Sascha D.

Sadly, the remaining items were taken to the LFS. All items have been marked off of the original post.

Biopellet reactors is a tough topic to understand. Basically, a decade or two ago someone figured out that you could increase the bacteria within the water column by manipulating carbon. The increased bacteria would consume nutrients and allow you to stock more heavily or go longer without water changes. Going from least to most potent, you can dose sugar, vinegar, or vodka. Biopellet reactors are an automated way of dosing carbon by keeping food for the bacteria available at all times. This is similar to kalkwasser reactors that automate the mixing of kalk that was previous mixed by hand and dosed separately. Like Ty, Tim and others have said, if your husbandry practices make it hard to keep nitrates and phosphates within acceptable levels then there are several proven solutions to help. Generally, carbon dosing is more effective at removing NO3 and is not recommended for removing PO4 alone. Reduce your bioload (easier said than done ) People in this hobby are natural collectors and it's very hard for most people to keep a low bioload. I keep a reef for the fish and the corals are background material, so it's especially hard for me. Increase manual export through water changes, skimming, or filtration (i.e. socks, canister filters, etc.). I used to do weekly water changes and it's a ton of work unless you have enough money to automate it. It's easier for smaller tanks than bigger ones. Increase natural export by adding a refugium, DSB, scrubbers, etc. DSB, refugiums and scrubbers are heavily debated because they need to be substantial in size to make a great benefit. IMO DSB are an disaster waiting to happen, I've never seen a scrubber work long term, and refugiums are beneficial no matter what size. Increase chemical export by using binders. I'm in the camp with Tim when he says people over filter their water with chemical binders and I stopped using them 2 years ago. Every so often I add carbon short term, but not permanently. Increase bacterial load by getting a bigger tank, adding LR, or carbon dosing. A hoarder that buys a bigger house doesn't suddenly have somewhere to put their stuff, they just fill the empty space with more stuff . Twenty years ago everyone had rock walls filling half or more of their aquarium volume to get as much biological filtration as possible. With the advancements of filtration its extremely rare to see this kind of tank today and I don't find them aesthetically appealing. Whatever anyone says, carbon dosing is hard! Sugar is nearly impossible to use, vinegar isn't that much better, and everyone has bleached their corals at least once with vodka. Biopellets are easier to use, but the manufacturer instructions will crash your tank in a hurry! The pellets that I use say to add 4 cups for every 125 gallons. I used 1/2 cup for 300 gallons and bleached my corals! Every reef is different, but I would start down around 1 tbls to 100g, wait three months and work up from there if you need to.

Why did the mermaid wear seashells? Because she grew out of her B-shells!

If you're serious, then it's illegal to own a GWS. If you're trying to make a joke, then it's a hopelessly bad one.

Thanks, we've been planning it for like two years! My in-laws want to buy a swing set for my son's birthday, but I'm going to try and put it off a little while. I'm tired of working outside in 100 degree heat! The reef has been a little neglected while all of this was being built and I'm anxious to work inside for a bit. With any luck the sand bed will be cleared by this weekend and I'll start with the epoxy.

IMO 90-120 cube is probably the best footprint available. The only reason to go larger is if you want to keep big fish, like angels or large tangs, and they're not really worth the trouble they cause. The equipment available today allows us to stock unimaginable levels of fish compared to 20 years ago and you no longer need a huge reef to have a good fish population. I've come pretty close to downsizing or leaving the hobby altogether more than once over the last three years.

One major project down, time to start another! The house needs some minor repairs and then I'm going to sneak some reef work in before doing anything else.

Haha! I'll make sure my resume has on it that I used to be a beach bum in Galveston and Southern California and used to live right on 6th street in Austin. When I buy my first minivan, I'll get one of those bumper stickers that says "I used to be cool".

Unfortunately, I was NOT able to pick up the fish in Houston this past weekend. That's the second time I was in the area and the seller was unresponsive. It's so hard to give your money away! The remaining corals listed for sale will go to the LFS when I get the chance. Those two big colonies of pocillopora will definitely show a change in uptake! The remaining corals will get mounted into the rocks and I'll finally see a clean sand bed. I haven't decided if I'll reduce my cyphestrea collection or let them grow out. Right now they're on little islands away from the main aquascape. First, finish the backyard renovation!

That reactor needed a good cleaning anyway!

I've been having trouble keeping Alk steady over the last week and couldn't figure out why. All of the equipment seemed to be working and there was still 4" of media in the reactor chamber! It turns out all of the Reborn had been used and the remaining media was Neo Mag! Newb mistake! Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

I'm running a 300g tank with a 100g sump, so roughly 300g after adjustments. Median temp in winter is 74 with a home temp of 70-73. Median temp in summer is 79 with a home temp of 75-76. Adding T-5 supplement lights recently added about 2 degrees to my water temp. If I ever get this tank under control I'll try to throw a party or host a meeting and you can check it out.

My aquarium is evaporating about 20g per week and I do a 50g water change once a month. I have two 55g barrels and haven't had a problem with them except around the bulkhead. I'd be interested in buying some replacements and reworking my mixing station. Thanks for the links everyone!

Good ideas all around! I'm definitely going to order some vegetable glycerin. How often do you have to clean the filter of debris? I've been running a calcium reactor since 2013 and only recently found a trick that works for the effluent tube. Thanks ARC members! I was running a slower 1 drop per second effluent with the needle valve at the end of the effluent tube. Sometimes the needle valve would build up with dried deposits (calcium?), slowing the drip rate. Other times a bubble of gas would form in the effluent tube and stop the drip altogether. Moving the needle valve inline fixed the first issue and increasing the effluent rate to 55 ml/min fixed the second. In the last 8 months my effluent has been running smoothly and hasn't stopped once! I test Alk once a week to make everything is in line and adjust the needle wheel if I need more or less output. Make sure you have a check valve on the CO2 line to prevent water from entering the solenoid and corroding it.

Quick update! All of the anemones and nearly all of the corals have been sold! The remaining corals can almost fit onto one frag rack and whatever doesn't fit will go to the LFS when I get some free time. I need to order some epoxy and find homes for all of my colonies in the aquascape. I'm going to try to make it to Houston this weekend to pick up my last 10 fish. If all goes well, then I'll be totally done stocking fish! The backyard project is 99% complete and it's almost time to start on some of those chores that I posted on July 9th. I was able to close out my option position successfully at my target price and that means new lights! I'm going to research some products between now and Labor Day. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Going full MH or T-5 is out of the question, so it will have to be all LED or a blended LED/T-5 combo. I already have 4x54w T-5's, but they need to be moved central because they blind me every time I open the hood.