Does the pump and siphon break have to be sitting vertically? Both my pump and siphon break are at a bit of angle. Could that be it?

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Shouldn’t cause an issue... but this thing is definitely very finicky. I will take a photo of how mine is installed tomorrow.

So I plugged it in again this morning, watched it top off the tank. Everything good. The siphon break works as expected. No water siphoning back.

Again 10 mins later alarm sounds. I watched a video of how to get the different alarms and what I thought was one beep is their two beeps.

So 2 beeps every 10 mins would seem to indicate the high water sensor has been covered for 10 minutes... Only problem is the water level only comes halfway up the first sensor... Could the sensors somehow been switched up?

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Most likely the water is touching the top sensor... even looking at it sometimes you can’t tell but it’s touching. Move your entire float magnet up to test this.

Or take it back and get the Tunze Osmolator :lol:

[quote=DKoKoMan;1026501]Most likely the water is touching the top sensor... even looking at it sometimes you can

Hmm looks like my last post didn't send for some reason...

Anyways it worked. Moving it up stopped the alarm for the most part. It did go off again once this afternoon, but turning it on and off seemed to have worked.

Next step is to start work on the equipment cabinet...

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Thanks for the help. It was weird visually it wasn't touching the water. When I felt it, it felt dry. Must have been the tiniest edge of the sensor touching the water.

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No sweat. I went through the same thing, swore it wasn’t covered and eventually moved it up.

Ah something seems to be up with Tapatalk. My replies to quotes don't seem to be working.

Anyways, glad I'm not the only one that had some issues with the atk.

Tested my water again tonight.


Phos - 0
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 10

Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can move over my few remaining corals from my 10 gallon.

Haven't been following your build closely, but just saw what you posted ...

Nitrites 5.0
Nitrates 10.0

Your tank is empty right now, yes? If so you are on the right path. Whatever you have been doing to add ammonia needs to be stopped and you need to see the Nitrites drop.
Hopefully when the NO2 drops the NO3 will also drop.
Ideally, when the NO2 goes away, the NO3 will come down/go away too.

Sorry I haven't been following your build. I gather you're getting ready to add critters?

If you can keep adding your Ammonia product without your NO2 showing up, and without seeing any significant NO3, you can keep it up until you are ready to start adding critters.

Yep tank is empty. Just rocks and sand.

I stopped feeding the tank with mysis shrimp a week ago while waiting for the cycle to complete.

Not in a huge hurry to add critters. Mostly want to move my kenya tree and gsp coral to the 75 gallon so I can start turning the 10 gallon into a sort of quarantine tank. I figure I have a few more weeks to wait before adding a cleanup crew of any sort.

What I was getting at is for you to keep adding small amounts of ammonia producing stuff to keep the bacteria levels up enough so when you add critters/fish you don't go through much of a cycle

Ah. I misunderstood. I had read that once ammonia is gone and you start to see nitrites and nitrates that you should stop feeding the tank.

It does make sense to continue to feed it a bit every few days to make sure the bacteria that has grown doesn't die.

Came back from being away all weekend to a diatom bloom. Cycle seems to be coming along nicely.

Hopefully next weekend I will be able to add some clean up crew.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...177b43c013.jpg

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Looking good, i like the rockwork.

Thanks. I still might add a bit to it later on to make it taller with some more overhangs.

I have run into some issues. Seems like the lid to my ATO reservoir doesn't close tightly since I have the power cable to the pump that goes under the lid. This is causing water to leak out when the ATO is running. Gets in between the container and the lid and then runs down the side and I have a small puddle on the bottom of my stand.

So I either have to get a new reservoir or I may be able to drill another hole through the top of the lid and put the power cable through that. Hopefully that will work.

The other night I drilled a hole I the top of my ATO reservoir to put the power cable for the pump through. That seems to have helped with the water leaking. The lid closes fully now and no more water in my stand!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0cb94d57bf.jpg

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The diatom bloom I had left just as quickly as it came. Now back to white sand and rocks.

Haven't had a chance to test my water this week, so not sure where I am in the cycle, but hopefully it's almost complete.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3793316800.jpg

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Got a chance to test my water again tonight.

Phos - 0

pH 7.8-8.0

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 5.0

I think my cycle is done?!

I have a couple coral in my 10 gallon I would like to move over. What sort of dip should I use to kill off the bubble and red cyno I have been fighting in it?

Or would it be safer to not move them over? It's two Kenya trees and a big chunk of gsp.

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Try and remove the bubble algae from the coral without popping them. I think you would be able to just use a turkey baster to remove the cyano.

The coral has no algea on them, but in the tank they are in I have been fighting both bubble algae and cyno. While both are almost all gone I don't want to inadvertently introduce it to my new tank.

Which is why I was thinking dipping them would be a safe idea.

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I use the revive dip for my new frag additions.

Picked up 3 frags from the fish store yesterday. Got a orange eye chalice, acan and a random red sps coral. I also picked up some revive to dip all my corals in.

Unfortunately I need to work on my coral photography skills. Hard to get cell phone pics that turn out well.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9f120e12d9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...609f324821.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6b7572d39c.jpg

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Where do you have bubble algae?

I have the bubble algae in my 10 gallon. It's almost completely gone, but if I transfer over the few surviving coral I don't want to bring in any bubble algae or cyno. So hopefully the revive will kill it if there is any hidden on them.

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So moved around the corals I bought into slightly more permanent places... I hope.

Also experimented on some frags of gsp I made. I dipped one in hydrogen peroxide and the other in revive. They both had some film like algae covering them. The first picture is of the gsp frag dipped in hydrogen peroxide. Looks likes it's opened up more than the other frag.

