Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins
- Thread starter Hop
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I went a head and placed it high in the display and will slowly increase the light. I think this would be the easiest, however searching, there doesn't seem to be one way or another that is favored.
I took about an hour and built a DIY Kalk dripper/reactor this morning. I just used a empty 5 gallon salt bucket, used a RO bulkhead near the bottom, running RO tubing to a valve above the sump. Then I placed a powerhead in the bucket, drilled a hole in the lid and presto, Kalk dripper. I was thinking of putting the powerhead on a timer so it kicks on once a day to stir things up. I'll be starting with very little Kalk, until I can figure how to best balance my system.
I took about an hour and built a DIY Kalk dripper/reactor this morning. I just used a empty 5 gallon salt bucket, used a RO bulkhead near the bottom, running RO tubing to a valve above the sump. Then I placed a powerhead in the bucket, drilled a hole in the lid and presto, Kalk dripper. I was thinking of putting the powerhead on a timer so it kicks on once a day to stir things up. I'll be starting with very little Kalk, until I can figure how to best balance my system.
I was surprised to see that all the zoos opened today as soon as the lights turned on
The acro seems to be doing well considering my first ever super glue vs. frag incident...
The tank is doing better every day. Apparently moving the air intake from the skimmer outside was a good thing! I get constant foam and the minor adjustments are down to almost zero... I think I had to adjust it once all last week, not bad from something that used to need to be fine tuned daily. The mystery green algae is over half gone finally. I think the constant skimming and new DI media had definitely helped.
The Kalk reactor seems to be working fine, but I may have to shop for a better needle valve as the fine tuning just isn't there. Or I may just drip a few gallons of the Kalk a week to keep the Ca up. I seem to hover around 370, and there is not a whole lot in the tank that soaks up the Ca yet. So I guess I'll play with it over the next few weeks and see.
Had family over for the afternoon, so I really didn't have time for any pics today. I'll see what I can get for tomorrow.
But I have to tell you that walking though the LFS yesterday and seeing a deltec for the first time work.... My mind is wondering on upgrades
The acro seems to be doing well considering my first ever super glue vs. frag incident...The tank is doing better every day. Apparently moving the air intake from the skimmer outside was a good thing! I get constant foam and the minor adjustments are down to almost zero... I think I had to adjust it once all last week, not bad from something that used to need to be fine tuned daily. The mystery green algae is over half gone finally. I think the constant skimming and new DI media had definitely helped.
The Kalk reactor seems to be working fine, but I may have to shop for a better needle valve as the fine tuning just isn't there. Or I may just drip a few gallons of the Kalk a week to keep the Ca up. I seem to hover around 370, and there is not a whole lot in the tank that soaks up the Ca yet. So I guess I'll play with it over the next few weeks and see.
Had family over for the afternoon, so I really didn't have time for any pics today. I'll see what I can get for tomorrow.
But I have to tell you that walking though the LFS yesterday and seeing a deltec for the first time work.... My mind is wondering on upgrades
jnarowe
New member
Upgrades? :lol: We had a B-day party yesterday for my son and there were at least 50 people in the house. I was freaking about kids touching the tank so we put duct tape on the floor as a boundary and for the most part it worked fine.
Since I widened my skimmer airlines I have had a terrible time trying to get it adjusted. It has been overskimming for 3 days now but is finally slowing down. Having to adjust it every couple hours is indeed a pain!
Since I widened my skimmer airlines I have had a terrible time trying to get it adjusted. It has been overskimming for 3 days now but is finally slowing down. Having to adjust it every couple hours is indeed a pain!
After adding the acro to the display, the base of it turned white. Since then it appears that the white has stopped spreading and it's holding steady, if not receding. Been trying to read up on the acro, but all I've found seem to not apply to my situation specifically. Hopefully this is just part of the stress that accompanies adding SPS. I guess we'll see.
Aside from my lone crab in the display knocking the rock over, the zoos are doing well. I came home to them sunnyside down last night and just rolled it over and left it on the sand bed. Today it opened completely.
The GSP are doing well and the devil's hand is getting huge.
Probably boring stuff to hear, but I'm excited about it. We've been having a heat wave, with temps in the high 90s. I've been worried about the tank temps while I'm at work, but so far everything is holding under 82 degrees. I added a room fan to the wetroom as a precaution, but have only ran it for a few hours this evening to help vent the humid air out...
Aside from my lone crab in the display knocking the rock over, the zoos are doing well. I came home to them sunnyside down last night and just rolled it over and left it on the sand bed. Today it opened completely.
The GSP are doing well and the devil's hand is getting huge.
Probably boring stuff to hear, but I'm excited about it. We've been having a heat wave, with temps in the high 90s. I've been worried about the tank temps while I'm at work, but so far everything is holding under 82 degrees. I added a room fan to the wetroom as a precaution, but have only ran it for a few hours this evening to help vent the humid air out...
Dudester
Premium Member
Hop, I've had the same experience and it's turned out just fine. I have 5 acro frags in my tank. 4 of them developed a lightening/whitening at the base that progressed slightly for the first 3-4 days of entrance into my tank. I considered re-fragging the frags at that time but instead just watched them closely. After about 10 days they regained some color and by around 3 weeks I couldn't tell they ever had a problem. I hope yours will follow a similar course.
