kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

[kien]

So I've been putting this off for far too long. The 131g FOWLR is in desperate need of a cover since it is a completely open top. Not even a canopy like the 150g mixed reef, so I know I've been rolling the dice.. Well, finally, here we are with the tank screen cover DIY project.

First up, here's a laundry list of materials you'll need.

1. Some sort of mesh of your choosing. I used a polyproplene mesh that I got off of 'acroholic' from Reef Sanctury. Just PM him if you want some. $0.85 per square foot and $5 shipping. UPDATE (June 12, 2013): Bulk Reef Supply sells the screen and kits as well: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumps-tanks-refugiums/diy-screen-tops.html
2. Screen door building materials (all from Home Depot in the window isle) including Aluminum rails,
3. Corner attachments
4. Screen spline
5. Screen application tool.
6. Tape measure
7. Hack saw (or similar).

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4707.jpg?t=1276672078

Here is the mesh..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4719.jpg?t=1276672153

As you can see, it is a pretty small weave.
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4736.jpg?t=1276672197

=======================================

So first up, we need to cut our rails. Just measure the lengths you need and cut away! I used a hacksaw to cut the aluminum. I did however have a tricky bit that I had to account for, and that was my return plumbing that comes up and over the edge of the tank like so..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4708.jpg?t=1276672343

To deal with this I had to cut the corner tabs so that the inserts were shorter. Plus, these tabs had small guide rails that slid into the hallow aluminum which I had to cut as well so that I could reverse the direction of the tabs. Once again, I just used my trusty little hack saw and cut away!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4709.jpg?t=1276672436

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4712.jpg?t=1276672453

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4711.jpg?t=1276672487

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4713.jpg?t=1276672511

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4714.jpg?t=1276672531

And so there we have the opening for the return pipe. That was actually the hardest part of the entire project! After that I just went around the rest of the frame with the aluminum rails and ended up with this.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4716.jpg?t=1276672581

[kien]

Next I pulled out the mesh and spread it across the frame and pulled out the screen spline material.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4720.jpg?t=1276672802

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4717.jpg?t=1276672851

I proceeded to insert the spline into the grooves that it was supposed to go into like so..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4723.jpg?t=1276672892

while using the screen application tool to push the spline into the groves as I went around the frame.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4724.jpg?t=1276672909

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4725.jpg?t=1276672945

make sure the screen is taut as you go around.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4728.jpg?t=1276673002

After the screen was secured to the frame I cut off the excess screen material around the edges and finally ended up with this, my virtually see through aquarium screen cover.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4729.jpg?t=1276673070

Easy as pie! Well, except for maybe Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie because that actually sounds kind of difficult..

[kien]

Here are some product photos.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4730.jpg?t=1276673207

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4732.jpg?t=1276673240

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4734.jpg?t=1276673258

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_4735.jpg?t=1276673274

I am quite happy with the result as there is virtually no light loss and I don't think anybody is going to jump through that sucker.

[zum14]

Awesome job as always! Have you noticed any light deflection off the mesh at all? I just need to figure out how to make one for a bowfront.

[kien]

Awesome job as always! Have you noticed any light deflection off the mesh at all? I just need to figure out how to make one for a bowfront.

Nope. Have not noticed anything different at all with the mesh screen on.

[muck]

Nicely done on the cover Kien.
Always meant to make one exactly like that for my tank when it was still running... just never got around to it. :neutral:

[Coleus]

I did this too and about to post my DIY mesh thread but i guess Kien beat me too it :0)

Lol. Be warn tho, after getting all materials, it cost me like 100 bucks to do 3 mesh screen for my bow front. I also order the mesh from acroholic

Very nice pictures and clear description like usual :-). I found that less salt sticking on the screen than my old egg crate and coral seems happier but not very convenience when feeding frozen food because i have to take the screen out which i did not have to do with the egg crate. Feeding pellets is fine.

[kien]

Thanks :-)

I don't have a bowfront though so your build will be different :-) Did it really cost $100? The home depot stuff only came out to like, $40 ? The mesh was like $12 with shipping. :biggrin:

Ya, the holes are so small that I can't drop flake food through anymore so I'm going to have to cut a feeding hole in the screen I think.

[Coleus]

Yes here is the break down of the cost

Mesh: $25 include shipping

Screen frame: 3x 11 feet: $36
Rolling tool: $11
Corner: 5 bags: $25 ( i have to do mutiple screen due to the top)
Spline: $5

Total: ~$100


I tried to locate some items at dollar store but could not find any :-(

[lastlight]

Nice work Kien. Do you have little rubber feet under the mesh or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

You don't need to put weights or anything on these? What if the fish used a buddy system? Big tang rockets for the surface and pops this badboy up. Wrasse on the followup and high-fin to the tang as he squeaks on through...

Just sayin'...

[kien]

Yes here is the break down of the cost

Mesh: $25 include shipping

Screen frame: 3x 11 feet: $36
Rolling tool: $11
Corner: 5 bags: $25 ( i have to do mutiple screen due to the top)
Spline: $5

Total: ~$100


I tried to locate some items at dollar store but could not find any :-(

Oh, I see. I guess you did need more stuff than I did. My screen was 18" by 60", two bags of corners and only two 11 feet frames. You should post your build though as a lot of people have bow fronts and would probably be interested in how you did yours.

[kien]

Nice work Kien. Do you have little rubber feet under the mesh or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

You don't need to put weights or anything on these? What if the fish used a buddy system? Big tang rockets for the surface and pops this badboy up. Wrasse on the followup and high-fin to the tang as he squeaks on through...

Just sayin'...

No feet, but that is probably not a bad idea! What you were seeing was probably a bead of water dripping from the eurobrace. I had just cleaned the tank and I'm pretty aggressive with the cleaning. Thank god for the splash guard :lol:

That feat would be something to see! I should set up a camera to capture that. I'm sure the screen would lift a bit if it was hit but would take some force for a fish to completely lift it out of the way I think. The whole thing is only slightly lighter than eggcrate.

[lastlight]

You brought a dead tang back to like bro...if it's GOING to happen it's going to happen in your tank and somehow exactly when you have your camera/howitzer ready. I look forward to the pics...or even video!

[Kryptic4L]

????????


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/4610476645_21a155fbaa_o.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1090/4611085762_97e1be9c3f_o.jpg

I see your starfish does saddam impressions

[Zoaelite]

I see your starfish does saddam impressions
Hahah! :lol:

[kien]

Because it is Friday!!! Here's something a little different.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4711096695_2091d16c87_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1274/4711737802_c60c379342_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4711737854_18c6a8ffa8_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4711737984_e5ea4e71a6_b.jpg

Sun Salutations..

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/4711096999_045d963053_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4711097097_f9aa00e1a1_b.jpg

and The Morning Grind..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4711738078_155312d2a1_b.jpg

[cuz]

cool morning pics!!!

[kien]

My father's day present this year!

I know you're all jealous! :whoo:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/fday_gift.jpg?t=1276953327

[Zoaelite]

I guess that's your wife implying that you could clean the oven and cook seafood for her more often :lol:.

[andestang]

Great pics ! Looks like something from Tim Burton :spider:

[torrid_07]

hey just wondering what you do with the shrimp and the baking soda?

[kien]

hey just wondering what you do with the shrimp and the baking soda?

Shrimp (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257), Baking Soda (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=499780) :biggrin:

[christyf5]

My father's day present this year!

I know you're all jealous! :whoo:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/fday_gift.jpg?t=1276953327

LOL, looks like you got the Costco Special :razz:

[kien]

TGIF!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3634277089_b90da9b2d5.jpg

So Doug was over yesterday to drop some stuff off and as I was giving him a tour of the tank I realize that I have had this Purple Gonioporia for over a year now. Yes, we all know how difficult they can be to keep long term and aren't typically recommended. What can I say, it was pretty and I wanted it. So ya it was an impulse buy and that was back in April 2009. Well the Goni is still here doing its thang with the Clowns. Yes, to throw another curve ball the clowns have been hosting this Goni for as long as it has been in the tank. :neutral:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4289512609_e02fc719f9.jpg

I was sure that the clowns were going to bring the Goni to a much earlier demise. In the end, I think the Clowns are in fact what's keeping it alive. Either they are feeding it, or just the act of defecating on it continuously is sustaining the Goni. Who knows. Just another one of those fluke occurrences in my strange tank..

.. of course now I've just jinxed myself and will likely find the Goni dead by tomorrow :lol:

[fishytime]

Great shots mang!......and thanks again for bebe sittin:wink:......absolutely blows me away that you've been able to keep a Goni alive for over a year!....with clowns hosting it!.......freakin amazing!...btw your system is freaking amazing too

[Leah]

hey just wondering what you do with the shrimp and the baking soda?

I think he probably eats the Seafood and then maybe chases it down with a Baking soda cocktail.

[lastlight]

That goni looks exactly like mine did back in 06...the first day I got it! After that it looked less and less purdy. Nice work with that badboy.

[kien]

Great shots mang!......and thanks again for bebe sittin:wink:......absolutely blows me away that you've been able to keep a Goni alive for over a year!....with clowns hosting it!.......freakin amazing!...btw your system is freaking amazing too

Thanks :)

I think he probably eats the Seafood and then maybe chases it down with a Baking soda cocktail.

ahh.. good times! :lol:

That goni looks exactly like mine did back in 06...the first day I got it! After that it looked less and less purdy. Nice work with that badboy.

Thanks Brett!

[Delphinus]

Hi Kien, as I sat and stared at hoses siphoning water this way or that tonight (water change time), I started to wonder how your automated water change project was doing. Sorry if this was updated recently and I missed it, but how is that coming along (or working out) so far?

[Skimmerking]

its funny how a gonipora needs dirty water to sustain. hmmmmmmmmm may be the clowns are doing what youa re talking about on the thread pooping to keep it alive. what ever works

[Greenmaster]

Sweet tank man! I just made a similar cover for my tank... got the mesh from the same guy too... only I found him on reef2reef :D
I'm quite jealous of your corals they look awesome.

[zum14]

So hows the tank doing? Been a while since we've seen any of your regular everyday amazing tank pictures. Hows the screen cover been working out on your FOWLR?

[kien]

Sweet tank man! I just made a similar cover for my tank... got the mesh from the same guy too... only I found him on reef2reef :D
I'm quite jealous of your corals they look awesome.

Thanks! :-)

So hows the tank doing?

Um.. let's not talk about the tank right now (more on that later..). Instead, how about some pictures of what I wish my tank looked like right now! :lol:

from a recent trip to the Georgia Aquarium.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4973699922_d3e7b5f9aa_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/4973700444_8383481d17_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/4973700228_777512980b_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/4973700772_cc15c3c594_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/4973083543_5d6ff3250d_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4973084083_8a09607fbe_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/4973701758_9d2de00178_o.jpg

[kien]

sharks everywhere!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4973083095_e86a247712_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/4973699546_f8e64f133d_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/4973084487_f1b9d3f47f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4973701674_177e630f54_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4973084149_de3cac7306_o.jpg

And here is the mother of them all!!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4973702022_0448d9d763_o.jpg

Rays!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4973701814_b72869175e_o.jpg

This one was playing in the bubbles. Pretty cool to watch.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/4973702094_a2a9a99226_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/4973701860_97c41d8460_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/4973699998_abc7f94154_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4973699658_86207816e8_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/4973700640_50b63da386_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4973084693_6d24e2824f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/4973702304_1b59117234_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4973084853_2dc627a556_o.jpg

This is what the aquarium looks like in the lobby area. Pretty trippy..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/4973702466_dcda6e9a83_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4973702544_620ab3410e_o.jpg

[lastlight]

Those are magic fingers man...you maintain the same quality when shooting in a public aquarium that's not fair! Thanks for sharinfg it's kinda neat how you see the same fish in ppl's videos on youtube etc. That grouper always sticks out he's hilarious.