You can also see my one algae I have in the pictures.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eed859e36e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c35de73722.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a6e46c2489.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...42f5f294fe.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bba2c1a400.jpg

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My one acropora frag I got seems to have developed some red algae. Any ideas on what it is and how to get rid of it?

Turbo snails maybe or can I pull it off?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3e9b0715f7.jpg

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Looks almost like cyano (makes sense with a new tank). I could be wrong but that’s my guess.

I hope it's not cyno!

It kinda looks like hair algae except it's red instead of green.

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Went away for the long weekend and came back to lots of algae. Looks like mostly diatoms with some green algae and some cyno.

I will be picking up a skimmer this week so hopefully that should help with the algae a bit.

Anything else I should do to help with algae other than water change and add some more clean up crew?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...323f9881e8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e7ab343847.jpg

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I’m dealing with some cyano right now as well due to an imbalance I’m guessing. New sand and a couple pieces of new LR.

What do you do to get rid of the cyno?


The cyno came in on 2 frags I got. I guess dipping them in revive doesn't kill it. :(


What do people do for storing fresh saltwater for water changes. I live in an apartment so space is limited. I currently have 2 5 gallon buckets. Was wondering if anyone had better ideas for a easier way of doing water changes.

Cyno is a bacteria, revive (non-selective) kills/stresses only some members of the animal kingdom. Only a bactericide (non selective) kills bacteria (chemicals are only a last resort). All tanks have cyno, it usually only rears its ugly head when things are not right.

Young tanks have a tendency to go through algae, diatom, cyno and often dyno outbreaks. Unfortunately strong lighting in a young tank on bare rocks compounds the problem. The best answer for the problem is patience, don't rush it, good maintenance practices, water movement and reduce lighting if possible.

Most algae can be controlled by putting your tank inhabitants to work, or only adding tank inhabitants that will work for you. Everything needs to have a job.
For the most part good bacteria control bad bacteria. Look at ways of increasing the biodiversity of your tank and encouraging the good bacteria/algae to grow.

It's hard not to rush sometimes. I know everyone says go slow, but it's difficult to do.


I didn't know cyno was a bacteria. Makes sense the revive didn't have any effect on it then.


My tank is pretty new and going through an algae bloom. I have been slowly adding more clean up crew each week. I'm up to 5 trochus snails and 2 cerith snails. I wil probably go pick up an astrea snail or two and maybe a few hermit crabs. Any recommendations on some must have clean up crew members?


I did order some Copepods and Rotifers from copepods canada. Hopefully that will help in adding a bit of biodiversity to the tank. Have any recommendations on other must have critters to help with the biodiversity.


I do have a refugium area in the sump and I could add some cheato to that if I can find some. That should help a bit with the algae as well I think. I should make better use of that area since I only have some live rock rubble and sand in it.


Also the corals I got from you, frogger are doing well... I think. The pocillopora seems to really enjoy my tank and the frogspawn is open all the time. Still waiting for the other acroporas to start to colour up.

A bristle tooth tang would be a perfect addition to the tank. Not sure your tank is mature enough to keep chaeto alive and actively growing. Try to find a clean source of different coraline algaes.

J@L sells Tiger Pods. If you can find someone with a perfectly clean tank with no bad things in it add a piece of live rock from that tank. Not sure where you are going to find that.

My small tank is pretty clean although it would be a source of cyno, diatoms, hair algae and dynos even though they are currently not visible I have had them in the past few years so they are only actively waiting for poor conditions to return to encourage their growth.

Not a big fan of hermit crabs. Water changes, water movement and a good skimmer is about all you can do. Check your source of fresh water as well, change filters add a DI Filter if you do not already have one.

You need a mature tank for cheato? I thought you just needed some light! If I need a mature tank I will hold off for awhile then.



Bristle tooth tang, good idea. The wife has been bugging me about when will there be fish in the tank. Might wait another week after adding the pods though so they don't get eaten right away.



I will grab some tiger pods when I go to j&l this weekend. Then I can have a couple different kinds of pods.


Could I always grab a piece of liverock from j&l or is that just asking for unwanted pests?


Why not a fan of hermit crabs? Because they will kill snails for their shells?


I have a brand new ro/di unit. New filters and everything.

I have found that you need a stable mature tank to grow macro algae well. Its the unwanted varieties that tend to grow when things are not right. If it doesn't grow it will only die and release nutrients back into your tank, counter productive.

I wouldn't buy live rock from one of J&L's tanks they have aiptaisa and other nasties. I wouldn't buy Chaeto from J&L's or anyone but a clean tank and then it should be quarantined.

Correct me if I am wrong J&L's real reef live rock doesn't have pods only good bacteria. I added some to my new frag tank 5 months ago to seed my tank with beneficial bacteria. I still haven't added a major light source to that tank as I am letting it mature before firing it up (also because I haven't had time to complete the setup)

I have found Hermits are sh#t disturbers at the best of times. Other reefers love them.

I have some pods (Canada Copepods growing out, feed my pipefish with them) if you want some to add to your tank, come by bring over a small container and you can have some.

So yesterday bought some tiger pods and a couple astrea snails. Wife also bought a nice kole Tang.

The real shitty thing is at some point in the night one of my power heads blew. Woke up to a weird smell in the apartment and when I opened the lid to the tank the one power head was smoking a bit and smelt like burning plastic...

So everything in the tank is dead. Fish all the snails all the pods... Hopefully coral makes it.



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