00W's AIO Smorgasbord

[ShakeyGizzard]

Questions are great John, that's how I learn from you guys. :smiling-face:
I'd like to know too.

me too

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Also @WalkerLovesTheOcean I hope your golden boy is still doing well. Mine is toast sadly. That's why I'm asking about magnesium. The seller said this may have been the issue. I'm not so sure.

Sorry John. Mine is still doing well. It could be the mag but I don't believe it is. My hammer didn't start suffering until I mag got around 110p I believe. Even then it did not get this bad, it just wouldn't open.

I can't tell from the photo, but does the hammer still have a flesh band? If it does then it could be the mag, but I still don't think so.

Have you seen any pests or fish nipping at it?

 

[luis angel]

The wife took Jason to the children's museum

 

[00W]

Good to know. I need to buy test kits now that I'm starting to add coral. Up to now I've just taken water to the LFS for testing (apart from ICP tests when I had the copper issue) and tried to keep up on water changes.

Hanna for alk, nitrate and phosphate are great IMO the best.
All the salifert are excellent but the above Hanna testers make it so simple.
I actually thought the seachem copper test was really good when I was having a copper issue years ago but it was sort of difficult to do.
Like everything, practice makes perfect and also makes for much more consistent results.
I've also used api ph and kh liquid tests and they were just fine
In fact api calcium test kit is very good too.
Just my 2 cents.
I've wasted a lot of money on bad test kits.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

My oldest son recently bought season 1, so now this is stuck in my head. You've been warned.

 

[luis angel]

Do you dose straight mag or is it contained in all for reef? Sorry for all the questions lol

Mg from RedSea, all I dose is from Redsea, Sorry if it takes me a while to reply,
Alk, Ca and Trace Elements too

 

[00W]

My oldest son recently bought season 1, so now this is stuck in my head. You've been warned.

Thanks a lot Wes now it's stuck in my head too! ;)

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

2 hours after the dip and additives, and it's looking way better. Before you could only see skeleton, the polyps were completely retracted.

Goniopora need lots of food. Powdered coral food, phytoplankton and amino acids all work wonders (as you can see here). They also need trace elements like manganese, iron and iodine. If they don't have that, then of course they will die and that's why they have the reputation of being very hard to keep. Aquacultured ones do way better than wild caught ones. We'll see how my goni continues to do, but something worked because it's opening its tentacles.

 

[VintageReefer]

I really like the system approach they are taking with this. Looks like a nice system.

I do also. It’s a completely modular system you can easily expand as needed with more panels or by adding the bars, which conveniently mount right to the light

 

[tharbin]

Mg is one of the more important elements for corals and coralline algae. I find that if it gets down much below 1200 I'll start to see some coralline die off and the corals, especially the montis, don't grow as well. I shoot for around 1300-1450 but like others have said the test kits aren't that good. I use the Aquaforest test kit because a few years ago, when BRS was producing somewhat-not-overly-biased and semi-useful videos they tested most of the Mg test kits and the Aquaforest was the most repeatable. None of them are all that accurate so I rarely test. I rely on my 2-part to replenish a little daily and if the coralline or montis are looking a little off, I throw in a dose of Fritz RPM Mg. I'll usually test every few months and if still looks to be low give it another doze of the Fritz.

 

[kevgib67]

What do you use to test it?

Salifert, it is very close to the icp I had done.

 

[tharbin]

I do also. It’s a completely modular system you can easily expand as needed with more panels or by adding the bars, which conveniently mount right to the light

Are the T-Slots only on the sides for mounting the bars? Someday I'll upgrade my lights and this looks like a good contender. I run a T-Slot mounting bar over the tank and it doesn't look like it would be too hard to make an adapter to fit them to my T-Slot bar and then mount a bar at the front aimed toward the back wall.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

@kingranch2003, you still have the goniopora, right?

I'd suggest doing an amino acids and coral food dip. See if that works for some polyp extension.

 

[VintageReefer]

Are the T-Slots only on the sides for mounting the bars? Someday I'll upgrade my lights and this looks like a good contender. I run a T-Slot mounting bar over the tank and it doesn't look like it would be too hard to make an adapter to fit them to my T-Slot bar and then mount a bar at the front aimed toward the back wall.

The entire front and back edges are t slot

The top has two t slot channels as well, with 2 standoffs (threaded posts) in the front and rear. If you zoom in this pic they are slid far left

Sooo 4 built in t slot channels. Front and rear edges. And front / rear on top surface.

 

[kingranch2003]

Mag is actually pretty important. My mag got down to 1000 and my hammer definitely did not like it.

You can't have stable alk and ca without mag around the 1400 range. 1200 isn't that much of a concern but I would definitely raise it to at least 1350.

That sounds right Walker. That's what the vendor said EXACTLY ABOUT HAMMERS! Thanks buddy for your input on that.

 

[kingranch2003]

@kingranch2003, you still have the goniopora, right?

I'd suggest doing an amino acids and coral food dip. See if that works for some polyp extension.

I do still have it. I dose aminos. Is this something different, like an actual dip?

 

[kingranch2003]

The entire front and back edges are t slot

The top has two t slot channels as well, with 2 standoffs (threaded posts) in the front and rear. If you zoom in this pic they are slid far left

Sooo 4 built in t slot channels. Front and rear edges. And front / rear on top surface.

These are definitely the future. I love my tank and am very happy with it, but nothing has made me want to start a new build more than this new lighting concept. I'm glad you brought this up. @VintageReefer

 

[kingranch2003]

Sorry John. Mine is still doing well. It could be the mag but I don't believe it is. My hammer didn't start suffering until I mag got around 110p I believe. Even then it did not get this bad, it just wouldn't open.

I can't tell from the photo, but does the hammer still have a flesh band? If it does then it could be the mag, but I still don't think so.

Have you seen any pests or fish nipping at it?

No flesh band. And it hadn't been in the tank but for a couple days when this started. The seller said he'd replace it when he got another one like it. It is possible it wasn't my fault, but you know I just had that weird tank crash a little while back, and my hammers haven't fully recovered. I'm getting nervous and probably overreacting lol

 

[VintageReefer]

Never heard that but I'll try and research that.
Would be cool if true.

I have heard of this also. Elevated mag as algae deterrent

 

[tharbin]

The entire front and back edges are t slot

The top has two t slot channels as well, with 2 standoffs (threaded posts) in the front and rear. If you zoom in this pic they are slid far left

Sooo 4 built in t slot channels. Front and rear edges. And front / rear on top surface.

That look like it would be very easy to fit to my existing mount system. The light in your tank also looks really good and you say you like them... I have a birthday in a few months, hmmmmm