Jimbo's CDA 250 Build

[Jimbo327]

Just UV sweeped the dinos on my sandbed and turned on my inline UV to run 24/7. Added some microlife special blend bacteria afterwards (Holy crap, this bacteria stinks like something died and left to rot!). Hit it with the 1-2 punch!

That was satisfying to take the UV to the dinos directly. It was awesome!

Start - Before UV:

Day 1 Finish:

Sorry, the light transitioned more blue as I was zapping the dinos. But it's fantastic, and exactly what I expected because I always think that UV is the key to fighting dinos.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Just UV sweeped the dinos on my sandbed and turned on my inline UV to run 24/7. Added some microlife special blend bacteria afterwards (Holy crap, this bacteria stinks like something died and left to rot!). Hit it with the 1-2 punch!

That was satisfying to take the UV to the dinos directly. It was awesome!

Start - Before UV:

Day 1 Finish:

Sorry, the light transitioned more blue as I was zapping the dinos. But it's fantastic, and exactly what I expected because I always think that UV is the key to fighting dinos.

Wow, that works amazing! Thanks for sharing a before and after photo!

 

[Jimbo327]

Wow, that works amazing! Thanks for sharing a before and after photo!

No problem. I'll do a few more rounds of treatment, and see if it stays away. I know that UV is effective because it works with Ostreopsis dinos when it goes into the water column. So this should work because we are just bringing the UV to the sand, and killing dinos if they don't go into water column. Just have to be careful with the livestock/CUC.

It is already much less than before, but you can see dino trying to make a small comeback.

Day 2 (before UV zapping)::

After zapping:

Followed up with more microlife special blend bacteria dosing. I used a turkey baster to squirt it directly into the sand. I have to do this while the kids/wife is away because this bacteria smells so bad.

 

[Jimbo327]

The tank has ich. If I have to guess, my money is on the gem tang rescue because that's the only fish that was added recently. And it was supposedly QT'ed by previous owner, but I'm guessing it was not. So all my efforts and money spent on getting QT'ed fishes is a complete bust now.

My plan is to setup a QT tank, and perform copper treatment. But my biggest headache is to catch all of the fish which is a big problem with all the rocks and corals in the DT. I'm not exactly sure how to do it.

But first, I need to set up a QT, and get all of the supplies.

I'm going to put the fish trap with food in in the DT to see of this will work. I don't think it will, at least not for the smaller fishes like mandarin goby.

What a headache.

 

[JoJosReef]

The tank has ich. If I have to guess, my money is on the gem tang rescue because that's the only fish that was added recently. And it was supposedly QT'ed by previous owner, but I'm guessing it was not. So all my efforts and money spent on getting QT'ed fishes is a complete bust now.

My plan is to setup a QT tank, and perform copper treatment. But my biggest headache is to catch all of the fish which is a big problem with all the rocks and corals in the DT. I'm not exactly sure how to do it.

But first, I need to set up a QT, and get all of the supplies.

I'm going to put the fish trap with food in in the DT to see of this will work. I don't think it will, at least not for the smaller fishes like mandarin goby.

What a headache.

Sorry Jimmy! I worry about the same thing, as I don't QT frags. With my tank being all wrasses right now, possible they are carrying a disease that came in on a frag that I won't know about until I get a susceptible fish :-(

 

[Jimbo327]

Thanks for the moral support. I need a stiff drink, TGIF.

I was really bummed yesterday. And a bit overwhelmed for what to do next. There are a few options.

1) I just live with ich management
2) I reset my tank and get all the fish out/fallow the DT

So I guess I will be a doing a little of both. For now, I will live with it. In the meantime, I'm going to put together a QT tank and get it cycled. I'll have to figure out how to catch all the fish later, but I'll cross the bridge when I get there.

 

[danreef55]

Thanks for the moral support. I need a stiff drink, TGIF.

I was really bummed yesterday. And a bit overwhelmed for what to do next. There are a few options.

1) I just live with ich management
2) I reset my tank and get all the fish out/fallow the DT

So I guess I will be a doing a little of both. For now, I will live with it. In the meantime, I'm going to put together a QT tank and get it cycled. I'll have to figure out how to catch all the fish later, but I'll cross the bridge when I get there.

Jimbo hang tough. I would wait it out unless things get worse

 

[Jimbo327]

Slowly putting together a QT in the garage.

• I'm filling the QT with some of my DT water, so it can have some bacteria and hopefully cycle faster. And basically do a water change at the same time.
• I have some other QT items (Copper Power, Seachem ammonia badge, etc.) coming from BRS this Friday.
• For QT, I prefer a mechanical float valve. It's cheap and works well. I was surprised that BRS doesn't carry a mechanical float valve for ATO. Got one from here. Just have to put the ATO water higher than the QT.
• Found an old heater and powerhead in my shed and threw it in.
• Found some PVC elbows in the parts bucket and threw it in.

After the water change, when I tried to power on the Ecotech M1 return pump on the DT, it doesn't work and I've traced it to a dead power supply. Stupid how flimsy all of these electronics are. Of course Ecotech wanted $90 for a replacement, and of course I got an equivalent one from Amazon (link) for $20.

Thankfully, I have some redundancy built into my system, I had 2 return pumps on my DT, so I can run the L1 solo until the M1 power supply gets here on Friday. Reefing ain't easy.

 

[bakbay]

Welcome to the QT club buddy -- we can learn together! lol Seriously, sorry you're going thru this. I'm glad that it's "just" ich and not velvet. I originally thought mine was ich on the Hippo but quickly turned into a velvet outbreak and didn't have enough time to respond.

Good luck with your treatment!

 

[Jimbo327]

Welcome to the QT club buddy -- we can learn together! lol Seriously, sorry you're going thru this. I'm glad that it's "just" ich and not velvet. I originally thought mine was ich on the Hippo but quickly turned into a velvet outbreak and didn't have enough time to respond.

Good luck with your treatment!

Good luck to both of us. The ich is mostly gone from my fish, but I just hate having to manage it. I’m very fortunate it is just ich and not velvet/brook. But I still have headache of trying to catch all of the fishes by myself, so you are way ahead of me.

 

[Jimbo327]

I have massive green hair algae bloom all over my tank. Especially the right side of my tank. I’m pulling out a cup of hair algae easily, and hard to keep up with the growth. I checked nutrients and it’s not bad…7 nitrate and 0.06 phosphates. I’m usually in the office during the weekdays morning, but this weekend, I was at home and finally able to figure out why my algae is growing so much.

The season is changing, and the sunlight is coming into my windows at a different angle. It is hitting directly my tank for a few hours. This is reason the algae is growing like weeds. Growing so much, some are suffocating my corals. I will need to figure out a solution. I can’t black out the windows since this is my living room. I ordered some privacy window film and will try that out.

 

[Jimbo327]

Slowly putting together a QT in the garage.

• I'm filling the QT with some of my DT water, so it can have some bacteria and hopefully cycle faster. And basically do a water change at the same time.
• I have some other QT items (Copper Power, Seachem ammonia badge, etc.) coming from BRS this Friday.
• For QT, I prefer a mechanical float valve. It's cheap and works well. I was surprised that BRS doesn't carry a mechanical float valve for ATO. Got one from here. Just have to put the ATO water higher than the QT.
• Found an old heater and powerhead in my shed and threw it in.
• Found some PVC elbows in the parts bucket and threw it in.

After the water change, when I tried to power on the Ecotech M1 return pump on the DT, it doesn't work and I've traced it to a dead power supply. Stupid how flimsy all of these electronics are. Of course Ecotech wanted $90 for a replacement, and of course I got an equivalent one from Amazon (link) for $20.

Thankfully, I have some redundancy built into my system, I had 2 return pumps on my DT, so I can run the L1 solo until the M1 power supply gets here on Friday. Reefing ain't easy.

The $20 power supply was installed and the M1 return pump is back online.

Went to the local coral show (CFM) this weekend, and got there late & missed the raffle. There were a lot of vendors, but not a lot of customers. Perhaps everyone left after the raffles, who knows. I waited until the show was almost over and picked up a couple corals for good price. I got a nice chunky frag of pastel rainbow acan echinata, a pink center yuma ricordia, and a tiny frag of Lighthouse banana lokani. I dipped and dropped it into the tank...will mount and take photos later.

 

[Jimbo327]

Frags I bought at CFM. Definitely trying to support the local growers. I wasn’t even planning on getting anything, but it was really slow.

 

[Jimbo327]

Doing some maintenance. Cleaned skimmer body and cup. Manually pulled GHA from the tank, but doesn't even seem like I made a dent.

I got a small roll of privacy film from Amazon for $5, and stuck it onto my window. There is still sunlight coming into the room, but it is more diffused and not hitting my tank directly as before.

I really hope this will slow down the growth of the GHA and add to the stability of the tank.

The GHA is out of control! But going to pull and pull. The water parameters are fine. May need some more turbo snails.

 

[danreef55]

Hi Jimbo
sorry to see you are running into this problem. can you try covering the tank glass facing the window and block the light that way?

Hey Bakbay I have been following along. Hang in there guys

 

[MugenReef95]

Just UV sweeped the dinos on my sandbed and turned on my inline UV to run 24/7. Added some microlife special blend bacteria afterwards (Holy crap, this bacteria stinks like something died and left to rot!). Hit it with the 1-2 punch!

That was satisfying to take the UV to the dinos directly. It was awesome!

Start - Before UV:

Day 1 Finish:

Sorry, the light transitioned more blue as I was zapping the dinos. But it's fantastic, and exactly what I expected because I always think that UV is the key to fighting dinos.

Where did you get

 

[Jimbo327]

Where did you get

Sand Bed UV Sweeper

Introducing the UV Sweeper – the ultimate tool for maintaining a pristine sand bed. This innovative device will effectively help control dinoflagellates and diatoms while preserving the delicate organisms beneath the surface. The UV Sweeper is at the core of a process to help shift the...

3dreefing.com

I already had a foot pedal to turn on/off on my Hawaiian ice shaver machine, so I quickly repurposed that for the sweeper.

The dinos do come back if you are not diligent. So I have not been diligent because I think I have a direct sunlight issue that I need to take care of. I will go back to UV sweeping once I have more free time.

 

[MugenReef95]

Sand Bed UV Sweeper

Introducing the UV Sweeper – the ultimate tool for maintaining a pristine sand bed. This innovative device will effectively help control dinoflagellates and diatoms while preserving the delicate organisms beneath the surface. The UV Sweeper is at the core of a process to help shift the...

3dreefing.com

I already had a foot pedal to turn on/off on my Hawaiian ice shaver machine, so I quickly repurposed that for the sweeper.

The dinos do come back if you are not diligent. So I have not been diligent because I think I have a direct sunlight issue that I need to take care of. I will go back to UV sweeping once I have more free time.

wow thanks never knew they made such thing going through the same battles as you stay strong lol

 

[Jimbo327]

Hi Jimbo
sorry to see you are running into this problem. can you try covering the tank glass facing the window and block the light that way?

Hey Bakbay I have been following along. Hang in there guys

Thanks! I added the privacy film window cling yesterday, and this morning I found the film fell off and on the ground. So I guess I didn't read the direction (LOL) and I was suppose to remove a protective layer and use water to stick it onto the window. It's hold now, and it's blocking some of the light.

My number 1 priority is getting rid of this GHA, it has smothered a couple corals and growing in the back where I can't reach. Will have to up my GHA removal maintenance/treatment.