randy holmes-farley

Here are my parameters and I am trying to grow out coral and get Coraline algae on some old rocks that bleached out when I had them stored in water in my garage but no light These now have some brown/green algae on it not sure if this is the beginning of Coraline or not. Please advise Salinity...

Last night I set up my new 25g peninsula with dry aragonite sand, water mixed to 20 ppt set to 82 degrees. I dumped in 4oz of Fritz 900 (under the 5x’s amount allowed as per Fritz) with 20ml of Algaebarns Nitrocycle. I just tested and I have zero Ammonia, zero Nitrites (both with API) and 11.5...

Have a frag tank that’s been setup for about 5-7 years. Have a few colonies (stylo and a Duncan) that I want to transfer Have no fish in the system. How do I tackle bryopsis? Had it for a couple years.. it’s bad but not terrible. Corals all look good. I want to transfer these colonies over to...

So I’ve been paranoid using gfo after 7 years ago my previous system Yellow Tang had severe HLLE. 7 years later.. new system, new YT. Everyone’s looking great No3 25 Po4 .3 I do feed heavy, currently only corals are mushrooms and Xenia with live rock in the sump fuge Wanting to drop po4 to...

I posted this on a previous discussion, but haven't heard back yet. I'm sharing this here because 1) I think you all will get a kick out of this one and 2) I need an answer... SO ....for the last 8+ years I have used a 950Magdrive with a 6 foot hose attached via a BRASS fitting. I use this...

Recently it is cold in the Netherlands. Sadly whenever it's cold my pH drops. Normally I can get it at 8.5-8.7 (tested with multiple probes.) Using the following products 1. Reverse light cycle in the sump 2. Kalkwasser in ATO 3. Co2 scrubber 4. Dosing ph plus two part from reef zlments However...

Hi Randy, hope you are having a good Holiday season, just wanted to run this by you and see what your thoughts are, I am currently using your DIY Iron and Manganese supplements and dosing by hand but I do have an auto doser with one dosing pump not being used, since I am working on automating...

For the first couple of months after setting up my tank, I maintained phosphate levels at around .13 and everything seemed to thrive, so I kept it steady at that level. Over time, phosphates gradually increased to .23 but I didn’t see any changes in coral color or growth. Now at the 6 month...

I'm currently dosing my tank with AllForReef. Recently, a friend gifted me K Elements and A Elements by Tropic Marin, though I’m unsure if adding them is necessary given I'm already dosing AllForReef. Additionally, I’ve been using CORALIFE "Coral Vite" for trace elements at 3 drops per day...

New to Reef2Reef, I hope I’m doing this right! I am having salinity issues after being in the hobby for about a year now. My refractometer’s (new and old) are reading wonky. And I have calibrated with 35ppt solution from BRS and AccuraSea, different readings from Both and NOT 35 ppt. I am...

Hi everyone. Really want to try @Randy Holmes-Farley salt mix recipe. I have gathered and sourced everything except the sodium sulfate. It’s harder to get here or very expensive in Canada. Is there a substitute I can use or omit it? Thanks you

I have very high nitrate and phosphate in my 90 gallons tank, vodka dosing it for a while now, followed the instructions for vodka dosing. Nitrate is under control, but phosphate still high, can easily go to above 0.5 if not run a lot of rowaphos. I start using phosphate Rx, it help reduce...

Hi Randy, hope you are doing good, this is my first thread ever. My Background: I am a software engeer with 25+ years of experience. In hobby for past 4 years along with the above electronics is my passion and I do a lot of DIY stuff. no background of chemistry Goal I am working on an...

Today i will be starting the process to stop the situation from the Dino’s I have been having I have already gotten 10 micron filter socks, spongexel, phyto and tisbe pods and seachem silacate test kit Looking at previous forums it’s saying 1 drop per gallon but reading the bottle from bright...

So basically i have a new 60-liter nano tank with stable parameters except for a low phosphate level (0ppm) checked with hanna ulr phosphorous checker . The nitrate level is at the desired range (8 ppm). I am considering dosing phosphate additive to reach 0.03-0.05 ppm (nyos phosphate) , but i...

I’m in the process of gathering ingredients to make my own frozen feed but I’m at a stumbling block and have hit the brakes. I do not have access to fresh off the boat I seafood and can only get stuff from local grocers. A lot of the seafood is preserved in Sodium Tripolyphosphate and I’m...

Hey reefers , question about coralline algae Would it be beneficial to add coralline algae from a bottle. Would this speed up the process of maturing mu new set up and are there any benefits or draw backs to doing so manually instead letting it develop by its own(

Randy, This is my second ICP test over the last 3 weeks with this most recent test being approx 3 hours after a 17% water change. Please let me know what you think especially with my now new high manganese level. Is there anything I need to do? I did switch to Red Sea blue bucket about 3...

I have a question about calcium being high in my reef tank. So, I started reef moonshiners' method and upon doing the ICP test both were high. Ca test 1 was at 812, test 2 is at 902. After the first ICP I did water a couple 20% water changes and calcium was reading high still. After second icp I...

As title states, I'm wondering if this coupling I purchased, to connect 1/2" soft tubing to 3/4" tubing, to connect a pump to a UV sterilizer is reef safe.. any thoughts would most helpful thanks! https://www.lascofittings.com/products/3201004

Saw this video on YouTube. And curious if you think you could make a better cookie. Not sure if this can be posted here or not.

Hey Randy! I always complain for a higher ph but now I finally got it. Well maybe it's gonna get to high... I use a few things to keep my pH high 1. Kalkwasser in my ato 2. Dosing pH+ from reef zlments (probably contains sodium hydroxide) 3. CO2 scrubber My pH is now 8.45-8.6 but I need to...

I have a question for the community I’ve never encountered in all my years. I’ve been keeping reef tanks for a long time so I know all too well about our friendly chemicals we use to maintain parameters in our tanks. But what I’ve run into is the fact I am dosing so much product that I’m causing...

Seeking help from Randy Holmes Farley! I have just added a C02 Scrubber to my system. Within 24 hours my alk consumption went from 0.3 DKH per day to 0.8 per day. Every day since it has risen. It’s now up to 1.6 DKH per day. I’m just worried something is wrong. I can’t see the coral I have...

I faced an issue this morning with my thermostat which dropped in the water over night and broke. The chiller was unable to turn on so my aquarium temperature went from 25celcious to 29 Celsius in a couple of hours. When i woke up in the morning i immediately turned on the chiller manually and...