Tonight I tested some algae-specific parameters for the first time since changing my filtration strategy. The good news: nitrates dropped from 40ppm to 0. Phosphate remains at zero as always. Looks like the Seachem Purigen was a success.
The bad news is that I still have algae. After two weeks of doing the API Algaefix, I noticed it was growing back slower after a cleaning, and that some of the stringy algae was less green. Supposedly this is a sign of it working. I plan on continuing dosage for now. I'm hoping that by removing the nitrate, my corals will bounce back soon, and the algae will begin to disappear.
Another item of note, my clownfish have begun to display mating behavior. They've also been regularly digging a small pit in the gravel, which seems odd as I was under the impression that they generally prefer flat, solid surfaces for egg laying.
And finally, after a year of barely keeping SPS alive, I've been considering switching over to primarily soft corals. Live Aquaria has recently stocked up on some very interesting and colorful species, flying in the face of conventional wisdom that all soft corals are brown.
Like everything else in my tank as of late, the Vortech MP20 is growing itself a fine outer layer of green algae in addition to the usual assortment of encrusting worms. Today I took it apart for a warm water and vinegar dip to loosen some of this stuff. For a refresher course on disassembly (actually very easy), I stopped by the EcoTech website.
I was pleased to see that at some point in the recent past, like Seachem, they entrusted their web presence to a competent design and development team. Great work on the site guys, and great job to EcoTech Marine for realizing how important the web is to emerging companies in this hobby. And bonus points for utilizing video in such a compelling way. Check out this wave:
Two of my favorite reef aquarium blogs, Glassbox Design and Reef Builders have recently been showcasing some exceptional aquariums. I hope this trend continues, as it is a nice alternative to the usual gadget press releases, and it is a much more convenient method of finding beautiful and successful tanks than trying to parse the large forums.
In light of my continued issues with nitrates (~40ppm) and the resulting algae, I've decided to make a few changes to the filtration mediums used in the filter. Up until now I've been running two bags of carbon along with some live rock rubble. Carbon is great for polishing the water, but it isn't actively helping with an accumulation of organics. The live rock has proven a good breeding ground for micro fauna (I regularly find abundant copepods and sponges), but there isn't enough volume to consider it an effective biological filter.
First, I reintroduced the zeolite media I had experimented with last summer. The highly porous nature of zeolite absorbs impurities and serves as a breeding ground for beneficial bacteria that reduce organics. I started low with the volume of zeolite, and hope to increase it based on how the corals react.
Secondly, I added 100ml of Seachem Purigen. This is a porous chemical filtration medium that works as a sponge for organic matter in the water. By removing this material from the water column, it never has a chance to complete the nitrogen cycle and become nitrate. Thanks to the abundant volume of the Aquaclear filter, I am also able to continue running a bag of carbon and the live rock rubble.
The last change to my maintenance routine is a little more controversial, at least in my mind. I am generally very conservative about introducing any form of additives, and especially opposed to chemical treatment of algae. That said, after reading a long thread about the effectiveness of API's Algaefix, I had to try it. The experiences of many aquarists confirmed the claim that this product will not harm anything within the tank, from fish to invertebrates, but will eliminate most forms of algae within weeks. An $8 bottled solution is very tempting after spending a few months scraping algae and performing multiple water changes each week.
The current dosing schedule is 3ml of Algaefix every three days, to be reduced when algae shows signs of dying off. I will update with progress.
In February I swapped the noisy and unreliable Coralife 65 skimmer I had been running for a Tunze Nano skimmer. As noted in the post, initial impressions were positive. The skimmer is virtually silent, began skimming with no break in period, and was a massive aesthetic upgrade for the tank. But like anything in an aquarium, the real test is time. Maintenance, reliability, and skimming performance are things you discover after months of operation.
Performance The skimmate shown above was produced after 20 hours of operation. I'm running the skimmer wetter than normal because of my recent nitrate issues, but this is roughly approximate to the performance I've seen since installing the skimmer. Generally I get a tea colored, organic smelling liquid as well as a solid cake of buildup around the neck. No doubt that the skimmer is doing it's job.
Maintenance The Coralife 65 had a screw off collection cup. Before removing this, you needed to turn the skimmer off (by unplugging) or it would overflow. With the Tunze Nano, you just lift the cup and neck out while leaving the skimmer running. This sort of convenience makes it much easier to perform daily or every other day cleaning on the skimmer. And with the included cleaning brush, you can get the neck and cup spotless in less than a minute.
Reliability Like any skimmer, the Tunze Nano is sensitive to the water level. It includes a marker on the side of the skimmer body indicating what the proper level should be, which is very convenient for knowing where your top off water should come to. The downside to water level sensitivity is that nano tanks fluctuate in volume much faster than larger tanks: evaporation and a cooling fan can take an inch of water out of my 29 gallon tank in one day.
As the water level drops in the tank, it also drops in the skimmer, meaning that the foam will stop reaching the collection cup. This necessitates maintaining a consistent water level in order to have proper skimming. The lazy aquarist within me resents this, but I know that maintaining a consistent water level has other benefits, such as keeping salinity and other parameters stable.
