Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[RichtheReefer21]

Things with the tank are cruising along. Put my skimmer back online yesterday after pulling the collection cup for the fluco treatment. Algae is dying off nice and slowly as expected. Had a doser head fail on my KH Director so I replaced that yesterday and am getting good readings again. Also used the pump to blow off dying algae and cyano and cleaned the glass.

I've also decided that I don't like the way this coral fits my structure. I didn't think it through very well.

It's a prime location in the tank for a rather dull looking birdsnest. It is also growing much more densely than I had expected and I want that side of the tank to have a more open feel. It needs to go. I'm trying to decide if I should move it to the back left corner of the tank or sell it. One reason I want to keep it is that it has a crab living in it. Cute little pink one although it is hard to see because of how tightly branched the coral is. I guess life is good when there is time to think about cosmetic issues like this.

Hippo is Huuuuuuche!

As for the coral placement, although not technically in the center, your scape pushes the eyes that way for me, u need a bright centerpiece right there, it's a spotlight location for sure!

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Your monti is so impressive. Even maybe move that to grow out with a stick growing out behind it or something?

Just thinkin out loud, cuz I see what u mean for sure there.

 

[Brew12]

Your monti is so impressive. Even maybe move that to grow out with a stick growing out behind it or something?

Just thinkin out loud, cuz I see what u mean for sure there.

There is green monti growing on the back side that gets lost because of the birdsnest. It isn't as bright as the orange one but is still fairly nice. I may move one of my two forest fire digi's up to that spot to bring the bright orange to the front to contrast the reds, blues and purples that dominate right now.

 

[AquaDaddy]

I"m hoping my newer build takes a similar path as yours. I haven't even got water in it and I seem to be making everything a science project. My only hope is the payoff is similar to yours. Its fun to watch.

 

[AquaDaddy]

Double post (sorry)

 

[Brew12]

Work has kept me very busy but I finally had some free time to work on the tank. Started with some testing.
Salinity: 1.025
dKH: 9.1
Calc: 380ppm
Mg: 1350ppm
NO3: 30ppm
PO4: 0.11ppm
PO4 from my GFO reactor 0.ooppm so not changing it out. I did clean the top of the reactor since it was restricting flow.

I vacuumed the sand as part of a 25g water change. Cleaned the skimmer and skimmate locker. Replaced my GAC and have one of my gyres soaking in vinegar. Very productive day as far as the aquarium goes. Can't wait to get the rest of this algae gone so I can get chaeto back in my fuge to help with nutrients. But, it is what it is.

 

[Brew12]

How the heck did these end up on my smoker? Guess I need to eat them now....

 

[RichtheReefer21]

How the heck did these end up on my smoker? Guess I need to eat them now....

Mmmm barbeeee

 

[anit77]

Got me thinking I need to get a hunk of pork bathing in some smoke soon.

 

[Brew12]

Got me thinking I need to get a hunk of pork bathing in some smoke soon.

That looks fantastic! It's finally getting to be grilling season here. Looking forward to it!

 

[anit77]

You've got to look into one of these. May be a little pricey but bad@ss.

https://www.fireboard.com

I've actually been thinking about starting a smoker business.

 

[Brew12]

You've got to look into one of these. May be a little pricey but bad@ss.

https://www.fireboard.com

I've actually been thinking about starting a smoker business.

Those are some crazy thermometers.
What style smokers are you thinking about building?

 

[anit77]

Do you mind your thread going further O/T?

I DIY'd a UDS several years ago and that's my main smoker now. Without giving too much away I have some ideas of a modular smoker.

My UDS can hold temp for 24+ hrs as long as its above 50 degrees outside. I've done 8 chickens at once, 6 butts and multiple times a 14-17lb brisket with 2 10lb butts right over the top of it.
I love doing brisket that way. You never have to open it up to mop. The pork drippings take care of it for you. After 17 to 20hrs there's still enough fuel to do the burnt ends

 

[Brew12]

Do you mind your thread going further O/T?

I DIY'd a UDS several years ago and that's my main smoker now. Without giving too much away I have some ideas of a modular smoker.

