powers2001

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I would feed that CUC some fish food. It will also help your cycle. There's probably not enough algae for them right now. Everything's looking good!!
 
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Raxnar

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I would feed that CUC some fish food. It will also help your cycle. There's probably not enough algae for them right now. Everything's looking good!!

I have been feeding the CUC some high quality fish food in the evenings when I have my Gyres turned off for bed time. Give the tanks some quiet time. Crabs seem to take the hint and come out of hiding!

I need to sit down and do a proper program for the Gyres.

If I were to introduce a Benny or 2 I could feed them with Nori until Algae starts to build up more. But maybe I'll err on the side of caution and wait a bit longer. Crabs are pretty funny.

I have, what I believe to be a bit of a Bacterial Bloom going on. Water is a tiny bit milky white. probably need to shorten the light cycle, if I recall I have it doing 12 hours, 8 at full blast, 2 hour ramp up/down time. probably should make that 8 hours with 1 hour ramp up/down instead or 8 hours including the ramp up/down 1 hour.

Water change tonight should reduce the milky look a bit. It is hard to capture the milky colour in a photo.
 
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Raxnar

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Pretty "quiet" week.

I think I've finally got my Nyos Quantum 120 to calm down! made some VERY wet skim last night. cup was 3/4 full of water that was very yellow. Dumped/cleaned it and now the foam is barely reaching the top.

Probably ok at this stage.

Water valve is wide open and the air valve is as closed as it gets. I did try to open the air valve a bit this morning and it didn't increase the foam. I'll play more with the air valve in the morning.

Have had a bacterial bloom over the past few days.

I've also had a bit of a realization with the placement of the Neptune Probes.

I had placed them just before the filter sock run off using the Neptune Probe holder. With the Custom RO reservoir taking up most of the cabinet beside the sump The magnet to hold the rack would only hold it so that 1.5" of the probs and 3/4 to 1" of the temperature probe was submerged.

Well, I spot checked the temp last night and I was at 27.9C... dang...

I've since swapped sides of this chamber and they are submerged right up to the probe holder so there is no chance that air can mess with the temp probe now!

Temperature was under control within 2 hours, back to 26C.

I can't say for certain how long the temp has been that high but I'm afraid it could have been a couple weeks... Nobody seemed too unhappy except I have a feeling the higher temp probably fueled or even started the bacterial bloom possibly.

Living and learning!

We introduced 2nd half of my CUC yesterday, they seem happy even though the trials and tribulations noted above...

We also introduced our first fish, 1 Bi-Colour Blenny. Obviously a stressful experience being transported and introduced to a new home so I have no pictures to share. I just hope he hasn't died over night...

I didn't catch the temperature problem until AFTER he was introduced...

All tank levels seem to be doing ok, Nitrates are a bit higher than the Red Sea Maturation programs mentions but that may be partly due to the bacterial bloom?

With the Temperature sorted out, Skimmer working better and an air stone going (replacing the O2 being consumed by the bacteria), hopefully everything will start to settle down and Larry the Blenny will come out and say hi.

My wife named him :)

No Pics today.
 
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Raxnar

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Saw Larry a couple of times today, seems ok, a little less shy but still hiding a ton.

PH, I've been trying to wrangle this in a little bit. It's fluctuating but not too terribly.
PH.jpg


I've dosed Distilled Vinegar twice in the past few days now at the recommended 1ml/gallon (~53ml per dosage) and it does bring it down some but it comes back up.

Tomorrow is Water change day so I'll see after what condition we are in then.

Is Soda water maybe more effective than Vinegar? Other suggestions?

I think the big spike there may have been when I had a bacterial bloom. This is now gone.

I also have an air stone going 24/7 at the moment, as well as skimmer 24/7 now that it is dialed in.
 
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Smallish update for Family day holiday.

Tank Keepers are on duty! Do not disturb! That's our boy Maverick on the left, he's a Highlander and will be 2 in May. The Tortoise shell is Nevada and she'll be 10 this year. They get along famously. When she is on duty she talks up a storm lol.

