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Retirement 150g Tank Upgrade
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cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Looks excellent. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing with that tank now. It has been a challenge getting it set up. Wishing you all the best as those gorgeous corals settle in and start growing.
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
Chalice's are still doing good ,, none show any problems being in the new tank , so far ,, that's always a good sign ,, I do have a problem though ,, its something I could have taken care of a couple of months ago ,, I just didn't think about it ,, I should have ,, now I am not sure the best way to fix the problem ,, ya'll can give me your thoughts on what is the best thing to do ,, its a rock problem ,,
Most of the rock in the tank is this rock https://www.marinedepot.com/stax-rock-flat-aquascaping-rocks-by-two-little-fishies-5-lbs this is Marco Rock that has been dug up from where ever they mine it ,, I think Florida or Tenn. ,, its cut on a ban saw to make the slab pieces ,, perfect for a shallow Chalice tank ,, the down side is ,, it has a lot of holes in it ,, what I should have done when I got the rock several months ago ,, was to have bought some of that two part epoxy ,, filled all the holes I wanted ,, then just let it dry ,, till it went into the tank ,,
Now that the rock is in the tank ,, its only been in water for going on a week ,, should I buy some of this two part epoxy ,, pull a rock one at a time out of the tank ,, fill the holes I want ,, let it dry for a couple of days ,, back into the tank and pull another rock ,, do it again ,, or should I use some kind of silicone to fill the holes ?
Some of the Chalices ,, I could be wrong about this ,, they won't really encrust to the rock ,, may or may not even follow the contour of the rock ,, the only place they will have contact with the rock is where they are mounted to the rock ,, I would only need to fill in the hole in the rock is where there is a hole in the same spot where I want to glue the frag down to ,, I have never grown Chalices out to where they have some size to them on rock ,, my biggest Chalices have always been on a sand bed ,, not sure what I should be doing here ,,
What do ya'll suggest ?
Most of the rock in the tank is this rock https://www.marinedepot.com/stax-rock-flat-aquascaping-rocks-by-two-little-fishies-5-lbs this is Marco Rock that has been dug up from where ever they mine it ,, I think Florida or Tenn. ,, its cut on a ban saw to make the slab pieces ,, perfect for a shallow Chalice tank ,, the down side is ,, it has a lot of holes in it ,, what I should have done when I got the rock several months ago ,, was to have bought some of that two part epoxy ,, filled all the holes I wanted ,, then just let it dry ,, till it went into the tank ,,
Now that the rock is in the tank ,, its only been in water for going on a week ,, should I buy some of this two part epoxy ,, pull a rock one at a time out of the tank ,, fill the holes I want ,, let it dry for a couple of days ,, back into the tank and pull another rock ,, do it again ,, or should I use some kind of silicone to fill the holes ?
Some of the Chalices ,, I could be wrong about this ,, they won't really encrust to the rock ,, may or may not even follow the contour of the rock ,, the only place they will have contact with the rock is where they are mounted to the rock ,, I would only need to fill in the hole in the rock is where there is a hole in the same spot where I want to glue the frag down to ,, I have never grown Chalices out to where they have some size to them on rock ,, my biggest Chalices have always been on a sand bed ,, not sure what I should be doing here ,,
What do ya'll suggest ?
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
You could use a two part epoxy that is designed to cure underwater and not have to even remove the rock. Something like this.
www.bulkreefsupply.com
AquaStik Underwater Epoxy Putty - Coralline Red
AquaStik is our go to epoxy for its low cost, and excellent performance. Epoxy putty is widely used around the aquarium hobby because it is reef-safe and easy to use. The Two Little Fishies epoxy putty is easy to mix, and the coralline purple is one of the closest color matches on the market...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
QUOTE="cmaxwell39, post: 6790630, member: 28165"]
You could use a two part epoxy that is designed to cure underwater and not have to even remove the rock. Something like this.
www.bulkreefsupply.com
[/QUOTE]
That's what I will use
that stuff messes up a skimmer big time ,, I would rather use it outside the tank ,, let it dry outside the tank ,,
You could use a two part epoxy that is designed to cure underwater and not have to even remove the rock. Something like this.
AquaStik Underwater Epoxy Putty - Coralline Red
AquaStik is our go to epoxy for its low cost, and excellent performance. Epoxy putty is widely used around the aquarium hobby because it is reef-safe and easy to use. The Two Little Fishies epoxy putty is easy to mix, and the coralline purple is one of the closest color matches on the market...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
That's what I will use
that stuff messes up a skimmer big time ,, I would rather use it outside the tank ,, let it dry outside the tank ,,
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
Have a update ,, lots going on ,, more or less ,, no bad news this time for a change, for the most part I have the salinity issues dealt with in both tanks ,, that's a biggie
The Chalice tank ,, I have been feeding the Chalices, they look happy ,, some what anyway ,, two of them were getting some white on them, that's never good ,, I am not at risk of losing them I think ,, those two Chalices were at the top of the scape ,, getting a Par of 150 ,, thinking it was a lighting issue ,, because of either a Par issue or a spot lighting thing going on from the LEDs ,, I dropped the light percentage from 55% to 45% ,, then I did a water test ,, ALK is at 11 dang ,, that's most likely the issue ,, I haven't added Alk to the tank ,, its because of the salt and the salinity issue I had going of I guess ,, I would have thought removing water from the tank and replacing with RO/DI water to get the salinity level down would have taken care of that problem ,, guess I was wrong ,, nothing much I can do but let the salinity come down on its own ,, I guess.
