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  #26  
Old 07/03/2007, 09:25 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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Day 5 - Tuesday July 2nd - Around 7pm

Here is the latest picture of the tank:



Water is now very clear. Tubes produce a bit less blue light.

Again, little to report...

The rocks get more and more very small hairy white translucent stuff growing on them. I have seen the first microscopic swimming critter a little while ago. And the skimmer is still skimming decent amounts of foam.

Everything would be all good if the light timer had not decided to go on strike after just a bit more than one day of service. Now, I will have to test the quality of ReaSea support service.

I am going to test water parameters after dinner...
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  #27  
Old 07/03/2007, 10:44 PM
Rue Rue is offline
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Cool! I think I like your rock better than my rock. And did you notice? That rock to the very right looks like a demonic teddy bear...with a red tongue hanging out the far right side of its mouth?

There's also a puppy dog overlooking the teddy bear...

The rock to the very left looks like the head of an iguana...sticking straight up from the ground and staring at the skies...

...and that's used up my imagination for the day!
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  #28  
Old 07/03/2007, 11:53 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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Day 5 - Tuesday July 2nd - Around 10pm

The Starter Kit comes with an impressive collection of chemical reagents. I started with Nitrites (NO2)... They are going far in the red scale, balistic to say the least, or maybe even orbital. The water is currently highly toxic and it is certainly useless to test anything else.

This is probably why I have not been able to see any kind of swimming pod tonight.

Skimming is still happening. I just emptied the collection cup - Dang! That thing stinks like hell!!!

Rue: Yes! I have an aquatic teddy bear! The red tongue is actually the reflection of my desktop lamp on the other side of the living room. I need to think about either placing it in a better spot to improve the illusion or shut it off... I'll see. Why not take a few pics and start your very own RSM thread?
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  #29  
Old 07/04/2007, 12:27 AM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 5 - Tuesday July 2nd - Around 10pm

The Starter Kit also comes with a small bottle of nitrifying bacteria. I added one fourth of the recommended dose.
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  #30  
Old 07/04/2007, 08:32 AM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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Looking good Laurent! Let us know what RSM does on the timer for you.
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  #31  
Old 07/04/2007, 01:49 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 6 - Wednesday July 4th - Around Noon

I checked again for NO2 - still very high: 0.5 ppm but on its way down.

I topped the tank with about one pint of RO/DI water.

I am a bit upset with the timer because this is a typical "All in One" problem. I cannot easily get a new timer at the Home Depot and replace the defective one. I will have to wait until tomorrow, talk on the phone, maybe argue with a grumpy someone, and best case, I will get a new timer middle next week. Replacement might be a pain considering the level of integration of the hood.

In other words, a little trouble that can be solved in less than half an hour with a classic setup becomes a significant annoyance that will possibly last a week or more.

I am leaving soon for a few day road trip and will be back soon. Please continue to post comments. I will reply to all on Saturday, possibly with more pictures. It will be interesting to see how much has grown on the rocks...

Happy Fourth of July!
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  #32  
Old 07/05/2007, 06:20 PM
YoitsArson YoitsArson is offline
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keep us updated. looks good.
  #33  
Old 07/08/2007, 03:38 PM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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So what's up Laurent? How's the cycling going? any new life on the rock? Diatom or green algae yet? Any new pics?
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  #34  
Old 07/08/2007, 04:36 PM
nbaker nbaker is offline
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Looking good, hope to get my own RSM in the not too distant future
  #35  
Old 07/08/2007, 08:23 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 11 - Sunday July 8th - Around 6pm

We were back from our trip to the Columbia Gorge on Saturday and I quickly made a water top-off and tested again nitrites: above 1.0 ppm.

On Sunday, some brown algae appeared on some rocks. I suppose these are the infamous diatoms. Here is the latest picture, please confirm that the rusty look of my rocks are because of diatoms, thanks! There is a little spot that gets some green stuff.



I tested again for NO2, and again it is way in the red, even more reddish than anything shown on the test card. It looks like that this tank is taking plenty of time to cycle. I opted to add more of the "NitroBac" product that comes with the Starter Kit to speed up things a bit... I added one fourth of the recommended dose for the volume of the Red Sea Max. This is the second time I do so.

Skimming is still hapenning at a decent rate. I emptied again and then cleaned the collection cup, rinsing it under very hot tap water. This stinks.

Weather was very nice and warm today in Seattle - and the tank drank about 3 pints of fresh RO/DI water... Yes, I am using a beer glass for the top-offs.

I also talked to customer service on Thursday about my defective timer. Pleasant, polite and nice people. They will send a new timer. But still... a bit annoying. I am considering getting a spare pump and later a spare heater.
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  #36  
Old 07/08/2007, 08:59 PM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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Welcome back Laurent. That sounds & looks like diatom to me. My rock & sand at one time were pretty covered with the rustry looking stuff. If you can get it locally try some Saltwater Bio-Spira - it's a refridgerated live bacteria culture that I've used in FW and in the RSM with IMO a lot of success. I added the Nitrobac too, but also added Bio-Spira. I'm not sure how good the Nitrobac type products are. Hope you get the timer soon. Ithink my heater quit on me, but I'll probably just get a different type instead of going through RSM on it.
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  #37  
Old 07/08/2007, 10:25 PM
Rue Rue is offline
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...see? Laurent has nitrites...so obviously his tank is still cycling...

