Bored? How about Mentoring a Newbie?

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

System is 5+ old. I moved it to my house but retained the live rock and corals. I changed out most of the hardware except the lights.
I use Salifert test kits.
PO4 is zero

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

I use CoraLife and exchange 10 gallons weekly.

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

Finally
While I drive to work please get the following informations
What's your total water volume (tank+sump)
What's your pump flow rate?
What's your skimmer rated for?
What's your power heads rated for?

Just fyi,
Some of my questions are intended to get you to learn in the proccess. Remember I will not run your system for you rather teach you how to run your system to achieve your goals..

It will be fun, some times frustrating but do not worry you will reach your goal if you diligent

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

AWESOME, I really look forward to it. I will get those answers shortly. Thank You!!

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

Scott Christenson said:
System is 5+ old. I moved it to my house but retained the live rock and corals. I changed out most of the hardware except the lights.
I use Salifert test kits.
PO4 is zero

When you moved the system am assuming your drained it then moved everything and filled again?
Did you use the same sand or started new?
Did you rinse your sand and cleaned rocks or kept rocks as they are?
Did rocks dried during the move or kept it wet?
Did you re use the same water or started with fresh mixed water?
Are your kits new or used old kits?

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

What's your total water volume (tank+sump) - 75g
What's your pump flow rate? - Supreme Aqua-Mag 700GPH Return Pump
What's your skimmer rated for? Rated for a 211g tank
What's your power heads rated for? 2 pumps rated at 565 GPH
When you moved the system am assuming your drained it then moved everything and filled again? I left enough water to keep the rock and corals alive.
Did you use the same sand or started new? - Same sand
Did you rinse tour sand and cleaned rocks or kept rocks as they are? - Used as is
Did rocks dried during the move or kept it wet? - Stayed wet
Did you re use the same water or started with fresh mixed water? 20% old, 80% fresh
Are your kits new or used old kits? - New Salifert

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

When you moved, did you go through an algae phase? Diatom? Did you see spik in no3 po4?

Since parameters are one of the things we want to fix, I kindly need you to read this article to prep you with better understanding on how these parameters are correlated. Read but do not react yet, this is just to get you more informed. If there are things that are too technical you can pass these sections. I want you to get the general idea

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.php

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/2/chemistry

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

Yes on the algae and spikes
Will do on the article, thanks

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

ReeferReefer · Jul 2, 2019

One thing to figure out is your goals. What kind of corals do you intend to keep? What level of involvement are you willing to have?

Mr. Saltwater Tank has an old catchphrase: "know your tank personality". Are you someone who wants to spend a lot of time tinkering with water chemistry?

For me I have found that SPS is a challenge so I moved away from stoney corals and I am focusing on softies and anemones. This allows me to get away with not dosing.

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

ReeferReefer said:
One thing to figure out is your goals. What kind of corals do you intend to keep? What level of involvement are you willing to have?

Mr. Saltwater Tank has an old catchphrase: "know your tank personality". Are you someone who wants to spend a lot of time tinkering with water chemistry?

For me I have found that SPS is a challenge so I moved away from stoney corals and I am focusing on softies and anemones. This allows me to get away with not dosing.

It's all about making informed decisions. Sps is not hard and do not require much tinkering with chemistry..quite the opposite actually.
Thats what get reefers in to trouble, chasing every advice they see out there like with this "mr. Saltwater tank" who I do not pay much attention to once I got to know while back his motives of being a spokesman for hire...
It's not that hard really, it's just patience, following the right advice, consistency per the system you running(all systems can host sps if you followed it correctly)
I have kept sps since my 20g tank no sump. Caveat was, I had like 2 fish only.... look at all the gorgeous nano reefs out there.
As long ad you planning well and provide the right environment without trying to get it all at all cost. You will succeed
My 2 cents.

