Sam's Oceanic 120 - DIY solutions

Projects with Sam · Aug 21, 2022

Been super impressed with this build. Love the idea to run counter daylight tanks to normalize pH then dose kalk based on maintaining a level ph. Alkalinity fluctuates a little but no drastic swings. He uses a Brute can for kalk... great way to automate kalk dosing.

Projects with Sam · Aug 22, 2022

2022-08-21 10:15 PM	Alkalinity	9.7
2022-08-21 10:18 PM	Calcium	450
2022-08-21 10:21 PM	Magnesium	1320

90ml/hr thank heavens is treating me right....

I'm kind of stumped why I need to dose Mag every other night... like 20-40ml... Brand new Salifert test; confirmed using old test kit... What could be using it so fast?

Stoked; ORD Aquatics is willing to hook me up with store credit for the Sailfin that I think is getting too large for the tank. Will hold onto Timmy. I think I want another Sailfin. I really hope the Hippo Tangs will be ok with a new one.

Will need to catch both the Tang and the 6-line. May have to pull out the scape. Will leave the big one but can take out the rest in bits fairly easily. Going to wait till the kids are back in School for that...

Are those little clear nodules on this clove colony bubble algae?

F i s h y · Aug 22, 2022

I think its def bubble algae. It's been hit or miss for me on treatment. I use emerald crab (not my favorite never trust crabs) and foxface. Both prefer other forms of algae in my opinion and will only eat bubble when there is nothing else.

Projects with Sam · Aug 22, 2022

F i s h y said:
I think its def bubble algae. It's been hit or miss for me on treatment. I use emerald crab (not my favorite never trust crabs) and foxface. Both prefer other forms of algae in my opinion and will only eat bubble when there is nothing else.

Thanks, I don't think its in my DT. Just the exile tank... which was overrun by either carpet algae or Bryopsis. I manually removed all of it, vacuumed the sand. scrubbed the frag plugs. Had to pull it off all my zoas. It looked like a wookie's wrass in there. I lost a few random frags it was so bad. I only saw the bubble algae on 2 frags. was careful to remove it. Popped any outside the tank in a bucket. Swished it off very vigorously in a new bucket. Surprised to see a few cloves open later. Peroxided the frag rack - which looked like a golf green before I addressed all of this. I have a male and a female emerald crab in my DT. I have to take the family cat to the vet soon - I'll ask them if they can get me cheap fluconazole.
Really wish I took photos of how bad the tank was before.

Goaway · Aug 22, 2022

Projects with Sam said:
2022-08-21 10:15 PM Alkalinity 9.7
2022-08-21 10:18 PM Calcium 450
2022-08-21 10:21 PM Magnesium 1320

90ml/hr thank heavens is treating me right....

I'm kind of stumped why I need to dose Mag every other night... like 20-40ml... Brand new Salifert test; confirmed using old test kit... What could be using it so fast?

Stoked; ORD Aquatics is willing to hook me up with store credit for the Sailfin that I think is getting too large for the tank. Will hold onto Timmy. I think I want another Sailfin. I really hope the Hippo Tangs will be ok with a new one.

Will need to catch both the Tang and the 6-line. May have to pull out the scape. Will leave the big one but can take out the rest in bits fairly easily. Going to wait till the kids are back in School for that...

Are those little clear nodules on this clove colony bubble algae?

It could be, or grape caulerpa. I need to see it in water to see if there is a root system. Unless you can see if there is a root system. Bubble algae wont have the roots. Grape caulerpa is very safe algae, but like all algae. Never want it growing on or near a coral.

Projects with Sam · Aug 23, 2022

2022-08-22 10:33 PM	Alkalinity	10.1
2022-08-22 10:37 PM	Calcium	410
2022-08-22 10:40 PM	Magnesium	1335

Checked Calcium twice... don't know why it went down so sharply when Alk stayed level. Could the increased Mg have allowed the corals to bind more Calcium? Lowered my kalk dosing a few hours at peak Ph to 80 ml/hr.
The Sailfin is stressing out the larger Hippo Tang; I need to exchange him really soon.

tbrown · Aug 23, 2022

Projects with Sam said:
2022-08-22 10:33 PM Alkalinity 10.1
2022-08-22 10:37 PM Calcium 410
2022-08-22 10:40 PM Magnesium 1335

Checked Calcium twice... don't know why it went down so sharply when Alk stayed level. Could the increased Mg have allowed the corals to bind more Calcium? Lowered my kalk dosing a few hours at peak Ph to 80 ml/hr.
The Sailfin is stressing out the larger Hippo Tang; I need to exchange him really soon.

Did your pH increase? I guess from what I hear that can make calcium precipitate.

Projects with Sam · Aug 23, 2022

Yes! My pH has been steadily climbing; I think I put a graph a few days ago. I'm definitely learning a lot about my tank's levels. I should have done this before getting all the SPS I suppose. N00b error - most have survived so I'll take it... I've been beating myself up over my coral losses but I think I need to chill out and just realize we all loose corals. Cant be a pro from the start and this is a really hard hobby.

@tbrown3589 thanks for the response!

tbrown · Aug 23, 2022

Projects with Sam said:
Yes! My pH has been steadily climbing; I think I put a graph a few days ago. I'm definitely learning a lot about my tank's levels. I should have done this before getting all the SPS I suppose. N00b error - most have survived so I'll take it... I've been beating myself up over my coral losses but I think I need to chill out and just realize we all loose corals. Cant be a pro from the start and this is a really hard hobby.

@tbrown3589 thanks for the response!

If your alk raises carbonate hardness it'll raise your pH. You might want to check the balance between your carbonate and bicarbonate? Get the pH where you want it and then balance out those carbonate and bicarbonate?

Mschmidt · Aug 23, 2022

Projects with Sam said:
Yes! My pH has been steadily climbing; I think I put a graph a few days ago. I'm definitely learning a lot about my tank's levels. I should have done this before getting all the SPS I suppose. N00b error - most have survived so I'll take it... I've been beating myself up over my coral losses but I think I need to chill out and just realize we all loose corals. Cant be a pro from the start and this is a really hard hobby.

@tbrown3589 thanks for the response!

For me the losses are what make this so hard, and expensive. I'd also have paid a lot more attention to freshman science classes had I known I would be into reef keeping and brewing.
Just the pH, alk, bicarbonate relationship...

Confused Always Sunny GIF by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Projects with Sam · Aug 24, 2022

2022-08-23 11:41 PM	Alkalinity	10.1
2022-08-23 11:45 PM	Calcium	450
2022-08-23 11:48 PM	Magnesium	1320

Probably trading in my Sailfin tomorrow. Not sure where I'll QT new one... I have a 29 gallon tank laying about that I can put it in. I hope they have a Desjardini sailfin.
I still need to get the six line out. Will see how easy it is to catch the tang. If I have to remove rock I may go for broke and try to net the Wastard.

Projects with Sam · Aug 24, 2022

August big 3 at-a-glance

rmorris_14 · Aug 24, 2022

Projects with Sam said:
2022-08-23 11:41 PM Alkalinity 10.1
2022-08-23 11:45 PM Calcium 450
2022-08-23 11:48 PM Magnesium 1320

Probably trading in my Sailfin tomorrow. Not sure where I'll QT new one... I have a 29 gallon tank laying about that I can put it in. I hope they have a Desjardini sailfin.
I still need to get the six line out. Will see how easy it is to catch the tang. If I have to remove rock I may go for broke and try to net the Wastard.