1st Acro tank Reefer 300. (Retired)

[exnisstech]

I can see a huge difference, the sps are taking off. Once they hit that perfect chemistry ratio you can see growth every day. Just beautiful.
How many hours are your lights on?

I wasn't expecting them to actually take off like they have. Being my first go with acros I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect lol.
I do find it interesting reading about so many people fretting over pH lately. I put a monitor on a while back and am running 7.6 with a peak of 7.8 with an occasional peak of 7.9 if we're going in and out a lot.
Lights are running about 8 hours peak.

I did increase the lights a bit over a few months. Corals seemed to respond well but I can't say for sure it was lighting. I'll leave them be for now, no sense pushing my luck. I bumped the front photon a little extra for the pieces in front on the bottom.

 

[Tahoe61]

Honestly I just stopped testing pH 10 yrs ago. I tried buffers, kalk, outside airline and the results never panned out 24/7.
What ever you're doing you have hit the sweet spot, enjoy it. The tank is beautiful.

 

[exnisstech]

Just a video update. Tank is cruising along smoothly on just AFR and small 2-4g weekly water changes. pH is still low according to Milwaukee

 

[UncommonSense]

Just a video update. Tank is cruising along smoothly on just AFR and small 2-4g weekly water changes. pH is still low according to Milwaukee

The tank’s looking phenomenal!

Regarding PH; your day/night photosynthetic swing looks pretty normal in range, just a bit low in general…

When did you last calibrate the PH probe (high range calibration)? I find that they tend to drift away from accurate over time…

Does the sump have sufficient space for an undersized algae scrubber or similar? That would really help the PH swing if run on a reverse photoperiod to the DT!

 

[exnisstech]

The tank’s looking phenomenal!

Regarding PH; your day/night photosynthetic swing looks pretty normal in range, just a bit low in general…

When did you last calibrate the PH probe (high range calibration)? I find that they tend to drift away from accurate over time…

Does the sump have sufficient space for an undersized algae scrubber or similar? That would really help the PH swing if run on a reverse photoperiod to the DT!

Thanks!
Actually i haven't calibrated the probe since it was installed a few months ago but it was reading the same then as now. I get a peak of 7.8 - 7.9 and can get a high of 8.1 when the house is opened up. I've compared it to Hanna so I think it's accurate. TBH I only added it out of curiousuty after reading so many posts of people chasing pH . I've done Randy's aeration test its definitely an indoor CO2 issue. I have room in the sump since I don't have a skimmer, only a reefmat down there. The tank is doing well enough I don't think I'll worry about the pH for now. I know I could get faster growth but that just means I'll be breaking more coral because I'm a clumsy oaf. I don't have anywhere to sell or trade frags so I'm just going to plug along slow and steady until something changes.

 

[UncommonSense]

TBH I only added it out of curiousuty after reading so many posts of people chasing pH .

Haha yeah… I come from the commercial hydroponic production world; it’s a bit surprising to me to see that this info is news in the reefing hobby!

TLDR: your PH monitoring probe is actually going to be a very useful piece of equipment for safety reasons if you ever get into the CO2 fed calcium reactors, dripping acidic effluent into the system for element dosing… in this application, they can turn off CO2, and/or sound an alarm if system PH starts dropping excessively!

 

[exnisstech]

TLDR: your PH monitoring probe is actually going to be a very useful piece of equipment for safety reasons if you ever get into the CO2 fed calcium reactors, dripping acidic effluent into the system for element dosing… in this application, they can turn off CO2, and/or sound an alarm if system PH starts dropping excessively!

Funny you mention that. I have a new calcium reactor on the shelf that I won a few years ago but never set up. I'm more of a simple kind of reefer and just reading about them I know it something over my head.
Now that I'm thinking about it I probably should pass the reactor on to someone else who would put it to use.

 

[UncommonSense]

Funny you mention that. I have a new calcium reactor on the shelf that I won a few years ago but never set up. I'm more of a simple kind of reefer and just reading about them I know it something over my head.
Now that I'm thinking about it I probably should pass the reactor on to someone else who would put it to use.

They aren’t a cheap piece of equipment!

You could always trial run it on a smaller system if you’re curious to see how it works? I’ve got one as well I’m tempted to dive into the setup on… mostly because I have multiple CO2 bottles, regulators, solenoid valves, and bubble counters laying around already!

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Looks good! Thats around where my ph rides. Might try to raise it a touch, but im getting growth so not going to do anything crazy.

