S
siptang
Guest
Yes, most definitely should help.
Snake's 75g build thread
- Thread starter snakeblitz33
- Start date
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Well, this evening i added two fans to the tank. It started out at 85.5. I gave it a couple hours and now it is at 83.2. I hope that it keeps cooling down over night.
My 40g water change is mixing up right now. I checked salinity and it was at 1.019, so i added six more cups of salt. That got it up to 1.029! I didnt realize how such a small amount could affect the salinity so much! So now i am saving up another five gallons of water to try to get salinity down to 1.025 so its not such a shock to the system. Ill be doing a water change in the morning and cleaning up my mess. Looking good now.
My 40g water change is mixing up right now. I checked salinity and it was at 1.019, so i added six more cups of salt. That got it up to 1.029! I didnt realize how such a small amount could affect the salinity so much! So now i am saving up another five gallons of water to try to get salinity down to 1.025 so its not such a shock to the system. Ill be doing a water change in the morning and cleaning up my mess. Looking good now.
edat
Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392906/snakes-75g-build-thread/1000#post_3527024
Well, this evening i added two fans to the tank. It started out at 85.5. I gave it a couple hours and now it is at 83.2. I hope that it keeps cooling down over night.
My 40g water change is mixing up right now. I checked salinity and it was at 1.019, so i added six more cups of salt. That got it up to 1.029! I didnt realize how such a small amount could affect the salinity so much! So now i am saving up another five gallons of water to try to get salinity down to 1.025 so its not such a shock to the system. Ill be doing a water change in the morning and cleaning up my mess. Looking good now.
I feel your pain... I think my dehumidifier might be dying on me. It runs almost nonstop and my electric bill was ridiculous (and I have 4 girls that don't know that light switches can turn lights OFF too). It is putting a LOT of extra heat in the utility room.... the basement is actually hotter than upstairs. I turned off all the pumps and powerheads in the tank for 3 hours and the temp did not budge. I've got to figure out a better way to control the humidity down there.
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392906/snakes-75g-build-thread/1000#post_3527024
Well, this evening i added two fans to the tank. It started out at 85.5. I gave it a couple hours and now it is at 83.2. I hope that it keeps cooling down over night.
My 40g water change is mixing up right now. I checked salinity and it was at 1.019, so i added six more cups of salt. That got it up to 1.029! I didnt realize how such a small amount could affect the salinity so much! So now i am saving up another five gallons of water to try to get salinity down to 1.025 so its not such a shock to the system. Ill be doing a water change in the morning and cleaning up my mess. Looking good now.
I feel your pain... I think my dehumidifier might be dying on me. It runs almost nonstop and my electric bill was ridiculous (and I have 4 girls that don't know that light switches can turn lights OFF too). It is putting a LOT of extra heat in the utility room.... the basement is actually hotter than upstairs. I turned off all the pumps and powerheads in the tank for 3 hours and the temp did not budge. I've got to figure out a better way to control the humidity down there.
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Ugh. I am frustrated. First my tank wasreally freaking hot so i added a couple fans to cool it off. This morning i woke up just to check on things and thr temp is now 75.2. No wonder my votals are pissed. Im going to try to find a heater that actually works today and get it in there asap. I think with those fans running and a decent heater, thr temp will stabilize.
Doing that water change this morning. I dunno why my salt mix looks a little cloudy. Im going to check for calcium and alkalinity before the chane. Also temp and salinity. 40g is a big change to try to restart the tank. Hopefully this one large change will set the tank straight.
Doing that water change this morning. I dunno why my salt mix looks a little cloudy. Im going to check for calcium and alkalinity before the chane. Also temp and salinity. 40g is a big change to try to restart the tank. Hopefully this one large change will set the tank straight.
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Alright, so I did a 40g water change this morning. It was a little nerve wracking, but nothing that I couldn't handle.