ReeferReefer · Jul 2, 2019

Ohashimz said:
It's all about making informed decisions. Sps is not hard and do not require much tinkering with chemistry..quite the opposite actually.
Thats what get reefers in to trouble, chasing every advice they see out there like with this "mr. Saltwater tank" who I do not pay much attention to once I got to know while back his motives of being a spokesman for hire...
It's not that hard really, it's just patience, following the right advice, consistency per the system you running(all systems can host sps if you followed it correctly)
I have kept sps since my 20g tank no sump. Caveat was, I had like 2 fish only.... look at all the gorgeous nano reefs out there.
As long ad you planning well and provide the right environment without trying to get it all at all cost. You will succeed
My 2 cents.

All I was trying to say is that you should know what your goals are in the hobby.

There are a ton of hobbiests who are told that this or that is easy. The truth is that keeping acropora is probably the most technically difficult "pet" to keep alive in the home today. Yes we have well established methods and techniques to make it easier, and there are tons of people doing it successfully. There are people who find keeping freshwater planted tanks challenging.

I have tried a wide variety of corals and found that keeping SPS is not consistent with my maintenance routine. Could I easily keep SPS if I was willing to measure Calc and Alk more often? Sure. Have I historically been able to keep up on my testing and adjust my doser appropriately? No.

That does not mean that "SPS is not hard." I feel that its important to be upfront about the different difficulties of different style tanks.

Asking for a mentor on a SPS tank, LPS, Softie and Mixed Reef are all very different things.

That being said I appreciate your comment and I agree with you for the most part. My intention is not to push people away from SPS but for people to look at what kind of tank they want and what kind of work they want to put into it.

count krunk · Jul 2, 2019

first think about the style of tank you want.

If you want SPS heavy, mixed reef, soft corals, LPS.

Then think if you want to QT, or commit to the non QT method. Both have their own challenges.

Answering these questions can help you find a mentor.

If you want to not QT, and keep a mixed reef. I can be the mentor. If not, someone else would be better.

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

ReeferReefer said:
All I was trying to say is that you should know what your goals are in the hobby.

There are a ton of hobbiests who are told that this or that is easy. The truth is that keeping acropora is probably the most technically difficult "pet" to keep alive in the home today. Yes we have well established methods and techniques to make it easier, and there are tons of people doing it successfully. There are people who find keeping freshwater planted tanks challenging.

I have tried a wide variety of corals and found that keeping SPS is not consistent with my maintenance routine. Could I easily keep SPS if I was willing to measure Calc and Alk more often? Sure. Have I historically been able to keep up on my testing and adjust my doser appropriately? No.

That does not mean that "SPS is not hard." I feel that its important to be upfront about the different difficulties of different style tanks.

Asking for a mentor on a SPS tank, LPS, Softie and Mixed Reef are all very different things.

That being said I appreciate your comment and I agree with you for the most part. My intention is not to push people away from SPS but for people to look at what kind of tank they want and what kind of work they want to put into it.

Agree with you comments and no harm intended my friend. To me the challenge of learning new things is what keep me going in the hobby, it's like conquering obstacles which what this hobby have plenty to offer.
100% agree with you, the end goal is to satisfy your desire in the hobby, defining these desires may vary between reefers.

link81 · Jul 2, 2019

This is a really cool idea.
Would it be possible to make a "mentor" area of the forum?
maybe even somehow restrict posting to just the mentor and the Mentee for that thread?

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

I think a mentor forum would be a great idea

road_runner · Jul 2, 2019

link81 said:
This is a really cool idea.
Would it be possible to make a "mentor" area of the forum?
maybe even somehow restrict posting to just the mentor and the Mentee for that thread?

Honestly am suprised the forum do not have that already.. @revtree. Any chance we start mentoring section? We can identify mentors after being vetted, then mentors assigned to mentees via a selection system based on certain criteria...

count krunk · Jul 2, 2019

This has been discussed already. Run a search for it and you will see why it has not happened yet

Scott Christenson · Jul 2, 2019

ok, Ohashmiz, to get back on track:
I was already thinking about the po4 no3 #'s so I ordered new Salifert test kits, they are arriving today. So, I will have fresh #'s posted for you soon.