wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
GOod thread...LOTS of pics ;) I love the aquascaping.
ltkenbo's 55 Gallon Reef Tank
- Thread starter ltkenbo
- Start date
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Thanks yeah I figured out what was causing my green algae problem is that I still don't have good enough flow, I need some more of those koralia powerheads. Now that I moved the rock around again I think the flow is not as good as it was so I'm getting some algae again.
As far as the kenya tree, yeah I've heard that from some people, but my friend gave me these he had them in his nano tank and he never had any trouble, he just had to be sure to trim them a lot so they didn't get long enough to touch his other corals. That's another reason I put them back in the corner.
As far as the kenya tree, yeah I've heard that from some people, but my friend gave me these he had them in his nano tank and he never had any trouble, he just had to be sure to trim them a lot so they didn't get long enough to touch his other corals. That's another reason I put them back in the corner.
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Yep so the hair algae epidemic is back, hopefully I'll get some more koralias for Christmas. I'm doing a 10 gallon water change today.
yote
In Memoriam
Get on it before it gets outta control.
I'm fighting cyano myself right now.But its because I let my tank maintance slide because of all the OT I been working.
I'm fighting cyano myself right now.But its because I let my tank maintance slide because of all the OT I been working.
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Well I'm just doing the same stuff as before, got some more snails, picked a bunch out, and I did a 10 gallon water change today and I'm going to do another one tomorrow.
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
So I got 1 Koralia 2 powerhead for Christmas and enough gift card stuff to get another one. I think I'm going to have 3 2's, and get 2 nano's and use those along with timers to varry the current. Do you think this will be enough along with my sump for good flow in my 55 gallon?
Also I think I'm going to look into using x10 technology with all my pumps and lights, seems pretty affordable and reliable. Has anyone ever used them before, cause I had a question:
I was planning on getting some of those standard appliance controllers for all my powerheads and for the lights especially since I found some on ebay for 3 for $22 free shipping:
3-Pin Grounded X10 Appliance Module AM466 or PAM02 - Smarthome
Then I wanna use one of these timers to control lights and also possibly powerhead times:
http://www.smarthome.com/1091/X10-LCD-64-Event-Mini-Timer-XPMT4/p.aspx
So my question was would it be possible to use another controller also that wouldn't interfere with the timed settings? For example, if I use this timer to control powerheads to make currents or waves but I need to turn off all the powerheads using another controller to feed the fish, when I turn them back on won't it turn them all back on instead of just the ones that were on before?
Also I think I'm going to look into using x10 technology with all my pumps and lights, seems pretty affordable and reliable. Has anyone ever used them before, cause I had a question:
I was planning on getting some of those standard appliance controllers for all my powerheads and for the lights especially since I found some on ebay for 3 for $22 free shipping:
3-Pin Grounded X10 Appliance Module AM466 or PAM02 - Smarthome
Then I wanna use one of these timers to control lights and also possibly powerhead times:
http://www.smarthome.com/1091/X10-LCD-64-Event-Mini-Timer-XPMT4/p.aspx
So my question was would it be possible to use another controller also that wouldn't interfere with the timed settings? For example, if I use this timer to control powerheads to make currents or waves but I need to turn off all the powerheads using another controller to feed the fish, when I turn them back on won't it turn them all back on instead of just the ones that were on before?
Bifferwine
I am a girl
You can't use timers or controllers with regular Koralias -- it will break them. They are not meant to be turned on and off. You are better off getting two or three Koralia 3s -- the nanos will barely move the water in a 55 gallon tank.
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Well I didn't mean turn on and off like every couple minutes I meant like every couple hours, and a single one may or may not be turning on and off it would depend on the schedule. So this is still bad for them?
As far as the nano's I just wanted some smaller ones I could put in another position to help move water, would 1's be better then? I was gonne do like a "2" in each corner, a "2" in the center and 2 nano's, one near each side in the bottom front pointing up and towards the back of the aquarium.
As far as the nano's I just wanted some smaller ones I could put in another position to help move water, would 1's be better then? I was gonne do like a "2" in each corner, a "2" in the center and 2 nano's, one near each side in the bottom front pointing up and towards the back of the aquarium.
yote
In Memoriam
Something you might look into.
Koralia is supposed to be putting new powerheads on the market next month that can be run on timers without any problems.They'll have the 1s-4s and their not supposed to kick backwards when they start up.
Koralia is supposed to be putting new powerheads on the market next month that can be run on timers without any problems.They'll have the 1s-4s and their not supposed to kick backwards when they start up.
Tristan
Detritus
to Biff: sorry, my question was dumb. those are dead coral not tree branches. lol
Your aquarium has really nice aquascaping.
Your aquarium has really nice aquascaping.
