Neon Reefer

pm on pink digi

Very nice meeting. Thanks Captain!

Oh Yea Now I see it. Bryopsis for sure! So those rocks look bare. I know it's a pain but think about removing them for a peroxide cleaning. Just be sure to rinse in saltwater not fresh

My eyes may not be what they used too, but that looks like hair algae to me

Big Al's sells Tech M by the gallon @ ~$35 and the reef calculator says it would take about 124 oz. to bring 150 gal from 1350 to 1800ppm should it really doesn't costs $$$ hunfrdreds, as one 128 oz / 1 gal should about do it.. I agree but that's assuming you aren't going to do a water change for 3 months. I had a really bad outbreak in my 28. I had to get Mg up to 2100ppm for more than 3 months. Took about 4 gallons of tech-M with routine water changes. Bryopsis then came back a few months after I stopped. The problem with a ton of dying algae is that it's not removing whatever nutrients are in the tank and is releasing what it has stored back into the tank. Sort of a double whammy for water quality in a small tank. Wow that's a lot of Tech M for a 28. Just running the numbers thru my head looks like 4 gals would treat about 400+ gals at that ratio. For a 28 g that means ~ 16 total gal water changes in 3 months or 25 + gals per week. I stayed w/ the 10% per week water changes, added a Lil Fishy reactor w/ GAC and GFO and went thru 2 - 16 oz bottles of Tech M. in that same period of time. The Bryopsis never returned (knock on wood) with all the other factors previously mentioned. I did finally just trash on small rock that i could never cure.

Big Al's sells Tech M by the gallon @ ~$35 and the reef calculator says it would take about 124 oz. to bring 150 gal from 1350 to 1800ppm should it really doesn't costs $$$ hunfrdreds, as one 128 oz / 1 gal should about do it..

First things first. identify what you are dealing with! Here is s agreat site for identification. http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=60 If it is Bryopsis you can deal w/ it, but it takes some work. I can not speak to the Foxface eating it, but it was my understanding there was no livestock that consumed it readily. I had a brakout in my 28 G more than a year ago, and I can say it is easily identifiable. Very feathery. I dealt with it w/ a mulitple attack. I physically removed it by what ever means possible. If you can remove the rock to work on it do it. Scrape the root w/ a knife and hit it w/ Peroxide. If not just keep manually removing it, but do not let the pulled pieces loose in the tank. Also get your Trates and Phates down to help starve them. Introduce competing bacteria like SmartStart to consume their food source. And Use Kent Tech M to raise and hold Mg to 1800 ppm for as long as it takes. Took me three months eradicate it from the tank. Here is pic of some Bryopsis. . Good luck . .

I'll plan on it

Great news

I love the LPS corals and have probably studied them more than others by a 3X margin. The lobo is pretty easy w/ needs of moderate + lighting and moderate water flow. Although I have had mine in up 30X tank flow. I am sure none of these things have changed in the time you have been successful w/ your Lobo. I suspect the only thing that has changed is your water chemistry IMO you have low salinity and therfore probably low foundation elements, and where LPS require for good health stable foundation elements of Ca, Mg and most importantly Alk. they also require good levels of trace elements such as strontium. With these lower SG levels, which by the way are OK if you are considered an expert reekkeeper and can manage these elements easily, make it difficult for the average reek keeper to be sure the levels are within normal ranges. Long periods of time at below needed levels cause corals to metl away. If you are not into testing and proper dosing then i would at least use only high quality salts like Kent Reef Salt or Tropic Marin Pro. Some of these more expensive salts have higher values and doing bigger water changes w/ these guys will help to stabalize higher foundation parameters in your tank. I would suggust 10% a week in this case. Too expensive, well then i would go w/ at least weekly water changes of 5% and utilize a good all n 1 suppliment like Salifetrt. I use this product and have had good results. I beleive the recommended dosage is 5ml to 25 gal once per week minimum, or X2 weekly if needed or maximum of X3 per week. Without testing i would only dose the minimum. But I suggest to test all foundation elements at least X1 monthly. Let the LFS do it for you. Everyone likes to visit the LFS once a month. Right? Gotta see all the cool stuff. LOL With that said you also need to look to other nutritional elements, and although symbiotic algae zooxanthellae hosted by the LPS will provide most of ithe needed nutrition through photosynthesis, it is pretty much proven that additional feeding of the LPS benefits it greatly. Foods like plankton or brine shrimp and the Lobo's most accepted food shrimp eggs (nutrimar ova). A good feeding response means your coral is either OK or has the ability to recover. Your corals can be trained to respond to feeding times. Then there is the big bummer. For unknown reasons to even the most experienced reef keepers, LPS corals seem to just sometimes wither away for no apparent reason. They can go along for long periods of time and then just crash. Unfortunately this is comman with lobos. Even when other LPS in the close proximity stay well and healthy. I think the best advice in your case has already been given here: 1) Raise your SG, 2) Insure your foundation elements are within normal params, 3) Check the pH, NO3 and PO4. And in addition I would say try to hand feed that bad boy and illicit a response from it. And in the end if a couple of the heads gets bad enouigh, remove them from the colony.

