you both for your help and support over the last year. Its been a long busy year for us. Its a great relief to know we have help if we need it.

Thanks :biggrin:

[rayviv]

The hairy mushrooms look great. Has the pavona you got from Eric grown much? I cannot tell in the pic. the one I got from him has at least doubled and has long white tentacles that stay out most of the day.

tank looks nice. Acan is super.

[The Staffords]

Thank you. I have 2 frags of Eric's Pavona. Both frags have encrusted a good area of the rock they are on.

[rayviv]

I posted a pic of mine last week. I will see I can find it. There it is. There is some reflection that interferes

[marinelife]

Wow, I have never seen mine have any tentacles
Glad both of you have had good luck with the coral!

[The Staffords]

I wanted to try to post a pic from my iPod.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5651756293_877a739a31.jpg

[marinelife]

Looking good!

[marinelife]

How are corals doing with the Cannons?

[The Staffords]

Sorry for a slow response, its been a crazy weekend! Everything is doing pretty good. We still need to order a third cannon and then lower everything about 6"-12" slowly over a few weeks. I must admit I was surprised to see how some corals became more metallic looking.

[sammy]

nice looking tank. I like the lights!

[The Staffords]

Thank you. Unfortunatly it is kind of a mess right now, but hopefully i can clean it up and snap some updated pictures soon.

[chromiumlux]

It is time for an update on this gorgeous tank dont ya think?

[The Staffords]

The camera isn't here but there isn't much going on. The Orange Montipora cap is starting to outgrow this tank. Its probably around 10"x18" and shelving like Crazy. My car gets paid off in April which will free up some cash so we are planning to move to a more SPS dominated tank with a possible upgrade in the next year or so depending how things go. We are looking at 96"Lx30"Wx26"H which is Approx. 320g.

[The Staffords]

Heres a pic of the Montipora cap that we took with Lindsey's Iphone. Gives you an Idea of size

2587

[marinelife]

Very nice!!!
That is a good size coral.

[chromiumlux]

Oh wow that is awesome! Very nice.

[dogfytr]

very cool

[The Staffords]

Thought I would do a little update.

We changed our 2-part dosing jugs from 1gal to 2gal. This will last me aprox. 2-3 months without making more solution. I tended to slack off and not always remix 2-part in a timely fashion after it ran out. This will help us out as we are now fairly busy on a daily basis.

Started dosing a carbon source with good results. Our skimmer over the last 2 months really had not pulled anything even when trying to run our skimmate wet (even after cleanings and rebuilding the pump). It was obvious that we did have some phosphate issues just from looking at the tank. After reading up on carbon dosing we took the plung. It seems to be working great so far. I decided to try to run the skimmer as wet as possible with the dosing and now the skimmer is working alot better. The first week we filled the collection cup twice. After the first few weeks we cut our dose in half and still are skimming good. Color in our sps and other corals has improved in a short period of time. I am pretty happy with carbon source dosing so far.

Sorry no pictures, the tank is a mess.

[marinelife]

Let us know are it goes with the carbon source.
Which one did you go with.

[The Staffords]

Decided to try Brightwell Aquatics Reef BioFuel. Ask a LFS about carbon dosing before you try it. You really should understand how Carbon source dosing works before you try it.

http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/reefbiofuel.php

[marinelife]

What algae do you have that made you want to use the BioFuel?

[The Staffords]

We have a mixture of green hair, bubble algae, and I want to see if going lower nutrient would help us control our aiptasia issue. I have heard mixed reviews about how low nutrient affects the bubble so I hope this will help.

I also was interested in the following section of the product's description:

Indirectly benefits corals and other suspension-feeding invertebrates by
encouraging reproduction of bacterioplankton (an important food source for
suspension-feeding invertebrates).

[The Staffords]

Wow algaes are disappearing quicker than I thought they would! skimmer has gone nuts since I started dosing. It fills the cup multiple times a week now. Skimmate has been very wet but has a green tint(probably phosphates). I didn't notice how much algae was on the rocks until the other day. I looked at the tank and my rock was much more pink and purple than I remembered. There seems to be alot more coraline on the rocks now that the other algaes are dieing. Also, blue and purple SPS has colored up alot in the last week.

