Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[living_tribunal]

Don’t apologize! 59 notifications today, I feel like social media on the phone of some popular kid in high school :)

yea..poor blenny. He had so much personality, would sit in the front of the tank and watch tv at night, always curious about everything around him :/ His name was The Night King, loved to have his picture taken just like my clownfish.

Not another death?!

 

[Magellan]

Not another death?!

Same fish lol. He is not forgotten!

 

[Magellan]

Australian?

Lobster!

 

[LadyMac]

My first post on your thread is gonna be a dog pic!

This is our “let’s follow along” pic.

 

[DiscGolfRob]

Don’t apologize! 59 notifications today, I feel like social media on the phone of some popular kid in high school :)

yea..poor blenny. He had so much personality, would sit in the front of the tank and watch tv at night, always curious about everything around him :/ His name was The Night King, loved to have his picture taken just like my clownfish.

Haha, great name for him

 

[DiscGolfRob]

Australian?

Shetland

 

[Katrina71]

All of our pets are clearly rotten!

 

[Magellan]

I don’t think low is bad either, as long as it’s present. Nitrates were about .5. This wilsoni is the first large coral I’ve cared for and seems to be sucking a lot of nitrate up (I’ve heard from others).

The Duncan is slightly more open this morning so maybe that had something to do with it.

How low is yiurca?

That makes sense, I think of Nitrates and Phosphates for what they are...fertilizer!

and don’t tell anyone..but tested it last night at 310 with my new Salifert kit. Not sure how my SPS is growing, but clearly there is room for improvement!

 

[living_tribunal]

My first post on your thread is gonna be a dog pic!

This is our “let’s follow along” pic.

That’s a good welcome post.

 

[Katrina71]

@LadyMac you'd be welcome no matter what you post!

 

[living_tribunal]

That makes sense, I think of Nitrates and Phosphates for what they are...fertilizer!

and don’t tell anyone..but tested it last night at 310 with my new Salifert kit. Not sure how my SPS is growing, but clearly there is room for improvement!

I think many have a wrong perception of nutrients (or maybe I do)

I believe it’s not more of an are they present or not instead of levels kind of thing.

I think corals are like dogs: they appreciate schedules and knowing what they’re going to get and the time they’re going to get it. Corals always need the big 3 as well as nitrate and phosphate. All 5 should always be present. As long as there is enough for them to pull them they’re ok. I think ranges are important as they may indicate how accessible the nutrient is I.e. a coral may detect low range and tell itself to ration the nutrient or starve itself. Or it may tell itself that the nutrient is nearing bottoming out.

When levels fall or raise slowly, the corals just know what to expect and when to expect it. People obsess over ranges but I feel like they need to obsess more over accessibility.

 

[Magellan]

I think many have a wrong perception of nutrients (or maybe I do)

I believe it’s not more of an are they present or not instead of levels kind of thing.

I think corals are like dogs: they appreciate schedules and knowing what they’re going to get and the time they’re going to get it. Corals always need the big 3 as well as nitrate and phosphate. All 5 should always be present. As long as there is enough for them to pull them they’re ok. I think ranges are important as they may indicate how accessible the nutrient is I.e. a coral may detect low range and tell itself to ration the nutrient or starve itself. Or it may tell itself that the nutrient is nearing bottoming out.

When levels fall or raise slowly, the corals just know what to expect and when to expect it. People obsess over ranges but I feel like they need to obsess more over accessibility.

Oh absolutely, corals are animals. But I kinda think of them as plants, because I’m good at keeping plants alive and helped my dad keep a garden growing up. (It’s something I already understood). I was only half joking about fertilizer- nitrates and phosphates are what helps the grass grow! But, just like in the reef tank, you don’t want to use too much, however some is better than none at all.

there is absolutely a large range that your nutrients can fall into while still keeping a successful tank, but there is of course some “optimum” numbers that achieve the best growth and coloration. My Ca being so much lower than NSW is obviously still growing my SPS, after all there IS available calcium, just not as much as I would like. Consistency is almost always for the best, (unless you’re consistently doing something wrong!) and I think at the end of the day is more important than constant swings trying to chase a number.

At least, that’s my understanding of it.

 

[living_tribunal]

Oh absolutely, corals are animals. But I kinda think of them as plants, because I’m good at keeping plants alive and helped my dad keep a garden growing up. (It’s something I already understood). I was only half joking about fertilizer- nitrates and phosphates are what helps the grass grow! But, just like in the reef tank, you don’t want to use too much, however some is better than none at all.

there is absolutely a large range that your nutrients can fall into while still keeping a successful tank, but there is of course some “optimum” numbers that achieve the best growth and coloration. My Ca being so much lower than NSW is obviously still growing my SPS, after all there IS available calcium, just not as much as I would like.

At least, that’s my understanding of it.

I think those optimal numbers are always provided since reefing is so difficult and ambiguous. We just know at those ranges everything will be ok.

But you have reefers like yourself at 350 calc and others with 1ppm phosphate whose tanks are growing.

Those ranges just encapsulate both the balance and amounts required without the user having to do any additional think work.

 

[Magellan]

I think those optimal numbers are always provided since reefing is so difficult and ambiguous. We just know at those ranges everything will be ok.

But you have reefers like yourself at 350 calc and others with 1ppm phosphate whose tanks are growing.

Those ranges just encapsulate both the balance and amounts required without the user having to do any additional think work.

I like how you gave me a bonus 40 Ca...I wish I was at 350!

but, exactly this comment, 10000% agree. I saw someone post a large tank recently with a DSB that was thriving with phosphates at 1! I can only assume they had a massive CuC and never fed their tangs, but if it works it works!

 

[living_tribunal]

The Duncan opened up a little more this morning after dosing 2ppm nitrate. I may have to start testing nitrate again frequently.


I’m considering dumping skimmate into the frag tank once a week. This wilsoni is an animal on nutrients, he’s so big! About 4-5” diameter.

 

[Magellan]

The Duncan opened up a little more this morning after dosing 2ppm nitrate. I may have to start testing nitrate again frequently.


I’m considering dumping skimmate into the frag tank once a week. This wilsoni is an animal on nutrients, he’s so big! About 4-5” diameter.

Just make a bold decision and unplug that bad boy ;)

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Just make a bold decision and unplug that bad boy ;)

I dont have a skimmer on my tank...

What's it called again? Protein Skimmer. What does it remove, proteins. What are the essential building blocks of healthy tissues? Proteins.

I just prefer not to run one on a reef.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Oh, remember when I said my trachy was 6" diameter inflated... I lied. It's closer to 8" diameter.

You cant see here, but a good bit of it is behind that arch on the left.

View from left side of tank

Really bad top down, but I didnt feel like sticking the phone underwater and have it ***** at me about the charging port being wet for the rest of the day. Here you can see the biggest visual difference in the radiata and geoffroy. Radiata are perfectly rounded.

 

[Magellan]

I dont have a skimmer on my tank...

What's it called again? Protein Skimmer. What does it remove, proteins. What are the essential building blocks of healthy tissues? Proteins.

I just prefer not to run one on a reef.

Shots fired!!

me either. Why would I want to remove all the good stuff from my water...

 

[living_tribunal]

Just make a bold decision and unplug that bad boy ;)

Lol the skimmer?