I have Chatto growing in a tray in the sump tank with a white light bulb I got from Lowe's ,, I will come back to that in a bit ,, I also put the GFO reactor online last night ,, Phosphates were reading 1.4 after a 10g water change ,, am sure Reef Roids had something to do with that ,, I put 1/4 cup of GFO in the reactor, with very low flow going thru the reactor,, not even a steady stream ,, not really sure I should have put any GFO in the reactor til the Alk comes down ,, still have the Diatoms going on ,, I pulled about 5 or 6 big Turbo Snails out of the 150g and put into the Chalice tank ,, Haven't bought anymore fish for the Chalice tank ,, was planning on it ,, may try and get a Yellow Tang this week ,,
The 150g
My biggest issue going on with this tank ,, growing Chatto ,, this will take a bit ,, I have a Pax Bellum ,, I dose liquid iron and Chatto Grow to the tank ,, Chatto sucks up iorn ,, the first two times I used the Pax ,, was thinking the best money I ever spent on my tank ,, grew Chatto like crazy ,,the second 2 times,, turned it to mush so I started looking in the Forum for answers ,, others were having the same problem ,, a reefer posted a video of reasons people were having problems with the Pax ,, one of the reasons were low Phosphate numbers because they were running GFO or a like product while they had the Pax online ,, I was doing this ,, my Phosphate number was very low ,, Nitrates were at 25
So ,, I got my Phosphate number back up ,, Reef Roids helps with that I put the Pax back online 2 days ago ,, there should be no reason for it not to work ,, Nitrate number is good for the Pax anyway Phosphate number is good ,, I have dosed Iron and Chatto grow to the tank ,, I will give the Pax 3 or 4 weeks and see ,, if it doesn't ,, its going into the trash and I will pull the Kessil grow light back out and put the Chatto back into the tray in the sump tank ,,
I have a friend that has the smallest model of the Pax Bellum ,, I have the medium sized one ,,my friend buys systems from reefers getting out of the hobby ,, corals and all ,, keeps what he wants ,, which is mostly the corals re sells the rest ,, I am sure this is where he got the Pax ,, he has offered me this Pax for a very good price ,, I want it for the Chalice tank ,, before I buy it though ,, I want to make sure I can get the one on the 150g back to working right ,, he understands this and is going to hold it for me till we figure this out ,, if mine doesn't get back to working ,, maybe I can trade it to him for some corals lol
My SPS corals are starting to do good ,, good color to them ,, mostly green , that should change when I deal with the Nitrates and phosphates, but they look healthy ,, some like my Walt Disney are starting to grow ,, others are encrusting ,, Favias and zoas are all looking good ,,
Now for the really good news I have corals coming today from two very good reefers on R2R Watchguy123 and Ledreef ,, from Watchguy123 I have several Favias 3 maybe 4 ,, this will put the Favia count in the tank at about 24 or so lol what can I say,, I like them,, pretty and are good growers ,, a Chalice and a very nice Goni ,, from Ledreef ,, 3 nice acros ,, well one I don't know about but its the other two I really want ,, the two I want and are at the top of my want to buy list Tyree Purple Monster and the Heart of the Ocean ,, the one I don't know much about is the Optimus Prime ,, if Ledreef is selling it ,, it has to be a nice one ,,
I had bought a frag of the Heart of the Ocean when Peng first sold them ,, Fed Ex killed it with the 2 days it took me to get it Peng refunded my money back to me ,, I didn't want the money though ,, I wanted the coral ,, I know Boom Corals has one in grow out ,, its been awhile ,, I need to get him to send me a picture
That's it ,, your caught up ,,
I have the salinity issues dealt with in both tanks ,, that's a biggieThe Chalice tank ,, I have been feeding the Chalices, they look happy ,, some what anyway ,, two of them were getting some white on them, that's never good ,, I am not at risk of losing them I think ,, those two Chalices were at the top of the scape ,, getting a Par of 150 ,, thinking it was a lighting issue ,, because of either a Par issue or a spot lighting thing going on from the LEDs ,, I dropped the light percentage from 55% to 45% ,, then I did a water test ,, ALK is at 11 dang ,, that's most likely the issue ,, I haven't added Alk to the tank ,, its because of the salt and the salinity issue I had going of I guess ,, I would have thought removing water from the tank and replacing with RO/DI water to get the salinity level down would have taken care of that problem ,, guess I was wrong ,, nothing much I can do but let the salinity come down on its own ,, I guess.
I have Chatto growing in a tray in the sump tank with a white light bulb I got from Lowe's ,, I will come back to that in a bit ,, I also put the GFO reactor online last night ,, Phosphates were reading 1.4 after a 10g water change ,, am sure Reef Roids had something to do with that ,, I put 1/4 cup of GFO in the reactor, with very low flow going thru the reactor,, not even a steady stream ,, not really sure I should have put any GFO in the reactor til the Alk comes down ,, still have the Diatoms going on ,, I pulled about 5 or 6 big Turbo Snails out of the 150g and put into the Chalice tank ,, Haven't bought anymore fish for the Chalice tank ,, was planning on it ,, may try and get a Yellow Tang this week ,,
The 150g
My biggest issue going on with this tank ,, growing Chatto ,, this will take a bit ,, I have a Pax Bellum ,, I dose liquid iron and Chatto Grow to the tank ,, Chatto sucks up iorn ,, the first two times I used the Pax ,, was thinking the best money I ever spent on my tank ,, grew Chatto like crazy ,,the second 2 times,, turned it to mush
so I started looking in the Forum for answers ,, others were having the same problem ,, a reefer posted a video of reasons people were having problems with the Pax ,, one of the reasons were low Phosphate numbers because they were running GFO or a like product while they had the Pax online ,, I was doing this ,, my Phosphate number was very low ,, Nitrates were at 25So ,, I got my Phosphate number back up ,, Reef Roids helps with that
I put the Pax back online 2 days ago ,, there should be no reason for it not to work ,, Nitrate number is good for the Pax anyway Phosphate number is good ,, I have dosed Iron and Chatto grow to the tank ,, I will give the Pax 3 or 4 weeks and see ,, if it doesn't ,, its going into the trash and I will pull the Kessil grow light back out and put the Chatto back into the tray in the sump tank ,,I have a friend that has the smallest model of the Pax Bellum ,, I have the medium sized one ,,my friend buys systems from reefers getting out of the hobby ,, corals and all ,, keeps what he wants ,, which is mostly the corals
re sells the rest ,, I am sure this is where he got the Pax ,, he has offered me this Pax for a very good price ,, I want it for the Chalice tank ,, before I buy it though ,, I want to make sure I can get the one on the 150g back to working right ,, he understands this and is going to hold it for me till we figure this out ,, if mine doesn't get back to working ,, maybe I can trade it to him for some corals lolMy SPS corals are starting to do good ,, good color to them ,, mostly green , that should change when I deal with the Nitrates and phosphates, but they look healthy ,, some like my Walt Disney are starting to grow ,, others are encrusting ,, Favias and zoas are all looking good ,,
Now for the really good news
I have corals coming today from two very good reefers on R2R Watchguy123 and Ledreef ,, from Watchguy123 I have several Favias 3 maybe 4 ,, this will put the Favia count in the tank at about 24 or so lol what can I say,, I like them,, pretty and are good growers ,, a Chalice and a very nice Goni ,, from Ledreef ,, 3 nice acros ,, well one I don't know about but its the other two I really want ,, the two I want and are at the top of my want to buy list Tyree Purple Monster and the Heart of the Ocean ,, the one I don't know much about is the Optimus Prime ,, if Ledreef is selling it ,, it has to be a nice one ,,I had bought a frag of the Heart of the Ocean when Peng first sold them ,, Fed Ex killed it with the 2 days it took me to get it
Peng refunded my money back to me ,, I didn't want the money though ,, I wanted the coral ,, I know Boom Corals has one in grow out ,, its been awhile ,, I need to get him to send me a picture That's it ,, your caught up ,,
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cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Glad to hear that things are going well. As soon as they settle in, we need pics of the new frags.
