Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

crusso1993 · Jan 26, 2020

Brew12 said:
Thank you.

I've already started painting the cabinets white. Hoping to have that done in the next 2 weeks. Then the floor gets ripped up and going in with a light grey wood grained tile. Once that is done I'll be going to a dark grey granite countertop. And then, finally, I'll add a new backsplash.

I expect it to take a month or two but that's ok. My dog doesn't get a vote if the house stays torn apart!

If you're not set on using tile on the floor, I recommend looking into luxury vinyl plank. I've layed quite a bit of it and it is very nice. Plus, it's 100% waterproof. I'm pretty sure you've looked into though as you're a pretty thorough guy.

Brew12 · Jan 26, 2020

crusso1993 said:
If you're not set on using tile on the floor, I recommend looking into luxury vinyl plank. I've layed quite a bit of it and it is very nice. Plus, it's 100% waterproof. I'm pretty sure you've looked into though as you're a pretty thorough guy.

I have looked into it, and vinyl has come a long way. Unfortunately, it's reputation doesn't have the same impact on resale value as porcelain tile does.

Brew12 · Jan 27, 2020

The reef tank got some love yesterday. Much overdue maintenance was accomplished. I pulled the entire skimmer and hosed it down really well. I didn't soak it in vinegar like I should have because I didn't have that much time but most of the algae and spongers were cleaned out. I also removed enough chaeto to fill 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket, replace the GFO and GAC, and did a 30ish gallon water change.
I should have spent more time cutting back coral and removing the stuff I've already cut back from the sandbed, but I didn't. It will have to be fine there for awhile longer.
And, the dosing rate continues to increase. I've upped my dosing to 288ml per day and guessing I need to bump it up to 300ml to actually match demand. I'll evaluate that tonight.

And a final thought... I think I'm done with using PE Mysis. In some ways I love the product but the 4 cubes I add every morning make my skimmer go nuts. Not sure what it is they put in it but it foams like crazy in my skimmer. I've had to use other Mysis in a bind before and it doesn't cause this issue.

UWC · Jan 27, 2020

That’s interesting, PE seems to kill our skimmers for a few hours..

Brew12 · Jan 27, 2020

UWC said:
That’s interesting, PE seems to kill our skimmers for a few hours..

What I've noticed is that it almost completely stops skimming for 30 minutes or so and then overflows if I'm not careful.

RichtheReefer21 · Jan 27, 2020

Brew12 said:
The reef tank got some love yesterday. Much overdue maintenance was accomplished. I pulled the entire skimmer and hosed it down really well. I didn't soak it in vinegar like I should have because I didn't have that much time but most of the algae and spongers were cleaned out. I also removed enough chaeto to fill 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket, replace the GFO and GAC, and did a 30ish gallon water change.
I should have spent more time cutting back coral and removing the stuff I've already cut back from the sandbed, but I didn't. It will have to be fine there for awhile longer.
And, the dosing rate continues to increase. I've upped my dosing to 288ml per day and guessing I need to bump it up to 300ml to actually match demand. I'll evaluate that tonight.

And a final thought... I think I'm done with using PE Mysis. In some ways I love the product but the 4 cubes I add every morning make my skimmer go nuts. Not sure what it is they put in it but it foams like crazy in my skimmer. I've had to use other Mysis in a bind before and it doesn't cause this issue.

I rinse my pe and spirulina and make my own clean cubes. Fixed the issue for me.

Brew12 · Jan 27, 2020

RichtheReefer21 said:
I rinse my pe and spirulina and make my own clean cubes. Fixed the issue for me.

That seems like work! I want to be a lazy reefer!

najer · Jan 27, 2020

Brew12 said:
That seems like work! I want to be a lazy reefer!

My thoughts are to chez moi, pinch of that, cube of this. splash of this an possibly a cube of that as a treat!

/
... forgot the micro pellets, a sprinkle of them and a pinch of reef pulse and the phyto splash.

Victoria M · Jan 27, 2020

I don't remember which food made my skimmer go nuts but it has happened.
I have NLS probiotic in my Eheim feeder, fed twice daily. I feed LRS frozen, and sheets of nori on my days off.

RichtheReefer21 · Jan 27, 2020

Brew12 said:
That seems like work! I want to be a lazy reefer!

Boooooo

It really only takes about 10 mins. Once every 2 weeks for me. I can get 2 cubes of each into 1 ice cube spot in the tray. 14 cubes per tray. I do half a cube when I get home, and half before bed. I throw a cube of rotifers and a chunk of LRS in each spot as well to balance it all out.

All that time in the kitchen and rinsing shrimp is too much! Dont try to sass me young'n!

Brew12 · Jan 28, 2020

As expected, 288ml of each 2-part is not enough any longer. Bumping it up to 312ml to see if that is a closer match.

I have enough stuff to mix 3g of each and 5 more of each on order. I'm hoping that the calcium reactor arrives before I need to order more so I can start transitioning.

Edit: Just crunched the numbers and my tank is using 3dkh per day.

justingraham · Jan 28, 2020

Are you sure you are not precipitating anything out?
That’s a lot of dkh

Brew12 · Jan 28, 2020

justingraham said:
Are you sure you are not precipitating anything out?
That’s a lot of dkh

Positive. No sign of precipitation anywhere. They way I dose makes it very unlikely. I dose Alk on the hour and Calc on the 1/2 hour. I also dose very slowly, around 10ml/min. This does overlap with my kalk dosing at times, but I dose kalk into a different part of the sump and have high flow.

Katrina71 · Jan 28, 2020

You sir, have some serious consumption.

Brew12 · Jan 28, 2020

Katrina71 said:
You sir, have some serious consumption.

Yes I do. When are you going to come and get some of these fast growing weeds from me?

Katrina71 · Jan 28, 2020

I don't quite have your skills. You make it look easy. I'd say the new tank might be ready in 8-10 months.

Brew12 · Jan 28, 2020

Katrina71 said:
I don't quite have your skills. You make it look easy. I'd say the new tank might be ready in 8-10 months.

You mean 8 to 10 days, right?

With some live rock from an established system you can keep SPS almost immediately imo. You may not want some of mine though, since I do have a little aiptasia and asterina stars.