Tank maintenance day

[marie]

Everything looked so much better after a water change, glass scraped and new carbon added that I had to grab the camera :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23029.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23032.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23038.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23014.jpg

[PoonTang]

Exquisite, as usual Marie :)

[marie]

Angel, checking to see if I'm still looking before getting into trouble

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23035.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23040.jpg

This is the rock that I fragged ALL the ricordeas off of in the spring. Its ready for fragging again :mrgreen:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23019.jpg

and last but not least, Ken (scavenger) do you remember the little pipe organ frag you gave me 2 years ago?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23026.jpg

[PoonTang]

Dibs on the next ricordia frag :)

[marie]

Dibs on the next ricordia frag :)

Providing I can keep them alive this time :redface:

[PoonTang]

Marie, if you are still having troubles with your coraline plugging up the slots on your overflow, just try lowering your water for a couple of hours or so. Corraline doesnt last too long when exposed to air. This is what I do and it seams to keep the corraline away for longer when its all dead for 1/2 " or so around the slots. Whenever I scrape i enivitibly leave a few little pieces behind that regrow quite quickly.

[Chaloupa]

BEAUTIFUL as always...wow Marie, your tank is gorgeous!

[danny zubot]

Marie, how much flow do you have hitting your pink rimmed cap? I can't seem to get mine to color up that much, even with all of my levels being fine.

[marie]

Considering that my tank is low flow at the moment, it's probably in one of the highest flow areas of the tank.
When I first set up my tank, 2 6060 tunze streams were enough but now with all the corals growing it needs a wavebox (hint hint).

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Wow, truly gorgeous, Marie!

[marie]

Whats a coral to do once it reaches the top :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23052.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23050.jpg

[Scavenger]

and last but not least, Ken (scavenger) do you remember the little pipe organ frag you gave me 2 years ago?


Holy Doodle, that itty bitty thing I gave you is now THAT!! Wow!!

Can I have a frag? LOL!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Wow, it's only been a month since Irene & I visited & your corals have already grown so much more. Absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

Anthony

[marie]

Ken you can definitely have a frag :biggrin: Do you have a tank to put it in yet? :razz:

Anthony, I am now up to 5lbs of calcium reactor media every 4/5 weeks and my last 10lb co2 bottle took less then 5 months to empty

[christyf5]

Whats a coral to do once it reaches the top :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23052.jpg



Wow Marie, I can't wait to see this one plate along the surface. So cool!!! :cool:

Your tank is looking awesome as usual, I think need you to do a seminar on coral growing :mrgreen:

[Scavenger]

Ken you can definitely have a frag :biggrin: Do you have a tank to put it in yet? :razz:



Thanks Marie!! Yup I couldn't stand keeping my hands dry, so used up some store credit and started a 29 gallon LPS tank. Unfortunately, a...errr...ummm....upcoming change in marital status... (ya we'll call it that.:) )doesn't leave me any free funds to add coral for a while. Any frags would more than appreciated.

[Ruth]

Marie your tank is amazing - you have to share your secrets with the rest of us bozos that are struggling with our SPS.........or am I the lone bozo here. Anyway share your secret with me!

[marie]

I have no secret, It's as much a mystery to me as it is to anybody :redface: .
The only thing I add to the tank is fish food, kalkwasser and RO top off water. I do occasional water changes, have activated carbon and a pathetic red sea berlin protien skimmer.

I have just about every pest algae you can get in there and an angel that trims my acros regularily. I was adding reef roids but I haven't in the last 2 months and haven't noticed any difference what so ever

[michika]

I think we need a full TOTM type write up on your methods!

What do you use for salt?

[danny zubot]

There is one. Somewhere around July or September 2006.

[marie]

There is one. Somewhere around July or September 2006.

It was nov :biggrin:

I think we need a full TOTM type write up on your methods!

What do you use for salt?

I have always used IO

[michika]

TOTM forum doesn't work.... :(

Any growth photos to show us?

[Tom R]

Hi Marie

Your tank looks fantastic. I have told Anthony that the next time he is going to Powell River I am tagging along with the hope of visiting you and your tank.

Tom R

[marie]

TOTM forum doesn't work.... :(

Any growth photos to show us?

This pic is from the totm (taken in oct 06)

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/175.jpg
march 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/march9pics_002.jpg
july 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/july25_030.jpg
sept 07
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23028.jpg

[marie]

Pink rim cap
dec 06
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/2006_1214yelcap0007.JPG
march 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/marie_spics_010.jpg
may 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/may7_026.jpg
july 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/july19_015.jpg

sept 07
sept 07
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept15006.jpg

[marie]

march 07
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/march9pics_004.jpg
april 07 ( this was actually over 6 weeks, beginning of march middle of april)
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/growth_029.jpg
may 07 had to move this coral it was growing too darn fast
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/may19_010.jpg
sept 07
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23015.jpg

[marie]

Hi Marie

Your tank looks fantastic. I have told Anthony that the next time he is going to Powell River I am tagging along with the hope of visiting you and your tank.