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
The Goni I got is awesome ,, there can't be a brighter Goni out there ,, Favias all look nice ,, the SPS corals came in healthy with good color ,, small ,, but I got them for a good price ,, that pack would normally sell for about double what I spent had the corals been bigger ,, 3 or 4 more SPS fargs in the tank will just about be full,, I need a nice red one
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
As you can tell I am pretty impressed with this Cotton Candy Goni ,, I like corals that are bright and stand out in the tank ,, kinda like the Jason Fox Raja Rampage Chalice ,, I call them across the room corals if ya'll want a really nice coral ,,send watchguy123 a message ,, I think I paid $100 for this frag ,, it is bigger than a dime smaller than a nickle ,, this coral is well worth the money I paid for it ,,
if ya'll want a really nice coral ,,send watchguy123 a message ,, I think I paid $100 for this frag ,, it is bigger than a dime smaller than a nickle ,, this coral is well worth the money I paid for it ,,
MrWheelock
Valuable Member
PICTURES!
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
I can't get a pic , I have tried best I can get is a bright spot ,, its about the brightest thing in my tank ,,
best I can get is a bright spot ,, its about the brightest thing in my tank ,,
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
Thought I should give a update ,, if its not one thing its another ,, my New Years resolution is to try and keep the SPS tank as stable as possible and to get some good growth on the SPS corals in the coming year ,, I am glad its not its not January 1st quite yet
My Hanna Checker broke a few months ago ,, ordered another one from BRS ,, turns out I ordered the wrong one ,, only I could do this ,, I had a friend do a test or two for me with his Checker ,, Phosphates were climbing ,, I really couldn't do anything about it ,, as far as a Phosphate removing media goes ,, I would rather have high phosphates over 0 phosphates if I were to run the GFO reactor to long ,, it would have just been a guess without the Hanna Checker. I did do a 30g water change.
I got the Hanna Checker in yesterday ,, that's good news I guess ,, I thought the Checker came with 25 reagents in it ,, that would do till I got another box or two of reagents ordered ,, the Hanna Checker only has 10 in it ,, got on BRS to order more ,, they are out ,, geez ,, I will go to the LFS today and pick up a couple of boxes of them.
I also ordered and got in the Kessil Chaeto grow light in yesterday ,, I pulled the Pax Bellum off my system and have the Kessil Grow light over my sump tank as we speak ,,
So ,, here I am with my New Years resolution to try and keep the tank stable and couldn't test for Phosphates and the Pax Bellum not working to help control Nitrates lol ,, hopefully both of those issues are taken care of now and tomorrow is January 1st
I have been talking with Chaswood79 ,, he is a R2R Forum member ,, if you don't know him ,, he is one of those SPS experts ,, he has been giving me some SPS advice ,, Thank you we will see if I can follow your advice for a whole year lol
I am not totally inept when it comes to growing SPS corals ,, I know what you are supposed to do ,, knowing and doing are two different things ,, I would say that the two biggest things Chaswood79 has helped me with ,, setting up a tank maintenance program for my system and having me look at Phosphate and Nitrates numbers differently than I have in the past ,,
In the past I have tried to keep a low Phosphate and Nitrate number ,, keeping both of these numbers low ,, but not to low is work ,, my system was always on the verge of being to low with the numbers , my corals were always at the tipping point of dieing or at least ,, not in a stable system that would allow good growth ,, turn the GFO reactor up or down every other day ,, doing a water change ,, when ever I thought the tank needed it ,, if I felt it didn't need it ,, it didn't get one ,, all of this lead to tank instability ,, I have raised my target numbers for Nitrates and Phosphates ,, which should give my corals a more stable home ,, the tank will get a 30g water change every two weeks ,, wither I think it needs it or not I am hoping the new year will bring short updates because there isn't much to say ,, except that the tank is doing awesome less words and more coral growth pictures ,,
I have also switched salts ,, I am not sure whats up with Reef Crystals ,, I have used this salt since I got in the hobby with no problems ,, now I am having a problem ,, the Alk in my last two buckets has been thru the roof ,, I have ordered and will be getting in tomorrow ,, Tropic Marin Pro Salt ,, everything I have read about the Alk number on this salt will be just at or just below my target number ,, my old target number was 9 the new number is 8.5 ,, Reef Crystals was testing at above my 9 number
Your caught up ,, Happy new Year to everyone I am really looking for good things to happen in the tank in the year to come ,, for you that have followed my tank since the start ,, my one year date is coming up ,, you know what that means ,, miss you much ,, I will leave it at that ,,
My Hanna Checker broke a few months ago ,, ordered another one from BRS ,, turns out I ordered the wrong one ,, only I could do this ,, I had a friend do a test or two for me with his Checker ,, Phosphates were climbing ,, I really couldn't do anything about it ,, as far as a Phosphate removing media goes ,, I would rather have high phosphates over 0 phosphates if I were to run the GFO reactor to long ,, it would have just been a guess without the Hanna Checker. I did do a 30g water change.
