Yachaq

Welcome! I considered new myself just being into the hobby for a year. Lots of great people and information here. WAMAS is really a fantastic community. Just remember that patience is the most important qualification for this hobby.

I was frustrated with the prior version of the calcium checker given the small sample volume. Now that they provide the micro pipette its a lot easier for me. I haven't tried the salifert calcium test yet. It is next in my list.

What strength are your LEDs set to? I am currently running them at 60%. When running at 90% the lowest PAR I would get at the bottom was way above 100.

Mine loose connections from time to time but remember the settings and continue going on despite periods of lack of connectivity. This was more frequent initially but now it only occurs sporadically. Other than that I really like the lights. Hopefully RS will be able to help or provide a refund/replacement.

Ah! I was not aware of that change. I will take another look with a newer test kit

It does, but the subtle differences in color between the 2 and 5 squares are an issue (at least for me) at those levels. You can also use the 25 and 50 level comparison if looking at the plastic vial from the side if you expect your nitrate levels are between 2 and 5.

Salífert is the simplest in my opinion but the Hanna is really not bad once you get past the filter stage. Even then it just probably adds less than 5 minutes (cleaning included) if you compare it with the phosphate checker before the final reading, where you have to wait 8 minutes for the Hanna result to show. The results were comprable if you don’t mind a big range in your nítrate results with salifert. I could not figure out in the picture above if I had 2 or 5 ppm (not that it matters much in my case). I see the Hanna being useful if you need a precise control of your nitrates or if you need measurements outside the 0-5 ppm for which you have to dilute the sample.

Hi all, Today I received in the mail the new Hanna LR Nitrate Checker and I thought to share with my experience using it for the first time. I have used other nitrate tests and have always struggled with the color evaluation of the results. Having a numeric value appealed to me and hence my attempt to use the new checker. After opening the box it was clear that this was more involved than any of the other Hanna checkers I own. The procedure involves several steps. First you mix 7ml of sample water with 4ml of the liquid reagent in a "mixing vial", the you add the first powder reagent. After mixing well you pass the sample through a paper filter attached to the 10ml syringe. The filtered sample gets into a testing vial for the first checker reading (C1). In goes the second powder reagent, more mixing and into the checker (C2). The reading is delayed 8 minutes by the device and at the end a number in ppm is displayed on the checker. Here is the same sample measured with Salifert's nitrate test. For me, the biggest advantage of this test is the lack of color guessing. On the other hand, this test requires some steps that I have not seen in previous Hanna checkers (e.g. filtering), the need to clean the additional pieces (filter holder, mixing vial, testing vial) and the need to dilute the sample if you expect a value above 5ppm. These are not deal breakers IMO.

I was thinking in having a cutoff on the acrylic cover frame for the mount. The auger will deliver the contents through the net.

Very interesting. Looks like I may need to modify my acrylic lid @Leishman Do you know how does the width of the mount in the rimless glass compares to the AFS? I saw some side to side pictures between the two on the link, but is difficult to compare the width glass mounts.

Thanks for the suggestions. Definitely thinking about culturing at a later time as I am running out of space in the basement for either storage or projects. I would also like to diversify my copepod and phyto cultures. Ended up ordering from Rusalty and expect to get them today. Did some reading about AquariumDepot and was a little bummed by their past customer service issues (before they changed their name). I will post an update and pictures for reference.

Depends of what size of tank/refuge, the speed at which you want to remove phosphates and how much you want to spend. I have been researching this and considered multiple options. One of my major concerns was light spill and the "need" to have a clean sump. I initially setup the refugium in the reefer 350 sump with a tunze 8821. It can be place under water which avoided the light spill issue considerably. The light performed well, but I felt that I needed at least two given the speed of chaeto growth. A few weeks later I noticed several things that made me change the refugium: 1) there was a considerably ammount of detritus and algae growing in the glass and in the external surface of the socks, and 2) as the chaeto grew, the areas in contact with the light were unhappy. Last weekend I started looking for different alternatives for the system and ended up with tunze MAC 3181, as any other reactor would have to either be plumbed outside the sump in an already very thigh cabinet or was to big to fit in the sump. Also considered scrubbers but placement considerations and the lack of a safe habitat for pods made me go against them. The reactor is working well so far but time will tell. Later on I can add the tunze light to it as it has the space for it. Sorry for the long answer. Hope it helps to share my experience.

