madsalt Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Well the wife is way into this, except for the feeding, the water changes, the water testing the ........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 All the joy, none of the work? Sign me up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Our new little friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Oh nice! Flame wrasses I'm assuming. Are one of your other wrasses bullying them? Is that why you need the fish trap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Were you able to get a hold of a fish trap and catch the wrasse you were wanting to remove? I still have mine if you need to borrow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 So I have not updated in a few days, work and travel got in the way. I'll start with the parameters that I tested last night Alk - 6.9 there was six 10ths of a difference over a 5 day period. Not happy about the drop but at the same time I know things are consuming it. 7.5 to a 6.9 Mag - 1280 on the 13th it was 1440, so again being used Phos 0.04 Ph 8.38 I did not get a chance to test calc but I assume it will be down as well. On a good note, the fish are doing well on a bad note the corals are starting to look a little rough This could be in part to the alk drop or the alk not being high enough in general. I am not too worried about the Ph and mag as those are still in pretty good ranges, the mag could be a little higher though. Phos at 0.04 is acceptable for me right now as a water change is in order that will correct that along with a GFO change. Another issue with the coral could be placement. I am still getting used to having SPS in the tank so I am still pretty new to making sure I have the correct flow and lighting. I will be adding another Radion today so having enough light will not be a problem, just placement perhaps. I might be adding some MP10s for additional flow, mainly to cover the back of the rock structure. My goal is to get back onto the testing schedule and get some solid numbers. I want to start using 2 part in the tank so I will be ordering two dosers along with the chemicals and jugs from BRS today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Were you able to get a hold of a fish trap and catch the wrasse you were wanting to remove? I still have mine if you need to borrow it. And the answer is no, I have not picked up a trap. The red wrasse seems to have settled down but I am still going to remove it because it can be destructive to new corals that I am trying to find good places for before I glue them. I really think the wrasse is cool but it will do well in a new home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 A drop of 0.6 dKh over 5 days with what you have in there sounds about right. That's really barely anything but you only have a few calcifying corals in there right now. As a frame of reference, I roughly lose that much in 12-24 hrs in my tank... but mine is geared mainly towards calcifying corals and I have a giant clam. I'm pretty surprised at the amount of Mg drop over that time, if it was only in 5 days. I has been awhile since I have not run a CaRX, as it does help maintain my Mg levels, but my Mg always stays about the same and hardly ever dips. It's usually pretty stable in most systems which is why even BRS recommends daily dosing of alk and Ca and only monthly dosing of Mg. Your phosphate level is fine, I would not aim to lower it much more than that for now. I'd just keep running the GFO you have and start perhaps a monthly change of it, and maybe even use less than you were using before. Now that you have it at a good level, a maintenance regiment is only required, not the larger volume and aggressive replacement schedule as before. I'd be careful on the possibility of exposing your new coral to too much light too fast. LEDS have a reputation of looking darker than an equivalent MH setup when pushing the same amount of par. Basically, even though your tank looks a little shadier than my tank, it may be pushing way more par. Which red wrasse are you trying to get rid of? I have the trap whenever you want to pick it up. If I'm not home at the time, I can always leave it at the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 My mag level dropped that much over 13 days with no supplements and no addition of calc or alk over 5 days. I will add mag tonight and alk, possible calc if need be. I ordered a two part kit from BRS today so I will have dosers and the supplements to start a two part regiment I am going to reduce the amount of GFO to probably half the amount I have in there now. I ordered the High capacity GFO so I imagine I will be adding about 1 1/2 cups of GFO I only run my lights at 80% max for about 5 hours and that is because I am using only two lights. Once I get the third light on tonight I will probably run a sunup to sundown program, this will eliminate the amount of time the corals are subjected to intense lighting from the radions I am trying to trap my red coris wrasse. Again he is cool but just too much in the tank. Not to mention as they change from juvenile to adult they can become more aggressive. Like I said it has really let up on the flame wrasses but I think they are still gun shy because of it. If possible I would love to grab the trap today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 I'll be around after 5pm today Madsalt if you want to grab the trap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Sweet I'll probably be leaving around that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 The third radion has finally been put in place, what a difference. The light across the tank has really been smoothed out. I need to find the optimum light schedule