Jerrico’s DIY 44g AIO

[tharbin]

@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.

Salifert tests are just fine. The main thing you would get from an ICP is something you don't measure, like aluminum, being way out of range. I'm not a big proponent of regular ICP tests but I do think it is very worthwhile if you have an issue and none of the usual suspects pan out.

Flow can certainly cause things to go sideways so it is worth double checking.

 

[TheWB]

@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.

I generally think that if my Alk is where it needs to be consistently then Cal and Mag probably are too but I should check them more often tho I do. I've only done one ICP test ever (don't remember which one, I think it had to go to Germany, it's been a while) and I should try to do one at least once a year just to have some idea of what is going on with the things I don't ever test for or measure. I think there is one called Oceano? that is popular right now but I need to double check, might not have that name exactly right.

Do you have much build up of algae or Coraline on your pumps? I know @tharbin loses a lot of effectiveness with his gyres when they start to get dirty and I had the same issues before I stopped using my gyres. Worth checking out if you think it might be flow causing your issues with the coral.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Been a little over a month since last update. I never got the ICP test…life got ahead of me with the kids and tank was on the back burner. But I always keep on up my water changes at minimum. 5 or 10 gallon a week depending on nutrient levels. I went back to regular instant ocean since it test a little better in mag and even alk. Nothing wrong has happened there. Little tufts of algae pop up here and there and I manually pull them out when doing a water change. Nothing to serious. Corals look good. My Anthelia took a hit but I’m not worried it’ll grown back in no time. Literally like 95% of it died but it’s on the come back already.


Couple new acquisitions, got a couple Zoas and fish



Splendid Dottyback


Talbots damsel

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looking good man!

Ps. You have a very cool name!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Following along!

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did my typical 10g water change on Monday and was observing the corals a bit more in depth. I got a couple new frags of Zoas and acans. Never had acans before but I’m willing to try. Just threw the zoas on a bare spot on the rocks and the acans on the sand bed to acclimate for now.

Today I noticed the acans had a couple pieces of bubble algae and the new zoas have an aptasia right at the edge.

So after dinner and putting the kids to bed I decided to get rid of these pest before it becomes an issue. Scraped off the 2-3 bubbles and I cut the Zoa frag corner off with a razor blade and bone cutters. Had to sacrifice a head on the zoas but I gotta do what I gotta do .

I’ll take some update pics tomorrow

 

[jerricolaboy]

Some pics of the most recent additions



Then some of the old but thriving

 

[JumboShrimp]

I love the Talbot. Great punch of color in a small package. (I doubt they are still $4.99 anymore -- LOL!)

 

[jerricolaboy]

I love the Talbot. Great punch of color in a small package. (I doubt they are still $4.99 anymore -- LOL!)

He’s been a great addition! I’ve seen them upwards of 20bucks but if I remember correctly I believe I paid 10 bucks for this one

 

[jerricolaboy]

Quick water change tonight. I’m not gonna have the time tomorrow morning so I figured I’d get it done now.

 

[JumboShrimp]

'Out with the old, in with the new.'

 

[jerricolaboy]

Well my wife surprised me with a birthday trip to Atlanta. She decided she wanted to take me to the Aquarium and Zoo. So far we’ve been to the aquarium and it was great! Tons to see and their displays are very well setup and beautiful.

 

[jerricolaboy]

 

[jerricolaboy]

So I’m at petco grabbing some toys for our new puppy (that my wife got against my will) and I walked past the fish section.
Seen some new things that I was wondering if every petco was starting to implement.
They had some cool new tags on some of the fish that gave more information than the old ones



Also seen that they have a fish observation that they hold the fish for a week before putting them up for sale.


Seems like something all stores should be implementing.

Also seem some new rimless tanks I’ve never seen before in sizes ive never seen before.

This would probably a good frag tank for people to take to shows. I could see people using it for that




28 gallon had an interesting shape, not a “standard” tank size by any means.



This 38g seems to just be a rimless 40breeder. I’m sure this size is gonna catch on. I’ve always seen people interested in a rimless 40 breeder in the salt or fresh water world.

Just some cool stuff I seen at the local petco

 

[JumboShrimp]

Very interesting.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Been a while with no updates but in reality nothing new until today. Just keeping up with my water changes and everything’s been cruising along.

So today on the way home from Rhode Island I decided we’d stop at OSA in Groton. We were looking around and I noticed a good sized piece of birdsnest in the 80 dollar section. Always wanted some but could never find it locally. So I snagged it. Maybe about 6inches wide and it looked healthy. Idk I guess we’ll see how it goes






Probably won’t stay in that spot I think I want it on the right side too rock where the green lepto is currently and swap the lepto back to it home where the birds nest is now.

Ran outta glue so I gotta wait to swap them

 

[jerricolaboy]

Snow day today!
figured I’d do some pump maintenance since it been a while and I can’t see the “Ai” logo on my Nero anymore.
I let them run in a quart deli container with 50:50 vinegar water. Then took them apart and scrubbed with brushes. Assembled and rinsed in water only for a couple mins. Couple little spots with coralline still built up them but like 95% clean again. And I can see the water flow moving as intended again.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Well my water changes haven’t been able to keep up with Alk demands anymore. I did an experiment over the past month to get an average on the tanks consumption. I always do weekly water changes of 10 gallons. So after i did my water change I’d let it mix in the tank over night and before light went on in the morning I’d test alk. It usually be in the range of 8.5dkh. My salt mixes to ~9.5dkh and that’s the number I’d like it to be at or within a range of +/- .2 DKH. I’d dose Seachem fusion to get it back up to 9.5dkh. I’d let it go all week without testing or dosing, then test after lights out and right before I did a water change. I’d get anywhere from 7.3 to 7.7Dkh. So I’m calling that a 2.0dkh consumption per week. I’d like my alk to be kinda steady. So I figured it’s time to put the All For Reef online.

I’ve always had all for reef in the cabinet but i was never consistent enough to dose by hand everyday. And from my understanding it needs to be dose consistent to be useful cause the delayed bacterial conversion to alk. And I can see where the tank would benefit from the added cal,mag and trace.

Did my reasearch and landed on wanting a versa doser. I want it all on one app on my phone. I searched lazily on FB marketplace and eBay until I found a decent deal on one. Picked it up locally yesterday for $125. Looks like the guy barely used it. So I’m gonna set that up this weekend. Maybe stop by the local fish store and grab the 1L bottle of AFR to get started with for now then transition to buying powder after.

I figured I’d start with a daily 5ml dose then perform that same experiment for a week. If I need to add from there then make the adjustments. I think I’ve done enough YouTube and forum research to understand the product. Hopefully I’m not missing anything.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Went a little OCD and spent some time redoing cable management and setting up the doser nice and clean. I was tired of the mess down there.

 

[jerricolaboy]

I guess it’s that season and since it’s snowing out again and im stuck home….i woke up early to do a water change and decided to do a re-scape. I broke the taller pillars in half and move some from the left side to the right side. Got rid of some of the height and brought it down to about half tank.

I had some Carib Sea Ledges and got to cutting with my tile saw. I made some slim ledges on the AIO box and even made some to wrap around the corners.

I think it looks good also gives a ton more lighted space for new corals. Frag show is in a couple weeks




Corals are just placed for the moment but I’ll be moving some corals around and gluing them in different spots later.