Tom R

Tom, your welcome to come up anytime. There are only 2 stipulations 1. you have to like dogs ( well 1 large, slobbery, in your face, kinda dog especially :lol: ) and 2. be prepared to go home with you pockets full of montipora :razz:

[michika]

Tom, your welcome to come up anytime. There are only 2 stipulations 1. you have to like dogs ( well 1 large, slobbery, in your face, kinda dog especially :lol: ) and 2. be prepared to go home with you pockets full of montipora :razz:

Sounds like great stipulations!

Thanks for the squence photos, they look phenomenal! I drooled! :mrgreen:

How did you mount the corals on the back glass? Just straight epoxy?

[Delphinus]

Good Gravy!! 5lbs of media in a month? What kind of CO2 rate do you have? What kind of effluent rate? What's the pH? That's awesome. I'll wait for your reply by my reactor with my fingers on the knobs ready to adjust to whatever you've got :)

[marie]

Good Gravy!! 5lbs of media in a month? What kind of CO2 rate do you have? What kind of effluent rate? What's the pH? That's awesome. I'll wait for your reply by my reactor with my fingers on the knobs ready to adjust to whatever you've got :)

I try and maintain my effluent ph at 6.5 ,I did try a lower ph but I hate cleaning mush out of the bottom of the reactor so I raised it back up again. I still get an inch or 2 of mush to clean out every month though. Other then that i just keep cranking up the flow rates everytime my alk starts to drop. The co2 is coming out too fast for me to count the bubbles (more then a hundred bubbles/min) and the effluent is coming out in a steady stream :mrgreen: .
I haven't tested my tank ph in ages and to be honest I don't really want to know.

Oh and just so I get the sympathy vote, you can't get co2 bottles filled in Powell River, they have to be sent out of town which can take up to 3 weeks :cry:

[fishmaster]

Oh and just so I get the sympathy vote, you can't get co2 bottles filled in Powell River, they have to be sent out of town which can take up to 3 weeks :cry:[/QUOTE]
I don't know if the fitting is different, but Powell River Outdoors fills the paintball bottles. They might do a bigger one? The cost might be a little higher, but you wouldn't have to ship.

[marie]

Look what I found on the bus this morning :razz:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/clams001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/clams006.jpg

[christyf5]

Wow, I'm gonna go hang out at the bus station!

[michika]

Wow, I'm gonna go hang out at the bus station!

Me too! Seems like everyone is finding cool stuff on the bus!

[marie]

Wow, I'm gonna go hang out at the bus station!
So do you think my husband will go for that excuse? I thought it was better then "They followed me home can I keep them?" :lol:

[Scavenger]

So do you think my husband will go for that excuse? I thought it was better then "They followed me home can I keep them?" :lol:

I'm fond of the "It must have fallen into my pocket at the store." or "It must have been a hitchhiker in the saltbucket." excuses. But hey, I never got away with it.

[Ruth]

Or you could try the :shocked!: WTF - how the heck did that thing get in there? approach.............oh and don't back down.

[Jason McK]

Wow, I'm gonna go hang out at the bus station!

I'm not going to even touch that one.


Looks Great Marie

[christyf5]

I'm not going to even touch that one.


:rofl:

Yeah actually I was there on Sunday night, some sketchy characters and no maxima clams in sight :razz:

[Jason McK]

Oh boy. You just keep walking right into them.

[christyf5]

Oh boy. You just keep walking right into them.


bwahahah not even a gaping clams comment? :razz:

ok I'll quit now, sorry for ruining your thread marie, think of it as a comedic break :razz:

[Scavenger]

Oh boy. You just keep walking right into them.

ROTFLMAO! Took the words right out of my mouth.

But point being, Marie's tank ROCKS!! Maybe she should give seminars and charge an arm and leg, or a frag per word.

[Delphinus]

There's nowhere in Powell River to fill up a CO2 bottle?? :neutral: There has to be something. Check the welding supply shops, the medical gas shops, the beverage supply places .. there has to be somewhere. Those drink dispensers at McDonalds et.al. - those are CO2 cylinders that drive those things, somebody has to be able to fill them up.

Are you still running this tank skimmerless BTW?

[marie]

There's nowhere in Powell River to fill up a CO2 bottle?? :neutral: There has to be something. Check the welding supply shops, the medical gas shops, the beverage supply places .. there has to be somewhere. Those drink dispensers at McDonalds et.al. - those are CO2 cylinders that drive those things, somebody has to be able to fill them up.

