drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

Great thread!

How do you like the 250 watt pendants? Do you feel like they are enough light? I'm looking at a 120 setup and I'm just curious if you feel like the 250watts are enough for 24 inch deep tanks.

Thanks.

Thanks Roland. Absolutely, the 250 watt'ers in Lumen Brights are plenty of light for 24" tanks. Depending on the bulb and ballast combo you go with I think you'll really like them. If you are using them inside a hood you might have to go with the "wide" model since ideally these reflectors need to placed slightly higher than other reflectors due to the light pattern. If height isn't a concern then the regular or mini's are great depending on the dimensions of your display.

Great questions Brett....

1. Yes, I wait until 8pm when my MH go off and just the VHO's until 10pm. So I have a two hour window to feed fish and sps.
2. No I keep entire system up and running. I do not like turning powered equipment on/off for much of anything; with the exception of weekly WC.

As mentioned, once my current supply of frozen food is exhausted I will be switching to Rogger's Reef Food for fish and Reef Nutrition for SPS's; along with some dried formula food (LFS brew) on occasion.

I have also been playing around with some Elos supplements (AA/Omega and their ProSkimmer).

That about rounds out my feeding(s) and dosing, etc.

HTH.......Tony

Yes Tony, this helps a ton. Thanks so much and keep me posted how the Roggers food goes once you pick some up. I'd love to hear the progress there. Btw, I feed some Oyster Feast this afternoon and when the lights came on this evening my Rose Milli PE was insane!

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


I have a few updates for you guys...


First, I went to the LFS today and picked up some coral food. I ended up getting frozen Cyclop-eeze and RN's Oyster-Feast. I think I'll pick up some Roti-Feast as well but that will be next trip. I fed some of the Oyster-Feast this afternoon with the lights off, when I returned home the lights were on and I was amazed at the feeding response of the corals, intense PE! Looking forward to how the corals respond with regular feedings of this stuff.

I also picked up some much needed coral dip. I went with ReVive Coral Cleaner simply because this is what my LFS had and I've read good things about it and also CoralRX. The stuff smells like Lysol which I found very interesting. :twitch: It's quite easy to use... 4 capfuls per 1 gallon of salwater. Pour a small amount of the solution into a Tupperware container, just enough to submerge the coral. Let the frag soak for 15 min, basting with a turkey baster to remove any stubborn bugs. Done!

Luckily my first go around resulted in nothing but a tiny bristleworm (which was kinda sad) and some sand.

And the reason for dipping, a Tri Color Valida. This is an aquacultured frag from a local reefer and are sold through my LFS. He always has nice looking frags so I decided to give one a try this time. And it was on the cheap. :lol:

And finally, I also picked up a Bubble Coral. It's obviously white but has a nice pink hue under the 20K Radiums. Looks pretty cool.

 

[tegee]

Hey Brett.....sorry to bother you, but I am too lazy to scroll back to see your post regarding the Hanna Alk Checker.

Just picked one up yesterday...can you give me some helpful tips on how to "properly" use so I get accurate readings? Also, how happy are you with it now that you had it for awhile? I am sick of Salifert and Elos is good, but not dead nuts accurate enough for me.

Many thanks for any help you can provide...Tony

 

[drummereef]

Hey Brett.....sorry to bother you, but I am too lazy to scroll back to see your post regarding the Hanna Alk Checker.

Just picked one up yesterday...can you give me some helpful tips on how to "properly" use so I get accurate readings? Also, how happy are you with it now that you had it for awhile? I am sick of Salifert and Elos is good, but not dead nuts accurate enough for me.

Many thanks for any help you can provide...Tony

Hey Tony, the Hanna Alk Checker is awesome you'll love it. There's been some controversy about the syringe and pipette tip included in the kit. What I'm doing, which has been tested and verified by some hard core reef guys is this... Ditch the pipette tip altogether. Just use the syringe to draw 1ml of the reagent. 1ml is 1ml whether the pipette tip is used or not. I actually replaced the syringe with a higher quality one as well. Seems like I get a more accurate "plunge" with the new syringe, but probably not necessary.

So here's my process.

1. Fill and empty the cuvette with tank water a few times to ensure no contaminants are inside the cuvette.
2. Fill the cuvette so the bottom of the meniscus is right at the line on the vial. Screw lid on cuvette.
3. Push button to turn on Checker.
4. Place the cuvette in the Checker to zero out the unit, push button. I place the 10ml indicator forward for consistency.
5. Remove cuvette from Checker. Draw 1ml of reagent with syringe (no tip). Add reagent to the water sample, cap and invert 5 times to mix.
6. Place cuvette with 10ml mark facing forward into Checker and press the button for your result.
7. Rinse cuvette with RODI water and store back in box.

