Ugh, something not right in tank :(

bryman

bryman

New member
I've been battling the effects of the oh-so-effective biopellets in my 90G mostly SPS reef for some time now. Long story short, they kicked in hardcore after running in the tank for almost a year and stripped everything out of my water. That made things unhappy quickly, so I have been adding fish, and feeding the SPS/fish daily like crazy, and doing weekly 10G water changes with Red Sea regular formula. I also finally got my Ca/Alk and PH in check a month or so ago, near optimal conditions. In the last few weeks, most SPS have really turned around and regained color. My clam is also looking better too after a fresh water dip. However, two of my favorite pieces look like they are in trouble. My monster pink lemonade colony has not regained PE, and has had a "chalky" appearance for a few weeks. When I turkey baste it a bunch of dust flies off. Now today I noticed 2 branches in the center bleached. This could be the beginning of something bad :(

I noticed my smaller colony of Strawberry Shortcake also has this chalky appearance, although it doesn't look as bad. I've looked very carefully for any pests but can't find any evidence. The SS and PL are a similar species of Acropora, so maybe there's just a condition or change in the tank they didn't like? I'm at a loss, as everything else is looking better than in a long time.

Anyone experience something like this?
 
The downside to running bio-pellets is that you'd have to use zeo-vit or similar dosing products to maintain the water with necessary trace-elements and nutrients in order to keep all forns of SPS happy. Did your flow change any? If you run vortechs are they pushing the same flow as before? Maybe a cleaning/inspection of wet side is in order?
 
Bryan,

It must be hard to see this all happen so fast... Your tank is amazing as I have been over many times and always drool. LOL!! My advice is to invest in a good reactor that you can control

I have attached some videos that are the best way to run a BP reactor with explanation. So newbie’s pay attention!!! This will be my next try at BP down the road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLhmI8vtnfw&feature=youtube_gdata_player


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMx4HOsG3Rc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
Gus, I think you're probably correct about the trace elements and nutrients needed. Vortechs are running the same flow, although they could probably be cleaned. Maybe I'll try pulling out half of the biopellets and see if that improves things.
 
Dre,

Great videos. I think I am doing mostly everything correct but too many biopellets. I am running about 500ml in my 90G system. I think I will take about 1/4 of these out and slow down the flow.
 
I think it's a good idea to be able to control independently the output as well as the pellet tumbling. I am running the Octopus hang-on BP reactor and it tumbles great, but doesn't have that independent control. However, you might be able to achieve the same effect by taking pellets out and reducing flow to have the same "tumblage". I just took out about 1/4 pellets and am probably running about 300ml now.

The STN on my Pink Lemonade continued over night and now it's about 3-4 branches. Going to frag off some of the good stuff and prepare for the worst. :(
 
Hey Dre.... Thanks for posting the videos. I think these are very useful for even someone like me who has been using pellets for a while.

Brian... I am having many of the same issues as you are. My 92 corner has been set up since last Christmas and I have had ups and downs keeping many of my SPS corals thriving. It appears that my BP Reactor is stripping the water of trace elements and nutrients. Yes.... I dose trace elements and try to do water changes at regular intervals. For me....the video demonstrates that I can.... and need to up my feeding substantially. The fish will love it.... the corals will love it.... and the reactor will be able to handle it. The other option is to buy the reactor that they demonstrate in the video. I had never seen that one.... and it kind of makes sense... If you can find your ideal flow rate from the sump into the reactor... you can dial in the reactor's effectiveness. In other words... if you limit the volume of nutrients the BPs get... they will find there "balance" to that level. If you up the nuturients....the bacteria will increase in volume to match what they can eat. If you have an efficient reactor...you end up stripping all the nutrients out of the system. I am using an Alpha Reactor which is really working well....but perhaps too well. I cannot regulate the flow of water through the reactor without impeding the tumbling of the pellets. So... I am stripping the tank. I add fish.... the bacteria colony grows to that new nutrient level...and then some.... stripping the tank... and so the cycle continues for me. Perhaps if I can regulate the flow.... then I can keep the reactor from stripping out all of the nutrients.... and I can find a good natural balance...

Crap.... I guess I need to buy yet another new reactor.... or just stop using BPs...
 
