gws3

Really impressive nem. Beautiful reef. I'd be so tempted to buy a few dozen baby clowns to watch them all host in it and act silly.

Thanks Tom, it was good to dust off my basic chemistry skills. Although, chemistry is very tedious. I don’t have much in the way of lab equipment, no magnetic agitators, so there was a lot of swirling test samples with the pH probe. The reagent dropper has a small nozzle and is fed by a very low flow rate peristaltic pump. There is a LED and optical sensor behind the nozzle that is able to recognize when a drop falls. It must be utilizing the refractive index of water, similar to the optical float sensors you guys were discussing in another thread. I don’t think the inconsistency is due to drop size. The way the drops slowly form on the nozzle gives me the impression the drop size is very consistent, but I have not measured across the different units I have or anything like that. The 17 ml sample is measured using a little white float and an optical sensor, I’d suspect more opportunity for variation there. The manufacturer’s reagent is definitely off from what the monitor is expecting given the drop size and sample size. It is programmed this way regardless of what the pH probe reads. So it’s down to the drop size, sample size and reagent. I’m not sure I could conclude which of these is off from the manufacturer’s original design. Probe calibration is the same as any other pH monitor/controller. You pull out the probe and use a two point calibration. Naturally, since pH in the low 4s is the critical reading for the monitor it is calibrated with a reference solution of 7 followed by 4. What are your thoughts on double junction pH probes? I am thinking about transitioning to them as my probes go bad. With three systems, three monitors, and a few calcium reactor set ups I am now maintaining 8 pH probes. Calibrating them is boring and time consuming.

I got it off Amazon, search "500 ml chemsavers hcl". I was putting waste water into the skimmers originally, but now that I know what the reagent is I am going to put it back into the tank. With HCl you're basically just adding back a very small amount of chloride, which exists in great abundance already in saltwater. And since it is reagent grade HCl I am not too worried about impurities as they are in extremely low concentration and the volume of acid used is very small anyway. Since the stock reagent is working well for you I would suggest the .0227 N acid solution. To measure the acid you will need an accurate low range scale. I purchased an "American Weigh Scales GEMINI-20" off amazon for about $25, which comes with a calibration weight and is impressively precise / repeatable considering the low cost.

