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.