Fauna Marin Ultralith System

It's been a few weeks since the last update and there's been quite a few changes to the system. 


A few months back, I began using Bio Pellets to improve the water quality in the tank, which in turn, would improve the coloration of the corals, specifically my SPS corals.  The first few weeks went very well and the quality of the water improved dramatically, the coral colorations became vibrant, and they showed excellent polyp extensions.  However, the next few weeks to follow were disastrous.  I began to lose colonies of corals, one by one, as they would begin to STN (Slow Tissue Necrosis).  I constantly monitored my water parameters, however, none were out of sort.  I was frustrated, to say the least.  A few weeks went by and I pretty much lost all my SPS colonies, however, the other corals (LPS, etc...) were doing well.  I finally figured out the issue.  The Bio Pellets did a phenomenal job cleaning up the water... in fact, too well.  They had completely stripped my water of all nutrients that my SPS needed and they basically starved to death.


I've spent the next few weeks trying to get my tank back on track, which is why I haven't posted lately, as I was busy.  Needless to say, I removed the Bio Pellet reactor from the system.  Normally, I would just let the system bounce back on its own, slowly acquiring nutrients back from numerous feedings, fish detritus, etc...  However, I don't have that option because I need to run a ULNS (Ultra Low Nutrient System) due to my heavy bio load of large tangs.  I've done quite a bit of research and have decided to run the Fauna Marin Ultralith System.

Basically, the Ultralith System utilizes special "rocks" called Zeolite Filter Media and a combination of additives.  The Zeolite are extremely porous rocks that, when viewed under a microscope, look like sponges.  The additives are combination of carefully selected beneficial bacteria that will inhabit these rocks and eat the excess nutrients from the water, thereby purifying the water.  Other additives are also used which replace the stripped nutrients, with better nutrients to feed the corals.  In essence, the water is purified and the amount of beneficial nutrients are "controlled".  The addition of the Zeolite rocks themselves is synonymous to adding a thousand pounds of live rock to your system.  I acquired a new reactor for the Zeolite rocks (Vertex Zeovit Reactor ZF-30), which has been added to the system.  It's the first week on the Fauna Marin Ultralith System and I will report its progress.

On a side note, there was another issue with the tank.  I had recently added an RBTA (Red Bubble Tip Anemone) to the tank.  Unfortunately, my GBTA (Green Bubble Tip Anemone) had began to move and encountered the RBTA.  They began to "fight" using chemical warfare and resulted in the death of both of them, as well as all the surrounding frilly mushrooms.  They were all removed.  Once the tank is back in pristine shape, I will add another RBTA.

Tank Maintenance

We did quite a bit of tank maintenance, today.  The skimmer was emptied out, which is usually done every two weeks.  I then washed all the filter socks, and put a clean one in place afterwards.  I then cleaned off all the salt creep that formed on the lights, as it was greatly impeding the light supplementation.  As well, I cleaned off all the algae from the glass.  

Then, I linked together the return pump and the bio pellet pump, so they can be shut on/off concurrently by remote control, whenever I need to feed the tank.

Perhaps the biggest chore was cleaning my Tunze powerheads, which was long overdue.  They had become so encrusted with coraline algae that they were barely pushing any water.  This is a big issue, considering that the two of them alone are not sufficient enough for my tank, when they are working at 100%.  Here is an image of it before the cleaning:

After soaking for a few hours in a 50/50 solution of vinegar and boiling water, combined with a little bit of elbow grease, the result was the following:

To prevent the Tunze pumps from clogging so heavily again, I will try and clean them once a month.  As well, I will be getting Vortech MP40's in the near future to replace these pumps.

Reef Cam Install

I finally got around to mounting the Reef Cam properly onto my ceiling.  The view orientation is much better now.  

The webcam is a Foscam FI8918W and is probably the best bang for buck you can get for an IP Wireless Webcam.  It pans and tilts 360 degrees, has night vision, microphone, speakers, alarm, etc... I picked up a few more to place around the house for security and for watching the dog when we're away from home.

Goin' Fishin'

After waiting 24 hours for the cement to cure in the fish trap I made, it was time to put in action. My youngest son, Ethan, wanted to help me catch some fish!  It's time to catch the dottyback.

