Fluval Evo 13.5 build Started May 2020

[eleongsit]

I've got it attached to chamber 3 right now and moved my other powerhead up near the top of the tank opposite. I moved it a bit higher to stop it from making sand storms and pushing all the sand into a pile.

I also inadvertently unleashed some gross flaky boogers that had been collecting in the bottom of chamber 1 when I had to fish the magnet for the wavemaker out from the bottom, I used that as a chance to clean out my return pump as well.

 

[eleongsit]

Oops double posted :S

 

[eleongsit]

So things are still looking OK algae wise Only seeing some diatom growth on my glass which is easy enough to deal with.

My zoas are still looking sad though, the ones that do open seemingly most of the way look sort of small and flat with no skirt, now if that makes sense others are still only partially opening. Unsure if I should continue to try to ride it out and let them sort themselves out or if I should be doing anything to try to help them along...

My parameters are stable and at the same levels as posted earlier so I know at least they don't seem to be fluctuating a lot...

 

[GoReefin]

So things are still looking OK algae wise Only seeing some diatom growth on my glass which is easy enough to deal with.

My zoas are still looking sad though, the ones that do open seemingly most of the way look sort of small and flat with no skirt, now if that makes sense others are still only partially opening. Unsure if I should continue to try to ride it out and let them sort themselves out or if I should be doing anything to try to help them along...

My parameters are stable and at the same levels as posted earlier so I know at least they don't seem to be fluctuating a lot...

Your alkalinity is a bit low. What salt mix are you using? shoot for above 8. I use reef crystals and try to get your salinity to 1.025/1.026 the higher the salinity with the salt mix the better your alkalinity will be.
Make sure to calibrate your refractometer before testing your salt. Calibrate it using distilled water.

 

[eleongsit]

Your alkalinity is a bit low. What salt mix are you using? shoot for above 8. I use reef crystals and try to get your salinity to 1.025/1.026 the higher the salinity with the salt mix the better your alkalinity will be.
Make sure to calibrate your refractometer before testing your salt. Calibrate it using distilled water.

Actually I was thinking Alkalinity as well, I was testing again and I'm not sure if it's my test kit or if i'm using it wrong... I looked up how to use the Red Sea one online and if I understand it correctly my alk actually might be a lot lower than I expected... according to the test its closer to 3Dkb which seems extremely low... I'm looking into getting a Red Sea Pro Alk test kit as mine current one is very expired so I'm not sure if I can trust the reading.

I'm using Fritz RPM right now for salt and my refractometer reads my current salinity at 1.025, I did a quick test on it just now reading some RO water on it and it came out at 0 so I think that means its calibrated?

 

[GoReefin]

Actually I was thinking Alkalinity as well, I was testing again and I'm not sure if it's my test kit or if i'm using it wrong... I looked up how to use the Red Sea one online and if I understand it correctly my alk actually might be a lot lower than I expected... according to the test its closer to 3Dkb which seems extremely low... I'm looking into getting a Red Sea Pro Alk test kit as mine current one is very expired so I'm not sure if I can trust the reading.

I'm using Fritz RPM right now for salt and my refractometer reads my current salinity at 1.025, I did a quick test on it just now reading some RO water on it and it came out at 0 so I think that means its calibrated?

sounds like it is calibrated.
Fritz makes good salt.
I wonder why your alkalinity is so low. Does your take have enough oxygen? You should have some surface water agitation from your pump for gas exchange. Are your running a protein skimmer or a refugium? You can add kalkwasser to the top off water to slowly raise it. Big swings in alkalinity will kill your corals.

 

[eleongsit]

sounds like it is calibrated.
Fritz makes good salt.
I wonder why your alkalinity is so low. Does your take have enough oxygen? You should have some surface water agitation from your pump for gas exchange. Are your running a protein skimmer or a refugium? You can add kalkwasser to the top off water to slowly raise it. Big swings in alkalinity will kill your corals.

I do have my return pump pointed towards the top of the tank but I've been wondering if its enough surface agitation, I also have one powerhead on the opposite side towards the top of the tank I could point it more upwards as well to break the surface more, I've been noticing a little bit of a film at the top. No protein skimmer and I've made a tiny compartment in my media basket a pico refugium with a little bit of rock rubble but that's about it. Above the rock rubble is a compartment with filter floss that I have been changing out weekly.

 

[GoReefin]

I do have my return pump pointed towards the top of the tank but I've been wondering if its enough surface agitation, I also have one powerhead on the opposite side towards the top of the tank I could point it more upwards as well to break the surface more, I've been noticing a little bit of a film at the top. No protein skimmer and I've made a tiny compartment in my media basket a pico refugium with a little bit of rock rubble but that's about it. Above the rock rubble is a compartment with filter floss that I have been changing out weekly.

How often are you doing water changes?

 

[eleongsit]

How often are you doing water changes?

Once a week, generally on the weekend.

 

[GoReefin]

Once a week, generally on the weekend.

Odd that your alkalinity would be that low with weekly water changes. Is the tank in a high co2 area? Lots of people by it? Air tight building? Just seems odd.

 

[eleongsit]

Yeah I'm not sure if my test result is accurate. I just ordered a Red Sea Pro Alk test along with some Kalk just in case.

