therootcause

Duplicate post - mod, please delete.

This week we welcomed several new friends. Baby peppermint shrimp and flatworms. 🥹 Yayyyy! [emoji3060] Microscopic images at 100x. Flatworm length is about 1mm. Fast moving under microscope and responds to stimulus (prodding) on glass. On glass with phone and sally Sailfin photobomb for scale. Two trailing points on the “tail” end of the flatworm. It’s possible that these are two different types of flatworm. I have had the typical “rust” flatworms in the past as well as ghost flatworms. These are smaller. I don’t know how many are on rocks but I am going to remove a piece of rubble and dip it to get an idea as to how widespread the worms may be. I believe the worms are eating the copepods / copepod eggs as the population on the glass has dropped drastically. The refugium has an abundance of copepods and isopods still visible. Peppermint shrimp from Vossen trap below. I believe this shrimp to be 36 hours old. The trap has been in the tank with no air or light driving the larvae to the trap for the past few days, but it somehow manages to collect 40-50 of them just through the tanks flow. Here is a larvae that is 5-12 days old. Unsure of the age as I have collected several times over the past two weeks. The eyes and legs are much more developed as well as the darkening of the exoskeleton.

Duplicate post - mod, please delete.

Added a new pajama cardinal and psychedelic mandarin from a Baltimore reefer. The mandarin found food to peck at within a few minutes and the cardinal schooled up with his tank mates. Along with the fish came corals that are in QT. Monti caps, frammer, hammer, cabbages, branching softies, and this OG bounce. Looking forward to everything opening up after a day or two in the new tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you. Has been running great so far. Picking up a few pieces and some fish today in Baltimore.

I have spent a few thousand dollars at Reeftopia in the past 3-4 years in group buys with other members and DMV reefers. Always fast shipping, well packed, and no DOA's on anything ever. This has included fish, starfish, various shrimp varieties, anemones, lots of macro and gorgonians, sea cucumbers, corals, and thousands of snails and hermit crabs. My most recent order from mid June is below. Make sure to use the discount code and the notes box to get free items that may be included above a certain purchase amount. I wasn't interested in the free emerald crabs so I asked for extra hermit shell crabs and they tossed in a bag. Regarding Reef Cleaners - I think it is bad practice to ship livestock through USPS.

Added a few acros and a big birdsnest from local reefers. pH is stable between 8-8.2 and alkalinity is around 8. I’m dosing All for Reef and measuring Calcium then adding Fritz Alkalinity as it seems to be consumed faster than the calcium. Hawkins enchinata Green slimer A few other acros that I forget the name of… Really excited for the basement to be finished in August so we can enjoy this tank in a finished space. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Checking in with you after several months. Any spawning activity?

Thank you - I found a 2017 post from Randy at BRS on R2R and also a link to his write up on the topic ---> ReefKeeping.Com Water Changes. Below is the screen shot of his R2R reply. I tested it last night and I'm able to remove 6 liters in one shot and replenish without turning off pumps so that's what I'm going to do moving forward. This will equate to a 26% change monthly.

X-posted to R2R

My Kamoer X2SR is currently exchanging 1% of my total water volume daily. This equates to 6 liters out of my 600 liter system, removed in 1 liter increments 6x per day. The method used is first out, then in. With this 1 liter volume I can leave the apex and aquarium running without shutting off the return pump or any systems. My intention is to have the water changes remove pollutants and introduce new water continuously during the day while I am at work. Is there a more efficient way to do this? Is it a waste of water / is anything actually being accomplished? I'm asking for math help. I understand the concept of "a 50% change will reduce a contaminant by 50%" (assuming the new water has none of the contaminant). What I am not able to calculate is the math for a continuous small water change. With my parameters listed below, I am not interested in reducing nutrients by 50%, but I would like to know if there is value in a small continuous water change. At my current rate, my 55 gallon drum of clean water will last about 30 days - at a cost of about $150 in salt/per year to run the 6 liter per day continuous water change. I'm dosing Tropic Marin All for Reef + Fritz RPM Part 1 Alkalinity as my alkalinity consumption outpaces my calcium. My nutrients are currently: pH: 8.24 on a 3-day average (Min: 8.12, Max: 8.37) Alkalinity 8 Calcium: 470 Nitrates: 10 Phosphates: 0

Added the following livestock from Reeftopia: 350 blue legs 100 astrea 1 yellow phase sea cucumber 1 harlequin serpent And for fun, a red tree sponge and a feather duster. Parameters…. pH: 8.26 on a 7-day average (Min: 8.12, Max: 8.39) Alkalinity 7.7 Calcium: 470 Nitrates: 10 Phosphates: 0 Waxy leather about to shed. It’s like a wrapped Christmas gift! [emoji318] SPS… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome - you should start a thread in the tank build section!

How is the new system going? You may want to zip tie some mesh screen around the cages of your wavemakers if you are unable to find nem guards. I've had a few anemones get wrapped up in wavemakers. They survived, but it was a long process to isolate the nem and medicate. If your anemone does become wrapped up in the wavemaker, start by turning off power to the wavemaker. Hold the wavemaker above the surface of the water to see if it will untangle on its own. If that doesn't work, use snips to cut away the caging and then delicately remove the plastic. Isolat the anemone. Then buy some mesh screening and zip tie it around the wavemaker cages.

