Benapilot's SCA 150 Upgrade

[benapilot]

Its been a couple days since I stopped carbon dosing and water changes.

I never thought I’d be so excited to see increasing nitrates and phosphates!

I just tested and nitrates are up to 10ppm and phosphates are reading .16.

 

[Zach B]

Get it taken care of and FAST! I haven't lost any corals yet, but my Zoas sure aren't happy.
I can't remember, do you have a UV sterilizer on your system? I went back and forth about it during the building phase and now kick myself for not. In the back of my mind I thought I might use the other 1/2" output on my manifold for a UV, but in my research, the flow from it will not be enough. Now I'll be cutting into one of my return pipes and working with it in place (I'll be adding an Apex flow sensor at the same time). It's tight back behind the tank, but not too bad.

I don't have one yet but had planned on purchasing an oversized one next week. Really such a bummer but I'm sure we can beat it. Keep us posted and I will do the same. Good luck

 

[benapilot]

Since letting nutrients increase I’ve already seen improvement.

UV sterilizer is in place. Right now I’ve go it connected directly to a Jebao pump I had in storage. I disconnect one of my return pumps and have the UV in a closed loop configuration. I plan on running it this way for a while. Once the Dinos are taken care of, I can just do a quick connection to the return pump.

I also got an Apex FMM and flow sensor (which is a leaky bugger- the threads don’t seal very well). FYI, the DCT-8000 with 9 linear feet of 1” pipe and tubing, 3 90° elbows and a reduction to 3/4” through the UV sterilizer yields around 680 gpm. AQUA UV recommends 800-1000 for algae and parasite control for my 25w unit. i think once I hook it up to my COR15, I’ll be able to get a higher flow (stronger pump, less plumbing).

Dr. Tim’s Refresh and Waste Away adrive today and I’ll start dosing it. Not sure if I want to do the blackout or not...

 

[benapilot]

Fingers crossed.... I think I beat the Dinos!
Between the UV Sterilizer, a 3-day blackout and the Dr. Tims recipe, my tank is looking good!! I've got white sand again, and the fuzzies are all gone from the rock work. My Zoas are opening back up and the hammer and torch corals are looking happy. I lost a couple SPS frags, but those are easily replaced and worth the effort of getting my tank back on track.
I've started dosing NoPox to get my nitrates and phosphates back down. They're currently at 25ppm and .18ppm.

I'll give it a few weeks before adding anything new.... although I do have another LAX trip coming up

Here's the blackout:

And now the clean aquarium!

 

[benapilot]

Grrr…. Dinos are back with a vengeance…

Nitrates heave been steady at 25ppm phosphates at .03
I haven’t done a water change in a couple weeks and stopped Carbon dosing. My LPS corals are thriving in the dirty water, but what few SPS corals left are, sadly, on their way out.

Second round of blackout. I’ll finish up my bottle of Vibrant, then start with Dr. Tim’s Waste Away.

 

[Chris Spaulding]

Err Dinos are a PITA. If you need some lighting for your Corals during this blackout you can run Blue only for a time being.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Grrr…. Dinos are back with a vengeance…

Nitrates heave been steady at 25ppm phosphates at .03
I haven’t done a water change in a couple weeks and stopped Carbon dosing. My LPS corals are thriving in the dirty water, but what few SPS corals left are, sadly, on their way out.

Second round of blackout. I’ll finish up my bottle of Vibrant, then start with Dr. Tim’s Waste Away.

hey man I read every page and checked out your build.

Regarding dinos, have you plumbed a UV sterilizer straight into your tank and back out? I defeated dinoflagellates by doing this process. The UV shall be plumbed straight in and straight out bypassing your sump and other plumbing. Everything else I tried such as suctioning daily, increasing po4 no3, blackout, didn’t work.

Now I have a question are you running a 48” t5? I have the same fixture dimmable t5 that I want to run with my new SCA 150. I was wondering if that’s how it will look as far as length above the tank.

