Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[reefmutt]

Thanks! Trying to maintain a relative status quo..
will try to bring up n a bit but won’t change anything else..

 

[Ucantwin]

Great pics! The shot was the two corals touching was interesting.

 

[Gig 'em]

Corals are looking amazing! Keep up the great work [emoji16]

 

[sensei]

Very Beautiful Matt

you are a master......

 

[FloformAustria]

Wow so much pictures!! Like it

Can't remember the last full system shot I saw from you... very nice

Cheers

 

[reefmutt]

Great pics! The shot was the two corals touching was interesting.

Corals are looking amazing! Keep up the great work [emoji16]

Very Beautiful Matt

you are a master......

Wow so much pictures!! Like it

Can't remember the last full system shot I saw from you... very nice

Cheers

Thanks very much, guys. It always feels good to get positive feedback!
I really appreciate you taking the time to post!

 

[illumnae]

Amazing pictures Matt! Your tank is doing really well

My favourite is still your pink matrix

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Can your corals look any better, Matt? I guess not because they look perfect to me.

PS. That skimmer cup needs emptying.

 

[reefmutt]

Amazing pictures Matt! Your tank is doing really well

My favourite is still your pink matrix

Thank you! The pink matrix really loves life in my tank these days. It does very well.

Can your corals look any better, Matt? I guess not because they look perfect to me.

PS. That skimmer cup needs emptying.

Well.. yes they could have better pe, generally, a few could be growing better. A few could have better color.. but I won't photograph those!
Seriously, Bulent thanks. I am pretty happy with things in the tank.i am doing a lot of trimming and moving wanted pieces and removing unwanted ones.
As for the skimmer cup, it's just very dirty.. if you look at the base of the cup, on the right, you'll see that it is connected to a pipe which goes directly to the drain. Yes.. I run my skimmer open directly down the drain...
The cup got a good cleaning right after this pic was taken.

 

[janci]

Just wonderful.
The coral shots are more than amazing.
For PE, do you dose iodine?

Are these tanks all connected or is there more than 1 system?

 

[reefmutt]

Just wonderful.
The coral shots are more than amazing.
For PE, do you dose iodine?

Are these tanks all connected or is there more than 1 system?

Thank you!
The system is all connected.
I do dose iodine. 16 drops of AF iodine and 16 drops of AF Flourine go in every Saturday and Wednesday. I mention the flourine because AF add iodine to the flourine additive. This is below the recommended dose but it's been working for me, I suppose... I haven't experimented with adding more.
Do you think pe and iodine dosing are related?
I guess when the corals grow in and become very dense, consumption rates for everything go up..

 

[janci]

Thank you!
The system is all connected.
I do dose iodine. 16 drops of AF iodine and 16 drops of AF Flourine go in every Saturday and Wednesday. I mention the flourine because AF add iodine to the flourine additive. This is below the recommended dose but it's been working for me, I suppose... I haven't experimented with adding more.
Do you think pe and iodine dosing are related?
I guess when the corals grow in and become very dense, consumption rates for everything go up..

I have seen better PE after starting dosing iodine.
It was also the element that was in low level as turned out in a ICP test.

Not sure if others can confirm the same?

 

[reefmutt]

I’ve been dosing it for a couple years, so I couldn’t tell if it helps for pe.
I have noticed a slight increase in general pe since my n dropped below 1ppm - in the past few weeks..
I am however trying to bring it back up to at least 1-2 ppm..

 

[Rick55555]

Stunning tank, Matt.

I apologize in advance if you already addressed this and I missed it, but how are you preventing the siporax from turning into a detritus trap? Do you simply shake the siporax containers regularly?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[SawCJack00]

Beautiful!

 

[reefmutt]

Stunning tank, Matt.

I apologize in advance if you already addressed this and I missed it, but how are you preventing the siporax from turning into a detritus trap? Do you simply shake the siporax containers regularly?

Thanks,
Rick

Hey Rick, thanks! No apologies necessary. There are two pumps that pull from my main sump. One returns to the display and the other to the left hand side system - where the biological is. It is pretty slow flowing.
The water that makes it to my main sump, for the most part goes through a slow moving sump, then through the skimmer section, then through a filter sock before it gets taken back to the biological side. The pump also has a sponge filter on the intake. So, not a lot of detritus makes it over there.. some very fine stuff must.. this is all a preamble to the fact that I do absolutely nothing to the siporax and matrix. I haven't touched it in almost two years.
I should mention that when I added all of this biological media, it had absolutely no effect on nutrient reduction whatsoever.. but hey.. now it's a solid bacterial bed, so I just leave it alone.

Beautiful!

Thank you, Bill!

 

[markalot]

Wow great pics, great update!

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks Mark!

 

[Rick55555]

Hey Rick, thanks! No apologies necessary. There are two pumps that pull from my main sump. One returns to the display and the other to the left hand side system - where the biological is. It is pretty slow flowing.
The water that makes it to my main sump, for the most part goes through a slow moving sump, then through the skimmer section, then through a filter sock before it gets taken back to the biological side. The pump also has a sponge filter on the intake. So, not a lot of detritus makes it over there.. some very fine stuff must.. this is all a preamble to the fact that I do absolutely nothing to the siporax and matrix. I haven't touched it in almost two years.
I should mention that when I added all of this biological media, it had absolutely no effect on nutrient reduction whatsoever.. but hey.. now it's a solid bacterial bed, so I just leave it alone.

That explains why it looks so clean and how you're able to refrain from shaking/cleaning it. This is definitely food for thought. Thanks!

 

[shih87]

Looks awesome. What is your alkalinity for now? Was 6.7? What is your target NO3 value? Mine rise up to 5ppm from 0.2 ppm, coral seems ok and like it but I try to drop back to ULNS.