Randy's Dream Methodology

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy,
If you do setup another reef, I figure that you have some unfinished business on the scientific sides of reefing.

With that being said:
Do you miss having your own reef for the beauty and and being a hobbyist too?

I miss the reef, but I also like the freedom to not have to be so tied down to it. With my younger daughter heading off to college this fall, empty nester freedom is in sight!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

show us a photo of your reef tank past and present. That will help us gauge your knowledge.

If you are asking me, here's my old tank description thread with various pictures of it:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randys-tank-description.172508/

 

[James Kanouff]

Put quality in get quality out. You have provided so much info to the hobbyist over the years, i think we could easily set up a go fund me type thing and possiblly bend your arm far enough to get you into something full scale and manageable at the same time and allow you to do some experimenting. there is no reason not to let the community give back a little for all you have done for us. At the same time using what you have learned to make it better and easier. Each time I upgrade I find many ways to make it more manageable and achieve better results. If i did another redo, I'd go thru hoops to be sure everything in the final DT was pest free. though i believe they will eventually get in. i already have a three series QT set up for all fish and a double for corals and i eventually have everything in the DT and just manage it. Red planaria, Byropsis, Astrea stars, some sort of nasty black sponge, Ect etc which takes up alot of my time. But systems wise I'm not too bad day to day. not like i used to be. Changing water with quality salt more often really seems to be a good goal. It controls all those little things that would take for ever to detect and manage individually. But then you don't know what was good bad or not needed as a result. I for one am thankful to have you around in any form to help out the rest of us by sharing good knowledge. I tremendously value your posts. THANK YOU RANDY. Ret ahold of REEF SAVY, maybe they would be interested in a RANDY edition reef tank build for you. Your worth alot to this hobby use it.

 

[PSXerholic]

I'd monitor ammonia 24/7 and in different system locations (main tank, exit from refugium, etc.) for interests sake.

I'm definitely in for that ;-)

 

[ddrueckh]

Skimmer (for aeration if nothing else)

I found this interesting. The more I use Macro Algae, the more I don't feel I need a skimmer. My 40 gallon has been running for over a year without a skimmer and is doing great. I keep moving more and more to natural filtration and away from mechanical/Chemical. Just some carbon to take the yellow out of the water. I think that the big difference is that natural filtration takes more time to adapt to change. You can make quicker adjustments with other types of filtration. Being that nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank, I am okay with this. Small changes and let the system adapt.

 

[reefwiser]

Randy I hope you do sit up a tank again. An get heavy into the learning why things do what they do. People Like GlennF are a great inspiration in that regard. I have learned many things these last few years learning about trace elements and their effects not have as much as having the correct amount With the testing we now have available to us as hobbyist. We are just starting to get an understanding of our aquariums water chemistry. Many things we think we know is not always true in reality. There is a lot to learn.

 

[Cory]

I think your ideal tank sounds great Randy. I wouldnt change a thing. Limewater is working great for me too. I like using it on my ghl doser. Seems pretty accurate this way.

 

[Bugger]

I also had Vermited snails almost take me out. From 2013 when I first got one and it became 2 then 4 then 10 then 1000. They seemed to die off from my tank which took 5 years. Either I starved them with ULNS or they just expired on there own.
What do you think of my new method @Randy Holmes-Farley 50% water change every 2 weeks. No ICP just hope for the best.

 

[LadyTang2]

What husbandry would I do in a dream tank? (some of this may look familiar as some was posted elsewhere in other threads)

In terms of water chemistry maintenance, I'd maintain calcium and alkalinity with limewater/kalkwasser (maybe pH limited to pH 8.55 or less to prevent overdose; probably on dosing timer rather than ATO) and a two part (if needed; maybe also pH limited to pH 8.55 or less). I'd like a continuous alk monitor, and if Mindstream or Seneye comes on line with reliable data, I'd monitor ammonia 24/7 and in different system locations (main tank, exit from refugium, etc.) for interests sake.

I would do substantial and repetitive ICP testing of the water to guide dosing and exporting.

There are some ions I would dose essentially independent of measurement because I don't think measurement is particularly useful for them (e.g., iron because it is typically below detection limits; silicate because it depletes so fast).

There are a bunch of ions that I do not consider important at the levels reefers typically have (e.g., lithium, maybe barium, I'd need to think through this list) and I would make no substantial effort to control those either by export or by dosing.

