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tonkadawg

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Posts posted by tonkadawg

    What's the best way to start dosing kalk??

    in General Discussion

    I just picked up an Avast K1 reactor and will be using a dosing pump to dose kalk.  Up to this point I've been dosing BRS 2 part - currently 40ml soda ash and 20ml calcium chloride daily.  How do I figure out how much powder should I add to the reactor and then how much should be dosed to the tank?  Or is there an online resource somewhere to get me close?

    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    49 minutes ago, lynn.reef.nerd said:

    Very nice! I'm still eyeing the EXT 200 ... just haven't pulled the trigger. 

     

    DO IT!!!!! You won't regret it - they're absolutely beautiful tanks - and now you can get an IM sump.   I'm already wishing I went with the 200 instead of the 100 but that's a problem for another day 

    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    54 minutes ago, nburg said:

    So do these tanks have an acrylic backing on them? I can’t seem to get a clear answer. If so, does it look like it can be removed if a smaller weir is placed over the overflow

     

    The EXT does have a full acrylic glued to the back glass - the acrylic is all 1 piece and does have the weir cut into it.  I guess you could pull the acrylic backing off but honestly not sure why you would?

    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    On 12/12/2022 at 1:20 PM, nburg said:

    Sweet tank. How do you like the IM tank? I just ordered the 170 EXT version. 

    Thank you!  I love the IM tank so far - probably the only thing I would change would have been to go with a bigger tank - but I think that would be the case no matter what size I got :lol:

     

    The tank is finally coming around - got through the nasties and coraline is popping up on the rocks.  I did get a better cuc - more snails and hermits.  Also now have a PB Tang and a purple tang.

     

    I did lose the first couple of 'test' corals but picked up some more from Hendi and they seem to be doing good

     

    Also added a PaxBellum chaeto reactor and have been building out a controller via Hydros

     

    Current params as of this morning:

    CA 460

    KH 8.6

    MG 1380

    PO4 0.03

    NO3 7.4

    PH 7.9x - 8.1x

     

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    Ugly Stage HELP!!!

    in General Discussion

    I’ll lower phosphates @ReefdUp ?

     

    some great suggestions !!@howaboutme  

     

    As I was doing my weekly maintenance I realized that since I only have fish, lights aren’t necessary and turned them off. They were running 12hrs. I’ll leave them off for a few weeks and see what that does. I’ll also cut back to feeding 2x while keeping portions the same. 
     

    Then since I was done with chores I decided to sit and have a cup of coffee. As I was reading your post I look over at the tank and see this:

     

    1617FD51-C0D4-48DA-AC6E-0D8801CC1B45.thumb.jpeg.01288a282f21ae0cf257b7f020121c9c.jpeg

    In the morning the sun comes in in the right side of the tank then moves across as you can see now.   Not sure how I overlooked this important detail

     

    Would adding 1-way window film help with this or do I need to think about moving this to a better location?

     

    Ugly Stage HELP!!!

    in General Discussion

    Tank is now 7 months old and has hit the ugly stage (maybe 4-6 weeks ago) and I'm trying to figure out if I should continue with the current course or make some adjustments to get through this.  Goal is a thriving SPS dominated tank - details are here:
    https://wamas.org/forums/topic/99623-innovative-marine-100-ext-sps-build/  

    Tank was started using BA Microbacter7 and Start and pods were added.

     

    Current Conditions:

    • Brown algae (diatoms?) covering rock and glass
    • Some red (cyano?) on rock
      • both are easily blown off with a turkey baster or power head
    • Cloudy water
    • No coraline algae
    •  Current water params (as of this morning)
      • CA 485
      • KH 7.9
      • MG 1410
      • PO4 0.25
    • NO3 6.6
    • Feed frozen 2x day and pellets 1x day
    • Weekly 10 gal water changes

     

    I'll bring KH and Mg up while dropping NO3 slightly

     

    I've watched the BRS WWC hybrid videos countless times and pulled from them that for my tanks age I should be targeting the following:

    • CA 480
    • KH 8.6
    • MG 1440
    • NO3 2ppm
    • PO4 0.5ppm

    I'm not trying to chase these exact numbers but using them as a guide with focus on stability. 

     

    With all this in mind, I'm wondering if I should resume using Microbacter7 and maybe adding Clean?  But if adding Clean will that reduce PO4 and NO3?  Looking at everything I see a lot of conflicting info and I'm hoping you all can help me straighten it all out.  I really just want some coralline algae to start so I can trying adding frags again (I have added some established rock w/ coralline for diversity).

