29 gal external overflow all DIY - yep another one
- Thread starter impur
- Start date
Silver_Stang
New member
hey, I think the guy at the LFS was probably a moron. I don't go to the LFS with any questions about the hobby any more, the web is a much better source. Good to see your tank doing so well. I am currently looking for a good beginner coral. Also, could you tell me a little more about your light setup, like the wattage, cost of balast, light, etc.
impur
New member
I hear ya there. Most LFS employees now little to nothing about the hobby.
My lighting is pretty simple. I bought a Reef Optix I pendant from premiumaquatics.com for 110 shipped. The bulb is a 250w 14k hamilton, i bought this off a local guy for 45 bucks. It had 2 weeks of use. The ballast is an ARO electronic ballast from hellolights.com for 105. The hangers i got from a LFS but are made by sunlightsupply.com, head over to their site and you can find them there. These things are slick! 30 bucks for those and i can raise and lower the light with one hand.
Hope that helps, thanks for the compliments! Let me know if you have any other questions, and keep up the good work on your tank. I've been following its progress and thats gonna be one sweet setup.
My lighting is pretty simple. I bought a Reef Optix I pendant from premiumaquatics.com for 110 shipped. The bulb is a 250w 14k hamilton, i bought this off a local guy for 45 bucks. It had 2 weeks of use. The ballast is an ARO electronic ballast from hellolights.com for 105. The hangers i got from a LFS but are made by sunlightsupply.com, head over to their site and you can find them there. These things are slick! 30 bucks for those and i can raise and lower the light with one hand.
Hope that helps, thanks for the compliments! Let me know if you have any other questions, and keep up the good work on your tank. I've been following its progress and thats gonna be one sweet setup.
Silver_Stang
New member
Thanks, my progress on my tank is slow, but steady. I do the best I can on a collage student's budget. Is that MH light bulb half atinic and half daylight?
impur
New member
This seems to be some sort of encrusting monti, not sure on the id
Caps showing impressive growth in a month
Green frogspawn already split from 3 heads to 5
Pink ric now has 2 mouths. Also is splitting off another new ric on the right side.
Candy cane just keeps growing. I've fragged it 3 times and it needs it again
Blastos feeling happy after eating:
Caps showing impressive growth in a month
Green frogspawn already split from 3 heads to 5
Pink ric now has 2 mouths. Also is splitting off another new ric on the right side.
Candy cane just keeps growing. I've fragged it 3 times and it needs it again
Blastos feeling happy after eating:
Silver_Stang
New member
Man, you got a lot of growth on that first frag. those orange zoos are really cool, I think I might try to pick some up for my tank. Keep the pictures coming.
Silver_Stang
New member
Impur -
What kind of calcium additive and buffer do you use? What brand test kit do you use? I use the seatest calcium test kit and every time I get a reading of like 550ppm in my tank, I didn't think the kit was acurate so I tested a fresh batch of salt water I mixed for a water change. the kit said calcium was 750ppm! I need an acurate kit, I am feed up with the seatest kit.
What kind of calcium additive and buffer do you use? What brand test kit do you use? I use the seatest calcium test kit and every time I get a reading of like 550ppm in my tank, I didn't think the kit was acurate so I tested a fresh batch of salt water I mixed for a water change. the kit said calcium was 750ppm! I need an acurate kit, I am feed up with the seatest kit.
impur
New member
I use aquarium pharmaceuticals. Has worked well for me since i started keeping tanks. I dose about 25-30ml of B-ionic part 1 (the alk part) daily. Once i get my alk up to about 9dKH i'll be using a dosing pump and dosing kalk 24/7. I don't dose anything for calcium and maintain steady levels of about 440-460ppm using oceanic salt. Alk is all i dose.
What salt are you using? I've heard those seatests are off too.
What salt are you using? I've heard those seatests are off too.
Silver_Stang
New member
I use instant ocean salt. I started a thread in the chem. forum. It seems like salifert is a popular easy to use test kit for calcium. I am going to try it out. You get 50-100 tests for $21, my old kit gave 20 unaccurate tests for $13.
How often are you doing water changes to keep calcium up? and how much water?
How often are you doing water changes to keep calcium up? and how much water?
