Llorgon
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That's a lot of stuff to be dosing daily. I would definitely forget something! Have you noticed any changes in the corals since adding the elements?
75 gallon GlassCages build
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BAMatter
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I don’t really mind dosing all this stuff. I’m maxed out on the amount I dose with Transition Elements so these individual bottles I get basically boost that deficiency. Plus I don’t have water changes as part of my routine, so tracking everything and making sure everything gets dosed as needed to keep a good balance is what I do in lieu of lugging buckets around.
Llorgon
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No water changes would be nice! I've got my system down to not having to haul buckets, but it starts to get a bit pricy when you have to order buckets of salt.
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BAMatter
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No water changes is what attracted me to the Triton Method. Can’t say I’m doing the full Triton Method anymore because I absolutely cannot stand how secretive they are about their products, but I’m doing something similar that I can fine tune to my liking. Seems to be working out so far. Only time I replace any salt water is when I’m changing reactor media, and even that I don’t do since I pulled it offline. Water changes will happen if needed, but have been able to avoid them thus far.
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BAMatter
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Added a couple ORA acro frags. Plum crazy and Red Planet. Plus 2 peppermint shrimp to see if I can get this aiptasia infestation under control. I understand the possible risks with them, but I’ll keep a close eye. Aiptasia X failed me. The “X” I’m now assuming means multiply, not get rid of, because every aiptasia I tried to kill came back 3 fold, minimum. Lol. Stay away from that product, but if you want a bottle there will be some in my trash can tomorrow morning.
Llorgon
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Lucky. I'd like to be able to avoid water changes, but it's not in the cards yet. Did you design the system around no water changes or slowly move to it once everything was running smoothly?
I had some good luck with peppermint shrimp in the past. Hopefully they work out for you.
Aiptasia X and really any of those inject to kill them solutions have been really hit and miss for me. I haven't seen them spreading a ton, but more of a 50-50 chance if it actually dies or not.
I tried berghia in my one tank and watched as my one clown picked them off the rocks...
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BAMatter
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Yea I set the tank up for no water changes. I’ve maybe changed 80 gallons total in the past year, and that was really just post-cycle, real ugly stage. Haven’t done one for months. Been relying on ICP tests for guidance give or take.
Hopefully the pepps do some work on this aiptasia..
Petcrazyson
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Wow that’s a really nice tank! Really nice Torch tower as well it seems to be really linking that spot. Amazing work! Hope you don’t mind me taking some ideas lol. Following 
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BAMatter
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Thanks! And welcome aboard lol. That dragon soul on the right has taken off there… it’s 3 heads are all splitting at the moment and I’m excited to see its growth in the next 6 months. I’m adding a double head of Wolverine this weekend, which is like a Knicks without the green mouth area. Really nice looking, it will compliment my boring green indo nicely.Wow that’s a really nice tank! Really nice Torch tower as well it seems to be really linking that spot. Amazing work! Hope you don’t mind me taking some ideas lol. Following
Llorgon
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What did you add in your setup that helped reduce or remove the need for water changes? With salt being expensive to ship, I'd like to get to the point where I can minimize or reduce water changes as much as possible.
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BAMatter
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I researched the Triton Method and ran with it. You want a fuge 10-20% the size of your display, large skimmer, and a pump that can handle about 10x flow rate. They also say a UV is beneficial so I added one as well. It’s a fairly basic setup, and you’re just supposed to let the fuge do the nutrient controlling. Now, disclose- I don’t do the Triton Method anymore and use different dosing additives, but same sump setup and return flow as recommended by Triton.
TRITON Method Slide
The most experienced in solution based water chemistry in the industry. Continuing to revolutionise reef keeping worldwide since 2008.
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BAMatter
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Ok, potential medium/long post with details on my experience (so far) with a recirculating CO2 scrubber. I was burning media up in 4-9 days, and even buying bulk it was forecasted to get spendy. Started researching, and pulled the trigger on a setup I liked. I will say, I was entirely adamant about NOT doing it this way, and was convinced that a piece on TOP of the skimmer lid was the only way to safely do it. But here I am, doing it the way I didn’t want to, to no ill effects just yet, except frustration and ineffectiveness. I bought the FishOfHex adapter, plus a collection bottle and appropriate adapter for that. I also run an optical skimmer cup level sensor in case skimmate gets too high, it won’t overflow into the scrubber.
I tried to get it working, set it up, and seemed to be all good. About 1/4 of the media had already changed pink, then the media turned white, and got me looking around. Moisture, lots of it. Media got too dang and rendered essentially useless, lost its ability to color change, and also too damp to absorb OC2. My PH chart started a downward trend. I was originally using the BRS scrubber, then tried my Bashsea reactor. Both had way too much moisture, and dumped a lot of media.
I saw some people using a larger moisture collection cup, so I thought to use the BRS canister as the cup, and use the Bashsea reactor as the scrubber. I also thought that the warm air condensing could use some surface to attach to, and thought to toss a handful of straws in the collection canister to allow this and let the water just drip it’s way down. We will see how things go.
