Fishy 1
The Reefer From Downunder
You have that right mate, I'd be happy to help you "help" someone as I said the marine life is jaw dropping around here and if your a slow swimmer that's the last thing you're gonna see
My 65 Gallon Mixed Reef
- Thread starter biggles
- Start date
You have that right mate, I'd be happy to help you "help" someone as I said the marine life is jaw dropping around here and if your a slow swimmer that's the last thing you're gonna see
biggles
Premium Member
Hahahaha Biggles yes there are lots of bitters here. By the way it is safe to swim off Perth now because all the whites are in the bay right in front of my house now!!!! There are five of them swimming around with one being 5.3m and another being 5.5m both are tagged and have set of receivers almost everyday on the main beach. But no tourists have been eaten yetso if you want to see a white I can hook you up with one
Nope screw that for a joke, although if they invented a transmitter that let you remote control a white pointer i'd be up for a drive...........
we have lots of cool critters to keep your 'mates' amused Bello. That reminds about the time boxboy and i were walking through the bush with him about 6 ft in front of me, think i was going to try chopping a tree down with a tomahawk from memory but boxboy stood on a brown snake which shot up like in the bloody movies obviously upset and who is it looking at from about 3 ft away now - me, not boxboy who actually walked on it and had already taken off like the gutless tool brother he was. I had already developed lightning fast reflexes from the numerous near misses encountered during my riskier childhood speriments so i took off the other way but only made it about 10 ft before the thought of throwing stuff at the snake came to me. I grabbed a tennis ball sized rock and turned to see nothing ! The bloody snake was like my brother and not up for a battle with biggles.I once talked boxboy into jumping off a bridge holding an 8 ft square sheet of builders plastic i 'found' to use as a parachute. The bridge was about 20 ft off the river water - chose the river as i wasn't at all confident that boxboy could hold the four corners of the biggles parachute throughout the decent.
What could go wrong right.......... well factor in boxboy and the answer is plenty. I chose a spot directly over one of the big pylons holding the bridge up, boxboy leapt and the plastic parachute inflated with a big whoosh which jerked the subject back towards the pylon resulting in impact and early termination of the parachute test. He did however keep a tight grip on the plastic right up until impact so there was some useful data gleaned from the speriment. He splashed down and i watched for him to surface - nothing, i was a tad worried so ran to the other side of the bridge only to see something that i'll never forget - my brother is lolling about like some sick whale on the surface and MY plastic parachute is floating away. I jumped immediately and with some serious swimming was able to save the parachute. My brother came ashore about 50 yds down stream from me and a check revealed nothing but some skin off here and there and a big bruise on his back.
To this day i haven't forgiven him for selfishly worrying about himself against my very clear directions to not lose the parachute under any circumstances - couldn't even do that one simple thing right.
I don't know how many months back i lost the plot with salinity but the accurately calibrated refractometer reveals i have a bit under 1.0230. RO reads way under the zero line which i used to calibrate the refractometer. When i found it at 1.0280 it was actually 1.0250 and i was seeing some growth tips on stuff not growing before. I can't believe the stupid mistakes i've been making lately but i'm surprised the acros are still alive with what i'm putting them through. Need to raise the salinity asap but without putting the final nail in the acro coffin. I grabbed a 25L drum of NSW from a LFS i never go to normally and the water tested 1.0260. This is now connected to my float valve ATO to replace evap and lift the salinity. As soon as the bucket of salt arrives later in the week i'll fill the 50L sump section with it and put it back online along with another 50L i'll pull from the tank to replace.
How quickly can you use artificial water after mixing guys - don't want to do any more harm lol.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Boxboy. :lol: I was reading this at work and had to stop myself from laughing!
Biggles, according to RedSea, their Pro salt can be used within 20 minutes/as soon as the water clears. I have tried this and had no issues in my tank at all. In fact I use the D&D H2Ocean salt (made in same factory/from same source etc) and just as the video explains, I found that mixing too long results in the water turning cloudy; which is actually precipitation.
I now just mix for a couple of hours and do a water change. But I think its best to check with our expert Bello. I dont want to be the cause of more STN on your corals. :eek2:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UlIHJ02NaKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Biggles, according to RedSea, their Pro salt can be used within 20 minutes/as soon as the water clears. I have tried this and had no issues in my tank at all. In fact I use the D&D H2Ocean salt (made in same factory/from same source etc) and just as the video explains, I found that mixing too long results in the water turning cloudy; which is actually precipitation.
