Vibrant experiment

[ahiggins]

hello all!
Starting my experiment with vibrant today.
Tank:
40 gallon breeder frag tank, no sump
Reef octopus classic 100 skimmer
Gyre xf230
Initial dose:
12/17/16-4ml
Pictures:

 

[twilliard]

taggin along to watch this come around

 

[ahiggins]

I switch out the egg crate so there's lots less algae

 

[kashman100]

Wiping that off at least once a day with a sponge or Mr clean magic eraser helps alot too

 

[ahiggins]

I have been. It comes back in a day lol

 

[Meccaman96]

Whats with the 2 little zoas on a huge plate? Are you trying to grow them out a ton? And if so how long do u expect that to take.

 

[ahiggins]

Whats with the 2 little zoas on a huge plate? Are you trying to grow them out a ton? And if so how long do u expect that to take.

Haha yea, those are my fastest growers. There's another that will be on a plate soon too. The higher one I expect to have that filled within 6-7 months. A little longer for the one below.

 

[prsnlty]

I'll be starting Vibrant on Monday on a 180G. Good luck!

 

[ahiggins]

Update:
Second dose- 4ml
12/22/16:
Observations...
1) flasher wrasse died on 12/20
2) pictus blenny died on 12/22
3) coral are doing well
4) algae on rocks are gone but the algae on frags are still there. I'm lessening the intensity of the lights to see if that will affect it at all.
5) put skimmer on 12/17, started pulling skimmate today.
6) did a 5 gal WC last night, still getting microbubbles but installed a mesh filter sock to help. New gyre is finally working properly.
7) algae on bottom seems to have died but glass and eggcrate still have buildup.
8) snails and crabs are still alive.
9) found a frag with zoa fungus, pulled it to treat-not hopeful.
10) will update with parameters later today.

 

[BlueCursor]

Two fish died? You can't just throw that out there and not offer an explanation, or are you throwing that out there like the Vibrant did it?

 

[twilliard]

Oh man 2 fish died?
Being bare bottom one must be cautious about chemistry. It will be easy to upset the balance, have to think about the bacteria.

 

[ahiggins]

Two fish died? You can't just throw that out there and not offer an explanation, or are you throwing that out there like the Vibrant did it?

lol I don't think vibrant did it, I'm just documenting everything that happens.
Problem is...I don't know why it happened.

 

[ahiggins]

Oh man 2 fish died?
Being bare bottom one must be cautious about chemistry. It will be easy to upset the balance, have to think about the bacteria.

I feel like I'm learning that the hard way. I sucked a lot of detritus out when I did my water change. Behind rocks and such. Which is why I need to test. I'm worried that I have an ammonia spike after the two fish died. Now I am fishless.
Could I have too much bacteria in there from the vibrant?

 

[twilliard]

I feel like I'm learning that the hard way. I sucked a lot of detritus out when I did my water change. Behind rocks and such. Which is why I need to test. I'm worried that I have an ammonia spike after the two fish died. Now I am fishless.
Could I have too much bacteria in there from the vibrant?

I feel it would be the other way around. Not enough bacteria.
Do you have an API ammonia test hanging around?

 

[ahiggins]

Ammonia: between 0 and 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
I'm also thinking it may be lack of oxygen so I'm adding an air line tonight as well.

 

[ahiggins]

Maybe the algae dying off is creating ammonia?
Water changes ahead

 

[twilliard]

What is your skimmer doing? How is it smelling?

 

[ahiggins]

Well it just started producing a skimmate this morning. I'll smell it when I get home. I don't think skimmate from my other tanks smells bad, should it smell bad? Lol

 

[twilliard]

IMO the smell is indicative of the amount of organic material removed (also bacterial blooms)

 

[ahiggins]

Fabulous. I will let you know what it smells like lol