and intensity in terms of color and percentage to really take advantage of them My new schedule is for 11 hours with a max percentage of 60%. My Apex vortech module should be here sometime next year according to UPS. It shipped today and won't be here until the 2nd very sad. I dosed alkalinity again tonight, let's cross our fingers and hope it increases some. My 2 part dosing stuff should also arrive on the 2nd. so with that I hope to get my calc and allk where it needs to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Alright! New, expensive toys! I forgot to mention the 1st rule of the mentor program is that I get to open all new boxes of equipment for your tank and play with all of them first! [emoji12] Happy fishing by the way. I hope you catch that red coris wrasse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Well you missed the Radion but the dosing setup and new Apex module will be here Monday The trap is in the tank and if I wanted to catch my Cpperband I could have done 10 times over. Slow and steady and I will catch him. Tests this morning Alk 9.2 wow not sure how that happened up from 6.9. I did dose but nothing crazy. Calc 440 Mag 1120. I dosed to bring that up this morning Sal 1.025 Ph 8.17 Not sure about the alk swing but ****. I'll watch things. New Radion is in and lights have been dropped to 60% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 That was quite the jump in alk indeed. I wonder if your last test results could have just been off? Like I said, it's always the ones you don't want to catch that go in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Mike 1 - Red Wrasse 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 You made short work of that. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 So I did a quick Alk test as I went out the door for work and it was at 7.1. So there was about a 2 point swing. I am not sure if this is possible or not. I do not have that many corals that would really cause that much of a swing. I have a few SPS, some LPS and coralline lol. I will test again when I get home to see where it is and then dose to bring it back up. My 2 part and dosers should be here tomorrow or Monday so I will be setting that up to maybe keep my alk more stable. A few more days of testing are in order to clearly define a trend in how much is actually used. Alk testing is expensive lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 For now, I say let's just hold off on the alk dosing. Something is definitely wrong for you to get those kinds of swings from your current livestock and your media you are dosing within that timeframe. I feel like you are getting false readings, either from the type of media being used for dosing alk or perhaps the test itself... though the latter more unlikely. When the BRS media gets here, let's try dosing with it to see if it gives you the concentrations you are expecting and maintains it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I am not sure what is going on. The biggest thing is the drop in alk after I dosed. The amount of alk I used could have easily pushed it to the 9.2 but the drop back to 7.1 is what is really weird. I am using a Hanna alk checker and it is almost dummy proof. The vile is clean and I set it in the same way every time (who did I learn that from lol). I would like to dose one more time just to keep the alk in the 8 range because of the corals I have in there. If I do it will be small amount, just to bump it a little.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 Hmmm, maybe you should get your money back for your mentor. [emoji57] It is really strange with the alk but I guess I see no harm in trying to dose it up 0.9 dKh. My cautious side is worried you are really not at 7.1 dKh at all. I say if you dosed it and it's still not at 8.0 dKh or close, then I'd wait on the BRS stuff at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Ok will do. It should not take much to bring it up. I will do that this evening and if nothing happens, I will stop dosing with the alk I have and wait for the BRS stuff. While I am cautious to use the API test kit I have based on accuracy, I am going to test with it tonight just for ****s and giggles to see what I get. If the test is way off, I will not dose and wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 I would at least guess that the API will give you a good ballpark... I always like 2nd opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'll do that tonight and if it is close then I will dose If not I'll hold off for BRS supplies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I checked my alk last night and by the Hanna I was at 6.7 down from 7.1, I checked with my API this morning and I was about 7 to 7.5, one drop of solution can make a big difference. So the tests were pretty close. I went ahead and dosed this morning to see where I will be when I get home. Calc was at about 440, did not get a chance to do mag. I think the 2 part and new dosers will really allow me to dial things in. I swapped out my Durso pipes and went the Herbie route. My tank is now silent with only the sound of my skimmer and MP40s, soon to be much quieter as well. I did not get a chance to put an emergency overflow or redo the return yet. I have strainer caps on each drain so I am not too worried about them getting clogged, especially because it is a new setup. The down side (I guess there is an upside because I found the leak) to this is that I had to repair some plumbing because I had a leak. I did a quick fix but will need to redo things soon. I have been wanting to redo my plumbing so no time like the present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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