[quote=“BigCase, post:160, topic:7613”]
I think if you add a baffle touching the bottom to the far left I think it will cut down you bubbles to the display as well. Bubbles gotta rise to pop so they break up.[/quote]
Hahaha, you beat me to it Casey.
Lol. I’m going to hold off on any baffle mods until after the skimmer has broken in.
Still have yet to produce a single drop of skimmate. >LOL<
However I’m doing rock this weekend. I guarantee you we start seeing some nasty skimmate over the next week. I’ll re-evaulte the micro bubble situation at that point.
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:162, topic:7613”]
Lol. I’m going to hold off on any baffle mods until after the skimmer has broken in.
Still have yet to produce a single drop of skimmate. >LOL<
However I’m doing rock this weekend. I guarantee you we start seeing some nasty skimmate over the next week. I’ll re-evaulte the micro bubble situation at that point.[/quote]
That is a great idea. :-)lol
I spent several hours today working with the dry rock. I started with the left side of the tank and I’m extremely pleased with how the first pillar came together. All my creative energy was apparently sucked dry by that first sculpture and I just couldn’t get anywhere with the right side of the tank. It’s a boulder pile for now, I’ll work on it again tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.
I started by using a hacksaw on the Pukani to level the base.
Next I drilled a hole in a paver to hold a white fiberglass rod.
After two hours of chiseling, sawing, drilling I ended up with a pretty nice piece.
Here it is in the tank. Ignore the boulder pile on the right. It’ll be rescaped tomorrow.
The skimmer started producing skimmate almost immediately after introducing the rock to the system. I added two more pieces of foam to the skimmer chamber which did wonders in controlling the amount of micro bubbles getting through the sump. As you can see, the algae scrubber is up and running. No algae yet. I’m wondering if I need to seed the system?
First skimmate.
Check out the difference in the chambers. The upper chamber is opaque from microbubbles. The new foam seems to be catching a majority of them without interfering with water flow.
Looking good!!
That’s better. :
:
After some consultation with Bryant I dropped the right side down and I think it looks much better. Plenty of room to plant some corals and I think it will make a nice little island once it grows in. Cool overhang and caves throughout.
I’m going to sit on this formation for a week and make sure I’m happy with it. Then I’ll add the substrate next weekend. Going with 80 lbs of special grade reef sand.
Looks real nice Jason!
Looks really nice.
After looking at the scape for a few hours yesterday I decided that I was pretty happy with the layout. Jason convinced me that I was better adding the sand sooner rather than later. A couple hundred bucket rinses later I’ve got an inch of sand in the display. I ended up using about 60 of the 80 lbs I had.
How long did it take for the cloudiness to go away?
[quote=“bnelson, post:170, topic:7613”]
How long did it take for the cloudiness to go away?[/quote]
I did a pretty thorough job rinsing. The tank was crystal clear the following morning.
Dumb question…
I was thinking about getting a second media reactor for GFO but is there any reason I can’t combine GFO and Carbon in the same reactor?
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:172, topic:7613”]
Dumb question…
I was thinking about getting a second media reactor for GFO but is there any reason I can’t combine GFO and Carbon in the same reactor?[/quote]
Yes you can however there effectiveness is at different length. GFO usually lasts longer then carbon and you would half to change them both at the same time instead of letting it run its life. Also true GFO can be regenerated but not carbon and if you mix it you'll never get it separated.[quote=“billrob71, post:173, topic:7613”]
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:172, topic:7613”]
Dumb question…
I was thinking about getting a second media reactor for GFO but is there any reason I can’t combine GFO and Carbon in the same reactor?[/quote]
Yes you can however there effectiveness is at different length. GFO usually lasts longer then carbon and you would half to change them both at the same time instead of letting it run its life. Also true GFO can be regenerated but not carbon and if you mix it you'll never get it separated.[/quote]
Yeah, I was just reading up on the time constraints and water flow concerns.
I think I’m going to try 2 parts carbon to 1 part GFO and just changing it out monthly. I don’t see that being that much of a waste.
The tank is ultra crystal clear and the smell seems to be getting better daily. Even the skimmate is less offensive smelling. There appears to be some diatom growth in the sump where the natural sunlight makes it’s way through the egress window. I’m planning a 10% water change this weekend (the tank has been running almost a month with no water changes yet.) I’ll also do the first round of water parameter tests and post the results. Maybe I can start moving fish over if things are looking within reason.
You have essentially zero bio-load on it at this point though. I wouldn’t base your decision on the way it is acting now.
Speaking of that, how are you starting your cycle? Have you started cycling your algae sheet?
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:174, topic:7613”]
[quote=“billrob71, post:173, topic:7613”]
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:172, topic:7613”]
Dumb question…
I was thinking about getting a second media reactor for GFO but is there any reason I can’t combine GFO and Carbon in the same reactor?[/quote]
Yes you can however there effectiveness is at different length. GFO usually lasts longer then carbon and you would half to change them both at the same time instead of letting it run its life. Also true GFO can be regenerated but not carbon and if you mix it you'll never get it separated.[/quote]
Yeah, I was just reading up on the time constraints and water flow concerns.
I think I’m going to try 2 parts carbon to 1 part GFO and just changing it out monthly. I don’t see that being that much of a waste.
The tank is ultra crystal clear and the smell seems to be getting better daily. Even the skimmate is less offensive smelling. There appears to be some diatom growth in the sump where the natural sunlight makes it’s way through the egress window. I’m planning a 10% water change this weekend (the tank has been running almost a month with no water changes yet.) I’ll also do the first round of water parameter tests and post the results. Maybe I can start moving fish over if things are looking within reason.[/quote]
Jason sounds like the tank is just cycling, I wouldnt put anything on it yet either, especially if the water is clear.ok, ok. No fish yet regardless of the tests, lol.
Between my bubble algae, Flatworms and bristle worms I’ve been afraid to seed my new tank with any water from my established systems. I was hoping cross contamination would eventually get the algae growing but it would be nice to jump start that.
I’ve got some coraline encrusted powerheads that I could use as long as I give them a flatworm exit bath first.
I decided to soak the algae scrubber screen in my 34 Gallon cube for a few days. That system has all different types of algae and the least amount of pests. I placed the screen directly opposite the MP10 so it’s getting plenty of flow. I gave the tank a good scraping and there is already multiple types of alagae stuck to the rough screen.
I’m still worried that there is a flat worm or two in that system so I’ll plan on dipping the screen in flatworm exit prior to reintroducing it to the new system.
What’s the other type of dips you guys recommend prior to introducing anything to my new tank?
Sounds like a good idea. I wouldn’t worry about the bristle worms, they’re beneficial. Definitely don’t want any flatworms to follow you over to the new tank. :-)###