Turtle's Sushi Tank

SashimiTurtle · Apr 3, 2021

My order from Algae Barn came in yesterday. I was home late from shopping at the local tack and feed stores,(bought some new tack for my horses) so I waited to post. I did get pictures. I got enough Fritz Turbostart 900 to cycle 5 Reefer 250 tanks, and dumped all of it in. I've been having some low levels of ammonia I've been combating with Prime and I wanted to make sure I didn't have a dud bottle of Dr. Tim's. It ended up clouding the tank pretty good, but cleared quickly.

I also got some sea weed appetizers! Red Pom Pom aka Dragon's Breath algae. I ordered 4oz and did not realize exactly how much 4oz was going to be. Half this would have been enough to start but it won't hurt. First pic is under the grow setting on my H80, second pic is with it set to blue so you can see the color.(It looks green to the eye under the grow setting but bright red and orange under blue)

najer · Apr 3, 2021

SashimiTurtle said:
My order from Algae Barn came in yesterday. I was home late from shopping at the local tack and feed stores,(bought some new tack for my horses) so I waited to post. I did get pictures. I got enough Fritz Turbostart 900 to cycle 5 Reefer 250 tanks, and dumped all of it in. I've been having some low levels of ammonia I've been combating with Prime and I wanted to make sure I didn't have a dud bottle of Dr. Tim's. It ended up clouding the tank pretty good, but cleared quickly.

I also got some sea weed appetizers! Red Ogo aka dragons breath algae. I ordered 4oz and did realize exactly how much 4oz was going to be. Half this would have been enough to start but it won't hurt. First pic is under the grow setting on my H80, second pic is with it set to blue so you can see the color.(It looks green to the eye under the grow setting but bright red and orange under blue)

Sweet, I have 5 tangs and a fox face that would be pooping that in about 24 hours!

SashimiTurtle · Apr 3, 2021

najer said:
Sweet, I have 5 tangs and a fox face that would be pooping that in about 24 hours!

The idea is to feed some to my tomini and flame tail blenny as occasional treats on the algae clip. I'll probably get some chaeto to add to the fuge from a friend who wants some dragon's breath. (cough @Saltysav96)

Saltysav96 · Apr 5, 2021

SashimiTurtle said:
The idea is to feed some to my tomini and flame tail blenny as occasional treats on the algae clip. I'll probably get some chaeto to add to the fuge from a friend who wants some dragon's breath. (cough @Saltysav96)

ready to trade macro algae whenever you are!

SashimiTurtle · Apr 21, 2021

Long time, no sushi!

The Sushi Tank has pretty much been on cruise control waiting for the ugly stages to pass. The bottle of Fritz Turbostart 900 I added at the last update did the trick, no testable ammonia since adding it. I have a diatom bloom going on right now, but it will pass. Hopefully I have time for a water change this weekend, that should help with the diatoms some and I could stand to strengthen my CUC with a few sand sifters.

Dragons breath died back a good bit but seems to be ok now. I think it needs a bit more flow than what the sump has. I'll have to find a small power head that won't blow it around too hard.

I got a few new pieces of sushi also. These have been in the tank for a week now and have settled in nicely. Two acans, a black widow blasto and a purple stylo.

SashimiTurtle · May 20, 2021

Quick morning update. Tank has been doing a little better with the uglies. I backed down the AP700 in intensity to combat some of the problems we were having.

I had a brownish slimy algae that would grow as the day went on covering the sand and glass then it would release into the water at night and get caught up in the socks. Each morning the tank would look clean with the exception of cloudy water, then as the day went on it would get covered. Dropping the intensity of the light helped with the brown slime, but the water is still cloudy. Fish and corals seem unaffected for the most part, lost the stylo but that could be from unstable new tank parameters, and the acans really need to be glued as they aren't opening all the way on the rack. All(like 4 pieces

) the LPS on the rocks are doing great.

SashimiTurtle · Jun 18, 2021

Got some new tank goodies in. First up I pulled the Cobalt heater in favor of a 300W BRS brand heater controlled by the GHL. It is set to 78.1°F (wouldn't let me set it to an even 78) and appears to have a 0.1° fluctuation, I'll need more sample data to be sure tho. The hysteresis(I had to look up that word, it's basically lag) is set to 0.36°F but the tutorial video said its usually a 0.2° fluctuation. The Cobalt thermostat was off a few degrees, and I didn't fully trust it as I had it set to 82° to hold 78.5-79°.