Prepare yourself for a long post, I wanted to document my thought process from beginning to end on this little project. Currently I own three KHG Monitors. While these monitors have greatly aided me in keeping stable alkalinity there are a couple things I would like to improve about them. First, the cost and availability of reagent for the monitors. A $35 packet is 35mL and makes 1535mL of reagent when mixed with 1500mL of RODI water. The manufacturer advertises this will last for about 270 tests, equating to approximately $0.13 per test. The interval between tests is user adjustable and ranges from 60 to 240 minutes. So, for three monitors, my monthly cost for reagent can range from $70 to $280. I would like to have the monitors test every hour for a smoother daily plot of my alkalinity levels, but I consider $280 a month far too expensive. I am also concerned that after investing in three of these monitors the reagent may one day be unavailable rendering my investment useless. The second thing I don’t like about the monitors is the accuracy of the test. The precision and repeatability is excellent, but all three of my monitors report a value different than my other test kits. My other test kits are a Hanna Checker, Salifert and Lamotte. These other test kits consistently report very similar values. The manufacturer has acknowledged the monitors lack accuracy and have included an offset feature you can use to make the monitor more closely match your other test kits. My three monitors use offsets of [-1.3], [-1.6], and [-1.0] with the manufacturers reagent to achieve values that closely match my other test kits. In an effort to reduce reagent cost and improve accuracy I have been looking into making my own reagent using hydrochloric acid. Randy Holmes Farley published an article for making your own alkalinity test that illustrates the chemistry to accomplish this is quite simple. For a 0.1N (normality) acid the equation to calculate alkalinity is as follows: Alkalinity (dKH) = [volume of acid added added (mL) / volume of tank sample (mL)] x 280 When the monitor runs its test it adds reagent drop by drop and reports the total number of drops added and calculates the corresponding alkalinity. When the pH reaches a target value the titration is over and the final alkalinity value is reported. It may also perform some linear interpolation for increased resolution. It’s not clear what the endpoint pH value is, but Randy indicates it is approximately 4.5 for this type of test. This gives enough information to calculate the normality of the acid based on Randy’s formula and a few volumetric measurements. The test chamber holds approximately 17 mL of sample with a pH probe installed. Using the reagent line purge feature I measured the number of drops and resulting volume for several samples. These measurements were 1.02, .85, .85, and .85 mL for samples of drop sizes 30, 25, 25, and 25, respectively. This equates quite accurately to .034 mL per drop. Based on this and the drops / alkalinity values reported by the monitor I believe it is programmed to expect a 0.02455 N acid. I first tested my tank water using my Hanna checker. Reported values were 142, 143, and 141 meq/L. Averaged, these values equate to 7.95 dKH. This number was backed by a Salifert result of 8.0 dKH. So I decided to proceed assuming my tank water alkalinity is 7.95 dKH. I then ran repeated tests on the sample water using the monitor and the manufacturer’s reagent. The KHG Monitor reported alkalinity readings of 8.81, 8.77, 8.82, 8.82, and 8.82. These average to 8.81 dKH. To characterize the manufacturer’s reagent I took a 17 mL sample of tank water and added reagent in 0.1 mL increments while measuring the pH with a new 7/4 calibrated pH probe. To reach a pH of 4.5 it took 2.11 mL of the manufacturer’s reagent. I used linear interpolation in increase resolution similar to what I suspect the monitor does. This provided me a starting point to create and test some solutions of varying concentration. To create an equivalent reagent I acquired 37% w/w ACS reagent grade HCl (36.5-38.0). I first created a .0168 N acid assuming the drop size would be .05 mL, which proved to be an acid that was weaker than the manufacturer’s. It took 2.72 mL of this acid to reach a pH of 4.5. These values suggest my reagent had a normality of .0177. I found this to be reasonably close to my design target of .0168. This small difference is easily accounted for by human error and the tolerances of my tools to measure the weights and volumes. This gave me confidence going forward I could create solutions with normality close to my intended value. From here I had two design targets. First, create a solution that would perform very closely to the manufacturer’s reagent. Second, create a slightly stronger solution that would yield results closer to the alkalinity measured by my other test kits so that I do not have to utilize a large offset value to compensate for the monitors lack of accuracy. I ended up creating additional solutions with normality of .0227 N, .0244 N, and .0258 N. I arrived at these values by doing some basic math in an effort to meet my two design targets. The .0227 N solution yielded results very close to the manufacturer’s reagent. The .0244 N solution, according to my calculations, would enable my monitors to yield alkalinity values that would closely match my other test kits. Below is a plot comparing measured pH values against mL of acid added to the 17 mL sample for the different solutions. “Baseline 1” and “Baseline 2” represent two tests using the manufacturer’s reagent. Finally, I replaced the manufacturer’s reagent on the monitor and ran a series of tests to see if my .0244 N solution would yield results close to the 7.95 dKH value my other test kits indicated. The results were 7.91, 7.95, 7.90 with an average of 7.92 dKH. This value is close enough to the target of 7.95 dKH that I am confident using this .0244 N reagent for continued use in my monitors. To create the .0244 N acid I used 3.696 grams of 37% HCl in 1,531 mL of RODI water. The 500 mL bottle of ACS reagent grade HCl was purchased for $44.95. This means it now costs me $0.28 to make a batch of reagent as opposed to $35 from the manufacturer. To run hourly tests on all three of my monitors my monthly costs drops from $280 to $2.23. Overall I am very pleased with the results of this exercise. I can now use my monitors to test alkalinity on my three systems hourly at a very low cost, I am able to make my own reagent on demand using a readily sourced acid, and I have been able to improve the accuracy of the monitors in that they now closely match my other tests kits without a large offset value.

Yes, I ordered Chemsavers ACS reagent grade HCl. I came to the same conclusion regarding muriatic acid, no idea what the tolerance is on the concentration, or what nasty impurities are in it that I could be dumping back into the reef tank. With the ACS cert I know it's between 36.5-38% HCl w/w and it has 12 impurities that are tested for to make sure they don't exceed the max limit. I presume they select these specific impurities because they occur as part of the manufacturing process, and the presence of other impurities aren't a concern. That's about as much as I know regarding chemical purity standards.

I finally got the KHG Monitor installed on my other system. The monitor indicates a daily alk swing. However, alk consumption has increased on this system, so I am not sure I can conclude with any confidence whether or not the reported alk swing is true or a result of the dirunal pH swing and how the tester works. In other exciting news Scott and I have been looking into a substitute acid for the manufacturer's reagent. By measuring the volume of test water, the volume of reagent added and the resulting alk reading I have been able to back calculate the normality of the acid they use. I plan to do some testing with HCl this weekend. This is exciting because the cost to make reagent will drop from $35 to less than a dollar. At this cost point I can justify running tests at the maximum rate, every hour. This will make me feel much better about paying the introductory price for the monitors.