Within a minute, Ethan caught a chromis... then a minute later he caught three chromis at the same time.  Then came the tangs:

Orange Shoulder Tang, Purple Tang, and 

Three Chromis

Then minutes later, Ethan caught my two largest fish: 

Orange Shoulder Tang and Hippo Tang

And finally, within a half hour, Ethan caught our target, the Strawberry Dottyback... YES!!!

Strawberry Dottyback

We had so much fun, we almost let the dottyback out just to catch him again.  So easy, my Nine-Year Old can do it!  It was a great day for fishin'! 

Fish Trap

I need to remove a fish from the fish tank, specifically, the Strawberry Dottyback.  However, I do not want to have to tear apart my rock work just to catch him.  I decided to build a fish trap to catch him.

It's held in place by a Mag Float.  The peg holds the door open, and once pulled, released the door allowing it to drop.


I made it large enough to catch larger fish.  It's dimensions are 15.5 x 6.5 x 6.  Here is another image with a can of pop inside for size perspective.

New Fish - Power Blue Tang

A powder blue tang was added to the community.  I picked him up at one of the local fish stores. He looked healthy and was at least 6" in size, which was required, as he was probably going to encounter some aggression, initially.

Powder Blue Tang

Sure enough, once he was added, a pecking order ensued and he faced some aggression from the Hippo Tang, Purple Tang, and Chevron Tang.  Luckily, his disposition was also slightly aggressive and he held his own.  Now, the aggression has subsided for the most part and gets better every day.

Filter Sock Holder

I have a filter sock that filters the water at the outtake of my protein skimmer.  Currently, nothing holds it in place except a small tab located on the filter sock that slightly grips the outtake tube.  However, it tends to fall off once the sock fills up with water.  Therefore, I started shopping around for a filter sock holder, but couldn't find any locally.  I decided to create my own out of acrylic.

Now, when the filter sock fills up, it stays in place.  The water may spill over the sock but any debris that comes out of the outtake is captured in the sock.

New Fish and Inverts - School of Chromis and Sand Sifting Starfishes

I was looking for some small schooling fish that would occupy the middle water level.  I decided on a small school of Blue-Green Chromis, purchased from a local fish store.  I would've picked up more but I'm saving some bio room for small school of Lyretail Anthias in the future.

Blue-Green Chromis

They are a joy to watch, as they stay mid-level and move as a group.  They are also a nice contrast to the large tangs in the tank.


Also, I picked up two sand sifting starfish to assist my existing cleanup crew.  They are great at keeping the sand bed clean.

Sand-Sifting Starfish

New SPS Corals - Cream with Purple-Tips Plana and Pink Rosaria

We picked up two SPS Acropora coral colonies, from one of the local fish stores.

Acropora Plana

This colony of Acropora Tenuis is cream colored with blue on the ends of the branches and deep purple tips.  Definitely one of my favorite corals in the tank!

Pink Rosaria

This colony of Acropora Rosaria is pastel pink in color.  I suspect the color will deepen once its established in the tank.

New Anemone - Green with Pink Tip Bubble-Tip Anemone

I  visited an old acquaintance today, as I hadn't seen his tank for quite some time.  He had made a lot of changes over the years.  One of the changes was the addition of an extremely large sump that was plumbed in his basement.  The sump was an old lobster holding tank, and he had moved his two anemones there a few years ago.  Well, they split multiple times and now there are dozens in the tank.  This image displays just a small section of his tank.

He was gracious enough to give me one of the anemones.  I picked a small-medium sized anemone, as I didn't want it to be too large in my tank.  Some of his anemones are extremely large.  I also picked up two large cleaner shrimp from him.

Here is an image of the anemone once it was in my tank.  There's my yellow belly Hippo tang in the background!

It has moved around a few times, looking for a comfortable place.  I'm hoping my pair of orange clownfish find it soon and host.

New Coral Frag - Christmas Millipora

I picked up a nice coral frag of a Christmas Millipora from a friend... thanks, Kat!

Christmas Millipora

I placed it on a coral mount and its doing well in the tank.