Screenshot_20210618-162500_GHL Connect.jpg

Screenshot_20210618-162532_GHL Connect.jpg

I also got a GHL probe holder. I had them tied up to the stand dangling in the water, now they are nice and neat and held in one place so nothing happens to them. They are in the "splash" chamber before my filter socks so they get water straight from the tank.

You can just barely see them, but I got the GHL float switch and holder on the front left... and the GHL dosing tube holder on the back left just barely in the picture. I'm still deciding on which ATO I want to use, but I'm thinking of using a peristaltic pump with RO tubing as my Synergy Reef ATO reservoir has a 1/4 push connect bulkhead in the top of it.

The last thing I got was a second MP40 for the other side of the tank. I placed both of them on the back wall so they are almost completely out of sight. I still have good flow thru the tank with two, when I just had the one on the back wall the opposite side of the tank was dead.

The water is still cloudy, I'm not really sure why but everything seems fine. My next step is to get the ATO pump all figured out and on GHL control, then get a reactor going with a good dose of carbon to try and clear this water up. The tank is progressing pretty well, I have healthy coraline growth and the ugly stages are on their way out it seems.

najer · Jun 19, 2021

SashimiTurtle said:
Got some new tank goodies in. First up I pulled the Cobalt heater in favor of a 300W BRS brand heater controlled by the GHL. It is set to 78.1°F (wouldn't let me set it to an even 78) and appears to have a 0.1° fluctionation, I'll need more sample data to be sure tho. The hysteresis(I had to look up that word, it's basically lag) is set to 0.36°F but the tutorial video said its usually a 0.2° fluctuation. The Cobalt thermostat was off a few degrees, and I didn't fully trust it as I had it set to 82° to hold 78.5-79°.

I also got a GHL probe holder. I had them tied up to the stand dangling in the water, now they are nice and neat and held in one place so nothing happens to them. They are in the "splash" chamber before my filter socks so they get water straight from the tank.

You can just barely see them, but I got the GHL float switch and holder on the front left... and the GHL dosing tube holder on the back left just barely in the picture. I'm still deciding on which ATO I want to use, but I'm thinking of using a peristaltic pump with RO tubing as my Synergy Reef ATO reservoir has a 1/4 push connect bulkhead in the top of it.

The last thing I got was a second MP40 for the other side of the tank. I placed both of them on the back wall so they are almost completely out of sight. I still have good flow thru the tank with two, when I just had the one on the back wall the opposite side of the tank was dead.

The water is still cloudy, I'm not really sure why but everything seems fine. My next step is to get the ATO pump all figured out and on GHL control, then get a reactor going with a good dose of carbon to try and clear this water up. The tank is progressing pretty well, I have healthy coraline growth and the ugly stages are on their way out it seems.

It is odd about the cloudiness as the pics are a month apart and it looks the same!

SashimiTurtle · Jun 19, 2021

najer said:
It is odd about the cloudiness as the pics are a month apart and it looks the same!

Very odd. I've got my reactor soaking in some citric acid as it was quite nasty and didn't get cleaned before it was put away. I'll finish getting is cleaned and put in the sump tonight loaded full of carbon as the little bag in the sump obviously isn't doing much.

Also, it looks like the GHL holds temperature really stable. I can't ask for better than 0.2°F swing

Screenshot_20210619-155117_GHL Connect.jpg

TuxUrchin07 · Jun 19, 2021

Poor turtle (jk). Nice tank!

Fudsey · Jun 19, 2021

Any thought on using a marineland magnum polishing filter to clear the water?

SashimiTurtle · Jun 19, 2021

Fudsey said:
Any thought on using a marineland magnum polishing filter to clear the water?

Actually, it's cleared up some today. It's not clear clear, but it's better. I can't help but think by increasing flow in the tank I somehow cleared the water some. Also my trachy swole up more than I've ever seen it. Did I stir something up and caused the trachy to feed? I don't think so as it didn't have feeders out. Did I increase the oxygen content in the water? Probably... Ok, so the cloud didn't appear until I added the fritz bacteria stuff. It cycled the tank, but the cloud never left.

