Red Sea Max S 500 Build

[GoVols]

Red Sea

When you get the chance, try the Salifert mag test kit.

 

[timnem70]

Both are good quality kits. I know its silly but I hate the 1 drip then swirl for 30 seconds then another, swirl for 30 with the red sea. The Salifert is great and so are the "newer" Geismann test kits. Just put sample in, drops in, swirl and read. Pretty foolproof and I am that fool that likes easy. I also dont really test Mag any longer unless I notice Alk or calcium way outta wack and it's been 1500 or above for the life of both my tanks. I used Fritz RPM for the first 2 years of existence and it has really elevated, in fact most "reef" or "pro" mixes. I have since just used IO or something NON Pro.
You're good man and best to your adventures.

When you get the chance, try the Salifert mag test kit.

 

[Rctreece]

I am loving the Hannah testers as my freaking eyes are not what they used to be.

 

[Rctreece]

Well had a bad night. My little flame angel died. When I got home she was looking strange and like she had a swim bladder issue. Didn't take long till she was breathing hard and died. Really sucks because I hate to be the cause of that but I hope to learn from it. She was good all the way through the QT and was eating. I only put her and two clowns in a week or so ago and really didn't get to enjoy her that much due to work. I have an auto feeder and would see that the others were eating and when I was hand feeding her I saw her eating some. I did see her grazing on the rocks but I really don't have much algae for her to eat and should have paid more attention to watching her eat. The fish was pretty shy and would hide most of the time but I did see her out and about sometimes. Really sucks.

 

[Rctreece]

I ramp them up over 1 hour from 11.30am and they ramp down at 9pm for 1 hour and off at 10pm (because the alcohol has done its job by then! Lol)

The only difference is at 7pm I go darker and ‘blue’ for the evening because I like it that way. I also have the storm effects on.

And my Mg has also always been high (currently around 1550-1600) with no ill effects. I don’t need to dose it and now only do random tests, simply because it’s, well high. Just make sure your Alkalinity is stable, and calcium.

So from 1230 to 7 they are maxed out?

 

[GoVols]

;Sorry

 

[Rctreece]

So tested everything again and here are the results
Salt. 34.6. Heading to 35
Ph. 8.04
Nitrate 4
P04 .02. Finally got some to show. I need to target .2?
Cal. 526. Targeting 465.
Alk. 8.3 dKH.

I think my numbers are getting better. Still not dosing nopox.
Have slight issue with cyno
My rocks are developing a red green purple looking color and have some small purple dots on the glass. I hope this is coralline
Added some more coral that the wife bought and told her no more until the tank matures a bit.
My frogspawn I put in last week is not extending very much so I moved it to a shady spot on the sand.

 

[SPR1968]

So from 1230 to 7 they are maxed out?

Yes. And then I go blue slightly dimmed and the last hour is ramped down.

Sorry to hear about the Flame Angel, very sad.

 

[SPR1968]

So tested everything again and here are the results
Salt. 34.6. Heading to 35
Ph. 8.04
Nitrate 4
P04 .02. Finally got some to show. I need to target .2?
Cal. 526. Targeting 465.
Alk. 8.3 dKH.

I think my numbers are getting better. Still not dosing nopox.
Have slight issue with cyno
My rocks are developing a red green purple looking color and have some small purple dots on the glass. I hope this is coralline
Added some more coral that the wife bought and told her no more until the tank matures a bit.
My frogspawn I put in last week is not extending very much so I moved it to a shady spot on the sand.

Your Phosphate target should be around 0.03ppm (I assume .2 means 0.02 or you will have problems!! Lol)

I would just keep an eye on Nitrate. You could start using NoPox but you just have to watch the dosing as you don’t want Nitrate to low. It’s all about deciding on your target levels and then balancing the NoPox dose to achieve that. Once you get the hang of it it relatively easy by just tweeking the dose weekly.

For what it’s worth I have a very high bioload and dose 21ml per day and my tank runs at 0.03 Phosphate and around 10-15 Nitrate and the corals glow at these levels. I have to also use Rhowaphos and NoPox won’t deal with phosphate well enough.

There is an article Tanks Of The Masters on here and you will be surprised what their established tanks run at. Most are not ultra low nutrient.

 

[Rctreece]

Ok so I am at the target level. Cool. Got a new toy today to take better pic. Aquariclip. Pretty cool to use on cell phone

 

[GoVols]

Ok so I am at the target level. Cool. Got a new toy today to take better pic. Aquariclip. Pretty cool to use on cell phone

Love the scape!!

 

[Rctreece]

Love the scape!!

Thanks. First attempt

Heading up to God’s country for the fourth, gatlinburg. Go Vols

 

[SPR1968]

Ok so I am at the target level. Cool. Got a new toy today to take better pic. Aquariclip. Pretty cool to use on cell phone

Looking good so far.

