Jerrico’s DIY 44g AIO

[Gumbies R Us]

I haven’t been doing much but weekly water changes. Sometimes 5g sometimes 10g dependent on nitrate and phosphate levels. Just letting the tank mature a bit since it’s almost “coasting” season (summer) . I think i wanna get a tomini tang soon. I’m tired of picking out the algae by hand . Also need to re-up the CUC. Was thinking some Mexican turbos, some hermits and maybe an urchin. Never had an urchin, should be fun. Ohh and another conch. Here’s a couple shots of the tank

I would avoid getting a tang. Your tank is not big enough to support having one. Urchins are fun additions to have! I had a tuxedo in mine and it was a great member of our CUC. Mexican turbos and more conches are always good options too

 

[jerricolaboy]

Been a couple months since my last update!
Here’s the skinny! It’s been pretty much smooth sailing. Keeping up on water changes weekly. Nitrate and phosphate in check. It had a little swing upwards there for a while since my turbo snails ate all the macro algae in my tank . But a couple larger water changes in a row helped that out. Lost a couple fire fish( I think the jumped) Added in a Scarlett wrasse and a yellow blenny to replace them. Think I might add in a couple more Chromis .
Ohh I finally found another Ai prime on marketplace for 100 bucks within a reasonable driving distance. Scooped that up. Made up some brackets and hung those over the tank. Cost me like 25 bucks to do. I think it looks clean. But that’s about it for now. Looking around at the local stores I think I wanna start adding in more Zoas and softies, maybe even some macros again if my turbos don’t eat it all again.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Been a couple months since my last update!
Here’s the skinny! It’s been pretty much smooth sailing. Keeping up on water changes weekly. Nitrate and phosphate in check. It had a little swing upwards there for a while since my turbo snails ate all the macro algae in my tank . But a couple larger water changes in a row helped that out. Lost a couple fire fish( I think the jumped) Added in a Scarlett wrasse and a yellow blenny to replace them. Think I might add in a couple more Chromis .
Ohh I finally found another Ai prime on marketplace for 100 bucks within a reasonable driving distance. Scooped that up. Made up some brackets and hung those over the tank. Cost me like 25 bucks to do. I think it looks clean. But that’s about it for now. Looking around at the local stores I think I wanna start adding in more Zoas and softies, maybe even some macros again if my turbos don’t eat it all again.

Looking good!

 

[jerricolaboy]

I don’t know if someone is playing tricks on me or what but these 2 new fish are GONE! Boom just vanished, a total of 4 fish just gone with no trace of them. I lifted some of the scape to see if they died underneath or trapped themselves somewhere. Maybe they jumped out. But I don’t really see how, my top is very tight fitting and I would think 1/4 inch screen would pretty much trap everything in. Also not a trace of them dried up on the floor or behind the tank, but I think if they were on the ground my dog would for sure eat them . I’ve been testing my nutrients every morning before lights on to track and see if nitrate or phosphate has rained but nothing. So they can’t be dead in the system. Aliens are coming and abducting my fish and not bringing them back I guess

 

[JumboShrimp]

What type of fish-- did you say, and I missed it?

 

[jerricolaboy]

What type of fish-- did you say, and I missed it?

I’m missing 2 fire fish, a canary blenny and a Scarlett pinstripe wrasse.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Darn! Are you figuring a mass death, followed by a mass clean-up crew feast?

 

[jerricolaboy]

Ultimately I’m thinking they jumped and my dog found them before I did. This tank is right in my entry area. Way to much people traffic, therefore anything dead would’ve been spotted if it happens in the tank

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did some more investigating and found the Blenny tucked wayyy under stand dried up . I think it’s time to find a better screen top maybe finer mesh or a glass top.

 

[JumboShrimp]

He looks like an anchovy from on top of the last pizza I ate.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Well since I can’t seem to keep new fish in the tank I guess I’ll be adding more coral and that means I have to add more real estate. Soooo we went the store to browse around today and came home with a box of Caribsea base rock. Just 7 pounds, it was like 25 bucks on sale today so I figured why not. Came home set myself up on the front lawn while the kiddo played outside and started gluing rocks together. Came up with this. I think I’ll drop it in tomorrow. Figured it would look well on the right side. I’d do a little re-scaping later on this week.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Great looking piece. I once tried to use a piece like that to cover it top to bottom with Pulsing Xenia... which of all things stubbornly refused to grow for me. Go figure.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did my weekly 10g water change this morning after I put in the new rock and rescaped a bit. I didn’t glue anything down permanent cause I know I’ll be tweaking things until I get them where they like.

I decided to test my make up water since my Mag and Alk have been low and I’ve been having to test and my suspicions have been correct. Mag tested to be 1050ppm and Alk tested at 8.0DKH. I use Reef Crystals since it’s readily available at all stores but think I may have to change to something else. I thought RC was supposed to be elevated elements. I think I’ve tested higher elements in the past with just purple IO.

It’s a softy tank I really should be able to water change and be within or slightly above my desired parameters. I’m just shooting for 8.5 DKH and 1300+MG. I’ll be honest I don’t test Mg as often as I should. Before this bag of salt my previous bag always brought the ALK to atleast 8.7 and everything looked happy. I only started testing all parameters again cause corals that are usually happy were sad looking a day after I water change, when usually they’re all perked up.

Weird things going on I guess I’ll just have to test and dose when I get home.

Oh yeah setup the lights on an acclimation mode for 14 days just so the new rock has a little time to simmer before full lights and doesn’t break out in horrible algae.

FTS

Closer Tank

RIGHT SIDE

LEFT SIDE

 

[JumboShrimp]

Things are really looking great! I bet if you stay with mostly softies, water-changes will keep your parameters where you want them; and eventually you can supplement with All For Reef (AFR). Nice and simple.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Today I decided to do some RODI maintenance before I made my water change tomorrow. I bought new sediment and carbon filters from Amazon for my RO buddie. And since I already have 2 DI canisters I decided just to buy the resin and try my hand at repacking them. I’ll repack one and put it on and leave the other one packed and ready to go in 3 months for a quick swap. I usually change my sediment and carbon filters every 6 months and DI every 3 months. Just to be safe and it’s dirt cheap insurance on clean source water.


My little setup below my guest bath vanity. Filters changed and being flushed for 15mins before DI reinstall.


Here the resin I used to repack my 2 cartridges


The RO membrane I do yearly. Supposedly it can last longer but it’s so cheap why not. Again simple insurance.

Ill go thru later and sharpie the date on them so i know when to change them next

 

[TheWB]

Today I decided to do some RODI maintenance before I made my water change tomorrow. I bought new sediment and carbon filters from Amazon for my RO buddie. And since I already have 2 DI canisters I decided just to buy the resin and try my hand at repacking them. I’ll repack one and put it on and leave the other one packed and ready to go in 3 months for a quick swap. I usually change my sediment and carbon filters every 6 months and DI every 3 months. Just to be safe and it’s dirt cheap insurance on clean source water.


My little setup below my guest bath vanity. Filters changed and being flushed for 15mins before DI reinstall.


Here the resin I used to repack my 2 cartridges


The RO membrane I do yearly. Supposedly it can last longer but it’s so cheap why not. Again simple insurance.

Ill go thru later and sharpie the date on them so i know when to change them next

It is cheap insurance but you should be able to get a lot more time out of the resin. My output water is zero and all of my filters and resin are a year old. In-line TDS meters are fairly inexpensive and easy to add. I have more stages than you do. I monitor the output from my membrane to the first resin canister (cation), the input to the second stage of resin (anion) and then after the last stage (mixed bed). That way I can tell when they need to be replaced.

 

[jerricolaboy]

@TheWB yea I should probably look into an inline TDS meter. I know it’s a simple add in and will probably take out a lot of the guessing and I can probably get more life outta the resins. I’ll add it to the cart, Maybe next Amazon haul

 

[jerricolaboy]

I think it may be time to order up an ICP test and send it out. Not sure what’s up but some of my corals ain’t been looking to hot the past few days. I did a 10g water change this morning like usual nothing different.
All parameters looked ok besides my lowish mag,
My test results after I got home:
35ppt
Alk:8.6
Mag:1250
Cal:410
Phos: 0.2
Nitrate: 10

Anybody any ideas?

 

[TheWB]

I think it may be time to order up an ICP test and send it out. Not sure what’s up but some of my corals ain’t been looking to hot the past few days. I did a 10g water change this morning like usual nothing different.
All parameters looked ok besides my lowish mag,
My test results after I got home:
35ppt
Alk:8.6
Mag:1250
Cal:410
Phos: 0.2
Nitrate: 10

Anybody any ideas?

It’s never a bad idea to get an ICP test, especially if you haven’t had one in a while. I need to get one myself. Your parameters seem fine except for Mag but you never know what else is going on. I don’t currently have a Calcium or a Mag test kit so I’ve got no idea where those are at. Should probably take a sample to the LFS and have them do one of each and order an ICP to make sure all of the trace stuff is in line.

 

[jerricolaboy]

@TheWB i just use basic salifert test kits. I guess there good enough but some say not to harp too much on the Mag number cause most kits are inaccurate. I blindly dose trace elements in form of Seachem reef plus as directed on bottle.

I gotta do some research and see what brand ICP people are using now. I’ve never done one, maybe someone on here can help me transcribe what the test results are saying.

I’m having an epiphany as I’m writing this! This has happened before in my 15g and the culprit was flow! My Nero for some reason just stopped doing the programmed schedule and set its base to 25%. I had to disconnect it from the app and reconnect it then it started working again. I’m gonna try and do that quick before I head to work.