HHH's 100 Gallon Mixed Reef

[KJoFan]

I have no idea what it mixes up to but I believe it's around 11. I keep alk around 9.

So, am I right to assume you don't do large enough water changes to swing your alk by much since you maintain it lower than it mixes?

 

[happyhourhero]

Well my sps are still in a tailspin and I haven’t had any all swings or anything other than switching to 2 part on a doser a few weeks ago. 80% are stn and some are already gone. My nitrates and phosphates were pretty high so I have cut back on feedi

Since stability is so important, I am going to do a 30% water change, cut up my marine pure block so I can arrange my sump more to my liking, removed my algae scrubber and convert a sump chamber to a chaeto fuge.
After all that, I’m just going to ride it out and take it as a positive to be able to free up space to get more corals once/if the crash stops.

 

[bubbaque]

Oh man so sorry to hear all that is going on. Things looked like they were thriving not long ago. Maybe the water change will help get things back in line.

 

[happyhourhero]

Just to log what I have done to try and correct: I did 2 twenty gallon water changes, cleaned and inspected my return and skimmer, cut up my marine pure block and cleaned it, cleaned out sump, ordered a new sump so I can have a fuge, removed my algae scrubber (in anticipation of new sump), replaced heater. Will test nitrates and phosphates probably tonight.

As it stands, many acros are stn from both the tips and the base and montis are goners. Alk, cal and mg never fluctuated since switching to 2 part a few weeks ago.
I figure it can’t get any worse with my sps.

 

[bubbaque]

All started with the switch to two part?

 

[happyhourhero]

All started with the switch to two part?

Yeah that’s the only known big change. Could have had a major effect on ph? I don’t track it so I don’t know.

 

[bubbaque]

If that’s the only change it could be the sudden change in ph.

 

[declanisadog]

Huge bummer man. How much two part were you dosing daily?

 

[happyhourhero]

Huge bummer man. How much two part were you dosing daily?

Nothing crazy, like 25 ml day. I was dripping a little less than 2 tsp/gallon of kalk before I switched.

 

[happyhourhero]

I about forgot how to post pictures.

Got my new sump put in and i hard plumbed my return. The before and after aren’t too dramatic but my old sump required my skimmer in the middle so i had no room to try a refugium. This new one has a better design (trigger) and allows me to configure everything more to my liking. I am going to buy some macro algae this weekend and get that fuge going.
Old sump had weird glass inserts along the bottom of the skimmer chamber that were big time detritus traps too.

Old sump drain side.

Old sump return and ato side.

New sump drain side. I have my sump in backwards because I would have had to replumb my overflow to fit the fitting on the sump or move my overflow to the other side which would shade out a bunch of already struggling corals so I put it in this way.

Return side with view of future fuge.

 

[bubbaque]

Everything looks so nice and neat!

 

[najer]

Nice work.

 

[happyhourhero]

You guys think this is bad enough to be contributing to the issues I am having? Inside of my mag float that lived in tank.

 

[bubbaque]

To me that doesn’t look that bad but you never know.

Did you do an ICP test?

 

[happyhourhero]

Back in September when the crash wasn’t really happening. All it showed was low iodine and strontium. Maybe that’s the cause but all the RHF articles I could find didn’t seem to indicate that would be a huge concern but maybe I misread.

To me that doesn’t look that bad but you never know.

Did you do an ICP test?

 

[happyhourhero]

Getting a nice little zoa carpet going.

#purewhitelight

 

[Flippers4pups]

Nice! Still sporting the black boxes?

 

[happyhourhero]

Nice! Still sporting the black boxes?

Yeah. I tried to talk the wife into a t5 fixture over Xmas but she wasn’t having it lol. I keep messing things up on my own anyway, don’t think new lights will help much ha.

 

[PanchoG]

Getting a nice little zoa carpet going.

#purewhitelight

Nice zoa carpet.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yeah. I tried to talk the wife into a t5 fixture over Xmas but she wasn’t having it lol. I keep messing things up on my own anyway, don’t think new lights will help much ha.

I hear you. I’m going to refresh mine in a couple months with all new diodes.