MReef20

Well, I think I've decided to hold on to the setup for the time being - mods please close this thread.

Thanks!

Quick update - still been having algae issues  - mostly hair algae and maybe some turf?  Did a ~7hr deep clean on Saturday; took all rocks out and scrubbed them to remove the algae outside of the tank.  Looks much better (pic for proof), but want to keep this momentum going!  Any tips on how to stay on top of this moving forward?  Planning on upping water changes for a while, got the chaetogro/kessil h160 cranking, started back with dosing MB7, and got some cleaners (including emeralds) coming this week from reefcleaners.  Also, been reducing my white lights and will continue to moving forward.

Nitrate and phosphate are near zero as of yesterday (.25 for nitrate, .03 for phos), and I'm thinking they might be that low partly due to the algae using them.  I want to be careful to not swing back too far the other way and end up in dino land.  I also ordered an ICP test kit - I want to see if there is something I might not be thinking of that could be contributing to things not being able to balance out.  I thought about giving Vibrant a shot, but I've seen some mixed reviews, and I don't want to kill of my chaeto.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?  Thanks!

bump...still available. Trying to hold the Nero's - all else for $1,300 together.

Bump - would still like to sell as package if possible - price drop to $1,500

Livestock pending - will post individual prices once tank is empty.

Sigh....Well, I've decided that I've gotten myself into a little bit more than I needed to when I upgraded to my 90 gallon tank.  Other projects are taking up my free time and I feel as though the tank isn't getting the attention it deserves as a result.  Check out some of my other posts on here to see some of my journey.

Everything was bought starting last year but wasn't first set up until around July.  Mixture of new and used (but in very good condition) items.  As the case a lot of times, really hoping to sell complete set up - would only be willing to part out after tank/stand/livestock are gone.  Asking $2,000 OBO.  Located in the Tri-Cities, WA.

• Tank - 90 gallon SCA.  Beautiful tank, no scratches, bought new and set up in February - Running herbie overflow method
• Stand - custom made (by me) using the general Rocket Engineer design
• Plumbing - standard plumbing with lots of unions and BRS ball & gate valves
• Sump - standard 20L with acrylic baffles (works ok)
• Pumps
  • Return Pump - Jebao DCP-6500
  • Ecotech MP40
  • Nero 5 (x2) with fish guards
• Ecotech battery backup (never plugged in)
• 300 watt BRS titanium heater element with Ranco controller
  • 200 watt backup BRS titanium heater element with BRS controller
• Lights
  • Kessil 360 WE (X2)
  • Aquatic Life 36" T5 hybrid (with extra bulbs)
  • Kessil h160 fuge light
• Reef Octopus SSS 150 (6")
• Tunze 3155 ATO 
• BRS 75gpd RO/DI unit
• Older model Apex (temp and pH) with EB8
• Various additives, supplements, test kits (Red Sea, Hanna), foods, two refractometers
• Brine shrimp hatchery/supplies
• Livestock
  • Probably 100# LR (including 50# from Gulf Live Rock) - Disclaimer, I am still battling an algae issue
  • Orange/white & white and black clown pair
  • Purple Tang
  • Yellow Watchman goby
  • Orchid dottyback
  • Two peppermint shrimp
  • Assorted CUC - Includes orders from IPSF and reefcleaners
  • Various corals, although most not in "show" shape
  • RBTA
  • Crocea clam

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there's more.  Feel free to message me or ask questions (or if you want more pictures).  The FTS was after my last cleaning (before the algae returned, lol) Note - do not still have the Kessil Controller. Thanks!

Thanks for the input...the readings got a little closer when I replicated conditions as best I could for both - still not exactly the same though.  I've heard of the bottled solutions not always being 100% accurate, so I agree that the homemade solution is probably the most reliable.

Thanks @EMeyer for the good explanation re: why not to rely on RO water to calibrate.

Bump

Bump

So, I've got a BRS refractometer, along with the BRS calibration solution, but I had a minor drop a while back, so I wanted to get another one (this time the Marine Depot version) to make sure all was good.  I went ahead and got the Brightwell calibration solution along with it (I believe the BRS solution is made by Brightwell).  When I calibrated the new refractometer with the new calibration fluid, it showed low as compared to the other solution.  I checked with my calibrated BRS device and got the same result.  In other words, it would seem that the two solutions were showing different readings.

So, I put RO water on both and set to 0 (the BRS one was already showing 0).  I then checked against the two solutions again, and the BRS solution showed 35ppt on both, and the Brightwell one lower (like maybe 33-34ppt).  Is that an acceptable/alternate way to calibrate to validate which calibration fluid is correct?

I've got two that you can have - problem is that I live in Tri-Cities.  Will gladly send to you, just not sure how quickly you need them.

For sale is the JBJ nano-glow refugium light in excellent condition (accidentally showed wrong power adapter in pic).  This is the version with the magnet holder (vs. suction cup).  $30, OBO.  Located in Tri-Cities.

Thanks.

For sale is a Tunze 9004 protein skimmer in very good condition.  Only selling because I upgraded tanks.  One of the magnets starting acting weird (still holds, just seems like one end is "off"), and there is just some very faint scuffs on the front cover from where I was cleaning it.  Excellent working order - used for about 7 months.  Thinking $100 OBO - located in Tri-Cities.

Well, that was more work than expected (been a while since I've broken down a tank), but so far all looks good!  The peroxide really seems to have done the trick.  There was some algae that didn't all get scrubbed off, but over the last day or so it has disintegrated...fingers crossed that I'll be able to keep it under control!  After cleaning out the 40B, I think my main problem was that I wasn't getting as much nutrient export as I figured - I'm sure that was the root of my problems.