[Chowder]

Nice pictures would love to go there some day...


Chris

[Trocar61]

Amazing pictures kien nice work. Now what's up with your tanks:wink:

[lorenz0]

awesome shots. Always wanted to go there. But that grouper shot is money, kind of made me lol

[kien]

Hello boys and girls! So.. where to begin..

When we last left off, I guess that was back in late June/early July, the reef was in top form, trucking along swimmingly (pun definitely intended!). Everything was nicely automated, fish were happy, corals were happy, all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the tank. Then of course summer rolled around and everything went to hell in a hand-woven basket.

I first noticed a couple of colonies acting funny. One was starting to burn at the tips and one was receding from the bottom. Okay, so something is up, let's check all the parameters. Parameters are all in check. Hmm, strange. Now, being SPS and having seen colonies do this before I figured fine, they aren't happy, everyone else seems happy so I'll just watch them and see what happens. Well, what happened next wasn't pretty. More and more colonies started to decline. Let's check the parameters again just to be sure. Yup, all in check. Maybe the lights? No, not the lights because colonies in both tanks are doing this and both tanks have completely different lighting systems (one is halide and one is T5s). Okay, time to clean the skimmer, the powerheads, return pumps, throw in some extra carbon and do some water changes. Nope, still no change. So, over the course of a couple of weeks colony after colony declined and withered away.. :sad:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7454.jpg?t=1284614570

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7466.jpg?t=1284614600

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7456.jpg?t=1284614600

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7464.jpg?t=1284614600

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7469.jpg?t=1284614600

In the end I pulled out over half my collection :sad: It was quite heartbreaking actually. Many of these colonies I grew from 1" frags over the course of the year. Also strange is that there was one colony that remained completely unaffected, an ORA Red Planet colony which isn't even mine! Go figure. :biggrin:

So here's what a few hundred dollars worth of SPS death looks like.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7482.jpg?t=1284615145

[kien]

Of course while all of this is going on in the tank summer is in full swing which meant lots of time outside with the family and a few site trips to Atlanta for business thrown in there. It was a brutally busy summer. By August I decided a major intervention was required and started doing 10% water changes every other day with a 50% water change on the weekend. Let me just say that 50% water changes on a 321g system is not fun!!

By mid August things had started to settle down in the tank and I could see improvement. The remaining colonies that didn't completely kick the salt bucket were starting to get their colour back which mostly all of them had lost. I also noticed a few colonies that had lost their tips started to encrust over them. Like this guy.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7465.jpg?t=1284615572

Because I was spending so much time trying to fight this "event" I didn't really have much time for other non essential maintenance like algae scrubbing. By this time the tank glass was a spectacular array of algaes. Nothing a few hours of elbow grease can't fix though.

[kien]

I'm not really one to dwell too much on the doom and gloom so to look on the bright side of things, the tank didn't completely crash! :lol: In fact, everyone else is doing perfectly fine. Clams are doing well, all LPS, zoas, fish, happy as can be. The few remaining colonies are in recovery mode and starting to come around.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7474.jpg?t=1284616081

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7471.jpg?t=1284616100

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7468.jpg?t=1284616119

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7463.jpg?t=1284616139

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7461.jpg?t=1284616165

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7451.jpg?t=1284616181

[kien]

As you can see the Reef is still here, the FOWLR is still here and we're back on track.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7480.jpg?t=1284616293

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7481.jpg?t=1284616314

So what the heck happened? Who the heck knows. Maybe SPS chemical warfare that reached a critical mass, maybe some sort of pathogen like a virus or protozoan. All I know is, whatever it was, it helped to clear much needed reef real estate for me to buy more corals :lol:

[Coleus]

wow i really feel your lost. I am very sorry to hear. have you checked your carbon?

[kien]

wow i really feel your lost. I am very sorry to hear. have you checked your carbon?

thanks.. and yes :) it is the same carbon that I've been using for a year now and the same carbon I'm still using today. Lignite RoX 0.8 carbon, great stuff actually.

[Zoaelite]

I know what your feeling buddy, pulled out a stupid amount of coral over the summer. Tank is still looking wicked, on the bright side now you can beat me to all the nice coral... like usual :razz:.

[Delphinus]

Ouch. :( Having lived through several inexplicable SPS die offs, I feel your pain.

Like I've said before sometimes it's not even really a testable parameter. There's so much stuff at play, when an event happens, our attempts at an investigation can sometimes just be the Texas sharpshooter syndrome. You hope whatever it was is resolved and hope for the best sometimes.

But, like you hinted .. onwards and upwards. Your tanks sure have a good look to them still.

[lastlight]

That is heartbreaking man. Those pics are tough to look at having seen that tank in person before. Great attitude about it all and not only are you not going soft(ie) on us you're plowing ahead with the sps. Not sure there's much I can help with but if you need me to break off anything to kick start you let me know.

[kien]

. Your tanks sure have a good look to them still.

Thanks! Ya if you stand way back and squint it doesn't look so bad :lol: just don't put your face to the glass.

[zum14]

Wow. Hard to read that. There was more in that bucket then in my entire tank. I think the hardest part about it all is not knowing what caused the problem. Seems to be a hard year for SPS.... Sorry about the loss and I can only hope that I can be as calm as you are with the situation. Tank is still show worthy!

[Leah]

Geez! :twised: This is not what you want to read about. So sorry to see this Kien...YOUR tanks inspire so many of us.... they are truly beautiful. Wish mine looked half as bad as yours do know. :mrgreen: Glad to hear you will be hanging in there. You are a true reefer. :biggrin:

[reefcanada]

That sucks, sorry to hear about this. Do you run a chiller? What did your temp. get up to?

[kien]

That sucks, sorry to hear about this. Do you run a chiller? What did your temp. get up to?

No I don't run a chiller. We have central AC in the house :)

With the Profilux Controller and some fans the temp always remains between 78 to 81. I have never seen it go out of that range, and if it does I get email alerts. I do have an old skool thermometer that I check on just to make sure the probes are okay but I do clean the probes frequently as well.

[Lance]

So sorry to hear this Kien. This is what pees me off about SPS. It happens all the time; to both newbies and experienced reefers alike: Acquire a little frag, grow it to a nice colony and then one day watch it wither away for no apparent reason. I've sworn I'm done with SPS a dozen times, but no........ we're all suckers for punishment. A sane person would stay away, but there's something about those fuzzy sticks that makes us lose our heads a little. Hopefully you're done with the bad stuff for awhile and your tank returns to its former glory.

[karazy]

sorry for your losses Kien.
the tank still looks great as usual.
did you lose your little baby toe of a red planet frag from OC?

[Mrfish55]

Tragic, I still say it's something seasonal, every summer I go thru the same thing, I make sure to maintain the same maintenance schedule as, like everyone, summer gets busy and let things slide. I get moderate growth from Oct-June and then all hell breaks loose (even the FOWLR lost all 4 large angels within 4 days this spring and no other fish were affected) Nice to see you keeping a positive outlook, I don't know how much more of this I can take, even my bubble for the first time in 20+ years was looking pretty unhappy this summer although it is looking real good the last few weeks, looking forward to the new progress on yours, Cheers.

[christyf5]

Sorry to hear of your troubles but glad to see you're looking on the bright side Kien.

Oh and I just gotta ask. Which tank is the FOWLR ? :wink:

[kien]

Thanks for all the words of support everyone! Heartbreaking, yes, but I think we all know that in this hobby we have to learn to take the good with the bad because there's an ample supply of both. I've had a few issues but pushing onward was never one of them. I'm in it to win it! :lol:

Sorry to hear of your troubles but glad to see you're looking on the bright side Kien.

Oh and I just gotta ask. Which tank is the FOWLR ? :wink:

Its the one with all the fish of course. Duh! :lol:

I've sworn I'm done with SPS a dozen times, but no........ we're all suckers for punishment. A sane person would stay away, but there's something about those fuzzy sticks that makes us lose our heads a little.

Word! They truly are like drugs. You know that in the long run they are bad for you but you just can't help yourself!


sorry for your losses Kien.
the tank still looks great as usual.
did you lose your little baby toe of a red planet frag from OC?

Ha! That piece of lint kicked it eons ago :lol:

[Greenmaster]

I'm still trying to find the one that is Fish Only With Live Rock.... I see two reefs... one of them might be FOWLRACAOS (Fish Only With Live Rock And Coral And Other Stuff) But I don't see a FOWLR :D

*edited at 10:49 on day of posting.
I know everyone hates to see the stuff Kien is going through (as do I)... but it seems to me like he has the right attitude and IMO since he has moved on (as best he could) we should too and stop bringing up the bad things and concentrate on the good. Like what an awesome tank he still has even after losing more coral then many people have.
I love your attitude Kien and you will have a happier with life because of it.

[lobsterboy]

holy, @@@@, thats not very good news. Sorry to hear this and see this.

ahh man, my stomach turned when I seen the stylofoam box.

[kien]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4767546791_168c3d5e77_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4767547127_c6bdedbf7c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4768187246_ae18537b8e_b.jpg

[Argentiner]

wow, Kien. Just saw your thread. So sorry to hear about the SPS losses. Your tank has always been one of my favorites, even though I've never seen it in person. On a plus side, wow I love the fish you have. Those anthias are awesome. Glad your trekking on with it.

I left for a weekend and lost a football sized colony of blue polyped pink birdsnest a while back for no apparent reason as well. Broke off a few frags before it totally died and the frags have been doing well for me. The colony was about a year and a half old.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Sorry to hear about your losses, but for many of the SPS fanatics locally in the Lower Mainland, last year was a brutal year for SPS.

On the plus side, both your tanks still look spectacular as usual, even if less full of corals. Keep up the good fight. Looking forward to seeing more beautiful pics of these gorgeous tanks.

Anthony

[Rbacchiega]

Fox Coral has always been one of my faves....goregous tanks!

[ElGuappo]

sorry to hear about all the issues.. i am a little behind apparently.. also you mentioned one reef and one fowlr tank, can i see some pics of the fowlr tank ??? this looks more like two reefs to me.... yes see triggers and large angels in there but its hardly a FOWLR! :mrgreen::wink:

edit:: um just read the title and never mind....


As you can see the Reef is still here, the FOWLR is still here and we're back on track.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7480.jpg?t=1284616293

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7481.jpg?t=1284616314

So what the heck happened? Who the heck knows. Maybe SPS chemical warfare that reached a critical mass, maybe some sort of pathogen like a virus or protozoan. All I know is, whatever it was, it helped to clear much needed reef real estate for me to buy more corals :lol:

[kien]

On a plus side, wow I love the fish you have. Those anthias are awesome.
Thanks! My fish definitely helped get through the tough times. When everything else was looking like crap they just kept on swimming :-D


On the plus side, both your tanks still look spectacular as usual, even if less full of corals. Keep up the good fight. Looking forward to seeing more beautiful pics of these gorgeous tanks.


thanks!! Ya the past year has been tough on a few tanks around here.. like I said, the "Event" has cleared up a lot of space that I'm starting to fill in now which is a lot of fun. In it to win it! :lol:

Fox Coral has always been one of my faves....goregous tanks!

The Fox Coral was the first coral I ever got for my first saltwater tank eons ago. Sadly it did not do too well but for the time that it was in that tank it helped to solidify my love of the hobby :biggrin:

this looks more like two reefs to me.... yes see triggers and large angels in there but its hardly a FOWLR! :mrgreen::wink:

edit:: um just read the title and never mind....

