Hemmdog’s 90gal Seaciety and 40gal Vale of Shadows

[Hemmdog]

No BMW here but my daily driver is a stick shift. A rare sight these days for the most part.

That’s a sweet ride! Stick is where it’s at! Makes the commute interesting!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

That’s a sweet ride! Stick is where it’s at! Makes the commute interesting!

Thanks, waiting to pay it off to get a truck though. Need more room for the kiddos. Plan on keeping the car as it's really good on smiles per gallon.

 

[Hemmdog]

Thanks, waiting to pay it off to get a truck though. Need more room for the kiddos. Plan on keeping the car as it's really good on smiles per gallon.

Lolol I like that. Trucks are sweet to!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Lolol I like that. Trucks are sweet to!

Oh man, don't even get me started. I want a crew can silverado with leather, a lift, etc, etc. Easily 60K lol. The house I'm renting probably costs less. Haha.

 

[Hemmdog]

Oh man, don't even get me started. I want a crew can silverado with leather, a lift, etc, etc. Easily 60K lol. The house I'm renting probably costs less. Haha.

Sounds like it will be epic! Haha

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Soooo as promised I made it to your thread and was able to read it. (Yes I will comment more but I’m literally typing this with one eye open lol). But your tank looks really nice and it’s unique and different (which I think is fantastic). It’s neat to see a tank that isn’t per say the norm.

FYI yes Hollywood stunner grows fast and has a brutal sting. In 15 months mine started as a tiny 1/2 inch piece on a plug. Now it’s easily 15 inches around and I have fragged it maybe 5-6 times where each piece is 3x3 lol. But still love the coral and honestly well in Boise people want it. Everybody pretty much doesn’t carry it and people tossed it. Now my lfs asks me almost every time to bring in some frags of it.

 

[Hemmdog]

Hello,

Soooo as promised I made it to your thread and was able to read it. (Yes I will comment more but I’m literally typing this with one eye open lol). But your tank looks really nice and it’s unique and different (which I think is fantastic). It’s neat to see a tank that isn’t per say the norm.

FYI yes Hollywood stunner grows fast and has a brutal sting. In 15 months mine started as a tiny 1/2 inch piece on a plug. Now it’s easily 15 inches around and I have fragged it maybe 5-6 times where each piece is 3x3 lol. But still love the coral and honestly well in Boise people want it. Everybody pretty much doesn’t carry it and people tossed it. Now my lfs asks me almost every time to bring in some frags of it.

Haha that’s awesome! I’ll have to see if anyone would want it or frags of it around here. Thank you for taking the time to go through my whole thread! That’s some dedication, it means a lot to me though Thank you also for the compliments on my tank and it’s uniqueness actually looking half decent I can’t wait to see what it will look like in a year! Thanks again !
-Chris

 

[Why-Me]

@Hemmdog How do you like that trigger sump? I was looking at a trigger cube that would fit in my and @Philipgonzales3 stand.

 

[Hemmdog]

@Hemmdog How do you like that trigger sump? I was looking at a trigger cube that would fit in my and @Philipgonzales3 stand.

It’s sick man. I do wish it was bigger though for this tank, it would be perfect for like a 75 gal. When money starts growing on trees I’ll upgrade it to the emerald 34 from the 26. That will make a big difference I think, a lot more fuge space. In general though trigger sumps are so good. Designed perfectly so there’s no salt creep anywhere, super quiet, adjustable baffle, built in dosing holes, probe holders, no micro bubbles or anything ever pass into the display; I highly recommend them.

 

[Hemmdog]

Started Carbon dosing today with Nopox. Started with 3ml. Hopefully I don’t have any negative effects from it. Nitrates at 25, phos .20

New skimmer gets here Monday. That should help as well.
Bubble Mag curve 7 Elite

Things look perfect. Just doing some preventative maintenance. Hopefully it’s a good idea, lol.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Impressive ! How often do you dose that? Is it something you could do like 1 ml a few times a day? Or is it better to put all 10ml in at once or however much you usually put in? Is it even daily? I haven’t looked into it to far.

Sorry, I didn't see this question sooner. Because of the vinegar content and its effect on pH, I dose twice a day about six hours apart. Each dose is around 10-12 mL.

 

[Hemmdog]

I noticed one of the coolest things I’ve seen ever in my own tank tonight. My little Chromis was hosting my birdsnest! I’m not sure if this is where he usually hangs out, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed him in it. I watched him for about 10 mins before I started the video, it was awesome.

It’s so cool that he found the one coral in the tank that is the same color as him to hide and live in. Things like this I find so rewarding and make me love this hobby so much more.


Sorry for the bad video quality

 

[Sarah24!]

Started Carbon dosing today with Nopox. Started with 3ml. Hopefully I don’t have any negative effects from it. Nitrates at 25, phos .20

New skimmer gets here Monday. That should help as well.
Bubble Mag curve 7 Elite

Things look perfect. Just doing some preventative maintenance. Hopefully it’s a good idea, lol.

Hello;

If your dosing the redsea noprox make sure you read the manual it comes with very well. You must realize that once you start, you can reduce the limit like it says to. But you can not stop the dosage. It does state that and I was curious that once down to 1ml I can ween it off, speaking with them on the phone you can not. Also for as high as your nitrates are I think you should dose it higher according to the directions. You have to follow these literally exactly, or it will definitely harm your corals. I dose my tank the same time every day and test once a week. I make sure that it gets 1ml every day and that I stay between 2-5ppm nitrates and undectable range on phosphates. You must also increase your oxygen level as well. Do not turn your skimmer off, and for protection I added a hidden air stone in the back of my tank.
I’d hate to see anything happen to your corals or tank. Remember once you start this, it’s extremely unwise to one stop cold turkey, and two stopping completely. I was hoping to do .5ml then .25 then stop but even redsea verbally told me it’s not recommended which is in the manual page 6 #6 if I remember.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This was awesome. Just like the ocean.

 

[Hemmdog]

This was awesome. Just like the ocean.

Thank you! I thought the same thing! It’s like a real reef!

 

[Hemmdog]

Hello;

If your dosing the redsea noprox make sure you read the manual it comes with very well. You must realize that once you start, you can reduce the limit like it says to. But you can not stop the dosage. It does state that and I was curious that once down to 1ml I can ween it off, speaking with them on the phone you can not. Also for as high as your nitrates are I think you should dose it higher according to the directions. You have to follow these literally exactly, or it will definitely harm your corals. I dose my tank the same time every day and test once a week. I make sure that it gets 1ml every day and that I stay between 2-5ppm nitrates and undectable range on phosphates. You must also increase your oxygen level as well. Do not turn your skimmer off, and for protection I added a hidden air stone in the back of my tank.
I’d hate to see anything happen to your corals or tank. Remember once you start this, it’s extremely unwise to one stop cold turkey, and two stopping completely. I was hoping to do .5ml then .25 then stop but even redsea verbally told me it’s not recommended which is in the manual page 6 #6 if I remember.

Yea I heard that you can’t stop cold turkey or skip doses. I’ll be on top of it my trigger just eats all the food so fast I now have to feed so much more than I used to. I’m at 8 cubes of mysis a day in my 90, 1 in my biocube . Thank you for the details though Sarah. I started off with a small dose and want to see how that does after a week of dosing it. How fast does it work? I don’t really understand the science behind it to be honest. Like, when I dose it, is it being used right away or does it build up in the water?

 

[Sarah24!]

Yea I heard that you can’t stop cold turkey or skip doses. I’ll be on top of it my trigger just eats all the food so fast I now have to feed so much more than I used to. I’m at 8 cubes of mysis a day in my 90, 1 in my biocube . Thank you for the details though Sarah. I started off with a small dose and want to see how that does after a week of dosing it. How fast does it work? I don’t really understand the science behind it to be honest. Like, when I dose it, is it being used right away or does it build up in the water?

Hello,

Sure and it’s being used right away but you don’t want the nitrates high so that’s why they start the dosage high. It’s reslly similar to the medication prednisone (if your on it) 3 pills for 3 days then 2 pills for 3 days 1 pill 3 days then half etc. But the noprox is similar to benzodiazepines medication, meaning even if you stop there is a risk of severe with drawl symptoms. (Yes lol I’m using medication as an example, but it’s easier to explain, (the only thing in common is the dosing and possible symptoms). When my tank was at 25ppm I dosed the full amount every day the first week. Then I tested and adjusted from there, and it dropped my nitrates within the week. Then week two I did half of the original dosage for a week and tested then cut to half again. Now I want to stay between 2-5 ppm, because if I go lower in my tank (all tanks different), I could make it to clean for my lps and softies. Make sure you are very on the ball with this as well as testing for alk and cal.

I have had great luck and no issues with any coral, but I also followed it to the letter. Some have had not so good luck but they also stopped suddenly. To be honest, if I am weened down to .25ml of noprox and stop I don’t have enough evidence to say one way or another. But I’m not gonna risk it either, and 30 dollars to me is worth me not crashing my entire tank. It’s okay if you miss a dosage one day, what it says is do not for any reason double the dosage the next day. Just do what you normally dose.

 

[Hemmdog]

Hello,

Sure and it’s being used right away but you don’t want the nitrates high so that’s why they start the dosage high. It’s reslly similar to the medication prednisone (if your on it) 3 pills for 3 days then 2 pills for 3 days 1 pill 3 days then half etc. But the noprox is similar to benzodiazepines medication, meaning even if you stop there is a risk of severe with drawl symptoms. (Yes lol I’m using medication as an example, but it’s easier to explain, (the only thing in common is the dosing and possible symptoms). When my tank was at 25ppm I dosed the full amount every day the first week. Then I tested and adjusted from there, and it dropped my nitrates within the week. Then week two I did half of the original dosage for a week and tested then cut to half again. Now I want to stay between 2-5 ppm, because if I go lower in my tank (all tanks different), I could make it to clean for my lps and softies. Make sure you are very on the ball with this as well as testing for alk and cal.

I have had great luck and no issues with any coral, but I also followed it to the letter. Some have had not so good luck but they also stopped suddenly. To be honest, if I am weened down to .25ml of noprox and stop I don’t have enough evidence to say one way or another. But I’m not gonna risk it either, and 30 dollars to me is worth me not crashing my entire tank. It’s okay if you miss a dosage one day, what it says is do not for any reason double the dosage the next day. Just do what you normally dose.

Makes total sense, fantastic analogy, me and Valium go way back, my parents used to give it to me before going to the dentist lol.
Good to know it’s a immediate acting solution, I will reread the instructions and find the proper dose. Looks like I will need to start testing more than once a week as well ;Drowning;Dead.
You mentioned keep a closer eye on alk and cal. Is this because of the acid in the NoPOX or what happens differently with that.
I understand science jargon if you wanna speak scientifically here. Lol

 

[Hemmdog]

3 days into NOPOX and nitrates are down 10 and phos down .15 ; wow, this stuff is no joke lol. You weren’t kidding @Sarah24! haha

 

[Doctor Faust]

So I began this journey with my 90 after starting a biocube 32 a year prior. My corals quickly outgrew the 32 and most fish I wanted needed a much larger tank size.

I shopped around online and was almost set on ordering the RedSea Reefer 425XL. My hesitation was hearing locals in the Bay Area of California telling horror stories of the stands collapsing during moderate earthquakes; which we get here somewhat frequently. 2nd was the sump, I wanted acrylic and a really efficent design which ReaSea did not offer.

Fate would have it my LFS had a client who was moving and selling one of his displays for a decent price, so they took it off his hands. The tank (Oceanic 90gal) sat at the shop for almost 3 months before I asked any questions about it. Upon further inquiry he told me that oceanics are beasts; very sturdy, quality glass, and a really rock solid stand that won’t collapse on me. These points gave me peace of mind that the ReaSea stands have been making me weary of. According to my LFS owner Oceanic went under because they spent to much on quality matierials. This may have just been a sales pitch but that’s the kind of issues with a company I like!

Anyways, it included a sump, and a really good sump at that! A Trigger Emerald 26 in perfect condition.

He said he could get it to my house and help me plumb it for $500. Sold!!

Wait..Tank, delivery, and plumbing for $500???