Tristan
Detritus
Are they called kenya trees because they grow fast like how Kenyans run fast?
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
So I just got back from my 2 week vacation visiting my dad in California. While I was gone I had my mom feed the fish and stuff, she did a pretty good job but man there was a lot of hair algae on the side of the tank that needs more flow. It looks like a forest, it was really long, however this made it easier to grab so I pulled most of it out tonight and tomorrow when the lights are on I'll pull whatever else I can.
Anyways, so I have been running chaeto in my sump but OMG, it is driving me nuts. The stuff doesn't seem to help much and it always breaks into pieces, clogs up the mag return pump sponge filter thing, or clogs up the powerhead for my coralife skimmer. The latter happens especially a lot. I'll unclog it, but a little later it will have become clogged with chaeto again. Here is my sump for those of you who haven't read the whole thread:
(note there is not chaeo in the picture here, this was before)
(this was when I first got it, it looked healthy)
I know I need a specific refugium section which I am planning to do when I build a 20 gallon sump soon. Anyways, in the mean time, should I just throw the stuff out, or what would be a good idea to keep it alive out of the tank. I can't stand having little dead pieces of it all over the bottom of the sump that clog everything. It also doesn't seem to grow that well even with a decently powered halogen. I've tried fluorecent bulbs but they seemed worse.
Anyways, so I have been running chaeto in my sump but OMG, it is driving me nuts. The stuff doesn't seem to help much and it always breaks into pieces, clogs up the mag return pump sponge filter thing, or clogs up the powerhead for my coralife skimmer. The latter happens especially a lot. I'll unclog it, but a little later it will have become clogged with chaeto again. Here is my sump for those of you who haven't read the whole thread:
(note there is not chaeo in the picture here, this was before)
(this was when I first got it, it looked healthy)
I know I need a specific refugium section which I am planning to do when I build a 20 gallon sump soon. Anyways, in the mean time, should I just throw the stuff out, or what would be a good idea to keep it alive out of the tank. I can't stand having little dead pieces of it all over the bottom of the sump that clog everything. It also doesn't seem to grow that well even with a decently powered halogen. I've tried fluorecent bulbs but they seemed worse.
dcantucson
Reef pro
Yes you need to separate it from the pump section.
daugherty
part time reefer
yes yes get it away from your pump it will suck it up into it and can lead to pump problems
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Alright so I just threw the algae out. So I'm still battling this hair algae. My flow is now created by the following:
Mag Drive 7 Return from Sump
Eshopps Overflow box
3 Koralia 2 powerheads
1 Aquaclear 301 cheap powerhead
Now, it still seems that there are certain areas in the tank that are collecting detritus like certain parts of the rocks and certain sand areas. I think I just may have too much live rock that I am not getting good enough flow, so tonight I took out a couple pieces scrubbed off the algae and detrius, put 2 back in the tank, put the other small pieces in the sump (so they are out of the way yet will still benifit the aquarium) and 2 pieces I am just going to toss, or throw outside because all they did was sit under other rocks not really supporting them and they are ugly and don't help the flow situation.
Now when I purchased the rock from a local guy he gave me all he had because he was breaking down his tank, it was over 100 lbs. meaning 2+ lbs. per gallon. Here's the rock when I first got it:
Now I had an intial cycle and was fighting GHA for a while but finally got it almost gone recently when it looked like this:
Keep in mind, here I only had 1 Koralia 2 powerhead, the aquaclear one, and the sump return and overflow. However, I decided to move a couple of rocks around. A couple weeks after this I noticed GHA beginning to form again. I got another Koralia 2 for Christmas, then I went on vacation and had my mom watch the tank for me. When I got back, the left side which had the new powerhead was not that bad, but the right side was. Now I got another Koralia 2 for the right side, but it still seems as areas are not getting swept free of detrius. Again, leading me to believe I have too much live rock. What do you think?
However this confuses me, because I see all these pristene reef tanks with live rock stacked all on top just like mine and yet I only see like 3 or 4 powerheads but they have not problems.
Examples:
I do water changes, I test the water weekly. Now it is true I haven't given this time since the new koralia powerheads but I want to find out if I have too much rock and what I should do if I need to fix it, especially since I notice, not matter how many water changes I do, this isn't going to fix the collection of detrius, only proper flow can do that. I guess the real problem is that I'm having troubling achieving that flow and I'm not sure why, or how to properly achieve it.
I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow when the lights are on, and maybe I can even use my underwater camera housing to show you inside the tank and stuff. I want to know if I need more powerheads or what...
If anyone has some insight please let me know. I plan on getting new lights and hard corals in the near future and I would like to tackle this problem. I should add that I use RO/DI water.