Today the trachy was HUGE, pushed up against both rocks, even the mouth area was swollen out. My green blasto was all the way open as well. Both of those corals have looked ok, but not fully inflated. Increasing flow probably carried more oxygen around the tank clearing up bacteria and making the corals happy... if it doesn't clear all the way I've thought about getting a UV sterilizer.

Oh, yeah... the MP40s are rearranging my sand. I might have to move them to the sides or turn them way down. Maybe we turn them down until we get some more corals to block flow.

SashimiTurtle · Jun 21, 2021

New ATO pump came in. Amazon special fountain pump with a 6ft cord.

Luckily one of the adapters ID fit the OD of 1/4 RO tubing perfectly, so we plumbed it up with some I had lying around.

Yeah, I know there's fuzz in the bottom of my ATO tank. I'll clean that next time it's empty.

SashimiTurtle · Aug 31, 2021

LOOOONG time since I updated y'all on the Sushi Tank. I've had a lot going on, bought a lot, changed a little, went to Disney World on a very belated honeymoon, and the wife and I are expecting!

First things first, baby Turtle is due April 7th. Mrs. Turtle and I are very excited. Disney World finally happened!!! We had planned a trip in the spring of 2020 but, things happened. Anyway, we had a blast and it was Mrs. Turtle's first trip so she was SUPER excited to go. We had to take it easy as late August in Florida is pretty unforgiving. We are used to the heat and humidity living in South Carolina, but she still needed frequent breaks so she didn't get overheated. I'll attach a few of my favorite pictures.

On to the tank updates! I've had a few deaths, some things are very happy, I've added new equipment and bought new equipment but haven't added it...

Deaths... bought a few corals from a Gonzo live sale on FB. While I was in Disney I lost most of them, not that they were doing well to start with. I had a very chunky setosa and a few gonis that didn't make it. Two acans did but aren't incredibly happy with me.

My rainbow trachy radiata, the green blasto and a red blasto I got from a friend are doing very well. I have a purple branching hammer two RFAs and a ricordea from my last tank that are doing great, and a bubblegum digi that is struggling, but doing better since a large water change.

I bought a new skimmer. A Nyos Quantum 120. This thing is a beast. The water clarity has gone WAY up since getting it. Oh, the cloudy water. With adding the second MP40 and doing a few water changes it cleared up. Adding the Nyos took the water from clear, to invisible. I felt like it was clear before, but oh boy was I surprised by how much clearer it got.

And.... I bought a KHD and GHL Doser SA 2.1, but I haven't hooked it up. I'm a bit intimidated by all the measuring of dosing tubes and seeming over complication of the setup procedure... I'll have the doser in slave controlled my the Profilux 4, but if I ever sell it the stand alone doser has better resale as you don't need the P4 to control it. Oh yea... I got a cabinet to house my controller and hide my atrocious cable management skills. Seriously, do not open.

I think last update on the Dragon's Breath it had died back pretty far. It's filled the refugium now, I actually put a large tennis ball size piece in the tank while we were away at Disney. The only thing that happened is the little bit of hair algae that was on it from the fuge got cleaned off... and one of my pin cushion urchins decided a piece of it was great camouflage. I decided to add a little piece to the display permanently. Nothing is eating it and it looks pretty. I also have an order with algae barn for a 3 pack of macro, chaeto, sea lettuce and red ogo along with some of their 5280 pods. I have had my best reef tank success with a thriving refugium, so I want to build on that past success and create a really diverse and powerful refugium. Regular trimming of macro will most likely be something I'll have to stay on top of as one macro will most like try and out grow the others. I also added a Brightwell media brick to the refugium, the one with the bumps on the bottom. I had planned on adding one from the start, I just hadn't ordered it yet. It's in the bottom, you can just see it. The size is perfect it fills the whole bottom of the compartment with just enough room for my heater.

The tank got a little neglected for a little while(thread too). Water changes didn't happen. Dosing still hasn't happened. Feeding got skipped a few times. Hair algae grew... A lot has been going on here, but I've got everything back on track now and plan to keep it that way.