I can't say what an ARC poll would say or what SG most ARC members keep their "reef tanks" at. But I can say the rest of the world pretty much acknowleges that being close to or at the world's avg NSW SG of 1.026 SG is the best salinity level for a reef tank. So let's get these numbers rolling in here. What do you keep your's at Victoly? I keep mine at 1.0255 -1.0260 SG.

1.020 SG is fine for FO tanks but a reef tank needs are different and should be closer to natural sea water. Minimum would be the requirements of your inverts snails ect... which are 1.025, but most reef tankers like their SG ~ 1.026 or 35ppm.

+1 on what Victoly said. I would never dose without testing first. but I always test anyway and maybe you should as well at least for the foundation elements on a monthly basis at minimum. Only way i dose Iodide is in extremely low doses way below the recommended amount for my shrimp.. And he is right when he suggests looking at the rest of the corals, especially the LPS or brain corals if you have them, to see how the tank is in general doing. .

Ok Victoly so you got me there! Admittedly,graphics on the computer is not really my forte'. When I design I still do it old school without a mouse or a program. Pencil, big eraser, graph paper, compass, ruler, ect...But it does get the job done. I'd rather spend my time engineering and executing a successful tank. And thankfully looks like this one is doing pretty good. Still haven't been able to get my hands on a PAR meter to check, but my coral tells me they like the new LEDs. I think the 288 watts of 12k / 453nm is going to work out OK. Still have clear water and the new corals i got from Mitch are doing excellent. The purple growth line on the Green Monti is already over a 1/4 ". But Vic if you'd like I'd let you design one of those Gif+ 8mg 3 phase pictures of the Maggie for the post. Maybe just animate the water. Or better yet one with the the first picture w/ no tube then one with the tube and the last w/ the tube in place all with water animation. Here are a few shots of Mitch's corals in my 75 after only a couple of weeks. Already seeing good polyp extension and some good growth on these two Notice the purple growth line on the green Monti and the others are some new ones from the Sea World corals from RAC and a purple Monti I had And a couple of my own from the 28G

Addendum II : Maggie Muffler After some thought I realized there was a significant advantage to the downflow bell design of the Hofer as compared to the Maggie. And that is the safety overflow design. When the air breather of either design becomes restricted (As in the rise of water in the overflow box) it causes the inflow of air to change to the bell causing the water level to drop to that point. It also causes the device to become noisy which alerts you to a problem. To test this just place your finger over the air tube to see the level drop and devise become noisy. However w/ the Maggie the top of the bell where the air intake is sits so high that the air intake is well above the flood level of the overflow box. Therefore It becomes necessary to make another modifcation to address this potential problem. The easy fix is to leave the tubing coming out of the top long enough to run down the side of the bell low enough to reach a safe hghest level you would ever want your water level to be, and simply attaching the end of the tube there w/ a zip tie or w/ super glue. Please look at the drawing and note the red arrow showing the point at which to attach the tube above the desired water line. Sorry for the child like drawing but this was the best i could muster w/ a free hand and mouse.

Yes for only a 75 G tank i am using almost 1 G per day in RO to compensate for evaporation. But the chiller almost never runs w/ the house upwards of 78 during the day, so that's a good thing compared to the $4.80 for the monthly RO run at RCA. Fixing to get an ATO though so I don't have to worry w/ it daily. No kids to tose anything in, but I worry about things like deodorizing air spray or Frebreeze.

