RW09903

Putting it in perspective, here is how much GHA I was pulling from the display, weekly, before and after the bucket refugium.

Fast forward a few months, I'm still dealing with slightly elevated NO3 and PO4. GFO and increased water changes are helping, however, I wanted ValaWan's reef to stay relatively "natural." I looked into algae scrubbers and chaeto reactors, but for something that grow algae, they were a bit expensive... I started looking through threads on R2R and stumbled on a youtuber (Coral Euphoria) who made his own bucket refugium. This was a great idea for me specifically as a previous attempt to use my sump as a refugium failed. The light spread just gave GHA another place to take over. The bucket refugium idea was a relatively cheaper option because I already had a couple Tunze LEDs laying around. Here is the bucket refugium and results after a month of growth. Thank you @dmatt56 for providing the chaetomorpha!

This is going to look amazing.

Thank you!

Thanks Isaac! Those are chalices from PEA, btw 😅

I added a few test corals a month back and everything looks great. I hope to add a few SPS soon.

This has been my practice over the past 8-10 months. My poweder blue and purple tang are bullies, even to larger fish. I place a mirror on a side aquarium panel a day or two prior to introducing any new fish. After adding the new fish, I keep the mirror in place for a week or two and allow everything to establish.

Took some pictures with natural lighting prior to the panels turning on. Can't wait to add some SPS.

Ariel and Jhay were at it again. They swung by last weekend to help me install an 80 watt UV sterilizer. The unit is plumbed from the return and feeds directly into the display. I plan on operating the sterilizer during night time, 12 hours a day.

You're in luck! I turned the lights on for a few hours this afternoon. The fish were spooked. I am running GFO at the moment and GHA is 100% gone. I am quarantining some feather caulerpa to help with nutrient export.

We cut around the reef tank only. Everything else was emptied and moved.

Speaking about a nice design! I like the concept of having viewable panels that are not obstructed by equipment/pumps. Do you have any flow issues on the left side of the tank?

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade? Right before RAP NY, a bad storm flooded our basement after the sump pump failed. This wasn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Out with the old, in with the new! We took the opportunity to change the floors throughout the basement and rebooted the freshwater aquarium to boot. Time to get ValaWan's Reef back on track.

Thank you! I have a few tangs (purple, powder blue, and sailfin) and a foxface, that eat the shorter gha strains. Luckily, I do not have corals yet, so the lights have been off for the past 5-6 weeks. This knocked the gha back to just a few small patches. I plan on making a DIY chamber in the sump for macro algae.

I'll cross that bridge and make a difficult decision with the queen if we get there 😅

I added a flame angelfish, splendid pintail fairy and, and talbot damsels recently to finalize my fish stocking. Marcos was a big help. I'll turn my attention towards maturing and stabilizing the system for corals.

I've had rocks in for about year. It's a mix of bleached/acid washed rocks from Tony's breakdown, marco rock from BRS, and real reef rock from PEA. As soon as I added fish and turned the lights on about 8 months ago, I've been dealing with a killer GHA infestation. Check out how much I pulled out last week 😳

Exotic Reef Creations ensured that all my questions were answered before to finalize my stocking list. Marcos worked with me over the past couple months to help me find a beautiful flame angelfish and talbot damsels for mu new build. Prior to my selection, he took into consideration my tank size, current stock, and vision. The fish were prophylactically treated and ready to enter my system as soon as I picked them up. Thank you for the excellent service and I look forward to working with them in the future. Picture will be in my "ValaWan's" tank build 🤣

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last update. Jhay and Ariel have been back to help me finish the canopy. Special thanks to them again.

Beautiful! Whoever picked that fish has good taste and selection 🤣

They've been super helpful throughout this process, as have you, Lynn.

A few buddies stopped by this afternoon to help me hang the lights. With all of the available options, I decided to go with Phillips Coralcare LEDs. We also started the canopy.

ORA premium black snowflakes will be the first introduced to ValaWan's Reef.

What's your total volume of H2O in the she shed currently? Hope everything is on the up!

Second that!