Tom's 75 reef build

[TommyP]

Tommy very clean setup!

Thank you

I'm going to test my Alk tonight and then adjust as necessary. Water change day is Thursday. I will test again for 1 more week and get my results, then start the dosing process.

 

[TommyP]

So I lost my cleaner shrimp. I had him for about 2 years. How long do they live for?

 

[TommyP]

So 2 weeks ago I added a 6 line and a male Anthias. I currently had 2 females in the tank n the 6 line is fine. Nice
And docile. The 1 female I had rapidly started to turn make after I introduced the already male Anthias in the tank. What should I do?

You can compare this to a previous picture

 

[TommyP]

So I tested my tank tonight I've been keeping an eye on it. I need to raise my alk a little bit higher to get it above 8. Everything has been pretty stable my temperature usually sits at 78-79*.


I'm not noticing any significant growth maybe because of the taotronics LEDs I'm using. I'm not 100% sure.

My gf wants me to move the tank on the other side of the room so we can put a sectional couch In the living room. I really don't wanna move it again.

My fish are doing great. My mandarin is nice & fat. I have 3 Anthias as described in the above post. 1 is a male for sure. 1 is a female. And the 3rd seems to be half and half.

I added 2 cleaner shrimp and 4 tiny chromis recently. I also added about 10 more asterna snails since my hermits keep killing them for shells. I'm going to add 5 or so more Nassarius snails to sift the sand.

My question is at this time is about a starfish. I want to add a red and or a blue one. Any ideas?

 

[TommyP]

So my gf wanted me to move the tank to the other side of the room in this little nook area. Drained 30g out and moved it with furniture sliders (thanks Justin for the tip) took about 2 hours start to finish. As you can see in the reflection it's right near a double window, but the blinks will be closed to prevent algae growth.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

So I tested my tank tonight I've been keeping an eye on it. I need to raise my alk a little bit higher to get it above 8. Everything has been pretty stable my temperature usually sits at 78-79*.
View attachment 160021

I'm not noticing any significant growth maybe because of the taotronics LEDs I'm using. I'm not 100% sure.

My gf wants me to move the tank on the other side of the room so we can put a sectional couch In the living room. I really don't wanna move it again.

My fish are doing great. My mandarin is nice & fat. I have 3 Anthias as described in the above post. 1 is a male for sure. 1 is a female. And the 3rd seems to be half and half.

I added 2 cleaner shrimp and 4 tiny chromis recently. I also added about 10 more asterna snails since my hermits keep killing them for shells. I'm going to add 5 or so more Nassarius snails to sift the sand.

My question is at this time is about a starfish. I want to add a red and or a blue one. Any ideas?

alk is low i like to keep in 9's
cal is high for your alk levels
what is your mag levels?

what did you test your phosphates with?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

also forget brs gfo. go with rowaphos

 

[TommyP]

alk is low i like to keep in 9's
cal is high for your alk levels
what is your mag levels?

what did you test your phosphates with?

I need to order a new mag test kit because I have the reagents for the Red Sea but I misplaced the glass vials.

I tested my phosphates w/ my Hanna checker.

I'll look into rowaphos, once this BRS GFO is gone.

Thanks for answering! I've been talking to the wall recently lol..:sigh:

 

[lnevo]

I'm waiting for the picture after you moved it...

 

[TommyP]

1 picture, coming right up.

 

[TommyP]

 

[TommyP]

Not the best pics but quick snaps when I was done

 

[TommyP]

Retested tonight. I'm expecting a new mag test soon from dr foster & smith. So I can see what that's at.

 

[TommyP]

The first set of results are from 4/29

 

[lnevo]

Looks great!! Are you still dosing to raise alk or maintaining now?

 

[TommyP]

I'm still dosing because I want to bring my Alk up to around 9, just so I have that play.

I dose from 10:30-10:40pm (when I'm home) 1.1 ml/m

Slowly bringing the Alk up over time.

Do those test results look like they sync with eachother? I don't have my mag reading just yet. I can't wait for this to get here.

 

[TommyP]

Ok so finally got my Red Sea mag test.


My results :
Mag - 1320
Alk - 6.8? I dose 1.1ml/m for 15 min at 1pm & 20 min at 10:25pm. I'm going to have to increase this. Tested before dosing at 10:25pm.
Cal - 456ppm
Temp- 80.1*
Salinity - 1.026
pH - 8.4
Phos - .02

 

[TommyP]

Besides alk being low, do those results look okay? I have up'd my dosage for alk as of tomorrow. 4x in 15min intervals. So a total of 60ml/day. I will check tomorrow night and see the reading. I checked tonight after dosing and it was at 7.3

 

[TommyP]

Any advice will do, I don't want these levels to fluctuate so much.

 

[lnevo]

You need a better timer for those dosers if you using 15 minute increments...better to hand dose until you get your number dialed in then finally get a controller that you can set by the second.. The more frequent and smaller doses you can do the more stable the parameters will be.