Tank Keepers.jpg


I have my full CUC crew in the tank now, some may say its a bit much but I think it'll be ok.

24 x small blue leg hermits
5 x Scarlet red Hermits
28 x snails, new snails are some small black cerith and some larger fast ones that the name escapes me at the moment.

I also added in some larger empty shells for the crabs to grow.

At least 1 of the Scarlet's grabbed a new home with in the first 24 hours! caught him lined up ready to move!

Moving day.jpg


One of the newer snails looked like he may be sick yesterday, found him on his head upside down and his foot was shrinking into its shell. I flipped him over and he hasn't moved in 18 hours. I know snails can easily sit still for many many hours, but at what point to do you grab him and inspect him to see if he's alive? 24 hours?

Larry the Blenny seems to be good! He's starting to be more adventurous and seems to like the algae pellets and red seaweed I put on a clip for him. He's still quite shy when I approach the tank when he's out but he's getting more active.

Today is water change day. I plan to add 318ML of Soda water during today's water change to try and drop the PH some. Since I've stopped running the air stone 24/7 it has stabilized quite nice (very little fluctuation), but is still a bit high.

We have a Soda Stream soda machine so I'll take some RO water and make Soda water for the tank, that way its not tap water.
PH stablized.jpg


Still No Algae at all to speak of. Diatom growth has all but vanished or the snails are eating it faster than it can spread.

I think the tank is progressing nicely.
 
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Raxnar

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RIP Snail, I took him up with tongs and used a q-tip to see if he'd react, nothing...
 

powers2001

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Now that you've spent a bunch of money on a CUC, take my advice and DON'T get a Hawkfish!! Even after hearing they're not safe with invertebrates I added a flame hawkfish to a tank with snails and hermits and three days later he killed them all.
 
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Now that you've spent a bunch of money on a CUC, take my advice and DON'T get a Hawkfish!! Even after hearing they're not safe with invertebrates I added a flame hawkfish to a tank with snails and hermits and three days later he killed them all.

Thanks for the tip!

Not sure a Hawkfish is my cup of tea.
 
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So we decided to Re-Calibrate the PH probe tonight as it wasn't jiving with the Red Sea Test kit.

Then we decided to rip through all the test again to see where were at with only 2 days left in the Red Sea Mature Kit process.

Salt - 34 PPT (1.0256)
PH - 7.75
ORP - 308 (This one is a strange one and probably a bit confusing, I still don't understand it fully)
Temp - 26.1C
Alkalinity - 5.75 (I had read the dosing instructions wrong a little while ago so this is a bit high but is coming down)
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrate - 12
Nitrite - 0.5
Phosphate 0.08

I think things are looking pretty darn good.
 
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Things have been a bit quiet the last couple weeks. Having some dinoflagellates in the tank, only on the sand for a bit. Did a thorough vacuuming today and last week, doesn't seem to get too bad. Also Added some Chemipure to the filter cup (in bag) to see if it can help.

2 more Scarlet red crab deaths :( not sure if they were fighting or what. Pretty sure I've had some of the smaller blue hermits die as well as I can only find up to 10 at any given time. Mind you they do hide very well.

The Blenny is doing well and coming out more and more. I swear Nevada (our Tortoise Shell cat) and him have or are developing a relationship lol. He's eating well, knows when its feeding time.

Might have another snail dying :( Not sure why, he's been very very still and his foot has shrunk down 2/3 of another snail of the same variety.

I know deaths are part of keeping an aquarium but they are not nice regardless.

Water change tomorrow, and filter floss change, trying to get a wrangle on this Dino. No chemical's used yet.
 
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It has been far too long since I've posted an update.

Turns out it was not Dino in my tank but rather just Diatoms! Thank

Firstly the tank survived us being away for a 3 week vacation from March 14th to the 30th. We went to Santiago Chile and did a cruise with Princess Cruise line to Los Angeles. We had a great time!

Not a Lot to report on the tank front, but good progress!

Levels could not be better.

Alkalinity hovering around 10dKH.
Ammonia = Zero
Nitrate = Zero
Nitrite = Zero
PH floating around 8.
Phosphates = Zero

We've also added a few new residents to keep Larry the Blenny company.