New Coral Frags - Pocillopora and Red Digitata

Today, I acquired two frags from a fellow reefer from one of our local reef forums, Atlantic Region Reefers Group ... thanks Paul (aka, fishnet)!  I picked up his Pocillopora frag, which was really the size of a small colony.  While there, he was nice enough to give me a small frag of his Red Digitata.  Here are both frags in the following image:

I mounted both of them on some live rock.  Both the Pocillopora and Digitata are fast growers and, in a few months, I'll post another image to compare how much they've grown.

New Inverts and Corals from Eastern Reef

Today, one of my local fish stores, Eastern Reef, acquired a new shipment of livestock.  My cleaning crew was getting low and needed to be replenished so I picked up twenty-five snails consisting of Astrea Snails, Cerith Snails, Nassarius Snails, and Black Conch Pygmy Snails.  

As well, I've always wanted to add a large conch snail to the reef, as they always remind me of the ocean.  Therefore, I also picked up a Florida Fighting Conch.

I also picked up some corals to add to the reef.  I added a Purple Plume Gorgonian, which are photosynthetic... meaning, they draw their food source from the light, as well as filtering the water column for food.  Notice the polyps on its branches, with which it filters the water.  This specimen is a fair size and I had to mount him onto live rock in order for him to stand.

Also, I picked up a small frag of a Green Monti Cap (Monitpora Capricornus).  They are an SPS coral, but unlike the branching structure of an Acropora SPS, the Monti Cap tend to scroll and forms a cylindrical shape.  My frag is already beginning to scroll.

Monti Caps are fairly fast growers and, in a few months, I will upload another image to compare how quickly its grown.

Changed RO/DI Filters and Resin

Today, I changed the filters and resin on my RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionizing) system from Aquasafe Canada, which is rated 100 gallons/per day, five stage.

On average, they are supposed to be changed every 8 - 12 months, however, mine haven't been changed in a few years.  I took a TDS reading a few days ago and let's just say it wasn't far from what was coming out of my tap!  Luckily for me, our tap water is pretty good.  Anyways, it really motivated me to change the filters and resin.

I knew it was going to be a PITA to do, and sure enough as soon as I tried to remove the first filter chamber, it wouldn't budge.  My RO/DI unit came with plastic wrenches specifically made to remove these chambers.  I cranked and cranked until this happened:

I was not happy!  Anyways, now I needed to find a way to try and get these chambers off.  Luckily for me, my friend Pat had a strap wrench that I could try... thanks, Pat!  Again, I cranked and it still didn't budge.  I was turning counter-clockwise, the same direction as if you were unscrewing lids, screws, etc...  Out of frustration, I decided to try unscrewing in the other direction, and after a couple of cranks, it moved!

Here's was the issue... when opening these chambers, you're actually unscrewing the chamber itself, not the lid.  That is why the direction was reversed.  Anyways, I will definitely remember next time.

I quickly changed the filters and resin, hooked up the RO/DI unit and its currently purifying my water.  Later tonight, I will do another TDS reading to test the water quality.

New SPS Corals

One of my local fish stores was having a two for one sale on corals, to make room for a new order.  Well, I couldn't pass up the deal.  My favorite corals are SPS (small polyp stoney) corals. We picked up four in total.

Green Slimer from Bali

Pink Millipora from Fiji

Yellow Millipora from Bali

Blue Acropora from Fiji

As I was putting the corals into the tank, I noticed something moving within the Pink Millipora.  It is common to find tiny acropora crabs that live in SPS corals.  They are commensal and have a symbiotic relationship with the coral, as they eat most parasites (ie., red bugs) that would harm the coral.  However, there are some tiny crabs that are harmful to the SPS coral, as they eat the coral's polyps.  I found a tiny gorilla crab, which is harmful, and so I picked him out and into the sump he went.  The common rule is: "If the crab's exterior is smooth, its friendly.  However, if the crab's exterior is hairy, its harmful".  Here is the gorilla crab before I threw him into the sump.

Bio Pellet Reactor

Today, I installed a Bio Pellet Reactor.  I've heard a lot of excellent reviews on bio pellets and decided to give it a try.  I'm starting off with a small amount to prevent shocking the system.

