Reef Discussion

[somethingfishy76]

@daveH and I went down to the Gold Coast again today at 9:30 to visit @Jacques Pels and his ginormous tank.

Mission, to get that monster quiet. Limited to no skimmer box and only pipes, we had our work cut out for us. Jacques was a gracious host and trusted Dave an I to do our thing. By 2pm we had accomplished what we set out to do.

We removed most of the driftwood that was bugging Jac’s and replaced it with a huge rock hang over.

Managed to give him a huge block of chaeto to turbo charge his fuge.

In the end the tank was whisper quiet and Jac’s was very happy, however an hour after we departed, having tested the shut down and start up a few times, he rank up and had an airlock problem. Turns out the vacuum break hole just wasn’t big enough and that was my fault.... I was thinking with my 500L capacity head and he had a 3000L system.

Long story short the hole was made bigger and the airlock issue solved. Jac’s said he’ll fine tune tomorrow but was happy we came. Certainly a great day playing with an awesome tank. Thanks Jacques!!

Dave looking at our work we needed to do...

The wood that needed to come out.

The pipes needing to be silenced...

The wood being removed, Jacques was getting stuck in getting it unstuck.

Dave helping.

And then in went the rock hang over.

Just the best day. Hopefully the fine tuning goes well now that the proper size hole has been made to prohibit an airlock and it’ll be set and forget from here on.

Thanks again for you confidence in us Jacques, Dave and I would love to swing by another time and maybe do more watching and appreciating of your setup.

 

[daveH]

Brilliant day working with Gerhard to quieten the monster. It was certainly worth it for the smile on Jacques face when it was back up and running and absolutely dead quiet. Looking forward to going back and seeing it starting to be stocked, should be amazing.

 

[Jacques Pels]

Hi All,
it certainly was a big day. ! We had grown accustomed and simply accepted that there will be a loud gurgle of the overflow pipes.It is amazing how Gerhard and dave got it so silent... that I get mini panic attacks, that something must be wrong.. no noise, no sound at all !! Thanks again guys.
The air-lock cause a bit of drama, trying to figure out what the real cause was. Ash rushed over and we were frantically checking one thing after the other, but with a system this size, and 30 meters of 50mm pipes between tank and sump..there is always a lag time. In the end I reduced he rmp of the main return pump from the standard 1850 to 1700 for the night, as the overflows seems to stabalize and be able to handle that.
Despite this, I still woke up 3 times during the night, and went down to check :-(
At 6 this morning, I started to try to tweek it, but when I increased the rpm, the tank water level went up, sump got very low. We had already drilled 2 10mm holes last night, but drilled another this morning. Helps a bit, but think I will need to lower the 50mm pipe with the grill about 10mm. As it is now, the water level us up to the brace glass, and makes me a bit jittery being that high.

After the Silencing job, the guys were game to help me get the infamous Driftwood out. After all the talking, plans and preps, it turned out the silicon used to glue it all together, was not so strong... ( bit alarming actually), so we managed to get the whole piece out in one go - no need to cut and leave the stump in.
The new rock ledge went in quite nicely, and looks so much better, and gives real planting space for corals !!! GREAT job guys - I have been dead in the water for weeks, as I could not move forward until the wood is out.
The tank cleared up nicely by this morning, an I am sure I can see smiles on the Fish's faces BTW - when we drained water from the DT to get the wood out, we used the Closed Loop suctions in reverse...and seems one of the little Coris Wrass must have been hiding there, because next thing Ash asked me was " should there be a fish here in the pump basket ?" Thought he was just rattling my cage , as he enjoys doing, but sure enough there was one of the Coris.. isolated the pump, opened up the lid and got him out, and straight into the Q tank, expecting the worst. Before I called it a day last night, I went down, and squirted in a few of the live half-adult size Brine Shrimp... and he was all over them. !! He s happy this morning, so he will go back up to the DT today, along with the corals .
I will go out on the boat this week, to get a full load of new water, so the offer stands -just drop by with your buckets, and we can pump from the top IBC, and then bring some brine shrimp back for your fish.

The Dosing pump arrived, but I will get stuck into that maybe tomorrow or Monday, as I can now start to dose to get my Ca up towards that 400 mark.

Hve to go pick my son up from Tennis, an might swing down to Reef Sectrets to pick up the new Salufit dKH test kick I ordered.
Let me know if there is anything i should bring with..

THANKS again Gerhard and Dave.

Jac

 

[jart]

Woah, that tank is epic, Jacques! Good job Dave and Gerhard. Will continue to live vicariously as every having a tank that size myself is v unlikely.

