My 240G Build

sam.veilleux30 · Apr 24, 2020

mitch91175 said:
I wanted to have a lot of flow so I removed the sand and put zoanthinds and other softies on the botttom glass. They are my sand bed lol.

It is much easier for me personally to control my nutrients this way. Now even controlled dosing NO3/PO4. No worries about dinoflagellates.

Easy. I drained all water to the top of the sand. Scooped out the sand, put back in the rock, coral, etc and added a bunch of SPS. Tiny cycle.

Thanks, i already have sps and i was worried that it could prove to be too much of a change for them.

reefpunk707 · Apr 24, 2020

So beautiful nice work!!!

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

sam.veilleux30 said:
Thanks, i already have sps and i was worried that it could prove to be too much of a change for them.

When making this type of change, just be sure that you know what your parameters are currently and decide if you want to remain around the same level or adjust. Either way, you want to try to be consistent with them. So not swinging NO3/PO4.

Have a plan to increase/decrease if necessary NO3/PO4 just as you do with salinity, calcium, magnesium, etc. Doesn't matter how you plan it, just that you have a plan.

SeaMonkeys · Apr 24, 2020

Nice looking tank! Can you tell me what the settings you are using for your hydra 52's and the schedule? Thanks!

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

SeaMonkeys said:
Nice looking tank! Can you tell me what the settings you are using for your hydra 52's and the schedule? Thanks!

All circumstances and tanks are definitely different, but this is what I am currently running on the system:

NOTE: Every where you see 20K this is the spectrum above that I run

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

So I got in my very first ATI ICP test results. Now I have something to work on this weekend, happy happy

ATI ICP Test Results

SeaMonkeys · Apr 24, 2020

understand every tank is different I am always just curious how yours compares to mine and others.

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

So from the results from the ICP test, I just adjusted my NO3 dosing from 13ml/day to 5ml/day.

Completely, stopped dosing Red Sea A (which includes Iodine / Bromine / Flouride) all which are high in my system.

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

So will get these resolved:

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

Here is the RODI water analysis: Nothing there but a little NO3.

ATI ICP for RO/DI Water

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

I'll just do a 40 gallon water change today and another one of Sunday and call it a day (ideally decreasing the iodine/strontium levels and anything else that is higher than suggested and just maintain them from there) and dose the trace elements that I know that'll be low since the salt that I use likely lake them (Fritz Pro). But will confirm prior to add those missing elements.

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

Adjusting my dKH to run lower than I have. Changing to 7.2-7.7

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

Adjusting my calcium reactor pH as well. These are going to be my new settings:

Night:
Set OFF
If Time 22:01 to 04:00 Then ON
If CaRxPh > 7.15 Then ON
If Time 04:01 to 22:00 Then OFF
If CaRxPh < 7.10 Then OFF

Day:
Set OFF
If Time 04:01 to 22:00 Then ON
If CaRxPh > 7.10 Then ON
If Time 22:00 to 04:00 Then OFF
If CaRxPh < 7.05 Then OFF

mitch91175 · Apr 24, 2020

I bet some people might look at these changes I making on the fly and wonder, "Is this guy gonna kill all his tank?".

Well there is always a potential to doing something that can cause catastrophic results in your system. But I feel that I am familiar enough with my tank to know what it can/cannot handle.

Changing the calcium dosage, amount of NO3 dosage, pH in the calcium reactor, dKH range, and doing a 40 gallon water change are all things I feel that won't cause me one bit of anxiety.

When I setup my system, I planned on being able to make these types of adjustments without blinking and monitor them over the next week or so I make sure I haven't gone lopsided with the changes. If needing to adjust again, will do so for most using either the Apex/Alkatronic/Dosetronic for most of them.