I now just mix for a couple of hours and do a water change. But I think its best to check with our expert Bello. I dont want to be the cause of more STN on your corals. :eek2:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UlIHJ02NaKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
troubadour11
Member
Hey there Biggles. It's been awhile since I've stuck my neck out of my bunker :headwalls: Sorry to hear about the ordeal with your Mom. I hope all is improving and going well now! I'm a little late to the party, but the thought never hurts ;-)
Also sad to hear about the salinity issue. I thought you had that figured out last time when you noticed the refractometer was off when you compared it at the LFS. It sounds like Bello hit it spot on with those plastic bins possibly leaching something into the system. I set up my ATO and water change stations with Brute trashcans and haven't seen any issues with them yet. I've tested my RO/DI water multiple times after filling the bin. I typically tested before filling it too, just to verify nothing was leaching since it was my first set up. And ever since I started using my DI stage, it's been rock solid at 0 tds.
As for the artificial salt side. I've been using the Red Sea Regular (just like Bello) since setting up my system. So far I've been really happy with it and haven't had any issues at all. I've given some thought to switching to the Red Sea Coral Pro to maintain slightly elevated levels since my system is so young. But I still haven't made up my mind yet.
EVERY TIME I've done a water change on my systme (both the DT and QT) I've just mixed the salt until the water was clear and then used it pretty much immediately. So far I haven't had any fish/shrimp deaths or coral issues immediately following water changes. So usually that's about 5 minutes of random stirring, until clear, to mix my couple gallons of QT water for raising QT salinity or water changes. And for the DT, I typically toss a small Cobalt MJ600 into my 20 gallon brute trashcan when I do a water change. I add 2 cups of Red Sea Regular at a time and give it a couple minutes to stir before adding the next. Usually with the MJ600 running pointed at the bottom of the barrel, I'll let it mix 15-25 minutes and it's clear. During that time, I'm typically draining the water out of the DT. Once it's clear, I start draining it into the sump to mix with the water in the sump and 75 gallon refugium.
The video Sahin posted is what I used to get to my current mixing routine. At first I stirred it overnight and brought it up to temp. But after watching that vid on their site, I've just been mixing 15-20 mins on big batches until clear and using right away with no issues.
So that's, that on the salt mixing deal. If a newbie like me can figure it out, I'm sure you can handle it ;-) :fun2:
And again, sorry to hear about the SPS issues. I've been facing a very small scare similar to yours. My Red Planet table gave me a fright and has a couple bleached tips and I'm just praying I corrected the issue and the recession halts! With my EXTREMELY limited SPS experience, I'd guess it's the salinity issue more then anything. I screwed up and fell asleep (when I was sick filling my ATO). I ended up filling my entire empty sump space with fresh ATO, almost to overflowing. The SG dropped down to 1.023/24. I attempted to bring it back into line which took me about 4-5 days of evaporation and top-off to get the salinity right. In that time my pink Monti-Cap and my ORA Red Planet both showed some bleaching. Ever since correcting the SG, I haven't seen it progress further. But both pieces are still scaring me.
Ironically, those 2 pieces ("the more tolerant/hardy SPS") bleached some during the event but my Birdsnest and other purple/blue frag SPS took it in stride and didn't show any bleaching. Of course all my flubber is perfectly happy... zoas, not so much.
So you're not the only one that stuffed up the salinity. It would be a shame if I lost 50% of my SPS to my first goof-up! :faceplam: Fingers crossed I got it all halted in time and it's just some bleached/lost tips and the rest of the colony will recover.?.?. This being my 1st SPS venture, I'm not really sure how close I am to loosing those 2 pieces or not. But the parts of them that still have color have PE. So I'm hoping it's just the small bits and doesn't spread.
Anyway, my lunch break is over now, so I'm going to get back to it. I'll hopefully have some time to update my thread soon with the things I've been up to. I've been up to a bit of construction finalizing some of my build plans that were almost complete. There may have been a bit of sneakiness... my hands were in my tank moving some things around and I've got to get the aquascape ship-shape to add our clown pair in as soon as I get the SG up to match the DT. :bounce3:
Also sad to hear about the salinity issue. I thought you had that figured out last time when you noticed the refractometer was off when you compared it at the LFS. It sounds like Bello hit it spot on with those plastic bins possibly leaching something into the system. I set up my ATO and water change stations with Brute trashcans and haven't seen any issues with them yet. I've tested my RO/DI water multiple times after filling the bin. I typically tested before filling it too, just to verify nothing was leaching since it was my first set up. And ever since I started using my DI stage, it's been rock solid at 0 tds.