I blew off all of the rocks, and cleaned off all the surfaces. I checked my tanks alkalinity and it was a 2.5mEQ/L and 400ppm calcium, 1.027 salinity and 76.6*F. My newly mixed water using Instant Ocean Sea Salt had an alkalinity of 4.3mEQ/L and 350ppm calcium, 1.029 salinity and 76.6*F. So, I balanced alkalinity and calcium - I raised calcium up to 460ppm by adding 16oz of randy's calcium mix and then I took out a gallon at a time and kept re-measuring salinity. I got the newly mixed saltwater down to 1.026 to try to bring the tank down a little. The temp matched pretty well, so I didn't mess with it.
I manually drained 5g at a time out of the tank and siphoning off as much crud as I could. Once the tank clears up quite a bit, I'm going to replace the mechanical filter to help the redox potential stay the same / increase. Then, I used my JBJ auto top off system with a maxijet 1200 pump to push water into the sump while the return pump was on. It filled the tank right up and I didn't put more saltwater in the sump then what was needed. I had about a half a gallon left in the 40g breeder that ended up outside on some weeds.
It's been 30 minutes since I did all of this and my SPS corals are still alive! lol, did something right! The tank is still hazy from all the stuff that I stirred up, but hey, at least I can tell that my corals are still alive and doing well. The fish are still swimming around, they don't seem that bothered by the large water change. I did find an old 400w heater that I put in the sump and connected to my APEX Jr. unit, I set it on 79, so I hope that the tank can stay about 79-80 for the rest of the Summer. Heh, I thought that I was through with temp problems! Dang air conditioner had to break!
My nepthea had a lot of dino growing over it, so I blew it off as well as I could, and then it slimed over, so I put a powerhead blowing over it to help it slough off as much as it needs to. My other soft corals polyps are gradually opening. I know my soft corals are having a hell of a time adjusting to LEDs,.... I think it's a lot of light for them, even though my Reefbreeders light is only maxing at 35% right now. Helluva testament to these lights! Anyways, Next week I want to do ONE more of these large water changes and adjust everything accordingly and then that ought to be enough to set the tank back straight on the right course. I'll be doing weekly 10g water changes after that. I hope to get my little side stand built soon so that I can set everything up and have it automated the right way, and have some extra storage space.
The AC repairman is coming by tomorrow to fix the system. Said no one is open on a Sunday that has the parts he needs. I can understand. I'm just a little frustrated though that he couldn't come yesterday, like a business would have. But, such is life. It's going to be another really hot day, but with those fans going on the sump and a nice large water change, the tank should be fine for a little while.
I blew off all of the rocks, and cleaned off all the surfaces. I checked my tanks alkalinity and it was a 2.5mEQ/L and 400ppm calcium, 1.027 salinity and 76.6*F. My newly mixed water using Instant Ocean Sea Salt had an alkalinity of 4.3mEQ/L and 350ppm calcium, 1.029 salinity and 76.6*F. So, I balanced alkalinity and calcium - I raised calcium up to 460ppm by adding 16oz of randy's calcium mix and then I took out a gallon at a time and kept re-measuring salinity. I got the newly mixed saltwater down to 1.026 to try to bring the tank down a little. The temp matched pretty well, so I didn't mess with it.
I manually drained 5g at a time out of the tank and siphoning off as much crud as I could. Once the tank clears up quite a bit, I'm going to replace the mechanical filter to help the redox potential stay the same / increase. Then, I used my JBJ auto top off system with a maxijet 1200 pump to push water into the sump while the return pump was on. It filled the tank right up and I didn't put more saltwater in the sump then what was needed. I had about a half a gallon left in the 40g breeder that ended up outside on some weeds.
It's been 30 minutes since I did all of this and my SPS corals are still alive! lol, did something right! The tank is still hazy from all the stuff that I stirred up, but hey, at least I can tell that my corals are still alive and doing well. The fish are still swimming around, they don't seem that bothered by the large water change. I did find an old 400w heater that I put in the sump and connected to my APEX Jr. unit, I set it on 79, so I hope that the tank can stay about 79-80 for the rest of the Summer. Heh, I thought that I was through with temp problems! Dang air conditioner had to break!