I have no nitrites at all, no phosphates, no nitrates...could be my algae is using it up...could be I'm cycled (but that would be a bit fast)...

...but I don't think my cycle hasn't started yet...that would be too odd...
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  #38  
Old 07/09/2007, 10:33 AM
Uhelski Uhelski is offline
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Good Job

I hope mine tank stop with de micro-bubble like yours. What did you do?
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Last edited by Uhelski; 07/09/2007 at 10:47 AM.
  #39  
Old 07/09/2007, 11:12 AM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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Rue - have you checked for ammonia? Strange you have no nitrites or nitrates. Unless your nice crop of algae is using up the nitrates. What test kits are you using, or are you using the strip tests (not that accurate)? Or, maybe you haven't started the cycle yet?
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  #40  
Old 07/09/2007, 01:52 PM
MikeL152123 MikeL152123 is offline
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Well i guess you have convinced me. I have been trying to decide weather to get a rsm or the new jbj 28 gal. 150 HQI.... I have read through your thread and the pictures of you tank just look amazing. The rsm looks so much bigger than the jbj also. I do have a few Questions.... do you plan on moding your lighting at all? Also how about flow, you going to add a powerhead? I am really having a hard time making up my mind!! I had a 55 gal. tank but am selling it to get a rsm most likely. What do you and everyone else on this thread think?
  #41  
Old 07/09/2007, 02:36 PM
Rue Rue is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Reefmack
Rue - have you checked for ammonia? Strange you have no nitrites or nitrates. Unless your nice crop of algae is using up the nitrates. What test kits are you using, or are you using the strip tests (not that accurate)? Or, maybe you haven't started the cycle yet?
I have an API reef kit (tests Calcium, phosphate, KH and nitrate)...but was told that the API SW products are known to be inaccurate...however, I'll use up the kit and see what's up knowing that results might be off...

I then bought a Sailfert nitrite test kit - hoping to get away with just one more test kit for now (saving my money for livestock)...so I assume it's accurate.
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  #42  
Old 07/09/2007, 03:37 PM
nbaker nbaker is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by MikeL152123
Well i guess you have convinced me. I have been trying to decide weather to get a rsm or the new jbj 28 gal. 150 HQI.... I have read through your thread and the pictures of you tank just look amazing. The rsm looks so much bigger than the jbj also. I do have a few Questions.... do you plan on moding your lighting at all? Also how about flow, you going to add a powerhead? I am really having a hard time making up my mind!! I had a 55 gal. tank but am selling it to get a rsm most likely. What do you and everyone else on this thread think?
I am planning on getting a RSM myself in the next month or 2, I was planning on sticking with the stock lights as they should be fine for soft corals.

As for increasing flow I am going to add a Hydor Koralia 2 as many other RSM owners have with good success, might also add a Hydor flo Rotating water deflector to one of the pump outlets.
  #43  
Old 07/09/2007, 07:18 PM
MikeL152123 MikeL152123 is offline
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that is exactly what i am thinking of doing. the rsm doesnt seem to need any mods except maybe the skimmer...... i would really like to house an bta or carpet anenome but the stock lighting would not be sufficient enough.... so if i go with the rsm (wich it looks like i will) i may upgrade the lighting later on once i have it up an running.
  #44  
Old 07/09/2007, 09:35 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 12 - Monday 9th - Around 7pm

Again, little to report...

- Nitrites: Somewhere between 1.0 and 0.5ppm, certainly closer to 1.0 ppm. I just added again a bit more of NitroBac. Something must be rotting somewhere in the rocks.

- Skimming is continuing to perform well.

- Argh... Microbubbles, the dreaded bubbles... Not a lot... but some. I will try to clean up the mechanical filters to see if that helps. After 10 days of cooking the live rock, this is probably already overdue.

- More brown diatoms. Some green hair algae, hard to see, here and there on the rocks, some on the glass.

- A dozen of pods, I have to look for them.

- Nothing really cool growing on the rocks. I am a bit disappointed by LiveAquaria.

- Nothing from RedSea in my mailbox. Are they using a stagecoach to send me my replacement timer???

I plan a big water change this weekend, if nitrites go down significantly this week.

Thanks all for visiting this thread...

Uhelski:

I have done nothing for microbubbles so far. I have setup the tank to exactly comply to RedSea instructions. No foam cutting, all filters in place, etc.

It seems like the bubbles I am getting now come from the pumps occasionally "swallowing" some air from the surface. I am considering lengthening a bit the intakes of the circulation pumps with vinyl tubes. One centimeter or two should help I believe. I will try that later and will keep you posted.


