Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[nemodan]

Woody would like to wish you a very happy Holidays!

This is the BEST picture of all your thread !!!

Wish him also a Happy Holidays !!!

Cheers
Daniel

Ps: And for you and all your family too !

 

[mhucasey]

Give woody a good scratching as a thank you from me matt,for his holiday wishes:beer:

I was almost ready to order AF products too but i thought i'd better wait and see what impact they will have in your tank which is already in a very good shape,with healthy corals and nice colors.
Wondering how further they will push it!
Hope they'll arrive soon and well buddy:thumbsup:

Woody appreciates it, he's a sweet little boy!
I'm excited to try them and will report what I find. I know the all-in-one pellets work too, so I can always go back to them, but part of the fun of this hobby is trying new things:thumbsup:

 

[mhucasey]

This is the BEST picture of all your thread !!!

Wish him also a Happy Holidays !!!

Cheers
Daniel

Ps: And for you and all your family too !

Will do, and thanks! Woody discovered fires are awesome this last weekend and he looked so posed there it was ridiculous, of course the other pups kept trying to photobomb while I was taking the picture:lolspin:

 

[discos]

Wow, lots of info! I was actually a very early adopter of Nitrate dosing, and a poster on the "Dosing nitrates to reduce phosphates" thread. I'm very comfortable with the concepts and have proven them out in my tank. In just a few years the hobby went from acting like dosing Nitrates was crazy talk to accepting that there is a definite issue when people have nitrate starved reefs. This is a really good thing, and dosing some phosphate may be necessary in some people's tanks as well.

I like challenges and am always trying to improve the tank - growth and color are never as good as they can be for me. Its a mental illness really:fun5:

I like looking at the tank with all the lights on and that makes me a little frustrated as the shorter photoperiods do a better job with the corals but then give me less time to see the tank. I was loving the idea of an 8 hour full light photoperiod but Ill have to come back to that at a later time.

Dosing nitrates to lower phosphates was a pionner topic. People even now are getting a hard time to fully understand it and accept it as a more natural way to keep your nutrients in check. Your tank was amazing even without a year of water changes? I would never do that, I am not that brave! :lolspin:

About the skimmate, that's a lot of gunk you have there and I was thinking i was pulling too much! The Geo calcium reactor you mention is a BEAST! Mine is 612 and I have it for almost 12 years. Pretty solid contruction and simple but efficient design. A great choice.

Merry Xmas To u Matt, your family and Bitey ..I mean Woody!!:jester:

 

[mhucasey]

I did a little rearranging in the sump, and installed the Zeolite reactor. Im still tweaking it a bit. In some orientations the reactor's pump sucks up some air and creates microbubbles. I'm glad i got this in place early to work it out. I think I'll start with 300mLS of stones but I'm not 100% on that just yet.

 

[reefmutt]

So, basically, it's the zeolites and a carbon source that drop nutrients, right?
What is aquaforest's carbon source called?
When do you remove the aio pellets?

 

[mhucasey]

So, basically, it's the zeolites and a carbon source that drop nutrients, right?
What is aquaforest's carbon source called?
When do you remove the aio pellets?

The Theory is that the Zeolites enhance the performance of the carbon source, especially in regards to reducing Phosphate. They also provide a surface for Bacterial mulm to collect and then get knocked off into the water to be a food source for corals. The Zeolites are 10 bucks a liter, so they aren't an expensive option and I already had the reactor.
The carbon source is NP Pro(Probably Carbon and Nitrate). Ill probably just reduce the flow to the pellets a little each day. I have already reduced the amount of pellets to 400MLs, and pulling the reactor apart to remove pellets is a pain.

I should get the Probiotic Salt today. I have 25 gallons of DI prepped for the first water change:thumbsup:

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

Cant wait to see how those aquaforest products work for you matt

 

[glaukos]

I'm excited for you bud:beer:

Matt what readings does the salt give?Regarding ca,kh etc?
Is the kh low?
Sorry for not checking this by myself but i'm online from my mobile feel like a caveman

 

[mhucasey]

I'm excited for you bud:beer:

Matt what readings does the salt give?Regarding ca,kh etc?
Is the kh low?
Sorry for not checking this by myself but i'm online from my mobile feel like a caveman

Yes, the salt mixes to around 7DKH or so. AquaForest specifies keeping the tank between 6.5 and 7.5DKH, which is where I like to be anyway. Supposedly the Aquaforest salt is pretty cheap in Europe, its a bit more expensive in the US because of the transit.

 

[rburns24]

-
"KH: 7.34 dKH"

Can't wait until this is available in Canada. A salt mix with,
IMHO, a reasonable dkh. What a novel idea .
-

 

[reefmutt]

Curious to see your test results on that salt, Matt
I'd give it a shot in my reef with that dkh.. If it tests out at that level..

 

[M007]

Those are some nice salt specs, following this trial with great interest.

 

[mhucasey]

Well, its been a while since I did a water change, and so it took a lot longer to set everything up right, but i got it done.

Sorry, but I spaced on Alk testing. Ill get one done with tomorrow's batch. I was pleasantly surprised to find a 10 ML Bottle of NP pro inside the Bucket, along with a printed guide and a test report.

They test each lot for parameters apparently. This lot had a little higher DKH of 7.7 at 33ppt salinity:

There is a scoop in the bucket too, nice touch.

It mixed up and was clear in about 15 -20 minutes. I changed out about 23 gallons of water and started the container filling for batch 2. I took a "Start" picture of the tank for reference. The tank looks shabby but i wanted to leave the cyano alone to see what happens.

 

[mhucasey]

I finished the change at approximately 7:30, added two drops of the AquaForest carbon source, and turned the Biopellet reactor down slightly. Within an hour polyp extension was very good, even on some corals that have been a little shy lately. By 9 cyano was peeling up in big chunks from the substrate. So far so good I should have a ready batch of water for a second change first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[glaukos]

-
"KH: 7.34 dKH"

Can't wait until this is available in Canada. A salt mix with,
IMHO, a reasonable dkh. What a novel idea .
-

Thanks for the reply bud:beer:

 

[glaukos]

I finished the change at approximately 7:30, added two drops of the AquaForest carbon source, and turned the Biopellet reactor down slightly. Within an hour polyp extension was very good, even on some corals that have been a little shy lately. By 9 cyano was peeling up in big chunks from the substrate. So far so good I should have a ready batch of water for a second change first thing tomorrow morning.

Happy you get good signs so fast matt!
Let us know how that second WC goes:thumbsup:

Do you siphon these chunks of cyano or let them dissolve?

 

[M007]

Did you by any chance test your water perams before the AF water changes?

 

[reefwiser]

Look forward to seeing your tank turn around.

 

[mhucasey]

Water Parameters from the tank before first water change:
PH: 8-8.35
Temp: 77-78.5
Salinity: 34ppt
PO4: 0.03(last checked. Usually 0.00)
NO3: ~7ppm
Mg: 1700
Ca: 420
ALK: 7.0DKH

I performed the second water change this morning, mixing the water to 34ppt per the Digital refractometer. I tested Alk at 7.7 and Ca at 430ppm, so it is pretty much spot on to the certificate of analysis included with the batch.

I started making water for batch #3 for tonight.