1000 gallon tank for a beginner!

[SlowAndStupid]

So that was the saltwater test was there anything weird or high in the rodi? I see you said you got tests for both.
Silicon/silicates I am guessing could be from the new sand but possibly from the rock on the walls. Same for the calcium maybe? Also weird your kh dropped so drastically But I guess that depends on what your salt mixes to if it isnt a high kh mix the cycle could have dropped it. If the cycle created 21.16 ppm of nitrate that would use close to 2.3dkh. Could be a bit of precipitation too. What does the salt mix to? Zinc being that high is probably not great I would see if @Randy Holmes-Farley has anything to say on that matter. Might require another icp they can and do get things wrong at times I would hate to be wrong and have those rock walls leaching stuff though.

The RODI was the third, smaller picture. Everything is undetectable except for Zinc in the RODI water but at a little under half of what I am measuring from the tank. I was using Instant Ocean and switched over to Reef Crystals while filling. Its probably about 50/50 at this point due to water changes and is mixed to a salinity of 35ppt. I have done several 10% water changes between the cycle ending and when I sent this off. The nitrates would have been higher at one point. I posted a specific thread to the Reef Chemistry subforum to discuss it further as well.

 

[twentyleagues]

The RODI was the third, smaller picture. Everything is undetectable except for Zinc in the RODI water but at a little under half of what I am measuring from the tank. I was using Instant Ocean and switched over to Reef Crystals while filling. Its probably about 50/50 at this point due to water changes and is mixed to a salinity of 35ppt. I have done several 10% water changes between the cycle ending and when I sent this off. The nitrates would have been higher at one point. I posted a specific thread to the Reef Chemistry subforum to discuss it further as well.

Both of those tend to be higher kh, calc and mag the IO less but still higher than some.
Were you doing any tests yourself during the cycle? What method did you use to cycle the tank? I am sure I read at some point but dont remember. I used bottled bacteria and ammonia taking the ammonia up to 2ppm 3 times and barely registered 20ppm nitrate after. I am not saying you did something wrong its just seems weird but depending on what method you used to cycle i.e. adding fish food for example might lead to higher nitrate.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Turbo start bottles plus ammonia added to 2ppm. I did this several times over several weeks as the ammonia dropped to zero (checked with Hanna checker) but I don't recall how many times I did this. No fish food added. Those were the only things added to the tank other than saltwater.

 

[twentyleagues]

Turbo start bottles plus ammonia added to 2ppm. I did this several times over several weeks as the ammonia dropped to zero (checked with Hanna checker) but I don't recall how many times I did this. No fish food added. Those were the only things added to the tank other than saltwater.

Did you happen to check Nitrite during this time as nitrite will affect your nitrate test a little nitrite is a pretty hefty amount of nitrate in a test. I bumped my ammonia up 3 times and checked nitrite, at one point nitrite was 5ppm and a nitrate test showed as around 50ppm I waited for nitrite to drop to zero and nitrate ended up being only 5ppm. I think that was after the first 2ppm ammonia dose. After all 3 like I said nitrate was only 15-20ppm.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I followed both nitrites and nitrates during the cycle using salifert tests. While the nitrites initially remained high til that portion of the cycle caught up it eventually dropped. I didn't send off the test until I was seeing drops in nitrites. I did a couple of 10% water changes and then sent it off. I think my plan for now is to continue weekly water changes and to add some bags of cuprisorb to try and absorb some of these heavy metals as well and will ultimately repeat the icp to see how things change.

 

[keithw283]

I just found this post today. Just read through most of it. I am stoked to see this thing go live.

 

[bsdubois00]

I LOVE IT! I started with a Honeycomb Storage Wall for all my foods and tools, and then Mulitboard came out. I ended up covering the inside of my stand and mount points for HYDROS. I highly recommend it as a quickly growing lattice solution. Then, a creator named Kate came out with Underware Wire Management for Multiboard. It's worth looking into!

How did you mount your Hydros to the Multiboard?

I'm in the process of printing the base plates now.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

How did you mount your Hydros to the Multiboard?

I'm in the process of printing the base plates now.

I can't speak to the multiboard as I use the honeycomb but there are fasteners that clip into the openings to attach things. I designed a flat 5mm thick rectangle with those fasteners that I clipped into my wall and then screwed the Hydros onto it. Now I can pop it off if I need to but it otherwise holds it well.

I'm sure there's an equivalent for the Multiboard.

 

[stE26wy14]

any pics?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

any pics?

Pictures of my Hydros devices attached to the honeycomb wall? They are on page 9.

The fasteners themselves? Some of them look like this:

 

[bsdubois00]

Pictures of my Hydros devices attached to the honeycomb wall? They are on page 9.

The fasteners themselves? Some of them look like this:

This is simple and smart - love it! thank you!