You are right though, I need to stop kidding myself as that ain't no FOWLR. I intended for it to be a FOWLR so I always refer to it as the "FOWLR". However, corals somehow manged to creep in there :)

[kien]

In early July I ordered one of them fancy schmancy new Hanna phosphate checkers. I ended up using it quite a but during the "event" that ripped through the tank as I frantically checked all my parameters pretty much every other day. I have to say it is pretty slick. I wish ALL test kits were like this!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5546.jpg?t=1286252622

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5547.jpg?t=1286252661

This is what you get in the box..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5548.jpg?t=1286252692

The checker itself, two test tubes, a stack of 4 (maybe 5 - i forget exactly) regents, AA battery. NOTE: The blue box to the left was an extra box of regent that I purchased. It does not come with it!

It is quite simple to use. First you fill both tubes with tank water. You then empty one packet of regent into one of the tubes and gently stir/mix.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5551.jpg?t=1286252877

The instructions say to wait 3 minutes before checking the tube with the regent in it. At about the 2.5 minute mark I turn on the checker by pressing the button. It'll display "Add Press C.1" once it is ready for you to insert the tube that only contains the tank water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5550.jpg?t=1286253057

Once the tube is inserted press the button. The Phosphate Checker uses this sample as sort of a zero calibration. Once it is ready it will display "Add Press C.2".

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5549.jpg?t=1286253224

This is when you take out the water only tube and insert the tube that has the regent in it. Then press the button again. In a pretty short amount of time (like a few seconds), it gives you a reading. voila!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5558.jpg?t=1286253317

Nice and simple. I do have two gripes about it though. 1. I find the openning of the test tube small and tricky to get all the regent out of the packet and into the tube. There may have been some spillage so I had to do a couple of tests :redface: 2. The display only stays on for a few seconds. After that it completely shuts off. If you press the button again it starts from scratch which means it expects you to put the water-only tube back in for calibration. Mildly annoying when you're trying to line it up for a photo shoot.

[Zoaelite]

Kien your photos are too good, the quality is actully burning my retnias and making me feel inadiquite in all of my posts :lol:!!

Tanks are looking wonderful as always buddy!

[kien]

Kien your photos are too good, the quality is actully burning my retnias and making me feel inadiquite in all of my posts :lol:!!

Tanks are looking wonderful as always buddy!

What's that? You want to see more pictures? Okay!

Nori time is a great time to see ALL the fish at once. No one can resist Nori on a stick! :biggrin:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5053595034_d1a5640ff4_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5052975177_ce2f2cecf2_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5052975357_6b9ef229d8_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5052975801_96d64dabae_b.jpg


Sadly this does not work in the 131g aggressive tank since most of the fish in there have sworn off Nori for some reason. A scallop or clam on a stick maybe. I'll have to try that.

[kien]

Hopefully I don't jinx myself.. but I think the "event" is behind me now. Corals are all looking good, growth is back on track and colours are returning.

This is a "skyberry" stag which is normally a baby blue that had completely browned out during the event. As you can see it has regained much of its colour.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5052975917_79b741d201_b.jpg

I've also put in some new frags to see how they faired and they have all done well.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5052976053_34006d9362_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5052976199_4522f55e3e_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5053596460_7e3327dfc5_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5052976325_653237272d_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5053596738_4199b2c4aa_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5053596594_6c3ea7a971_o.jpg

[fishytime]

:hail:.........ya......pretty much what Levi said!.....awsome pics man!.......good to see and hear that you are happy with the tank again:biggrin:

[andestang]

Good to see things are on the up & up Kien. Found the same thing with the Hanna meter, you don't have much time between the 2 tubes during the test. Great pic's also :).

[lastlight]

You could take a photo of a turd and somehow expose some hidden beauty I swear. Great shots and really good to hear you're back in the realm of growth and colour. How much is the tester and 25 reagents?

[kien]

:hail:.........ya......pretty much what Levi said!.....awsome pics man!.......good to see and hear that you are happy with the tank again:biggrin:

Good to see things are on the up & up Kien. Found the same thing with the Hanna meter, you don't have much time between the 2 tubes during the test. Great pic's also :).

You could take a photo of a turd and somehow expose some hidden beauty I swear. Great shots and really good to hear you're back in the realm of growth and colour. How much is the tester and 25 reagents?

Thanks guys :-) Can't say that I've ever photographed a turd before though.

Phosphate kit is $50. A pack of 25 reagents is $11. I hear they are coming out with kits for The Big 4 (Nitrate, Calcium, Alk, Mag). I will definitely be getting them!

[kien]

Took some pictures of my "fish room" today.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5620.jpg?t=1286573600

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5615.jpg?t=1286573574

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5619.jpg?t=1286573628

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5612.jpg?t=1286573650

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5607.jpg?t=1286573676

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5610.jpg?t=1286573843

[Delphinus]

Very nice as usual! Tell me about the flow pattern you have in the FOWLR?

[Lance]

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

[kien]

Very nice as usual! Tell me about the flow pattern you have in the FOWLR?

thanks! the flow is identical to what I have going on in the mixed reef. One power head (6105) shoots down the back wall, one shoots down the front wall. The stream hits the opposite wall and bounces back in the middle, above and below the location of the powerheads. I have all powerheads on the controller which pulses them randomly from 75% power to 100% every 10 seconds. Some of the flow that bounces off the opposite wall gets mixed with the flow from the powerheads every once and a while and causes turbulence in various middle parts of the tank. There's also the odd water funnel generated.

[paddyob]

What kind of equipment are you using to photograph your corals? They are fantastic shots!

Looks like a nice macro lens.... or perhaps a point and shoot with great macro setting!

I hope to rival those shots once my tank is complete!! LOL!

[kien]

What kind of equipment are you using to photograph your corals? They are fantastic shots!

Looks like a nice macro lens.... or perhaps a point and shoot with great macro setting!

I hope to rival those shots once my tank is complete!! LOL!

thanks :) Most macro photos were taken with the Canon 5D Mark II with 100mm macro lens. In water photos were taken with the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 in macro mode.

[karazy]

tanks look great as usual kien.

Also, that is a very cool chandelier.

[lastlight]

Those smooth white panels from ikea were a smokin' idea man and they photograph really well too. Wish my house were clean enough to zoom out for room shots haha.

[paddyob]

thanks :) Most macro photos were taken with the Canon 5D Mark II with 100mm macro lens. In water photos were taken with the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 in macro mode.


We have a Canon 40D over here... I might... MIGHT have to invest in the macro after seeing how well it does.

It is for our Graphic Design/Photography business we have.... macro might be a nice addition to the arsenal!

Olympus 6000.... I almost bought that one as well... went with the Pentax W90... might have to drop it in the tank and see what comes of it ;)


Thanks!

[kien]

After using the Hana Phosphate checker I discovered that my phosphates were a lot higher than I thought they were. Using other (conventional) test kits I have a hard time distinguishing the low level colour gradients near zero. With the Hana I get an exact digital reading, cool! After a few rounds (quite a bit of trial and error) with the Hana meter I think I have the process down. One thing I learned is that there are quite a few things that can throw the meter off. Finger prints, bubbles in the cuvette, not using all the reagent (some of it ends up on the counter or stuck in the corners of its packet.. grrr!). Anyway, after seeing that my phosphate was non-zero and was actually 0.16 I started to scratch my head and wonder exactly where the phosphates were coming from. Yes, I know we introduce phosphates through various foods that we throw into our tanks but what I was really curious about was who was the greatest offender. So today I set out to answer this question and here's how it went down.

For every food product that I feed my fish I scooped up 1 teaspoons worth and dumped it into a bowl of 1/4 cup of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5623.jpg?t=1286685882

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5625.jpg?t=1286685909

I then let the food sit all day to leech out all its phosphorus goodness.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5626.jpg?t=1286685967

Top Left: Nori sheet (from Superstore)
Top Middle: Formula 1 Flakes
Top Right: Formula 1 pellets
Bottom Left: My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257)
Bottom Right: PE Misys (unrinsed)

After a few hours ( like 10 or 11 i think ) I began the testing. For each food item I purcolated the mixture to get as much fluid as possible.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7693.jpg?t=1286686236

I tried to test this solution but it was way too concentrated so I had to dilute it. Instead, I drew up 2 mils of each fluid and diluted it with 8mils of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7694.jpg?t=1286686333

I now had my solutions that I could test and simply followed the Hana testing procedures (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=553688&postcount=567) with the control sample and reagent sample.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7695.jpg?t=1286686389

===========================================

The results were not overly surprising. We all know these foods contain phosphates that are typically used as a preservative. As I said earlier, I was mostly curious about which food items had the most phosphate. To add to my disclaimer, this is NOT a scientific experiment by any stretch of the imagination. I tried my best to keep consistent with each test but there is still a huge potential for error. This really just gives me a rough ballpark idea rather than concrete evidence of anything. Having said all that, here are my results!

NB: All results in PPM (Parts Per Million). I performed 3 tests for each sample and took an average. The meter has a resolution of 0 to 2.5. Anything higher than 2.5 and it just flashes 2.5.

1. My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257) - 1.81
2. PE Misys (unrinsed) - 1.90
3. Nori (sheets from Superstore) - 2.04
4. Formula 1 flakes - > 2.5 !!
5. Formula 1 pellets - 2.3
6. Tap Water - 0.00
7. RO/DI Water - 0.00
8. Rinsed PE Misys - > 2.5 !!
9. New Salt Water (Instant Ocean) - 0.0
10. My homemade fish mush before additives (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257) - 0.33

So there we have it. Again, I can not emphasize enough, take these results with a grain of sea salt! They are not scientific. You will notice a couple of TBD up there. I plan to do a water change tomorrow so I'll be testing that mixture and post the results then. I have also rinsed the sample of PE Misys to see what difference that makes. It should be ready for me to test tomorrow morning as it is currently leeching in its bowl.

I need to buy more reagents.. :lol:

[fishytime]

After using the Hana Phosphate checker I discovered that my phosphates were a lot higher than I thought they were. Using other (conventional) test kits I have a hard time distinguishing the low level colour gradients near zero. With the Hana I get an exact digital reading, cool! After a few rounds (quite a bit of trial and error) with the Hana meter I think I have the process down. One thing I learned is that there are quite a few things that can throw the meter off. Finger prints, bubbles in the cuvette, not using all the reagent (some of it ends up on the counter or stuck in the corners of its packet.. grrr!). Anyway, after seeing that my phosphate was non-zero and was actually 0.16 I started to scratch my head and wonder exactly where the phosphates were coming from. Yes, I know we introduce phosphates through various foods that we throw into our tanks but what I was really curious about was who was the greatest offender. So today I set out to answer this question and here's how it went down.

For every food product that I feed my fish I scooped up 1 teaspoons worth and dumped it into a bowl of 1/4 cup of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5623.jpg?t=1286685882

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5625.jpg?t=1286685909

I then let the food sit all day to leech out all its phosphorus goodness.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5626.jpg?t=1286685967

Top Left: Nori sheet (from Superstore)
Top Middle: Formula 1 Flakes
Top Right: Formula 1 pellets
Bottom Left: My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257)
Bottom Right: PE Misys (unrinsed)

After a few hours ( like 10 or 11 i think ) I began the testing. For each food item I purcolated the mixture to get as much fluid as possible.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7693.jpg?t=1286686236

I tried to test this solution but it was way too concentrated so I had to dilute it. Instead, I drew up 2 mils of each fluid and diluted it with 8mils of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7694.jpg?t=1286686333

I now had my solutions that I could test and simply followed the Hana testing procedures (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=553688&postcount=567) with the control sample and reagent sample.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7695.jpg?t=1286686389

===========================================

The results were not overly surprising. We all know these foods contain phosphates that are typically used as a preservative. As I said earlier, I was mostly curious about which food items had the most phosphate. To add to my disclaimer, this is NOT a scientific experiment by any stretch of the imagination. I tried my best to keep consistent with each test but there is still a huge potential for error. This really just gives me a rough ballpark idea rather than concrete evidence of anything. Having said all that, here are my results!

