550G Display + Fish Room Frag Tanks = 900G of Fun

najer

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I always have cyano to some degree and it doesn't bother me, no idea what my levels are, I have a couple of strawberry / red lip conch on order at my lfs as apparently they are one of the few things that it is not toxic to.
Asterina stars will eat it also ime.

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Blue Tang Clan

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I just ordered 21 trochus snails and a sea cucumber (never tried one before) so we’ll see if that helps.

Since my cyano spreads slowly, maybe heavier traffic on the sand/rocks can break the cycle.
 

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Nice build. My display is almost identical in size only mine is 38.5” from front to back. Reading through I feel like such a hillbilly lol. All my gear to run my tank is under the tank. And it’s not much. Lol. Skimmer, in the end of the sump, refugium in the centre full of cheato. This acts like a big filter so I don’t have to use socks and return pump section. I’m using t5 ati fixtures and a few cheap Chinese leds. I wish I had the room you do and the budget!!! Here’s a pic of mine 3 months in... I went with corner overflows that I made myself that have intakes on the bottom as well as top over flow. It’s nice to have crap from the bottom of the water column getting drawn in. Looking forward to seeing this tank mature.

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Blue Tang Clan

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I realize my thread is half about random tools/techniques to make reefing easier, but I HAD to share this!

Brute 3 gallon bucket (available at Home Depot) with pro-grade handle (water is heavy) and a pouring spout! I mix my 2-part into containers that hold 2 gallons, so having a mixing bucket that is 3 gallons is perfect (no overflow/splashing) and getting pouring everything into a dosing container is MUCH easier now. I picked up 2 - one for Alk and one for Calcium.

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Blue Tang Clan

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Part of the reason I’ve been short on updates (and tank maintenance) is that I have a 3-month old. My own little frag! He’s awesome, and understandably high maintenance.

Question: has anyone else used RODI water for their baby’s formula? New parents always freak about about germs and want only the best, but is it overboard to go for 0 TDS water for baby formula? ;Wacky
 

jwilliams860

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Part of the reason I’ve been short on updates (and tank maintenance) is that I have a 3-month old. My own little frag! He’s awesome, and understandably high maintenance.

Question: has anyone else used RODI water for their baby’s formula? New parents always freak about about germs and want only the best, but is it overboard to go for 0 TDS water for baby formula? ;Wacky
Ha no way. A little uv and ozone treatment should be perfect.
 

GBRsouth

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Part of the reason I’ve been short on updates (and tank maintenance) is that I have a 3-month old. My own little frag! He’s awesome, and understandably high maintenance.

Question: has anyone else used RODI water for their baby’s formula? New parents always freak about about germs and want only the best, but is it overboard to go for 0 TDS water for baby formula? ;Wacky

I wouldn't have a baby drink di water, but ro water is good, just collect the water before the di stages.
 

GBRsouth

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what would be the issue with DI?

DI being deionized means the water will pull ions out of It's surroundings. (Which in this case would be your baby's body.) This only matters long term. There is no short term effect.

But it is reported to taste terrible.

Taking water for drinking is perfectly fine though after the ro stage and before it enters the DI stage. This will be good quality drinking water.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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DI being deionized means the water will pull ions out of It's surroundings. (Which in this case would be your baby's body.) This only matters long term. There is no short term effect.

But it is reported to taste terrible.

Taking water for drinking is perfectly fine though after the ro stage and before it enters the DI stage. This will be good quality drinking water.

makes sense - good to know!
 

VegetaD

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Part of the reason I’ve been short on updates (and tank maintenance) is that I have a 3-month old. My own little frag! He’s awesome, and understandably high maintenance.

Question: has anyone else used RODI water for their baby’s formula? New parents always freak about about germs and want only the best, but is it overboard to go for 0 TDS water for baby formula? ;Wacky
I have whole house ro water for water., not di Kid is now 2.5 yo and used that for formula exclusively.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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This is subjective, but can a single skimmer be the only filtration needed for a tank with 13 tangs?

I have a big 12" Reef Octopus 300INT skimmer, and I have no rising phosphates/nitrates -- with no other filtration in place, aside from filter socks.