It's surely the lobo. They do it at night most of the time. I'm surprised it only killed that much. They belong in different spots IMO, not just due to the radius of stinging death, but the lobo will want lower light and flow.

Is it encrusting? Milleporas especially seem to go through growth spurts. Sometimes they barely grow and then other times have explosive growth. If it is encrusting but not branching and has good color I wouldn't worry too much. Sometimes changing/increasing flow can help encourage growth.

That's what I'm getting at. I have a doser on but it is only dosing about 0.1 dkh a day because there are just a few frags in that system. Basically the alkalinity is constant. So if the kh monitor shows a diurnal swing on that system it is likely just due to the pH diurnal swing effecting the reading. If there is no diurnal alk swing, that we can likely conclude that the diurnal alk swing I am seeing on my other two systems is actually the alk going up and down each day.

Not sure what to think then without doing some more reading. Maybe I'll get my third one hooked up this week on the my new system. There is close to zero alk demand on that system since it is new and only has some test frags in it. But there is a diurnal pH swing. If the diurnal alk swing is present in the plot we can assume it's due to something other than the alk actually changing through the day. If it's not present in the plot perhaps it is the case on the established systems. Yeah I run shorter photoperiods as well. Metal halides usually only on for 6 hours. 5 hours for the ones on the 300 as I added another pair of T5s and a reefbrite xho blue.

At first I ran it into the skimmer collection cup. Now on one system I have it running back into the sump. I think the reagent is likely just a common acid, so I don't think there's too much to worry about.

So what I meant Scott is that you have to get the unit up and running consistent, then take a number of measurements against the test kit you trust the most. Find the difference for each and then average it. You plug this into the offset setting box, and from their on out it will read very consistently with your test kit. For me Hannah Checker, Salifert and Lamotte titration test kits all test very close. But the two guardians I have up and running are about 1.5 and 2 dkh off. But once I accounted for this offset (poor accuracy) it seems to test spot on with these other kits every time (good precision). Let me know if any of that didn't make sense. I think you can see from the charts above how precise it is. If it wasn't precise the chart would have lots of noise, not follow a smooth ramp up and down like it does.

Check this out Tom, this may help you figure it out. I think there really is a diurnal alk swing. Notice the alk and ph are out of phase. The alk starts dropping towards the end of my photoperiod. Let me know what you think.

It will definitely help. I feel the same way, I have so much $$$ invested in SPS, if this prevents an alk swing that kills a few high end frags it's worth it. I'm planning on using it to transition from 2 part to Ca Rx. I was too nervous to do this before worrying about a big alk swing. Being able to test alk every hour will make it much easier. Right, I notice the same trend. The only issue that complicates it for me is a lot of tanks in my basement, if I am not pumping in fresh air the pH will trend lower due to increased CO2 in the ambient air. So I don't think I am able to assess alk levels accurately based on pH alone. I have three of the KH Guardian Monitors. One is for the newer system and not set up yet, no need since alk consumption is very low. I have one on my 300DD and one on my older system, which has really just become some frag tanks plumbed together. I plan to replace this system with a large display tank in a few years. Did you have any specific questions? I thought I did post my experience, but perhaps my fragmented thoughts weren't clear. I can say in the time I have had them running my alk has not gone over 8 nor dropped below 7. I target 7.5-8. Maybe this chart will help illustrate the benefit. This is when I had it set to test every hour on my 300DD. Please keep in mind I was still figuring out the correction factor so the y-axis is off by 1.8. This is my biggest gripe about them, how far off the accuracy is. But once you put in the adjustment factor they seem to be very repeatable, and will match my hannah checker very closely. You can see my ~0.3 dkh diurnal alk swing. Also, I think one can conclude the precision of these is better than .1 dkh, probably around .05 dkh. I say this because the readings are not jumping around at all, they follow the trend very closely.

In my experience asterina starfish populations and harlequins are sustainable in a larger tank. I've had mine for at least a year. I believe a component of my success is the size of the tank (300DD) and the rockwork. I have a lot of rock and it forms three large bommies. The harlequin pair has a home in the bommie on the left side of the tank. The asterina population is maintained on the other side of the tank. The harlequins can always be found in one area. Occasionally I see one making its way across the bottom of the tank to grab an asterina from the middle ground and then it will return to it's cave in the left bommie. I think you could keep one in a 150. Especially if there are separate rock structures at the bottom of the tank. If it is one large rock structure the harlequin may roam around within it and deplete the population. But if they need to come out into the light to get from one rock structure to the other I think this would prevent them from eating them all.