MikeL152123: I do not plan to mod the lights. I have a co-worker always complaining about his MH bulbs: Excessive heat, costly chiller, costly replacements and higher electricity bills. I will stick to corals species with lower light requirements, such as zoanthids and ricordiae.

nbaker: Just like you, I am planning to get an HYDOR FLO to eliminate dead zones without creating exessive currents. I used a conceptually similar system for my african cyclids a while ago and it worked beautifully. The device is only 13 USD. I will give it a try.

MikeL152123: The RSM is probably too small for anemones. This is what I have read everywhere.

Rue: You can bring a sample of water to your LFS for testing and comparing the results will certainly help.
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  #45  
Old 07/09/2007, 09:42 PM
GrandeGixxer GrandeGixxer is offline
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Don't do your water change until Nitrites are at 0 and Nitrates are on the way up. I would wait until Nitrates are at about 10 ppm or higher, then do about a 10-15 gallon change.
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  #46  
Old 07/09/2007, 10:32 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 12 - Monday 9th - Around 8:30pm

Just cleant the mechanical filters. Apparently no more bubbles. Therefore, I will wait until this next weekend before modding the pumps... I know... I am a bit lazy

The skimmer has got quite a lot of unfiltered water during the filter cleaning and skimming has completely stopped. I will check if that happens again before jumping on conclusions.

GrandeGixxer: yes, agreed. That was the plan.
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  #47  
Old 07/10/2007, 05:59 AM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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Hi Laurent. The skimmer may take a few hours to start skimming anything again after cleaning the filters. I always shut mine off when cleaning those. Hope your initial cycle completes soon. Don't give up on life showing up on the rocks - some you really have to look for since they may be tiny and/or almost the same color as the rock. I have a lot of tiny featherdusters and some type of teeny fan worms that are really difficult to see. Life will start showing up eventually. If you have some pods that's a good sign other things will start appearing.
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  #48  
Old 07/10/2007, 09:33 PM
LaurentSeattle LaurentSeattle is offline
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Day 13 - Monday 10th - Around 7:00pm

A lot of changes in the tank appearance since yesterday night! But, overall, that's not so pleasant to see:

- Brown diatoms are gaining ground, covering the sand in some places.

- Slimy hairy brown algea in many places, trapping air bubbles.

- Green longer hairy algeas

- In one spot, some tree-like red algae, but very very small...

As you can see on the picture below:



This second picture shows the rocks on top of all others, almost completely covered with "air trapping" algae:



Could someone explain this? In fresh water, these bubbles usually announce a major outbreak of slimy algae.

I tested again for nitrites and they are still way in the red. I tested my tap water to make sure that the reagents were not corrupted in some way and the tap water tests at zero NO2. I emptied what was left of the bottle of NitroBac into the tank and that makes up for the recommended dose of the product. Maybe I should have put the everything since the very beginning? I am always cautious about pouring heavy doses of chemicals and stuff in a tank. I prefer to proceed by small steps.

As predicted by ReefMack, the skimmer is back in business.

I could not find any pods tonight. Are they all dead because of the high nitrites?

And still, no replacement timer in the mail.

All in all, not a great day for my tank... I need to be patient, I know...
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  #49  
Old 07/10/2007, 10:47 PM
RobSW1 RobSW1 is offline
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i believe the bubbles on the rock is from algea giving off O2. If i were you i would get a turkey baster from the grocery store and blow off the rocks and sand daily....on the sand, just suck up what you can without making a sand storm.
Once you blow them off, there will probl. be algea floating around the tank, so you can take a net and scoop them out..
Before the algea gets outa control you should bump up the flow in the tank...the higher the flow, the less work you have to do blowing off the rocks.

to be honest the nitrobac is really not nessc.
pods will be back after the cycle is done completely....youl see little white spots on the glass and you will be so excited.

one more thing...when chemicals are researched and used correctly, they can be helpful.

so far you seem to be doing awesome, and its cool about the daily updates and just keep asking questions.

Good Luck
Rob
  #50  
Old 07/11/2007, 06:29 AM
Reefmack Reefmack is offline
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Hi Laurent. What RobSW1 said is correct - same thing I had at the beginning. Luckily i never had much green algae after the brown. Some of that gunk you can try to scrape off with a siphon during a water change - mine was never easy to blow off with a turkey baster though. I still want to mod my siphon though and try to attach the working end of a toothbrush or something to the end so that when I get an occasional patch of algae I can scrape it off & siphon it up at the same time.

I have my doubts on how effective the Nitrobac is. I've had much more success with the SW version of Bio-Spira - costly but it's worked for me, and it does seem to have the correct bacteria to get the cycle completed quickly. It has to have been kept refrigerated (live bacteria) but if you can get it locally, without paying the high cost of overnight shipping, you might think about it.

Putting a Koralia on the right side might help blow some of that grit and algae off the rock, and cut down on more growing.

How's your nitrate level doing?

I'd suggest you give Pinky a call at RSM support to check on the timer. I find that calling makes things happen quicker than emailing. The information I have for her is: (281) 447-0205, Toll Free: 1-888-RedSea9. I need to try to remember to call her today & get a second upgrade fan for the hood - mine's really gotten noisy & if I'm going to have to take the hood apart I'd rather replace both fans at the same time & get it over with.
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