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Added a Favia and a Hammer to the lineup.
Budget Beginnings
- Thread starter Euphylliaphyle
- Start date
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I purchased a pair of powerheads from Amazon. These are made by a Chinese company dba Carefree Fish. I have them set up facing each other across the tank and set as a master-slave pair. I originally had them set taking turns for 90 minutes each in opposite directions, square wave. My thinking was to simulate change in tide direction, but these cycles are limited to 99 minutes on these units. I couldn't get the six hours and thirteen minutes I was hoping for. Now I have them set for rectified half-wave sine waves, out of phase by 180°. This creates the chaotic "tornado of goodness" (as Than at Tidal Gardens described it) rolling back and forth across my tank. My corals seem to be enjoying this flow, but my fish are not as thrilled and spend more time seeking out relative dead spots near and behind the rocks now. Oh well. Fish have options. Coral, not so much.
I also added a couple more dry rocks to my pile, hoping it will grow big enough to support a few Acros someday. But first, I need to wrangle some parameters into stability.
I also added a couple more dry rocks to my pile, hoping it will grow big enough to support a few Acros someday. But first, I need to wrangle some parameters into stability.
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After reading the upsetting and sobering thread regarding Baruch at Miami Reef passing due to electrocution, I installed a GFCI/AFCI breaker and a ground probe plugged directly into a protected outlet.
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Taking my first tentative steps onto Planet SPS. Added a 24k Lepto and two Montipora digitata frags.
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Baby Damsel 219
Well-Known Member
very good for a expert, i mean beginner
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Thank you! Trust me, beginner is correct. On the road to enlightenment perhaps, but just setting down my first foot!
Baby Damsel 219
Well-Known Member
way better when i first started out with adding lots of pointless fish and buying random corals
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Next up: Monti cap frag.
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... And a very nice (imnsho) Duncan... 16 heads! Get out of the way, Toby (the goby)! Always photobombing.
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The tank had this nearly vertical, front-facing wall that was pretty much shaded. It was screaming out for a brightly colored Cyphastrea frag. Who am I to argue?
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Tank needs some more yellow. Added a King Midas Zoa Island and one for Yellow Polyp colony. Hopefully the latter will grow to hide the protruding tip of the heater. Hopefully, both will yellow up as light acclimation phases out and they get more daylight spectrum.
Razorp
Active Member
Love your tank! My office tank is pretty similar!
I run a 300w phlizon, inkbird heater conrtol, HOB skimmer, and sun sun cannister with UV.
This tank has been running for 4 years now. Cheapest tank I have put together by far, and my easiest to maintain hands down.
I run a 300w phlizon, inkbird heater conrtol, HOB skimmer, and sun sun cannister with UV.
This tank has been running for 4 years now. Cheapest tank I have put together by far, and my easiest to maintain hands down.
Attachments
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I visually blacked out as much hardware as I could to avoid the visual distraction caused by non-black, unnatural elements in the tank. I used black silicone tubing, split and held in place by black nylon zip ties to hide gray tubing couplings on the inlet to and return from my cannister filter, black probe mounts (below the upper rock horizons) for my temp and grounding probes. I replaced the light blue, in-tank digital thermometer (probably a bad idea anyway) with an inconspicuous, externally-mounted one with an in-tank probe. I also removed the air wand. I liked the look while the tank was uninhabited and before I added the wavemakers, which made the flow chaotic (nice) but the bubbles made the chaos very visible and it became a distraction. Now that I have fish, LPS and softies to add movement, the air stone had to go.
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Thanks for sharing. What skimmer are you using, and do you like it? Also, how much space do you need for it between the tank and a wall?Love your tank! My office tank is pretty similar!
I run a 300w phlizon, inkbird heater conrtol, HOB skimmer, and sun sun cannister with UV.
This tank has been running for 4 years now. Cheapest tank I have put together by far, and my easiest to maintain hands down.
