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00W's AIO Smorgasbord

Aquarium Profile and Equipment

What type of saltwater aquarium is this?
Mixed Reef
Total Water Volume
115
When did you start this tank?
Jun 16, 2015
What is your aquarium made of?
Glass
Aquarium Length (inches)
48
Aquarium Width (inches)
18
Aquarium Height (inches)
24
Aquarium Overflow/Drain
Drain Style (durso, herbie, etc)
Aquarium Sump
YES
Sump Water Volume
20
Aquarium Stand
Wood
Aquarium Controller
NO
Protein Skimmer
NO
Protein Skimmer Make and Model
Lifereef vs3-24
Aquarium Reactors
  1. None
Return Pump
Eheim compaction 3000
What types of equipment are you using for water flow and circulation?
  1. Powerhead
  2. Wavemaker
Water Flow and Circulation Equipment List
Jebao OW 20 x2, OW10, Jebao 1300, 2 sicce small WaveMaker.
Aquarium Lighting
  1. T5 Fluorescent
  2. Natural Sunlight
Lighting Equipment List
Odyssea T5 HO fixture
Lighting PAR and Goals
Low
Dosing Equipment Detail
None
Auto Top Off or ATO
NO
Aquarium Heating and Cooling
  1. I am using a heater or heaters
Water Temperature
77
Heating and Cooling Equipment Detail
Eheim 300w with ink bird controller

Aquarium Water Chemistry and Parameters

pH Level
8.3
Specific Gravity
1.027
Nitrate or NO3
19
Phosphate or PO4
1.12
Calcium
440
Alkalinity
7
Magnesium
1300
Salt Brand
Red sea blue bucket
Trace Element Dosing
Kent essential elements

Aquarium Natural and Mechanical Filtration

Substrate
Bare Bottom (BB)
Substrate Level
No Substrate
Live Rock
75
Live Rock Type
Unknown
Nutrient Export
  1. Protein Skimmer
  2. Filter Sock
Water Changes
YES
Water Change Details
10% every Monday

Aquarium Tank Inhabitants (fish, coral, invert etc.)

Fish List
  1. Angelfish
  2. Clownfish
  3. Surgeonfish Tang
  4. Other Predatory
Total Fish
4
Coral List
  1. Zoanthids
  2. Soft Coral
  3. Mushroom Coral
  4. Other
Total Corals
6
Invert List
  1. Anemone
  2. Snails
  3. None
Total Inverts
0
Livestock Detail
Have a trigger which is not listed.
Livestock Quarantine
  1. No Quarantine

Aquarium Nutrition (fish, coral, invert etc. feeding)

Fish Feeding Frequency
Multiple Daily Feedings
Coral Feeding Frequency
Do Not Feed Coral Directly
Fish and Coral Feeding
  1. Flake
  2. Pellet
  3. Frozen
  4. Algae Strips
  5. Other
Auto Feeder
NO

Additional Aquarium Information

What do you think are the keys to your success in reefing?
Patience

kingranch2003

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Thank you my friend! I am loving all the corals I've added and looking forward to adding more this week when they arrive! I just hope they all survive because it's going to be a while before i can spend any more money on corals. Lol
They'll do fine! You can do this, and we can help. Im excited to see the new ones!
 

NanoSteam

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What do you think happens when you switch to tap water?

Would probably be different result for everyone depending on your local municipality and how they treat their water/what they add to it.
 

That Crusso Kid

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The worst part is I was shopping at @That Crusso Kid's town store as well. Its all his fault. I went all the way up north to visit and he pulled one over on me....

How Dare You Greta GIF
You know I'll always dodge you. Anyone with any sense would.

But seriously, if you came up this way, and didn't let me know, I'd be disappointed.
 

That Crusso Kid

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Missed another 10 pages and I'm about 93.8% sure I will not read all of the posts. However, I did see that it looked like someone may have gotten an Eibli angelfish.
 

TheNative192

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You know I'll always dodge you. Anyone with any sense would.