Time will tell, thank you all for your advice and input!

15 hours ago, Higher Thinking said:

Spray hydrogen peroxide on the rocks and let them stay out of the water for a couple minutes. It'll die off over the next couple days. Obviously, when rocks have coral on them you have to be more calculated with where you spray and how long you keep it out of the water. 

So I'm thinking a good plan of attack might be to give the rocks a good scrub first and then spritz on some peroxide with a spray bottle - you think 3-5 minutes would be long enough?  I don't think I'd even need to rinse them before putting them in the new tank, but might not be a bad idea.

4 hours ago, Bicyclebill said:

My $0.02 is to not use any old rock that has the hair algae on it. I was in your same boat with my 90G before upgrading to my 150G over the summer. I bought a bunch of clean rock and started over with only a couple pieces of my old rock. I also did the new tank snake oil quick starter stuff, but make sure not to do that if you're using live sand. Knock on wood, my system is running clean as a whistle and actually a little too low on nutrients now at times. 

See, I've thought about that, especially since I have real live rock as a starter in the 90, but here are my reservations:

1. Some corals/inverts (nem, clam, zoas) are attached the the current LR.  I don't want to risk damaging them if I try to remove

2. I'm sure there's a lot of good critters/bacteria in the current LR; I hate to lose all of that

3. I'm concerned that even though I have LR in the 90, it won't be enough (50#) to support from a bio-filtration perspective.  I'd like to end up with 100# + of LR

I'm planning on upping my chaeto game, now that I will have a sump/fuge and I picked up a Kessil 160.  

19 hours ago, Blue Z Reef said:

It’s going to be guessing without testing parameters. What is your nitrate/phosphate at now? Is there ammonia or something else in the tank? How old is the 40B? Has the hair algae issue been going on for a month? Six months? Year? What are we talking about here and how have you attempted to remedy it?

Sorry, should have probably provided some additional context/backstory - here's how the saga started in the 40B: 

Current readings for nitrate/phosphate in the 40B are 16 and .13 ppm respectively (no ammonia).  Main thing I've been trying lately is letting things settle in on their own while keeping up with water changes.  Some things seem to be doing great (fish, crabs, nem, clam, mushroom), but the rics, snails, and some zoas haven't seemed very happy.  Things haven't been going so well with the stonies, but I recognize that's most likely because there has been a lot of fluctuations and instability.

Well, things are starting to come together for my SCA 90 gal upgrade!  Finished up the plumbing over the weekend, and moved the Gulf Live Rock over.  I was planning on making the transfer from my 40B this weekend, but I want to make sure I've thought this through and avoid any disasters.  Here's my plan and questions - I would greatly appreciate input and tips!

- I don't really care about keeping any of the existing 40B tank water, I figure all of the bacteria I need will be in the rock/sand

- I don't plan on transferring much of the sand from the existing tank (maybe a few scoop fulls), as I don't want to cause a massive nutrient release, and I have enough new sand in the 90 to cover the bottom (going for shallow bed)

- Currently, I've been having a major battle with nasty hair algae in my existing tank...I'm half-way tempted to put the rock into a Brute for a few weeks to help kill off the algae.  But, since I'm trying to do a minimal disruption tank transfer I think a better option would be to give all of the rock a good scrub and move over to the 90.

Here are my main questions/dilemmas:

As noted above, I've been having major algae issues.  My chaeto isn't growing that well, and I think it's because it's getting out-competed by the hair algae.  However, I bought the rock from a local reefer (not through this site), so I'm unsure of it's history - I'm wondering if it could also be leaching nutrients/phosphate back in the water?  That's the part that makes me hesitant to move directly over.  Also, I've been having issues with snails dying, mainly ceriths (no issues with other inverts).  Some of my softies (like ricordea) have also been looking sad, so that's why the thought crossed my mind that they might be leaching something.  It may be unrelated though, and I may just be losing the battle regarding nutrient export and feeding the right algaes.

Any suggestions?  Thanks!

I wonder if there could be any type of chemical warfare going on?  I feel like I had a similar situation a long tome ago, and the only thing we could ever figure out was that maybe some the neighboring softies were releasing irritating chemicals.

You can raise the nitrate via chemical means, but I'm finding that it just takes time for things to balance out, especially if you started with dry rock?

Wonder if the tank might be too "clean?"  Any other changes recently that could affect water quality or any lighting changes?

Tagging along, as I've been dealing with something similar with some of my rics.

11 minutes ago, obrien.david.j said:

ZERO concerns.  You're completely good.

Haha, thank you...not sure why I've been psyching myself out today - probably because I'm gonna start filling, and I don't want 90 gallons of saltwater on the floor (and a broken tank)

Picture for fun

Note that the tank appears more "inset" than 1/2" because of the outer plywood skin and trim.

I'm in the process of my new SCA 90 gallon build (48lx18wx24h), and I've built my stand using the standard RocketEngineer design - I'm using 2x6s for the top frame, and I used 1/2" plywood on the top (i.e. not a bare frame).  Here's where I'm having second thoughts - I can't remember my exact logic at the time, but I built the stand an inch long as well as wide (49"x19").  So, the tank sits 1/2 inch "inset" from the outer edge of the 2x6.  Reality is that the tank is closer to "centered" on the frame.  I keep telling myself that this should not be a problem, but I guess I'm used to the tank always being on the outer edge of the raw frame. 

So my main question is, does anyone have any concerns with where exactly the tank sits on the frame as long as it's not over/under hanging?  

Thanks!

Update time!  Looks like I've made it past the initial ammonia spike (lots of water changes), and I'm starting to see a lot more life coming out!