 

[Jacques Pels]

Tks Jart.
She is a Big MaMa, which has made it a bit frustrating to get references for many aspects, but after making more than a few mistakes along the way, I think we are finally on the right track.
Bit rushed now, but will try to get a few shots and post an update later.
Jac

 

[Jacques Pels]

Hi All,
We used approx. 1500 ltrs of NSW on Friday when Gerhard and Dave came down and we drained the tank to get the new Ledge in, and silenced my overflows.I then got stuck into it first thing Saturday mornig, to start to transfer the corals i had been holding in the fishroom, into the DT. !!
Took the boat out yesterday to get a new load of 1200 Ltrs, and who other than Gerhard calls to say he can come down again to tweek the value for the overflow - truth be known, I just have a magnetic personality and he already missed me.
We just moored the boat when he arrived, and he got stuck into it, while I started the pumping of the water from boat to the IBCs.
To add the icing on the cake, he brought us a few nice Zoas from his tank, and they went right into the tank to what will now become the Zoa Bommy.
I made a few quick shots of where we are now - excuse the quality - that is the next thing I will have to get up to speed on.
It is SOOOOO great to now have fish and corals, color, movement and LIFE in the tank.

A BIG thanks to Gerhard and Dave.

Jac

 

[daveH]

Looking good - keep those corals going in mate.

 

[Jacques Pels]

Hi All,
Dropped by RS yesterday to pick up the new Salifet KH test kit I ordered last week. Ended up buying a new pH tester ( Weipro) as the Milwaukee went crazy despite a new probe. ... and then , as has been known to happen, I saw a few things of interest. Ended up getting a nice red/blue Acan, nice big Leather coral, a Recordia and a small bubble tip Anenomea. Got a captive bred Assessor too.
Got them back, a long drip acclimation and into the tank.
The assessor had been with RS for 3 weeks, so i decided he can go right ito the DT - dashed into the rocks and have not seen him since.
By this morning the new corals all look happy, except.... the Anenomea went walk-abouts of course, and cannot find him.
Now for a chuckle. Since 2 days we have not seen the Cleaner Wrass. He was always so active and likedm, it seemed the fish even missed him.
Figured we may have lost him... but it bugged me, and decided to double check the filter socks, since we changed the Overflow system.
Lo and Behold... there he was swimming around in circles in the third sock. Fished him out, and straight back to the DT - it was like watching a joyful reunion of old mates.. the tangs grouped around him, and lined up for a clean, and he happily obliged, as if nothing had happened !!!
I only hope the Anenomea did not try the same route, but have now placed a mesh over the intake to avoid any new escape attampts.

Our so tame Lipstick Tang, Naso did not look happy yesterday, and even less so today.
To be sure nothing was amiss, I did a full barrage of water tests last night. All OK.
Am - negligable.
Na - nearly 0
pH - 8.13
PO4 - 0
Salinity - SG 1.026
Ca - still only 350 despite dosing 150 ml the last 4 days.

The 2 new Yellow Tangs are still in Q with the Long Nose Hawk Fish and Royal Gamma - they wont touch pellets, but love frequent feeds of live 19 day old Brine Shrimp.... man, they got me well trained.

Jac

 

[Jacques Pels]

HI All,
I have been dosing Randy's Ca, 100ml daily, for 9 days. With 3500 Ltrs that is not much, but would rather make changes gradually.
My Ca has crept up to 380, but when I tested Alk / dKH on Saturday, I noted it was dropping. It was approx. 6.2 ~ 6.7 last week.
Tested yesterday morning again, and it was down to 5.6, so I figured it is time to start dosing Alk.
I had bought 2 Kg 2 weeks ago, along with the Ca Chloride, so baked the whole 2Kg, and made up a 12.75 Ltr batch of Randy's Alk.
This was the recipe I was give - 235 gms for a 1.5 Ltr ROI water solution, which equates to 2000 gms for a 12.75 Ltr batch. When I mixed it, I noted there was still undissolved powder, so I left it and stirred well again after 2 hours. This morning I checked, and still there is a layer of undissolved powder. Is this normal, or does it mean I need to add more RO water and adjust the recipe, so the Alk powder is all held in suspension ?

I dosed 50 ml yesterday mid afternoon, and when I tested at 7 pm, my dKH was up o 6.00
I dosed 50ml this morning, and after 2 hours tested, and dKH is now at 7 !! pretty fast !
I think I will maintain 50ml a day for now, and note how fast it raises the Alk, so I have a reference for the future. If I get between 8 and 9 I will cut back and see the results.
I got the new Wave Box dosing pump, and am using it to dose the Ca on 1 channel. It only came with 2 meters of the thin silicon tubing. I will need more tubing to hook up the Alk - do I need to buy the same thin tube for the doser, or can I use the standard silicon air tube I have ??

Sad news - I found a nice Long Nosed Hawkfish, and had him in Q for 2 weeks, feeding him up. Put him into the DT last week, and he was starting to show his character. This morning, my daughter called that there was a fish on the floor. I thought a dead fish.... but the little fella had jumped out - I dont have the hood built yet, but a sad lesson to learn all over again.

Jac

 

[daveH]

With the Alk recipe, warm the water slightly before adding the powder. Add the powder in small batches and stir in well at the same time.
The ratio is correct, I’ve never ended up with a residue once mixed.
Cheers