HDReef

We actually prefer our controllers on the wall. We also are really happy with how our fans turned out but thanks for your feedback. I see this is your first post and you just joined today so welcome to WAMAS.

Thanks everyone. We are very happy with our the rock work turned out.

We finally got our new tank up running and cycled. Just thought we would share a quick picture. Darrell & Holly

Very nice! Really like the look of the tank

I'll bring 5 gallons

So I bought a gallon of distilled water to do a sanity check on. The test showed .02 PO4. I think that this is the final proof needed that I really am getting .1 PO4 out of my RO/DI unit. With the discussions above, this does not seem unreasonable. I am using well water which more than likely is very high in PO4 (the farms that surround me probably add to the problem). So the next question is what should I do about it. Buying water to top off and do water changes is out of the question with the volume of water that I use. I'm thinking that I may give Vodka dosing a try. Any thoughts?

I tested water from the container first and then tested water directly from the DI tube to confirm my results

The resin was changed less than a week ago and I have only ran about 20 gallons through it so it should not be exhausted yet. Makes sense to me. So if my meters are reading 0 TDS and I am still getting phosphates with new RO membranes and new resin, the next question is what do I do at this point to reduce the phosphates? I evaporate 3-4 gallons of water a day and with a reading of .1 phosphates on my RO water I am pretty sure that I have narrowed down why I haven't been able to lower my phosphates. I currently have my refugium light 24/7 with cheato, a GFO reactor and have recently added a ATS (though in fairness I haven't got the ATS running as well as I would like yet)

I always wipe down the tube right before I put it in the checker to remove any fingerprints or water that may have gotten on the outside. So I do not think that is the issue. I rinse it a couple of times with sample water before every test. I may pick up a cheap second phosphate test kit to confirm my results but I do not think the tests are incorrect.

So I have been battling phosphates for awhile now in my tank and I finally decided to check my water. I started at my saltwater container, it read .1 phosphates. I then checked my RO container, it read .1 phosphates. So I checked the water coming out of my RO unit, it read .12 phosphates. Both the TDS meter on my RO unit and my handheld TDS meter read 0 for the water coming out of the RO unit. Has anyone ever heard of this before. I thought 0 TDS water could not have phosphates? Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks Darrell P.S. I use a Hanna checker to check my Phosphates

I live near Libertytown and I pass Mt. Airy every day on the way to work.

+4 on Fins and Feathers. Sean's treatment for new fish is top notch.

Just make your own portable GFCI. They are cheap and easy to make. Take a look here. I have used the store bought GFCI outlets that plug directly into the wall socket and every one of them has tripped when the power goes out or blips off for a second. Having your entire tank shut off for a short power outage and not come back on can be a royal pain.

I just two weeks ago had a similar issue and ended up having to send the unit to Apex. It ended up being a blown integrated circuit. Darrell

I had a lot of trouble removing the trim on my sump to reseal it. After cutting around it for a couple hours trying to cut the silicone out I ended up pouring 90% rubbing alcohol into the trim and letting it sit about an hour. After that I was able to pry it off.

Great idea. Two cleaner shrimp it is.

Yes the mandarin is already in the tank. We started the tank in January and waited until August to add the mandarin. We have lots of pods and he has fattened up nicely since we added him to the tank

We are looking over our stock list for our tank and wanted to gain some opinions on the current stock vs. future stock we would like to add. Our current set up is a 75g mixed reef DT which runs to a 75g sump in our basement. That sump includes a 40g refugium and two other chambers to house various equipment (skimmer, heaters, etc). Current Stock List: Dwarf Blue Legged Hermits Cerith Snails Nassarius Snails Stomatella Snails Serpent Stars Bristleworms Pods 2 Black and White Clowns 1 Green Mandarin Dragonet 1 Lawnmower Blenny Various Corals Future to Add: 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp 3 Sexy Shrimp Turbo Snails 1 Purple Firefish 1 Kole Yellow Eyed Tang We wanted to see what people thought about adding the new fish and inverts over time (not all at once) and if there are any concerns about these types of fish interacting. Also, would there be any issues with the tang in a 75g? We tried to stick with a smaller tang since it is only a 75g tank. Thanks in advance for your opinions! Holly & Darrell

We wanted to write a review for the great experience we recently had with Fins & Feathers. We wanted two new fish, a lawnmower blenny and a green mandarin dragonet. So we decided to order them from Sean at Fins & Feathers. When we drove down to the store and talked to Sean about ordering the fish two things really impressed us: 1. Sean's Quarantine procedures. He has by far the best quarantine practices of any local vendor we have ever spoken to. Not only are his procedures good, he also is very knowledgebale in the treatment of specific fish and specific illnesses. It is nice to see that all fish do not go through the exact same quarantine procedures as every fish is unique in it's needs. 2. Sean does not normally stock mandarin drogonets due to their special food needs and before he ordered us one he made sure that our system was set up so that it can support a dragonet. It was great to find a vendor who is conscious of what they are selling people and is not just out to make a buck. When we went to pick up the fish Sean packed them for us in extra water due to the fact that we live a little over an hour away and gave us a cooler to use since we forgot ours. Unfortuanly the dragonet died within 2 days of getting it home. When we called Sean to order another he offered us a discount on the new dragonet. He did not need to but he did and that speaks volumes about his customer service and focus. We are happy to say that we recieved the replacement dragonet and it has been doing great. Because of our great experience we will being ordering many more things from Sean in the future and could not be happier with our experience. If you have never ordered from Fins & Feathers we would highly recommend that you do. Darrell & Holly

Thanks to everyone that made Frag Fest possible. The officers/members/vendors that supported this did a great job. This was our first Frag Fest and we had a great time. Darrell & Holly

I didn't get the email from you so I will just grab the receipt from you at meeting. Thanks Darrell

Hey Justin is there any chance I could get a receipt from my last order so that I can turn it in for raffle tickets? Order #1842 Darrell

I am also bringing 5 gallons

We can bring 5g of water and 150w heater.

That is very true. It also depends on flow rate. My calculator takes all these into consideration so just let me know if you need me to run any scenarios for you.