Another question, I have a stainless steel stand. Can you please take some pics of how you embedded magnets on your cabinet panels. Any info on this will be great as my wife isn’t happy with the see through stand.

Appreciate your build thread! I hope you defeat the dinos soon

 

[benapilot]

hey man I read every page and checked out your build.

Thanks for checking it out!!

Regarding dinos, have you plumbed a UV sterilizer straight into your tank and back out? I defeated dinoflagellates by doing this process. The UV shall be plumbed straight in and straight out bypassing your sump and other plumbing. Everything else I tried such as suctioning daily, increasing po4 no3, blackout, didn’t work.

Yes. I plumbed the UV directly in the main display during my first blackout. It worked…. for a couple weeks…. By the time they came back, I had the UV all hard plumbed on my return line. No changing it now . So far it looks like my latest blackout/Dr.Tims regimen worked. I’m also dosing Hydrogen Peroxide (1 mL/10 gal = 15 mL per day. Dosed three times at night). I also have a 57 watt bulb and ballast on the way (upgrading from the 25w). Nitrates are still up at 25 and phosphates at .2. Once I see that the Dinos are gone, I’ll start trying to lower those numbers. I have one remaining SPS that seems to be tolerating the higher numbers.

Now I have a question are you running a 48” t5? I have the same fixture dimmable t5 that I want to run with my new SCA 150. I was wondering if that’s how it will look as far as length above the tank.

Yes! It’s the 48” AquaticLife DX18 dimmable fixture. Plenty of coverage for this 60” tank.

Another question, I have a stainless steel stand. Can you please take some pics of how you embedded magnets on your cabinet panels. Any info on this will be great as my wife isn’t happy with the see through stand.

I used a Forstner bit (made for cabinet hinges) for the magnets. The magnets are from Amazon ()
Three on the top, three on the bottom of each front panel. Super strong magnets make the panels secure.

Appreciate your build thread! I hope you defeat the dinos soon

Thanks! Me too!

 

[benapilot]

Dinos are still here! Grr!!

I upgraded my UV to the 57 watt ballast/bulb.

I tried a month of dosing Hydrogen Peroxide nightly without effect.
Tonight I start dosing Dino-X.

Meanwhile, I found a flaw in the Exotic Marine Overflow. The weir openings are too big... I got a beautiful Mystery Wrasse from Divers Den. Second or third day, he disappeared. One day as I was leaving for work, on a whim I looked in the overflow box. There he was! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get him out. By the time I got home, he went down the overflow and perished in the Clarisea.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Sorry to hear the dinos are sticking around and the lost of the Mystery Wrasse. Hopefully the Dino-X works and you will be done them.

 

[Zach B]

Sorry to hear the dinos are sticking around and the lost of the Mystery Wrasse. Hopefully the Dino-X works and you will be done them.

+1 Best of luck with the dinos, such a bummer. I'm sure you will beat them

 

[jmichaelh7]

Thanks for checking it out!!


Yes. I plumbed the UV directly in the main display during my first blackout. It worked…. for a couple weeks…. By the time they came back, I had the UV all hard plumbed on my return line. No changing it now . So far it looks like my latest blackout/Dr.Tims regimen worked. I’m also dosing Hydrogen Peroxide (1 mL/10 gal = 15 mL per day. Dosed three times at night). I also have a 57 watt bulb and ballast on the way (upgrading from the 25w). Nitrates are still up at 25 and phosphates at .2. Once I see that the Dinos are gone, I’ll start trying to lower those numbers. I have one remaining SPS that seems to be tolerating the higher numbers.



Yes! It’s the 48” AquaticLife DX18 dimmable fixture. Plenty of coverage for this 60” tank.

I used a Forstner bit (made for cabinet hinges) for the magnets. The magnets are from Amazon ()
Three on the top, three on the bottom of each front panel. Super strong magnets make the panels secure.

Thanks! Me too!