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The State of the Tank:
○ Ca: 457 ppm
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 7.7 dKH
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,230 ppm
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ pH: 8.0
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API titration
○ Salinity: 1.0261 SpG/ 34.6 ppt
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer
○ Temperature: 76.8°F
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Ammonia: 0 ppm
(target: 0 ppm)
per API titration
○ Nitrite: 0 ppm
(target: 0 ppm)
per API titration
○ Nitrate: 32.8 ppm
(target: 5-50 ppm)
per Hanna HR Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.68 ppm
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm)
per Hanna ULR Checker
○ Ca: 457 ppm
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 7.7 dKH
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,230 ppm
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ pH: 8.0
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API titration
○ Salinity: 1.0261 SpG/ 34.6 ppt
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer
○ Temperature: 76.8°F
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Ammonia: 0 ppm
(target: 0 ppm)
per API titration
○ Nitrite: 0 ppm
(target: 0 ppm)
per API titration
○ Nitrate: 32.8 ppm
(target: 5-50 ppm)
per Hanna HR Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.68 ppm
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm)
per Hanna ULR Checker
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Serendipity.
Watching the tank a couple of days ago, I noticed the surface film of flotsam building up and realized that my canister filter has no means to capture and process this slick. I further realized that at some point this could inhibit gas exchange and light penetration, so I started investigating options.
I have been planning a 20L homemade sump to place in the closet behind the tank. It's a bit involved since it needs to be wired as well as plumbed through the wall. The tank is not drilled and taking down a stocked tank for drilling is not something I want to do, so I was thinking about a siphon overflow box. However minimal, this would entail extra flooding risk so I was planning double siphons and a Bean Animal standpipe arrangement in case of blockage, and a float switch or optical level sensor to shut off the return in the event of siphon loss. Still, none of this would address my oil slick!
I started thinking about auxiliary surface skimmers and siphon pipe add-ons, and came across the Sicce Shark 300 protein skimmer which happens to take inlet water from the surface. I was planning on one of these for my sump already, but now mocked up the in-tank alternative placement. Not only will it fit unobtrusively in the back left corner of the tank without moving rocks or equipment (except one small move to a single powerhead), but it is black, which should fade right into the background, and low profile, so the cup will be (at most) barely visible above my tank from any seat in the room. Being Sicce, I'm hopeful it will also be silent. I will need to notch my lid, but that's a 10-minute task.
If this works out as imagined, it could solve my oil slick problem, help my high phosphate problem, and not be the eyesore that many HOB and in-tank skimmers can be.
I need to think some more about this, but it seems an elegant solution to some of my most pressing issues, and may eliminate my need for a sump altogether. Even if I eventually build the sump, I was going to use this very skimmer anyway, so unlike most of my mistakes, I won't need to lose the cost outlay of the skimmer.
What am I missing here?
The only big downside I can see is not having my sump project to work on over the winter!
Watching the tank a couple of days ago, I noticed the surface film of flotsam building up and realized that my canister filter has no means to capture and process this slick. I further realized that at some point this could inhibit gas exchange and light penetration, so I started investigating options.
I have been planning a 20L homemade sump to place in the closet behind the tank. It's a bit involved since it needs to be wired as well as plumbed through the wall. The tank is not drilled and taking down a stocked tank for drilling is not something I want to do, so I was thinking about a siphon overflow box. However minimal, this would entail extra flooding risk so I was planning double siphons and a Bean Animal standpipe arrangement in case of blockage, and a float switch or optical level sensor to shut off the return in the event of siphon loss. Still, none of this would address my oil slick!
I started thinking about auxiliary surface skimmers and siphon pipe add-ons, and came across the Sicce Shark 300 protein skimmer which happens to take inlet water from the surface. I was planning on one of these for my sump already, but now mocked up the in-tank alternative placement. Not only will it fit unobtrusively in the back left corner of the tank without moving rocks or equipment (except one small move to a single powerhead), but it is black, which should fade right into the background, and low profile, so the cup will be (at most) barely visible above my tank from any seat in the room. Being Sicce, I'm hopeful it will also be silent. I will need to notch my lid, but that's a 10-minute task.