I got the Hanna Checker in yesterday ,, that's good news I guess ,, I thought the Checker came with 25 reagents in it ,, that would do till I got another box or two of reagents ordered ,, the Hanna Checker only has 10 in it ,, got on BRS to order more ,, they are out ,, geez ,, I will go to the LFS today and pick up a couple of boxes of them.
I also ordered and got in the Kessil Chaeto grow light in yesterday ,, I pulled the Pax Bellum off my system and have the Kessil Grow light over my sump tank as we speak ,,
So ,, here I am with my New Years resolution to try and keep the tank stable and couldn't test for Phosphates and the Pax Bellum not working to help control Nitrates lol ,, hopefully both of those issues are taken care of now and tomorrow is January 1st
I have been talking with Chaswood79 ,, he is a R2R Forum member ,, if you don't know him ,, he is one of those SPS experts ,, he has been giving me some SPS advice ,, Thank you
we will see if I can follow your advice for a whole year lolI am not totally inept when it comes to growing SPS corals ,, I know what you are supposed to do ,, knowing and doing are two different things ,, I would say that the two biggest things Chaswood79 has helped me with ,, setting up a tank maintenance program for my system and having me look at Phosphate and Nitrates numbers differently than I have in the past ,,
In the past I have tried to keep a low Phosphate and Nitrate number ,, keeping both of these numbers low ,, but not to low is work ,, my system was always on the verge of being to low with the numbers , my corals were always at the tipping point of dieing or at least ,, not in a stable system that would allow good growth ,, turn the GFO reactor up or down every other day ,, doing a water change ,, when ever I thought the tank needed it ,, if I felt it didn't need it ,, it didn't get one ,, all of this lead to tank instability ,, I have raised my target numbers for Nitrates and Phosphates ,, which should give my corals a more stable home ,, the tank will get a 30g water change every two weeks ,, wither I think it needs it or not
I am hoping the new year will bring short updates because there isn't much to say ,, except that the tank is doing awesome less words and more coral growth pictures ,,I have also switched salts ,, I am not sure whats up with Reef Crystals ,, I have used this salt since I got in the hobby with no problems ,, now I am having a problem ,, the Alk in my last two buckets has been thru the roof ,, I have ordered and will be getting in tomorrow ,, Tropic Marin Pro Salt ,, everything I have read about the Alk number on this salt will be just at or just below my target number ,, my old target number was 9 the new number is 8.5 ,, Reef Crystals was testing at above my 9 number
Your caught up ,, Happy new Year to everyone
I am really looking for good things to happen in the tank in the year to come ,, for you that have followed my tank since the start ,, my one year date is coming up ,, you know what that means ,, miss you much ,, I will leave it at that ,,
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Braves Fan
Valuable Member
Bit of a update ,, turned out I didn't have a salt problem ,, I got the new Tropic Marin salt in and made a batch ,, this should have tested at a Alk number somewhere between 7.5 to 8 ,, the new water tested at 11 ,, turns out it was my RO/DI Filters that were bad ,, tested the RO water, it tested at 6.4 Alk ,, got those changed out and the RO/DI water tested at 0.0 ALK ,, I just bought a whole new system from the LFS ,, mine was a pretty old system ,, I also bought a booster pump for it.
I keep a lot of extra water on hand, I buy those 5g water bottles from Wal-Mart ,, I keep 50g of water in those ,, I rotate them out when I do water changes ,, having all that water on hand has saved me more than once ,, anyway I dumped that water out ,, changed out all the Top Off water on both tanks.
I did pick up a Hanna Alk Checker also ,, I will use that instead of the Salifert test kit ,, nothing wrong with the Salifert ,, I would just rather use the Hanna. The Alk number on the 150g tank is spot on at 8.5 ,, the Chalice tank is still high at 10 ,, that number will come down with time.
All the numbers in the 150g are good ,, am going to be testing everyday for a bit ,, I am not really sure what my total water vol is on that tank ,, I am dosing Calcium to the tank ,, the TWV number I am using must be wrong ,, I use the BRS site calculator ,, after dosing my Calcium is a bit high. I want to get this figured out ,, it will just take some trial and error till I get it right.
I am pretty confident that the SPS tank should be on a roll now ,, so much so, I bought a SPS pack from AV99, I ordered 8 frags from him, only one would be what I would call not your average coral, the Peter Pan,, the others are more common ,, but nice ones , ones that I like ,, AV99 is a forum member that sells a lot of SPS frags ,, I have bought from him in the past. This is a list of them , I also bought one Chalice frag. I still have 8 or so Battle Coral frags in the tank, have no idea what the names of them are though I also ordered a Orange Passion and a JF Fox Flame from the LFS owners son.
RMF Blueberry Special
Tyree Purple Unknown
Pro Corals Rainbow
Reef Hero Canada Blue Demon
ORA Red Planet
RMF Red Devil Nasuta
Oregon Tort
Mat V Peter Pan
I am still keeping an eye on my Favia's ,, I may end up having to move them to the Chalice tank ,, we will see ,, its just a light issue ,, parts of them are getting to much light ,, I have them hid as best I can in the tank ,, I have one Favia that's not as pretty as the rest ,, I may move that to the Chalice tank to see what happens with it ,, I want to get the Chalice tanks Alk number down to 8.5 before I move the Favia ,, I don't want to have a second issue in that tank if the Favia doesn't do good in the tank.
