Thanks twisty, lots of helpful members here. Ask questions if you need. Looking forward to your thread!

Glad to hear that someone else has a lot of Diatoms. Was kinda wondering about my own tank, but like usual the answer is just wait!
great thread btw.

any updates? :mrgreen:

Lol, oh just you wait... I have a HUGE update! Have to call you later anyhow.

Stop holding out on us, man! :lol:

Got my first coral from Gregzz4, Green Birdsnest, been in the tank for almost 24 hrs now and it's looking good with full PE.
I apologize for the photo quality. First two are with my Galaxy4, and third one is with my Nikon Coolpix L120, which I thought was a good camera up until I started taking photos under LED's.
Guess I'll have to invest in a better camera with a tripod down the road.

Anyhoo, took some tank water with me to Greg's as I don't have test kits for Cal and Mag (plan to pick up Sat) and we tested.

Alk : 6.7
Cal : 360
Mag : 1275 (we tested this 4 times and got a different reading each time, 1275 is the average... needless to say, there was some previous consumption of beer)

Greg gave me a tutorial on dosing and bringing my numbers up to acceptable levels, and provided me with baggies full of his pre-mixed chems to do just that.

4 hours later and I was on my way home, lol.

Thanks Greg, I appreciate your dedication to the hobby!

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8631/...e8e82311_o.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8676/...ca92ce58_o.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8564/...a408fc7c_b.jpg

Very nice :)

What are the expected levels for all of the following?
Alk : ?
Cal : ?
Mag : ?

Just to clarify, it wasn't previous beers; it was before, during and after beers :wink:
Imma gonna have to blame the beers, or your water ..

Just tested my DT twice and got 1350 both times
Tested my new water @ 1200, added 145mls mag and got 1350

Go figure :noidea:

That's because you did the math... and math never lies... unless beer is involved!

Started mixing new salt water, next to the tank, in preparation for my first W/C Saturday night after the frag meet.

Wife not happy, lol.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8585/...40e9b254_o.jpg

But that doesn't explain our differing test results

I'd be unhappy too if you had a tank of saltwater on my wood table :razz:

Make a few extra gallons as you'll need it for dipping the corals you bring home :mrgreen:

Your testing methods were meticulous, mine were reckless, nuff said.

Table is a POS, so no worries there, lol.

Not sure I'm bringing any corals home, think it's still too early. Maybe a LPS, as Rich has suggested, we'll see.

Good plan

Too many corals right now would probably starve/bleach etc. Hence the birdsnest experiment

Hope you're picking up some more test kits soon. Your birdsnest will appreciate it

LMK when you want to talk about dosing and bulk supplies

Picked up 3 corals from the swap today. A blue/green hammer and 2 chalices that just don't photograph well at all.
Seems one of the chalices has a feather duster living in the centre of it, bonus.
Hammer is all upset after the dip!

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8630/...d9a443fc_b.jpg

And so it begins :whoo:

Yup... I foresee an even emptier wallet!

Here is a video of the feather duster in action. Since I only have 1 fish at the moment and feeding sparingly, does this new invert have any special feeding requirements?

https://flic.kr/p/r981SP

I believe the feather duster is a filter feeder, so no need to feed it.

In my experience, hammers are the more temperamental of the 3 euphyllia (hammer/torch/frogspawn). I'm sure it'll be fine after a few days of settling in. Nice colours on that head!

Wow. Day 44 of keeping my first reef tank and the learning curve is still huge! The livestock are all good, but I am making new discoveries every day in regard to my setup and hardware.

I say this because today, I preformed my first water change.

I figured mixing fresh s/w in a 20 gal tank on my dining room table next to the tank was a good idea. No, it wasn't.
I figured using a 75W heater to bring the water up to temp was a good idea. No, it wasn't.
I figured using a Rio600 to mix the salt was a good idea. No, it wasn't.
I figured using the same Rio600 with some 5/8 hose to drain the tank to the kitchen sink 18 feet away... was a good idea. No, it really wasn't.

Needless to say, I'm going to build a brute container water mixing bin, with hard plumbing, a much stronger pump, larger heaters and a wheeled caddy. Stay tuned as this needs to be built before my next w/c.

In the end I changed around 18 gals in my 80 gal system. Not bad. I was able to take a few pictures, when I had free hands.

Looks like a short distance and an easy task, yes? Ummmmm, nope.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8597/...6d5d0a45_c.jpg

Draining the tank to the tape mark, a calculated 18 gals.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8577/...3b436c66_c.jpg

Needed something to suck debris out of the sump. Had to sacrifice my favourite chop stick. Worked like a charm.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8619/...e19fff54_c.jpg

Crap built up in the sump. Might need a few CuC down there in the future.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8561/...f38313b0_c.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8643/...af78c16f_c.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Looking good buddy, I would love to stop by one day and check out the system.