But seriously, if you came up this way, and didn't let me know, I'd be disappointed.

I went to aquarium and reef center yesterday. I even posted about it in here lol. Is that where you shop or maybe boardroom aquatics or just online.
 

NanoSteam

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Missed another 10 pages and I'm about 93.8% sure I will not read all of the posts. However, I did see that it looked like someone may have gotten an Eibli angelfish.
Kevin James Eating GIF by TV Land
 

tbrown

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That's quite a difference, what changes between seasons? Do they alternate sources?
Yes. Different wells are "winter" or "summer". More expensive wells only run during the summer and as needed during the winter - those typically have RO plants associated with them which significantly lowers TDS and hardness. Winter has higher TDS, higher alkalinity, etc.

Also, Colorado River water runs year round and depending on demands, I either end up with a blend of well and CAP (Colorado River) or just well. CAP water is softer but can have higher TDS.
 

tbrown

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can you test freshwater with saltwater test kits ?
I think some work, yes. Hanna says theirs are rated for fresh or salt typically. Some work some may be skewed though.
 

tbrown

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Wow, that is really good. I've never seen it below 450 down here and in the 200-400s up in Phoenix. Average here is in the 700-1,000 range the last decade or so.
Parts of Goodyear were super high back when I was testing. I don't recall completely but I saw some as high as 1400 if I remember correctly (it was 15+ years ago).
 

tbrown

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tbrown

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tbrown

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What do you think happens when you switch to tap water?
Beats me. My tap water is good enough to use. This is with tap water.
 

That Crusso Kid

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I went to aquarium and reef center yesterday. I even posted about it in here lol. Is that where you shop or maybe boardroom aquatics or just online.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, I have not been on here much, at all, this weekend. Quite a busy weekend for me doing other things.
 

That Crusso Kid

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tbrown

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That didn't sound right...

I mean that I'm not sure what would happen to your tank with tap water. Mine, for some reason, does better with tap than it did with RODI. My tap water is usable though. Some municipal water sources are safe for you and I to drink but it can contain minerals that are not good for your aquarium resulting in Dinos, Cyano, algae blooms etc. Also, some municipalities use chloramines for disinfecting the water. Those should be removed from your water source, at a minimum, using a tap water conditioner according to most sources.

I've never used water with chloramines so I can only pass on what I've been told by experts.

What I will say is I dose Ammonium and others dose Ammonia. Also, reef salt actually contains chlorine... I forget the ratio but seawater is a natural source of chlorine. In fact, read Tropic Marine Pro-Reef salt ingredients:

1000008821.png


And chloramines are what? Chlorine mixed with ammonia - the super disinfectant. So, if we are adding chlorine to our tanks via our salt mixes and we're dosing ammonia (or it is being added naturally through waste) aren't we, in essence, creating chloramines in our aquariums?
 

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That didn't sound right...

I mean that I'm not sure what would happen to your tank with tap water. Mine, for some reason, does better with tap than it did with RODI. My tap water is usable though. Some municipal water sources are safe for you and I to drink but it can contain minerals that are not good for your aquarium resulting in Dinos, Cyano, algae blooms etc. Also, some municipalities use chloramines for disinfecting the water. Those should be removed from your water source, at a minimum, using a tap water conditioner according to most sources.

I've never used water with chloramines so I can only pass on what I've been told by experts.

What I will say is I dose Ammonium and others dose Ammonia. Also, reef salt actually contains chlorine... I forget the ratio but seawater is a natural source of chlorine. In fact, read Tropic Marine Pro-Reef salt ingredients:

1000008821.png


And chloramines are what? Chlorine mixed with ammonia - the super disinfectant. So, if we are adding chlorine to our tanks via our salt mixes and we're dosing ammonia (or it is being added naturally through waste) aren't we, in essence, creating chloramines in our aquariums?
I need to post this question over in the reef chemistry for Randy. He'll likely know the answer.
 

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