Bryman, I was running 700ish ml on my tank twice that size and pulled out about 200ml. Tank seems happier now. You should aim for around 200-250ml of pellets on your system and use water changes as necessary. Better not enough pellets than too many.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I did pull out a good amount and dialed back the flow accordingly quite a bit. Now I am at a very slow tumble at approximately 300ml. I hope that was enough. I just did another 10G water change. I've been doing them weekly for the last few months but missed last weekend because I was out of town. Apparently I am running the system so low nutrient that the Pink Lemonade couldn't take a few more days without a water change and 3 days or so without coral food. At least we know now that Pink Lemonade likes dirtier water as far as SPS goes. Mine really thrived when I had an algae problem ;)

I made 3 good frags of the PL when I did the water change. If the colony goes, I hope at least one of these will survive :(
 
Sell me your Alpha. I'll use it on my fowlr. If it works as planned w/ gfo then I shouldn't need to worry about doing wc's anymore :)
 
EricTheRed said:
Sell me your Alpha. I'll use it on my fowlr. If it works as planned w/ gfo then I shouldn't need to worry about doing wc's anymore :)
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LOL..... I know you want it to replace that pathetic BRS reactor.... Let me see how much I can get one of these other ones...
 
Lil BamBam said:
Dan, if you do get the one shown in the video .. LMK also and price ;)
Click to expand...

You would think I am made of money..... I just purchased the Reef Dynamics NOPO Bio-Pellet Reactor... Dre... you should call them up now and ask for a discount or a commission... ETR... I will ping you when it comes in and you can buy my Alpha. At $250 this is more of an expensive fix than I wanted to take.... but what the heck... I have lost a lot of corals and have more money tied up in equipment. If this will solve my problem.... I would be very happy.

Hey Bryan, sorry to hijack your thread. But.... if this solves my problem.... it may yours as well. As I said in an earlier post... it kind of makes sense. If we can regulate the flow of water into the reactor we can prevent the reactor from totally stripping the tank of all nutrients. We will see. I will share my results...
 
Dan, keep us posted ;) I have done so much research on BP and this is the best way IMO..

There are other reactors in the market, but require 2 pumps.. This one is all driven by one pump...

Maybe there is a way to mod are current reactors to solve this issue. The current model that I have can some what be done. Might cost les... Will update soon
 
So my Pink Lemonade continues to STN, it's about 1/4 dead :(

Never really had a sizable colony go on me. Do I need to be doing water changes daily or just take it out and hack it off? I am not sure of the effect this can have on the tank. Thanks.
 
seems to me people just need to do waterchanges . every body spens money on these reactors so they have to do less work and so far ive heard more horror stories than any good. i dont c y people want to use something so finicky that if set up wrong could wipe out whole tank. its like playing russian roullet . id say stop use and start regular scheduled water changes never heard any body crashing tank that way. well actually i did once but thats because i made salt water with my kalkwasser mix on accident didnt pay attention. oops . jmo
 
I dont think the reactor should be a substitute for regular water changes, but I also don't think you need to be doing daily water changes to fix your issue, I think it "could" make the situation worse to change out so much water so quickly. I honestly think you still have way too many pellets if you are running 300+ml after removing a bunch already. You should try dosing supplements, elements and coral food right now to beef up your livestock and help them recover. So what if you have a temporary algae bloom, would be a trade off for saving your corals at this point.
 
madjoe said:
seems to me people just need to do waterchanges . every body spens money on these reactors so they have to do less work and so far ive heard more horror stories than any good. i dont c y people want to use something so finicky that if set up wrong could wipe out whole tank. its like playing russian roullet . id say stop use and start regular scheduled water changes never heard any body crashing tank that way. well actually i did once but thats because i made salt water with my kalkwasser mix on accident didnt pay attention. oops . jmo
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+1
thank you.
 
FishBeard said:
I dont think the reactor should be a substitute for regular water changes, but I also don't think you need to be doing daily water changes to fix your issue, I think it "could" make the situation worse to change out so much water so quickly. I honestly think you still have way too many pellets if you are running 300+ml after removing a bunch already. You should try dosing supplements, elements and coral food right now to beef up your livestock and help them recover. So what if you have a temporary algae bloom, would be a trade off for saving your corals at this point.
Click to expand...
depends how much is changed daily
 
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