Firefly's Journal

[firefly73]

currently Aqua reef 400 set up is approx 8 months, 13 approx weeks as sps
mod o/s sump with only 1 baffle.
130l display fuge plumbed to the sump.

for reference on growth
Latest mods
6:25min laminar reefcrest 90% flow left mp40 right 0 to right 90% (4 switches per day to copy cairns tides)

aqua 400 t5 ballast 1 actinic 1 coral plus 2 blue plus with 6 ai primes (at 60% 14500k preset 50% uv.) building to 100% may 10th.

fuge light aquaone 38w freshwater light (for macros only no corals) plan to upgrade to a 2nd hand ai prime when $ allow

 

[firefly73]

auto dosing @ alk 168ml /day
ca 168ml /day
mg 98ml/day

for current levels alk 10 dkh
ca 430 ppm
mg 1400 ppm

 

[firefly73]

p04 < .03
n03 .02 (salifert)
temp 27- 26
ph ?
salt .026


water changes approx 120l / 2 weeks balanced alk mg and ca before adding. natural sea water filtered through a 100 micron sock on collection

lighting period 8am (1hr ramp) 7 pm to actinic 9pm off

flow eco vectra @ 30% over night , 7am 90% to 9pm. rise in sump flushes skimmer (2 to 3 days )

top up approx 8 to 10 l per day

 

[firefly73]

went north for 6days

cleaned out skimmer forgot to turn back on

n03 <.02 now > .08

greens lost a little colour

blues better by x2 approx ??????????????

also only ran led while away as i was still acclimating rather than risk it turned off the t5 fixture.

p04 ,.03 ca 420 mg 1400 alk 9

want to drop to 7.8 dkh

new mp40 program
reading about flow etc now running 6hrs 90% constant flow then reverse etc

2hrs nutrient export @midnight

blue tang didnt like the no3 increase he was a cheap rescue fish may need to treat tank for velvet/ich protzoan outbreak sigh.......

 

[firefly73]

going to set up daily micro nutrient dose and

a auto water change system of 8l per day or 10% weekly.(53l)

 

[Devaji108]

good look build sir!

 

[firefly73]

good look build sir!

cheers steep learning curve too!! will still upgrade my tank to a custom one day..........oneday lol

 

[firefly73]

settled on 1% daily change 5l of nsw
removed 3 cups of skimate so far
ill run a raft of tests this arvo and a few pics.


m1 running at 60% constant

lighting revised to 7am led ramp to 9am (currenlty 75% acclimating up to 100%) led ramp down 7.30pm to off 9.30pm
t5 fixture 8am to 8am.

 

[firefly73]

p04 <.03
ca 350 raised to 425. issue found with the level of the hose was siphoning back in to the ca . will manual adjust until alk is depleted.

sg .027 will drop to .026 with water change this evening

mg 1400 dosing pump1 3x10ml per day (randys)

n03 <.02

dkh 9 dropped pump 2 from 6x25ml to 6x23ml alk (randys recipe 2)

iodide<.01
iodate/iodine both <.03 have started trace and macro nutrient dosing.

pump 1 mg 3x10ml p/d
2 alk 6x23ml p/d
3 ca 4x45ml p/d adjusted for above issue
4 continuum elements n 1x2ml p/d 178ml + 1720ml ro

yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[firefly73]

checked alk dropped to 7.1. from 9

6x23 chamged back to 6x25 check tommorow morning for stable.

 

[firefly73]

checked alk dropped to 7.1. from 9

6x23 chamged back to 6x25 check tommorow morning for stable.

7.1 now raised to 8 24 ml over 2days affects that much?

 

[firefly73]

doubled the strenght of randys recipe2 so alk is recipe2 but ca is recipe 1

means i can run ca twice as long before needing to refill.

ca dose 4x 13ml = 52ml per day.

 

[firefly73]

alk sitting @ 7.8dkh
everything else is a tick on target.

rescue frag looks like a stunner and ive noticed growth on 3 of the 4 frags.

and some interesting colour

 

[civics14]

that's amazing, you get nsw to do your water changes!

 

[firefly73]

that's amazing, you get nsw to do your water changes!

sure do . i live 5 mins from the water but 15 from where i collect it .

take down the ibc and get 700l at a time.

sg is a little high during summer but this time of the year its great and the water is nice and clean. sure is cheap to!!!!!

 

[firefly73]

ca 370 4x13 up to 4x20
p04<.03
n03 .05
dkh 8.8 6x20 down to 6x18
sg 36 or .027 +-

stupid ca line back siphoned again just refilled dam it.

upset the apples by a rescape got sick of the pillars to close to the front glass so ive pushed them back and shelved it . will be getting some plate to build some low shelves for low light sps. reef 400 is just to deep!!!!!

 

[firefly73]

took out the dursa an replaced with a herbie? dam thats better nuce and quiet now . running alittle ac to clean up the water.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Tanks like this are the ones that make me lean towards going SPS dominant this time around. I love the grow-out you see with SPS.

You mentioned drain noise. What do you have for a return pump? I have a little bit of water drain sound, but it pales in comparison to my mag drive rumbling. I don't mind the sound of running water, but I would like a quieter pump.

 

[firefly73]

Tanks like this are the ones that make me lean towards going SPS dominant this time around. I love the grow-out you see with SPS.

You mentioned drain noise. What do you have for a return pump? I have a little bit of water drain sound, but it pales in comparison to my mag drive rumbling. I don't mind the sound of running water, but I would like a quieter pump.

id have to say ive lost all intrest in lps since going sps (i thought id do a mixed tank once the sps settles) grow out really cool if your patient.

yeah the reef 400 (any of the reef series) are gurgling splashing pita.

running a vectra m1 at roughly 2500 lph (60%) i cant turn it down as my manifold runs my gfo, biopellets and fuge display all from the one pump. very quiet pumps, id have to say my wife cant handle ANY noise at all from the tank.

cheers

 

[firefly73]

raised ca by 4x30ml per day was down to 380 again

alk 8dkh spot on where i want it

retro fitted a herbie over flow on the reef400 100% quieter

ive moved my aquascape again to pull it away from the rear wall due to needing low flow over night (sound) all the detrius was collecting in the rock work.

got the seneye and checked par.

seems i have plenty of light