I have a few of the KH monitors. I have SPS dominant systems that consume 2 dkh or more a day. I used to test the alkalinity on each system every other day. Now that the monitors have been running for a few months and I have confidence in how they work I test every two weeks or as needed. They are a little quirky at first. They have incredible precision but poor accuracy. But they do have an offset value you can adjust for accuracy, so once you sample it against your trusted test kit a number of times it will perform very reliably. I have them set to test every 4 hours. For while I ran one every hour. This was interesting because it showed just how precise and repeatable they are and also showed my that I have a very clear diurnal alk swing. I do worry about replacement parts and if they ever stop making them how I will get reagent. But for the amount of money I have invested in corals they make sense for me. If the alk starts drifting due to equipment failure or whatever I will know MUCH faster than I would by hand testing. It will also give me more peace of mind when I take vacation, for alk almost always swings a good bit in a week left unchecked. And overall they save me time. They now come with the AIM so they will plug into any controller in a ph port. You can also get a wireless bridge for less than $20 to make them wireless. As Tom mentioned they require a calibrated ph probe so there is some maintenance there. However if you test with another alk kit every few weeks this should prevent any issues from the probe drifting enough to cause problems.

What size tank? I have a pair of harlequins in the 300. They stay on one side of the tank and the asterinas seem to reproduce on the other side. I find them effective to keep the population in check, they're easy to keep and interesting to watch.

Thanks! I used pieces of shelf rock and mortar. Stacks of plastic cups to support the rock while the mortar cured. It cures fast so once I had the pieces picked out and the design visualized it went together in a couple hours.

Transferred male lineatus and male flame wrasse from 300. It already seems like a good amount of fish for this size tank. May have to knock a few off my list. Also threw in about two dozen large frags. It's nice having mature sps tanks to select frags from for the new build. A bit risky this early but the 300 needed a number of things trimmed anyway.

Thanks Evan. Currently I have three different systems running, they're all a bit different. The system that the 425XL is plumbed into is the newest and has very few corals in it so far. I think it is ready to try some more, just haven't had a chance to trim and mount more test pieces. I haven't been doing water changes on that system, as it's now about 800 gallons with a very light bioload and no corals, so I don't think there is much point. For my other two systems my targets are: 5% weekly water changes (manual) 35 ppt salinity Alk 7.5-8 Ca 420-430 Mg 1300-1350 K 400 (i test and dose occasionally, maybe every 2 months to bring it from about 360-370 up to 400, not sure it matters) Sr 8 (i add it to the two part, triton tests indicate it does down to about 2 ppm if I don't supplement, not sure it matters) I .06 (i add it to the two part, triton tests indicate it goes down to close to 0 if I don't supplement, I think it impacts z/p's when it gets low, not sure it matters otherwise) As far as nutrient levels I could probably talk for hours. For a couple years I struggled with low nutrients in my oldest system and lost many SPS gradually over time. This was when po4=0 and no3=0 was all the rage. I find deeper colors and more robust SPS with higher nutrient levels. With next to zero or zero levels once alk hits 9+ dkh I would lose tissue. Also as part of the diurnal cycle corals absorb and release phosphates so testing and understanding very low levels is tricky. I read this somewhere and was able to confirm it with testing. Currently my levels are potentially higher than I would like, but I'd much prefer this than too low of nutrients. I guess I'd shoot for .06-.1 ppm PO4 and 5-10 ppm NO3. But finding husbandry that results in stable long term detectable levels is probably more important than achieving perfect values. Surprisingly the biggest impact to get my no3 and po4 up on the oldest system was ditching filter socks. I also does Seachem aqua vitro fuel on that system to keep nutrients up. On the 300 it's more of a struggle to keep the nutrients from climbing higher. I try to avoid running GFO, if I do I use very small amounts. I think it caused a lot of issues when I had low nutrients. I also run old school lignite carbon if I feel I need to run some carbon. I know ROX works for some people, for my system it seems way too aggressive and I suspect it strips things I don't want it to. Old system: 0.3 ppm PO4 ~25 ppm NO3 300DD: 0.4 ppm PO4 ~25 ppm NO3 Algae is always a struggle when keeping higher nutrients. I use a lot of tangs, snails and hermits. I also use turf scrubbers, but you have to keep them clean, once there's too much growth on them they yellow the water and I believe it irritates corals as well. Once you get ahead of algae, coralline is well established, and your clean up reaches "equilibrium" you won't even think about it. However, there are a few nasty things the cleanup crew won't touch: Bryopsis. Fortunately someone discovered fluconazole. No more screwing with secret ingredients in Mg supplements. Just dose fluco. It is reef safe. Dinos. A real pain. I have only had them become a real problem once. But were awful when they did. I tried a few things until Dino X. Dino X worked great for me, but close to the end of treatment (day 15 I believe) corals were suffering. I completed treatment, and the dinos never came back, but I killed a few SPS colonies and a bunch of frags as a result. Cyano. Patches come and go. Usually a bit of GFO knocks it back well enough or sometimes it just goes away on it's own. I actually had a lot of cyano as a result of red turf algae. Red Turf Algae. At one point it covered most of my rockwork in the 300. I didn't care that much because it didn't bother anything. Then it started to accumulate detritus. Which resulted in a problematic coating of red cyano. So in this case the underlying cause of the cyano was in essence the red turf algae. Very few animals eat it. Fortunately in my experience mexican turbo snails do. I typically avoid them since they are bull dozers, but a couple dozen really helped knock the red turf back to the point where it's no longer an issue. If you're talking about normal old green algae types, just buy lots of astrea snails and tangs. Pressure wash live rock if really bad.