 

[tegee]

You're the best Brett.....I knew you were the go to guy. I give it a try this evening and let you know how i make out. I test against Salifert and Elos for giggles.

BTW: you had me at "Hello".....I mean meniscus. Had to right click and look up in dictionary. New word of the day.

Many THANKS as always.........

 

[josh_tn]

Hey Tony, the Hanna Alk Checker is awesome you'll love it. There's been some controversy about the syringe and pipette tip included in the kit. What I'm doing, which has been tested and verified by some hard core reef guys is this... Ditch the pipette tip altogether. Just use the syringe to draw 1ml of the reagent. 1ml is 1ml whether the pipette tip is used or not. I actually replaced the syringe with a higher quality one as well. Seems like I get a more accurate "plunge" with the new syringe, but probably not necessary.

So here's my process.

1. Fill and empty the cuvette with tank water a few times to ensure no contaminants are inside the cuvette.
2. Fill the cuvette so the bottom of the meniscus is right at the line on the vial. Screw lid on cuvette.
3. Push button to turn on Checker.
4. Place the cuvette in the Checker to zero out the unit, push button. I place the 10ml indicator forward for consistency.
5. Remove cuvette from Checker. Draw 1ml of reagent with syringe (no tip). Add reagent to the water sample, cap and invert 5 times to mix.
6. Place cuvette with 10ml mark facing forward into Checker and press the button for your result.
7. Rinse cuvette with RODI water and store back in box.

I perform my tests exactly the same way as Brett except I don't usually pay attention to where the 10mL mark faces. I've gotten good results that way as well. When I first got it and was playing around with it I did 4 tests in a row that way and got the exact same number all 4 times so I was pretty happy with that kind of repeatability.

-Josh

 

[drummereef]

You're the best Brett.....I knew you were the go to guy. I give it a try this evening and let you know how i make out. I test against Salifert and Elos for giggles.

BTW: you had me at "Hello".....I mean meniscus. Had to right click and look up in dictionary. New word of the day.

Many THANKS as always.........

:lol: You are welcome Tony. Let me know how your results turn out. I remember the Salifert testing higher than the Checker. I heard Elos was on par with the Checker but interested to hear your findings.

I perform my tests exactly the same way as Brett except I don't usually pay attention to where the 10mL mark faces. I've gotten good results that way as well. When I first got it and was playing around with it I did 4 tests in a row that way and got the exact same number all 4 times so I was pretty happy with that kind of repeatability.

-Josh

Well, I'm glad I'm doing something right. I wouldn't think the 10ml mark would have anything to do with accurate results either, I'm just weird like that. :lol:

 

[josh_tn]

Well, I'm glad I'm doing something right. I wouldn't think the 10ml mark would have anything to do with accurate results either, I'm just weird like that. :lol:

Weird - maybe.....but next time I test, I have a feeling I'll be doing the same thing now that you brought it up :beer:

 

[drummereef]

Weird - maybe.....but next time I test, I have a feeling I'll be doing the same thing now that you brought it up :beer:

Ha! :beer:

 

[afernandez]

:lol: thanks for the alk checker input ofcourse right after I read I when to check it. lol

so I'm a bit crazy when it comes to testing..
I have the elos, salifert, and Hanna checker and I got three diffrent numbers ..

Hanna. -7.78
elos -11
salifert -8.6

Big Diffrence

So my next question is who do I belive...

Brett what do u use to test your mag & cal ?

 

[afernandez]

Btw I also have the elos mag & elos cal.(and i'm not too happy with elos) btw they are all new including my salifert kits.

yes I do have 3 sets of test kits lol told u I'm a little crazy with test kits

 

[drummereef]

:lol: thanks for the alk checker input ofcourse right after I read I when to check it. lol

so I'm a bit crazy when it comes to testing..
I have the elos, salifert, and Hanna checker and I got three diffrent numbers ..

Hanna. -7.78
elos -11
salifert -8.6

Big Diffrence

So my next question is who do I belive...

Brett what do u use to test your mag & cal ?

I would go with the Hanna Checker test. No actually those numbers are right in line with what I've researched. Salifert Alk test in most cases, including myself, are a solid 1dkh higher than the Hanna. I think this was also tested against more scientific analysis as well, so I would go by the Hanna if it were me. I can't say about the Elos but I thought they were more in line with the Hanna tests but I don't know. Maybe test again with the Elos kit and report back. Could have been a bad test...