NB: All results in PPM (Parts Per Million). I performed 3 tests for each sample and took an average. The meter has a resolution of 0 to 2.5. Anything higher than 2.5 and it just flashes 2.5.

1. My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257) - 1.81
2. PE Misys (unrinsed) - 1.90
3. Nori (sheets from Superstore) - 2.04
4. Formula 1 flakes - > 2.5 !!
5. Formula 1 pellets - 2.3
6. Tap Water - 0.00
7. RO/DI Water - 0.00
8. Rinsed PE Misys - TBD
9. New Salt Water (Instant Ocean) - TBD

So there we have it. Again, I can not emphasize enough, take these results with a grain of sea salt! They are not scientific. You will notice a couple of TBD up there. I plan to do a water change tomorrow so I'll be testing that mixture and post the results then. I have also rinsed the sample of PE Misys to see what difference that makes. It should be ready for me to test tomorrow morning as it is currently leeching in its bowl.

I need to buy more reagents.. :lol:

I know that this is in no way a scientific result, but I have been trying to encourage people away from flake/ pellets for two years at the store.....You can do a search for the NLS thread where I told peeps about the actively added copper sulfate listed as an ingredient.....that was a fiasco!:mrgreen:.........I equate flake food to .......well......junk food.....the problem with it in our tanks is if any of it goes uneaten, it quickly breaks down and dissolves into the water column....which feeds.....everything....that being said you just cant beat the convenience factor that a dry food provides:wink:.....

Thanks for your kick-arse, informative posts mang!:biggrin:

[Coleus]

very interesting information. Keep it up! Cheers

[lastlight]

Wow Kien that's awesome thanks for documenting that.

So Doug what exactly are you telling people to feed their tanks?

[fishytime]

Wow Kien that's awesome thanks for documenting that.

So Doug what exactly are you telling people to feed their tanks?

I feed nothing but frozen(strained/rinsed, if necessary) .......save the times when the lights are about to go off and Im like.....crap!!!!! I forgot to thaw some food:mrgreen:....

[lastlight]

I was under the impression these frozen foods (mysis/brine etc) were sorta like filler and not a complete diet for the fish? I currently do feed both but have been thinking of the pellets as my primary. My fish do consume all of them though...

[fishytime]

I was under the impression these frozen foods (mysis/brine etc) were sorta like filler and not a complete diet for the fish? I currently do feed both but have been thinking of the pellets as my primary. My fish do consume all of them though...

maybe I should clarify:biggrin:.....I feed a "special" blend of food which I dont rinse, because it has garlic and selcone added to it.....I feed a brine/mysis shrimp combo which I strain and then soak in selcon.....and I also feed the "ocean plankton" (which the shop carries:mrgreen:), that I strain(no vitamins added as this is as close to a natural diet as most fish will get):wink:....

[kien]

You reminded me if one surprising result. When I tested my tap water for phosphates it came up zero!! Everyone is always freaked out about the phosphate content of tap water.. Why? I know that there is a lot of other junk in our tap water, hence my TDS reading of 214 but apparently phosphate is not among them. And yes I do realize that not all tap water is created equal.

Also, I am not surprised but I am disappointed that my nori had quite a bit of phosphate. Mainly because nori tends to not get consumed right away so there is plenty of time for it to leech it's phosphates unlike the other foods that typically get eaten immediately.

[fishytime]

You reminded me if one surprising result. When I tested my tap water for phosphates it came up zero!! Everyone is always freaked out about the phosphate content of tap water.. Why? I know that there is a lot of other junk in our tap water, hence my TDS reading of 214 but apparently phosphate is not among them. And yes I do realize that not all tap water is created equal.

Also, I am not surprised but I am disappointed that my nori had quite a bit of phosphate. Mainly because nori tends to not get consumed right away so there is plenty of time for it to leech it's phosphates unlike the other foods that typically get eaten immediately.

not much phosphate in our taps.....but test the water below the outflow of the treatment facilities on the Bow......its what makes the Bow the blue ribbon fishery that it is......phosphate grows weeds.....which grows bugs.....which grows trout:biggrin:

[Delphinus]

This is my understanding. Might be a bit oversimplified but as far as I know it's more or less correct still: :p

There is phosphates in everything, it's not going to be possible to get away from phosphates. It is like other things however, including NO3, in that there is some uptake by organisms so there will be some minor fluctuations in the levels from one day to the next however it is usually a given that we tend to input more than a tank is able to uptake and thus there is a residual value which usually creeps up in the absence of a PO4 reduction mechanism (eg. algae, refugium, ULNS, GFO, kalk, etc.) Some phosphate is necessary for growth, although too high a value inhibits calcification and thus inhibits coral growth or encourages tissue recession.

Anyhow that said, phosphate is not just phosphate, there is inorganic phosphate and organic phosphate. Of interest to us is organic phosphate, but you can only test for inorganic phosphate. Generally speaking we assume that the level of organic phosphate is around the same as inorganic phosphate, but that may not always be the case.

I remember reading that if you boil a water sample for some period of time and then test for phosphate, you will get a different value for before and after, because the organic phosphate denatures into inorganic during boiling.

Having said that however, that may not be the explanation for the tapwater producing a zero value. Drinking water standards dictate acceptable levels for many different parameters and AFAIK, nitrates and phosphates are to be zero (or very close to zero), and municipalities are thus mandated to provide water as such. I remember there was a big thing in the news about some small town had to provide bottled water because the tapwater had a detectable level of nitrate.

I could be wrong but that's what I always thought anyhow.

[MitchM]

...
This is a "skyberry" stag which is normally a baby blue that had completely browned out during the event. As you can see it has regained much of its colour. ...

Interesting that one coral "browned out" while others were dying off.

Browning is a typical sign of high nutrients, isn't it?
Perhaps the mucus secretion from your LPS and soft corals had increased suddenly for some reason leading to a high level of dissolved organics, plus some added chemical warfare happening at the same time.

Were you adding any corals shortly before that "event" or fragging anything?

Mitch

[BlueTang<3]

After using the Hana Phosphate checker I discovered that my phosphates were a lot higher than I thought they were. Using other (conventional) test kits I have a hard time distinguishing the low level colour gradients near zero. With the Hana I get an exact digital reading, cool! After a few rounds (quite a bit of trial and error) with the Hana meter I think I have the process down. One thing I learned is that there are quite a few things that can throw the meter off. Finger prints, bubbles in the cuvette, not using all the reagent (some of it ends up on the counter or stuck in the corners of its packet.. grrr!). Anyway, after seeing that my phosphate was non-zero and was actually 0.16 I started to scratch my head and wonder exactly where the phosphates were coming from. Yes, I know we introduce phosphates through various foods that we throw into our tanks but what I was really curious about was who was the greatest offender. So today I set out to answer this question and here's how it went down.

For every food product that I feed my fish I scooped up 1 teaspoons worth and dumped it into a bowl of 1/4 cup of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5623.jpg?t=1286685882

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5625.jpg?t=1286685909

I then let the food sit all day to leech out all its phosphorus goodness.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_5626.jpg?t=1286685967

Top Left: Nori sheet (from Superstore)
Top Middle: Formula 1 Flakes
Top Right: Formula 1 pellets
Bottom Left: My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257)
Bottom Right: PE Misys (unrinsed)

After a few hours ( like 10 or 11 i think ) I began the testing. For each food item I purcolated the mixture to get as much fluid as possible.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7693.jpg?t=1286686236

I tried to test this solution but it was way too concentrated so I had to dilute it. Instead, I drew up 2 mils of each fluid and diluted it with 8mils of RO/DI water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7694.jpg?t=1286686333

I now had my solutions that I could test and simply followed the Hana testing procedures (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=553688&postcount=567) with the control sample and reagent sample.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7695.jpg?t=1286686389

===========================================

The results were not overly surprising. We all know these foods contain phosphates that are typically used as a preservative. As I said earlier, I was mostly curious about which food items had the most phosphate. To add to my disclaimer, this is NOT a scientific experiment by any stretch of the imagination. I tried my best to keep consistent with each test but there is still a huge potential for error. This really just gives me a rough ballpark idea rather than concrete evidence of anything. Having said all that, here are my results!

NB: All results in PPM (Parts Per Million). I performed 3 tests for each sample and took an average. The meter has a resolution of 0 to 2.5. Anything higher than 2.5 and it just flashes 2.5.

1. My homemade fish mush (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=483333&postcount=257) - 1.81
2. PE Misys (unrinsed) - 1.90
3. Nori (sheets from Superstore) - 2.04
4. Formula 1 flakes - > 2.5 !!
5. Formula 1 pellets - 2.3
6. Tap Water - 0.00
7. RO/DI Water - 0.00
8. Rinsed PE Misys - TBD
9. New Salt Water (Instant Ocean) - TBD

So there we have it. Again, I can not emphasize enough, take these results with a grain of sea salt! They are not scientific. You will notice a couple of TBD up there. I plan to do a water change tomorrow so I'll be testing that mixture and post the results then. I have also rinsed the sample of PE Misys to see what difference that makes. It should be ready for me to test tomorrow morning as it is currently leeching in its bowl.

I need to buy more reagents.. :lol:


This is great thanks :biggrin:

[kien]

Interesting that one coral "browned out" while others were dying off.

Browning is a typical sign of high nutrients, isn't it?
Perhaps the mucus secretion from your LPS and soft corals had increased suddenly for some reason leading to a high level of dissolved organics, plus some added chemical warfare happening at the same time.

Were you adding any corals shortly before that "event" or fragging anything?

Mitch

Actually there was more than one that browned out. Mostly all of the surviving SPS (50% of them) browned out to some degree. Some receded from the bottom some from the tips. Some STN'ed some RTN'ed. No fragging was done. Yes a few corals were added just prior. Yes what you suggest is certainly a possibility among a laundry list of other possibilities. In the end Im leaning towards the cause not being one thing but rather a cascade of events probably.

[kien]

...
I could be wrong but that's what I always thought anyhow.

Cool thanks Tony!

[Lance]

Thanks for the info Kien. That was a substantial amount of effort! Makes me re-think using flake foods.

[lobsterboy]

wow thats some sick info there Kien, impressive.

ya didnt happen to test New Life Spectrum.... ? :wink:

[kien]

wow thats some sick info there Kien, impressive.

ya didnt happen to test New Life Spectrum.... ? :wink:

No, sorry :)

Okay, so to finish up these tests I tested PE Mysis rinsed, New Salt Water (Instant Ocean), and my homemade fish mush prior to adding additives such as garlic and vitamins. I updated the original post with these results, but here they are.

- Rinsed PE Mysis - >2.5 !!
- New Salt Water (Instant Ocean) - 0.0
- My Homemade Fish mush (before additives added) - 0.33

Now, the first thing that jumped out at me was the PE Mysis! Yikes! One thing that was different was that I left the PE Mysis out over night so it had a long time to leech out. Also, PE Mysis is made up of a heck of a lot of water, so there must be a lot of phosphate bound up in its body. I was quite surprised to see how little phosphate was in the superstore mixed seafood which I use for my homemade blended fish mush. This leads me to conclude that there must be a lot of phosphates in the additives, either the garlic extract or selcon or both!

[lastlight]

Damn 2.5. I may as well just dose P04 directly into the damn tank.

