Budget Beginnings

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 10, 2026

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 10, 2026

Full ICP-MS results:

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 12, 2026

Dendro polyp extension during peak light period. It's not even fish feeding time yet, and coral feeding day isn't until tomorrow.

Two more mouths to feed. This Caulastrea head is dividing, looks like 1:3.

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 14, 2026

Toby's gone. This morning before lights came on I caught a glimpse of something wrong, out of the corner of my eye, on the side of a powerhead. It was Toby. I was much too late. He was one of our favorites.

RIP

Gumbies R Us · Apr 14, 2026

Euphylliaphyle said:
Toby's gone. This morning before lights came on I caught a glimpse of something wrong, out of the corner of my eye, on the side of a powerhead. It was Toby. I was much too late. He was one of our favorites.

So sorry about your loss.....

Calmwaters · Apr 15, 2026

Euphylliaphyle said:
Toby's gone. This morning before lights came on I caught a glimpse of something wrong, out of the corner of my eye, on the side of a powerhead. It was Toby. I was much too late. He was one of our favorites.

RIP

So sorry for your loss.

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 17, 2026

4/17/2026 Test Results:
● Dosing 2.5 ml/day AFR starting 2/21/2026.
● Tests are post-today's AFR dosing.
● Phosphate tested before a.m. feeding.

○ Ca: 465 ppm (nc/7d)
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 8.2 dKH (+0.3/7d)
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,350 ppm (nc/7d)
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
* Stay with 2.5 ml/d AFR.
○ pH: 8.1
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Salinity: 1.0260 SpG/ 34.9 ppt
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer
○ Temperature: 78.9°F
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Ammonia: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrite: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrate: ppm (not tested)
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.21 ppm (+0.08/7d)
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna Checker

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 22, 2026

Reef Alert!
GSP colonistas broke contain from GSP Alcatraz mesa!

Lower right, in front of Duncan. I don’t normally run blues, but these guys barely show up under whites.
I'm going in!
Too bad I didn’t see these yesterday before I blew off the rocks, scraped the glass, raked the sand and did a water change.

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 22, 2026

Adding another step to my water change day routine: Examine tank under blue lights before getting wet.

Euphylliaphyle · Apr 25, 2026

One week into dosing trace elements based on ICP-MS. This past week I added:
I⁻, 1 drop daily (MS)
Mn, (Nano)10 drops daily (MS)
Mo, 3.3 ml daily for 5 days (MS)
K, 1.75g daily for 4 days (DIY)
B, 0.066g per day for 2 days (DIY)

MS = Reef Moonshiners product
DIY = mixed myself

The first DIYs were selected because I had everything needed on-hand.

We'll see what happens.

Euphylliaphyle · May 6, 2026

This week I started dosing the following DIY traces:
Ni, 0.4μg daily for 4 days
F, 93 μg daily for 6 days
V, 0.3 μg daily
Rb, 74.3 μg daily for 3 days
Zn, 1.8 μg daily for 2 days
Se, 2.4 μg daily
Fe, 1.2 μg daily
Co, 2.4 μg daily
Cr, 2.4 μg daily

I hope I pass this math & chemistry test!

CHEM101 is a tiny dot in the rear view mirror. Nope. Just disappeared over the horizon.

Euphylliaphyle · May 10, 2026

New discovery: Micro Serpent Starfish. I was blowing detritus off my GSP mat with a turkey baster, causing the polyps to close and giving me a clear view.

Euphylliaphyle · May 15, 2026

5/15/2026 Test Results:

● Dosing 2.5 ml/day AFR starting 2/21/2026.
● Tests are post-today's AFR & trace dosing.
● Phosphate tested before a.m. feeding.

○ Ca: 460 ppm (+5/14d)
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 7.1 dKH (-0.7/14d)
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,320 ppm (+15/14d)
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
* Up dosage to 3.0 ml/d AFR.
○ pH: pre-dawn: 7.9, 7.9 mid-day
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Salinity: 1.0264 SpG/ 35.2 ppt
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer
○ Temperature: 77.9°F
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Nitrate: 38.7 ppm (+3.5 /8 days)
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna HR Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.43 ppm (+0.23/14d)
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna ULR Checker

** Replace RowaPhos, 2 tbsp to target 0.20 ppm (3 tbsp recommended for 32 gallon tank http://rowaphos-calculator.com/ ). Replace when >0.30 ppm again.

** Dose Alk, 27.4 ml RHF R1P2
(7.1 -> 8.3 target)

** bump AFR 2.5 -> 3.0 ml/day.

** re-test Alk, phosphate, pH in 4 days.

Euphylliaphyle · May 17, 2026

Added two new corals yesterday. A teal claw Micromussa lordhowensis (the artist formerly known as Acan) and a Chalice of some type. Very happy with both of these, but not with my phone's camera. These are much better looking in person.

Euphylliaphyle · May 21, 2026

New hitchhiker discovered: Feather Duster Worm!

Euphylliaphyle · Jun 1, 2026

Installing ATO and AWC in the form of Smart AWC Duo G2 by AutoAqua. Here is the back room side of things:

Tubing, wires and buckets labeled and color-coded:
Red = waste
Blue = salt mix
White = RO/DI

This is 25' from the tank, in the laundry/ salt mixing room. The homemade dolly is for moving buckets of LFS RO/DI from the garage to here, and moving it into the open for salt mixing as needed, then storing on-deck salt water and RO/DI.

Vinyl tubing and 12v wires for pumps run inside the wall, through the floor and through the encapsulated & climate-controlled crawl space to the closet behind the tank. Then up through the closet floor and through the wall behind the tank to the tank and controller (located inside the tank stand).