The biggest name in the industry is BRS (Bulk Reef Supply). The have an outstanding YouTube channel with several series about setting up a tank. Check these out, along with their 52 weeks of Reefing series.

Welcome - what about the hobby peaks your interest? Is it the bight colored fish? SPS branching corals? Your goals will influence what equipment you need. Are you looking for an all in one system like this Waterbox AIO or something with a sump like this aquarium? Waterbox with sump.

I had two containers of Nano size Chemi-Pure Elite/GFO that I had been holding on to for a while so I added them. Hopefully it will bring down phosphates to a level that the Kamoer AWC can manage. I also pulled out 3 gallons of chaeto and left 3 gallons in the refugium. Neptune Gro light is no joke. Chemi-Pure Elite I wonder if this Gorgonian is growing. Old photo on top, new photo on bottom. Looks to be similar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well done! I did something similar last week. Poor man option: $24 in CO2 media from Coralvue, an empty yogurt container, and some tubing. I started by attached some 1/2" clear tubing to my skimmer intake and running the hose outside. Then I took an empty yogurt container and made a 1/2" hole in the lid, filled the container with media, ran hose to the bottom of the container. Poked five holes in lid with a poky stick and done! pH minimum: 8.24 pH average: 8.36 pH maximum: 8.46 *This is not recirculating through the skimmer cap. Bonus add-on: I bought a 24v solenoid to add a bypass to allow indoor air into the skimmer if pH goes above 8.50. This solenoid can be attached directly to the APEX 24v powersource and can also be used to reduce pH swings.

Big smokey rips indeed! Smoke has gotten a lot worse since mid day today here in the Lebanon Valley (PA). I started dosing 50mL of All for Reef yesterday so I’ll do a week of samplings for alk and calc to dial it in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This week I relocated my skimmer hose outside and hooked up diy CO2 reactor, recalibrated pH probe and salinity probe, and started dosing All for Reef at 50mL per day on the 180 gallon system. Estimating 160 actual gallons after considering displacement by other objects. The numbers are what they are… Sampled on 6/5/2023 Alkalinity - 5.8 pH - 8.1-8.38 Salinity - 33.5ppt Temp - 77.8 Phosphate - .129ppm (42 ppb phosphorous sampled) Now let’s document some growth! A little cyano, no worries. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The tank is officially three months old! Thank you to all of the vendors at That Fish Place this weekend for some sweet new corals at a great price, especially Reef Nerd Aquatics and Tyler Zink. I bought from several other vendors but screwed up in not remembering their names. Picked up a few toadstools, branching nepthea, a BTA, some dragons breath macro, hairy mushroom, etc. for about $100. First things first, a few tank shots. My project #1 for this week is to finish the drywall work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice build thread, keep it going! Can't wait to see the tank from the other side of the wall.

Here is how to perform a tempered glass test: Tempered Glass Test - Youtube I like the tank dimensions and the crab theme above the tank. You mention your familiarity with freshwater systems. For mine I always used tap water with prime. This doesn't work so well with saltwater tanks. Most people use RO/DI water to remove minerals and silicates from the water. Were you able to use RO/DI? Nutrient export (Nitrates/Phosphates) can be done through water changes, growing macroalgae/turf scrubber, and running the protein skimmer that you mentioned in your previous post. Without efficient nutrient export your tank will quickly grow algae. Your export methods need to outcompete that algae growth. Your proposed lighting list is enough light to grow corals and algae in my tank and yours. Why so aggressive on the lighting? A tank like this could make a really nice softie and LPS system with half of the lighting that you are proposing, which could also reduce unwanted algae growth. When considering this tank, what is your ultimate goal?

What goal are you trying to achieve? If it is nutrient export via macroalgae, I have an idea for you. I use it on my QT tank to keep nutrients low. It's an air powered HOB breeder/isolation box that I picked up at that fish place. I have mine packed with macroalgae. The air line moves water from the tank into the box (which I illuminate on a reverse photoperiod). There is no electric pump, and the box is quite small. It doesn't take much macroalgae to remove nutrients. Here is the breeder box. https://www.amazon.com/Marina-Hang-On-Breeding-Box-Medium/dp/B005QRDCP2/ref=asc_df_B005QRDDJ2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167149786275&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4566912851745715743&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9006599&hvtargid=pla-311934648945&th=1 It would require you to use an air pump, and be sure to use a check valve and elevate the pump to prevent a syphon. You can see the small intake tube with air line on my March 20th post on my build thread. You have a large, non-drillable tank, which is already a compromise before even starting out. You will likely spend your reefing career devising alternatives to ideal methods. Edit: I've read some of your replies and have a better understanding of what you want to achieve now; a place to hide equipment. With your non-drillable tank I think the best route is to build your scape in such a way that it limits the view of equipment. Paint the back of the tank black. Limit cord length and use equipment where cords are external (an MP40 vs a NERO.Jebao).

Hands on with the WAMAS PAR Meter! Readings to follow… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk