Bleighs Red Sea 650 Peninsula... yet another tank in my house

BoneDoc

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Trying to pick out heaters for the new tank. It's hard because so many things are out of stock. I am thinking 2 300W BRS heaters. They're both rated up to 100 gallons, and the totally tank volume is 170-ish - the rock and sand volume. I think that should work well.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Take this for what it’s worth. Since you are in NC, would we need that much heating? I’ve always wondered because our pets are much more resilient to being too cold vs. too hot. My nightmare scenario is the heater malfunctioning in the open position cooking my tank
 
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Take this for what it’s worth. Since you are in NC, would we need that much heating? I’ve always wondered because our pets are much more resilient to being too cold vs. too hot. My nightmare scenario is the heater malfunctioning in the open position cooking my tank

We keep our house a bit cold. Under 70. I also have a few redundancies.

The way I have the heaters set up in my current tank is that one is the main heater and the other is set to come on and turn off at a lower limit. I’ll have the ink bird controller and my apex. A lot of things would have to fail for the heaters to cook the tank, but it still could happen. Which is also why I replace my heaters annually. ;Hilarious

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I'm in Florida... I run no heaters. We both work all day so keeping the house that cool while we are at work would just make the electric bill crazy. 30 minutes after we leave for work the thermostat moves to 78. at 4:00 pm the thermostat kicks back down to 72. and just before bedtime down to 70. Our tank with the warmer temp during the day and lights being on sits near 80 degrees. I just installed a new GHL controller this week to better monitor the tank. A few days this week the tank hit 83! I ordered the GHL fans and speed control module and set that up yesterday. Works really well. took the heat right off the tank. they ramp up and down with the tank temp so it keeps the temp more stable. now to chart it and see how it does during the week when we are at work. Fingers crossed that it keeps the tank from cooking. Especially with all those new frags from the flash sale!
 
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I'm in Florida... I run no heaters. We both work all day so keeping the house that cool while we are at work would just make the electric bill crazy. 30 minutes after we leave for work the thermostat moves to 78. at 4:00 pm the thermostat kicks back down to 72. and just before bedtime down to 70. Our tank with the warmer temp during the day and lights being on sits near 80 degrees. I just installed a new GHL controller this week to better monitor the tank. A few days this week the tank hit 83! I ordered the GHL fans and speed control module and set that up yesterday. Works really well. took the heat right off the tank. they ramp up and down with the tank temp so it keeps the temp more stable. now to chart it and see how it does during the week when we are at work. Fingers crossed that it keeps the tank from cooking. Especially with all those new frags from the flash sale!
I’ve always worked from home. And my husband has since covid. And there’s no indication he’ll have to go back into the office permanently. We also just replaced all of our windows. So ac is a must. ;Hilarious Hoping that will bring down the electric bill a tad.
 
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I’m thinking about moving over a coral to test the tank with. I have some ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I saw where Randy Holmes said there may be some evidence that some corals liked ammonia a few years back, but I’m nervous. Thinking about moving one of my war corals that I got as a freebie. Any thoughts?
 
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I’m trying to do better and I’m actually going to be dipping corals this go around. This is what I’m planning on using. Still doing some research on it. I was going to do coral rx, but I couldn’t find any at the lfs’s.
image.jpg
 
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While doing my research, I came across the idea of using Melafix as a safer alternative for a coral dip. Now I’m reading up on It too.

image.jpg
 
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why not... ;) can always remove if problem..:)
True. Not like I don’t have TWO other tanks I can move it to if it’s not liking the new tank yet.

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It’s in the tank. Ended up doing a melafix dip. Felt less dangerous than an insecticide. But who knows???

hopefully it will open up and be happy in the morning when I turn the lights on. The gonistrea is the only thing in the tank right now. So I’ll only turn one light on and I’ll keep it on low until I’m confident to start moving some other corals over.

edit: forgot the picture.

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Daniel@R2R

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Awesome! So excited to follow this build!

Also, I'm excited that you guys will be at RAP! This will be my first time at RAP Orlando. Of course, I'll be hanging at the R2R booth, and you're welcome to come hang with us!
 
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Awesome! So excited to follow this build!

Also, I'm excited that you guys will be at RAP! This will be my first time at RAP Orlando. Of course, I'll be hanging at the R2R booth, and you're welcome to come hang with us!
Perfect! I’ll make sure to bring some R2r gear. The zip up jacket may actually be a good idea. Not sure how chilly the space will be.
 

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Trying to pick out heaters for the new tank. It's hard because so many things are out of stock. I am thinking 2 300W BRS heaters. They're both rated up to 100 gallons, and the totally tank volume is 170-ish - the rock and sand volume. I think that should work well.

Any thoughts appreciated!

That’s what I went with on my upgrade. I bought 2 300w and the controller.
 
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Bleigh

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Someone caught the reefing bug! Looking great!
Hahaha!!! And it’s all your fault! How have you been? I’ve wondered what happened to you!
 

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I’m trying to do better and I’m actually going to be dipping corals this go around. This is what I’m planning on using. Still doing some research on it. I was going to do coral rx, but I couldn’t find any at the lfs’s.
image.jpg
Awesome looking build! Great scape work too.

This is hands down best dip you'll ever use. You can find threads with ml per litres/gallons but honestly over the years I've just gone by sight while adding it, judging the cloudiness of the water. I haven't lost a thing to bayers and I can't say the same for coral rx or melafix.

2 downsides to bayers
-it's toxic so I use clear solo cups, plastic utensils to stir and disposable latex gloves when using it. All disposable items when I'm done.
-when mixed right its hard to see what fell off. I use clear cups so I can look from below in direct sunlight for whatever fell off.

Here are my steps for coral additions using bayers:
Drip acclimate
Add tank water to solo cup
glove up
Remove plug and add frag to solo cup
Add bayers slowly while stirring with plastic fork and until its hard to make out the frag in the water due to cloudiness.
Let stand for 8-10 minutes stirring occassionally. I usually prep my frag plug or rock rubble with glue at this point.
fill second solo cup with tank water
Times up, grap frag from bottom with fork. With a gloved had I swirl the frag aggressively in the dip to remove any stunned critters.
Then the frag moves to the clean water solo cup and gets swished again looking for anything falling off.
Glue to plug and into display.

The last time I used melafix I ended up getting red bugs. Not the worst of pests but had me running right back to bayers. I always lost color with coral RX.
 

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I’m trying to do better and I’m actually going to be dipping corals this go around. This is what I’m planning on using. Still doing some research on it. I was going to do coral rx, but I couldn’t find any at the lfs’s.
image.jpg
Just make sure the active ingredients are the same as below. They have several that LOL the same.
4F5B8E20-8FC9-4E85-93A2-E2B19AF95BC3.jpeg
 

ScottB

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I used Bayer for years. It is super easy on corals no question, but I did switch away for these reasons:
a) it is simply a hazard and very tedious to work with. Multiple rinses and all that hassle
b) Very difficult to see what if anything is coming off in the dip. Clear glass bottom is best bet, but tedious.
c) It stuns stuff OK, but aefw will crawl around happily for hour and hours in the stuff.

Melafix and CoralRx are effective, but a bit harsh on some acros and millis.

For now, I have settled happily on potassium chloride @ 3gm / liter. 10 minutes and everything is dead, dead, dead except the corals of course. Mixes clear. Not dangerous. $18 a kilo food grade. This is an increasingly popular dip that is very gentle on SPS.

 
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