madweazl

Looks like a typical undergravel setup that was just remoted from the display.

I had a float switch magnetic mount do the same last year; I give everything with a magnet a once over fairly often now (return pump, wave makers, float mounts, probe mounts, etc.).

The Reef Angel controller is only $200 more and does anything you can possibly imagine (and then some) but, you are stuck with the coding part if you want to get crazy. The basic stuff has a simple wizard that will get you up and running.

The Seneye is a nice PAR meter, all but useless for anything else but a quarantine/hospital tank though. I do ICPs about twice a year just to see the things I cant test for; I don't think you need one for much of anything at this point.

They dont make anything for nitrates but some inquisitive individuals have come up with creative ways to use various Hanna checkers to get nitrate results. In my opinion, you dont need super accurate (for any of them really), you just need a history of results to see if things are trending up or down. Many people use spreadsheets or hand written journals but I've found Aquatic Log to be pretty awesome for this.

AquaIllumination posted this on Facebook a while back and I just loved it!

Phosphates are independent from nitrates and share no relationship. NH3 (ammonia) is broken down by bacteria to NO2 (nitrite) which is further broken down by other bacteria to NO3 (nitrate). At this point, the nitrates have to be consumed/exported in some fashion (e.g. carbon dosing, water change, macro-algae etc.). The phosphates (PO4) aren't going to be broken down any further and need to be consumed/exported in some fashion (e.g. GFO, lanthanum chloride, macro-algae etc.).

The water changes aren't going to do much so I wouldnt recommend changing your typical water change schedule or amount; your nutrient reduction will have to come from introducing less to the tank (i.e. food) and export via your current bio-pellets and GFO. You'll have to keep a close eye on this the next few weeks so you don't remove the nutrients completely.

Provided the water you're using for the change is free of phosphates, you are getting a reduction of 20% at the time of the change. Your rock/sand may have levels bound up in it that releases phosphates back in to the water right after you change it though; this will continue to happen until an equilibrium is achieved. I don't clean the detritus out of my sump, I don't think it contributes to nutrient levels much (if at all). It was a couple inches deep before we moved last year and it's about 3/4" deep now. You have a lot more going on with your tank than I do however; the only thing in my sump is the macro-algae (no rock, blocks, etc.). I imagine it's rather overwhelming for the time being. Over the course of time, you will likely be able to remove much of what you have going on (i.e. bio-pellets, GFO, marinepure blocks, etc.) but it certainly isn't something I'd do all at once.

Vodka, vinegar, and bio-pellets are all forms of carbon dosing and accomplish the same thing, a reduction in nitrates by promoting bacteria that feed in part, on the nitrates. You then pull the bacteria out of the water via your skimmer, therefore removing the nitrates. This is why you skimmate typically becomes darker when carbon dosing. So you dont use both, just one or the other. Vodka can promote the growth of cyanobacteria, vinegar temporarily drops you pH when dosed in larger amounts so sometimes it's better to spread this out. Bio-pellets are a pain and fall off in efficiency over time (as they're depleted), that and they're much more expensive than the other two options (vinegar cant be beat). For the sake of keeping things relatively consistent for the time being, you're probably better off sticking with the bio-pellets until you get things under control. Once you're comfortable, you can look at moving to another carbon dosing solution (if needed).

You can place a sponge in the bottom of the reactor so the media doesnt fall through it (wont need one at the top as you dont want it to float). The main reason you want it in a reactor is so it doesnt clump up on you. I imagine you'll see significant gains with it run in the reactor. GFO itself doesnt harm the SPS, it's how people use it that can be harmful (same with carbon dosing/bio-pellets). Do keep in mind that the GFO is targeting phosphates and your bio-pellets are targeting nitrates. You might find the need to always use the bio-pellets (I'd switch to vodka or vinegar personally) for the nitrates and GFO for the phosphates, the opposite is certainly a possibility as well. I've needed to carbon dose a couple times and I'm currently running GFO because I'm feeding a ton; the fish love it and the corals have responded well. Just my theory but the further from natural sea water levels you stray, the more sensitive your corals will be to changes. For instance, at NSW levels your acroporas can deal with a 1.5 dKh rapid change without issue but if you're running 12 dKh and experience the same change in alkalinity, you may have issues. This is totally anecdotal but issues that seem to plague some have no effect in my tank. When it comes to feeding, certainly dont starve them. You can keep them fat and happy while keeping your corals happy as well (I "overfeed" in the eyes of many). Keep a close eye on nutrient levels now that you've cut back on the food, your export methods are going to bring the levels down rapidly and you dont want either at 0 (easier for things like cyano and dinos to get a foothold). I dont leave the algae sheets in the tank; I hang it up until the fish stop aggressively eating, then remove it (this usually lasts about 20 minutes for my critters).

If you're using the high capacity BRS GFO, it should absolutely be in a reactor just like the rest.