Right now I'm using API for Ca and an old Salifert for Mag. I'm anxiously awaiting the Hanna Ca Checker to come out, hopefully soon! I need to upgrade my Mag test for sure though as it's almost out.

 

[110galreef]

:lol: thanks for the alk checker input ofcourse right after I read I when to check it. lol

so I'm a bit crazy when it comes to testing..
I have the elos, salifert, and Hanna checker and I got three diffrent numbers ..

Hanna. -7.78
elos -11
salifert -8.6

Big Diffrence

So my next question is who do I belive...

Brett what do u use to test your mag & cal ?

Believe the Hanna to be accurate & the salifert to be about .5+ off....the elos ignore.

HAHA..but seriously, the hanna & salifert numbers seem right on as the salifert is know to be about .5+ higher than the Hanna meters. As for what your right number is?? Hmmmm

EDIT...bret just beat me to the post!

 

[afernandez]

LoL idk for sure but they seem to be within acceptable values

 

[tegee]

Hey Tony, the Hanna Alk Checker is awesome you'll love it. There's been some controversy about the syringe and pipette tip included in the kit. What I'm doing, which has been tested and verified by some hard core reef guys is this... Ditch the pipette tip altogether. Just use the syringe to draw 1ml of the reagent. 1ml is 1ml whether the pipette tip is used or not. I actually replaced the syringe with a higher quality one as well. Seems like I get a more accurate "plunge" with the new syringe, but probably not necessary.

So here's my process.

1. Fill and empty the cuvette with tank water a few times to ensure no contaminants are inside the cuvette.
2. Fill the cuvette so the bottom of the meniscus is right at the line on the vial. Screw lid on cuvette.
3. Push button to turn on Checker.
4. Place the cuvette in the Checker to zero out the unit, push button. I place the 10ml indicator forward for consistency.
5. Remove cuvette from Checker. Draw 1ml of reagent with syringe (no tip). Add reagent to the water sample, cap and invert 5 times to mix.
6. Place cuvette with 10ml mark facing forward into Checker and press the button for your result.
7. Rinse cuvette with RODI water and store back in box.

Ok everyone....after Brett's valuable input on how to properly use to gain the most accurate results...here are my readings.

Salifert - 10.2
Elos - 9.0
Hanna - 9.35

I continue to use and see how close these three kits match (or don't match).

Many thanks...Tony

 

[drummereef]

Ok everyone....after Brett's valuable input on how to properly use to gain the most accurate results...here are my readings.

Salifert - 10.2
Elos - 9.0
Hanna - 9.35

I continue to use and see how close these three kits match (or don't match).

Many thanks...Tony

BAM! :hammer: I think we can call those tests conclusive. Salifert, about ~1dkh above Hanna where Elos is roughly inline. Those are exactly the results I've been seeing across the board. With that, I'd still trust the Checker. :lol:

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


A few pics and a couple questions (below in red) for you...


What a difference a day makes. The Bubble Coral is super bubbly today.

Closeup of the Bubble Coral

Question... I think this coral is starting to color morph as you can see at the base. It's always been the pink-orange color you see but now the base is turning a neon green color with green polyps! Do you think it's starting to color up or is something else going on?

Here's another frag of the same coral and you can again see how the polyps at the bottom are starting to turn green ever so slightly.

Since I've been feeding Oyster-Feast and dosing AA's more heavily the polyp extension of the corals has been great. Here's the Millepora.

And PE of the Trumpet Coral after feeding Oyster-Feast.

Question... After feeding sometimes the Purple Stag has this mucous-like stuff coming from the side of the frag. I've also noticed a snot-like substance floating around the display a couple times but now I think it's related to the Stag. You can faintly see there's also a "streamer" that comes out and waves in the flow. It's definitely not a web, like from a spionid or tube worm, it's translucent and jelly-like. Any ideas??

I thought one of the polyps were expelling it's guts but why? Could it be spawning?

 

[psteeleb]

great pictures Brett, those corals are looking nice

I'm not positive on the coral discharge but it does look like a spawn event

 

[coffeenut]

They say, that a spawning event would be triggered by the super moon thing.. with in a week ..

 

[Taqpol]

The color morph looks like a natural change due to the corals "growth front". A lot of times actively growing areas of a coral (like the tips) will be a different color then the rest of the colony so that probably just means those corals are really starting to encrust.

The discharge event looks to me like its getting rid of some of its zooxanthellae. This is not necessarily a bad thing as corals regulate this by expulsion to match their food and or light needs.