Since I wasn't using my Phosban Reactor anymore, I decided to use that as my reactor.  It's a quick mod, in which the foam inserts are replaced with mesh inserts (my inserts were made by Two Little Fishies).  I replaced the previous pump as it did not provide enough flow for the bio pellets.  I used a Maxijet 1200, instead.

The best location for a Bio Pellet Reactor is to have its out take as close to the skimmer's intake as possible.  I decided to place the reactor's pump inside my overflow, and its out take is place down the overflow's drain, which feeds directly into my skimmer.

The pump barely fits into the overflow, however, I had to mod the tank's rim slightly to get it to fit.

Once that was trimmed, I was able to slide the pump into the overflow.  I then connected the hoses to complete the Bio Pellet Reactor assembly.

There's one more mod I needed to do, however, as I could no longer place the overflow lid on top.  The lid prevents snails from crawling down my overflow, so it needs to be there.  I modded the lid to accomodate the pump's hose and power cord.  

As well, the lid to one of the overflow's PVC plumbing was modded to accomodate the Bio Pellet Reactor's out take.

I turned on the pump to test for leaks.  Works like a charm!

New Fish - Purple Tang and Chevron Tang

I've had my eye on a Purple Tang and a Chevron Tang that have been sharing a tank in my local fish store for some months now.  They were somewhat overpriced and I had been waiting to see if the price would come down to something reasonable.  However, that time never came.

As well, I had a Striated Tang that was causing some issues in my reef community, as he was somewhat aggressive.  He was also a fair size, around 9", which didn't help the situation either. I put up with his aggression for a few years, since I grew him from when he was 4".  Anyways, it got to a point that I was looking for any reason to remove him.  That's when I made an offer to the local fish store to trade him along with some cash... they accepted.

It took a few hours to catch the Striated Tang, and when I finally did catch him, I threw him into the sump.  The local fish store, however, took a few days to catch their fish, but eventually we made the trade.

I got the Purple Tang and Chevron Tang home, acclimated them, and then into the tank they went.  I was a little worried about how the Purple Tang and my current Yellow Tang would get along, as they are similar in appearance and share the same Genus, Zebrasoma.  Also, I wasn't sure who would be the aggressor if there were issues.  Purple Tangs are pretty aggressive, as that is their nature.  However, the Yellow Tang is twice the Purple Tang's size and he's been a resident since the tank went up.  Sure enough, there were issues from the start.  The Yellow Tang, began to beat on the Purple Tang, and wouldn't let up.  The Purple Tang put up a good fight, but he was no match for the Yellow Tang's size.  I had to resolve this issue quick.  I spent another hour catching the Yellow Tang and threw him into my sump, where he stayed for three days.  Afterwards, I changed some rockwork and reintroduced him back into the tank... as if he were a new fish.  Eureka!  It worked, the Purple and Yellow Tang now get along, and I occasionally catch them feeding together.

Here is the Chevron Tang.

Here is the Chevron Tang and Purple Tang, swimming with the Tomini Tang and Yellow Tang.

As for the Chevron Tang, he's a pretty docile fish.  He and the Tomini Tang actually share the same Genus, Ctenochaetus.  However, they are the more docile of their Genus.  I have had no issues with them, and  usually find them swimming and feeding together.

New Fish - Orange Shoulder Tang

I added an Orange Shoulder Tang to the tank.  He's a fair size, roughly 10", which is good since my Hawaiian Blue Hippo Tang, roughly 8", can be initially aggressive to new fish.  He did try to bully him at first, but the Orange Shoulder Tang wasn't having it and quickly put him in his place.

This makes the Orange Shoulder Tang currently the biggest fish in the system and is the new "King" of the tank.  He's quite well tempered, and I sometimes find him "keeping peace" amongst other fish, whenever aggression breaks out.

Tank Access From The Den

I decided to open up the tank from the Den.  It's difficult to perform tank maintenance, as well as aquascaping the view from the Den.  This should resolve these issues.

I cut out the gyprock, framed it with wood, and attached it using a hinge.

New Metal Halide Bulbs

I needed new Metal Halide bulbs and decided to change to the Reeflux 250w 20000K SE bulbs.  I've heard a lot of good things with this bulb.  Most 20000K bulbs are too "blue" and dark, however, this bulb looks closer to a 14000K bulb.  As well, it has more par than its 12000K counterpart.