Blog Comments

Is the alk declining due to testing time?

Yes, I took that reading before the lighting period kicked in. So the pH is lower than usually listed on the chart.

I've not dosed Mg with this tank yet. It's pretty good out of the bag of salt mix.

Originally Posted by Hat39406

All the readings look good huh. Marc, do you dose magnesium? Or anything?

I'd say yes in order to maintain the recommended/desired 1/3 ratio. With 454ppm calcium, in a perfect world, the magnesium should be 1362, and I'd say Marc is close enough with 1420ppm.

I would not call your pH low, but it is noticably lower than your last several measurements. Is this because the measurement is taken at a different time of day? The only reason I ask is because that Holmes-Farley article that discusses how elevated pH may keep dinoflagellates at bay may be helpful if your pH is truely running lower than normal. But of course, that goes out the window if the recent measurement is at a different time of day than your previous entries.

All the readings look good huh. Marc, do you dose magnesium? Or anything?

I started dosing vodka day 2 and im at 0's 2weeks in Lets here it for old school, But still watching since removing one more thing from the daily routine is a beautiful thing

This isnt my personal setup, but mine has the same sort of stringy algae...the Lyngbya. I have a pretty good size CUC for a 55. It consists of a LM blenny, about 30 blue and red leg hermits, 6 astreas, 5 mexican turbos, about 40 nassarius snails and an enormous (1.5' tip to tip) brittle starfish. Funny that you ask about the snails dying...right after I did a huge cleanup of the stuff, I noticed that 2 of my Mexican Turbos were dead the next morning. I love my biopellets as well, and the Lyngbya has only been present for about 2-3 months now when the tank has been up (and the pellets running) for a year. Hopefully you can find the magic bullet to getting rid of whatever yours may turn out to be, I'll be waiting and watching.

There are a lot of people using them, and results vary from tank to tank. I have no reason to fear mine, but I'm watching it closely. So far, I'm loving it. I really didn't want to dose vodka on this tank.

I was going to order a biopellet set-up but ill be watching the trials and tribulations as they unfold first hope you two can get the stuff under control

Let me ask you this - are you seeing snails dying off if they contact that stuff? I don't see much of a clean up crew in your picture, but I agree that you need to remove all that you can of that stuff from the tank manually. I'm dosing hydrogen peroxide daily right now to nuke the little bit I'm seeing. The pellets are doing their job, according to my last test kit readings, but it's time to do them again to make sure. And the pellets are being used up gradually, day by day.

I'm also seeing some cyano in the refugium zone.

Everything looks great Marc, congrats! I unfortunately have the same sort of Dino looking stringy algae in my tank and I run biopellets as well. Take a look at this which is what happens if you don't stop it. It's a form of cyanobacteria called Lyngbya and it's strange in that it thrives in low nutrient and high flow environments. I'm currently just ripping clumps of it out by hand but soon I'm going to take my rock out for a good scrubbing with a rough brush to try and destroy the roots. I also bought some Chemi-Clean Red Slime Remover but have been too afraid to use it so far due to the possibly toxicity of the dead Lyngbya. Hopefully you can stop it in it's tracks. But on a happier note, it looks like all the coral and fish are thriving. I love the first picture of your Naso and Purple Tang swimming next to each other. Keep it up!

I keep shifting things around in my tank because it's ful of corals. But I always can find the room for a new coral. Lol I need to upgrade I believe!

Yesterday, I started making a list of all the livestock in my tank and was surprised at how many items are in there. And yet I keep wanting more.

Very nice Mark. I love several of your pieces. :-)

Nice pics Marc! Nice to finally see the blue ridge that was in ya 280g. You told me where it was but I couldn't find it in pictures. My blue ridge is encrustig the rock it's on nicely.

Looking great Marc, I guess even old veterans have to deal with new tank syndrome stuff. I am sure it will pass as the sand bed and all the other stuff matures and starts competing for the nutrients in the tank.

I'd rather not take the biopellets offline and end up with dead bacteria and decaying media. I've been watching that media gradually evaporate from the Nextreef Reactor.

I got some MB7 while in Florida, and dosed once already. It's about time to dose once more. I read repeatedly how MB7 helped people with cyano issues.

The skimmer has two Eheim 1262 pumps, and is pulling out a little waste each day. Nothing amazing, and like you said the bioload is less than before. I may have to upgrade it later, but currently it's more than enough to do the job.

i had on in my tank thought it was a bristle till i watched it reach out of a rock and then slip under a snail on the glass and min later the snail fell to sand where the worm proceeded to eat it. good catch.

Definitely keep us updated Marc. I remember battling this stuff awhile back when i was dosing MB7 with vodka..once it started showing up i stopped and it took a good month and half to finally subside.

Do you think you have enough macro growing to possibly take the pellets off-line and see what happens if the peroxide doesnt work? BTW does your euroreef have 2 or 3 eheim pumps? Im just curious because i know this is the same skimmer you had on the 280 and going to 400+ with your sump is a huge upgrade. Im just hoping your skimmer is still large enough to keep up. But on the other hand your bioload is so small right now I wouldnt think its the skimmer....I dont know just throwing out thoughts

Well, it may be a side effect. I'm not sure. I'm not dosing anything, and have the calcium reactor keeping the Alkalinity right around 8 dKH. I've not tried leaving the lights off since I know that won't help with dinoflagellates (unless you leave them off for weeks).

Seeing 0 NO3 and 0 PO4 makes it almost worth it. If the H202 gets rid of this stuff, even better.