Thats about it,, keep the numbers good ,, things should do good
I keep a lot of extra water on hand, I buy those 5g water bottles from Wal-Mart ,, I keep 50g of water in those ,, I rotate them out when I do water changes ,, having all that water on hand has saved me more than once ,, anyway I dumped that water out ,, changed out all the Top Off water on both tanks.
I did pick up a Hanna Alk Checker also ,, I will use that instead of the Salifert test kit ,, nothing wrong with the Salifert ,, I would just rather use the Hanna. The Alk number on the 150g tank is spot on at 8.5 ,, the Chalice tank is still high at 10 ,, that number will come down with time.
All the numbers in the 150g are good ,, am going to be testing everyday for a bit ,, I am not really sure what my total water vol is on that tank ,, I am dosing Calcium to the tank ,, the TWV number I am using must be wrong ,, I use the BRS site calculator ,, after dosing my Calcium is a bit high. I want to get this figured out ,, it will just take some trial and error till I get it right.
I am pretty confident that the SPS tank should be on a roll now ,, so much so, I bought a SPS pack from AV99, I ordered 8 frags from him, only one would be what I would call not your average coral, the Peter Pan,, the others are more common ,, but nice ones , ones that I like ,, AV99 is a forum member that sells a lot of SPS frags ,, I have bought from him in the past. This is a list of them , I also bought one Chalice frag. I still have 8 or so Battle Coral frags in the tank, have no idea what the names of them are though
I also ordered a Orange Passion and a JF Fox Flame from the LFS owners son. RMF Blueberry Special
Tyree Purple Unknown
Pro Corals Rainbow
Reef Hero Canada Blue Demon
ORA Red Planet
RMF Red Devil Nasuta
Oregon Tort
Mat V Peter Pan
I am still keeping an eye on my Favia's ,, I may end up having to move them to the Chalice tank ,, we will see ,, its just a light issue ,, parts of them are getting to much light ,, I have them hid as best I can in the tank ,, I have one Favia that's not as pretty as the rest ,, I may move that to the Chalice tank to see what happens with it ,, I want to get the Chalice tanks Alk number down to 8.5 before I move the Favia ,, I don't want to have a second issue in that tank if the Favia doesn't do good in the tank.
Thats about it,, keep the numbers good ,, things should do good
Bit of a update ,, turned out I didn't have a salt problem ,, I got the new Tropic Marin salt in and made a batch ,, this should have tested at a Alk number somewhere between 7.5 to 8 ,, the new water tested at 11 ,, turns out it was my RO/DI Filters that were bad ,, tested the RO water, it tested at 6.4 Alk ,, got those changed out and the RO/DI water tested at 0.0 ALK ,, I just bought a whole new system from the LFS ,, mine was a pretty old system ,, I also bought a booster pump for it.
I keep a lot of extra water on hand, I buy those 5g water bottles from Wal-Mart ,, I keep 50g of water in those ,, I rotate them out when I do water changes ,, having all that water on hand has saved me more than once ,, anyway I dumped that water out ,, changed out all the Top Off water on both tanks.
I did pick up a Hanna Alk Checker also ,, I will use that instead of the Salifert test kit ,, nothing wrong with the Salifert ,, I would just rather use the Hanna. The Alk number on the 150g tank is spot on at 8.5 ,, the Chalice tank is still high at 10 ,, that number will come down with time.
All the numbers in the 150g are good ,, am going to be testing everyday for a bit ,, I am not really sure what my total water vol is on that tank ,, I am dosing Calcium to the tank ,, the TWV number I am using must be wrong ,, I use the BRS site calculator ,, after dosing my Calcium is a bit high. I want to get this figured out ,, it will just take some trial and error till I get it right.
I am pretty confident that the SPS tank should be on a roll now ,, so much so, I bought a SPS pack from AV99, I ordered 8 frags from him, only one would be what I would call not your average coral, the Peter Pan,, the others are more common ,, but nice ones , ones that I like ,, AV99 is a forum member that sells a lot of SPS frags ,, I have bought from him in the past. This is a list of them , I also bought one Chalice frag. I still have 8 or so Battle Coral frags in the tank, have no idea what the names of them are though
RMF Blueberry Special
Tyree Purple Unknown
Pro Corals Rainbow
Reef Hero Canada Blue Demon
ORA Red Planet
RMF Red Devil Nasuta
Oregon Tort
Mat V Peter Pan
I am still keeping an eye on my Favia's ,, I may end up having to move them to the Chalice tank ,, we will see ,, its just a light issue ,, parts of them are getting to much light ,, I have them hid as best I can in the tank ,, I have one Favia that's not as pretty as the rest ,, I may move that to the Chalice tank to see what happens with it ,, I want to get the Chalice tanks Alk number down to 8.5 before I move the Favia ,, I don't want to have a second issue in that tank if the Favia doesn't do good in the tank.
Thats about it,, keep the numbers good ,, things should do good
Glad you got the Alk situation figured out. I know it must have been driving you crazy. Thats great the SPS tank is in line, that could have went bad quick. What is your goal Alk for the chalice tank, the same? Also question about your lighting on the chalice tank. What schedule are you using for your Radions and what intensity? Also how high are your lights mounted?