This has been an ongoing experiment since the 17th, so my PH chart has reflected all of these attempts. I just tried the new method last night and PH hovered around 8.25, which is higher than the 8.1-8.2 it had been at. I do have to say, I used to Joes Juice to kill some aiptasia last night, and had a PH spike due to it being Calcium Hydroxide, but I believe that boost would have burned off by surface gas exchange over a few hours.
I’ve attached a few pics. Original setup, then newest setup, and finally my PH chart over the past 10 days. Would love some input, comments, questions, suggestions, general discussion on this. CO2 mitigation is a hot topic and would love to improve this in my tank…
I tried to get it working, set it up, and seemed to be all good. About 1/4 of the media had already changed pink, then the media turned white, and got me looking around. Moisture, lots of it. Media got too dang and rendered essentially useless, lost its ability to color change, and also too damp to absorb OC2. My PH chart started a downward trend. I was originally using the BRS scrubber, then tried my Bashsea reactor. Both had way too much moisture, and dumped a lot of media.
I saw some people using a larger moisture collection cup, so I thought to use the BRS canister as the cup, and use the Bashsea reactor as the scrubber. I also thought that the warm air condensing could use some surface to attach to, and thought to toss a handful of straws in the collection canister to allow this and let the water just drip it’s way down. We will see how things go.
This has been an ongoing experiment since the 17th, so my PH chart has reflected all of these attempts. I just tried the new method last night and PH hovered around 8.25, which is higher than the 8.1-8.2 it had been at. I do have to say, I used to Joes Juice to kill some aiptasia last night, and had a PH spike due to it being Calcium Hydroxide, but I believe that boost would have burned off by surface gas exchange over a few hours.
I’ve attached a few pics. Original setup, then newest setup, and finally my PH chart over the past 10 days. Would love some input, comments, questions, suggestions, general discussion on this. CO2 mitigation is a hot topic and would love to improve this in my tank…
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BAMatter
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BAMatter
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Quick tank shot. Added 2 more ReefOcto Pulse 2’s to the back wall. Wish I did sooner. Figured out a real nice flow and have a cleaning surge every half hour. Corals are lovin it. Also snagged t a Wolverine torch this morning thats settled nicely. It’s the torch on the left of the 3 torches on right side of tank.
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Petcrazyson
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Nice octopus! Careful he might eat your fish
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BAMatter
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Couple quick updates…
Recirulating CO2 scrubbers are fickle beats that do require some tinkering. A moisture trap is 100% needed with monitoring and the ability to empty. The air is incredibly humid and depending on ambient room temp, a lot of condensation occurs. I’ve managed to get 2 canisters too damp to be affective before I realized I had to change things up. Seems to be doing its job now. PH chart since original media exhausted is attached. Really like to keep the diurnal swing within .1, and it’s been 8.2-8.3 roughly. Zero complaints there.
4 pumps are better than 2 and I’m incredibly happy with the flow, and ability to get detritus into the water column and filtered out. Seems like my skimmer is producing a better skimmate and that’s a good sign of export.
Added my second Orphek blue plus back on last night. Let’s see how the corals like it!
Manganese- I’ve seen a couple things and videos regarding manganese since I popped a deficiency on my ICP. I did an initial maintenance dose and now doing 1/2ml daily. Gonis love it! Torches are happier. Will continue monitoring levels.
Still not doing water changes.
Recirulating CO2 scrubbers are fickle beats that do require some tinkering. A moisture trap is 100% needed with monitoring and the ability to empty. The air is incredibly humid and depending on ambient room temp, a lot of condensation occurs. I’ve managed to get 2 canisters too damp to be affective before I realized I had to change things up. Seems to be doing its job now. PH chart since original media exhausted is attached. Really like to keep the diurnal swing within .1, and it’s been 8.2-8.3 roughly. Zero complaints there.
4 pumps are better than 2 and I’m incredibly happy with the flow, and ability to get detritus into the water column and filtered out. Seems like my skimmer is producing a better skimmate and that’s a good sign of export.
Added my second Orphek blue plus back on last night. Let’s see how the corals like it!
Manganese- I’ve seen a couple things and videos regarding manganese since I popped a deficiency on my ICP. I did an initial maintenance dose and now doing 1/2ml daily. Gonis love it! Torches are happier. Will continue monitoring levels.
Still not doing water changes.
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BAMatter
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Trying to not jump the gun, but seems like the tweaks to the recirculating CO2 scrubber setup I have is working well. PH has been on a pretty steady swing, and on the up still. That said, I’m going to install a 3/8” solenoid I found on McMaster-Carr and get her hooked up to Hydros to try to peg PH a bit more. Will put in line with a splitter in between the skimmer and output on the scrubber to pull in fresh air when needed. I plan on running the solenoid “open” when PH hits 8.32, and will “close” back when it drops to 8.31. I do recognize my PH gets lower than that, I’d just like to reduce the swing from the .12 I’ve been seeing, to hopefully around .05-.06 mark, and I’ll be pumped on that.
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Gumbies R Us
Another Fish in the Sea
I like the look of your tank!!
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