08trdoffroad's Rimless 60 gal Mixed Reef Build

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Ordered an HMS bracket for the new to me Hydra 32...going to try to adapt it to the kessil mounting arm I already have as I don't want to spend $90 for the AI HMS mounting arm and don't care for the look of the flex mount it came with.

Also ordered a refill of Alk reagent for my Hanna Checker. I wasn't paying attention and ran out...hopefully it will arrive the end of the week.

 

[dangles]

Ordered an HMS bracket for the new to me Hydra 32...going to try to adapt it to the kessil mounting arm I already have as I don't want to spend $90 for the AI HMS mounting arm and don't care for the look of the flex mount it came with.

Also ordered a refill of Alk reagent for my Hanna Checker. I wasn't paying attention and ran out...hopefully it will arrive the end of the week.

How I feel with all the random expenses nobody told me about when I started this journey

 

[JoJosReef]

How I feel with all the random expenses nobody told me about when I started this journey

I try not to think about it, but when I do, and my mind starts tallying... Oh boy

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Welp, my plan to save money and recycle the Kessil mount arm for the Hydra actually worked!

Cost me $.40 for a longer screw from Ace Hardware to adapt the HMS bracket to the mounting arm! I am super pleased with it!

Currently have it about 13" off the surface and running at 50% I am getting similar par numbers to the Prime. I am ramping it up to the BRS recommended settings over the next 21 days in acclimation mode.

Will see how the corals respond in the next few weeks!!

 

[skey44]

New light looks great!
And tell me about it $$$.
Think I’m on my 5th or 6th bottle of alk reagent in 6 months!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

New light looks great!
And tell me about it $$$.
Think I’m on my 5th or 6th bottle of alk reagent in 6 months!

I didn't test my alk as often as I should have initially. Hence why my alk was down to 6 when I first started testing! I try to test at least weekly now, or if one of my corals is looking "off".

 

[skey44]

Yes, alk is the most frequent thing I check because it can change so quickly and is so important. When the tank is doing great alk goes down real fast. Something changes and consumption slows.
It really tunes me into how my tank is doing coral growth wise and keeping it pegged really seems to be the number one most important thing for success with trickier corals. Of course I test other things, but they tend to be at somewhat of an equilibrium. A decrease in alk consumption often leads me to perform other testing.
I have a hard time resisting testing it daily. It’s also the easiest/fastest test I own besides my refractometer.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Alk is holding steady for now!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

@dangles @JoJosReef @skey44

If I want to check for primarily fish diseases, what aquabiomics test should I purchase?

 

[dangles]

@dangles @JoJosReef @skey44

If I want to check for primarily fish diseases, what aquabiomics test should I purchase?

TankDNA

 

[JoJosReef]

@dangles @JoJosReef @skey44

If I want to check for primarily fish diseases, what aquabiomics test should I purchase?

That, I don't know. In principle, DNA detection methods should be the most sensitive, but I have no knowledge about the amounts soluble in the water column, which I assume also varies by disease. Worth a shot!

Or you can do like Polo reef and hire a marine veterinarian to come by periodically and scrape scales and swab mouths/gills to check for parasites

 

[skey44]

@dangles @JoJosReef @skey44

If I want to check for primarily fish diseases, what aquabiomics test should I purchase?

I am not a scholar nor an enthusiast level hobbyist in this area. Are you having fish disease issues?

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

I am not a scholar nor an enthusiast level hobbyist in this area. Are you having fish disease issues?

I lost a bunch of fish back in September and only had two chromis survive. Would really like to add new fish, but am a bit leary because I haven't had a true fallow period in the system due to the surviving chromis. So was considering running a DNA test to see if I have any detectable disease remaining in the system before spending cash on new quarantined live stock.

 

[skey44]

Yeah I can imagine it’s hard to justify adding new stuff in without knowing. Any signs or symptoms of disease with the dead fish?

I almost wonder if you should add a saltwater molly. I hear they’re good indicators of parasitic disease in marine tanks. Not full proof, but one way to get an idea.

Sorry for your losses. I can’t imagine having to restock after losing a bunch of fish.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Yeah I can imagine it’s hard to justify adding new stuff in without knowing. Any signs or symptoms of disease with the dead fish?

I almost wonder if you should add a saltwater molly. I hear they’re good indicators of parasitic disease in marine tanks. Not full proof, but one way to get an idea.

Sorry for your losses. I can’t imagine having to restock after losing a bunch of fish.

I believe it was either marine velvet or brooklynella. Had a white fuzziness to them and their slime coat peeled off after death when I netted them out of the tank.

They declined quickly. Went from eating fine to laying on the bottom gasping for air and then dead within about 36 hrs.

 

[skey44]

Sorry for your loss. Hopefully it’s out of the system and you can carry on with adding some new fish friends. Best of luck.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Tonight's test results!

I was finally able to get the timing down on the nitrate and phosphate.

Definitely need to think about dosing nitrates at this point. I left my filter sock for a month and have the skimmer gate running wide open and still can't keep them from bottoming out.

 

[skey44]

Ugh zero nitrates. Took my tank a long time to start showing nitrates and now nitrates and phosphates are slowly building to the point I’m about to add Chaeto for export. Crazy how fast things can change/ equilibrium tips. Hang in there, keep dosing nitrates to avoid Dinos at all costs. Think dirty thoughts etc! Don’t make the mistake I did and complacently let them hang at zero. Getting rid of Dino’s was my tanks biggest battle yet.

 

[JoJosReef]

Tonight's test results!

I was finally able to get the timing down on the nitrate and phosphate.

Definitely need to think about dosing nitrates at this point. I left my filter sock for a month and have the skimmer gate running wide open and still can't keep them from bottoming out.

Can be hard to get them back up, but the. You can suddenly have way too much! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Ugh zero nitrates. Took my tank a long time to start showing nitrates and now nitrates and phosphates are slowly building to the point I’m about to add Chaeto for export. Crazy how fast things can change/ equilibrium tips. Hang in there, keep dosing nitrates to avoid Dinos at all costs. Think dirty thoughts etc! Don’t make the mistake I did and complacently let them hang at zero. Getting rid of Dino’s was my tanks biggest battle yet.

What product did you use to dose?