Potomac Reef 2 - 500 gallons of fun!

[emvanburen]

What media are you using in your CRTT 3000?

They are pretty big marble type rocks, intended for low ph auto calcium reactors. Apparently small media just melts away too easily. Not sure of brand. Deltec didn’t have anything I stock. I got something intended for dastaco. Same principle.

 

[emvanburen]

Finally have the frag tank going and went out to Blue Ribbon Koi (not a joke- they sell a lot of koi too!) in Manassas to fill it up. Will let these frags recover from dipping, get acclimated to the lights and then move them up. Tank is doing well. Cyano is on the decline. Starting to get some tiny Valonia- time for some emerald crabs!

 

[emvanburen]

Did a periodic pH calibration and my values are maxing around 7.9 instead of the 8.1 I thought I was at. Clearly the carx is driving the pH down as my alk consumption is increasing. No good deed goes unpunished.

Time to fire up the refugium I suppose - hopefully some reverse photoperiod will help boost the pH. Ordered sea lettuce from Algae barn. Cannot seem to find chaeto. That and toilet paper! Crazy pandemic.

Would like to see pH> 8 : a bit arbitrary I suppose. My nitrates (3ppm) and phosphates (.01) are running very low - likely the result of the filter roller, strong skimmer, marine pure and moderate fish load. Tank is looking good though. If I raise phosphate, I get cyano. So I’m not adding anything.

Curious if the fuge will drop nitrates more or if it will just redistribute the export. Hopefully the latter.

 

[Silent]

Why not just add some kalk to raise ph?
No down sides for you and can offset the low ph from the cal reactor.

 

[emvanburen]

Why not just add some kalk to raise ph?
No down sides for you and can offset the low ph from the cal reactor.

That’s my backup plan. But would involve running another ro line and adding a stirrer so figured I’d try turning the fuge on first. Want the fuge to be more than a settling chamber!

I’d use a dos channel to feed the stirrer. Wouldn’t want it on my ato.

 

[Silent]

You dont need a stirrer. Dr. Randy mixes up like 30 gallons at a time and just doses it. I read that in a post here.

 

[Silent]

I was wrong about the 30 gallons. He mixed up 144 gallons.

I'm not a fan of stirrers for several reasons, and certainly time saving is not an inherent advantage of them. I made up a big batch of limewater (144 gallons in Brute cans) once every 30-60 days, and that took 15 minutes. It was then autodosed by my ATO for the next 46-60 days.

IMO, the only advantage of stirrers is the space savings.

Drawbacks include difficulty controlling potency, and the fact that it is not settled in the same way to reduce impurities.

 

[emvanburen]

I was wrong about the 30 gallons. He mixed up 144 gallons.

That would certainly work. I agree stirrer not needed but space is tight down in the Lab.

In a earlier post I mentioned the blue spotted jawfish. Well, he vanished at one point and I assumed I’d lost him. Over a week later, I found him, on the floor in the Lab down in the basement. He jumped into the overflow, got through the muffler, and into my fuge. Then jumped out again a week later. RIP. Liked that fish! Trying again tomorrow.

 

[emvanburen]

Purple Haze! The fuge is cooking. Have the two H380s running in grow mode. Added a bit of sea lettuce. Will see how it does. Some is sinking but a lot is still up by the overflow.

 

[ScottB]

That would certainly work. I agree stirrer not needed but space is tight down in the Lab.

In a earlier post I mentioned the blue spotted jawfish. Well, he vanished at one point and I assumed I’d lost him. Over a week later, I found him, on the floor in the Lab down in the basement. He jumped into the overflow, got through the muffler, and into my fuge. Then jumped out again a week later. RIP. Liked that fish! Trying again tomorrow.

I absolutely love blue spot jawfish, but tired of killing them. I believe these fish just don't belong in reef tanks as our water is too warm. I've read they are collected around Baja which is some darn cold water. Beautiful and interesting fish though for sure.

 

[emvanburen]

I absolutely love blue spot jawfish, but tired of killing them. I believe these fish just don't belong in reef tanks as our water is too warm. I've read they are collected around Baja which is some darn cold water. Beautiful and interesting fish though for sure.

Did they waste away?

 

[emvanburen]

Here’s a better shot of the sea lettuce which seems to be doing ok.

I’m going to get some pieces of glass cut to cover the fuge. Should reduce room humidity a lot.

 

[ScottB]

Did they waste away?

Yes exactly. Even though they would eat OK. One managed to jump a couple times when I took the lid off to mess with things. But yes, over time they would stay in the burrow longer and longer, then end up stuck on the side of an powerhead.

 

[emvanburen]

Yes exactly. Even though they would eat OK. One managed to jump a couple times when I took the lid off to mess with things. But yes, over time they would stay in the burrow longer and longer, then end up stuck on the side of an powerhead.

Well here’s to hoping that my guy has a better outcome!

 

[ScottB]

Well here’s to hoping that my guy has a better outcome!

Wishing you both well. Not only do they have great personalities, they are gorgeous. Maybe if you run the tank closer to 77 versus the 78-80 degrees he will adjust okay.

 

[emvanburen]

Thanks. That’s where it is on temp. I thought I was 78-79 but when I calibrated my thermometers recently I’m at 76-77. Will leave it there!

 

[emvanburen]

Here is a quick FTS. Found another square spot Anthias at the LFS today. Seems to have joined in with my other one peacefully. Also planning to add 4 red bars when they emerge from quarantine. Love the Anthias!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Sweet Reef

 

[emvanburen]

Got curious about CO2 levels depressing my pH. Inside running 550 and outside air is 350. That is just with me and the dog in the house. I bet it goes up higher when my wife and son come back. The monitor is pretty cool! Happy Halloween!

 

[emvanburen]

Here is a better FTS.



Also, the fuge was getting pretty foul with the sea lettuce blocking the overflow, so I put it into a bunch of floating baskets. Hopefully this works.its grown a lot in the first month!