Odd that your alkalinity would be that low with weekly water changes. Is the tank in a high co2 area? Lots of people by it? Air tight building? Just seems odd.

I just live in a condo by myself, I'm still alive so I assume I don't live in a sealed airtight unit lol

 

[GoReefin]

Yeah I'm not sure if my test result is accurate. I just ordered a Red Sea Pro Alk test along with some Kalk just in case.



I just live in a condo by myself, I'm still alive so I assume I don't live in a sealed airtight unit lol

Sounds good. Let me know what the new test kit comes back with.

 

[eleongsit]

So my new Alk test kit came in and its looking like my level is currently at about 6.4/ 6.5 DKH. So not nearly as low as the other test but I think too low I think.

The test kit also came with a small bottle of Red Sea Foundation KH/Alkalinity. According to the bottle 1ml will boost alk DKH 0.1 for every 25 gallons so I guess if I cut that in half I should be able to boost my tank the same amount?

 

[GoReefin]

So my new Alk test kit came in and its looking like my level is currently at about 6.4/ 6.5 DKH. So not nearly as low as the other test but I think too low I think.

The test kit also came with a small bottle of Red Sea Foundation KH/Alkalinity. According to the bottle 1ml will boost alk DKH 0.1 for every 25 gallons so I guess if I cut that in half I should be able to boost my tank the same amount?

Make sure you add it very slowly. Spikes in alkalinity are vary bad. A lot of reefers just add it to the auto top off

 

[eleongsit]

Make sure you add it very slowly. Spikes in alkalinity are vary bad. A lot of reefers just add it to the auto top off

Yeah, I've been reading up on upping Alk safely and it seems that going up 1dKH a day should be safe but I'm thinking if I dose 1ML every 12 hours or so I should go up much slower at about .2 dKH every 12 hours till I'm holding at around 9dKH. I think if I want to add it to my auto top off I need to change the tank, I'm just using one of those big clear water bottles that go on top of water coolers. I have no idea how much to add to that to safely up my alk since the opening is too narrow for me to test anything.

If it turns out I need to continually dose I'll look into an alternative top off container.

 

[GoReefin]

Yeah, I've been reading up on upping Alk safely and it seems that going up 1dKH a day should be safe but I'm thinking if I dose 1ML every 12 hours or so I should go up much slower at about .2 dKH every 12 hours till I'm holding at around 9dKH. I think if I want to add it to my auto top off I need to change the tank, I'm just using one of those big clear water bottles that go on top of water coolers. I have no idea how much to add to that to safely up my alk since the opening is too narrow for me to test anything.

If it turns out I need to continually dose I'll look into an alternative top off container.

Hopefully adding alk will improve your tank and corals. Keep us updated on the progress.

 

[eleongsit]

I just wanted to post a quick update on my progress. I've continued upping my alk and its at about 8dkh now. My zoas seem to be reacting positively as most if not all are opening up now at least most of the way. They still seem to be skirtless though. I guess this is a side affect of being closed up for so long when I was battling dinos but they have all drastically changed colors as well with my eagle eyes and watermelons becoming solid neon green and my utter chaos becoming a solid peach color. I'm not sure if they will ever go back to being normal but I don't mind I find the new colors rather interesting. I grabbed some poor quality photos with my phone.


Former Watermelon Zoas


Formerly Utter Chaos



Formerly Eagle Eye

 

[Squirrellyman]

I do have my return pump pointed towards the top of the tank but I've been wondering if its enough surface agitation, I also have one powerhead on the opposite side towards the top of the tank I could point it more upwards as well to break the surface more, I've been noticing a little bit of a film at the top. No protein skimmer and I've made a tiny compartment in my media basket a pico refugium with a little bit of rock rubble but that's about it. Above the rock rubble is a compartment with filter floss that I have been changing out weekly.

I’ve been watching this thread. Great progress and love the pics.
Re: the film, I have an Aquatop AIO and got a little bit of film that kept getting worse no matter what I did with the return and power head. I would have to manually “sweep” the surface of the water with filter floss to get rid of it (temporarily).

Then someone here recommended the inTank AIO Surface skimmer. It attaches before your return to raise the water level slightly and adds more of a “waterfall” effect, pulling water off the surface more effectively.

Things improved within a couple of day, and I now swear by it. If water is just sort of floating into your return, not cascading, this could be an issue for you, too.

 

[eleongsit]

What I ended up doing is having a powerhead near the top that is pointed directly at the return, this blows water directly into my filter floss and has resolved the issue of having film at the top of the tank

I am going through house move right now and just moved my tank to the new place. Hopefully I have not kickstarted a new cycle in my tank but I'm afraid it might.

 

[Squirrellyman]

What I ended up doing is having a powerhead near the top that is pointed directly at the return, this blows water directly into my filter floss and has resolved the issue of having film at the top of the tank

I am going through house move right now and just moved my tank to the new place. Hopefully I have not kickstarted a new cycle in my tank but I'm afraid it might.

Powerhead into the floss is brilliant. I wish I thought of that!
Knocking on wood that you avoid a mini-cycle, and especially a full cycle!