evolved's Wrasse & Reef Tank (Old)

Oh agree, they're amazing. A piece of equipment I'll always have. But at least I'm not alone with dead spots. When I consider how my rockwork is set and powerhead placement, it makes sense.

They went up on the 4th (that's how I celebrated; LEDs and an Apex installation ). I'm already beginning to see some positive change.

That was the point of the controller; being able to leave the tank for more than 2 days without total anxiety. Although I doubt I'll ever be able to leave it for longer than a week. I still have a webcam I can access via my phone (or computer) to see things too.

Oh I'm sure you would...

 

I think the only change would be to blow off the rocks with the WC.

 

Congratz on all the new controlability.* and the new lighting.

thoughts on the dead spots: I have a friend with a 4x2x2 120 gallon that is about 3 years old with all the bells and whistles. top of the line equipment from top to bottom. And yes, he did have and still has IMO too heavy of a bio-load. But the point is, he was fighting high nitrates and phosphates even with bio-pellets and GFO. No algae issues though, only because I think his fish and cuc were taking care of it. But his SPS were suffering to say the least. So after talking him into getting rid of a few fish, which took 2 months, I also convinced him that he needed to rescape his tank. He had a lot of areas that were dead spots even with 2 MP40's. Between the 2 of us, we were able to break it down and redo the whole thing in 5 hours. And we completely removed about 30 lbs of rock all together. We focused on much needed open areas through the bottom of the scape and in the back of the tank. We had to start something, and then stop, take a break and come back, and both of us had input, and it finally came together really nice and open, and yet, doesnt look all that different than what he had before. we also blew off tons of detritus along the way, and ended up changing about 50% with new water.

Bottom line, after 2 weeks his nitrates went from 30 to undetectable, and his phosphates went from 2.23 to 0.12. So adding more flow might help, but you might want to give a little thought to eliminating dead spots without spending $400 plus.

 

Thanks Chris.

Sure, I do run a decent bio-load, but I don't believe it's at all insane. I've never had phosphate levels higher than 0.04 (via a Hanna checker) and my nitrates have been undetectable or barely detectable (0.2) via a Salifert kit for a couple years now. My coral coloration is all mostly good; perhaps not 100% but far from browned out. The thing that gets me is a I never had an algae growth issue until I went to the MP40s and changed the flow pattern. I can't help but acknowledge that.

And I really hate my aquascape, but I don't know if I have the testicular fortitude to try and change it without a new tank justification.

 

I vote new tank! New tanks don't have dead spots, and all test with trates and po4 at 0!

 

Hunter, just to be clear, I was never alluding to the fact that you have a heavy bio-load. My friend in particular has large pooping fish that have outgrown his setup.

I vote new tank as well! But if that's not a reality soon, get the mp10's and see how it goes.

 

And I didn't mean to imply I took that as such. Was just trying to be clear; that's all. I know some would say I'm stocked to the limit (pair of B&W Oscilarus, Tomini tang, 8 wrasses), but I've got plans for a few more... (no more than 5 smallish ones, just to be clear). But I'd like to get things resolved before I go there.

So 2 MP10s ordered for the time being. Maybe a tank upgrade might come down the line. The effort (and risk) involved is holding me back more than the cost.

 

I agree hunter. My 6ft tank has some issues with 2 mp40s so I got Adam's mp10 on the way. I also think reaquascaping sucks but I gotta do it too..... do you run philter socks?

 

Thanks Alex. I don't run filter socks, but I do use some poly fill in a sump baffle downstream of my skimmer, changed weekly.

 

So the MP10s showed up on Wednesday, and I got them wet last night and set up on the Apex. I might need to reposition one a bit more yet; we'll see. I also ordered in some to the Brightwell Xport-PO4, and I'm going to switch over to that today or tomorrow. And seeing it with my own eyes, I'm also of the opinion it's a ceramic media coated with ferric oxide, but that's just fine as it'll offer a LOT of surface area.

Anyhow, I set my Vortechs to do a "sleep" mode at night (constant at 45% on the Apex). Noting something interesting with the pH today:



I find it hard to believe that's coincidence, so now I really think I'm onto something here. Sure, there's been a slight upwards drift over the last four days, but nothing to justify that jump on the bottom besides an increase in circulation. I'll know in a week or two, that's for sure.