As for the artificial salt side. I've been using the Red Sea Regular (just like Bello) since setting up my system. So far I've been really happy with it and haven't had any issues at all. I've given some thought to switching to the Red Sea Coral Pro to maintain slightly elevated levels since my system is so young. But I still haven't made up my mind yet.
EVERY TIME I've done a water change on my systme (both the DT and QT) I've just mixed the salt until the water was clear and then used it pretty much immediately. So far I haven't had any fish/shrimp deaths or coral issues immediately following water changes. So usually that's about 5 minutes of random stirring, until clear, to mix my couple gallons of QT water for raising QT salinity or water changes. And for the DT, I typically toss a small Cobalt MJ600 into my 20 gallon brute trashcan when I do a water change. I add 2 cups of Red Sea Regular at a time and give it a couple minutes to stir before adding the next. Usually with the MJ600 running pointed at the bottom of the barrel, I'll let it mix 15-25 minutes and it's clear. During that time, I'm typically draining the water out of the DT. Once it's clear, I start draining it into the sump to mix with the water in the sump and 75 gallon refugium.
The video Sahin posted is what I used to get to my current mixing routine. At first I stirred it overnight and brought it up to temp. But after watching that vid on their site, I've just been mixing 15-20 mins on big batches until clear and using right away with no issues.
So that's, that on the salt mixing deal. If a newbie like me can figure it out, I'm sure you can handle it ;-) :fun2:
And again, sorry to hear about the SPS issues. I've been facing a very small scare similar to yours. My Red Planet table gave me a fright and has a couple bleached tips and I'm just praying I corrected the issue and the recession halts! With my EXTREMELY limited SPS experience, I'd guess it's the salinity issue more then anything. I screwed up and fell asleep (when I was sick filling my ATO). I ended up filling my entire empty sump space with fresh ATO, almost to overflowing. The SG dropped down to 1.023/24. I attempted to bring it back into line which took me about 4-5 days of evaporation and top-off to get the salinity right. In that time my pink Monti-Cap and my ORA Red Planet both showed some bleaching. Ever since correcting the SG, I haven't seen it progress further. But both pieces are still scaring me.
Ironically, those 2 pieces ("the more tolerant/hardy SPS") bleached some during the event but my Birdsnest and other purple/blue frag SPS took it in stride and didn't show any bleaching. Of course all my flubber is perfectly happy... zoas, not so much.
So you're not the only one that stuffed up the salinity. It would be a shame if I lost 50% of my SPS to my first goof-up! :faceplam: Fingers crossed I got it all halted in time and it's just some bleached/lost tips and the rest of the colony will recover.?.?. This being my 1st SPS venture, I'm not really sure how close I am to loosing those 2 pieces or not. But the parts of them that still have color have PE. So I'm hoping it's just the small bits and doesn't spread.
Anyway, my lunch break is over now, so I'm going to get back to it. I'll hopefully have some time to update my thread soon with the things I've been up to. I've been up to a bit of construction finalizing some of my build plans that were almost complete. There may have been a bit of sneakiness... my hands were in my tank moving some things around and I've got to get the aquascape ship-shape to add our clown pair in as soon as I get the SG up to match the DT. :bounce3:
Fishy 1
The Reefer From Downunder
Biggles, boxboy is quite something and I thought it very selfish to be floating around like a sick whale and not worry about the plastic. I'm considering biting the bullet and getting a 4 t5ho setup but I had a look at the lfs and they had a two tube setup going for $250 and said there's now way I'm paying that for two tubes. How much did yours cost roughly? The other option is online but I don't know of any Australian sites that sell them. Any suggestions?