Hi all, I am looking into getting amphipods. Have you used any online vendors for that type of fauna before? Do you know of any local store that has them? Thanks in advance.

I believe Reef Escape has a minimum of 2 weeks quarantine with copper and also other internal/external medications. Maybe someone else can provide something more detailed. They have a few tanks with fish that are waiting to complete quarantine where you can see the fish and reserve them but can not take them home until their protocol is completed.

Hi all, I an thinking in adding a pincushion urchin to the DT to help with some hair algae issues and to add diversity to the system. In particular, I am looking at the Lytechinus variegatus from ORA (https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/captive-bred/invertebrates/urchins/pincushion-urchin/). Both breeder and seller say they are reef safe, but an article from Reef Keepers magazine (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rs/index.php) lists the species as undesirable for home aquaria due to its size. Any thoughts out there?

Another vote for Reef escape. All fishes are quarantined for 2 weeks in a well developed protocol. They are a WAMAS sponsor and have a clever COVID-19 protocol for curbside pickup.

Thank you! Here is what I did, and continue doing for the little plate: 1. Transferred it to a coral QT tank. Basically an IM 10g AIO lighted with an AI Prime and a Jebao PH. The tank has bio-filter media with no sand, and gets 1g WC weekly (~14%, Total tank volume 7g, Salt: TM Pro). No ALK or Ca supplements added. 2. On day 3 took the coral out and used a Qtip to paint the exposed skeleton covered in cyano and algae with 3% H2O2, being extremely careful not to touch the coral tissue. Placed the piece back into the QT. 3. On day 4, started target feeding 1 missis shrimp every day. 4. Recently (around a week ago) I started adding Acropower to the QT.

Thought I would provide an update on this little fella. It is recovering nicely since the last post.

Yesterday I got my 5th harvest of pods and phyto. After reseeding the culture bottles I was left with a little more than 1 liter of phyto. The pods collection on the other hand, was smaller than expected. I believe they just run out of food earlier in the process as the water was completely clear a few days before harvest. I plan to add more phyto to the pods culture if this happens again. Pods - 1.m4v

Thank you for the advice. Plate coral still doing well and seems to be slowly growing. I have not cut the skeleton so we'll see what happens with it. I will post new pictures in a few weeks.

You may need to update the firmware of the module, the apex brain or both. Hope this helps. Jose

I believe that will be trickier, depending on the need for filtration and additional structures for a benthic organism. I believe a small tank with the adequate filtration system and lighting could work. This is more of a "grow in a bag" approach.

Tisbe pods

I know!!! I just got the 4th harvest of pods (sorry @AlanM, forgot to take the video before dumping them in the sump) and re-started the phyto with a new starter culture. Almost don't know what to do with the rest . Thinking on trying other culturing other types of pods just because. At the price one pays for a bottle of pods, this system pays by itself in just a few months. I will take a video of the harvested pods next week.

Hi all, I have a plate coral that has not been doing well for a few weeks. I believe that it got initially damaged by an aggressive emerald crab trying to steal food from it. I since moved it to a QT (10g AIO) where I keep other 2 frags at the moment (Favite and Micromusa), which are doing well and growing. The plate coral shows the skeleton in the periphery and has receded significantly. The recession of tissue seems to have slowed, but want to see if there is anything else I need to do to help in its recovery. I also had a small bout of cyanobacteria in the QT that is now almost completely gone. All other frags in the QT are doing very well. Parameters are within expected values (SG 1.026, ph 8.0, NO3 2, PO4 0.02, Alk 7.2, Ca 440) I remember some of the advice given by @ReefdUp during her presentation, but not sure if I remember those well or there is something I am missing (I should have taken notes!!!). I have done a 10% H2O2 dip for 20secs and I am planning to cut the exposed skeleton, applying cyanoacrylate gel to the edges right after. Anything else you would recommend? Thanks in advance.