More to come, but I'm waiting on the proper pump wire extensions to complete the tank end.

Euphylliaphyle · Jun 5, 2026

I received my 10m, 12v extensions for my AWC/ATC and finished running hoses and wires under the house between the tank and the laundry room. I anchored the hoses using plastic cable clamps.

The ones where the hoses go into the tank I attached using nylon screws and nuts to modified clear plastic shelf braces which in turn are super glued to my idle protein skimmer port cover.

The hoses run through that cover, so I can remove the tank lid easily.

(Recall that I have two such skimmer ports, one on each side of the tank, to allow me to flip the acrylic tank lid to counter warpage each time I have the lid off for coral feeding or tank maintenance. One port is always in use by the skimmer, the other was just kept covered to help prevent jumpers. Now it has a second job.)
Here is the controller, smaller than a deck of playing cards:

It is mounted inside the tank stand/cabinet.
Here are the mag-mounted sensors:

I have these set at 9mm overlap, which gives a high:low water primary spacing of 0.28 inches, equivalent to 0.5 gallons per water change on my bowfront 36 gallon tank. I measured the wastewater output (after the second run, to purge the air from the hoses) as right at 2 quarts.
I programmed daily water changes of 0.5 gallon at noon each day. A 5-gallon bucket would last nine days (due to un-pumpable residual in the bucket). I wanted to get 5 gallons of new salt mix into the tank every 10 days, since this is what I had been doing, just as 5 gallons every 10th day before now. I know this is not exactly the same percent tank water turnover as before, but it's close enough. I think the stability of the new system will offset the turnover amount difference.
Today I will test the first fully automated water change. I will need to manually turn off my surface wavemakers so they don't suck air during the water change. I have a timer on order to do this automatically daily at water change time.

Euphylliaphyle · Jun 5, 2026

Waste water from tank begins flowing, right on time. Siphon break (inside tank, above waterline) works as intended.

New salt water begins flowing to tank. Entire process took six minutes.

Euphylliaphyle · Jun 6, 2026

Recieved and installed the timer for the surface wavemakers. Calling it a wrap on the ATO/AWC project.

Daily AWC schedule:
11:59 A.M.: Surface pumps off.
12:00-12:01 P.M.: Tank water out, 2 quarts.
12:02-12:03 P.M.: New salt water in.
12:04 P.M.: Surface pumps back on. AWC complete.

Euphylliaphyle · Jun 12, 2026

June 12, 2026 Update

Test results:

● 1 week since implementing AWC
● Dosing 3.0 ml/day AFR starting 5/16/2026.
● Tests are post-today's AFR dosing.
● Phosphate, nitrate tested before a.m. feeding.

○ Ca: 440 ppm (-10/14d)
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 6.7 dKH (-0.3/14d)
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,260 ppm (-75/14d)
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration

* Increase to 4.0 ml/d AFR.
* Added 1.0ml AFR now.

○ pH: (pre-dawn) 7.9
(mid-day) 8.0
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Salinity: 1.0266 SpG/ 35.9 ppt
(1.0261 SpG/ 35.0 ppt
post-adjustment)
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer

* Watch this. Hypothesis: Daily AWC x solid tank lid means ATO rarely kicks in. Effectively, AWC doubles as ATO, but using salt water to replenish, causing salinity creep. This is somewhat offset by AWC water replacement, but not completely.

○ Temperature: 79.6°F
(78.4°F post-adjustment, related to open-lid tank time and room temp RO/DI (1/2 gal) and salt mix (1/2 gal) substituted for 1 gal canister filter water to adjust salinity)
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Ammonia: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrite: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrate: 53.7 ppm (+7.4/14d)
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna HR Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.57 ppm (+0.13/14d)
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna ULR Checker
* https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/randy’s-thoughts-on-nutrient-target-ranges.1087/

* Add 2.5 tbsp RowaPhos in bag in canister filter.
(Recommended = 4 tbsp in reactor, (x2 if in bag) to go from 0.57 to 0.20; using 2/3 reactor recommendation in bag)
* Replace Rox 0.8 GAC, 2 tbsp (3 is recommended by BRS) Replace in 2 weeks.
* Blow off rocks
* Rake sand
* Treat with coral snow + Microbacter7
* Clean canister filter
* Replace 1/2 gallon tank water with RO/DI to correct salinity

Last (5/29/26):
● Dosing 3.0 ml/day AFR starting 5/16/2026.
● Tests are post-today's AFR dosing.
● Phosphate tested before a.m. feeding.

○ Ca: 450 ppm (-10/14d)
(target: 400-450 ppm)
per Salifert titration
○ Alk: 7.0 dKH (-0.9/10d)
(target: 8-12 dkH)
per Salifert titration
○ Mg: 1,335 ppm (+15/14d)
(target: 1,250-1,400 ppm)
per Salifert titration
* Stay with 3.0 ml/d AFR.
* Add 34 ml RHF R1P2 Alk
○ pH: 8.3 (after Alk added)
(target: 8.1-8.4)
per API colorimetric
○ Salinity: 1.0265 SpG/35.7 ppt
(target: 35 ppt)
per TropicMarin hydrometer
* Top off
○ Temperature: 79.4°F
(target: 73-84°F)
per Weber digital therm.
○ Ammonia: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrite: ppm (not tested)
(target: 0 ppm)
per API colorimetric
○ Nitrate: 46.3 ppm (+7.6/14d)
(target: 5-50 ppm*)
per Hanna HR Checker
○ Phosphate: 0.44 ppm (+0.05/10d)
(target: 0.06-0.3 ppm*)
per Hanna ULR Checker