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forgot one thing ,, I have the Chaeto growing in a tray in the sump tank under the Kessil grow light,, not sure if its growing yet or not, buts its not dying should be no reason for it not to grow ,, I am not sure what I am going to do with the Pax Bellum at this point ,, I could use it on the Chalice tank , there is a problem with that idea though ,, I only have a couple of fish in that tank ,, I do feed the Chalices ,, point is ,, I should be able to control Nitrates with water changes with the low Bio Load ,, I need to get a couple more fish for it ,, not sure what to get though,, if I knew that I could order a couple ,, the tank is 48x13x24 its really 15" tall but the water is only 13" in the tank ,, I would like to get a Tang of some sort to pick at the rock ,, not sure the tank is big enough for a Tang ,, people have suggested its not
Goal for Alk on the Chalice tank is ,, as you suggested the same 8.5 I should be able to bring the Alk number down in the Chalice tank with the next water change ,,, now that I am not starting out with a 6.4 Alk number with my RO water geez
Some of my chalices are doing good ,, lots of growth ,, others have taken a hit ,, I think the Alk got to them, that number was north of 10 at one point ,, the ones with the problems aren't really nice ones ,, El Cheapos I got from ASD ,, I did have one nice one I got from Vivid starting to take a hit ,, I moved it back to the SPS tank ,, its fine ,, thats the good thing about being retired ,, I catch things quick I have that Vivid chalice and a Watermelon I picked up in the SPS Tank ,, I still have my Rainbow Chalices in my friends tank ,, I will leave them there till the Alk number comes down. I do have one Rainbow I got from Joe's Corals in the Chalice tank ,, its doubled in size ,, was small when I got it ,, still is, but its grown to dime size ,, that's double lol its going to be a nice looking chalice, has all the colors ,,
Lighting the lighting is two Eco Tech XR 15's G4 Pros I have them mounted on the Eco Tech rail system thing, arms mount on the ends of the tank with that rail running between them ,, those are at whatever standard height they use ,,
I had the lights running at 55% lower that to 45% when I saw the start of the ,, what turned out to be a Alk problem ,, I thought it might have been a lighting problem ,, left them at the 45% till this Alk comes down ,, what program am I using ,,
I am not good with programming these light yet ,, I will tell you what I know and what I don't know a friend did it, I am learning my way around the lights though,, I do have a Reef Link ,, we had the Par meter out when we were setting the lights ,, the lights were hitting 150 Par at the top of my scape , I know he set the Blues at 100% ,, not sure what he has all the other colors ,, except for the whites set at ,, I want to say I am running the white lights at 7% ,, don't hold me to that ,,
Here is what I haven't been able to figure out how to do ,, I could ask my friend ,, it keeps slipping my mind to ask,, how to get to the spot where I can see what each individual light is set at ,, my Par meter has been loaned out to two local reefers to use,, I am fixing to get it back ,, then I will use it again on my tank ,, get this figured out once and for all I don't like having something I am not fully sure how it works ,,
As far as I know ,, I have the only Par meter in my area ,, I loan it out for people to use ,, if I don't know them ,, either a friend that knows them goes to their house or I do ,, not that I don't trust people ,, the Par Meter is just to important to me to just let someone I don't know drive off with it ,, they aren't cheap ,,
Forgot ,, ordered some Brightwell Amino Acid for the SPS tank ,, supposed to be good for the corals ,, looks to be no down side to dosing the tank ,, should get it today
should be no reason for it not to grow ,, I am not sure what I am going to do with the Pax Bellum at this point ,, I could use it on the Chalice tank , there is a problem with that idea though ,, I only have a couple of fish in that tank ,, I do feed the Chalices ,, point is ,, I should be able to control Nitrates with water changes with the low Bio Load ,, I need to get a couple more fish for it ,, not sure what to get though,, if I knew that I could order a couple ,, the tank is 48x13x24 its really 15" tall but the water is only 13" in the tank ,, I would like to get a Tang of some sort to pick at the rock ,, not sure the tank is big enough for a Tang ,, people have suggested its not Goal for Alk on the Chalice tank is ,, as you suggested
the same 8.5 I should be able to bring the Alk number down in the Chalice tank with the next water change ,,, now that I am not starting out with a 6.4 Alk number with my RO water geez Some of my chalices are doing good ,, lots of growth ,, others have taken a hit ,, I think the Alk got to them, that number was north of 10 at one point ,, the ones with the problems aren't really nice ones ,, El Cheapos I got from ASD ,, I did have one nice one I got from Vivid starting to take a hit ,, I moved it back to the SPS tank ,, its fine ,, thats the good thing about being retired ,, I catch things quick
I have that Vivid chalice and a Watermelon I picked up in the SPS Tank ,, I still have my Rainbow Chalices in my friends tank ,, I will leave them there till the Alk number comes down. I do have one Rainbow I got from Joe's Corals in the Chalice tank ,, its doubled in size ,, was small when I got it ,, still is, but its grown to dime size ,, that's double lol its going to be a nice looking chalice, has all the colors ,,Lighting
the lighting is two Eco Tech XR 15's G4 Pros I have them mounted on the Eco Tech rail system thing, arms mount on the ends of the tank with that rail running between them ,, those are at whatever standard height they use ,,I had the lights running at 55% lower that to 45% when I saw the start of the ,, what turned out to be a Alk problem ,, I thought it might have been a lighting problem ,, left them at the 45% till this Alk comes down ,, what program am I using ,,
I am not good with programming these light yet ,, I will tell you what I know and what I don't know
a friend did it, I am learning my way around the lights though,, I do have a Reef Link ,, we had the Par meter out when we were setting the lights ,, the lights were hitting 150 Par at the top of my scape , I know he set the Blues at 100% ,, not sure what he has all the other colors ,, except for the whites set at ,, I want to say I am running the white lights at 7% ,, don't hold me to that ,,Here is what I haven't been able to figure out how to do ,, I could ask my friend ,, it keeps slipping my mind to ask,, how to get to the spot where I can see what each individual light is set at ,, my Par meter has been loaned out to two local reefers to use,, I am fixing to get it back ,, then I will use it again on my tank ,, get this figured out once and for all
I don't like having something I am not fully sure how it works ,,As far as I know ,, I have the only Par meter in my area ,, I loan it out for people to use ,, if I don't know them ,, either a friend that knows them goes to their house or I do ,, not that I don't trust people ,, the Par Meter is just to important to me to just let someone I don't know drive off with it ,, they aren't cheap ,,
Forgot ,, ordered some Brightwell Amino Acid for the SPS tank ,, supposed to be good for the corals ,, looks to be no down side to dosing the tank ,, should get it today
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I am here pretty much all the time ,,, won't be going anywhere to watch the Saints for the rest of the year
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Ok, I got my Nitrate number high, it was in the 40 range when I tested it a week ago I fed some Reef Roids to the Favias in the SPS Tank I will test again this morning to see if it has come down ,, I am due a 30g water change this coming week end, I could do it a bit earlier. I am really going to back way off feeding the corals, its taken awhile to get this lesson sunk into my head
All the non SPS corals in the tank are doing great ,, good color ,, good growth ,, any reefer would be happy to have them to the state they are at ,,, the SPS corals all look healthy but there is always a but ,, my New Years resolution to keep my tank numbers as stable as I can to help with SPS growth ,, I can't do this if I keep feeding Reef Roids and have my Nitrate numbers bouncing around its to hard to lower the Nitrate number and keep the Nitrate number in my target range. Most of the SPS corals are green ,, except for the newist frags ,, they are healthy looking ,, good polyp extension ,, but green ,, I am guessing because of the Nitrate number not being stable.
