Back in the Hobby, New Build!!

[STHILL]

Coming along nicely

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[ReeferMadness99]

Thanks! I'm using Caribsea Life Rock, no curing necessary. It's pure mined aragonite and comes dry seeded with bacteria spores that activate when put into saltwater. At least that's what they say lol, but no curing.

Tomorrow I'm going to begin my initial cycling dosage of DVH Biogro 123.

 

[r_jay]

Thanks! I'm using Caribsea Life Rock, no curing necessary. It's pure mined aragonite and comes dry seeded with bacteria spores that activate when put into saltwater. At least that's what they say lol, but no curing.

Tomorrow I'm going to begin my initial cycling dosage of DVH Biogro 123.

Sounds fancy, look forward to see what effects that gives the rock


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[KathyC]

Thanks Kathy, I'll look into it!!

I contacted LongIslandAndy and got the info from him for where this place is that sells potable water containers. Thanks Andy!!

Trade Fair Hardware
147 Sunrise Highway
Amityville, NY 11791
631-842-5020
They are kept out in the rear yard (might currently be under some snow..)

Also not sure they are open on Saturdays - so be sure to call them for hours before taking the ride out there.

I am going to put this info on a Sticky in the General Discussion Forum as we have looked for this info often in the past

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Thanks Kathy!!!

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Okay, so let's talk a little about dosing. I started a thread about Balling but nobody really chimed in. After doing some very long late night research, I've decided to go with Aquaforest and their products made for Complete 3 part dosing. They make their own "balling" 3 part solution but it would be way too expensive to use this on large volumes. Luckily, they also make a line of products that you can mix into your own solutions. So after lots of research, I've ordered their Reef Mineral Salt and their Strong Components. The Strong Components are trace additives for your Parts 1, 2 & 3 to dosing. The Mineral Salt is the part 3. To summarize:

3 Part Balling Complete Method

Part 1 - Ca Mg Stock Solution
Calcium Chloride (BRS) + Magnesium Chloride (BRS) + Aquaforest Strong Components A & B

Part 2 - KH Buffer
Soda Ash + Aquaforest Strong Components C

Part 3 - NaCl Free Salt (for Ionic Balance)
Aquaforest Mineral Salt + Strong Component D


From the way I see this, if I'm running ULNS from my AIO Biopellets and DVH Biogro 123, there should be almost no need for water changes anymore. The Ionic Balance should stay in check and all 70 elements should stay fairly consistent in the water. Water Changes may be necessary only after a few months to reset the Ionic Balance which may fluctuate after a very long time. Hopefully I'm right lol!!

 

[Koyfam16]

Interesting stuff. Curious to see how it works out for you.


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[ReeferMadness99]

Hi Everyone, so I'm 24 days into my accelerated cycle. I've incorporated using live nitrifying bacteria, Zeobak & AIO Biopellets, and heavy skimming. I've introduced a significant amount of fish at the 14 day mark and so far everything is extremely healthy. Ammonia levels have been 0. I experienced a diatom bloom 2 days after introducing the fish but since then it seems to been dying down. This has been by far the simplest cycle I've ever had. In my tank I've got:

21 Chromis
3 Barlett's Anthias
1 Yellow Belly Hippo
1 Yellow Tang
2 Snowflake Picassos
1 Flame Angel
1 Copperband Butterfly

Every fish I introduced are juveniles and I've been feeding a cube of PE Mysis per day. I have a Santa Monica Drop In Turf Scrubber coming but I probably won't start using it until I'm ready for coral.

As the Nitrifying Bacteria continue to colonize my system (and I'm manually adding every few days) I'm gonna let the biopellets and the Zeobak continue to colonize the heterotrophic bacteria. My guess is that even though heterotrophic bacteria typically grow faster than nitrifying, I probably don't have a whole lot of Nitrates & PO4 for them to consume yet. I'm thinking about another 2-3 weeks before I start introducing Corals.

Anyway, here are some pics!

 

[SIReefer]

Sweet looking setup.

 

[RotaryReef]

Where did you end up going for the fish?

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Where did you end up going for the fish?

I usually go through my west coast distributors that I use to do business with.

 

[RotaryReef]

Hey bud, any updates to share?

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Hey bud, any updates to share?

Sorry, works been crazy and I haven't been able to update lately. Here's whats been happening so far.

So I basically trashed my IM Media Reactor. Although it moved my AIO biopellets around, I noticed that because it was flowing like crazy to get the tumble, it was causing all of the embedded GFO in the AIO pellets to get all over my tank and my skimmate was bright orange. So I replaced it with an inexpensive Skimz Recirculating reactor which is the best thing I could have done. The Skimz fit nicely in the filter sock chamber of one of my returns. It does stick up in the back about 4" but in all honesty, I don't think it looks bad at all. It does a great job with effluent control while tumbling the pellets nicely.

Also, I've added a Santa Monica Drop 1.4x Algae Scrubber. It took about 2 weeks to break it in and get over the slime growth period but its now growing some good hair algae in it.

All together, with 2 x Ghost skimmers, the Recirculating Reactor running about 700ml of AIO pellets and the Algae scrubber going, I have brought my system to ULNS running ULR Phosphate at 0-5ppb and Nitrates between 0-1ppm.

 

[Chefjpaul]

This looks great!

Nice work

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[Reef lover24]

Man this damn tank is gorgeous.. Havent seen one like this! BEautiful

 

[Koyfam16]

Sweet setup. Looks great empty and filled!


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[ReeferMadness99]

Thanks for all the great compliments!! Here's another update after I redid the rock work: So I'm trying to rescue a bunch of corals from a friend's system. Lots of great Acro colonies that I'm gonna make best efforts to color back up in the ULNS environment I have. Also picked up some amazing Chalices and Rainbow Acans. The Chalice I picked up rivals anything that Cornbred has out there. Unbelievable rainbows! I'll try to get a good pic.

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Here is my prized Rainbow Chalice. I think I'm going to give it a designer name. Haven't quite figured it out yet but I will definitely be fragging this guy up to create many more!

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Okay, once again been a while since my last update. I've made a few changes, decided to go full zeovit again and slowly did the change over the past 2 months. The AIO biopellets just weren't doing the trick. I also went bare bottom and love the new clean sleek look. I removed the recirculating pellet reactor and also took off the Santa Monica Algae Scrubber. Zeovit has pretty much taken over for both. I picked up an awesome DIY Vibe reactor kit from Avast Marine and had fun building it too. Here's what the tank looks like now (I may have picked up a few more SPS )

 

[rich]

that is one awesome tank