Conversely, if the water level is too high or an additive causes the skimmer to run wetter than normal, you can run into a situation where the skimmer pumps water straight into the cup, filling it quickly. With the Coralife 65 hanging outside of the tank, this could result in a minor flood. With the Tunze Nano this has happened only once (my fault for fiddling with the adjustments). Because it sits within the tank, and because the lid of the collection cup has openings, the Tunze will not overflow. Peace of mind you can't appreciate enough.
Overall Great skimmer, wish I'd known about it when I originally setup my tank. I'd recommend it to anyone with 30 gallons or less. For those with tanks in their livingroom, you absolutely can't beat the virtue of silence when it comes to a skimmer.
Photo: Geometric pygmy hawkfish
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
This fish has remained quite shy since I acquired it in March. It will tolerate viewers sitting quietly in front of the tank, but any rapid movements or strange behaviors, specifically related to cameras, send it hiding amongst the rocks. I was finally able to get a half decent picture, by sneaking up like National Geographic nature photographer.
Despite the shyness, this is a great species for the smaller reef aquarium. It is a calm fish that spends most of its time perched on the rocks (or hiding), which makes a nice contrast to the typically boisterous clownfish and chromis that I keep.
Here I am prattling on about my nitrates rising, completely oblivious to the aging to do item "Buy RO filters for aquarium". Thankfully Ocean@Home posted a reminder that parameter issues often start at the source, the water you put into your tank. Doing frequent water changes to combat nitrates isn't going to help if the tap water is the source of your nitrates. Tonight I'll test my tap and RO output just to verify.
A quick online order from Drs. Foster Smith, and I should have some new RO filters here within the week. I took the opportunity to order a new XM 15k metal halide bulb as well, another yearly maintenance task I've been slacking on. Better late than never!
Crazy idea of the day: adding a whole lot of macro algae to my tank, making it a "planted" reef.
• Motivator 1: I miss having a planted tank. • Motivator 2: Algae would make the tank more diverse. • Motivator 3: Having a unique tank look. • Motivator 4: Potentially would take up some nutrients.
The real thought process trigger was this recent post on the Glass Box, with a video of a Japanese tank. The sand bed is planted with turtle grass,
Thalassia testudinum.
I also like the look of Halodule beaudettei, which is more like freshwater hairgrass. Combined with turtle grass, you can get an interesting meadow effect, an often sought after look for freshwater planted tanks. If I could get this to grow thick enough, it would be a really interesting effect with the live rock rising out of it.
Live Aquaria has a good selection of marine algae, but they are often out of stock. I found a small company, Gulf Coast Ecosystems, that specializes in tropical algae collection and aquaculture. I'm going to do some more research right now, but think this may be an interesting change for the tank. The only (major) downside I can think of is that these plants are native to the Caribbean, and the majority of my stock is from the South Pacific. Though I've never intended to create a strict biotope, it would be more of an unusual species mix than I've generally preferred to make.
Over the preceding two months I've noticed the nitrate levels in my reef tank creeping up from unmeasurable to 20ppm. I blame this squarely on a Glassbox post about fish being fed enough; worried that I was compelling my fish to be "coralexic", my tank has since become an all you can eat Chinese buffet. I believe the elevated nitrate level is responsible for some of my corals browning out. Also I've noticed a few strands of dreaded hair algae appearing within the tank, as well as increased diatoms on the glass of the tank.
My plan is to keep up with my weekly 5% water changes, and also to introduce a new form of nutrient export. If anyone has advice on the choices below, please volunteer your expertise in the comments. Also if you'd like to sign up to come over and do some of the water changes, please feel free.
Option 1: Convert Aquaclear filter into an algae scrubber
Originally I bought this filter with intent of modifying it into a refugium, filled with live rock rubble and chaeto. Since, I've been running a small amount of rubble and two bags of carbon. This option would involve adding a small light above the filter, installing a grate over the exit, and filling the filter with chaeto algae to remove nitrates.
Pros: cheap, fun project with existing equipment Cons: reduced volume of carbon, not enough volume for a useful quantity of algae
Option 2: Hang-on refugium
Although a real sump is out of the question for this tank, there are out of the box options for hang on refugiums. This would perform roughly the same function as a modified Aquaclear filter, but with a lot more volume. These things always struck me as somewhat gimmicky though. I would run mostly chaeto within the refuge, along with some sort of sand bed and live rock rubble.
Pros: More volume, greater biodiversity, out of the box solution Cons: Expensive, unsure of their effectiveness, possibility of flooding?
Option 3: Another solution? Larger skimmer to cut the problem off at the source? Less feeding? Better sand bed maintenance? Some sort of addition clean up crew? All of the above? Let me know what you think.
The less informed may be inclined to think of this as an April Fools joke, but you can in fact train fish to perform daring stunts such as wriggling through a soft rubber hoop. I got my dad the official Fish Training Kit thinking it would make for a good joke, but as the video below shows, fish training is in fact serious business:
The trainer and her star lumpfish (Cyclopteridae one of my favorite cold water species!) are native to the New England Aquarium, and I found this lovely post not from their irregular and uninformative member's newsletter, but via the excellent Zooilogix blog.