On another note I think I will start doing smaller water changes more often rather than the large changes monthly that I had been doing. I'm thinking 10 or so gallons a week rather than 20-30g once a month. Sounds less stressful to me.

[marinelife]

Very nice, this is good to hear. Will you now always use this product?

[The Staffords]

Not sure yet. Once the tank is low nutrient I may back off or feed heavier.

[chromiumlux]

Can you give us a detailed account of your dosing setup? What exactly are you using? Biobeads in a reactor? Liquids? How long have you been dosing? Thanks.

[The Staffords]

Just 2-part and the new addition is Carbon Source dosing with Brightwell Biofuel. Alot of people dose vinager, sugar, or vodka instead. We have only been dosing a few weeks now. You HAVE to skim when you do this. I set my skimmer to skim super wet when I started dosing (like verge of overflowing wet). I have made more light green skimmate this last week than I have the last few months combined. It seems to pull phosphates out pretty well.

GFO will work well at pulling phosphates if you change it out every week. You can recharge GFO too.

Here is the technical info from the website (link on page 8):

Technical Background

The concept of biological filtration is simply to utilize living organisms to
remove substances from aquatic systems as a natural result of their respiration
and metabolic processes. This mode of filtration is at work in any aquarium
system housing live organisms, though microbes (e.g. various types of bacteria)
are arguably responsible for the majority of nutrient-remineralization that
takes place; oceanographic studies have shown that up to 90% of the dissolved
organic carbon present in seawater may be assimilated by planktonic bacteria
(bacterioplankton) into new biomass. This nutrient assimilation simultaneously
removes nitrogen (as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) and phosphorus (as
phosphate) from the water, making bacterioplankton a very effective sink of
dissolved organic material that would otherwise fuel the growth of organisms
such as cyanobacteria and filamentous algae in aquaria.

Bacterioplankton are also an important food source for organisms that are
able to capture them from the water column. In a sense, utilizing these microbes
to control dissolved organic material and then gradually removing the microbes
themselves on a continuous basis through protein skimming and the feeding
activities of corals, clams, tube worms, tunicates, sponges, and their
respective allies, becomes an effective means of nutrient-harvest.
Simultaneously, it promotes the health of these suspension-feeding organisms
through constant feeding (encouraging polyp-expansion in many types of corals),
and promotes water quality. The entire process requires that adequate carbon be
present in a usable form. In aquaria with a tendency towards elevated phosphate
and nitrate concentrations, an appropriate source of carbon may quickly become
depleted. Reef BioFuel provides a source of bioavailable carbon to ensure that
nutrient remineralization is efficient and effective.

[chromiumlux]

Thanks for the info. Wouldn't it work better if used with the Katalyst and a reactor? Just curious.

[The Staffords]

Not sure. Typically when using pellets people are dosing certain bacteria strands that they want in there system (ie. zeofit). I didn't want to deal with more media to replace and alot more stuff to dose. Both things are essentially bacteria factories. You do not need to dose bacteria with pellets but it could be benifitial. I was under the impression that pellets are a replacement for these other carbon source methods. I need to read up a bit more on bio pellets before I would make a switch or make many recommendations.

I knew I had "dirtier" water than what I wanted, and I knew carbon dosing would help my situation. I am sure better husbandry such as smaller water changes more often would remove this over time, but I had a skimmer and figure I might as well use it more efficiently. I fixed my issue quicker this way, but long term I will consider doing alot more consistent water changes. I will probably look into automated water changes if we do not upgrade to a bigger tank in the near future. I think maybe 1or 2gpd water changes every day would be more ideal for me than 20g changes biweekly. Could be wrong but this sounds more stable.

[chromiumlux]

Thanks! And yes the smaller changes over the long haul would be ideal if you can go automated. Not sure I would want to do 2g changes everyday manually. I am considering 20g twice a week right now. I am sure I have a phos and nitrate issue that is not detectable via salifert test kit.
My skimmer pulls dark coffee colored skimmate. I have to empty cup twice a week now. After water change, it pulls the light tea color. This is why I am considering the bio method as an extension of my filtration. I pm'd ya a list of goodies for pricing.