If this works out as imagined, it could solve my oil slick problem, help my high phosphate problem, and not be the eyesore that many HOB and in-tank skimmers can be.
I need to think some more about this, but it seems an elegant solution to some of my most pressing issues, and may eliminate my need for a sump altogether. Even if I eventually build the sump, I was going to use this very skimmer anyway, so unlike most of my mistakes, I won't need to lose the cost outlay of the skimmer.
What am I missing here?
The only big downside I can see is not having my sump project to work on over the winter!
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(Deleted double post)
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Free to good home: excess hydronium ions!
pH dipped to mid-7s over Christmas. I blame this on lots of baking and out of town guests, plus everyone hanging around the house. Good times, but depleting O2 and supercharging CO2.
Aired out the house today. 71°F outside and breezy, so doors and windows open! Also, dosed a bit of @Randy Holmes-Farley 's Part 2, Recipe #1 for Alk ( http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php , and dosed per http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html ). I will re-test in a day or two, but this oughta do it.
pH dipped to mid-7s over Christmas. I blame this on lots of baking and out of town guests, plus everyone hanging around the house. Good times, but depleting O2 and supercharging CO2.
Aired out the house today. 71°F outside and breezy, so doors and windows open! Also, dosed a bit of @Randy Holmes-Farley 's Part 2, Recipe #1 for Alk ( http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php , and dosed per http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html ). I will re-test in a day or two, but this oughta do it.
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Happiness.
Re-checked parameters today. I was especially interested in Alk and pH (who isn't?) since I did my first-ever dosing for Alk yesterday, trying out a DIY batch of Part 2. I'm happy to report it worked as advertised, in spite of me doing it:
○ Ca: 475 ppm
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 8.25 dKH
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,260 ppm
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ pH: 8.1
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrate: 39.7 ppm
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.86 ppm
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker
On 12/28/2025 added 7ml RHF Part 2, recipe #1 (+Alk, +pH) over 24 hours.
Predicted result:
8.3 dkH and 8.1 to 8.5 pH*
Actual result 12/30/25:
8.3 dkH, 8.1 pH
* (+0.3 dkh, +0.3 to +0.7 pH)
( dkH x 0.356 = meq/l;
0.3 dkH = 1.07 meq/l)
(+0.5 meq/l of alkalinity , pH will rise about 0.15 to 0.35 pH per RHF)
Phosphate is stubbornly too high, but I haven't attempted any remediation yet, since everyone seems happy in my tank for now. Next week my Sicce Shark 300 protein skimmer arrives. We'll see if that is enough to bring down the phosphate. At least it should get rid of my oil slick.
Re-checked parameters today. I was especially interested in Alk and pH (who isn't?) since I did my first-ever dosing for Alk yesterday, trying out a DIY batch of Part 2. I'm happy to report it worked as advertised, in spite of me doing it:
○ Ca: 475 ppm
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 8.25 dKH
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,260 ppm
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ pH: 8.1
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrate: 39.7 ppm
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.86 ppm
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker
On 12/28/2025 added 7ml RHF Part 2, recipe #1 (+Alk, +pH) over 24 hours.
Predicted result:
8.3 dkH and 8.1 to 8.5 pH*
Actual result 12/30/25:
8.3 dkH, 8.1 pH
* (+0.3 dkh, +0.3 to +0.7 pH)
( dkH x 0.356 = meq/l;
0.3 dkH = 1.07 meq/l)
(+0.5 meq/l of alkalinity , pH will rise about 0.15 to 0.35 pH per RHF)
Phosphate is stubbornly too high, but I haven't attempted any remediation yet, since everyone seems happy in my tank for now. Next week my Sicce Shark 300 protein skimmer arrives. We'll see if that is enough to bring down the phosphate. At least it should get rid of my oil slick.
