Arid c30 & e24

[pecan2phat]

N03 has not changed much while P04 has been on a consistent rise.
My feedings (3x per day) and water changes (10% every 2 weeks) are the same so based on past experience when the pellet or sulfur reactors to control nitrate were not working correctly, N03 should theoretically rise along with the P04.
What I have noticed in SystemA is the film algae on the glass has decreased slightly which makes no sense since P04 is at it's outer limits. I know this because I routinely clean the glass every 3 days.
For SystemB, the film algae on the glass is the same but the SPS in the system looks better in color and polyp extension. This might be from the boron/strontium/molybdenum addition or just from discontinued introduction of sulfur into the system, I would not know.
All is kind of a moot point unless I get the macro algae growing, maybe I should start with a new batch or go out and obtain a large healthy portion and add it to the existing :scratch:

 

[bklynreef]

Ive had similar issues and still battling bleaching and browning of sps. Ill give you two pieces of advice for what its worth and worked for me. I also have tons of hungry fish and used to feed alot. For the past year ive fed fish by hand every other day as you may not realize they dont need to be fed all the time everyday unless you have anthias that need it. Feed less. Every other day. When you feed, feed slowly and make sure they eat it all before you give them more. Nori I feed every day 2 huge 1 foot sheets folded on a clip with a screen so it doesnt just float away. Go with gfo and use less change more ofeten like every 2 weeks. This took me from .24 po4 to .01-.03 with minimal nitrates. I grow cheato like crazy and trim every month in the fuge reverse cycle lighting. Do more water changes with a salt that has zero po4 and zero nitrates like coralife or esv is also good. This has helped me thus far. Its slow goings but headed in the right direction doing it this way. No food gets lost to the rocks and decompose which is what I think is happening to you. Your rocks may be holding your phosphates and will take time to get it out but I think youll see results in 2 months with this plan. Worked for me and I have over 80 fish and tons of corals. Its simple and worth a shot. Wont cost you a dime more and youll save in the long run.
btw why is this in the vendor forum???

 

[pecan2phat]

Thanks for the insight bklynreef but I'm trying to utilize these reactors to eliminate chemical & carbon media with an ultimate goal of shutting down my skimmers.

So basically, I can't seem to grow Chaetomorpha
I disassembled the reactors today and the Chaeto that was seeded 30 days ago basically fell apart into moss like clumps.
I reseeded them again today and have asked Tristan for some insight on this.

 

[tunicata]

If you need more seed chaeto and are in/near bk I typically have tons. It grows very well for me! And it's free!

 

[pecan2phat]

Thanks a bunch tunicata
I will definitely take you up on your offer if needed, the amount I got yesterday was enough to seed the reactors for now.
So speaking to Tristan, he thinks that because I had used sulfur based reactors, they stripped iron & molybdenum out of the tanks causing a similar effect of nitrogen deficiency within the Chaeto. He recommends that I perform a large water change and start back up with the molybdenum dosing.
I dosed the strontium/molybdenum last night and will perform 2 consecutive 20% water changes this weekend.

 

[pecan2phat]

Based on Tristan's recommendation, I did a 45% (126g) water change on SystemA and a 40% (72g) water change on SystemB today. Whew, lots of water to make!
I also started up the Kent Marine's Strontium/Molybdenum dosing today at 1ml per 40g, continuing Boron at 1ml per 100g and Iron/Manganese at 1 drop per 25g daily.
Let's see what happens...............

 

[pecan2phat]

Not much to report here but since I'm recording numbers:

Week 5, day 35

SystemA - N03 @ 25 ppm (from 5 ppm), P04 @ 2.75 ppm (from 1.62 ppm)
SystemB - N03 @ 50 ppm (no change), P04 @ 1.09 ppm (from 0.43 ppm)

I would not consider the slight lowering of N03 in SystemA or P04 in SystemB to be relevant since I did perform a 45% and 40% water change 4 days ago.