Edit: had a look on line and wherever I looked a four t5 unit is going for about 500-600. I had a look on Amazon and these aquamana 180w led tiles are going for $135 so if I add say $50 for shipping that's only $185 and from what the reviews say it looks like the goods. I'm gonna do some research on them and see what comes up
. I'm considering biting the bullet and getting a 4 t5ho setup but I had a look at the lfs and they had a two tube setup going for $250 and said there's now way I'm paying that for two tubes. How much did yours cost roughly? The other option is online but I don't know of any Australian sites that sell them. Any suggestions?Edit: had a look on line and wherever I looked a four t5 unit is going for about 500-600. I had a look on Amazon and these aquamana 180w led tiles are going for $135 so if I add say $50 for shipping that's only $185 and from what the reviews say it looks like the goods. I'm gonna do some research on them and see what comes up
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Bello
New member
The Adventures of Biggles & BoxBoy , now that's an instant classic for sure :thumbsup:. Thanks for another hilarious story :lol:.
Anyways, I have to mention that I like Red Sea Regular, not the Pro version. I feel it doesn't mix up well, and its basically the same as Regular but with extra additives to buff up Alk, Cal and Mg, nothing more. Additionally, since we keep Alk, Cal and Mg close to NSW levels, I prefer the Regular version. I think an hour or two of mixing should be plenty. It mixes well, and easily.
Anyways, I have to mention that I like Red Sea Regular, not the Pro version. I feel it doesn't mix up well, and its basically the same as Regular but with extra additives to buff up Alk, Cal and Mg, nothing more. Additionally, since we keep Alk, Cal and Mg close to NSW levels, I prefer the Regular version. I think an hour or two of mixing should be plenty. It mixes well, and easily.
biggles
Premium Member
Thanks heaps Sahin, the water has only risen to 1.0235 with evap so far so i really really need that bucket of salt asap. Being able to use it within a few hours is just what i wanted to hear. Bello will be responsible for anything bad that happens regardless if he actually gives me any input as to mixing salt.............
I'm like Bello and like to keep the parameters close to NSW so the choice was easy when Bello gave it the thumbs up. Bello may be a disgustingly sneaky SPS fiend but i value his opinion on keeping SPS a great deal just as i do yours mate. Actually you two are about the only two guys i'll go to for advice concerning SPS
Hey Troub, glad to hear you're still there buddy. Thanks for the info on the salt, i'm confident now that i can use the water a short time after mixing after reading your views too. Don't change salt mate, the age of your tank has nothing to do with the levels you run so just dose and keep things as they are.
I want to see your journal updated with lots of pics of the new SPS Troub - after what i've done the last 3-4 months i'm sure your acros will recover from the swing lol. They should be fine after a couple of weeks getting over the sulks - i'd drop any up high down low - high light is like a kick in the guts to a sick acro.
Hi mate i bought the 400W from the US and it cost me $150 with nearly a third in shipping. If you ring Radium Australia they're very helpful if you explain what bulb you want and why. They looked up a retail light shop that had an account with them near me but they wanted $180 from memory which is almost triple the wholesale cost because as he was on the phone to Radium he asked the cost and i watched him write 65 + that's $65- plus 10% sales tax. $71.50 marked up to $180 - biggles spat the dummy and is not allowed back in that shop. If you have a sparky mate they can order them from Radium.
Biggles, boxboy is quite something and I thought it very selfish to be floating around like a sick whale and not worry about the plastic
Edit: had a look on line and wherever I looked a four t5 unit is going for about 500-600. I had a look on Amazon and these aquamana 180w led tiles are going for $135 so if I add say $50 for shipping that's only $185 and from what the reviews say it looks like the goods. I'm gonna do some research on them and see what comes up
Don't buy anything, what's the dimensions of your tank Fishy - sorry if i've forgotten it being mentioned lol. My double 3ft T5 lights were $100- each so we can set you up with something much better value. Funny you ask now because 30 mins ago i ordered the 2ft T5 lighting setup i'm going to replace the LED unit with.......... biggles will finally be able to keep SPS in the sump and hide lots of new stuff just like a couple of other guys i know.........
Boxboy suffered the worst collateral damage during little biggles fire fascination period. Boxboy still has a spot under his right armpit where no hair grows due to the 2nd degree burns he once suffered. Little biggles not only received a big belting from mom, was spoken to sternly by a huge policeman and also had to apologize to a Catholic priest AND mow his church grounds (not the big burnt bit)
If boxboy hadn't thrown a rock at little biggles speriment that day he might still be able to grow hair under his arm......... you mess with the bull you get the horns.
Fishy 1
The Reefer From Downunder
Yeh I thought 250 was a bit sus. my tank is 48"+18"+18" what do you recommend? As I'd love to have sps one day
I wouldn't hide anything from you Biggles because I'd want to brag about it but poor boxboy he can't grow armpit hair lol. I really should write up some of my self inflicted "trauma" sometime.
