Devoted Reefer 250

[pelphrey]

Inkbird in the cabinet. Need to get it setup and a heater plugged into it.

 

[CDavmd]

saw your new video....couple comments.

phosphates of .15 is fine. Let it be- also you can convert the hanna result by multiplying by .0036

Also, remember that although your Ca, Alk, and Mg are stable- this does not mean you do not need water changes. There are trace elements being used up that will limit coral growth after a period. Unless you are going full Triton or ATI method and checking/supplementing trace elements, I'd suggest at least a 5-10 percent water change every couple weeks.

 

[pelphrey]

saw your new video....couple comments.

phosphates of .15 is fine. Let it be- also you can convert the hanna result by multiplying by .0036

Also, remember that although your Ca, Alk, and Mg are stable- this does not mean you do not need water changes. There are trace elements being used up that will limit coral growth after a period. Unless you are going full Triton or ATI method and checking/supplementing trace elements, I'd suggest at least a 5-10 percent water change every couple weeks.

Great suggestion! I was on a good routine changing 5 gallons per week for awhile. Recently just let it go, do plan to get back into the water change routine no doubt!

 

[Scurvy]

Inkbird in the cabinet. Need to get it setup and a heater plugged into it.

Is that a new design unit? I dont remember mine looking like that at all. I’ll have to dig mine out of the closet.

 

[pelphrey]

Is that a new design unit? I dont remember mine looking like that at all. I’ll have to dig mine out of the closet.

It’s supposed to be one of their new ones. It’s the ITC-608T. They sent me 2, I’m going to use one (do a review video on it) and give the other one away.

 

[pelphrey]

8 gallon water change.

 

[mrvn]

Inkbird in the cabinet. Need to get it setup and a heater plugged into it.

Is there any particular reason why you are not using your apex to control the heaters?

 

[pelphrey]

Is there any particular reason why you are not using your apex to control the heaters?

I do use the apex to control them right now. Inkbird sent me the controller to test out.

 

[pelphrey]

Triton water test results -

 

[pelphrey]

What is this red stuff popping up on my rocks and a few snails?

 

[SantaMonica]

Maybe gracilaria. Great tang food.

 

[pelphrey]

100% leaving the tank alone. I am running filter socks now so I do swap those out. Otherwise the glass it terribly dirty, the skimmer cup got half full and since I have 2 annoying clownfish the salt creep they create stayed on the back of the tank for 2 weeks.

Honestly I’ve not done a water change or even tested any of my parameters. Lost a head on a torch coral and a few hammers are looking poor.

Fish are fed daily by the auto feeder and I’ve stopped feeding a frozen cube daily. They get a frozen cube every 2-3 days now.

Will refill ATO tomorrow and put some thought into maybe a 8ish gallon water change.

 

[pelphrey]

 

[pelphrey]

Filled up my water containers this past weekend. Did some much needed general maintenance on the tank and tested alk this morning for the first time since 9/9/18

 

[siggy]

Thats a nice unit, New Model? how is it to program? I purchased the other one and it was a pain to program and change.

 

[siggy]

Great suggestion! I was on a good routine changing 5 gallons per week for awhile. Recently just let it go, do plan to get back into the water change routine no doubt!

My tank never looked better doing weekly water changes, I need to get back in the swing. FYI I recently changed from red bucket to blue and regret it. Now I'm chasing numbers

 

[powers2001]

@pelphrey can you provide a link to your ICP Testing Results thread? Ican't find it.

 

[Savo]

@pelphrey looking forward of your next updated video

 

[Guttersnipe]

I’d advise against a chaeto reactor. The point of removing the algae scrubber was to get his nutrients up. A reactor will drive them down again. He has been running low and near zero at times which is not good for SPS.

I think the light issue may have been contributing (fingers crossed).

@pelphrey - still don’t understand the need for Kalk and two part. You currently have little demand in the tank and it makes no sense that you need to supplement at this point.

Pick one method and just keep your calcium and alk stable. (Alk clearly more important). I personally would use two part in your current system. Kalk will lower your phosphates via precipitation which you are trying to avoid. Also Kalk can cause large pH swings when used saturated.

Now that you have your lights set- DONT TOUCH. Dose your two part, let some algae get established and give the tank a break for a bit. Let things stabilize and then try again with some hardy SPS like a stylophora or birds nest.

This is the best advice on this thread. I follow your posts and videos. You keep on changing things on your tank and not letting your corals get settled in.
I used to constantly buy new equipment hoping it will make
Me a better reefer. I learned to keep things simple and be patient. I was never able to keep sps frags alive till I bought a t5 fixture and set up a light schedule and left it alone. After about 2 months of doing nothing I noticed all my sps frags have encrusted the plugs. I started testing for alk and calcium and got myself a dosing pump. It’s been over a year now and my tank is able to keep sps alive and thriving.

 

[SantaMonica]

Yes once you stop changing things, periphyton will cover your rocks and generate the micro food particles that corals have learned to catch. That's why it's hard to start hard corals with dead rock; there is no periphyton on the rock to generate the micro food particles.