My UDS can hold temp for 24+ hrs as long as its above 50 degrees outside. I've done 8 chickens at once, 6 butts and multiple times a 14-17lb brisket with 2 10lb butts right over the top of it.
I love doing brisket that way. You never have to open it up to mop. The pork drippings take care of it for you. After 17 to 20hrs there's still enough fuel to do the burnt ends

Very nice!
And for the record, good food is never off topic in my build thread!

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I want pics of the insides of those when they are done! So badly want to try getting a smoker. Mmmmmm

 

[Brew12]

Things have been so busy lately I haven't had my normal R2R time. I did have an issue with the tank this week that I feel is worth sharing....

I noticed my water was starting to be cloudy all of the time and my filter socks haven't been able to go 48 hours without clogging and turning orange. At first I thought it was a byproduct of this algae war I have going on (which I am winning, btw) but it wasn't. I think I would have figured out what the actual problem was earlier but I broke my light for under the stand and haven't had time to replace it yet.

For those who don't know, I try to get the absolute maximum out of my GFO. I like to heavily load my GFO reactor and adjust flow using a valve. Every week or so I take a PO4 sample of the water coming out of the reactor. If it isn't zero, I increase flow. When it stops reading zero with the valve fully open it's time to change. I do this because I can't stand throwing away perfectly good GFO. Well, I learned there are limits to how long GFO should be exposed to saltwater. It's been well over 2 months since I last changed my GFO since it was still reading 0ppm PO4. Unfortunately, the GFO itself is now breaking down and releasing a very find orange dust into my DT. Once I made that connection, I turned off the GFO reactor and my water cleared up in under an hour.
Note to self.... don't put nearly as much GFO in the reactor so it needs to be changed more often to avoid this in the future. I am going to start changing GFO at the 2 month mark regardless of how well it processes PO4. Fortunately, I don't see any adverse impact on my tank so that is a good thing.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Nice catch.

 

[Victoria M]

Things have been so busy lately I haven't had my normal R2R time. I did have an issue with the tank this week that I feel is worth sharing....

I noticed my water was starting to be cloudy all of the time and my filter socks haven't been able to go 48 hours without clogging and turning orange. At first I thought it was a byproduct of this algae war I have going on (which I am winning, btw) but it wasn't. I think I would have figured out what the actual problem was earlier but I broke my light for under the stand and haven't had time to replace it yet.

For those who don't know, I try to get the absolute maximum out of my GFO. I like to heavily load my GFO reactor and adjust flow using a valve. Every week or so I take a PO4 sample of the water coming out of the reactor. If it isn't zero, I increase flow. When it stops reading zero with the valve fully open it's time to change. I do this because I can't stand throwing away perfectly good GFO. Well, I learned there are limits to how long GFO should be exposed to saltwater. It's been well over 2 months since I last changed my GFO since it was still reading 0ppm PO4. Unfortunately, the GFO itself is now breaking down and releasing a very find orange dust into my DT. Once I made that connection, I turned off the GFO reactor and my water cleared up in under an hour.
Note to self.... don't put nearly as much GFO in the reactor so it needs to be changed more often to avoid this in the future. I am going to start changing GFO at the 2 month mark regardless of how well it processes PO4. Fortunately, I don't see any adverse impact on my tank so that is a good thing.

Been there done that. lol. It is the increased flow though that breaks it down more than the time in the water. Just increase it for a minute or two to break up tunneling then turn the flow back down. Or had you alreadytried that?

 

[Brew12]

Been there done that. lol. It is the increased flow though that breaks it down more than the time in the water. Just increase it for a minute or two to break up tunneling then turn the flow back down. Or had you alreadytried that?

I hadn't tried decreasing the flow, but I've run this same amount of flow for weeks at a time without this issue. It was my nice, typical, gentle tumbling of the GFO that I normally have.

 

[Victoria M]

I hadn't tried decreasing the flow, but I've run this same amount of flow for weeks at a time without this issue. It was my nice, typical, gentle tumbling of the GFO that I normally have.

Did I misunderstand that you turn the flow up? That is what I thought so NM then. lol.