Well the whitening has completely stopped and it appears as though some, but only some of what was white has regained it color. I have noted that it appears that the frag has changed color a bit and from reading around, appears normal, or somewhat normal. It does Florence nicely under the actinics now
Didn't get anything done to the tank this weekend, but I did get the boat tuned up and ready to go
Didn't get anything done to the tank this weekend, but I did get the boat tuned up and ready to go
Finally donated a few hours to the tank today... Just scraping and cleaning. Nothing exciting really
but here are a couple shots from the tank today...
I'm taking a few days off next week. Hopefully I'll get some of the woodwork done. I want to have the inside wrapped up so I can paint the room by August
but here are a couple shots from the tank today...
I'm taking a few days off next week. Hopefully I'll get some of the woodwork done. I want to have the inside wrapped up so I can paint the room by August
Thanks, I really like the zoos. I just wish I had more to fill the tank in a bit.
I found that I have some nice shrooms growing under my Devil's Hand that tagged along and they are getting huge. I may start reading bout how to frag the devil's hand and the shrooms in order to move some around the tank. I can't seem to get a good pic of the acro. Still not sure if it's doing well or not. Around the polyps, has really started to glow while under the actinic lighting. I'm monitoring this closely
I'm running a little skimmer test today in order to find out if mine is doing it's job correctly. I placed a drop in the sump skimmer in to see how much gunk it pulls out. I know skimmers skim differently and it's not the best test, but I want to know whether I need to upgrade skimmers or not. I like my MRC, but with what I have in the tank, I would expect more gunk than I'm getting. It could be that it's doing it's job perfectly and I'm concerned over nothing, but without testing it, I can't be certain. My parameters are near perfect with only a hint of PO4 and my Ca is still a tad on the low side. So I upped my Kalk drip rate a bit
Welp, that's most likely the last update for a while, so everyone have a good couple weeks or so, I'm going to work on the tank more and post less
I found that I have some nice shrooms growing under my Devil's Hand that tagged along and they are getting huge. I may start reading bout how to frag the devil's hand and the shrooms in order to move some around the tank. I can't seem to get a good pic of the acro. Still not sure if it's doing well or not. Around the polyps, has really started to glow while under the actinic lighting. I'm monitoring this closely
I'm running a little skimmer test today in order to find out if mine is doing it's job correctly. I placed a drop in the sump skimmer in to see how much gunk it pulls out. I know skimmers skim differently and it's not the best test, but I want to know whether I need to upgrade skimmers or not. I like my MRC, but with what I have in the tank, I would expect more gunk than I'm getting. It could be that it's doing it's job perfectly and I'm concerned over nothing, but without testing it, I can't be certain. My parameters are near perfect with only a hint of PO4 and my Ca is still a tad on the low side. So I upped my Kalk drip rate a bit
Welp, that's most likely the last update for a while, so everyone have a good couple weeks or so, I'm going to work on the tank more and post less
MountainReef
Premium Member
Well thanks alot Hop. I just wasted my entire day reading through this thread. Great tank and lots of great learning. Fragging a couple of corals will help spread things out across the tank. I have more frags than I know what to do with, or can get down to Denver to trade. Let me know if you want some.
MountainReef: Thanks... I think. PM sent.
I know I said I wasn't going to post for a while, but two quick updates.
1. The second skimmer that I had on loan didn't hardly pull anything out in two days. It was already broke in, so my conclusion is that my MRC is doing it's job along with the fuge.
2. I took a couple days off this week to do some projects around the house. Today I got 95% of the trim work done on the tank. Belive me, there was a ton. Including crown molding and sealing up the gaps around the tank. I have a few more pieces to cut then pull them all down and get them painted. The last thing to do on the inside would then be to get the cabinet doors made and hung. Hopefully in the next week it will all be done Then I can concentrate on the aquascape and quit looking at the tank as a list of things to do to finish it!
I know I said I wasn't going to post for a while, but two quick updates.
1. The second skimmer that I had on loan didn't hardly pull anything out in two days. It was already broke in, so my conclusion is that my MRC is doing it's job along with the fuge.
2. I took a couple days off this week to do some projects around the house. Today I got 95% of the trim work done on the tank. Belive me, there was a ton. Including crown molding and sealing up the gaps around the tank. I have a few more pieces to cut then pull them all down and get them painted. The last thing to do on the inside would then be to get the cabinet doors made and hung. Hopefully in the next week it will all be done
Then I can concentrate on the aquascape and quit looking at the tank as a list of things to do to finish it!
Are you laughing because I will only think the outside is done or you find solace in the fact that there is a quantum relationship between all reefers who take on the task of a larger tank and find themselves doing everything but getting the wood work done (Melev):frog:
Just wanted to thank MountainReef again for the frags this morning. He was doing some work related stuff in the town I live and took the time to frag some birdsnest and colt for my tank. Met with him bright and early and very briefly.
After getting the frags acclimated and mounted, I had some training and then fell asleep in front of the tank Maybe tomorrow I'll get some painting done:lol:
After getting the frags acclimated and mounted, I had some training and then fell asleep in front of the tank
Maybe tomorrow I'll get some painting done:lol:
Two more and I'll split the thread
REEF-DADDY
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