Mattgsa 315 gallon build

mattgsa · May 17, 2021

Well, I got two of the three screen tops done this weekend. Hopefully, I will get the third one done here shortly. The first two turned out great. Sorry I just got a picture of the one.

mattgsa · May 17, 2021

I'm watching all the videos on the Neptune Sky, I wish they were out a couple of months ago, and I would probably have bought them. But I have too much money invested in light rights now, I can't justify another 3K, the wife would kill me.

GBRsouth · May 17, 2021

mattgsa said:
I'm watching all the videos on the Neptune Sky, I wish they were out a couple of months ago, and I would probably have bought them. But I have too much money invested in light rights now, I can't justify another 3K, the wife would kill me.

Would be a huge waste of money to go from one great light to another great light. What you already have will grow anything you want.

mattgsa · May 18, 2021

GBRsouth said:
Would be a huge waste of money to go from one great light to another great light. What you already have will grow anything you want.

Yea, have no plans to change out the lights now.

mattgsa · May 18, 2021

Does anybody have a recommendation for a phosphate test kit. I have lost confidence in the Hana phosphate tester. The readings are all over the board, and I don’t know which one to trust.

GBRsouth · May 18, 2021

I sort of expect your phos readings to be all over the place while the gha is dying off and being consumed and pooped out again by the tangs. Hold off on changing the Hannah checker til at least two months after the ugly phase and I think in that time you'll see the readings stabilise.

mattgsa · May 18, 2021

GBRsouth said:
I sort of expect your phos readings to be all over the place while the gha is dying off and being consumed and pooped out again by the tangs. Hold off on changing the Hannah checker til at least two months after the ugly phase and I think in that time you'll see the readings stabilise.

Even in a period of 10 minutes, have swing of plus or minus 30. I can under stand over the period of days, but not in 10 minutes. However, I think I may have found another problem. I think I ordered the wrong reagent. I have the ULR and the reagent is LR. Either way I ordered the regular phosphate meter from Hana.

GBRsouth · May 18, 2021

mattgsa said:
Even in a period of 10 minutes, have swing of plus or minus 30. I can under stand over the period of days, but not in 10 minutes. However, I think I may have found another problem. I think I ordered the wrong reagent. I have the ULR and the reagent is LR. Either way I ordered the regular phosphate meter from Hana.

Yeah LR is more concentrated and when used in a ULR checker it would be giving readings beyond it's parameters so readings all over the place isn't surprising.

mattgsa · May 18, 2021

This is a really bad idea, but the fish is beautiful. (Just to be clear, I have no intention of buying it. I just wish I could)

mattgsa · May 27, 2021

Sorry for not posting. I have been in bed for days with Covid. I'm reasonably sure I lost most of my tester corals. I'm not going to get any more until the GHA is gone. Also I'm still working on stability issues with nutrients. I think I have fixed my problems with salinity.

GBRsouth · May 27, 2021

Hope you get over it soon! Put your health first.

Janci · May 28, 2021

Wishing you all the best and a quick recovery!!

mattgsa · Jun 3, 2021

Well after recovering for the most part from covid. I had a very unpleasant surprise. I only used one box of HW salt in my mixing container. Keep in mind the container was clean before the salt. Now I have a massive amount of brown sludge in the bottom of the tank. The water was so bad I just pumped out 200 gallons of RODI water to the yard, rather than put it in my tank. I'm thinking that's where all the GHA is coming from. Let's just say I have a box of HW salt sitting in the garage, and I will most likely toss it in the trash rather than put it in my tank. Because now I have to tear it all apart to clean it out. I ordered some TM. HW salt is some of the worse salt I have ever used. Even instant ocean is better.
The other bad news is my grandmother passed away while I was sick with Covid. So next week I have taken several days off of work to go to the funeral and work on the tank.

GBRsouth · Jun 4, 2021

Sorry for your loss and hope you recover from covid quickly.

Hope all goes well with the change of salt.

cmaxwell39 · Jun 6, 2021

Sorry to hear about your grandma and the COVID adventure. Get yourself better and the tank will come back around in time.

on the salt front, that is frustrating. My biggest problem with TM has been availability. May be better now, but for a lot of last year finding it was rather difficult. Great salt. I think you will really like it.

mattgsa · Jun 6, 2021

I'm over Covid, and the funeral is tomorrow. I'm hoping life gets back to normal after that.
Here are some pictures of the mixing container before i cleaned it.

That's not it, I also found out the controller for my Maxpect 350 is half dead so half the flow in the tank is not working.

I'm now thinking what changes need to be made to the flow. I'm thinking about adding some MP's but I'm not sure which ones, or how many I have several ideas.

GBRsouth · Jun 7, 2021

mattgsa said:
I'm over Covid, and the funeral is tomorrow. I'm hoping life gets back to normal after that.
Here are some pictures of the mixing container before i cleaned it.

That's not it, I also found out the controller for my Maxpect 350 is half dead so half the flow in the tank is not working.

I'm now thinking what changes need to be made to the flow. I'm thinking about adding some MP's but I'm not sure which ones, or how many I have several ideas.

Glad things will be back to normal for you soon.

That mixing container got really dirty fast!

I can't remember what your glass thickness is. If below 19mm you could go mp40, 19mm or above go mp60 because of magnet strength.

mattgsa · Jun 8, 2021

GBRsouth said:
Glad things will be back to normal for you soon.

That mixing container got really dirty fast!

I can't remember what your glass thickness is. If below 19mm you could go mp40, 19mm or above go mp60 because of magnet strength.

I heard back from Maxspec today, and they are going send me a new controller. I'm was very happy with their customer service. I also got the auto water change in progress.
However, I'm also thinking about getting some MP40's. I just hoping they have the power to clear the tank. I asked the BRS, and they said MP40 are more than enough for an 8 foot tank.

GBRsouth · Jun 8, 2021

mattgsa said:
I heard back from Maxspec today, and they are going send me a new controller. I'm was very happy with their customer service. I also got the auto water change in progress.
However, I'm also thinking about getting some MP40's. I just hoping they have the power to clear the tank. I asked the BRS, and they said MP40 are more than enough for an 8 foot tank.

They (mp40's) are powerful enough, I have just seen others mention they slide out of position a bit on 19mm glass. So if you have 19mm thick glass or above I'd choose mp60's as they have stronger magnets to hold position better. If your tank glass thickness is 15mm then it won't matter mp40's would be fine.

mattgsa · Jun 8, 2021

GBRsouth said:
They (mp40's) are powerful enough, I have just seen others mention they slide out of position a bit on 19mm glass. So if you have 19mm thick glass or above I'd choose mp60's as they have stronger magnets to hold position better. If your tank glass thickness is 15mm then it won't matter mp40's would be fine.

I have 1/2 inch glass, I don’t know how many millimeters that is.