So if it gets entirely eaten and pooped out...is the P04 still P04? There's no magic anywhere in it's journey I'm guessing.

[kien]

Damn 2.5. I may as well just dose P04 directly into the damn tank.

So if it gets entirely eaten and pooped out...is the P04 still P04? There's no magic anywhere in it's journey I'm guessing.

Actually, phosphorus is an essential element (http://www.healthyeatingclub.org/info/books-phds/books/foodfacts/html/data/data5f.html) to organisms. We need it, fish need it, but the problem is most prepared foods contain more phosphorus than is needed. What that means in the end, I don't know. I'm not a biologist :)

[lastlight]

I'm not a biologist :)

Well I feel cheated now.

[kien]

thought I'd throw this pic up. I hardly ever see this guy.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5073744473_63e7ac5965_o.jpg

[MitchM]

...
So there we have it. Again, I can not emphasize enough, take these results with a grain of sea salt! They are not scientific. ...

I did a similar test back in 2004 and came up with similar results as yours, so I think your results are quite valid!
I wonder why your rinsed mysis came back with a higher P04 though?

...
I took a single 7 1/2 x 8" , 2.8 gram piece of nori and placed it in 1 liter of RO/DI for 24 hours at room temperature and tested the water before and after.

Before P04 was 0.0 ppm.
After P04 was 1.0 ppm.

...
18 grams (about a tablespoon) of Piscine mysis, unrinsed, showed about 2.0 ppm in the same test. :eek:

edit:
18 grams of frozen mysis, thawed then rinsed briefly in R/O brought the weight down to 14 grams. P04 was a little over 1.0 ppm.

Mitch

Here's that thread:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=12625

Mitch

[kien]

I did a similar test back in 2004 and came up with similar results as yours, so I think your results are quite valid!
I wonder why your rinsed mysis came back with a higher P04 though?



Here's that thread:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=12625

Mitch

Cool! ya, looks like we got similar results. Again, it sucks about the nori because that tends to sit out all day as the tangs graze :neutral: As for the Mysis, I'm wondering if it was because I left them out all night and let all the fluids in their bodies leech out phosphates.

[kien]

Baby blue is back!

When we last left the twin baby blue Linckias (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=516784&postcount=437) they were just nubbins.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4582638723_c0e98c7abf_o.jpg

I had not seen or noticed them for quite a while. They mostly cruise the rocks and hide in crevasses. Well, now they are back and cruising the glass.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5075735207_723fc74b6f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/5075735059_9e136318af_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1341/5075735295_3e40ec369b_o.jpg

I would assume they are thriving since they have both grown quite a bit since April of this year when I first noticed them.

[Delphinus]

sucks about the nori because that tends to sit out all day as the tangs graze :neutral:

How much nori are we talking about here? When I feed nori it's usually GONE after 30-45 seconds! But I cut up the nori into pieces about 2.5"x4". So one "sheet" of nori for me works out to about a week's worth, give or take.

That really is a remarkable thing that the linckia's regenerated and failed to die still. :lol: I had the same thing happen to me with a purple linckia (not a Linckia sp. but everyone just calls them that since they look like linckia) but no such luck with the legs regenerating new bodies.

Do yours eat anything that you notice?

[lastlight]

That's one well-endowed Linckia. Congrats Dad :mrgreen: You seem to have success with your stars but I'm still scared to try one.

[kien]

How much nori are we talking about here? When I feed nori it's usually GONE after 30-45 seconds! But I cut up the nori into pieces about 2.5"x4". So one "sheet" of nori for me works out to about a week's worth, give or take.

That really is a remarkable thing that the linckia's regenerated and failed to die still. :lol: I had the same thing happen to me with a purple linckia (not a Linckia sp. but everyone just calls them that since they look like linckia) but no such luck with the legs regenerating new bodies.

Do yours eat anything that you notice?

okay, well, "all day" might be exaggerating it a bit, but the nori does last a few minutes as opposed to 30 seconds! Maybe 30 minutes? I rip off a sheet that is probably 4" by 3" and roll that around the nori stick.

I don't notice them eat anything. They must just graze whatever they can find off the rocks.

[Argentiner]

Nice shots of the linkia babies. I've had mine for about a year and a half and I always see it eating the sponges I have on the undersides of my live rock. I suspect that's why they die in a lot of tanks, as most don't have much. I think the sponge power mass produced sponge in my tank.

[dpg]

Did you go starphire or regular float? While starphire looks clear when empty ive been told that there is minimal difference when filled with water - either way your tank looks great!

[kien]

Did you go starphire or regular float? While starphire looks clear when empty ive been told that there is minimal difference when filled with water - either way your tank looks great!

Thanks! Just regular glass. Funny thing is, all the builders that I asked when I went to get quotes said not to get starphire. While it is clearer it is also softer. Mind you I think there is a new starphire that is stronger? Anyway, I've seen starphire tanks and like you said, when there is water in there I personally can not tell the difference. If I had to do it all over again I would still not get starphire. Would rather put that money somewhere more useful like gadgets and or livestock :biggrin: But to each their own.

[Greenmaster]

Glad to hear this... I have regular float glass as well... I can tell a slight difference but not enough for the money... the thicker you go the easier it is to see the green tint.

[kien]

I thought it would be fun today to provide a glimpse behind the magic curtain. Here's all the stuff that you typically do not see, but is just as important (in my opinion) in helping maintain my reef.

First up we have the RO/DI unit. 75 gpd with inline TDS meter.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7878.jpg?t=1287175087

All that water gets dripped into this, a 50 gallon barrel.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7876.jpg?t=1287175139

That water is used for auto top off. It also gets pumped into this, a 33 gallon trash bin used for pre-mixing New Saltwater.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7881.jpg?t=1287175185

Here's my chiller to help keep the tank cool in the summertime.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7883.jpg?t=1287175263

Also to help combat heat I have a fan that blows accross the top of the tank to increase evaporation.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_1023.jpg?t=1251666590

The result is an insane amount of humidity in the house. To combat this I have installed this bad boy, an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation) that dehumidifies the whole house as it draws in fresh air. It is plumbed right into the furnace.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7880.jpg?t=1287175408

We just install this yesterday actually. The house went from a relative humidity of 58% yesterday, to a more comfortable 40% today.

And finally, to help power this whole operation I installed two 20amp breakers.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_7882.jpg?t=1287175317

[freezetyle]

are those the GHL fans that blow across the top?

[kien]

Ya, those pics were kind of boring.. How about some reef porn? Haven't done any underwater top downs in a while..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5084354441_e33d4a1ca2_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5084354441_37e888ab38_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5084948504_2afb4115f0_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5084948504_1c1cf40616_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5084354835_1c3c314d2c_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5084354835_cb26cbc05e_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5084355029_f41c581a76_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5084355029_87e1858a2b_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5084949878_3a1d34f65c_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5084949878_418a7d232d_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084950022_92ed61767a_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084950022_8b097b044b_o.jpg)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5084356305_96fb8b502f_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5084356305_e7a17d276a_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084951222_0ccd951ff4_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084951222_bf91d05e88_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5084951558_16c6daea81_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5084951558_9fe07deb3f_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5084358081_43c488a3f1_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5084358081_c3b4fd63cd_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/5084358581_c03020c9f2_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/5084358581_4cf5a9ff2d_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5084358761_cb78d1134b_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5084358761_b4cf90399a_o.jpg)

[kien]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5084952950_c1628f66d0_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5084952950_25c29d9001_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5084359245_025b659261_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5084359245_b5c272e485_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5084359423_53e26f2602_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5084359423_d7fd44539e_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5084954410_e196a66c9c_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5084954410_5e62826404_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5084955056_99a827cd20_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5084955056_ee71b7a0f8_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5084955626_d2a660d36b_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5084955626_035be8b640_o.jpg)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5084956200_e14d141748_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5084956200_3fb3563de6_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5084362301_e7a545e8cb_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5084362301_d41de10431_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5084956482_a1b76e7555_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5084956482_12dd0daf1a_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5084956656_0c4de489ae_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5084956656_eaf6a7f95c_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5084363803_4554c0a701_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5084363803_73017c22a5_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5084359945_3e9bd99671_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5084359945_c40cdf1e66_o.jpg)

[kien]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084355293_65f9c49b1b_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5084355293_549170fc6f_o.jpg)http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5084355463_f81b67ffd0_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5084355463_70157d3db1_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5084950400_a217158520_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5084950400_ebeb800713_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5084356905_dac5f1bd6a_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5084356905_0de50b4f84_o.jpg)http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5084951056_dc9d9db418_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5084951056_e47a7e6a50_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5084358247_663c2bb36e_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5084358247_98271e18b7_o.jpg)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5084358423_d036f22298_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5084358423_7d668f534b_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5084359581_448a01e6be_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5084359581_ddd24dc777_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/5084953828_5faf79303b_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/5084953828_e1104fd60c_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5084361641_05516dce63_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5084361641_b783ec1152_o.jpg) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5084957682_0edd62102f_s.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5084957682_7ae4cb540f_o.jpg)

[kien]

are those the GHL fans that blow across the top?

Yup, GHL Breeze, controlled by my Profilux. They come in 2, 4 and 6 fan configurations I believe.

[shrimpchips]

Kein, I hope the tank I'm setting up can be 1/2 as sexy as yours is....

[dpg]

You installed the hrv yourself?? Is it worth the cost?

[kien]

Kein, I hope the tank I'm setting up can be 1/2 as sexy as yours is....

Thanks!

You installed the hrv yourself?? Is it worth the cost?

No, the vendor installed it. Took them 6 hours :). It was a challenge since my basement is developed. Yes we noticed a difference the next day. The air in the house is no longer stale and soggy and we no longer have any condensation on the windows.

[mseepman]

It was my understanding that HRV's needed set "intake points" in a house and didn't draw from your cold air returns...is that true? If yes, did you put an intake point near your tank?

[kien]

It was my understanding that HRV's needed set "intake points" in a house and didn't draw from your cold air returns...is that true? If yes, did you put an intake point near your tank?

To be honest I did not pay too much attention to where it is plumbed. All I know is that it is tied into the furnace and I can see a new exhaustvent that they had to drill outside. No I did not put and intake near the tank.

[globaldesigns]

It was my understanding that HRV's needed set "intake points" in a house and didn't draw from your cold air returns...is that true? If yes, did you put an intake point near your tank?

HRV's are hooked up to the cold air intake of the furnace, the cold air intake of the actual outside. Then also exhaused back into the main furance output and to the outside. Basically four lines.

Mine has a 2 fan setup inside and 3 filters, 2 normal foam ones for cleaning the air, and the one big one (I think this is the one for condensation of water)

[sweet ride]

I've been following this thread for awhile now and I got to say very impressive and informative.

[kien]

I've been following this thread for awhile now and I got to say very impressive and informative.

Hey thanks!! :D

[kien]

Thalassoma Lutescens (aka, Sunset Wrasse, Green Moon Wrasse, Yellow-brown wrasse, Banana Wrasse, etc..). I've only been looking for this fish for 6 years :lol: Thanks to Kevin @Red Coral my search has finally ended :biggrin:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5200185539_b1ce3d11f4_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5200778816_5a83432d3a_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5200778464_0387ccc899_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5200778620_c8f403766e_o.jpg

[lorenz0]

saw them at the store on the weekend. AMAZING fish

[Trabby]

Beautiful fish!

[kien]

saw them at the store on the weekend. AMAZING fish

And I got a Male & Female pair of them to boot!! The female is a much much smaller target to photograph. It doesn't help that they cruise the tank at 200mph either.

[lorenz0]

Ya when I was in the male was kind of hiding in the rock and the females was out. Only got a glimps of him. Great to hear he is loving the new home. So are they living in your aggressive tank or the main tank?