     


     

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    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    Long over due for an update!

    Tank has been running since mid April (that's when I kicked off the cycle). 

     

    Inhabitants:
    1 green chromis

    1 flame hawk fish

    1 orchid dottyback

     

    Current Params:

    CA 490

    KH 8.4

    MG 1335

    PO4 0.0

    NO3 4.4

    PH 7.4-7.5 (I think - using a ph pen but even calibrated I'm not certain)

    Cal Alk Mag and Phosphates are all salifert tests.  Nitrate is Hanna HR

     

    Dosing:

    BRS 2 part 3oz daily

    BRS MG 6oz daily

    Neophos 20mil daily

    Neonitro 10mil daily

    * I was dosing microbacter 7 at 5ml a day, but ran out last week.

    I began dosing at the end of Sept and have been making small adjustments to help bring the numbers to where they stand today

     

    Feeding

    I think I feed heavy - especially for only 3 small fish.  I feed 2x day frozen mysis and bloodworms soaked in selcon

     

    Other info:

    Skimmer runs 9hrs over night

    Filter socks are washed every 1-2 weeks

    Last water change was about 4 weeks ago

    Lights run the pre-programmed 'Helios' provided by Orphek

     

    Additional changes made in the last week -

    Added 4 jars of pods from algae barn

    Added reactor with 1C carbon

    Feeding phyto 5ml every couple of days

     

    Since adding the pods and carbon, the rocks aren't as covered with the brown algae (diatoms or dinos or ??? - I don't know) and the water is a LOT clearer.   About a month ago, I added 3 sps frags - for the first couple of weeks they looked good - nice polyp extension and color.  But now they're not looking so good and at this point I won't be surprised if I lose them.

     

    Tank is definitely in the 'ugly' stage and I know that it being bare bottom will take a little more time, but I'm hoping to hear from the group here that I'm on the right track or if I need to make any adjustments.  What do you think?

     

     

     

     

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    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    @WheresTheReef - I owe you a beer!!!

     

    Got the lights hung using your suggestion of cables running from the corners to the wall above the rack.  That with some additional bracing on the 8020 bars the rack is solid!

     

    IMG_7911.thumb.JPG.06cb607c38dfd125d12fd555e7630bfe.JPG

     

    IMG_7912.thumb.JPG.99a1c2f8d165512e257c1365900e5add.JPG

     

    I'm still going through the Orphek app and seeing how all that works.  Right now, when the lights run the default program patches of red and blue bounce all over the rock and tank - I think I've heard this called the 'disco effect'.  I'm hoping that by tweaking the settings I can achieve a better blend of each color.  Here's a video - hopefully you can tell from it what I'm talking about

     

     

     

     

     

    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    1 hour ago, WheresTheReef said:

    How about a couple cables from hanging kits to support the front corners? You could attach it to the same wall, further up, to form triangles. The cables could also be attached to the ceiling, but it sounds like that option would get vetoed by the boss. They would need to be anchored to studs also. The silver wires would not be as obvious as additional black 80/20 pieces.

     YES!!!  Perfect solution and already got the boss's approval :cheers:

    Innovative Marine 100 EXT SPS build

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    On 4/29/2022 at 10:26 AM, YHSublime said:


    i writing trust that Aaron guy ?

     

    :biggrin:

     

    so I hit probably the first blocker for this build.  For the lights I didn't want anything hanging off the back or side of the tank.  So I ended up using some 80/20 profiles and comping up with this 'halo' from which the lights would hang off of.  The idea being clean, simple and would hopefully just fade out as the tank grows in.

     

    I quickly realized that despite being anchored into 3 studs there just isn't enough support to keep things where they need to be.IMG_7883.thumb.JPG.05ca0ead8933aa2a0f104a869dd48b13.JPG

     

    IMG_7882.thumb.JPG.1d75e777acf586075d055b5de8aaefc1.JPG

     

    I know I could just add some 'legs' and throw some 45* pieces in there for support, but wondering if anyone has any better solutions?

     

    Oh!  It's a real fish tank now!!! used Brightwell fishless cycle, tested 0 Ammonia/Nitrates and .8 Nitrates so I got a couple of green chromis 

     

    IMG_7874.thumb.JPG.9ec0d278a85c0b350246747643f71c40.JPG

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