 

[alron]

Help my arid reactor not making my chaeto grow. Its even loosing color. I dosed nitrates and iron/manganese everyday and even removed some chaeto that went brittle and seems decomposing just to free the space in arid reactor. I started dosing boron also as instructed but still d more its loosing color. And my rocks are getting green algae and some brown strands in some rocks. I started with gfo to aid my arid. Am using 2 protein skimmers coz i have more loads of fish in my 110 gal. Any advise?

 

[pecan2phat]

What are your nitrate levels & how long have you had the ARID setup?

 

[alron]

I have to chek d levels tonite. I stopped dosing nitrates coz of growing algae. Its been 3 weeks ive been using d arid

 

[alron]

I got lazy checking d parameters coz its like whats d point of knowing d numbers where d bad algae is growing and my chaeto is not. Its like what d use of getting a good parameters of nitrates and phos if the visual effect on d tank is not desirable. D chaeto should grow enough if i have high nitrates and phosphates right?

 

[alron]

Its like growing chaeto is harder than growing corals in my system lol! Should chaeto tumbles in the arid reactor when u run it?

 

[pecan2phat]

I hear ya about growing Chaeto Lol!
The only reason why I asked about the N03 is that you should have a baseline to compare with and also whether you would or would not dose the nitrate supplement.
Which ARID are you using and with what feed pump? I doubt if the Chaeto should tumble in these reactors, if anything, it'll be pushed upwards against the dividing section plates.

 

[pecan2phat]

No improvements but here are the numbers. I'll need to open up the reactors next week and see how the Chaetomorpha are fairing.

Week 6, day 44

SystemA - N03 @ 25 ppm (from 5 ppm), P04 @ 2.75 ppm (from 1.62 ppm)
SystemB - N03 @ 50 ppm (no change), P04 @ 1.30 ppm (from 0.43 ppm)

 

[alron]

How long does this reactor starts working to fix d system?

 

[alron]

Is ur chaeto growing well tho?

 

[pecan2phat]

I can't really answer that question since I'm having problems with the Chaetomorpha growing, like you are. I might have to send in for a Triton water test to figure out what's wrong with my water parameters.
I'm sure there are ARID users out there that have seen good results in a short amount of time.

 

[pecan2phat]

No numbers for last week, did not feel that there would be a change since the Chaetomorpha is still not fairing well.
Just to recap, I reseeded both reactors on 5/29/15 and opened them up for a lookie-see on 6/17/15 and there was more hair algae then there was Chaeto so I threw out most of it, kept what was still viable and added a qt size amount to the E24.
On 6/20/15, I was able to obtain 3 full gallon sized zip lock bags of healthy Chaeto and replaced any old Chaeto that were still in the reactors. This time around while only 3 days since the last time I opened them up, it almost seemed if the 6/17/15 addition actually grew a bit. Your probably saying how the heck can I tell, well I used that qt sized portion in only the top section of the E24 and it was nice and compacted when I opened her up yesterday. This is a welcome sight, at least for my ongoing drama

 

[pecan2phat]

So far this whole trial has seen no results on my systems so basically a total failure
I will let it run for another month or two (since the reactors were reseeded for the 3rd time) before I decide what to do for nutrient removal.
Here are the latest numbers. I have stopped testing every 7 days because it has proved to be useless and will test sporadically now.
The newly reseeded Chaeto from 6/20/15 seems to be holding up fine and maybe even growing a bit from a top down look only.

Week 9, day 60

SystemA - N03 @ 50 ppm (from 5 ppm), P04 @ 2.75+ ppm (from 1.62 ppm)
SystemB - N03 @ 50 ppm (no change), P04 @ 1.62 ppm (from 0.43 ppm)

 

[JBNY]

sorry to read that you are still having problems getting the chaeto to grow in your system. I'm not really sure at all why you are having such issues getting at least some results from you reactors. On my tank one C30 has been working without issues for the last six months. Pulled my N and P down great. I wish I could think of something to tell you to do.