[UDGrad2010]

Automated water changes sound amazing. Not only would that be less work for you, but also increase the stability of the tank!

I would love to see a nice write-up on that one if you go that route.

[The Staffords]

Thanks! And yes the smaller changes over the long haul would be ideal if you can go automated. Not sure I would want to do 2g changes everyday manually. I am considering 20g twice a week right now. I am sure I have a phos and nitrate issue that is not detectable via salifert test kit.
My skimmer pulls dark coffee colored skimmate. I have to empty cup twice a week now. After water change, it pulls the light tea color. This is why I am considering the bio method as an extension of my filtration. I pm'd ya a list of goodies for pricing.

The phos and nitrates are not measurable because the algae in the dt is more than likely sucking it out of the water column faster than it can be measured. My skimmer had been pulling nothing for scary amount of time before I started dosing. Now piles of green skimmate.


Automated water changes sound amazing. Not only would that be less work for you, but also increase the stability of the tank!

I would love to see a nice write-up on that one if you go that route.

It is an ideal setup and I have considered getting 2 fast dosing pumps and running them both the same amount of time. One adding at the same rate the other is removing. I would add water to the pump section of the sump and remove from the skimmer section coming from the display.

If I do this anytime soon i will do a write up. I may be a while due to dosing pump costs :(

[UDGrad2010]

I may be a while due to dosing pump costs :(

Story of my life. There are plenty of things I would love to do that are just cost prohibitive right now.

This is sometimes a hobby best financed by rich, eccentric millionaires.

[The Staffords]

You could do aqua lifter pumps but they are not nearly as accurate. But that's the beauty of small changes. It is too small to affect water parameters quickly in my system (165g ish total).

Its not as bad as my car hobby. I have had a supercharger sitting on my toolbox for over a year because I haven't had the time or money to finish it up. Its taunting me every day :)

[chromiumlux]

What differences have you noticed in your tank with the addition of dosing Biofuel?

[The Staffords]

Some of the rocks had dead algae nubs from previous issues that just never fluffed off after dieing. Most of this dead algae has dissolved. The rocks in general just look cleaner. The cheato you gave us is still growing good so it is not starving.

I am going to work on completing my waterchange and some tank maintainance this evening.

[chromiumlux]

Very nice to hear! Very encouraging to hear it helps. I will tag along on this.

[The Staffords]

I have some pictures to share.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/6323818525_1c7d100293.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6116/6324572018_b222f46151.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/6323818363_4e90794a27.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6105/6323818261_4543665487.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6032/6323817713_0fa1928f0b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6096/6323817883_6ee312e135.jpg

[marinelife]

Very nice pictures!!
Algae does not look to bad.

[ghurlag]

I have one of these fellers. Looks a lot better under the right light (just like this little guy you have pictured :) )


I have some pictures to share.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/6323818525_1c7d100293.jpg

[The Staffords]

Only had to take like 20 to get those ones I posted lol. You can see algae issues on the Tailspot Blenny picture. I have a few rocks like this. The ones that had small patches of this are clear now after the carbon dosing.

I really need to make myself a CUC booster pack. I dont remember the last time I saw more than a hermit or two at once in the tank. I will probably add mostly Trochus and hermits and maybe a star or two in the near future. Both Blennys we have do a great job with algae on the overflows and the rock.

[The Staffords]

Thought I would share my temps. Low yesterday was 77.5, high was 77.7. Today we are rock solid at 77.5 low and high so far. This is with a 12 bulb T5 fixture until i get my leds back or upgrade. This is with a 150w heater on a 165g total system volume. Wonder if there is any benifits to running this tight of swing.

[The Staffords]

I had skimmer issues one morning about a week ago so I shut it off until after I got home from work. That caused a nice cyano bloom due to the dosing. I stopped the biofuel doses until it clears. I also decided it would be a good time to start dosing MB7 to compete with the cyano and overall move towards using Brightwell products together to achieve a lower nutrient system.

Also did about a 10% water change tonight and got ahead by starting to mix my next two changes now so I am ahead of the system a bit.

[ghurlag]

Keep us posted!

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