I have my Nero @ 45% on Random mode, but I only have two fish a clean up crew and a ricordea mushroom in there right now so I can set the Nero @ essentially whatever I want. I've definitely seen others say they have their flow higher than 30% though. Perhaps the torch just needs to acclimate to the flow or maybe a different position?
Yea pump ok you need to cut bit of to get it to fit but it’s powerful
I’ve had issues with bad test kits driving me nuts trying to figure out chemistry problems. If you haven’t already done so, test the calcium with a different kit to verify.Day 38 Update:
Tank Chemistry:
I continue to struggle with extremely high calcium levels and low alkalinity levels (580 and 6.5 respectively). I’m not too concerned with the low alkalinity levels because I have a diatom bloom going on at the moment. Nitrates have been in the 2-3 range and Phosphates 0-0.1. I bought some Tropic Marin salt because I changed my mind and want to use their salt and All For Reef on this tank so I only need one dosing pump. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I won’t be able to dose anything with calcium levels in the high 500s-600 range.
I’m currently mixing up 5 gallons of Tropic Marin salt to begin incorporating into water changes. I’ll save the Red Sea Coral Pro salt for something else.
Pink Fusion & Purple Helix:
I believe I have some spots of coralline algae beginning to develop. It’s only been 29 days since I added the pink fusion and purple helix to the tank. I’ll continue to watch these spots to see if they grow. I’m really hoping for some vibrant purple coralline! It can be a nuisance, but I love the color of it and the look of it encrusting the rocks.
Livestock:
My first coral, a ricordea mushroom from reef cleaners is open and looking great, color is good. I didn’t glue it down yet, because it might get moved once I start adding some other corals. Clownfish are happy as can be. Clean up crew is doing good. I was bummed because I ordered two blue knuckle hermits f/Reef Cleaners and they forgot them in the box. I may place another order down the road once the tank is more established, but with there $50 minimum it’s going to be hard to place another order without overstocking at this point.
Skimmer:
Somehow I managed to cram the Eshopps Nano Skimmer, my heater, a bag of Marine Pure gems and the Prime gooseneck mount all in the middle chamber. Skimmer is working great, very pleased. I cleaned it yesterday and you can see in the photo it’s already pulling junk out of the water today.
New Toys:
I placed an order to Kraken Reef for their overflow cover because I was concerned with the clowns getting sucked up. I was so impressed with their product and customer service, that I placed another order for their filter floss cup and their lid.
My Red Sea Calcium Pro test kit arrived today. I'm getting 410-420 with it, 500 with the API kit. Assuming the Red Sea test kit is a little more accurate (I hope!).
I don’t follow the don’t dose year 1 idea. I dose starting after the tank is cycled, depending on demand. My latest tank is a few months old. I dose kalk and AFR daily to keep levels stable. I test daily at first and back down after I have stable numbers. I had a lot of consumption before I added corals due to Coraline algae growth. I was surprise what I needed to dose to keep up.
That’s interesting and good to know. It’s funny because people say you don’t generally need to dose for the first year, but also will give advice to start dosing when parameters are low between water changes. The “rules of thumb” are conflicting in my case, because I’m a month in with low parameters. I know others have been in the same boat, as I’ve been doing some searches and seen lots of similar posts.
I think there is logic behind not dosing a lot of minor trace elements early, they are usually not depleted without a heavy coral population but the big 3? Ca, Alk, Mg? Those get depleted. I see no logic in letting them bottom out.
That looks amazing! Exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish. I know it's silly, but that bright purple coralline on the live rocks really makes a nice base for the corals and makes the tank look so much healthier.I think there is logic behind not dosing a lot of minor trace elements early, they are usually not depleted without a heavy coral population but the big 3? Ca, Alk, Mg? Those get depleted. I see no logic in letting them bottom out.
I do not claim to be an expert. Just a beginner in my 25th year of reefing. Here’s a pic of Coraline growing in my new tank after a couple of months of rock and water in it.
best of luck!
Coraline growth, like coral growth, is aided by high pH and stable Alk and Ca and to a lesser extent Mg. pH is probably the toughest to manage but makes a huge difference. You can turn pH into a hobby by itself
My pH was 7.8 pretty consistently (according to the API kit). I added a small DIY CO2 scrubber and now I’m in the 8.0-8.2 range depending on time of day. Pretty pleased with that project. I’ve gone back and forth on the kalkwasser in the ATO reservoir, not sure if I want to try it or not. My main concern is the difference in top of volume in the summer with the AC running vs the winter, but it seems lots of people do it successfully. The other concern is ruining my Tunze pump, but I suppose they are cheap enough to swap out yearly.Coraline growth, like coral growth, is aided by high pH and stable Alk and Ca and to a lesser extent Mg. pH is probably the toughest to manage but makes a huge difference. You can turn pH into a hobby by itself
I have done it in top off before. It’s not idealbut works. Elevate pump off bottom so it doesn’t suck up slurry. The downside is what you mentioned, it’s not as consistent and your Alk is not as stable but I did it for many many years with success. If you are not keeping SPS then it’s likely fine, I did it with SPS for a long time and just change the concentration in winter and summer. corals are not as sensitive to Alk swings. I now use a dosing pump
Was reading through this, looks great!
Agree on the value of water changes and the ability to keep a small tank with that as the primary export mechanism. Totally a valid approach. No dosing at all? Yes, if the consumption is low enough that can work. But I’ve come to appreciate the value of stability which is easier for me with some dosing, albeit maybe not necessary for many many types of corals and beautiful tanks. My personal reefing habits and tastes benefit from a little Automation. ymmv. Many paths to success.
Right, this is the problem I am running into. I just tested today and Nitrates are 0. Phos is 0.04 and Alk is only 6.2. If I change water frequently enough to have stable Alk, I seem to need to do a change every 2-3 days and my nitrates are 0--which I understand can be a problem as well. My clown fish are small and I do plan to add a third fish eventually, but I don't want to go too fast on the fish.
I'm actually down to 3 Nassarius and 3 trochus snails and the nassarius are the super small vibex variety about the size of a pencil eraser. One died about 48 hours after arrival. Since my nitrates have been low, I've been supplementing the CUCs diet with Hikari algae wafers and they seem to go after them no problem. I don't think they are starving, but I'll definitely keep an eye on them. I have to scrape the glass quite a bit, so I think there is adequate nutrition in there for them at this point.
