Glb's tank rehab

[glb]

One of my clowns died[emoji22]

I brushed off the gha yesterday because I'm changing the water today. Could the gha have died and caused an ammonia spike? I put prime in the water as a precaution. Poor little fishie.

 

[glb]

Today was a great tank day. I installed the Typhon driver for my Steve's LEDs and I have the blues programmed to run at 40% for 8hrs and the whites to run at 15% for 3 hours. In addition, I bought this:

I haven't installed it yet but hopefully the gfo will get rid of the pbosphates for good. I also changed 2g of water and will test tomorrow. Having the driver for the lights will probably help with the algae too.

 

[glb]

Here's a pic of my undertank setup:

It's got a new surge protector, the light power and the driver. To protect it from the water, I got a thick plastic tablecloth and Velcroed it to the stand for easy access. This is what it looks like when the tablecloth is on:

Tomorrow will be installing the reactor.

 

[glb]

My work in progress.

 

[glb]

Mods can I move this to the nano member tanks forum?

 

[glb]

Today I installed the TLF phosban 150 reactor. I added half the recommended amount of phosban which ended up being less than a tablespoon. The reactor looks empty but if you look closely you can see the media tumbling.

 

[glb]

My other project was to raise the lights. I bought two brackets at the hardware store (in the closet org section) and mounted them on the wall behind my tank. I attached the top of the nanocube to the brackets with Velcro so I can remove them to maintenance the tank. I'm very happy with the results.

 

[glb]

Test results for this week:

Temp: 74-75 (down because I moved the lid, an Eheim heater is on the way)
pH: 7.7
Po4: 0.0ppm
NO3: 4ppm
Mg: 1380ppm
Ca: 400ppm
SG: 1.023ppm
Alk: 166ppm

I added about a 1/2tbsp of gfo in the new reactor and it took care of the phosphate. There's still some po4 in the tank because there's still a little gha, but it's much better. The Ca and Alk numbers are down a little. I'm not sure if that's because of the gfo. I'm going to test again this weekend to see how far they drop and then start dosing if I need to. The favia is looking a little better. The acan didn't make it and the lobo still has some tissue on it but I'd be surprised if it rebounded. The tank seems to be stabilizing, finally. I'm going to wait until the favia starts growing before I get any more corals.

 

[miamiangler]

Looking good , I keep my tank around 76-77 Is there a A/C vent hitting the tank ? if so close them a little . had to do that with my tank sorry to hear about the clown fish

 

[glb]

Looking good , I keep my tank around 76-77 Is there a A/C vent hitting the tank ? if so close them a little . had to do that with my tank sorry to hear about the clown fish

Thanks. No a/c vent but a paddle fan. The house is set at 73 all the time so I'm not surprised. A little heater set at about 77 will keep it steady round the clock. Thanks about the clownfish. I don't know what happened to the little guy. The other one is fine so I'll just keep it until I have more stable tank time under my belt. I can't believe how much better it is than even a month ago.

 

[miamiangler]

It happens at times with clown fish . I have raised clowns 3 years ago , till my 12 year old female died . at one time had 300 babies swimming In a tank . I only have one of the babies left and It`s In my 29gal . Once your tank is stable ,check out some of the Zeo products they have worked for me on bring corals back to life . they are expensive but I usually wait when BRS has them on sale . On a small tank will last a long time ! I got 4 tanks to dose . Your corals are still waiting .

 

[glb]

It happens at times with clown fish . I have raised clowns 3 years ago , till my 12 year old female died . at one time had 300 babies swimming In a tank . I only have one of the babies left and It`s In my 29gal . Once your tank is stable ,check out some of the Zeo products they have worked for me on bring corals back to life . they are expensive but I usually wait when BRS has them on sale . On a small tank will last a long time ! I got 4 tanks to dose . Your corals are still waiting .

Thanks!!

 

[glb]

Well I dipped my clownfish in fresh water because it was gasping for air and that seemed to help. I'm going to read up on fish diseases to see what's up. He's looking better now but I know the dip was a temporary fix.

 

[glb]

Here's my latest numbers

Amm: 0ppm
pH: 7.7 (I have no idea)
Temp: 77
Po4: 0.00ppm
NO3: 5ppm
Mg: 1400ppm
Ca: 485ppm
SG: 1.023
Alk: 177ppm

 

[glb]

Well today I started with kalk to correct a Ph that dipped down to 7.6 due to excess co2. I have the Ph back up to 8.0 and my formula is that 1/3 cup kalk raises my Ph .1. Alk and ca are holding steady. My clownfish looks a lot better today too. Right now I have a window open and a fan blowing outside air towards the tank. It will be interesting to see what the Ph does. I'll probably set up a slow drip for the kalk once I'm more sure of the numbers.

 

[glb]

Kalk is really working. I added an airstone too and after much tinkering figured out the kalk dosage. Things look better today.

 

[glb]

Today I put a piece of acrylic over the tank top since the lid is mounted above the tank now. The sump is open to air and there's a little open area in the front, so the air exchange will be fine. I'm hoping this will help with temp swings until my heater gets here. I'll probably do a screen top eventually but I didn't want to risk my clownfish jumping out.

 

[glb]

So I came home and the acrylic cover really insulated it. The temp was 78-79, what it was when the lid was on it. I took it off so the tank wouldn't get any warmer. I think I'm better off with a heater that will keep the temp steady and a mesh top. Heater is on the way. The acrylic will help if I need to warm it up. Otherwise, I think mesh makes more sense.

 

[glb]

Ph has settled at 7.8-8.0. I'm thrilled! It's never been this stable. I'll just dose kalk as needed to keep Alk/ph where they need to be. I see coralline starting to grow and I think my favia is growing too.

 

[joshbbert]

Sounds like things are looking up