electrical idiot builds a controller - a reef pi build

[Bigtrout]

Thats 1.2 drop...maybe back off a tad

Keep an eye out that it stays steady and fish are ok...if it does id say you are close to dialed in

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Thats 1.2 drop...maybe back off a tad

Keep an eye out that it stays steady and fish are ok...if it does id say you are close to dialed in

I don't know if this is accurate or not. But I used the Hamza reef calculator in backwards steps. I input my stale water PH 7.33 then changed alkalinity until the calculated CO2 was 3.0 (std indoor co2?). I needed 2.3 alk for this. So my combined alk with other buffers is 2.3. I then used 2.3 with PH of tank water 6.15 and calculated CO2 of 44 ppm.

thoughts?

I'll turn down the CO2 a bit tomorrow. then see where I am at. I have a lot of pearling in the afternoon. I can even hear the canister filter pump hitting the air bubbles.

 

[Bigtrout]

44 is probably ok if you have plenty of oxygenation going on at the surface...

Watch your livestock if they are ok. Alot of planted tank people run in the 40 range with no problems

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

it’s hard to get a good picture in the daytime with all the reflection. Overall the bba is thinner and has less coverage than last week. The gha is still growing strong. At least I can manually remove gha. The bba is impossible to remove.

Phosphate is down to 3.8. I’m going to bring it down further to 2-3. I’m leaving the lights alone this week. I adjusted the co2 down a bit. The bubble counter doesn’t have enough water in it so I couldn’t measure how much I reduced it. I’m setting out a cup of water today to find out.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

day old tank water PH 7.10
tank water PH 6.11

Effective Alk dKH for PH 7.1 with CO2 at 3ppm = 1.3 dKH
CO2 of tank water at 6.11 PH assuming effective Alk at 1.3 dKH. = 28.5 ppm.

I'll keep the CO2 at this level.

 

[Bigtrout]

day old tank water PH 7.10
tank water PH 6.11

Effective Alk dKH for PH 7.1 with CO2 at 3ppm = 1.3 dKH
CO2 of tank water at 6.11 PH assuming effective Alk at 1.3 dKH. = 28.5 ppm.

I'll keep the CO2 at this level.

Looks perfect. If fish are ok you are all good.

One caution...watch your dKh. Yours is low like mine tends to run. Great because you can grow any plant you wish but keep an eye on it. My tank slowly eats away at dKh(organic acids build up)
I base my water changes on that by watching my ph graphs. My water is about 2 dKh from the tap.
When it creeps down to 1.5dKh i do a water change. Sometimes its 5 or 6 days, sometimes 10, depends on plant growth rate.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Weekly update time. The gha was bit less this week. Bba was also down. Some leaves are clear now, most have bba on the edges, and a few are still fully covered.

i trimmed out as many of the bad leaves as I could. What’s interesting is my phosphate and nitrate are up this week despite dosing less My theory (Or is it hope) is the bba is dying and releasing stored nitrate and phosphate.

I am keeping things the same again this week.

 

[Bigtrout]

Weekly update time. The gha was bit less this week. Bba was also down. Some leaves are clear now, most have bba on the edges, and a few are still fully covered.

i trimmed out as many of the bad leaves as I could. What’s interesting is my phosphate and nitrate are up this week despite dosing less My theory (Or is it hope) is the bba is dying and releasing stored nitrate and phosphate.

I am keeping things the same again this week.

May not hurt to slowly ramp lighting back up a little

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Tank seems roughly the same as last week maybe better? I’m not sure. Phosphate is starting to come down again. I’ll add 2 hrs to the lights this week. I need to figure out how to photo the tank better reflections are bad.

 

[theatrus]

This algae battle looks like my WFH Desk Cube tank - I just don't have a green thumb

 

[Bigtrout]

Tank seems roughly the same as last week maybe better? I’m not sure. Phosphate is starting to come down again. I’ll add 2 hrs to the lights this week. I need to figure out how to photo the tank better reflections are bad.

Yes up the light and get those plants pearling! If everything is back in balance, the plants can outcompete the algae

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

The plants are much healthier now but algae still persists.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

BRS was running a promotion this week. They were randomly adding gifts into shipping boxes. I needed some algae to feed besides nori so I bought a few. I never win anything but might as well give it a go.

the box arrived and inside was the algae I ordered plus a Tunze magnetic scraper. Crap. I finally win and I get a scraper. I don’t need a scraper. I have flipper scrapers. The tunze isn’t as good. I won but still I didn’t. what the heck I’ll try it to compare.

wow was I wrong! The Tunze scraper is amazing compared to the flipper. It was fun scraping off what previously was permanently attached algae with ease. This is the best $40 free gift that I didn’t even know I wanted! Truly night and day better than the flipper.

thanks BRS!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

The bba and hair algae are worse than ever.

I went nuclear today. The internet says a max dose of 2ml h2o2 per gal. I have about 18g. I dosed 30ml h2o2 with the filter off for 20 minutes.

initial response. Fish seem unaffected. Snail shells are cleaner. Snails themselves seem unaffected. I couldn’t find any shrimp. That’s pretty normal so I don’t know if it means anything. Bba seems unaffected so far except the stuff that was on the snail shells.

 

[Ranjib]

From the pics you shared it feels tank is looking better with time.
Is there any chemical option (like we have reef flux ) to deal with the algae specifically ?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

From the pics you shared it feels tank is looking better with time.
Is there any chemical option (like we have reef flux ) to deal with the algae specifically ?

When I had the lights on short schedule the algae was getting better. But I also had less plant growth.

I didn’t take a picture yesterday but it is bad again. I was trying not to use chemicals, but I gave up and tried peroxide yesterday. Excel is also known to work but it can kill shrimp.

bba is one of the hardest algae to get rid of in fresh water tanks. If this dose of peroxide doesn’t do anything I’ll try again but with max dosage.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Reef pi controller updates

both systems controlling lights, dosing pumps, ph, temp, awc, ato, and outlets

trolls: reef pi for salt tank. Using a hat from theatrus and add on Pca9685. Running perfect!

goblins: reef pi for planted fresh water. Using hat from Mike Lane. Also controlling co2. Running perfect!

my success is due to leaving pizza out at night and donuts in the morning. Consistent feeding of junk food is key to keeping electronics running well.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

1 week after using peroxide. The hair algae is gone!!! The black beard algae is reduced. I would say by about 25%. I hit it again today with peroxide. This time I used the max dosage of 2ml / gal.