400 gallon project

[untamed]

This took an entire day of work, but I finally got that new skimmer into place. What a beast! This is a Reefmania PS12-4 with wet neck option. I don't yet have the wet neck plumbed in and working.

So far, it hasn't skimmed much at all. Still breaking in, I hope.

The key changes from the G6 are:
1) The volume of the skimmer is almost 2x
2) There are 4 Sedra 9000s instead of 3
3) All 4 pumps are recirculated and out of the water
4) The skimmer is now directly gravity fed from the main display

I'm a bit concerned that I'm flowing too much water through, so I intend to order a 9" height extension to the skimmer which should result in a dwell time of about 2 minutes based on chamber of 20 gallons and flow of 600gph.

[Delphinus]

Holy moly, that's a big skimmer!!

[untamed]

I have been wrong once before...but this time I really think the aquarium has turned around.

As most everyone knows, the past year has been a steady downward decline in the health of the coral. I lost so much coral, I can't even begin to describe it.

However, for the past 2 weeks there has been a dramatic reversal in the tank. Unfortunately, I can't say with certainty WHAT caused the reversal....but coral is growing like mad and colours are returning. Coral that had been reduced to a small puddle is suddenly shooting up branches.

1) The new skimmer went in 3 weeks ago. Could be that.
2) I began feeding ozone to the skimmer off/on. Could be that.
3) I began dosing VSV (Vodka, Sugar, Vinegar) at 4ml/day. I never measured nitrate higher than 10ppm, but since dosing began my nitrate is down to 1ppm. (almost unmeasurable) Phosphate levels have also dropped...but from a high of 8ppm to 1ppm.
4) I vaccuumed the sand bed (but I had done that 50x before) For whatever reason, this time the cyano didn't come back (VSV?)

Some things that I have NOT changed:
1) Same Salt
2) Same water change schedule
3) Same fish feeding amounts/schedule
4) Same lighting
5) Same water movement

[Lance]

Very puzzling, Brad. But the main thing is your tank is on the mend. Whoo Hoo!

[christyf5]

Wow thats some skimmer! Sometimes I think this hobby is funny as nobody can ever pinpoint what they did to make their tank "better" yet we can usually figure out what we did to make it worse

[lastlight]

I can sense the excitement in your comeback and I'm happy for you! Great to hear and I'm eagerly waiting for some new pictures =)

[untamed]

These things just kind of sneak up on you and suddenly you notice..."Hey, Freckles has tail streamers".

Because "he" is so huge, it is easy to forget that Freckles is still a baby. He has not yet been in the tank for 2 years. (2 years in Jan, 2010) It seems that shortly before 2 years old, he suddenly developed tail streamers confirming that he is, in fact, a he.



The timing is about right, IME. I added Moe (the blonde Naso) almost 2.5 years ago and when I purchased him he was at least 1 year old judging from his size. He first began to show streamers about 1 year after purchase. Now, at about 3.5 years old, his streamers are just getting more stunning all the time.


So....is my youngest next? Lance (the unicorn), has only been in the tank for 18 mohths and was a small juvenile when purchased. I don't even know if Unicorn Tangs develop tail streamers but his tail looks like "he" might. I could get get lucky for a 3rd time!