Mag Drive 7 Return from Sump
Eshopps Overflow box
3 Koralia 2 powerheads
1 Aquaclear 301 cheap powerhead
Now, it still seems that there are certain areas in the tank that are collecting detritus like certain parts of the rocks and certain sand areas. I think I just may have too much live rock that I am not getting good enough flow, so tonight I took out a couple pieces scrubbed off the algae and detrius, put 2 back in the tank, put the other small pieces in the sump (so they are out of the way yet will still benifit the aquarium) and 2 pieces I am just going to toss, or throw outside because all they did was sit under other rocks not really supporting them and they are ugly and don't help the flow situation.
Now when I purchased the rock from a local guy he gave me all he had because he was breaking down his tank, it was over 100 lbs. meaning 2+ lbs. per gallon. Here's the rock when I first got it:
Now I had an intial cycle and was fighting GHA for a while but finally got it almost gone recently when it looked like this:
Keep in mind, here I only had 1 Koralia 2 powerhead, the aquaclear one, and the sump return and overflow. However, I decided to move a couple of rocks around. A couple weeks after this I noticed GHA beginning to form again. I got another Koralia 2 for Christmas, then I went on vacation and had my mom watch the tank for me. When I got back, the left side which had the new powerhead was not that bad, but the right side was. Now I got another Koralia 2 for the right side, but it still seems as areas are not getting swept free of detrius. Again, leading me to believe I have too much live rock. What do you think?
However this confuses me, because I see all these pristene reef tanks with live rock stacked all on top just like mine and yet I only see like 3 or 4 powerheads but they have not problems.
Examples:
I do water changes, I test the water weekly. Now it is true I haven't given this time since the new koralia powerheads but I want to find out if I have too much rock and what I should do if I need to fix it, especially since I notice, not matter how many water changes I do, this isn't going to fix the collection of detrius, only proper flow can do that. I guess the real problem is that I'm having troubling achieving that flow and I'm not sure why, or how to properly achieve it.
I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow when the lights are on, and maybe I can even use my underwater camera housing to show you inside the tank and stuff. I want to know if I need more powerheads or what...
If anyone has some insight please let me know. I plan on getting new lights and hard corals in the near future and I would like to tackle this problem. I should add that I use RO/DI water.
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U4BOYZ
Got Fish?
Beautiful job. Is that a goby in one of your photos? I've never seen one that interesting looking....
Smitty
Reef pro
Very beautiful tank you have there.
parrotchute
DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
Are you using rodi water? Test your top off water for no2/no3/phosphates. A lot of it will simply have to do with your tank being young - wait til you get to the cyano algae phase - that is where flow & detritus suspension really counts. As your tank ages, more healthy algae species will outcompete the bad stuff -corraline makes it hard for HA to attach.
What's your clean up crew like? Light cycle?
What's your clean up crew like? Light cycle?
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Oh just so people know in case they didn't read the last part, the very last photo isn't my tank it was an example of a tank that has rocks piled up.
Yes I have an RO/DI filtration system from P U R E W A T E R C L U B. Well despite the age of the tank that doesn't cancel out the fact that there is still detrius collecting in spots.
My clean up crew, I've got like 8 astrea snails, 3 turbo zebra snails (which suck balls all they do it crawl on the glass all the time), 1 Mexican turbo, 2 red legged hermit crabs, 1 giant scarlett hermit crab, and 3 blue legged hermit crabs. I need to get some nass snails for my sand. I'm seriously considering getting a Sea Hare because I really want to mow down the algae growth. Light cycle, 2 T5 fixtures (only 36" ones) running from 1:00 PM - 11:00 PM. The bulbs are only 7-8 months old maybe. I'm planning on getting Current nova extreme fixture soon.
Yes I have an RO/DI filtration system from P U R E W A T E R C L U B. Well despite the age of the tank that doesn't cancel out the fact that there is still detrius collecting in spots.
My clean up crew, I've got like 8 astrea snails, 3 turbo zebra snails (which suck balls all they do it crawl on the glass all the time), 1 Mexican turbo, 2 red legged hermit crabs, 1 giant scarlett hermit crab, and 3 blue legged hermit crabs. I need to get some nass snails for my sand. I'm seriously considering getting a Sea Hare because I really want to mow down the algae growth. Light cycle, 2 T5 fixtures (only 36" ones) running from 1:00 PM - 11:00 PM. The bulbs are only 7-8 months old maybe. I'm planning on getting Current nova extreme fixture soon.
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parrotchute
DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
The detrius will contribute to cyano for sure. A sea hare will just take care of the symptoms, and once it eats all the HA and dies from starvation or gets turned back in, it'll come back.
To a certain extent, you'll have to be patient. For the detrius, try adjusting the flow downward if you can to keep it in suspension.
To a certain extent, you'll have to be patient. For the detrius, try adjusting the flow downward if you can to keep it in suspension.