1. 550G display + 60G Frag Tank + 40G Refugium Tank (only rocks right now) + ~100G in the sump [~750G in total]
2. Chaeto won't grow much, as Nitrates and Phosphates are low (more than zero, but low)
3. Each day I feed the fish 4 large sheets of nori + 2 cubes of frozen food + sprinkling of pellets
4. There is a ton of rock - both in the display and in the Fuge tank - plus 3 XL MarinePure Blocks

Everyone is fat and happy, with no aggression, but I'm wondering:
1. Do I feed less than most people?
2. My skimmer is a beast - is it exporting all I need?
3. There is a lot of rock + MarinePure -- could that be helping more than I realize?

In my old 90G, I pulled out Chaeto all the time, and I know a lot of people do too -- but I seem to have everything in check for months with just the skimmer, which seems weird. Hanna checker for UL Phosphate and Nyos/Salifert tests for Nitrate.

It's a good problem to have -- does anyone else get by with just a skimmer?
 

VegetaD

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This is subjective, but can a single skimmer be the only filtration needed for a tank with 13 tangs?

I have a big 12" Reef Octopus 300INT skimmer, and I have no rising phosphates/nitrates -- with no other filtration in place, aside from filter socks.

1. 550G display + 60G Frag Tank + 40G Refugium Tank (only rocks right now) + ~100G in the sump [~750G in total]
2. Chaeto won't grow much, as Nitrates and Phosphates are low (more than zero, but low)
3. Each day I feed the fish 4 large sheets of nori + 2 cubes of frozen food + sprinkling of pellets
4. There is a ton of rock - both in the display and in the Fuge tank - plus 3 XL MarinePure Blocks

Everyone is fat and happy, with no aggression, but I'm wondering:
1. Do I feed less than most people?
2. My skimmer is a beast - is it exporting all I need?
3. There is a lot of rock + MarinePure -- could that be helping more than I realize?

In my old 90G, I pulled out Chaeto all the time, and I know a lot of people do too -- but I seem to have everything in check for months with just the skimmer, which seems weird. Hanna checker for UL Phosphate and Nyos/Salifert tests for Nitrate.

It's a good problem to have -- does anyone else get by with just a skimmer?
2 cubes for 13 isn't much but the combo of skimmer and socks is helping to keep low.
 

emvanburen

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This is subjective, but can a single skimmer be the only filtration needed for a tank with 13 tangs?

I have a big 12" Reef Octopus 300INT skimmer, and I have no rising phosphates/nitrates -- with no other filtration in place, aside from filter socks.

1. 550G display + 60G Frag Tank + 40G Refugium Tank (only rocks right now) + ~100G in the sump [~750G in total]
2. Chaeto won't grow much, as Nitrates and Phosphates are low (more than zero, but low)
3. Each day I feed the fish 4 large sheets of nori + 2 cubes of frozen food + sprinkling of pellets
4. There is a ton of rock - both in the display and in the Fuge tank - plus 3 XL MarinePure Blocks

Everyone is fat and happy, with no aggression, but I'm wondering:
1. Do I feed less than most people?
2. My skimmer is a beast - is it exporting all I need?
3. There is a lot of rock + MarinePure -- could that be helping more than I realize?

In my old 90G, I pulled out Chaeto all the time, and I know a lot of people do too -- but I seem to have everything in check for months with just the skimmer, which seems weird. Hanna checker for UL Phosphate and Nyos/Salifert tests for Nitrate.

It's a good problem to have -- does anyone else get by with just a skimmer?
My system is similar. Has been running very low nutrients despite feeding. Have filter roller instead of socks. Lots of marine pure blocks. Added sea lettuce to fuge to help w pH - trying to get to a better equilibrium. Trying to get nutrients up w/o bad algae.
 

don_chuwish

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In retrospect, I probably didn't need 1.5" piping for the mixing station and the feed pipes to the sump, but why not?!?

There is so much water agitation when I use the pump to circulate water in the saltwater tank (right side smaller 100G tank) that I really don't have a need for fancy pipes or extra powerheads in the container.

I added extra valves (smaller 1" size) on the end of the RODI and SW pipes to get smaller amounts out via gravity.

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Love the DJ switches, so much better than pulling plugs. Remote control switches are handy too, if you're running a hose into another room, for example.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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I made an investment in some new salt. I know that IO and RC work just fine for many people, and I've had success with them myself, but I noticed all the gunk at the bottom of my mixing barrel (and even the discoloration on the sides) and decided to go with the cleaner-mixing Tropic Marin Pro salt.
 

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