r00onmac
DVM in training
So i have some money... and i am trying to spend ~200 of it on reef related items without my fiance finding out, but that is another story...
right now i need many things for my tank:
good test kits (salifert) because mine suck (red sea marine test kit) - i would be purchasing NitrAte, Alk, Ca, and Mg
TLF phosban reactor w/ phosban - ive heard good things...
refractometer to replace the swing arm hydrometer ive been using for over a year (i do clean it regularly to keep it consistent but havent calibrated it EVER)
A SKIMMER - never had one, and i was never interested in getting one but i think its about time i step up my reefing game...
A closed loop system - currently all flow in my tank is from a ~600 gph return from my sump running through a SCWD to 4 flare nozzles and i would like to maybe get a 1000 gph pump (like quiet one 4000) to run the SCWD as a closed loop and have the 600 gph from the return flow towards the front in the center of the tank leaving me with ~80x turnover and hopefully less dead areas
Now about my tank
levels i can test for seem all good... 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <10 nitrAte, Alk is on the high side of "Normal" with my crappy test kits, ph 8.4
i am seeing slow coraline growth but better than i expected at this point in my new tank. At almost a month up i am seeing many 1/4" circles of coraline on rocks in my sump and some in the display. i suppose this slow growth could be because the tank is new and all rock was dry rock except about 8 lbs, or (as i hear) it could be from phosphate levels as low as .10 - although i dont think this is the case as i had some hair algae when i upgraded from the 5.5 to the 20 L and it has since withered away to a mere shell of its old self meaning it has less phosphates to feed on, right?
also i have a frogspawn and a torch who have started expanding beautifully but i dont see any signs of splitting and seeing as i would prefer to grow them out instead of buying tons of corals id like them to split as much as possible... before anyone suggests feeding they dont eat... ive tried freeze dried CE, frozen mysis, live brine, table shrimp, and im sure ive tried others... itll stick for a bit and then it will either let it go or still have it attached after 20 mins with pump off and no signs of pulling it towards its mouth...
im getting a small outbreak of what i can only assume is cyano... it only shows up in certain places in the tank and looks like nice redish-purple coraline but wipes off when i touch it... it doesnt bother me much because its adding some color to my very white rock but i know that if it is cyano there is a cause - probably the larger amount of food i have been feeding recently (tried to get a wild halfblack angel to eat, which it didnt, and it died)
so the big question is: what combination of items that i "need" would you get... the skimmer is going to be upwards of 200 by itself if not more... so basically its between the other items i have combined or the skimmer, or maybe you guys have some recommendations for me... im open to anything...
right now i need many things for my tank:
good test kits (salifert) because mine suck (red sea marine test kit) - i would be purchasing NitrAte, Alk, Ca, and Mg
TLF phosban reactor w/ phosban - ive heard good things...
refractometer to replace the swing arm hydrometer ive been using for over a year (i do clean it regularly to keep it consistent but havent calibrated it EVER)
A SKIMMER - never had one, and i was never interested in getting one but i think its about time i step up my reefing game...
A closed loop system - currently all flow in my tank is from a ~600 gph return from my sump running through a SCWD to 4 flare nozzles and i would like to maybe get a 1000 gph pump (like quiet one 4000) to run the SCWD as a closed loop and have the 600 gph from the return flow towards the front in the center of the tank leaving me with ~80x turnover and hopefully less dead areas
Now about my tank
levels i can test for seem all good... 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <10 nitrAte, Alk is on the high side of "Normal" with my crappy test kits, ph 8.4
i am seeing slow coraline growth but better than i expected at this point in my new tank. At almost a month up i am seeing many 1/4" circles of coraline on rocks in my sump and some in the display. i suppose this slow growth could be because the tank is new and all rock was dry rock except about 8 lbs, or (as i hear) it could be from phosphate levels as low as .10 - although i dont think this is the case as i had some hair algae when i upgraded from the 5.5 to the 20 L and it has since withered away to a mere shell of its old self meaning it has less phosphates to feed on, right?
also i have a frogspawn and a torch who have started expanding beautifully but i dont see any signs of splitting and seeing as i would prefer to grow them out instead of buying tons of corals id like them to split as much as possible... before anyone suggests feeding they dont eat... ive tried freeze dried CE, frozen mysis, live brine, table shrimp, and im sure ive tried others... itll stick for a bit and then it will either let it go or still have it attached after 20 mins with pump off and no signs of pulling it towards its mouth...
im getting a small outbreak of what i can only assume is cyano... it only shows up in certain places in the tank and looks like nice redish-purple coraline but wipes off when i touch it... it doesnt bother me much because its adding some color to my very white rock but i know that if it is cyano there is a cause - probably the larger amount of food i have been feeding recently (tried to get a wild halfblack angel to eat, which it didnt, and it died)
so the big question is: what combination of items that i "need" would you get... the skimmer is going to be upwards of 200 by itself if not more... so basically its between the other items i have combined or the skimmer, or maybe you guys have some recommendations for me... im open to anything...