I am going to back way off feeding the non SPS corals ,, I can still target feed my Bower and Space Invade Pectinia with some Fauna Marin pellets ,, feed just a couple of the Favia's at a time ,, I have to keep that Nitrate number stable ,,
My Chaeto growth ,, I have it in a tray in the sump tank with the Kessil light over it ,, its got good color ,, I have good water flow going into the tray ,, I have the discharge from the Sterilizer going into the tray ,, the problem ,, its just not growing as good as it should be ,, I would say its growing ,, but its not much ,, it should be with my Nitrate number ,, I am also dosing liquid iron to the tank once a week ,, not really sure I even need to do this with me doing a 30g water change every two weeks ,,
I really need to figure out this Chaeto problem ,, if I can get this stuff growing way better ,, it will help better control Nitrates ,, I took 1/3 of the Chaeto I had and put it into the Pax Bellum ,, got it up and running again ,, I am trying what ever I can think of to help with the Chaeto problem ,, my thinking was ,, maybe the Kessil light is to far off the Chaeto ,, preventing good growth ,, the Pax has a lot of light in it ,, put that back online, it can't hurt.
Brightwell Amino Acids, I read up on this a bit ,, I really couldn't find a down side to dosing this ,, anything that might help the SPS corals ,, I am all for that, I am sure keeping the Nitrate number stable is the best thing I can be doing ,, I bought a bottle, it says to dose 1 ml. per 50g of water in the system per day ,, I have been doing this for 4 maybe 5 days ,, I got to reading more on it ,, what I read has me thinking of backing off this dosage and not dosing it everyday ,, I read it promotes algae growth ,, might be a good thing lol might help with my Chaeto growth anyway ,, better safe than sorry ,, I am going to just dose it a couple times a week ,,
I got two new SPS frags from the LFS owners son ,, SC Orange Passion and a JF Fox Flame ,, the Fox Flame is kinda small ,, but nice ,, the Orange Passion ,, a really nice frag have them mounted in the tank,, I still have the 8 or 9 new SPS frags coming I have spots picked out for a few of them.
Cherry Corals had a Live Sell 2 weeks ago ,, they have 0 Zoa and Poly frags on their site right now ,, I have been wanting to get a few more ,, I sent them a message early last week asking when they would get more posted ,, he told me last Friday ,, he lied I start having medical problems if I don't buy any new coral frags ,, I was coping though ,, until he didn't keep his word and get them posted, you can't trust Coral Vendors ,, used car salesmen comes to mind.
Vivid had a sell this past week end ,, they don't carry a lot that I really want most of the time, they have a bunch of SPS corals,, I am at the point I don't buy SPS frags from online vendors ,, the price they charge for their frags has gotten way out of line jmo ,, I buy from a few choice people that sell on R2R ,, I figured I would take a look at the Vivid site anyway ,, they had a nice Favia I wanted ,, for not a lot of $$ they also had a Bower ,, looks like a really nice one ,, newly released ,, I placed a order ,, I got one of the single polyp Bower frags and the Favia ,, I also got a second Bi colored Red Bower frag ,, a poly frag, a chalice and 1 other frag of something,, I have a Bower in the tank I got about a year ago from Vivid ,, it sit there for months not doing anything ,, its taken off now,, it has grown 4 big new polyps on it ,,
I had replaced my elcheapo Hydro salinity meter with another elcheapo Hydro salinity meter ,, when I was at the LFS the other day ,, I bought one of the good Hanna Salinity meters ,, I am tired of not trusting the readings I was getting off of these elcheapos ,, enough is enough ,, if I am going to make the effort to keep my tank numbers stable ,, I need to be trusting my numbers ,, I got the Hanna home and test the tank ,, the elcheapo said the salinity was 1.026 ,, I tested with the Hanna ,, wait for it 1.023 I got the salinity number fixed ,,
We have this guy that comes to the LFS ,, not sure what this stuff is called ,, he has this machine ,, 12 of them to be exact ,, he can program these machines to make things out of plastic ,, I had him make me 4 Eco Tech G4 Pro Power Brick holders ,, he had never made any of these so he had to make a program ,, first one needed some adjustments ,, he has 4 made for me now ,, will see if I can go get these today my bricks were Velcro to my stand ,, this wasn't working out they came loose ,, I have them sitting on the floor at the moment ,,
How come my updates always seem to turn into books anyway that's all I got for now ,, will get some tank pic's for the next time ,,
I fed some Reef Roids to the Favias in the SPS Tank I will test again this morning to see if it has come down ,, I am due a 30g water change this coming week end, I could do it a bit earlier. I am really going to back way off feeding the corals, its taken awhile to get this lesson sunk into my head All the non SPS corals in the tank are doing great ,, good color ,, good growth ,, any reefer would be happy to have them to the state they are at ,,, the SPS corals all look healthy but
there is always a but ,, my New Years resolution to keep my tank numbers as stable as I can to help with SPS growth ,, I can't do this if I keep feeding Reef Roids and have my Nitrate numbers bouncing around its to hard to lower the Nitrate number and keep the Nitrate number in my target range. Most of the SPS corals are green ,, except for the newist frags ,, they are healthy looking ,, good polyp extension ,, but green ,, I am guessing because of the Nitrate number not being stable.I am going to back way off feeding the non SPS corals ,, I can still target feed my Bower and Space Invade Pectinia with some Fauna Marin pellets ,, feed just a couple of the Favia's at a time ,, I have to keep that Nitrate number stable ,,
My Chaeto growth ,, I have it in a tray in the sump tank with the Kessil light over it ,, its got good color ,, I have good water flow going into the tray ,, I have the discharge from the Sterilizer going into the tray ,, the problem ,, its just not growing as good as it should be ,, I would say its growing ,, but its not much ,, it should be with my Nitrate number ,, I am also dosing liquid iron to the tank once a week ,, not really sure I even need to do this with me doing a 30g water change every two weeks ,,
I really need to figure out this Chaeto problem ,, if I can get this stuff growing way better ,, it will help better control Nitrates ,, I took 1/3 of the Chaeto I had and put it into the Pax Bellum ,, got it up and running again ,, I am trying what ever I can think of to help with the Chaeto problem ,, my thinking was ,, maybe the Kessil light is to far off the Chaeto ,, preventing good growth ,, the Pax has a lot of light in it ,, put that back online, it can't hurt.
