digitaledgereef

Hey stud! Hows everything going with the tank?

I was talking to Larry and that reminded me to shoot you a PM.

Hope all is well!

Tivo

Hey Steve,

Went over to Cal Trop after work. Pretty impressed with his shop and coral selection. That guy has some very rare and expensive corals, talking 300$ a frag and 150$ a polyp stuff....Bought the MP10 Vortech it was sitting on the shelf I couldn't resist. Its great so far, what mode are you use?

After that I went to a local place called Nautilus Tropical Fish in Lakewood suggested by my sis in law, a one time reefer. Small shop very clean with healthy fish and corals also the owner was very friendly. I was really surprised I never heard of the place, anyways I ended up getting a
sixline wrasse (Had one before love watching this fish) and a cleaner shrimp. I even got a large rock with a mix of green and orange Zoanthids easily over 100 polyps for 40 bucks...steal. I will post some pics later.

Continuation

I was also thinking about a Chalk Bass interesting fish he had one. I'm going to research it more, Its either going to be a Chalk Bass (that's if its sixline compatible) or a black clown. I really want something different don't know if i want to go clown again.....

Mike

Thanks! Glad you made it back from vacation in one piece. The MP 10 is great. I did however have to replace the wet side on it once because the small hole which holds the impeller at the end of the cage broke off. It hums a little at higher outputs but the flow is awsome. I've had mine for over three years. I also had an old MP20 which I owned first. I went through two wet sides and it was loud. I'd say the MP10 is a good choice for your system since you can tune it to whatever you like. The Jebo WP25's w/controller are chinese knock offs of the tunze and are less than half the price of the MP's but they would be too much flow for your system. You also wouldn't get the ecotech customer service so an MP would probably be a better choice. Have fun at So Cal Trop!

Hey Nice Skimmer!!!....I wish I had a real sump.

I went and got a clean up crew at age of aquariums after returning from vacation because of the nice new brown algae (end of cycle) also have small bubbles under sand (Nitrogen cycle) a good sign. Water tests were pretty close to perfect, just a slight detection of nitrates then I did a 5 gallon water change. Good to go.

CUC....
One Nassarius
Three Hermits
Three Astraea
All doing great and cleaning up the new algae nicely.

Question for you......
Im thinking about getting a EcoTech Marine MP10 Vortech how do you like yours? If I get one I will have to install on one of the sides of the tank. The back is not a option. I currently have a Hydor Koralia Nano Powerhead 425gph.

I going by Socal tropical fish after work (Thanks for the tip!!, Never knew it was there very close to work) and might pick one up. wish they were not so dam expensive!!! But worth it?

Mike

Check out so cal tropical fish in fullerton.

I will be on vacation for the next week, when I get back I should be ready for a clean up crew maybe a fish and a couple corals ...cant wait!!! Have you ever bought your clean up crew online say http://www.reefcleaners.org/? Cant find a place by me with a nice selection. So I was thinking about buying online. or search around more locally.

I've never bought a reef package clean up crew on line. They seem reasonable but I would be afraid of DOAs. Plus I like to see what I get first and support my LFS whenever possible. I have however purchased corals through liveaquaria.com and never had an issue.

I also have used ESV b-ionic. The cost is higher than other brands but for smaller systems it is reasonable. I've also used all in ones like kent liquid reactor but it clouds the water way too long and the animals seem to react negatively for a while after dosing. Randy Holmes Farley ( Randy's 2part) has a home made recipe using Peladow (calcium chloride), baking soda and magnesium chloride hexahydrate. It's a complex mixture and the recipe is available online. Most people with larger systems use his recipe because its proven and cost effective. I personally would stick to ESV since its clean and consistent.

Copy and paste into browser couldn't get the html link to work?

http://www.digitaledge.synology.me/images/Reef.mp4

I will do some research on the ESV Salt. Thanks for the info!!
Went down today and got some more real reef rock to complete my Aquascape. I will post some pics later I really like how it came out lots of places to put corals.

Do you have any recommendations on 2 part dosing? What type, brand name should I use?
I have used E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium Buffer in the past.