 

[bsdubois00]

Made a quick backplate for Hydros Launch and Multiboard - that was a great idea:

 

[stE26wy14]

Pictures of my Hydros devices attached to the honeycomb wall? They are on page 9.

The fasteners themselves? Some of them look like this:

of the tank

 

[Reefer911]

For your stocking list, I’d be adding a Sohal tang for sure
And as far as the other tangs, I’d probably add 3-5 yellows and blue hippos, or whatever number you can safely add without overstocking.

I think multiples look great in large tanks

 

[SlowAndStupid]

For your stocking list, I’d be adding a Sohal tang for sure
And as far as the other tangs, I’d probably add 3-5 yellows and blue hippos, or whatever number you can safely add without overstocking.

I think multiples look great in large tanks

But how many tangs are too many? I don't want to overcrowd the place.

 

[Reefer911]

But how many tangs are too many? I don't want to overcrowd the place.

Honestly I’m not sure but I’m sure you can get away with several of each species if you wanted.

Have you seen Andrew Sandler’s Polo reef?

 

[Sltloser]

My baseline ICP has returned. This was sent to ATI so that the display tank and RODI were both tested.

One big reason I have sent off an ICP was to see if anything was being leached into the water from the surrounding rock structure that would make it difficult to grow corals. A number of abnormalities noted though as I have looked at each individual element I don't see anything that I think would absolutely prevent me from growing corals.

KH is low but this was taken only a few weeks after completing my cycle. I am working under the assumption that is why it is so low and water changes can bring it back up. Otherwise, it can be dosed.

Mag and Sulfur are a little off but I am hopeful regular water changes can also bring those in line.

Bromine, Strontium, Barium, Vanadium, and Zinc are elevated but prior posts from Randy Holmes-Farley regarding similar issues don't appear to be big issues within a reef tank.

Silicone/silicates and Iodine both test high and I am unsure where this came from. It is a brand new tank with new sand. Could that account for the silicates? I am at a loss for where the iodine comes from.

Testing of the RODI water reveals everything is undetectable except for Zinc which is lower than what the tank is testing out at.

The only thing in my RODI tank that could potentially leach zinc would be my tethered float switch provided to me from Buckeye Hydro but it appears to be well-sealed (no water drains from it when I lift it out of the water to inspect). Everything else appears to be plastic.

My next big purchase was going to be lights for corals. Does anyone see any red flags that would prevent me from growing coral where I should pivot and look at a FOWLR tank instead? Thanks!

Do you have any mixing pumps or magnets in the RODI tank? AlexG had an issue with high zinc concentrations and was able to trace it back to a magnet that had leached water into the housing and corroded the magnets.

He was at 10x what you have in the display and saw some upset corals but not mass die off across the board. I'd check out posts before this point (where he found the culprit). I'll be curious to see how cuprisorb works over time!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

No mixing pumps or magnets. There is a float switch with a weight inside the storage tank and that's it. I have another icp kit to send off in a bit and will take some water from the rodi line itself this time.

I have cuprisorb in the sump right now. I have been replacing my alk losses with sodium bicarb and it continues to trend down daily. It's crazy to me that my empty tank can burn through a point of alkalinity in a day.

My pH remains stable, I have upped my magnesium with a big bolus of magnesium chloride, and my calcium is slowly trending down, presumably at least partially to precipitation of calcium carbonate from my sodium bicarb and elevated calcium.

 

[Sltloser]

No mixing pumps or magnets. There is a float switch with a weight inside the storage tank and that's it. I have another icp kit to send off in a bit and will take some water from the rodi line itself this time.

I have cuprisorb in the sump right now. I have been replacing my alk losses with sodium bicarb and it continues to trend down daily. It's crazy to me that my empty tank can burn through a point of alkalinity in a day.

My pH remains stable, I have upped my magnesium with a big bolus of magnesium chloride, and my calcium is slowly trending down, presumably at least partially to precipitation of calcium carbonate from my sodium bicarb and elevated calcium.

Taking a sample directly from the RODI line as well is a great idea. This could be where zinc is leaching from whatever was in the stonework originally? Hopefully not, but I'm also unsure if we know what the threshold for adverse coral effects is in zinc? Maybe try an easy coral to start with and see how it does if you can't find the zinc source.

That is wild, is it bacteria from the cycle that is using it up?

I saw your comment on lighting, have you put much thought into lighting and what brand you're thinking of going with?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

That is wild, is it bacteria from the cycle that is using it up?

I saw your comment on lighting, have you put much thought into lighting and what brand you're thinking of going with?

Your guess is as good as mine. I'm stumped.

As far as lighting goes I am considering orphek amazonas or perhaps these new quanta lights. A group of 4 atlases with some of the meso blue bars perhaps? I need to send an email asking for more info.