 

[exnisstech]

Nothing much to report. Tank is cruising along. I'm dosing 30ml AFR a day and doing very minimal WCs as shown below.

I'm no longer getting detritus building up in the one corner like it used to. Also my reefmat daily advance is much lower than it was. I'm averaging 12 inches a day and was over 20" a day.
I haven't added anything or made any changes. I hate to jynx myself I'm thinking maybe the tank has settled into a state of balance and i can just sit back and watch things grow.
It was never meant to be a TOTM but more of an underwater garden with poor planning.

View from the end.

 

[OrthoVet05]

What kind of acro was that bargain bin deal? It has a pretty cool turquoise look!

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

Nothing much to report. Tank is cruising along. I'm dosing 30ml AFR a day and doing very minimal WCs as shown below.

I'm no longer getting detritus building up in the one corner like it used to. Also my reefmat daily advance is much lower than it was. I'm averaging 12 inches a day and was over 20" a day.
I haven't added anything or made any changes. I hate to jynx myself I'm thinking maybe the tank has settled into a state of balance and i can just sit back and watch things grow.
It was never meant to be a TOTM but more of an underwater garden with poor planning.

View from the end.

Looking awesome!

 

[BryanM]

Looks great!

 

[exnisstech]

What kind of acro was that bargain bin deal? It has a pretty cool turquoise look!

I have no idea lol. For curiosity I cut a chunk off and moved it under more par to see if it changes color

 

[exnisstech]

Just adding a more natural looking shot from today.

I added a skimmer after reading some more and pH is much improved. Night time lows are the biggest improvement. I was getting 7.6 every night and now at 8.0. peaking at 8.2 lights on.
It will be interesting to see if alk consumption increases.

 

[exnisstech]

As mentioned earlier I decided to take a deeper look at pH.
I started monitoring several months ago out of curiosity not because I'm unhappy with the growth or appearance of my coral. I'm using a Milwaukee MC120.
My morning low has been 7.6 with a high 7.9 unless we're in and out a lot then I can reach 8.0. Mine is caused by high indoor co2. I decided to toss a skimmer in the sump since I had one laying here. With the house closed up my new low is 8.0 with a high 8.2 - 8.3. with the skimmer running and house open my low is now 8.1 with a high of 8.4. Mumbo Jumbo and numbers untill I look at my alk consumption. I started the skimmer 8/12 and am skimming dry not emptying the cup since I don't want to lower my nutrients any. In that short time I've had to increase my AFR from 30ml a day to 45ml and I dosed 30ml ESV 2part (10x3) to keep alk from getting too low waiting for the AFR to work its magic. I target 8.5ish dkH
So we shall see how things go from here.

Not much else going on. I moved a few frags off the rack into tiles and one onto a clay pot. The one on pot is one of those plugs that just can't be cut without a diamond blade. There was vendor using them a while ago but I don't remember who. Trying to use cutters after one bounce off the table and down the hall I decided to stop and just stuck the stem in the drain hole on the pot. It has an opening on the side so it can do double duty as a cave for someone.
Not sure what's going on with the reefmat but I'm loving it. Usage is down to 7.9" a day before adding the skimmer. Its been in the 20s and even 30"s for the last couple of years. I'm seeing a lot of life on the rocks like sponges and such so maybe there's some natural filtration kicking in. I know my tanks always seem to do best after 2-3 years of letting stuff grow.
I'm getting a lot of what I think are limpets. They are multiplying quickly and I have them lined up on the seams so I assume they're eatin the algae growing there. Some are 3-4mm and many much smaller.

I find snail and snail like creatures interesting when you get to see the part under the shell.



Tank video from last night.

 

[thelonereefer1]

Before you started with the ammonium bicarbonate , what products were you using for nitrates and phosphate?

 

[exnisstech]

Before you started with the ammonium bicarbonate , what products were you using for nitrates and phosphate?

This is what I used.

 

[tbrown]

I used Trisodium Phosphate for my phosphates. For nitrates I just used Ammonium Bicarb.

 

[exnisstech]

I used Trisodium Phosphate for my phosphates. For nitrates I just used Ammonium Bicarb.

I switched to ammonium bicarb myself. I don't know why but after a month or so I no longer had to dose to keep NO3 detectable. What's strange is I no longer have to dose PO4 either to keep levels detectable. I just take it as a blessing and don't question why lol

PS It's the acro tank posted above so it's not like it was a young tank that just settled in to a natural state.