rick s
Premium Member
Here’s my story. Sorry it’s so long, but maybe something in here will prove valuable for someone else.
I started with a Turboflotor 1000 skimmer, wet/dry with a DLS (floss) roll, UV Sterilizer, and 113lbs of Vanuatu live rock. I tested only for calcium and nitrates (typical rookie) and used Kent Liquid Calcium. I kept the tank at 1.025/26 and between 77-81 degrees. My nitrates stayed at 40. The corals and fish did fine and looked great, but I had absolutely zero coral growth.
After about a year, two of my LFS’s (I am blessed to have a few phenomenal LFS’s!) convinced me to get rid of the floss roll. I slowly replaced it with bio-balls (I like to take baby steps) and my nitrates came down to 25. A few months after that, I started a refugium with Chaeto and slowly removed all the bio-balls. When I removed the last of the bio-balls, my nitrates were at zero, and have stayed there.
Let me pause and say that I am an avid, daily reader of Randy Holmes-Farley’s Chemistry Forum. I learned soooo much simply by reading other people’s questions and Randy’s responses. And I am “chemistry challenged.†About the time I started the refugium I “learned†the importance of low-to-zero phosphates. So I tested for them for the first time and found them at 1. Not 0.1, 1! I started using Rowaphos and slowly brought them down to zero. That was when the WOW factor kicked in. As soon as my nitrates and phosphates went to zero, everything started to grow! I mean visual, almost “overnight†growth. I was a happy reefer!
The tank has continued to do well from there. I have stopped using the liquid calcium and switched to kalkwasser in my gravity fed top-off. When the kalk alone could no longer keep up with my calcium and alkalinity demand I continued using the kalk and also started adding B-Ionic. I since have switched from B-Ionic to Randy’s 2-part system. I add it manually. I have a dosing pump that I will be connecting to dose the 2-part. I also test for and add Magnesium as required to maintain 1280.
I had a bout with Red Planaria Flatworms. 4 treatments of Flatwork Exit, and I haven’t seen any since. I saw my first aiptasia about a year ago. I scraped him off the rock and added a peppermint shrimp. I never saw another one until 2 weeks ago. Coincidentally (or not?) I haven’t seen my peppermint shrimp in 3 weeks. The aiptasia I saw got nuked.
Other than that, I updated to a Deltec AP600 skimmer along the way. I can’t say that it pulls out any more gunk than my old Turboflotor did, but it is much easier to keep “tuned.â€Â
I feed frozen mysis once a day. I also feed Spectrum Thera-A pellets every few days. I add cyclopeese, DT’s Phyto, oyster eggs, and amino acids 3 times a week on an alternating schedule. I turn my main pump off when I feed so the food stays in the display tank. I turn my skimmer off for 3 hours after I add the cyclopeese, phyto, eggs, and/or amino acids.
I can’t say if any of those supplements do anything, or everything. . .
I clean the front and side glass twice a week with a magnet scraper and the back glass once a week. All pumps, skimmer, etc. get cleaned about every six months. I’ve always used Tropic Marin salt (now Pro-reef). I have 2, 175 watt, XM 15,000K metal halides on an old magnetic ballast: One plain fluorescent (40 watt, not VHO) URI actinic and one plain URI 50/50 bulb. That combination of bulbs gives me the colors that I wanted to see. Most of my corals have come from 1"-2" frags.
Other than that, I don’t know of anything I’m doing that is any different from anyone else. Feel free to ask any other questions. I’m no expert, but I can tell you what seems to be working for me from my experience.
Thanks again for all the kind comments.
I started with a Turboflotor 1000 skimmer, wet/dry with a DLS (floss) roll, UV Sterilizer, and 113lbs of Vanuatu live rock. I tested only for calcium and nitrates (typical rookie) and used Kent Liquid Calcium. I kept the tank at 1.025/26 and between 77-81 degrees. My nitrates stayed at 40. The corals and fish did fine and looked great, but I had absolutely zero coral growth.
After about a year, two of my LFS’s (I am blessed to have a few phenomenal LFS’s!) convinced me to get rid of the floss roll. I slowly replaced it with bio-balls (I like to take baby steps) and my nitrates came down to 25. A few months after that, I started a refugium with Chaeto and slowly removed all the bio-balls. When I removed the last of the bio-balls, my nitrates were at zero, and have stayed there.
Let me pause and say that I am an avid, daily reader of Randy Holmes-Farley’s Chemistry Forum. I learned soooo much simply by reading other people’s questions and Randy’s responses. And I am “chemistry challenged.†About the time I started the refugium I “learned†the importance of low-to-zero phosphates. So I tested for them for the first time and found them at 1. Not 0.1, 1! I started using Rowaphos and slowly brought them down to zero. That was when the WOW factor kicked in. As soon as my nitrates and phosphates went to zero, everything started to grow! I mean visual, almost “overnight†growth. I was a happy reefer!
The tank has continued to do well from there. I have stopped using the liquid calcium and switched to kalkwasser in my gravity fed top-off. When the kalk alone could no longer keep up with my calcium and alkalinity demand I continued using the kalk and also started adding B-Ionic. I since have switched from B-Ionic to Randy’s 2-part system. I add it manually. I have a dosing pump that I will be connecting to dose the 2-part. I also test for and add Magnesium as required to maintain 1280.
I had a bout with Red Planaria Flatworms. 4 treatments of Flatwork Exit, and I haven’t seen any since. I saw my first aiptasia about a year ago. I scraped him off the rock and added a peppermint shrimp. I never saw another one until 2 weeks ago. Coincidentally (or not?) I haven’t seen my peppermint shrimp in 3 weeks. The aiptasia I saw got nuked.
Other than that, I updated to a Deltec AP600 skimmer along the way. I can’t say that it pulls out any more gunk than my old Turboflotor did, but it is much easier to keep “tuned.â€Â
I feed frozen mysis once a day. I also feed Spectrum Thera-A pellets every few days. I add cyclopeese, DT’s Phyto, oyster eggs, and amino acids 3 times a week on an alternating schedule. I turn my main pump off when I feed so the food stays in the display tank. I turn my skimmer off for 3 hours after I add the cyclopeese, phyto, eggs, and/or amino acids.
I can’t say if any of those supplements do anything, or everything. . .
I clean the front and side glass twice a week with a magnet scraper and the back glass once a week. All pumps, skimmer, etc. get cleaned about every six months. I’ve always used Tropic Marin salt (now Pro-reef). I have 2, 175 watt, XM 15,000K metal halides on an old magnetic ballast: One plain fluorescent (40 watt, not VHO) URI actinic and one plain URI 50/50 bulb. That combination of bulbs gives me the colors that I wanted to see. Most of my corals have come from 1"-2" frags.
Other than that, I don’t know of anything I’m doing that is any different from anyone else. Feel free to ask any other questions. I’m no expert, but I can tell you what seems to be working for me from my experience.
Thanks again for all the kind comments.