Diatoms appear to be receding, and the test corals are looking good, having settled in nicely.
Birdsnest continues to show excellent polyp extension. Skimmer is tuned properly and cup needs to be emptied daily.
Yellow Tail continues to hide throughout the day, but has ventured out during feedings. He is showing no signs of ailment and no signs of ick.

Tested yesterday with my now complete set of kits.

Alk : 7.2
Ca : 420
Mg : 1450
NH4 : 0
NO2 : 0
NO3 : 1
PO4 : 0
SG : 1.026
Temp : 78
pH : 8.2

Adjusted the Zeo dosing slightly, as I thought it might have been the cause of the excess amount of diatoms.

ZeoStart : 0.3 ml 2X daily
Sponge Power : 2 drops daily
Zeobac : 2 drops Sun, Tues, Fri
Zeofood : 2 drops per week

Frankly, sometimes I forget to dose Zeo.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8600/...1079a07d_c.jpg

I'm surprised with how well things are going with the tank. I thought for sure the rocks were going to be leeching phosphates, but I guess the bleach and acid baths did the trick.
The wife is showing a little more interest now... "When are we going to J&L so I can pick out my own fish?" I wouldn't be surprised if she picks a MI, lol. I did tell her that I can veto anything unsuitable.
Been meaning to pick up some crabs and snails too.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8614/...30c89667_c.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8673/...370ccde4_c.jpg

That would be my choice :)

I'd go with a dolphin

I'm not as reckless as you... yet. :wink:

Everyone at work has asked me if I'm going to get a shark.

Lookin' great Warren

Only thing I'll nitpick about is your Alk and Ca balance

@ 7.2 Alk your Ca should be 412
@ 420 Ca your Alk should be 8.3

Too much messing around to make it wonderful, but it wouldn't hurt if you brought your alk up to 7.5 or even closer to 8.0-8.3
And keep your ca where it is but no higher. Any higher and it might precipitace if your alk drops

Raise your alk and keep your ca where it is, IMHO
Have you tested for mag yet ? or even bought the kits ? :boink:

Just a thought for you to chew on ....

Getting a bit too crazy chasing those "perfect" numbers buddy.

lol! Ya, this is not an exact science. Currently my Ca is 410, alk is 12dKh. Almost perfect :)

Famous last words :razz:

Well... my middle name is Brad.

With the way you procrastinated with this build, it doesn't surprise me hehe

P.S. Don't chase numbers.

I'm not suggesting he chase the #s
I'm suggesting he raise his alk

Ya, we get it. We're suggesting he leave it alone, because it's fine :)

Yup, completed my set of kits last week!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7628/...fced8df9_c.jpg

Now, now boys... play nice, :) Zeovit calls for Alk to run around 7, but I would feel safer if it were closer to 8. As long as my Mg stays up and there is no precipitation of Ca, things should be A-ok.


Went on a little road trip with Bblinks to visit with tang daddy and apexifd. All I can say is that Peter has a pretty impressive tank.
Picked up a few frags from him, including a much sought after Superman Milli. Thanks for the night out fellas!
Went out and got a purdy frag rack, plugs and coral glue the next day.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7589/...125c5e17_o.jpg https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8734/...809d98c9_o.jpg

I also noticed that when I rinse my mesh bag of carbon, the diatoms appear to recede afterwards, then start to build up again if the bag is not kneaded often.
This has me thinking it would be more beneficial to have the carbon tumbling in a reactor. Am I on the right track?

Thanks for looking.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8697/...7fb933af_o.jpg

Looks good buddy, and this is how it starts...my tank looked exactly like that merely a month ago and now it's bursting at the seams with frags, u just wait...lol

lol, Ya I was going to comment on the company you're keeping Warren. This may not be a wise choice of associates :p

You have no idea!! lol

That's not true Warren, don't listen to these guys. You need a bigger tank first before we can put more frags in there.....might need to reno the basement for a fish room to go with the 250 gallon tank. Oh wait, that's Dom's built. :biggrin: and they say we are bad influence. Lol

Yeah, these guys definitely make the 'dark side' very attractive to a young padawan like me.

Lol.

Looking good so far Warren.

That's a pretty exotic SPS wish list you have there. You might have to visit R and M soon for those bad boys :)

Thanks Thomas, I hope to acquire more frags from you in the future. The hammer and the chalices I got from you at the swap seem to be doing well. My wish list is just that. I need to learn how to keep the 'easy' SPS's happy before I get into that stuff... maybe in a year. Who are R and M?

My bad... I got those pieces from Albert.

ROFL, Touche!
But.. he's not hanging around with us, traipsing through others coral beds, perusing perfect polyp stick farms :D