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Journal One Zero Three

Hi all,
Geoffrey Rea said:
things have gotten a little hairy:
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First the disclaimer that I know nothing about marine tanks, but is there a suitable grazer to munch it off?

I remember going to Dale Fort in 1997, about a ~year after the <"Sea Empress" oil spill">. The oil (or detergent) had killed all the Limpets (Patella vulgata), and what was really noticeable was that all the rocky shores were <"covered in a fuzz of green algae">. It hadn't been there in 1995 and as limpet numbers recovered it went away again as the Limpets grazed it off.

cheers Darrel
 
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There are a good number of grazers available for marine, a huge selection of snails, crabs, sea slugs, fish etc, no that the algae is dying off, most of them will have a go at it.
 
dw1305 said:
is there a suitable grazer to munch it off?
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There are, but currently committed to no clean up crew for feedback at the moment @dw1305 . The hair algae is dying, floating off into the intake and gathering in the floss for removal. Matter of time now.

Noticed a ton of copepods in the display today between the frag rack and glass. They’re in and here to stay by the looks of things which is great. There’s also three types of coralline algae appearing on the rocks now too, very suddenly and quickly spreading as others have said it would. Surface area will become harder to come by without competition.

Sticking with the usual vigilant water keeping same as with freshwater. If there’s a way to run a clean reef with just clowns and corals, will find it.

Added an acan, hammer, blasto and favite to the display today. The reef is diversifying.
 
not called Bob said:
though it does have a certain charm to it
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I appreciate we will generally have an aversion to algae in fish keeping, but I'm glad it's not just me that actually liked the look of the algae, I thought it made it look really natural! lol Almost every reef I've dived or snorkled on has had that kind of algae on to a greater or lesser extent, often being munched on by parrot fish and the like.
 
not called Bob said:
what’s the thoughts on the no CUC, some turbo snails and algae hermits would soon cut your lawn down, though it does have a certain charm to it
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They would be pretty hungry. The tank is almost clear again and coralline is spreading over the rocks.

No clean up crew as want feedback from the system.
 
Tim Lee said:
How’s the sps frag doing?
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Okay actually. Lights are off now and fish are in their sleeping positions, so will use the old photo:

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Think it preferred it when the carbon and Rowaphos were running. Although, only recently found out dosing inorganic phosphate is a bad idea as it inhibits coral growth, so could equally be a side effect of that little bit of incompetence. You live and learn. Plus side of that intervention is the refugium got healthy really fast 😂 In return N and P are stable despite increased feeding.

Water change and carbon back in to remove the Fluconazole next week. See how it does when they’re back in, but overall doing well given it was a supposed dead frag with coralline on to begin with. Placed it under the gyre so as it grows there’s plenty of flow overhead.
 
That’s good, pretty robust and very fast growing once established I found.
Bubble tip looks happy too.
I used to have to dose nitrate once the refugium kicked in, lost a clam before realised nitrates were undetectable despite high fish load.
Every day a school day with a reef tank 😁
 
Tim Lee said:
That’s good, pretty robust and very fast growing once established I found.
Bubble tip looks happy too.
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Hoping so. Never intended to have any SPS so will be good to see what is possible.

That bubble tip parked at the perfect spot. Regularly catches extra mysis shrimp as the flow pattern travels upwards where it is. Fingers crossed it stays put.

Tim Lee said:
Every day a school day with a reef tank 😁
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Aye, it’s fun!!
 
Wookii said:
I appreciate we will generally have an aversion to algae in fish keeping, but I'm glad it's not just me that actually liked the look of the algae, I thought it made it look really natural! lol Almost every reef I've dived or snorkled on has had that kind of algae on to a greater or lesser extent, often being munched on by parrot fish and the like.
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seeing a little bit, like an oasis in a sea of sand is normal, but if you see it all over, then there has been an event that’s knocked the reef out of whack and its suffering damage. often over harvesting of key graders, but also can occur if the predators are removed and the food web collapses
 
Wookii said:
Amazing colours!
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They really are.

Everyone else be like, ‘the majesty of nature and the beautiful complexities of the ecosystem…’

Here: ‘Oooooo…. Pretty colours…. Ahhhh…’ 🤪

😂 😆 😝
 
Getting somewhere with this system now that there’s some familiarity.

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The Acan and Blasto take mysis shrimp readily and seem happy:

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The Goniopora and Alveopora required some head scratching. Eventually realised they were closing up when activated carbon was being used. Assuming this may have to do with the carbon stripping the aminos out of the water column. Carbon out… happy again:

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The bubble tip anemones are staying put and seem content:

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The hammer… never sure if it’s getting what it needs. But it seems fine:

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Feeding is heavy. Large artemia, lobster eggs, mysis shrimp, red plankton, phytoplankton, reef roids, amino’s and freshly hatched artemia. There’s also a decent amount of copepods about the place. Just looking to add rotifers on top.

Export is still simple; weekly 25% water change, chaeto in the refugium and more proactive, removing uneaten food after feedings:

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Seems to suit for the time being and is manageable.

Circus of Clowns is doing well too. Getting bigger now but still a fair way to go:

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It’s peaceful and hopefully it’ll stay that way.
 
Interested to know what others on the marine side of things think of algae turf scrubbers?

Looking to simplify this setup further. Have temporarily removed the chaetomorpha from the sump:

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Already have the box with falling water onto the floss, just needs a light on it:

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Only needs some form of mesh to trial the idea so have zipped a media bag to the piping, then used a tie to encourage the water to travel down the bag:

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Deliberately starting small. The refugium has been way too efficient at stripping nutrients out. It’s also a pig to get to the chaetomorpha to reduce the amount, as the refugium is an afterthought in the sump design. It was built for freshwater after all.

So looking for smaller, visually easy to gauge and simple to adjust. Little goes a long way and all that. The scrubber is potentially Co2 and o2 unlimited, with the bonus of having little effect on pH as it isn’t submersed like the chaetomorpha.

Figure this isn’t too hair brained an idea. The next stage is floss so any break off gets caught. All mess contained in a box that can be removed from the sump wholesale if required for maintenance. Lighting the box lined with floss also keeps the rest of the sump dark, less cleaning required.

Could always build an acrylic box to control the flow sideways and down the mesh in a contained area, along with a better means of dangling the mesh like below:

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There’s already double unions on the drains making any connections to any design easy:

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Just kicking ideas about over the Christmas break to see how we can make tank life easier.

Falling water, a mesh, algae and a light…

Any words of wisdom on design appreciated 🙏🏽
 
Nick potts said:
Your tank is coming along nicely 🙂
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Thanks Nick. Will be adding another batch of corals in the new year so hopefully the coral selection will be complete. Not likely to mess about thereafter, just let it grow.

Nick potts said:
I would be concerned with the algae blocking up the flow on the downpipe.
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It’s a fair point and has been considered. To be frank, may just continue lighting the floss and binning it periodically.

Algae does grow on the floss and it’s convenient just removing the strip of floss, replacing and letting algae grow back again. NO3 sits between 2-5ppm, PO4 between 0.03-0.5ppm just lighting the floss. Feeding schedule is regular as can be so this is possibly all that’s needed.

Finding it’s very easy to over complicate matters with marine when simple but regular carries the system a long way.
 
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