I can give you a tip in that to get a more natural look, take the corals off their plugs before attaching them to the rocks as it looks much better. I used to attach them with the plugs as well when I first started out.

To get the coral off, depending on what it is and how it’s fastened, i either just snap it off, or get a screwdriver and hammer and hit it at the joint for a clean break, hopefully!

It’s interesting that you’ve got the 2 circulation pumps at each end of the tank. You don’t need those with the Max S as the rear circulation pumps take care of adequate flow, and then you get the clean look with no wires. But it’s your tank so you make it how you want.

Anyway keep up with the pictures!

 

[timnem70]

If he is going to keep SPS longterm yoi bet he will need that flow. Nothing at all wrong with that other than you pointed out, wires are an eyesore. Mine is like that too. Its looking good.

Looking good so far.

I can give you a tip in that to get a more natural look, take the corals off their plugs before attaching them to the rocks as it looks much better. I used to attach them with the plugs as well when I first started out.

To get the coral off, depending on what it is and how it’s fastened, i either just snap it off, or get a screwdriver and hammer and hit it at the joint for a clean break, hopefully!

It’s interesting that you’ve got the 2 circulation pumps at each end of the tank. You don’t need those with the Max S as the rear circulation pumps take care of adequate flow, and then you get the clean look with no wires. But it’s your tank so you make it how you want.

Anyway keep up with the pictures!

 

[Rctreece]

Looking good so far.

I can give you a tip in that to get a more natural look, take the corals off their plugs before attaching them to the rocks as it looks much better. I used to attach them with the plugs as well when I first started out.

To get the coral off, depending on what it is and how it’s fastened, i either just snap it off, or get a screwdriver and hammer and hit it at the joint for a clean break, hopefully!

It’s interesting that you’ve got the 2 circulation pumps at each end of the tank. You don’t need those with the Max S as the rear circulation pumps take care of adequate flow, and then you get the clean look with no wires. But it’s your tank so you make it how you want.

Anyway keep up with the pictures!

Thanks for the info. I keep my frags on the plugs because I really don't know where to put them and I don't want to put them permanently in a spot until I see they are happy. The circulation pumps are Apex Wavs that I installed to give some variation to the water flow. Hate the wires but I guess a necessary evil. I will be happy when I see some growth in my corals but until then I am just hoping I am doing things correctly.

 

[SPR1968]

Thanks for the info. I keep my frags on the plugs because I really don't know where to put them and I don't want to put them permanently in a spot until I see they are happy. The circulation pumps are Apex Wavs that I installed to give some variation to the water flow. Hate the wires but I guess a necessary evil. I will be happy when I see some growth in my corals but until then I am just hoping I am doing things correctly.

Oh I see on the corals.

If you hate the wires take them out. You don’t need them.

Look at my build thread if you want to see if you need them. I don’t have anything other than the standard flow from the tank

But it’s your tank and your wave makers so if you feel them necessary they can only be beneficial so.......

 

[GoVols]

Oh I see on the corals.

If you hate the wires take them out. You don’t need them.

Look at my build thread if you want to see if you need them. I don’t have anything other than the standard flow from the tank

But it’s your tank and your wave makers so if you feel them necessary they can only be beneficial so.......

Shaun,

(lol)
An S-Series is already an flow monster

 

[Rctreece]

Well crap. Got home today and was checking out the tank and both my clowns dead. what the heck. They have been doing great. Eating. Saw alittle aggression from the chromis but not much. Found one have eaten and can’t find the other. They were both small and I wonder if the others got them or if that big butt emerald crab did it. 3 fish in a week. dang

 

[Rctreece]

So did some testing just to make sure everything was good to go and it all checked out. Even finally got my ALK to 8 and dosing is keeping it there daily, same with CAL. Still wondering what happen to those fish.

 

[Rctreece]

Well the tank isn't doing very well. All the corals are looking good but really haven't seen any growth but its still new. I have gone from six fish to one. Have no idea why. I added three blue chromis shortly after my tank cycled and had no issues with them. I then bought a flame angel and two clowns which all went through QT without issue and survived a few weeks in the DT. First the angel went, then I found the two clowns, and now two of the chromis. None of the fish showed any signs of disease. All the parameters were on target and as of lately they were spot on with no adjustments in dosing. I am going on vacation in a few weeks so no point in adding new fish until I get back but I really would like to know what happened. The last surviving fish is the biggest chromis of them all but I never really saw him messing with the others. The only issue I see is that I have cyno. I see it on the sand and most of my rockwork is covered in a red substance but I am not sure if that is cyno or coralline as some is dark red, purple, green. Can cyno kill fish? Does it grow on the rocks?