[fishytime]

good to know that they seem to be doing well......really is a gorgeous fish....great shots of the male to boot:biggrin:....

I think he said they were going on the aggressive side....

[lastlight]

Live Aquaria's site indicates they're aggressive and not reef-compatible. Too bad what a beauty! Thankfully Kien's will be in a 'FOWLR' so no real risk right? :biggrin:

[kien]

Ya when I was in the male was kind of hiding in the rock and the females was out. Only got a glimps of him. Great to hear he is loving the new home. So are they living in your aggressive tank or the main tank?

Aggressive tank for sure. I have way too many ornamental inverts in the mixed reef that they would likely devour :) Thalassoma wrasses are typically not reef safe and can be very aggressive. I've owned two others in the past, a Lunare Wrasse eons ago and a Quinquevittatum (aka pink face wrasse) which I re-homed. Both very pretty but aggressive fish.

good to know that they seem to be doing well......really is a gorgeous fish....great shots of the male to boot:biggrin:....

I think he said they were going on the aggressive side....

They are doing quite well. I think that they are the only fish that I've ever put in the tank that has not immediately went into hiding. They took to my fish mush right away. I think the other fish are afraid of the dynamic duo :biggrin:

[globaldesigns]

Now that fish is beautiful. Great addition.

[tgrover]

Very, Very helpful!! Tim

[kien]

Everyone seems to be updating their threads these days so here's mine :biggrin:

Aside from a few new corals (more on those later), there are actually a couple of things that I have changed. First, when I read about Dez's approach to salt I thought that was a brilliant idea so I have adopted it myself. Since December I have been performing water changes with 4 different salts. My water changes are done 10% weekly and each week I do the water change with a different salt brand. Currently I am rotating between regular Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Seachem and Red Sea Salts. Once one of those buckets runs out I'll probably buy a completely different brand to replace it. Honestly, I never did have any problems with using regular IO for the past 6 years but I do like the philosophy behind this approach. It is sort of like mixing all of the salt brands out there into one giant bucket and using that giant salt mix :) Anyway, so far so good!

Secondly, lorenz0 thought that maybe I should run MORE bio pellets so I have added another bioPellet reactor. I now run two vertex-UR20 reactors daisy chained together.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5332521180_c5c5ac5cf1_o.jpg

And that's about it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5332520916_d2d7b6a03f_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5332521010_3707b977da_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/5332521070_ec83404ae2_o.jpg

some coral p0rn to follow..

[lorenz0]

really just had to add my name in before that comment lol, I gave up on those conversations

secondly, as always the system is looking amazing

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5331867885_622a578340_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5331867885_0f89058410_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5331868045_efc4285b06_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5331868045_50e276fa24_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5332489478_7a91aea0bb_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5332489478_a95030f834_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331868417_2186d28d0c_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331868417_1bcb51d01a_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5332482126_45feb0d300_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5332482126_5b554c7cfb_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5332482720_493084b87f_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5332482720_0567a5b269_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5331869051_e1e9d0d5d5_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5331869051_675b6daa72_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331869153_a4fce84f98_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331869153_e28007774e_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331869273_6dc9d6f184_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331869273_911768d4ec_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5332483188_0d03f4948d_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5332483188_9d31b120a1_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5332483590_0ee3c4a0cc_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5332483590_d85f95a1ea_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5331869709_84227ccec2_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5331869709_7bd42d756b_o.jpg)

[Delphinus]

Great photos as always. :cool:

Curious as to the doubling of the pellets, was there any reason that pushed you to thinking that more was needed?

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5331870373_f382518688_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5331870373_523d666dcd_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5043/5331871057_1b927217a5_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5043/5331871057_b28af9e32f_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5331871329_2dab7f8fa5_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5331871329_754213774d_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5332485102_45d5a1bd29_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5332485102_49a8609546_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5332485246_a6cc41f082_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5332485246_6d13684a42_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5332485754_1fb68b3c4e_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5332485754_bdc5a52534_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331877763_1ce7e2bf12_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5331877763_a6b1daf666_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5332486292_fb66f637bf_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5331872365_85ae174d64_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5332486416_c9d37fa419_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5332486416_0868a983dd_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5331872907_414f0734bd_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5331872907_be4c6197b5_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5332486608_4dc6ae9414_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5332486608_48efc3b04e_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332486710_c9db84d183_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332486710_3b431f1051_o.jpg)

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5331873249_614d03a52c_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5331873249_d569e5d96f_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332486956_f70028624c_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332486956_c4535ce59b_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5331873513_807d042b0d_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5331873513_3760d2285f_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5331873685_cf1aed9c09_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5331873685_8a60feeae5_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5331873997_ea39597f34_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5331873997_dc93a9ae2e_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5332487808_75ca0a50e4_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5332487808_c029441e54_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5331874565_c0211f4177_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5331874565_0927f6c07d_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/5332488380_6256a682a7_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/5332488380_52632bfc33_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5331874905_b4ba19c498_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5331874905_04213eb543_o.jpg)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5331875047_121020afd5_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5331875047_856e89a16b_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5332488874_cb2dbeb311_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5332488874_ec136c690d_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5331875515_8fef47fa5e_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5331875515_2539ee2fe6_o.jpg)

[Delphinus]

What is the purple stuff in behind?
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5331873513_807d042b0d_m.jpg

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5124/5331877155_452d4597a6_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5124/5331877155_7acd69bc6c_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5331877027_0a7b339b39_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5331877027_ce67b9ed60_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5331878009_6fce958a98_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5331878009_4c0f5d0027_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5331878295_41430d7dfa_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5331878295_9b087469b9_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5331878419_8cf2aab9ee_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5331878419_ceb6811f62_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5331878655_6c55c9278c_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5331878655_6f15ff4237_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5332492494_f0a3555f7f_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5332492494_98aaf61227_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332492664_a137f49ea4_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5332492664_80e92b8421_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5332492916_9b21a30c15_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5332492916_c5a3a4891c_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5331879333_dae8d5c200_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5331879333_91d382fb03_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5331879469_67b8c8d118_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5331879469_05a2c1d3cd_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5332493656_ba917199d6_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5332493656_32cf104b31_o.jpg)

[lastlight]

Tanks are lookin' bangin' bro! Colours are back and it's kaleidoscopic once again. Nice work.

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5332494262_d08434ec41_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5332494262_6c0814c1f4_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5331880647_0a2b21e0cd_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5331880647_a6bfef2632_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5331880915_6119186992_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5331880915_f12b7f23af_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5331881081_5b46b0ee34_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5331881081_1cb9521f22_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5331881189_00997b7f01_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5331881189_523c65f8ba_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331881375_9afe9d14b3_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331881375_cb570cf996_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331874393_5567062dcc_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5331874393_6c0f75b5d5_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5332493402_5cf68e507a_m.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5332493402_7c4e859cde_o.jpg)

Okay, I'm done, enjoy! :biggrin:

[kien]

Great photos as always. :cool:

Curious as to the doubling of the pellets, was there any reason that pushed you to thinking that more was needed?

1. I started feeding a bit more. 2. I noticed that my pellets were starting to deplete quite rapidly. 3. I had room, so what the heck :)

What is the purple stuff in behind?
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5331873513_807d042b0d_m.jpg

To tell you the truth, I haven't a clue! Hitchhiker and is very invasive. Trying to rid myself of it but not winning. Only looks purple from top down. From all other angles it is more burgundy almost brown.

Tanks are lookin' bangin' bro! Colours are back and it's kaleidoscopic once again. Nice work.

Thanks!

[MitchM]

Beautiful tank!

[globaldesigns]

Those photo's are SICK! Incredible!!!

Very nice as usual... Interesting, you doubled your Pellets. I removed 50%

No reason for me removing, things are clean, just seeing if I really need all of them. Also to see if SPS recovery is better.

[kien]

Beautiful tank!

Thanks!

Those photo's are SICK! Incredible!!!

Very nice as usual... Interesting, you doubled your Pellets. I removed 50%

No reason for me removing, things are clean, just seeing if I really need all of them. Also to see if SPS recovery is better.

Thanks! Well, in theory you should not be able to overdose on the pellets. Because it is a solid form of carbon dosing it all stays in one place and the bacteria for the most part is localized to the pellets rather than all over the tank. Further, the pellets should only be consumed by whatever bacterial numbers are available. If there happens to be more pellets than bacteria to consume them, that's perfectly fine. It just means that there's more pellets to go around, therefore the pellets should deplete at a slower rate is all. That is one of the reasons why I increased the number of pellets. Plus, I had the room and can drive both reactors with one pump :)

[Lance]

Kien, let us know how the larger volume of pellets works for you. I was considering adding more pellets as well.
Tank and photos are amazing: As always.

[Delphinus]

drive both reactors with one pump :)

Really? Cool! What kind of pump?

[kien]

Kien, let us know how the larger volume of pellets works for you. I was considering adding more pellets as well.
Tank and photos are amazing: As always.

Thanks, and will do! Although, I don't expect the extra pellets to really change anything in the system other than less frequent top ups of the pellets :) That is, I can't really see the pellets dropping nutrients any further than they already are.

Really? Cool! What kind of pump?

One of these ones that I got from Red Coral. Cheap, works great. I even have to throttle it back still so in theory one of these pumps could probably drive 3 reactors if it were wide open :D

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_9910.jpg?t=1272056830

[muck]

Corals are looking super!!
Next time Im in Calgary Im coming over Kien. :wink:

[kien]

Corals are looking super!!
Next time Im in Calgary Im coming over Kien. :wink:

Ha! Only if you can find out where I live :P

[muck]

Ha! Only if you can find out where I live :P
Can't be too many houses on your block that glow blue at night.. :wink:

[kien]

Can't be too many houses on your block that glow blue at night.. :wink:

Doh!

[kien]

Well, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year so far in reefland. About a month ago I discovered that I contracted red bugs. Sadly I have run out of interceptor and my local vet will no longer give me any :( I've called around a few other vets including a supposed, "exotic pets veterinary", but no dice. I guess I'll have to live with red bugs until I figure something out.

Also over the past few weeks I have noticed my Clown Tang get more and more aggressive. He started out as a model citizen then started hating my parrot fish for some reason. Strange because neither look nor act alike at all. At first it was hate, now the clown tang as developed murderous eyes for my poor parrot fish who has resorted to hiding in a small cave all day long. Now that the Clown Tang doesn't have to chase the parrot fish as much he has started to assert aggressive tendencies towards other fish. Yesterday I had no choice but to sump him for the time being for fear that he might murder my entire tank over night. This morning the parrot fish was out and about and EVERYONE seemed so much more at ease. Sad because I do love my clown tang, but not sure what to do with him at the moment..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4684081539_e664df01a8.jpg

[muck]

Also over the past few weeks I have noticed my Clown Tang get more and more aggressive. He started out as a model citizen then started hating my parrot fish for some reason. Strange because neither look nor act alike at all. At first it was hate, now the clown tang as developed murderous eyes for my poor parrot fish who has resorted to hiding in a small cave all day long. Now that the Clown Tang doesn't have to chase the parrot fish as much he has started to assert aggressive tendencies towards other fish. Yesterday I had no choice but to sump him for the time being for fear that he might murder my entire tank over night. This morning the parrot fish was out and about and EVERYONE seemed so much more at ease. Sad because I do love my clown tang, but not sure what to do with him at the moment..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4684081539_e664df01a8.jpg
Give em to Brett... :wink:

[lastlight]

Wow is that a gorgeous fish. How well will he do in a big empty glass box?

[kien]

I'm pretty sure salt water is a minimum requirement. I could be wrong though, maybe.