I did the exact same thing to my SCA 150. I got the magnets from amazon that are 100lb and used JB Weld instead of the screws. Yours Looks good man, really good. the whole rustic look on the aquarium looks modern nice job.


So you hard plumbed the UV into the sump?

Bro im not sure if im reading right. But if you haven't tried this already, try this before running dino x and all those chemicals. Run your UV straight in and out of the display, and turkey baste your sand and rock to get dinos in the water column. 100% this will work, my LFS showed me it and when I did it, it was successful in approximately 2-3 weeks.


The picture below is of my Red Sea 90 gallon when i beat dinos. Uv plumbed straight in the display with a seperate pump sitting inside.

 

[benapilot]

I did run the UV straight out of the display when I first got it. I thought I had the Dino’s beat, so hard plumbed it to the sump, but the Dinos thought otherwise ;Vamp

 

[benapilot]

I’ve been dosing Dino-X for a couple weeks now and it might be working. The sand is not as red in the afternoons and it looks to be suffering. So far no real effect on my livestock, although my BTA is not happy and is scooting around all over the place not opening Up. My maroon clown looks lost as a result .

I bought a beautiful blue “meat coral” (LPS of some sort) from the LFS. Unfortunately, either the Dino-X did it in or my Lemonpeel Angel did. I’m learning the hard way what I can and can’t have with this beautiful fish!

Soon I’m going to fabricate a Python-type syphon tube and clean the sand. I’ll plumb it into the filter sock in my sump. I’ve never cleaned my sand in past tanks, but maybe now is the time to start. I love having a beautiful white sand bed!

The Dino’s/Dino-X have pretty much wiped out my cleanup crew, so that’s coming up…

All my fish are happy! I just love sitting next to the tank in the morning with my cup of coffee watching the sunrise!

 

[Chris Spaulding]

Looks like things are turning around for the good for you. Slow process for sure. we have basically the same systems for the most part Started about the same time and I believe that I did not have the Cyano and Dino problems is because I transferred around 50 lbs of rock that had been in the smaller system to this system. This rock was 2 and a half years old.

 

[benapilot]

Looks like things are turning around for the good for you. Slow process for sure. we have basically the same systems for the most part Started about the same time and I believe that I did not have the Cyano and Dino problems is because I transferred around 50 lbs of rock that had been in the smaller system to this system. This rock was 2 and a half years old.

That's the interesting thing.... I, too, brought over 50+ lbs of rock from my previous 4+ year old system. I'm wondering if maybe I started the NoPoX too soon letting the nutrients get to zero before the biological foundation caught up with the new sanded and water volume... or maybe that one 7+ pound rock, which was in the LFS live rock vat, caused enough of an interruption to the system... who knows!

 

[Oldsman]

Beautiful system , glad to hear its turning back around !

 

[BirdGuy21]

Glad to hear things are starting to turn around! Looks great in the picture. Sitting next to the tank with coffee is the best part of the day. Just completed my transfer last Saturday.

 

[benapilot]

Sooooooo frustrating!

My once-beautiful reef is a cesspool of algae and who-knows-what else. I’m hoping the Dinos have been wiped out. I can’t see how anything could outcompete the amount of green hair algae in my system. My Nitrates and Phosphates are through the roof! Last readings were 47.4 Nitrates and .53 phosphates. I keep upping the NoPoX dose as well as adding Phytoplankton and Dr.Tim’s Waste Away. I’m doing daily water changes (1-2 gallons). Hopefully the level will start coming down.

Maybe syphon/clean the sand bed?
Maybe another three day blackout??

I’ve got a big clean Up crew arriving today that will hopefully take care of the algae. I’m just really nervous the Dinos are still present….

ugh.

 

[josvanmeer]

I personally have had my battle with hair algae as well, and the only thing that could beat it was a load of Flucanozole. I recommend you go the same route and once the treatment is done you will want to beef up the filtration you have. If you have a fuge going currently it will wipe out the macro algae as well, but after treatment just have new chaeto or something ready and make sure that goes in before any new hair algae starts growing.