Bakbay's 450g - Final Upgrade?

[bakbay]

Algae Turf Scrubber - I have an old ATS-300 doing nothing. Curious on how effective is this solution with nutrient exports? Is it worth the hassle?

Please let me know your thoughts?

Dan - I know that you’ve already recommended it. I’m just on the fence….

 

[bakbay]

Ok — ATS is up & running! Will see how this goes in a month. I’m leaning toward carbon dosing actually — less maintenance/ mess! Contemplating vinegar over vodka…

 

[bakbay]

Fish Update — my third Hippo Tang went missing while the other two recovered from ich (no white spots). This is the part I dislike about having a huge tank and rock work — can’t get the fish out in a bind. It took 5 of us just to lift & install the canopy!

 

[bakbay]

Started dosing vinegar at 25mL today via a doser on the frag tank. Current NO3 is off the charts (75+) so hope this will work!

 

[bakbay]

Fish Update — my third Hippo Tang went missing while the other two recovered from ich (no white spots). This is the part I dislike about having a huge tank and rock work — can’t get the fish out in a bind. It took 5 of us just to lift & install the canopy!

Finding Found Dora after 3 days! Perhaps it got bullied but miraculously she came out this morning. We can call off the rescue mission now — such a relief! Everyone is happy again

 

[Jimbo327]

Vinegar is 8x weaker than vodka and smells in terms of carbon content, so I rather just go with straight vodka for carbon dosing, especially for a tank this size. (ie. dosing 8ml of vinegar is same as dosing 1ml of vodka)

Besides, Costco Kirkland vodka is like $14 for 1.75L. The fishes are drinking some good vodka in my tank. And in a pinch, you can make a nice drink while maintaining the tank.

Oops, didn't see it was for your frag tank...yeah vinegar is fine.

 

[bakbay]

Vinegar is 8x weaker than vodka and smells in terms of carbon content, so I rather just go with straight vodka for carbon dosing, especially for a tank this size. (ie. dosing 8ml of vinegar is same as dosing 1ml of vodka)

Besides, Costco Kirkland vodka is like $14 for 1.75L. The fishes are drinking some good vodka in my tank. And in a pinch, you can make a nice drink while maintaining the tank.

Oops, didn't see it was for your frag tank...yeah vinegar is fine.

Yes - this was for my 93g frag tank as a test. I actually have vodka ready to go for the 450g but will need to install a doser by this weekend. Believe I still got time since nitrate (re-tested) is only 26. PO4 is high at 0.87 and need to slowly drop that with PhosphateRx.

Question: I will likely zero out NO3 before PO4 right? That is, carbon dosing alone won't keep both parameters in check?

 

[bakbay]

I’m using a chart from @Miami Reef as a guide.

NEW Vodka and Vinegar Dosing Charts

The reasons I'm updating the Vinegar and Vodka dosing charts are two-fold: 1. The ramp was unnecessarily slow. There was no perceived benefit to such a tedious ramp, and it led to reefers quitting because they thought carbon dosing didn't work. 2. The ramp did not scale up correctly...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Mschmidt]

You'll have phos bound in carbonate structures too (rock and sand). so even if the bac eating the carbon takes both n and p down in balance, you are right, p will net drop slower as it unbinds.

 

[bakbay]

You'll have phos bound in carbonate structures too (rock and sand). so even if the bac eating the carbon takes both n and p down in balance, you are right, p will net drop slower as it unbinds.

That's what I thought - given all these big angels & tangs, they do eat a lot so will definitely contribute to an increase in phosphate. So the end game is to carbon dose for primary nitrate control, followed by (or in parallel) lanthanum-based solutions (I use PhosphateRx).

I will likely shut down the ATS -- it's just too bulky & messy for me. I've used it before and didn't make a huge impact hence I shut it down.

 

[bakbay]

Spent an hour/two and swapped controllers with the frag tank. The 450g is now on Apex + Trident and the frag tank has the Hydros.

 

[bakbay]

Ich! 3 hippo tangs got it and seeing some weird, small holes on 2 foxfaces. This developed after the move — I should take these guys out and treat them right? All fish are eating & swimming fine.

Any help will be greatly appreciated—

 

[bakbay]

Came home to a dead RD eco 5 controller! I thought that these things are indestructible? Er5 — over voltage? Ugh

 

[Jimbo327]

Came home to a dead RD eco 5 controller! I thought that these things are indestructible? Er5 — over voltage? Ugh

That sucks! Can it be reset? Or is it fried?

This guy is knowledgeable in fixing RD controllers because he's also a reefer.

Reef Electronics Repair – FixReef

www.fixreef.com

 

[bakbay]

Thanks — will give him a try.

I swapped controllers and worked fine — therefore, the pump is good. It’s the stupid controller that died. My Ecotech M2 has been rock solid — heck, even Jebao’s are good!

 

[bakbay]

Going

That sucks! Can it be reset? Or is it fried?

This guy is knowledgeable in fixing RD controllers because he's also a reefer.

Reef Electronics Repair – FixReef

www.fixreef.com

The pumps were less than 2 years old so will file a warranty with Royal Exclusiv. Hope they will honor the warranty since I’m running without any reactors atm.

 

[Jimbo327]

I have heard that some reefers have issues with the RD controllers. I've taken a RD pump apart and looked at the inside...it's build like a tank.

 

[bakbay]

I have heard that some reefers have issues with the RD controllers. I've taken a RD pump apart and looked at the inside...it's build like a tank.

Yup - it’s too bad you can’t just wire direct and bypass the stupid controller. I genuinely hate their cheap LCD screen with useless/non-intuitive buttons! Btw: I actually have another dead RD 3 controller with a perfectly “working” pump. For the cost of the controller, you might as well buy the whole thing! Given my track record, I will never buy another RD pump in the future though. I would rather get FIVE(5) Jebao return pumps for the price of ONE(1) RD pump — suspect that I’ll still come out ahead in terms of price & longevity!

 

[danreef55]

Sorry to hear the issue with RD controller. I am glad to be following your build. I had decided to purchase RD but now I am falling back to Iwaki.

 

[bakbay]

Sorry to hear the issue with RD controller. I am glad to be following your build. I had decided to purchase RD but now I am falling back to Iwaki.

They are good pumps, super quiet BUT the controllers can be finicky and expensive. Heard that people keep a controller as a backup. Given the price point, it’s ridiculous right? You would think that you’re paying for quality & reliability so why need to buy another spare?