Are you still running this tank skimmerless BTW?
My husband checked around last year and he couldn't find anyplace. It is after all a very small town.

Even though my skimmer probably doesn't do much good, I started it back up any way... mostly for my piece of mind. It just didn't feel right not having a skimmer cup to clean out :lol:

[Delphinus]

Oops, forgot to mention fire extinguisher places, there has to be some of that.

I'm surprised is all, I thought Powell River wasn't, you know, that small (isn't it 20,000? That's not exactly tiny :) ).

Anyhow, I poked around in yellowpages.ca a bit and came up with this place, maybe you know it already, maybe they suck, I don't know. But hey, maybe they're worth a call since they say they're a Praxair depot:
http://yellowpages.ca/bus/British-Columbia/Powell-River/Shearwater-Rentals-Sales/2696620.html?adid=13795459aa

Also this place might be worth a call:
http://yellowpages.ca/bus/British-Columbia/Powell-River/Wick-s-Fire-Safety-Co-Ltd/3454250.html

[marie]

Nope, both of those places send everything out of town. In fact it's Wick's that looks after filling my bottle along with all the fire extinguishers in town.

And while there maybe 20,000 people from saltery bay to lund there is less then 10,000 that actually live inside town limits



Edit, ok so I lied, there is actually 13000 people living in the town proper

[fishmaster]

Maybe you need to get one of those monster bottles? I think their like 100lbs or somthing...should last you a few months anyways:biggrin:

[Scavenger]

Sounds like it would be easier to have 2 bottles, have one dropped off at your CO2 shop to be shipped for filling and swap when other bottle is empty. More cost I know, but you wouldn't be out of CO2

[Delphinus]

Yeah, wow, I can understand there not being a place to fill it in town then, but you'd think there'd be something within a couple hours drive. Three weeks to a fill is .. well .. well, what can I say, I'd consider that unacceptable.. but I guess you work with what you got. I agree with Scav, I think you should get a 70lb bottle for your main and then use a 10lb or 5lb bottle as the spare.

That's actually what I do, I have two cylinders myself because I thought the 1 to 2 day turnaround for my fills was too long :p

And the real irony is I'm not even running a reactor right now. I've been dosing instead. Damn thing keeps leaking, it's driving me crazy. I've been contemplating ditching the reactor altogether when my new tank comes up and just go with the Balling method or a derivative. But, that's another topic altogether.

Sorry to hear it's such a hassle in Powell River. I honestly thought P.R. was sort of the nearest major centre for a lot of those coastal hamlets. But when I was looking for you last night, I agree, I saw basically nothing in the town of Powell River itself. I found places in Qualicum Beach though :rolleyes: .. You'd think there'd be something that could do better than 3 weeks. I guess all the restaurants/fast food places probably just have a truck come in once per week loaded up with cylinders, coming in from the L.M. maybe... :neutral:

[Phanman]

I smell business venture... You should open up a CO2 refilling business, everyone would have to go through you :wink:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Marie,

If you want, I can try to find a spare CO2 tank for you, get it filled & bring it up next time I head to PR (with TomR).

Anthony

[marie]

I have a spare bottle, It's out getting filled right now.I didn't think there was any rush getting the second one filled but then I wasn't expecting to start running out after only 4 months.

Yeah, wow, I can understand there not being a place to fill it in town then, but you'd think there'd be something within a couple hours drive...

A couple of hours drive would put me someplace in the ocean or on the top of a mountain at the end of nowhere (Powell River is in the middle of nowhere :lol: )

Unfortunately I am at the mercy of other people who don't think I'm important enough to rush the job. The alternative is to pay $100 for ferries and go and get it filled myself

[marie]

3 month frag growth

June 20
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/june20003.jpg

sept 17
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept17013.jpg

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Marie,

If your current bottle runs out in the next month or so, let me know & we can pick it up & get it filled for you down here. Then either ship it back or hold it for you till someone goes up or comes down.

Anthony

[marie]

my current bottle is due to run out in the next few days. The gauge started dropping 2 1/2 weeks ago so I hastily sent out my old co2 bottle to be filled, I dialed my calcium reactor way back to try and make it last longer and I am adding kent 2 part as well as kalkwasser.


Procrastinating is a bad bad thing :redface: Hopefully i'll have the replacement bottle back this next week

[michika]

I just love the growth photos! Thank you Marie!

[Delphinus]

Do you run phosban or anything like that?

[marie]

Do you run phosban or anything like that?

The only thing I'm using is carbon

[Delphinus]

Ok I gotta ask then, what reactor media are you using?

The reason is, if I crank up my reactor, I found I would get more PO4. I would notice this because it really seems to inhibit SPS growth. Talk about your catch-22. So I wonder if I'm sitting on a bad batch of media or something..