[Delphinus]

Sucks when you have to make a choice like that. :(

Maybe show him a frying pan a little piece of butter and he's smarten up? ... I dunno.

[lastlight]

They apparently ARE pretty hardy...but perhaps that's pushing it.

I think you were pushing it tho lol. You had a good run but that's a lot of mean for a tank that size man.

[kien]

They apparently ARE pretty hardy...but perhaps that's pushing it.

I think you were pushing it tho lol. You had a good run but that's a lot of mean for a tank that size man.

Agreed. I think I pushed the bounds of what that tank was capable of for sure.. so the writing is on the wall I guess.

[lastlight]

I'm still drooling over that pic tho. Man I can't fault you for trying.

[kien]

I'm still drooling over that pic tho. Man I can't fault you for trying.

He's actually not that big and he doesn't have that many tank mates in there. Still, I do recognize that he probably considers that entire tank his territory and will murder anyone that he is threatened by. He is quite intelligent too actually. Every other tang I have goes crazy over their reflection so the mirror trick always works on them. The Clown on the other hand is not fooled at all. So he will murder a parrot fish but is perfectly fine with his own reflection. Go figure.

[fishytime]

I know of somebody that will be kicking herself when she reads this:razz:....

[andestang]

Maybe the circus is hiring ? Things are really looking good Kien ! I have to ask, where did you find those ice cube trays ?

[kien]

Maybe the circus is hiring ? Things are really looking good Kien ! I have to ask, where did you find those ice cube trays ?

Thanks :). Those trays came from ikea :)

[fishoholic]

I know of somebody that will be kicking herself when she reads this:razz:....

*kick* *kick* Did somebody say they might need to re-home their clown tang? :puppydog:

I love clown tangs and was quite PO'd when I lost mine in the velvet outbreak almost 2 yrs ago. I did really really want to add another one to my 230g (partly because the first one I had was awesome and never picked on anyone) and mostly because I love the look of them. However I have an awesome powder blue and purple tang that I'd hate to see get picked on (not sure if the clown would or not though since he'd be in after them, most likely it would be the other way around) and I want to add a naso tang which should go in before a clown tang and I have a long horn cowfish that I absolutely do not want to risk stressing out whatsoever. Ugh *sigh* Ugh must.......resist.........the possible.........temptation........of awesome clown tang.........:tape: FYI I will be in town on Feb 12-15th

[kien]

*kick* *kick* Did somebody say they might need to re-home their clown tang? :puppydog:

I love clown tangs and was quite PO'd when I lost mine in the velvet outbreak almost 2 yrs ago. I did really really want to add another one to my 230g (partly because the first one I had was awesome and never picked on anyone) and mostly because I love the look of them. However I have an awesome powder blue and purple tang that I'd hate to see get picked on (not sure if the clown would or not though since he'd be in after them, most likely it would be the other way around) and I want to add a naso tang which should go in before a clown tang and I have a long horn cowfish that I absolutely do not want to risk stressing out whatsoever. Ugh *sigh* Ugh must.......resist.........the possible.........temptation........of awesome clown tang.........:tape: FYI I will be in town on Feb 12-15th

Ya I'm pretty certain my clown would murder your powder blue. I have a blue line trigger that is afraid of the clown tang. Ironically I did intend for this tank to be non-reef safe and aggressive with triggers and nippy angels but never anticipated a clown tang going psychotic on EVERYONE!

[fishoholic]

Ya I'm pretty certain my clown would murder your powder blue. I have a blue line trigger that is afraid of the clown tang. Ironically I did intend for this tank to be non-reef safe and aggressive with triggers and nippy angels but never anticipated a clown tang going psychotic on EVERYONE!

I could always try adding it to my FOWLR 230g (if you want to re-home it, and think it's aggressive enough to hold it's own against my king angel) but I have to warn you my King angel has tried to kill any other angel or tang I have ever tried to add to my fowlr tank, so I fear it would be a bad idea.....no mater how much I really want one :pout:

[Coleus]

Just too bad, it is such a nice fish. I hope my sohal tang does not have that bad behavior

[kien]

Just too bad, it is such a nice fish. I hope my sohal tang does not have that bad behavior

I used to have a sohal too but had to give him up due too aggression as well. The Clown has turned out to be more aggressive than the Sohal. You just never know. One day, beautiful peaceful angelic fish, the next day, devil fish from hell.

[Coleus]

I used to have a sohal too but had to give him up due too aggression as well. The Clown has turned out to be more aggressive than the Sohal. You just never know. One day, beautiful peaceful angelic fish, the next day, devil fish from hell.

Hmm, I start seeing my sohal aggression now during feeding time where he chases chromis but after that he is a cool dude. However, he still got picked by my hippo and purple tang. Only 2 months and half so can't really tell for sure he will be become a devil. One thing i got to admire this fish is he can heal super fast.

[kien]

Ah, what a wonderful community we have here. A very generous canreefer (who happens to live a few blocks from me) has offered up some Interceptor so I will be able to nuke those little bastards after all. I have started to collect as many inverts out of my tanks as possible to place them into a holding tank in preparation for the 3-4 week treatment.

I have quite a few inverts that I would like to save, cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, pom pom crabs, sexy shrimp, hermit crabs (yes, I like them, deal with it!), acropora crabs. I think this is going to be the challenging part as there are quite a few colonies with acropora crabs and I am determined to fish as many out as I can. This will mean ripping encrusted colonies off of rocks to get at those crabs too I guess.. oh joy!

I realize that there is the possibility that the invert holding tank will contain red bugs transferred from the main display so I will have to keep a close eye on them during the course of the month to evaluate the viability of returning them to the main display. In the end Interceptor would likely be a death sentence to them anyway so if there is any hope of saving them from that fate I feel as if I should make an attempt.

[muck]

Just got some Interceptor for my pooch yesterday.
Glad to see you found some local though.

[lastlight]

Best of luck with this man. Looking forward to your 'rb primer' before I get all nutty with pills too.

[andestang]

I guess thats the bonus of me starting fresh, hopefully all pests are gone. Good luck Kien, if you need a hand (only 1 :lol: ) shoot me a PM I'd be glad to assisit.

[shrimpchips]

Kien, just curious, but is 3 - 4 weeks really needed? From my understanding interceptor is supposed to kill them pretty effectively in one 24 hour dose. So two doses a week apart should be enough, no?

Also, your invert tank should be clean if kept isolated from any acros for about 10 days. Hasn't it been suggested that the longest one of the red bugs can survive without a host is 5 - 6 days?

[kien]

Kien, just curious, but is 3 - 4 weeks really needed? From my understanding interceptor is supposed to kill them pretty effectively in one 24 hour dose. So two doses a week apart should be enough, no?

Also, your invert tank should be clean if kept isolated from any acros for about 10 days. Hasn't it been suggested that the longest one of the red bugs can survive without a host is 5 - 6 days?

From my readings on the interwebs many people do 3 doses to account for potential eggs hatching? So ya, 1st one to nuke what's currently there, then the second one to catch eggs and I think the third dose is a safety, just in case you missed any :D

Ya, I do recall reading that about the life span of red bugs I think. I'm just really paranoid I guess :)

[Leah]

:wink2: Your Wrasses are GORGEOUS!!! kien When they tick you off enough you can send them out to me.

[muck]

They sure are.. and you best be posting some photos in the POTM thread. :twised:

[burrows14]

I dealt with red bugs about a month ago and found the interceptor treatment to be very easy. I used half a large tab in my 145 gallon total system, dosed it before I went to bed when the lights went out and 12 hours later threw a bag of carbon in my overflow for 2 hours then did a 15% water change after that. I was really stressed about having to do it but in the end found it to be one of the easiest thing I have ever done to my system. I lost my hermits and pods but all snails,brittle stars and fire shrimp survived:) You should only need to dose one and dont be afraid if you dose a little too much. Read Stone's post in this thread I found it to be very informative and took some stress out of this mess.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63808&highlight=interceptor

Cheers
Ray

[kien]

:wink2: Your Wrasses are GORGEOUS!!! kien When they tick you off enough you can send them out to me.

Way to slip that in there while a guy is bummed out about his fish Leah! Very stealthy, I like it! :lol:

[kien]

You should post new videos of both tanks. Just saying =)

Okay here ya go. Something I just slapped together real quick, so nothing fancy.

kien's mixed reef 2011 - Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95IjIzlL9U)

Sorry about the particulates and micro bubbles. My goby was having one of those days and my skimmer, well, it needs to go into the recycling bin soon.

[lastlight]

Nice man thanks for posting. Love the 4-stripe of course lol.

Your PBT is looking really good...thick too!

[fishoholic]

Looks great :thumb:

[mseepman]

Looking great as usual!

[kien]

Okay, so this evening marked the first treatment of interceptor for The Red Bugs. Here's how it went down..

First, another thank you to my supplier :)

I was able to obtain a few Interceptor tablets ranging from 5.75 mg to 2.3 mg. Fairly small pills. From my research on various sites, including canreef (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63808&highlight=redbugs), I was able to determine an appropriate dosage for my system. According to Melev, one large (23mg tablet should treat roughly 380 to 400 gallons). I'm probably at about 320gallons so I'd need roughly 21(ish)mg, give or take. I went ahead and dosed 23mg anyway because I didn't have a scale.

So here we have my pills ready to get crushed into a fine powder.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0891.jpg?t=1297490670"]http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0891.jpg?t=1297490670

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0893.jpg?t=1297490697

fine powder!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0894.jpg?t=1297490720

Once I was satisfied with my interceptor powder I dumped it into a container of tank water and started to mix it. It actually mixed fairly well. This is before I actually stirred it.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0895.jpg?t=1297490792

After mixing it all I simply dumped it into the return section of my sump. I removed the skimmer cup from my skimmer to allow it to overflow and I took my carbon off line. The next step is to wait 12-24 hours to turn my carbon back on and put my skimmer cup back. After that I will likely do another dose next weekend. The new school of thought seems to be that you only need one treatment since Red bugs don't lay eggs. From what I recall reading they are live bearers so the fear of eggs hatching in your tank seems to be a false concern. I'm going to do another treatment anyways just in case I got the dosage wrong on the first go round :)

So that's about it. Not terribly exciting but hopefully tomorrow's inspection should reveal a lot fewer red bugs, if any at all.

[lastlight]

Tagging along. Man you summed up how to do it in a few lines. I'm tempted to get it on too. So you're doing a total of two doses now? Both 23 mg?

Good luck man. I have just started to notice that the population on my teal acro is indeed growing (as is the coral lol)

[kien]

Tagging along. Man you summed up how to do it in a few lines. I'm tempted to get it on too. So you're doing a total of two doses now? Both 23 mg?

Good luck man. I have just started to notice that the population on my teal acro is indeed growing (as is the coral lol)

Ya, it was literally as easy as it looks. Crush pills, mix pills, dump into tank, done.

Ya, I'm going to do another dose next weekend of 23mg. I'm not 100% confident in my dosage :lol:

[es355lucille]

Really nice system kien! Cool video.

Okay here ya go. Something I just slapped together real quick, so nothing fancy.

kien's mixed reef 2011 - Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95IjIzlL9U)

Sorry about the particulates and micro bubbles. My goby was having one of those days and my skimmer, well, it needs to go into the recycling bin soon.

[lastlight]

So are you seeing like... a storm of dead pods floating around or what?

[fishytime]

Good luck with the treatment brochacho.....hearing someone has red bugs sure makes you look a little closer at your own tank!....

[kien]

So are you seeing like... a storm of dead pods floating around or what?

Probably :) I can't tell, lights are out.

Really nice system kien! Cool video.

Thanks!

[Delphinus]

Did you catch all the acro crabs first? Where are they hoteling it for the time being?

