d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

[BigJohnny]

@d2mini
@Velcro

Hey guys, just an fyi, I run a booster pump as well and I believe optimal pressure is 60-80 psi. Mines running at 75. You can tune it with an allen key on top.

 

[Velcro]

@d2mini
@Velcro

Hey guys, just an fyi, I run a booster pump as well and I believe optimal pressure is 60-80 psi. Mines running at 75. You can tune it with an allen key on top.

Higher the pressure the better actually. There is just diminishing returns past 80, that is, less effect on TDS per PSI and more risk of a leak.

 

[BigJohnny]

@d2mini
@Velcro

Hey guys, just an fyi, I run a booster pump as well and I believe optimal pressure is 60-80 psi. Mines running at 75. You can tune it with an allen key on top.

Nevermind I'm wrong lol. I think some cheap components can fail above that range but the membrane works better at higher psi. Guess I'll crank mine up.....I swear someone told me 60-80 one time, weird.

 

[BigJohnny]

Higher the pressure the better actually. There is just diminishing returns past 80, that is, less effect on TDS per PSI and more risk of a leak.

Ah that's why I set mine at 80.

 

[BigJohnny]

@d2mini

How do you like that ufo refuge light? My par38 just ain't cuttin it. I had a Mars hydro 300 before that but it was too big, so same boat. There are like 7 different ufo style grow lights on amazon, any reason you chose that one?

 

[d2mini]

@d2mini

How do you like that ufo refuge light? My par38 just ain't cuttin it. I had a Mars hydro 300 before that but it was too big, so same boat. There are like 7 different ufo style grow lights on amazon, any reason you chose that one?

It seems ok. I got it because it seemed to have a similar spectrum to the mars and got good reviews.
I'm having trouble growing cheato this time around but not sure why. I've seen others use the same light and it grows their cheato great.
My dragons breath grows really well.
And what I have to export on a weekly basis is all the green muck and hair algae that grows on the surface of the water and my plumbing and walls of the fuge. lol

 

[bubbaque]

I remember @Randy Holmes-Farley saying he had issues at one time that he was getting hair algae in his fuge. Someone told him to dose iron, he did and the chaeto started to out compete the hair algae.

 

[BigJohnny]

It seems ok. I got it because it seemed to have a similar spectrum to the mars and got good reviews.
I'm having trouble growing cheato this time around but not sure why. I've seen others use the same light and it grows their cheato great.
My dragons breath grows really well.
And what I have to export on a weekly basis is all the green muck and hair algae that grows on the surface of the water and my plumbing and walls of the fuge. lol

haha good times. Yea sometimes i have have hair algae growing on my chaeto but if i just manually remove it the chaeto outcompetes for a while, im using a much weaker light though. my fuge is only 11" wide, do you think i can lower the light enough to not have to much leakage while still not burning the chaeto? I might go with this 138w one so i can put it lower. it has great reviews and 2 year warranty:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RWYCRB2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2L94QV6P0R9ON&psc=1

This one caught my attention though, has a Cree COB in the center which i have never seen on a ufo grow light. having said that, the cree COB is 3000k so im not sure if that would be beneficial, what do you think?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07312WKX2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2DFI8RPP7OFTH&psc=1

 

[BigJohnny]

I remember @Randy Holmes-Farley saying he had issues at one time that he was getting hair algae in his fuge. Someone told him to dose iron, he did and the chaeto started to out compete the hair algae.

interesting, i guess hair algae doesnt use iron as much as chaeto? I get small dusting of cyano on the sand and slow fuge growth if my phosphates are way higher than normal in proportion to my nitrates. I normally run around 5-10ppm nitrate/.08-.12 phosphate, if my phosphates get up to .2 or my nitrates get down to 1ppm or less, thats when it happens. If i dose just a wee bit of nitrates OR run a little GFO, my cyano dissipates and the chaeto takes off, something about the balance.

 

[jahnje]

@d2mini Been reading along about your troubles a while back, and was wondering if you had any idea how long you were running 0 nitrates before the chaeto/fuge collapsed?

 

[d2mini]

@d2mini Been reading along about your troubles a while back, and was wondering if you had any idea how long you were running 0 nitrates before the chaeto/fuge collapsed?

No, sorry... I'm not sure. The problem was I wasn't checking.

 

[cdmckinzie]

Beautiful pics!

 

[d2mini]

Beautiful pics!

Thank you!

 

[DSC reef]

This build thread is amazing. From the house to the mixing station. Love the tank pics.

 

[d2mini]

This build thread is amazing. From the house to the mixing station. Love the tank pics.

Thanks!

 

[d2mini]

One of my favorite creatures to watch when the lights go out (or before they come on, in this case).

He's been hanging around since the tank restart in April.
Hoping he continues to do well. Filter feeders are tough to keep!

 

[BigJohnny]

One of my favorite creatures to watch when the lights go out (or before they come on, in this case).

He's been hanging around since the tank restart in April.
Hoping he continues to do well. Filter feeders are tough to keep!

Waaat is that

 

[d2mini]

Waaat is that

Basket Starfish. He lives on that gorgonian.

 

[BigJohnny]

Basket Starfish. He lives on that gorgonian.

So cool. Only from tbs eh?

 

[d2mini]

So cool. Only from tbs eh?

I think I've seen them elsewhere online, but couldn't even begin to recall where.
Probably the type of thing a shop would only have if it came in as a hitchhiker like mine.