I'd drop the pellets altogether (along with the flakes) and just go with the frozen foods, they're far better. As for amount, I guess somewhere around six cubes per day but you'll just have to see how it goes. If they're skinny, feed them more, if not, you're good. What is the mandarin eating? Turn off the GFO reactor for a day and see what happens (probably only need 6-12 hours to see if it's exhausted). If your phosphates are high, continue to use it. What do you mean by bags though? You have it in a reactor, correct? It needs to be fluidized to work properly (i.e. not in a bag). Were your nitrate levels higher without the bio-pellets (carbon dosing)? They should knock your nitrates down to whatever level you desire with the right amount. I'm not suggesting you change it right now, just that you have complete control of the levels based on how much you use.

The Salifert seems to be more accurate for magnesium than the Red Sea kits; Randy Holmes-Farley mentioned something about it but I cant recall the reason now.

I know a lot of people spot feed their corals but I do absolutely nothing to feed ours. I do feed the fish a good amount of food and if some of that makes its way to the corals, fine, if not, too bad. I make no effort to feed the shrimp, or hermits, or snails, or conch or anything else in that tank, only the fish. I believe frozen foods like LRS and Rod's (I only use LRS) are about as good as it gets unless you're whipping up your own fresh concoction. I also add a portion of an algae sheet and a whole littleneck clam for everything to pick at daily (clam was introduced specifically for the butterfly but everything likes it). Stop worrying about trying to get food to everything, everything (a few exceptions like dendros) in there will be getting food when you feed the fish. There is a large delta between your magnesium results and those of the ICP (same for phosphates). Your magnesium levels on the ICP are fine; try to figure out why your results are so much different (Red Sea test?). Do the same for phosphates. Test results that are that far off do more harm than good. How much GFO are you using? Effective doses rarely have significant impacts on alkalinity directly; is it possible you're using more than required? When I started using GFO, I used 1/4 the directed amount to gauge the outcome; I settled in about 1/2 the directed amount (BRS branded).

Nice!

Any idea what your iron levels are?

Well poo, didn't see that one and I already made the order. Edit: I just plugged it in for the buckets but it was valid on that order; what does "president" work for? Nevermind, works for delivery. Would save another $10 on two buckets.

I thought it was done away with over a year ago?

Petco has an order online/pick-up in store sale on 160g buckets for $38.15 using coupon code pickup10. Using the attached rebate form, you can chop off another $10 per bucket (limit 2); I ordered two buckets for $60.34 after rebate Not a smoking deal but not bad; also read a rumor that Instant Ocean was going to MAP but havent seen evidence of it anywhere. IO_SeaSaltReefCrystal10_RebateExp620_form.pdf

United has a basic economy for $228 round-trip with travel dates of 29 Aug and 1 Sep for the return (Dulles to Orlando). Edit: as low as $228 actually

I moved our 75g last May when we purchased a home. I removed all of the rock and inhabitants, placed them in a tank I temporarily set up at the new house, removed all of the sand and placed it in five gallon buckets, and drained all of the water. Do not attempt to move the tank with sand/water in it, this only leads to bad things happening (i.e. split seams leading to leaks). The only thing I had in the transfer tank (equipment wise) were a couple of powerheads, a heater, and the lighting. The transfer tank can be anything large enough to hold the rock/fish/corals/inverts. It will give you adequate time to get the original tank set back up properly without rushing into inadvertent mistakes. Five gallon buckets can work but it shortens your time-line. I completed the process over the course of three days (one day spent refilling the tank with RO/DI water) with the transfer tank and didn't lose any of our corals or fish. The only loss was our peppermint shrimp, no idea what happened to them. There was no "mini-cycle" or other adverse effects. 100lbs of sand sat in two five gallon buckets for about two and a half days.

Ahh man, that is rough. You see these "risk factors" (all procedures) that it only effects x% but it seems like it effects everyone I know LOL.

We were starting to get some undesirable algae in hard to reach spots of the tank... so we contracted a hired gun. After about four hours in the tank, it has started going to town on the algae (bryopsis, whatever). Sorry about the poor quality pictures; gave my dSLR to my father because I was upgrading but haven't done it yet...

What salt mix are you using? Depending on brand/type, it will have lower or higher amounts of elements that may or may not match your tanks current parameters. This is why it's typically recommended to use a salt that mixes up close to your target levels. For instance, Instant Ocean typically has a dKh of 10.5-11, calcium 400-425, and magnesium 1300 when I test it. If my tank had a dKh of 7 and I used the above salt to perform a water change, the alkalinity would go because of the elevated levels in the salt (what you may have observed after the water change). If my calcium were 415, it would remain roughly the same. Your acropora likely "slimed" because there was a significant different between the parameters of the water you mixed up in relation to the water in the tank. Also, the API test kits typically lack the resolution (accuracy) needed to track a change in parameters as small as you're trying to get.