[kien]

Did you catch all the acro crabs first? Where are they hoteling it for the time being?

It took me all week but ya, I think I got them all :lol: They are enjoying a vacation in the basement. Although without any acros in there I doubt it'll feel like a vacation.

[shrimpchips]

Good luck with the treatment. It looks so easy, which is great for future reference.

[muck]

Yes.. it is surprisingly easy.
Hardest part is sourcing the Interceptor if you don't have a dog/vet already.

When I did it years back I lost some pod population and that was about it. Its surprising how fast the pods rebound though.

[Aquattro]

I lost all shrimp and acro crabs as well.

[kien]

Well, the lights are on now and I can not find a single red bug. Even on the most infected acro, not a trace. I did find a couple of hermit crabs on the sand bed that I apparently didn't catch for the sanctuary, oops!

:cheer2: kien: 1 - Red Bugs: 0 :cheer2:

Casualties of war..

*** WARNING: Some of the images you are about to see may not be suitable for young children. Viewer discretion is advised ***

this guy looks very much alive, but he is dead. It is almost as if he just froze in his tracks and kicked it. There are others like him.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0898.jpg?t=1297542031

This guy just fell off a rock and died.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0899.jpg?t=1297542093

[lastlight]

Nice work boss! So what are your plans for a waterchange now? That's the big reason I haven't done this now...I really don't wanna burn through half a pail for a big one. I'm not even really setup to do that.

And my system is about 110 gallons total. How many mg would I need?

[kien]

Nice work boss! So what are your plans for a waterchange now? That's the big reason I haven't done this now...I really don't wanna burn through half a pail for a big one. I'm not even really setup to do that.

And my system is about 110 gallons total. How many mg would I need?

I just plan on doing my regular weekly 10% water change tomorrow. I will do another interceptor blast next saturday and then maybe up my water change to 25% the following sunday maybe. I'll observe to see how everyone reacts to the treatment during the course of the week. So far no one else is phased at all. I suspect if I slap on some carbon it'll take out most of the meds anyway.

[kien]

And my system is about 110 gallons total. How many mg would I need?

I would say, aprox, 1/3 of a 23mg pill :)

[lastlight]

I don't have a fancy pestle. Might try and SLAPCHOP it up haha.

[Aquattro]

Also, this stuff is photosensitive, so the lights will help burn it off. Carbon can take the rest and a regular water change is all you need.

[kien]

Well, it has been about a week now and still no signs of red bugs. I've been looking for them pretty much every single day for the past week. None, nada, zilch! I was going to do another Interceptor blast this weekend but I think I'm going to forgo that treatment. If they reappear then I'll do another treatment but as it stands, I'm going to call it a success!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5463408710_796b466db3_b.jpg

[Lance]

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

[freezetyle]

!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5463408710_796b466db3_b.jpg

Fantastic photo Kien! all of the photos from members tanks has convinced me a blenny must be my next fish purchase

[lastlight]

Awesome news man. Are the crabs back in?

[fishoholic]

:cheer2: Go Kien, you tell those bugs who's boss!

[kien]

Fantastic photo Kien! all of the photos from members tanks has convinced me a blenny must be my next fish purchase

Thanks! Those little blennies have so much personality :)

Awesome news man. Are the crabs back in?

Not quite yet, probably sometime this week.

:cheer2: Go Kien, you tell those bugs who's boss!

Thanks! And, in celebration of the eradication of the Red Bugs I have put together a new video :)

kien's Reef - Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOe4C71fFxE)

kien's Reef - Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95IjIzlL9U)

[Lance]

Great video Kien. Corals look outstanding!

[lorenz0]

that blenny shot is awesome

[andestang]

Glad everything turned out Ok Kien. Great video !

[cuz]

Nice video!!!

[fishytime]

Congrats on the victory over the "Red Buggers" man......
Saweet vid too.....three things really jumped out at me...
1) Im soooo envious of your yellow bird......need to find me some*nudge, nudge, wink wink, say no more*
2) those clams are beauts and look killer grouped together like that
3) and the acans are just......*drool*

[muck]

Fantastic new vid Kien!!

[lockrookie]

i just want to say tanks like this make my tank look like a getto tank. love your pics and vids very inspiring...

[Coleus]

your tank is hot like usual

[freezetyle]

are you directly feeding your gonipora regularly? I know they are supposed to be harder to keep but i remember you have had them a long time.

[janey]

Hi,
AWSOME, LOVE IT..

KIEN

so u don't have a refugium ?
and about the different use of salt brand do u mix them together or not sure what u really meant. Can u post Dez link about it



Janey

[kien]

are you directly feeding your gonipora regularly? I know they are supposed to be harder to keep but i remember you have had them a long time.

Yes they are very hard to keep. No I don't spot feed them. And ya I've had a couple of them for a while :)

Hi,
AWSOME, LOVE IT..

KIEN

so u don't have a refugium ?
and about the different use of salt brand do u mix them together or not sure what u really meant. Can u post Dez link about it



Janey

No I don't run a refugium. I think Dez just mentioned it in passing in a post he made once. There was no elaborate detailed post on the subject. Simply what I do is use a different brand of salt during each weekly water change. Right now I rotate through, Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, H2Ocean, seachem aquavitro, and Red Sea Salt. Last week I did a 10% water change with Reef Crystals, this week I'll be using H2Ocean and then Seachem the week following that.

[kien]

1) Im soooo envious of your yellow bird......need to find me some*nudge, nudge, wink wink, say no more*

Not sure about which "yellow bird" you are referring to as I don't have a yellow bird. I do have a "bird of paradise" which is actually electric green base with purple polyps :)

[fishoholic]

Not sure about which "yellow bird" you are referring to as I don't have a yellow bird. I do have a "bird of paradise" which is actually electric green base with purple polyps :)

He told me that you have some sort of birdsnest coral that he thought was yellow.

Oops just looked at your vid. and I believe the "bird of paradise" coral is the one he is thinking of. If I'm not mistaken the coral he wants is at 6:20 in your video.

[fishytime]

ya thats the one.....kinda looked more yellowy to me.....what-evs......killer looking coral none the less....

[The Grizz]

Well I finally got a chance to view you vids Kien and all I can say is I hate you :razz: jk buddy.

Absolutely amazing beauty of a tank Kien, when I grow up I want one just like it.

I guess my next new purchase will have to be a dosing pump and then maybe just maybe I will be able to keep the SPS going

2 :thumb: my friend very nice indeed.

[kien]

2 :thumb: my friend very nice indeed.

Thanks Greg :)

Not much new going on in the reef these days. Well, except some "WOW" clams courtesy of Red Coral :)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5541487801_344f693676_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5542067624_f78b7589da_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5059/5542067828_13f7823b41_o.jpg

[fishytime]

Did I count five!:surprise:......holy crap mang!........sweet picks and pics tho

[kien]

And since I had the camera out..

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5542064546_5be74b7f00.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5542064546_5a8ee43bdc_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5541485229_b550e8b78c.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5541485229_c698c0cff7_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5542064960_800c101831.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5542064960_fbf3b5b50a_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/5541485519_96585a8fa8.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/5541485519_4a38829d31_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5541485879_8a5c31f4fe.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5541485879_6a1276e089_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5541485989_f4c11f780e.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5541485989_f75856da6a_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5542066258_d2d81f5de9.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5542066258_077503cd17_o.jpg)

[The Grizz]

You really need to take a road trip North Kien and come tell me what I am doing wrong. I so want to be able to keep SPS like you when I grow down.........I mean up :lol:

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5542066442_7a9837c79a.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5542066442_2f22e73e5b_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5542069326_55e428d4c6.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5542069326_b78f6b9eba_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5542069142_a88686e2e8.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5542069142_da6b106d94_o.jpg)


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5541488397_41c6ec6cdb.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5541488397_b86187151b_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5541488843_2d867293c7.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5541488843_de9e79b206_o.jpg)


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5541489041_a411767270.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5541489041_a05029aafa_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5541489165_1c41a98f03.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5541489165_6a73799e60_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5541489821_46723e63ba.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5541489821_3161743f48_o.jpg)

[The Grizz]

See that is what I am talking about......I want to have this kind of perdy stuff too :sad:

[fishoholic]

Awesome pic.'s and nice clams :biggrin:

[kien]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5542069740_15dab7a90f.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5542069740_4e630bc610_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5542069868_1de6d7dba9.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5542069868_c282e40898_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5542070046_d2b0b944e1.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5542070046_a5a5371a65_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5542070284_f5f5c690ee.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5542070284_8978280bc0_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5541490017_348f2daed4.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5541490017_a74dd8894a_o.jpg)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5542066902_aff31c4d84_o.jpg

[kien]

Did I count five!:surprise:......holy crap mang!........sweet picks and pics tho

umm.. maybe? :D LIke you said, they were actually quite inexpensive, compared to what I'm used to forking out for maximas. Had to take advantage of that :D

I so want to be able to keep SPS like you when I grow down.........I mean up :lol:

Be careful what you wish for. Keeping SPS can be quite aggravating and ulcer inducing :lol:

Awesome pic.'s and nice clams :biggrin:

Thanks! :D

[24storm]

Wow looking pretty incredible. Please let me know if your ever doing any trimming lol.

Keith

[The Grizz]

Be careful what you wish for. Keeping SPS can be quite aggravating and ulcer inducing :lol:

I still would like to have some SPS, tried acans (they are growing nice), monti caps (good), LPS, Softies, leathers, zoas and even an elegance and all good. I have 1 SPS - an A. Humilus (think that's what John called it) it's alive but not growing. As I would like to start a small SW shop it would be nice to have SPS tanks going as well. :biggrin:

[lorenz0]

always enjoy your pictures. and I like your new CLAP additions, so the itch got you to?

[fishytime]

and I like your new CLAP additions, so the itch got you to?

its highly contagious:twised:....

[lastlight]

Wow stunning clams, corals and pics man. Drool! Might have to binocular creep your place tonight or invite myself over :)

[Delphinus]

I thought getting the clap was generally thought of as a bad thing. Man, it's clear to me that I know nothing. Less than nothing. You kids and your slang!! First it's all "it's sick" means "it's good" and now it's "Wow, you've got the clap." I am soooo going to impress my nieces and nephews with my new found slang terms. "Hey check out this jump on my skateboard." "Dude, that is the CLAP!"

[shrimpchips]

Sweet Clams - I haven't seen anything of that quality in Toronto. Makes me jealous!

What's your photoperiod Kien?

[fishytime]

I thought getting the clap was generally thought of as a bad thing. Man, it's clear to me that I know nothing. Less than nothing. You kids and your slang!! First it's all "it's sick" means "it's good" and now it's "Wow, you've got the clap." I am soooo going to impress my nieces and nephews with my new found slang terms. "Hey check out this jump on my skateboard." "Dude, that is the CLAP!"

um......not you kids, Tony.........just Laurier:razz::lol:

[kien]

Sweet Clams - I haven't seen anything of that quality in Toronto. Makes me jealous!

What's your photoperiod Kien?

22Ks (T5): 10am - 10pm
14k (halides): 1pm - 8pm

... :clap2: hehe

[kien]

I have 1 SPS - an A. Humilus (think that's what John called it) it's alive but not growing.

I have 3 humilis SPS and none of them grow very fast. One of them I've had for over a year and survived my SPS event last summer but still has not grown one single polyp since I got it :lol:

Come on over and I'll hook you up with some easy to grow SPS.

[The Grizz]

I have 3 humilis SPS and none of them grow very fast. One of them I've had for over a year and survived my SPS event last summer but still has not grown one single polyp since I got it :lol:

Come on over and I'll hook you up with some easy to grow SPS.

Sounds good, Sam I am :lol: