Mattgsa 315 gallon build

[mattgsa]

With putting sand in your sump, if you set up racks with trays of sand in the racks you could create more sand surface area in a small space.

Thats not a bad Idea either. I found out that Tampa bay is still not selling anything right now. I was thinking about getting some of the Ocean direct sand. I found on amazon, I can get a 40 pound bag for around 30 dollars. What do you all think? If so how many bag should I attempt to put in the sand? Which bakes the question do I need to get criters to maintain the sand? LOL

 

[GBRsouth]

I'd just go one bag for the sump because even if you do it in trays it won't be thick layers.

I don't think you'll need critters if the sand is after your mechanical filtration.

 

[rds85]

KP aquatics is selling right now a and their sand comes from the Keys ( cleaner water than the bay IMO)

 

[mattgsa]

KP aquatics is selling right now a and their sand comes from the Keys ( cleaner water than the bay IMO)

I have been on their site twice now looking for it and didn't see it. I sent them a message asking about it. If they are selling it, that's certainly the better deal.

 

[mattgsa]

KP aquatics is selling right now a and their sand comes from the Keys ( cleaner water than the bay IMO)

Hi Matt,
We are not selling any live sand because we are not allowed to harvest any live sand in our area.

Thanks.
Philipp

KP Aquatics LLC
P.O. Box 1601
Tavernier, FL 33070
www.kpaquatics.com

 

[rds85]

Hi Matt,
We are not selling any live sand because we are not allowed to harvest any live sand in our area.

Thanks.
Philipp

KP Aquatics LLC
P.O. Box 1601
Tavernier, FL 33070
www.kpaquatics.com

My apologies, Kp was still selling live rock during covid sorry!!! There is some where in the Florida that sells live sand "from the keys" but it is actually from the Caribbean since you cannot legally get it directly from the keys (USA).

I will let you know if I can find it.

 

[rds85]

I think I found it or at least an option for live sand: indopacific sea farms

 

[mattgsa]

I think I found it or at least an option for live sand: indopacific sea farms

Are you referring to this?

 

[rds85]

Are you referring to this?

Yup

 

[mattgsa]

Yup

Thanks, I will certainly put that on my list of things for the future. Right now I'm waiting on the clean-up crew I ordered. I want to see what they do before I put sand in the sump.

On a side note, my nitrates went to zero, and I noticed one of the new frags I got starting to brownout. So I'm going to start adding some sodium nitrate. I also added a little Acro Power, but I really don't want to start dosing that right now with only 4 frags in the tank.

 

[mattgsa]

I think I have solved the mystery of the GHA. I will let you judge for your self.

 

[mattgsa]

I'm thinking I need to order some GFO. What do you all think?

 

[Wen]

TBS will have live sand available in a couple months, if you can wait.

 

[mattgsa]

TBS will have live sand available in a couple months, if you can wait.

Thats good to know I will order some if I can't get this GHA sorted out. I ordered GFO to deal with the phosphates. It should be here on friday and i will add it to the reactor. Does anyone have a good idea how long it should take to bring down the Phosphates, and seed a decline in the GHA?

 

[Wen]

Enjoy following your build thread, thank you for sharing

Wanted to add that gha is often part of the maturing phase of a young system. Think of it as teenage acne. It’s ugly! I chose to go the natural route with frequent wc, elbow grease scrubbing, more cuc and most importantly start adding pods & phyto religiously (taper down when gha disappears)....couple months. And of course, pay attention to phos and nit parameters...no big fluctuations.

This brings us to high phosphates. First, confirm your phos readings are high at various times of the day. (Example is high phos reading after pellet feedings.) Or if I’m hurrying through the test steps, yowsa, a high number appears...

When I had gha, phos/nitrate levels were 0-low, so I began dosing these litely.

If you add GFO to the system, be careful and go slow, very slow. Bottoming out from a high number means more trouble. ik, lol.

Are your phos readings consistently high?
Do you have a refugium and is it healthy?
Photos are always good for us visual learners.

 

[mattgsa]

Enjoy following your build thread, thank you for sharing

Wanted to add that gha is often part of the maturing phase of a young system. Think of it as teenage acne. It’s ugly! I chose to go the natural route with frequent wc, elbow grease scrubbing, more cuc and most importantly start adding pods & phyto religiously (taper down when gha disappears)....couple months. And of course, pay attention to phos and nit parameters...no big fluctuations.

This brings us to high phosphates. First, confirm your phos readings are high at various times of the day. (Example is high phos reading after pellet feedings.) Or if I’m hurrying through the test steps, yowsa, a high number appears...

When I had gha, phos/nitrate levels were 0-low, so I began dosing these litely.

If you add GFO to the system, be careful and go slow, very slow. Bottoming out from a high number means more trouble. ik, lol.

Are your phos readings consistently high?
Do you have a refugium and is it healthy?
Photos are always good for us visual learners.

I have not had a chance to do another test, life keeps getting in the way. I will do one when I get home today. I'm doing an auto water change of several gallons every day. The refugium was going really strong for a while until I did the really large water change, and all the Ogo melted away. It's now been replaced with GHA. I would order more, however, I'm having a hard time with nitrates.

I feel myself getting pulled into a battle of numbers. The funny thing is the corals for the most part don't seem to care. With the possible exception of the JG Yellow. It has started showing a little browning. However, I dosed some nitrates and it stopped getting worse. Don't get me wrong they don't appear to be doing much of anything right now, and that doesn't come as a surprise. I'm still working on getting the tank stable. (These were cheap tester frags anyway, I'm just hoping my canaries don't die in my coal mine.) I know most of you will disagree with this, however, I did do a single dose of Acro Power, I know with four frags in the tank it isn't necessary. However, with nutrients all over the board, I wanted to play it safe. I do not intend on continuing to dose it because it does aid in fueling the GHA, but at the time the corals were more important, and the tank is already covered in GHA.

The other interesting thing is rising Alk, and I'm not doseing anything. I would say it was the auto water changes but I have been doing that for months now.

 

[mattgsa]

As stated above I tested my Phospatates again, and no they are at 22. I think the GFO comes in tomorrow. I would do a large water change but my water in the guarge is to hot for a large volume water change.

 

[mattgsa]

Right now I'm wishing my yard was as green as my tank. :mad: I should post a picture of a the tank, however, I don't think anyone wants to see it. I don't even like looking at it.

 

[GBRsouth]

I know you've said patience isn't your thing, but please be patient now and you will help the tank become stable sooner. Let it do it's thing.

 

[rds85]

Right now I'm wishing my yard was as green as my tank. :mad: I should post a picture of a the tank, however, I don't think anyone wants to see it. I don't even like looking at it.

Nothing wrong with a "ugly" picture. I find them useful when you look back in a few months and go... Oh yeah definitely have fixed that issue.