Brightwell Amino Acids, I read up on this a bit ,, I really couldn't find a down side to dosing this ,, anything that might help the SPS corals ,, I am all for that, I am sure keeping the Nitrate number stable is the best thing I can be doing ,, I bought a bottle, it says to dose 1 ml. per 50g of water in the system per day ,, I have been doing this for 4 maybe 5 days ,, I got to reading more on it ,, what I read has me thinking of backing off this dosage and not dosing it everyday ,, I read it promotes algae growth ,, might be a good thing lol might help with my Chaeto growth
anyway ,, better safe than sorry ,, I am going to just dose it a couple times a week ,,I got two new SPS frags from the LFS owners son ,, SC Orange Passion and a JF Fox Flame ,, the Fox Flame is kinda small ,, but nice ,, the Orange Passion ,, a really nice frag
have them mounted in the tank,, I still have the 8 or 9 new SPS frags coming I have spots picked out for a few of them.Cherry Corals had a Live Sell 2 weeks ago ,, they have 0 Zoa and Poly frags on their site right now ,, I have been wanting to get a few more ,, I sent them a message early last week asking when they would get more posted ,, he told me last Friday ,, he lied
I start having medical problems if I don't buy any new coral frags ,, I was coping though ,, until he didn't keep his word and get them posted, you can't trust Coral Vendors ,, used car salesmen comes to mind.Vivid had a sell this past week end ,, they don't carry a lot that I really want most of the time, they have a bunch of SPS corals,, I am at the point I don't buy SPS frags from online vendors ,, the price they charge for their frags has gotten way out of line jmo ,, I buy from a few choice people that sell on R2R ,, I figured I would take a look at the Vivid site anyway ,, they had a nice Favia I wanted ,, for not a lot of $$ they also had a Bower ,, looks like a really nice one ,, newly released ,, I placed a order ,, I got one of the single polyp Bower frags and the Favia ,, I also got a second Bi colored Red Bower frag ,, a poly frag, a chalice and 1 other frag of something,, I have a Bower in the tank I got about a year ago from Vivid ,, it sit there for months not doing anything ,, its taken off now,, it has grown 4 big new polyps on it ,,
I had replaced my elcheapo Hydro salinity meter with another elcheapo Hydro salinity meter ,, when I was at the LFS the other day ,, I bought one of the good Hanna Salinity meters ,, I am tired of not trusting the readings I was getting off of these elcheapos ,, enough is enough ,, if I am going to make the effort to keep my tank numbers stable ,, I need to be trusting my numbers ,, I got the Hanna home and test the tank ,, the elcheapo said the salinity was 1.026 ,, I tested with the Hanna ,, wait for it
1.023 I got the salinity number fixed ,,We have this guy that comes to the LFS ,, not sure what this stuff is called ,, he has this machine ,, 12 of them to be exact ,, he can program these machines to make things out of plastic ,, I had him make me 4 Eco Tech G4 Pro Power Brick holders ,, he had never made any of these so he had to make a program ,, first one needed some adjustments ,, he has 4 made for me now ,, will see if I can go get these today
my bricks were Velcro to my stand ,, this wasn't working out they came loose ,, I have them sitting on the floor at the moment ,,How come my updates always seem to turn into books
anyway that's all I got for now ,, will get some tank pic's for the next time ,,
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I was trying to take some fish pictures ,, didn’t work out so good ,, thought I would post some pics of the tank I got ,,
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Tank is doing good except for Nitrates ,, they are in the 25 range ,, would love to get this into the 10 range ,, I am testing the tank water pretty much every day or every other day ,, I skipped today ,, I want to turn the lights up a few more % points ,,, but I got a SPS frag pack from aquavista99 today , 10 more SPS frags and a chalice frag ,, that's the reason I am going to hold off raising the light % up ,, its also the reason I didn't test the water today.
I counted ,, I am up to 34 SPS frags in the tank ,, to be honest ,, its to many ,, some are only a couple of inches away from others ,, I will worry about that if it becomes a problem ,, I usually lose a few ,, but that was then ,, hopefully those days are over with. There is only one other SPS frag that is on my want list ,, so I will have to make room for one more
I counted ,, I am up to 34 SPS frags in the tank ,, to be honest ,, its to many ,, some are only a couple of inches away from others ,, I will worry about that if it becomes a problem ,, I usually lose a few ,, but that was then ,, hopefully those days are over with. There is only one other SPS frag that is on my want list ,, so I will have to make room for one more
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