Mattgsa 315 gallon build

GBRsouth

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found the problem with high nutrients and rising salinity. The waste water line for the auto water change was on backwards. I was feeling really dumb today. Either way the problem has been corrected. One of these days I'm going to get this tank stable one way or the other. I have a week of PTO I need to burn before July. I'm thinking about taking a week off just to work on the tank. LOL

Good catch! That might have taken much longer to find!
 

Betex

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Anyone ever used one of these:
1614108950020.png
A little late here since just catching up to your thread but I do on the n24 and this thing is a beast have never grown chaeto so fast and gotten my nutrients under control until I added this and replaced to a fleece roller.

Thanks,
Dave
 

Betex

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I will check with ReefCleaner and see what they have. Thanks for the feedback.

I was just about to suggest checking them out and getting a full package from them, prices are great and they are very responsive, everything arrived alive and well for me.
 
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mattgsa

mattgsa

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Cleaning crew, this is what I have
J305 4 Imported Hermits
J316 1 Mexican Red Leg
J310 3 Scarlet Hermit Crab
J308 1 Thin Striped Hermit (Medium)
J001 4 Empty Hermit Shells
J306 1 Blue Leg Hermit Crab
J328 1 Banded Eye Hermit
B526 10 Money Cowrie
B402 5 Trochus Snails
I300 60 Astraea Snails

They recommended I get this in addition to what I already have. I'm just worried that it will be too much for the tank, and they will start dying.

160 Dwarf Ceriths - tiny cleaners for the spots the others can't reach
50 Nassarius Vibex
79 Florida Ceriths
22 Assorted Hermits
15 Nerite Snails
5 Emerald Crabs
1 Chaeto
Gracilaria to grow for food

Let me know what you think.
 
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mattgsa

mattgsa

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The hermits will probably pick off some of the snails sometimes so it probably won't matter if it is too much for very long.
I think I could buy all the snails in the world and it will not completely solve the problem. Because I tested po4 again today, and it came in at 15. I think it is time to drop the hammer on these phosphates. I'm thinking about filling both sides of the BRS reactor with GFO, and testing every day until the phosphates are under control. I would do another large water change, but the water in the garage is over 85 degrees.
I also need to work on a tank cover this weekend. My male Anthea jumped out of the tank today.
 
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mattgsa

mattgsa

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Sorry to hear the fish jumped. Did you save it in time?

I would go slow on lowering the phosphate. Your system stability is the more important thing.
Alright so here's what I'm thinking right now. The few corals I have in the tank are not liking the water quality. I'm assuming the PO4 level is toxic to them. If I could I would do a 90% water change tonight, but that's not possible. I'm not sure right now, I'm going back and forth in my head. I turned up my auto water change and my water level in the sump went up setting off my Tunze alarm at 4 am. I'm not sure why at this point. The tub was in the sump but it seems like it's not pulling out the water. I will have to test more when I get home this afternoon. I'm just really glad I woke up and heard it, or I would have woken up to the wife telling me there is water all over the floor. Not good.
Sadly my son found the fish, and it was already dry and hard. That is something that I'm working on this weekend. I have all the needed supplies.
 
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mattgsa

mattgsa

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This GHA is bothering me on a fundamental level. I'm having nightmares where GHA is taking over the house, and the wife is ticked demanding a divorce if I can't kill the GHA. then it starts growing on the kids. LOL, Just kidding but it is really bothering me.
Just in case you are looking for a tank scaper do not buy this one. Continuum AquaBlade P Long - Glass and Acrylic Safe Aquarium Scraper with Plastic Blade It's a terrible scrapper.
 

rds85

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This GHA is bothering me on a fundamental level. I'm having nightmares where GHA is taking over the house, and the wife is ticked demanding a divorce if I can't kill the GHA. then it starts growing on the kids. LOL, Just kidding but it is really bothering me.
Just in case you are looking for a tank scaper do not buy this one. Continuum AquaBlade P Long - Glass and Acrylic Safe Aquarium Scraper with Plastic Blade It's a terrible scrapper.
Did you get urchins yet?
 
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mattgsa

mattgsa

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I was watching the latest BRS video where Randy goes through and shows off all the tanks. In the end, he was showing the mangroves. Which got me thinking I would love some mangroves in my sump. I'm just not sure what all is required to keep them alive. I am reasonably certain that they require some kind of sub straight. I have heard of miracle mud and of coarse live sand. But I think I'm going to do a lot more research, and hopefully have one or two in the sump.
 

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I was watching the latest BRS video where Randy goes through and shows off all the tanks. In the end, he was showing the mangroves. Which got me thinking I would love some mangroves in my sump. I'm just not sure what all is required to keep them alive. I am reasonably certain that they require some kind of sub straight. I have heard of miracle mud and of coarse live sand. But I think I'm going to do a lot more research, and hopefully have one or two in the sump.

From what I have researched, they are not easy to get started and do not uptake nutrients much.
 
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mattgsa

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From what I have researched, they are not easy to get started and do not uptake nutrients much.
Well perhaps in the future, right now I need things that will suck up nutrients, and a lot of them.
I learned something new today, which I'm sure everyone else already knew. I seem to be a little late to the party these days. So as you already know I'm doing automatic water changes with the DOS. The other day i thought I had the tubs backward because when i was looking at it the wheel was turning in the wrong direction. So last night on whim I switch the dos heads from ON to Auto. What I didn't realize at the time was the heads turn in different directions depending on which one you choose. Thus the reason i almost flooded the house, had I just changed one of them i would have been fine. However, now that I know I switched the tubs to the way they were and only turn on the waste side. (Auto, it runs faster and better on auto) That way it will pull water from the tank over time and refill with fresh water until my salinity comes back down to normal. This will also help with stability. The other thing I noticed is one of the push connect fitting on the wast line was not all the way engaged which meant the system was sucking more air then water. I put the waste water line in a five gallon bucket just to make sure it was sucking water from the tank, and not air. To my surprise when the bucket was full the water in the buck was actually crystal clear, and not yellow. I certainly hope this is the last of my troubles with the Auto water change because I'm quickly growing tired of messing with it.

I see other people online who have amazing tanks, and there's have been set far less time then mine. But you know what that's fine, I still love my tank.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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