Recent content by Slingfox

I did have to replace the motor on my RedSea Reefmat 1200 after two years of operation. Unfortunately, this seems to be a not uncommon issue with the first batch of Reefmats which were sold (ie, they use the same motor on the larger Reefmat as the medium sized model). I am not sure if RedSea...

Much of the equipment in most hobbies whether it is gardening, hydroponics, biking, golf, etc. is unnecessary. The reefing hobby is no different. In fact, the entire hobby itself is “unnecessary”. A filter roller is pretty much an automated filter sock. Even filter socks are unnecessary but...

[Removed post since wrong thread]

You can get a more accurate measurement of your phosphates and nitrates by diluting the tank water in some RODI or fresh saltwater which you have confirmed have zero nitrates and phosphates. If you dilute 1 part tank water to 1 part fresh saltwater then you can multiply the final result by two...

You can also check calibration by making your own calibration solution: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/reef-aquarium-salinity-diy-calibration-standards.956/ I checked the calibration on my VeeGee STX-3 last week and it was inline (used both the RODI method as well as the DIY 35 ppt solution)...

Copper used in QT tanks interferes with the titration tests for ammonia—it dos not interfere with how the Seachem Ammonia Alert badges work. This is why these badges are commonly used on QT tanks. See post here from HumbleFish...

Cycling is one of the most fun parts of setting up a new tank. Sometimes it is straight downhill from there :oops:

Agreed. The club’s PAR meter are a great resource. What I did for my old and new lights is I used the club PAR meter to test the PAR at key areas of the tank and set the light intensity and position accordingly. On an unrelated point, if you are looking to run some ICP tests, the most...

Denitrators are commonly used in tanks with very high bioloads. They seem to be more common on FOWLR systems than coral focused systems. If you run a 1000 gallon predator tank for example a denitrator is one way to help keep nitrates near target levels.

If you ever have a chance to go to Reefapalooza or one of the big coral show walk to the various booth and ask each vendor (including the very famous ones) what salt they use, what dosing they do, how they manage pests, etc. To my surprise Reef Crystals and IO who come up the most often! This...

I mix 50 gallons of saltwater at a time. With Nyos Pure the salt is dissolved within 15 minutes or so but I often run the mixing pump for half an hour just in case. For water changes: you likely cannot go wrong with 10% a week or 15%-20% every two weeks. Can you run a reef tank with no water...

The post above has a great suggestion: Mix fresh saltwater and measure the Alk. Is it at the expected level? I just did this on my freshly mixed saltwater and it was dead on at 8.5 which means I need to fix the high Alk in my display tank o_O

There are a lot of ways to run a tank. You should listen to the different viewpoints and figure out how you want to run your tank. This will inevitably change with time as you try new things. My number one piece of advice is to make sure you are measuring salinity correctly. This was one...

Yes, these are the new Straton X. I have as lucky enough to be online when they became available in the US. The first batch sold out after a few hours but should be widely available at some point. The lights output a beautiful spectrum and an insanity level of par (eg, 1150 PAR just under the...

I look at the fish and check nutrients levels to dial in the feeding. Thankfully I have been dealing with low nutrient issues for the last 9 months so that provides more flexibility to increase feeding. Currently the fish get one sheet of nori, 1-2 frozen feedings (same amount in total, but...