I think you have the right amount of rock. Especially if you plan to cover them with stony corals. Tom made some good points. The rock on the right side is very close to the glass. I would put a break between the left and right side to make it two individual bommies. The channel down the middle will provide lots of depth and make the tank look deeper. Then maybe you an slide the right side away from the glass for more room to clean the glass and mount corals. Also, I would mortar or epoxy the rocks together once you get your final aquascape sorted out. On my first SPS tank I just stacked the rock. I can't tell you how many times I had a rock slide and snapped a mini colony in half. It's infuriating. Much better to have one solid base.

Thanks for the positive feedback on the 300. A few more pics of the new tank and canopy below with the T5s on this time. The male watanabei, royal gramma and a female lyretail anthia made it through QT. the male watanabei only had to spend one night in the acclimation box, he exhibited zero aggression towards the smaller female. I didn't anticipate any aggression, as this is a peaceful species, but played it safe just in case.

That's fair. The 300 just turned 3 years old. It took about a year longer than I expected to get to where it is now. I attribute this to starting with 100% dry rock. It took about 1.5 years until it was truly stable enough for more demanding SPS. This was a bit frustrating for me. I dug up a pic from last October for this reply. I am glad I did because I wasn't aware how much progress it's made in the last year. It took a long time to keep SPS happy but I am very pleased with the overall progress in the last year. First pic is October 2016 Second pic is September 2017 So 11 months of growth:

Typically I do a poor job documenting and sharing my builds, so I thought I would try a bit harder with this one. My wife suggested it would be nice to have a tank in the living room as all my reef tanks are in the unfinished basement. She didn’t have to twist my arm very hard. The only good spot for a tank in our living room is to the side of the fireplace, which really dictates a four foot by two foot tank. I planned to plumb this tank into an existing 700 gallon system, so I was not worried about heat from the fireplace in the winter. We both wanted a modern look. I did some research and we settled on a Red Sea Reefer 425XL with a white stand. I ordered the tank on September 1st but knew it would be a bit of a wait as their facility is in Houston and they just got hit by Harvey. Fortunately, they were open for business not too long after and I received the tank on September 22nd. I’m not a very patient person so I assembled the tank that afternoon. I ran the plumbing through the floor, along the basement ceiling and to the sump in the basement that weekend. The following weekend I did the aquascape. Pursuant of the modern look this tank will be SPS dominated (they always are for me) with minimal rock work. I tend to add too much rock during aquascaping in an effort to provide maximum real estate for acropora. So this time I was very careful to keep the rockwork to a minimum. The intention of this tank is purely aesthetic, not for aquaculturing SPS. In other words I want this tank to look perfectly natural and will resist the urge to cut frags from it. I wanted two coral bommies, one with a shelf extending over the other which I think will create a nice dynamic once corals fill in. It will also let me keep a few select LPS in the shaded areas. My inspiration for the form of the aquascape was “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”. The rock is from the sump of my 700 gallon system. So it is already cured, and filled with pods and sponges. Last weekend I finished building the floating canopy. The lighting decision was the one I struggled with the most. My older tanks are lit by 250w radium metal halides with blue reefbrite xho strips. The tanks on the newer system are lit by T5 and blue reefbrite xho strips. My 300DD is lit by radium 250/400w radium metal halides, T5s and blue reefbrite xho strips. So I really wanted to try a build lit predominately by LEDs. Partly to evaluate them as I am considering swapping some of the halides out for LEDs in the future. Too much heat, humidity and electricity usage currently. I am a bit leery of going full LED due to shadowing, and have heard T5s supplement LEDs nicely for SPS tanks. I originally looked at some LED/T5 hybrid fixtures, but they all have their shortcomings in my opinion. I decided I wanted Gen 4 Radion Pros with the new optics for the LED portion, so I concluded I would need to build my own canopy to add the T5s. I wanted to pack four T5s and two XR30w Pros into a very low profile modern looking floating canopy. To accomplish this I spent quite a bit of time designing the canopy in CAD at night after work. It is mounted to three studs in the wall with a 4.5” square aluminum tube that I painted white. The inner acrylic frame is supported by an 80/20 frame that is bolted to the aluminum tube. The inner acrylic frame mounts the two Radions and the rear set of T5s. It has two vertical partitions. These prevent the heat coming off the T5s from effecting the Radions as well as prevents line of sight to the LEDs so those sitting in the living room aren’t blinded. The outer acrylic frame or cover is on hinges for accessibility and mounts the front set of T5s and a variable speed fan. When the cover is lowered there is ducting that forces the air from this fan over the length of the front and rear set of T5s. For stocking the tank I decided to go with mostly smaller fish with a focus on male / female pairs. There were a few considerations when putting together the stock list. First, it’s plumbed into a system that is 800 gallons with a light bio-load. So the bio-load of the fish in this tank is not a concern, just territorial behavior and feeding needs. Also, I really enjoy male fairy wrasses. So I am planning on adding females to encourage the males to maintain coloration. The risk I run is the females turning into males and fighting occurring. If this happens I will remove one of the males and put him my 300DD. So the risk of ending up with two terminal males is really a win-win situation in my opinion. The other concern is providing enough food for the Dragonets and Pipefish. Attempting this in a tank this size would normally be foolish. The first thought here is the ~500 lbs of live rock I have in the sump of the system will provide a constant supply of pods. I also plan to use the sump that came with the tank as a culture tank for pods that I will add directly to feed these fish. I’ll add the Dragonets and Pipefish iteratively to make sure the demand doesn’t outweigh the supply. These will be the last fish I add. Even though the live rock is already cured and has microfauna growing, it is not yet established in this new aquascape. So I will make sure I have an established pod population as well as a supplementary population before I start on those fish. - - - - - - - - - - Watanabei Angelfish Male/Female (Genicanthus watanabei) (Vanuatu) Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum) (Red Sea) Lineatus Fairy Wrasse Male (Cirrhilabrus lineatus) (Australia) Flame Fairy Wrasse Male/Female (Cirrhilabrus jordani) (Hawaii) Golden Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse Male/Female (Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis) (Marshall Island) Pintail Fairy Wrasse Male/Female (Cirrhilabrus isosceles) (Philippines?) Davinci Ocellaris Clownfish Male/Female (Amphiprion ocellaris) (Sustainable Aquatics Captive Bred) Lyretail Anthia Male/4X Female (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) (Fiji) Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto) (Caribbean) Ruby Red Scooter Dragonet Male/Female (Synchiropus sycorax) (Indonesia?) Mandarin Dragonet Male/Female (Synchiropus splendidus) (Indonesia?) 3X Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus) (Indonesia?) - - - - - - - - - - So here is the tank currently. There are a few extra pieces of live rock in there to help reestablish the pods as I believe some were killed off when the rock was out of water for the day aquascaping. The current residents include the Watanabei female and the female flame, rhomboid and pintail fairy wrasses. I plan to introduce the Watanabei male this week in an acclimation box as well as the Royal Gramma. They are currently wrapping up their stint in QT. The female flame wrasses in my 300DD all appear to have turned male, so one of those males will be transferred eventually. I also have a male Lineatus in the 300DD I may transfer. Unfortunately I lost a few male wrasses in QT recently as they did not ship well. The females or juveniles seem to bounce back after shipping much more readily than the males.

Got the tank plumbed in and my acrylic canopy mostly done. Very happy with how it turned out. Not a single cord visible. I added a fan and ducting through some acrylic partitions to keep the T5s from getting too hot.