New residents are, 2 traditional Nemo style clown's. 2 Azure Damselfish, 3 Green Chromis, 1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp, and finally a purple bubble time anemone!

The Red Fire Shrimp is extremely shy but molted within a week of being in the Tank, I take that as a sign he/she is happy!

Our Anemone has moved around since being introduced to the tank but finally seems to have settled down. Seem's quite happy. Hoping she'll move and be in a place where we can see her.

Pretty happy with where the tank is after just 4.5 nearly 5 months!

Hardly any coraline algae growth on any surface to speak of. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing? I mean there are a couple of spots here and there on the Gyre pumps but that's about it.

Debating if I should maybe let the tank chill now for a while or get some more soft corals and maybe another anemone or 2.

I little update pic with the new residents.

I need to work on my iPhone photo's, probably needs better lighting.

New Residents 22.jpg
 
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Question.

Last night I noticed some white spots on the Glass. I'm fairly certain it is hydroid-medusa

I know from what I've read they are a filter feeder and generally not a problem. Unless it is in a breeder tank.

The question is should I take steps to eradicate them or leave them?

I tried to take a picture of them but they are so small that the iPhone is useless. But looking at them under a magnifying glass leads me to believe it is those.
 

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Hey Raxnar - enjoying your build. I'm planning a 425xl with a couple gyres - thinking 2x250s right now as I'm a little concerned about the noise some have complained about and want to run them at a low %. Anyways, how are yours working for you? How is the integration with the Apex?
 
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Hey Raxnar - enjoying your build. I'm planning a 425xl with a couple gyres - thinking 2x250s right now as I'm a little concerned about the noise some have complained about and want to run them at a low %. Anyways, how are yours working for you? How is the integration with the Apex?

Thanks for the compliment Offtropic! The build is going quite well!

In Fact, Added 3 new Corals today!
1 - 2 Headed baby Gold Tipped Branching Hammer
1 - 3 Headed Neon Branching Frogspawn
1 - 2 Headed (1 head is small and apparently recovering so he didn't charge me for 2) Purple Tip Frogspawn

Pics!
Coral 1.JPG


Are the 230's dead quiet? no they are not. Are they loud, no they are not. You never run them at 100% but you can hear them mostly when pulsing, when they are on constant the noise is less as it isn't variable. I am happy with them. I have my Computer desk about 7 feet away and it does not bug me at all.

I've been following a guy on Youtube by the name of @pelphrey , same tank as I decided on. Very nice build and great videos. He found a fellow YouTuber named CJ who developed a Gyre program that works very well for his and my tank. You can find it on his website Pelphrey.net

So far the tank residents like the flow I think.

I think the 250's should work well in the larger tank and allow you to not run them near 100% speed.

As far as Apex integration. You (From what I have read) need 1 IceCap Interface Module per pump. So currently I am not integrating it into Apex.

So, here's the dilemma. Run the programmed settings on the MaxSpect controller included or spend another $300+ for Apex Integration.

To be honest I do not know what you would gain by integration as the program I am using from CJ/Pelphrey is working well.
 

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Really enjoying following along on this build. I've been looking at adding one of the 230's to my rsr 250 and getting it integrated with my apex, but you bring up a good point. I didn't really consider the amount of money I'd be spending to do that. Looks like I can skip the integration, at least my wife will be happy with a "reef decision" for once
 
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Really enjoying following along on this build. I've been looking at adding one of the 230's to my rsr 250 and getting it integrated with my apex, but you bring up a good point. I didn't really consider the amount of money I'd be spending to do that. Looks like I can skip the integration, at least my wife will be happy with a "reef decision" for once

You can absolutely skip the Gyre integration. It has been working fantastic now that I have the Gyre's setup. It does take a few minutes to get used to the Gyre's controller interface but it is not too bad after.

I may still go all in and integrate the Gyres :) Not sure yet.

Or if MaxSpect release one that doesn't require their IceCap module x 2 I'd consider it. Heck if they are listening I'd test one out for you! ;)
 

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