Any refugium growing chaeto or macros maybe?

[marie]

I think my success is because I have more then normal (normal for most aquariums anyway) live zooplankton. I have 2 orchid dottybacks, a pair of mandarins, 2 pairs of cardinals, a pair of cleaner shrimp, a bunch of hermit crabs, snails and a very lively sandbed all pumping out babies to feed the corals. Even with the mandarins in the tank everything is covered with pods at night.

I do walk a very fine line between success and a tank full of algae. If I were to lose any of my herbivores I think I would be in trouble. At the moment I have 3 types of algae that I am keeping a close eye on, 2 of which don't seem to have anything eating them, bryopsis and brown wafer algae.
But at least somewhere in the system I can find turf algae, an unidentified red/brown macroalgae, dictyota, valonia, hair algae, bryopsis, caulerpa, brown wafer algae, that red cotton algae (the 3rd algae that I'm keeping an eye on, luckily I have a few turbos that eat it) and I also have the occasional appearance of cyano and the dreaded dinos.
So I have a tank that is rich in food type nutrients (I don't even try to stop detritus, It's all food to somebody) but it's low in nitrates and phosphates because the algae takes it up which in turn is taken up by my herbivores. It's as close to the real ocean as i can get it :biggrin:

[Delphinus]

Well you must be doing something right. If you have PO4 entering the tank it's coming out somehow. The growth pictures are awesome. :cool:

[marie]

The reactor media I'm using is just the fine caribsea A.R.M. stuff

[marie]

To show how efficient algae is at taking up nutrients, here is pic of my tank last year just after it sat with no fish in it for 8 weeks. It's also when I first discovered this wonderful red/brown macroalgae.
You can see how pale all the corals are (even the macroalgae was pale at this point) because they were starving. Growth was just about nil on everything except the algae.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/2005_0302brad0010.jpg

[tang daddy]

Hey Marie that's amazing growth just out of coriousity was that the frag Anthony brought up on his last trip to PR, reason I ask is because a frag I traded him was destined for you it was a blue teal acro! really nice tank maybe I should ship you all my frags to grow out hehe jk.





3 month frag growth

June 20
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/june20003.jpg

sept 17
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept17013.jpg

[marie]

Hey Marie that's amazing growth just out of coriousity was that the frag Anthony brought up on his last trip to PR, reason I ask is because a frag I traded him was destined for you it was a blue teal acro! really nice tank maybe I should ship you all my frags to grow out hehe jk.

Yep I think so, but the colours in the second photo aren't true, it's more blue.

I believe this is a frag Anthony picked up from you back in feb.

pic taken april 18
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/growth_018.jpg

pic taken sept 23
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept23011.jpg

[Delphinus]

:eek: Steroids ?? :p

Wow that's amazing growth. :cool:

[Chowder]

Marie you do get amazing growth. I read your other post on RC that you are not doing to much to get those results but wow. You must be doing something right. You truley have a beautifull tank. Maybe it's something in the water up there. Thanks for sharing.

[marie]

I think I could kiss the guy who invented the calcium reactor. I am without C02 at the moment and I am struggling with my cal/alk levels. I am up to 240ml of each of the kent 2 part and I can't seem to keep my alk above 8dkh for longer then an hour.

[michika]

I am up to 240ml of each of the kent 2 part and I can't seem to keep my alk above 8dkh for longer then an hour.

That is a scary thing....what about other options like some of the Randy Homes Farley receipies on RC?

[marie]

That is a scary thing....what about other options like some of the Randy Homes Farley receipies on RC?

I'm hoping this is very temporary (it's been 4 weeks since I sent my co2 bottle away) and I happened to have the 2 part in stock :mrgreen:

[Chaloupa]

Marie! I so understand and my tank is far far from yours! I am battling keeping calcium and alk up now......I guess things are growing...but I've also added a LOT of coral so they're now sucking it all back......I so badly need a calcium reactor...when do you expect your bottle back?

[marie]

...when do you expect your bottle back?

2 weeks ago http://mazeguy.net/angry/irked.gif

[Chaloupa]

OH NO!:surprise: that is really awful...

[marie]

Now this is a bottle of co2 :razz: . No complaints from me for a day or too about running out :lol:

Thank you, Anthony and TomR for bringing it up and hooking it up for me

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct21001.jpg

[christyf5]

Whew! :eek: That sucker should get the job done (for a few months anyways :wink:).

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I say if you're gonna upgrade, UPGRADE!

She went from a 10 pounder to this 35 pound monster tank:biggrin: At the same usage rate, it should be good for almost a year & a half:surprise: Hopefully by the time this bottle runs low, her other one that was sent out to the Island will be back:wink:

Anthony

[Delphinus]

Hee hee hee. Don't drop that on your foot!