75 Gal. Build for $5 per Gallon By Neon Reefer History Started in the hobby 15 months ago w/ a JBJ 28 NC, and split some coral out about 3 months ago into a JBJ 12 NC and still out grew them both. A pretty common mistake, Right? So now it is time to expand again and move away from the Nano Cubes. And time to take into account my needs and wants, and balance them out w/ my budget. Analysis What I need is about twice the gallons I currently maintain to provide enough room for the coral I have and a little extra space for a few new pieces as well. It has to fit in the wall space allowed (55”) and utilize some of my current equipment such as power heads, reactor, and chiller so I can maintain my budget. What I want is a mixed reef tank w/ a drilled display, dimmable LED lighting, a sump, oversized skimmer, stand and hood. Well the math says that the largest tank I can utilize is a 75 Gal tank. This fits the footprint of < 55” long and is within the parameters of the chiller, reactor, and power heads; and gives me nearly twice the current gallons I maintain. But here’s the kicker, I want it all for $5 per gallon or less. That’s less than $375 for a complete plug and play 75 G w/ LEDs. This is not going to be a new tank, rather a used and probably a DIY fixer upper if at all possible. Purchase History Started looking at used tanks on ARC and Craigslist, and I am seeing a few 75 G tanks out there but not in my budget. Finally found a very used tank from an ARC member getting out of the hobby, asking $300. It is a 48” long drilled for drain only, single corner overflow, partially working T5s, 29G long for a sump, Eihem 1260 return pump, 40lbs of clean rock, and very little live stock (no coral). So I went to take a look and decided the glass was pretty smooth, no scratches on the front and the rock was worth $200 alone. Offered $150 and seller accepted. Here’s what I got and what I think it is worth: Rock $200 Tank $90 Sump $10 Pump $50 L / S $25 Lights $0 TOTAL $375 Now I also found a nice skimmer from another ARC member for $90. This is an Eshopps PSK 150 in great condition. Retails for around $200 delivered new. This skimmer should work well on a 75 G. The lighting was a hard find. New was way too pricey. Used name brand same thing. Really wasn’t looking forward to a DIY- LED project because I suck at soldering, and name brand DIY LEDs were still a bit pricy for what I wanted. Here’s what I decided on. A sight online where you can buy 3 watt Epistar emitters assembled in different lengths for a lot cheaper than anything else I could find. Granted these are not Exoctica or Rapid LED w/ Cree LEDs, but they fit my budget and have a 2 year warranty. Can anyone speak Mandarin, LOL? So here is what I got: 2X each- 47” strips of 50 / 50 Cool White and Actinic 453 nm blue 48 LEDs w/ 120 degree individual reflectors, lens covers, end caps, heat sinks that matches construction grade extruded aluminum at the big box hardware store, 2 – 5 watt 24 volt transformers w/ plug and play cables, and two 5 watt multifunction dimmers switches. With the extruded aluminum and a box of self tapping screws the total cost was $256. Results are 2x 48” 12K 144 watt dimmable LED bars for a total of 288 watts LED and converted to ~600 – 700 watt MH. This should be just enough light to grow out a nice mixed reef, and in the near future I plan to add another bar of Red, Royal Blue and Green mixed to really make the coral pop. For the sump I constructed a two compartment sump separated by 2 bubble baffles, utilizing the 29 G tank I had purchased w/ the display tank; nothing fancy but effective and roomy enough for my equipment. I plan to run sponge and floss if needed between the baffles. For the plumbing I will run soft ¾” nylon braided tubing from the pump to a single ¾” over the top U accelerator for the return, and will utilize the current overflow box and skimmer as well as the 1” bulkhead. I will replace the stand pipe and the hard drain line, as it seems to be a mix match of different sizes nippled together. I plan to clean it up and go w/ 1” from the top down to the bottom. On the top I will go with schedule 80 PVC w/ a threaded coupling halfway and a modified “Maggie Muffler” on top. I experimented w/ several things: J Pipe, Durso, and found the Maggie Muffler for $9.99 online. It’s bell shaped design amounts to an inverted Hofer Gurgle Buster w/ no adjustments needed. But what was needed was the ability to insert a piece of tubing from the top for further quieting of the air breather. Just over drilled a ¼” hole and inserted a ¼” piece of air tubing and found the sweet spot. On the bottom a simple 90 turn X2 to slow the water and a deep pipe w/ an elbow on the end for the sump dump Acrylic $20 Silicone $8.50 PVC Plumbing $18 Maggie Muffler $10 U Accelerator $11.50 8’ - ¾” Tubing $12 ¾” check valve $14 ¾” thread/barb $1.50 4 clamps $1.00 Total Plumbing $95.50 Last thing was to refinish the stand and build a hood. I want to keep it open for good CO2 exchange and to further reduce any heating. So my plan is a simple 4” crown floating on a 1x2 all around with a 6” placard on the front and some gingerbreads to dress it up a little. This should match the simple look of the stand, and I will stain it all Red Mahogany to match my current furniture. The materials to complete this is ~ 20 linear feet of stain grade 1 x 4 pine, 1 x 2 pine, and 3 ft of 1 x 6 pine. 6 wheel style gingerbreads, 1 pint of stain and 1 pint of lacquer, lots of sandpaper, 2 cans stripper, and a few misc. supplies. Total cost $80 In addition I will utilize my current JBJ power heads (1750 gph), Lil Fishy 150 reactor, and Sealine 1/10th HP Chiller run thru the wall to under vanity in adjacent bathroom for ease of space and quietness. Total value $500 Total cost of project $581.50 and w/ the $25 livestock credit and the sale of my JBJ 28 G for $200 that brings the adjusted cost down to $356.50. That’s only $4.75 per gallon. Hey I’m under budget! Now that’s pretty sweet. Now granted this is only the build cost and only includes the 40lbs of rock. I already had another 50lbs, worth $250 and I had to buy $100 worth of water. Not to mention my current livestock, and the utilization of other equipment. But it does go to show that with a little work, and making only a few compromises you can accomplish a basic tank build for around $8 per gallon and less if you have a little trade in to work with and a little luck. Addendum: Tank has been up and running for two weeks now and all the livestock has made the transition fine. All fishys and corals look good. Water params are great utilizing Red Sea Pro and Kent for Nano Parts A & B w/ Kent Tech M for Mg, and StartSmart for Saltwater w/ weekly water changes of 5 Gals. as well as Prime for insurance of course. Salinity 34.5 ppm pH 8.0 -8.2 Tenp 79- 80 F Ca 425 ppm Alk 9 - 10 dKH Mg 1375 ppm NH3 0.0 ppm NO2 0.0 ppm NO3 ~1.0 ppm PO4 <0.02 ppm

Thanks 137 Should be a great skimmer for my 75 G project

pm'd