I would likely experiment on the tank over time to re-verify for myself that my longstanding opinions on certain chemicals are not particularly useful if dosed to maintain natural levels, despite the fact that many reefers do. If they showed a positive effect, I'd rethink dosing them. These include iodide and strontium. I'd certainly continue dosing them if they appeared useful to my system.

There are a whole bunch of biologically active trace elements that I'd likely measure and dose which I did not in the past, but which previously tested low in my system (e.g., molybdenum) and I'd likely dose these to roughly NSW levels. I might experiment on these in a variety of ways (e.g., allowing one to go undosed for a long time and then restart and see if anything apparently changed).

I'd probably do automatic water changes, but again, might also experiment on the amount, from none to a couple of percent a day.

As to other "methods", I'd likely do some or most of these that I partly copied from another post:
Ato
Temperature control (temp controller to kick on heaters or cooling system)
Skimmer (for aeration if nothing else)
Rodi unit with inline tds
Nutrient export (macroalgae, gfo, organic carbon dosing, GAC, maybe experiment with organic resins like Purigen)
Might try LED lights to save electricity, but I'm not yet convinced I'd like the look

Randy, have any of your dream methodology ideas changed since this post? Any new ideas?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy, have any of your dream methodology ideas changed since this post? Any new ideas?

I don’t think so, but automating the alkalinity addition seems to be a good idea for some types of reefs. I can’t recall if hat was mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[bryanfuel]

I miss the reef, but I also like the freedom to not have to be so tied down to it. With my younger daughter heading off to college this fall, empty nester freedom is in sight!

So has that empty nester syndrome started to kick in?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So has that empty nester syndrome started to kick in?

No. Two old dogs, one deaf and partly crippled, are occupying the nest. lol

 

[bryanfuel]

No. Two old dogs, one deaf and partly crippled, are occupying the nest. lol

Haha, that’ll do it . As much as a love reef tanks and everything involved in the hobby, there’s something special about dogs that a reef tank will never be able to provide.

 

[Ls7corvete]

Just going to bump this thread

 

[thejacgues]

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley If I may ask... Why Kalkwasser for Alkalinity and pH instead of NaOH?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley If I may ask... Why Kalkwasser for Alkalinity and pH instead of NaOH?

When I wrote this, I had not yet come up with the DIY two part using NaOH, but limewater/kalkwasser does have the advantage that it does not cause significant ion imbalance and needs no corrections such as Balling Part C.

But the NaOH two part is a fine way to go, and it might be what I would pick today instead of, or in addition to, the limewater.

 

[thejacgues]

Thanks! On the other hand, NaOH is extremely concentrated, meanwhile, CaOH2 needs to be added in high quantities, is that right? How much more Balling Part C would need to be added for the system running on NaOH in comparison to the Kalkwasser?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks! On the other hand, NaOH is extremely concentrated, meanwhile, CaOH2 needs to be added in high quantities, is that right? How much more Balling Part C would need to be added for the system running on NaOH in comparison to the Kalkwasser?

Baling part C is not used at all with kalkwasser. Adding it would itself cause an ion imbalance.

Yes, sodium hydroxide can be far more concentrated, so if demand cannot be met with limewater/kalkwasser replacing all evaporation, then it's a good high pH choice.

 

[thejacgues]

Yes, sodium hydroxide can be far more concentrated, so if demand cannot be met with limewater/kalkwasser replacing all evaporation, then it's a good high pH choice.

Thanks Randy!
Evaporation differs, wouldn't that be a concern, as pH and Calcium supplementation would fluctuate over the time? Wouldn't macro intake based soley on Kalkwasser also create pH increase over the healthy threshold when evaporation is high?

I wonder why pouring NaOH into the water, which causes an imbalance is superior over other methods. What about replacing it with CO2 scrubber connected to a skimmer (which could work in closed loop to increase media lifespan)? If that was the case, what would you use as macro intake solution?

Lastly - why aren't you considering Sodium Carbonate in your dreams methodology as source of Alkalinity and pH increase?

Sorry for the amount of questions asked, but there's a lot going on in my head.

 

[Reefahholic]

You should setup a simple smaller reef with a nice footprint! How about 100/G or so??! 48x24x20. Does dry armpit’s and some tang swimming room appeal? What’s on your mind as far as size if you got back in?