I will be on vacation for the next week, when I get back I should be ready for a clean up crew maybe a fish and a couple corals ...cant wait!!! Have you ever bought your clean up crew online say http://www.reefcleaners.org/? Cant find a place by me with a nice selection. So I was thinking about buying online. or search around more locally.

My tank stays soo much cooler with this Kessil, Its going to work out great during the summer.

Sounds like you know what you want. I used to use IO salt, then D&D salt. I now swear by ESV salt. Their ocean salt systems brand is the most precise I've used. It's a little more money but well worth it. My perams are the same all the time so consistency is great. I use a kitchen scale for measuring the components instead of the provided cups but the cups work well also. If you haven't used it before you may want to check out the reviews.

Glad to hear you like it. One of the regrets I have not running the a350w is the super clean look and easy access to the tank. With the kessil you have enough room to get some nice, still water, top down pictures. I can't really do that with the reefbreeders.
Shoot me a pic when you can

Happy reefing

Installed the Kessil, it looks great!!! luckily I have a divider between my rear sump chambers (Added_Pic---->New Reef)) and it installs perfect. It does get some moister on the bottom of the clamp but ill watch it to see if any issue arise.

Yes, I knew from researching the kessils that they have allot of shimmer, Im not really bothered by it coming from a 150 watt halide even though the kessil seems to shimmer more but i just aimed my powerhead down and it helped.

With the sand my tank is only 14inch (16 Total) deep so im sure claims will not be an issue. Looking forward to getting a couple. Ive just recently restarted my reef prob have another week or two before I start restocking.(I had two damsels for cycling just returned last night--->Then re-did rock work had to dismantle to get them out lol. I knew better)

(Continuation)
There is this great shop called Age Of Aquariums in long beach very clean and quality corals which i will only be buying from them hopefully guaranteeing me no bubble algae of other unwanted neusciences. I ended up getting "Real Reef Rock" From them also, the man made stuff again dont want any unwanted neusciences this time around. Also im mixing my own water bought a RO/DI from Bulk Reef Supply and Im using instant Ocean Reef Crystals. I use to haul water from the fish store the Catalina water. No more doing that...

Oh, forgot to mention if you haven't already noticed, the kessil has an insane shimmer so if its too much (I loved it) then raise the light or slow the surface movement by aiming down any stream pumps or power heads by a tad. Some people have sold their kessils because the shimmer was too much for them.

Hopefully you don't have issues mounting the gooseneck. That sucker is solid when its mounted but I'm not familiar with your tank so I don't know if there's an edge that may pose problems. Larry showed me an old pic of one of your tanks (very nice btw) and I noticed had a myriad of corals that I've had over the years. FYI the kessil will keep clams nicely. I'm on a few other sites and one of our fellow reefers is using 2 x a350w's on his 75. He's got 3 maximas and a couple derasa's that are flourishing.

Let me know how it goes

Sincerely

Tivo

Hey, Steve
Thanks for the info!! I will definitely take your advice on those settings.

Ya, thanks again for the smoking deal, I really appreciate that!!

From everything I've read, the kessils are great leds. I was at first just going to go with the A150W Sky Blue which would of been fine for my tank. A 25 Gallon 21 x 18 x 16. But the A350W will be nice, if I ever want upgrade to a larger tank some day, I also like the idea of the adjustably of both channels. Now if I only get home to check to set it up.......

Thanks again,
Mike

i will probably be picking your brain once and awhile. If you dont mind..

Hi Mike!

Glad to put the kessil back to use! I figured any friend of Larry should get a deal.
That guy's a great dude. Anyways, the kessil was a replacement for my first one which had an internal driver failure. Dicon/kessil said they have only had that happen 1 other time. They are really well built lights! They promptly sent ne a replacement so essentially the unit is brand new with the exception of 6 hours use.

I would recommend running them at about 25% (both channels) at first. They will not look very bright at 25% but trust me, the penetration is strong. I left mine at 25% for a week then slowly started ramping up a little every other day.

The fixture is silent. the only way you'll hear the fan is if you put your ear up to it and they barely put out any heat.

enjoy and let me know how things are going

Tivo

New Addition :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q0k1bCEJvOg