My nepthea had a lot of dino growing over it, so I blew it off as well as I could, and then it slimed over, so I put a powerhead blowing over it to help it slough off as much as it needs to. My other soft corals polyps are gradually opening. I know my soft corals are having a hell of a time adjusting to LEDs,.... I think it's a lot of light for them, even though my Reefbreeders light is only maxing at 35% right now. Helluva testament to these lights! Anyways, Next week I want to do ONE more of these large water changes and adjust everything accordingly and then that ought to be enough to set the tank back straight on the right course. I'll be doing weekly 10g water changes after that. I hope to get my little side stand built soon so that I can set everything up and have it automated the right way, and have some extra storage space.
The AC repairman is coming by tomorrow to fix the system. Said no one is open on a Sunday that has the parts he needs. I can understand. I'm just a little frustrated though that he couldn't come yesterday, like a business would have. But, such is life. It's going to be another really hot day, but with those fans going on the sump and a nice large water change, the tank should be fine for a little while.
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
I was reading "the reef aquarium, vol 1" by Sprung and Delbeek last night, specifically the sections on temperature, salinity, water changes and reef chemistry.
I wanted to share a little about what I found out about water changes, and why I realize that now they need to be done. When you measure nitrate and phosphate, you're not really measuring accurately the condition of your water. While nitrate can be used as a "measuring stick" of when to do a water change, nitrate is not the only thing that can foul your water quality. There are many, many different compounds in the aquarium that are not removed by macroalgae, protein skimming, or chemical filtration - and those compounds, including settled detritus, can only be removed efficiently enough through water changes.
I'm going to start regularly doing water changes on my system. I don't want to be a lazy reefer anymore.
I wanted to share a little about what I found out about water changes, and why I realize that now they need to be done. When you measure nitrate and phosphate, you're not really measuring accurately the condition of your water. While nitrate can be used as a "measuring stick" of when to do a water change, nitrate is not the only thing that can foul your water quality. There are many, many different compounds in the aquarium that are not removed by macroalgae, protein skimming, or chemical filtration - and those compounds, including settled detritus, can only be removed efficiently enough through water changes.
I'm going to start regularly doing water changes on my system. I don't want to be a lazy reefer anymore.
S
siptang
Guest
Kudos seth!
Julian is an awesome guy. I will introduce you to him in macna.bring your book to get it signed.
Julian is an awesome guy. I will introduce you to him in macna.bring your book to get it signed.
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Cool! Thanks. I am really excited to go to MACNA this year! I'll take you up on that offer for sure.
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So, it seems like after that kick-butt cleaning that I did and a 40g water change, the dinoflagellates have gotten way worse. I noticed that whenever I blew off a strand somewhere, it would just stick onto another rock or whatever - it wouldn't float around long at all. I'm frustrated beyond belief that they have gotten so much worse.
Tomorrow, I am going to try to get some store credit for my livestock and live rock and start taking everything down. I've had it for the time being. No success with the 20g tank, no success with this 75g tank... I'm done for the time being. I'm going to take it all down and put the equipment away and make it into a freshwater tank. I said that I would give it a good go, but after seeing this dino come back after a thorough cleaning 10x worse than what it was,... I'm done with reef tanks for the time being. I have too much else to worry about... family, school, finances... I just don't need this on my plate right now.
Not that I am not going to be on here offering "advice" every now and then. I know my stuff, but I just need time.
-----
So, it seems like after that kick-butt cleaning that I did and a 40g water change, the dinoflagellates have gotten way worse. I noticed that whenever I blew off a strand somewhere, it would just stick onto another rock or whatever - it wouldn't float around long at all. I'm frustrated beyond belief that they have gotten so much worse.
Tomorrow, I am going to try to get some store credit for my livestock and live rock and start taking everything down. I've had it for the time being. No success with the 20g tank, no success with this 75g tank... I'm done for the time being. I'm going to take it all down and put the equipment away and make it into a freshwater tank. I said that I would give it a good go, but after seeing this dino come back after a thorough cleaning 10x worse than what it was,... I'm done with reef tanks for the time being. I have too much else to worry about... family, school, finances... I just don't need this on my plate right now.
Not that I am not going to be on here offering "advice" every now and then. I know my stuff, but I just need time.