I wouldn't hide anything from you Biggles because I'd want to brag about it
but poor boxboy he can't grow armpit hair lol. I really should write up some of my self inflicted "trauma" sometime.
biggles
Premium Member
Missed your post while i was posting mate lol.
He was a useless brother let's be honest........
Thanks for the salt mixing advice Bello - that's all i needed to know mate
Having seen how nice your acros are starting to color up after the dipping i'm 100% confident i made the right choice for how i run my water :beer:
biggles
Premium Member
Yeh I thought 250 was a bit sus. my tank is 48"+18"+18" what do you recommend? As I'd love to have sps one day
I wouldn't hide anything from you Biggles because I'd want to brag about it
4 x 54W T5
I'm assuming you're like me and don't have heaps of cash to throw around lol.
Fishy 1
The Reefer From Downunder
Yeh not alot of cash but that is in my price range, it looks like a good unit. What's the shipping costs like?
biggles
Premium Member
Hi mate, the shipping would be about $30- postage and shipping are dear in Aus as you know. It cost me $40- to get a $90 bucket of salt shipped lol.
Things are quite a lot worse now, i'll show you what i mean on the weekend but i have the water back to 1.0250 putting the 60L sump section back online with the new salt water. Making up enough for a 50% change on Saturday and if that doesn't blow the tank up i'll do the same a few days later - i have a use for the two 6025's now as salt mixing pumps lol.
Next week i'll have the 6 x 24W T5 lighting over the sump with 4 x B+ tubes and 2 that will remain secret due to Bello and Sahin escalating the sneaky SPS reefing stakes............ 20x20x10" of covert acro activity......:strooper:
Things are quite a lot worse now, i'll show you what i mean on the weekend but i have the water back to 1.0250 putting the 60L sump section back online with the new salt water. Making up enough for a 50% change on Saturday and if that doesn't blow the tank up i'll do the same a few days later - i have a use for the two 6025's now as salt mixing pumps lol.
Next week i'll have the 6 x 24W T5 lighting over the sump with 4 x B+ tubes and 2 that will remain secret due to Bello and Sahin escalating the sneaky SPS reefing stakes............ 20x20x10" of covert acro activity......:strooper:
troubadour11
Member
Yup, I'm still hanging in three. A little sulky on the tank right now as far as the look of it goes. But not to bad... it's mostly just GHA and a bit of cyano. After the salinity foul up, I'm mostly just watching and waiting now that I'm confident in my test numbers and that's getting all lined up.
I've still got an entire 5 gallon bucket of Red Sea Regular. I was thinking of switching to the Coral Pro to get slightly higher levels for growth at one point. But now, I'm liking your recommendation and going back to my original plan. Stick with what I'm using. It's working well and an Alk in the 6-8 range should be good. I'd just like a little more buffer on the low end maybe. I might dose and bump the Alk up to 7.35-8.0 and maintain it there. That was really my only reason for thinking about switching.
I shot a bunch of pics up to my journal the other day. It doesn't have tons of shots of the SPS, but it's got a couple good ones in there. Maybe I'll get the vids I captured up soon if I don't work this weekend.
- As of know, the Birdsnest looks like it didn't even notice. :spin1:
- The Purple with Sky Blue acro didn't really react at all. Maybe lost a bit of it's bluish sheen. I've still never witnessed PE on this piece yet. Maybe it's extending between 1:00 a.m. and sunrise and I'm just missing it. But it looks ok after the screw up. :artist:
- The Pink Monti-Cap seems to be recovering now. The color has mostly returned to the disk part and is slowly coloring back up on the base. It was the first piece to show any bleaching. But I think it's slowly headed back in the right direction. :mixed:
- The ORA Red Planet I'm still undecided on. :headwallblue: I'm really worried it's going to continue to deteriorate. The Mrs. says it hasn't gotten any worse in the last week or so... but I'm not sure I agree. If it has gotten worse, the rate of bad stuff has at least gone from 80 mile-per-hour down to 5 miles-per-hour.
I can't wait to get my confidence back for SPS after my first big screw up. I want to wait and watch what I have and make sure it's all back on the right track. Then, if I can bring it all back without losses I'll be super excited and ready to suit up for battle :strooper: I'll be sneaking off left and right and dropping photo bombs all day long :blown:
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