Cali Kid Corals

Gablami's Reefer 525 Build

So the roller mats cost $30 (they're on sale right now for $26) and they get replaced about every 3 months (depending on how dirty your tank is). That's $10/month. For those that have it and like it, is the convenience worth the investment of the unit itself and the on going cost?
 
But I also think that the rollermat functions better than a filter sock. It exports nutrients in real time, as opposed to a sock which sits around until we change it.
 
DAY 48

Had a fun weekend with the tank. Bought some shrimp (one cleaner and one fire) and my first two SPS :). A green slimer (acropora yongei) and a cat's paw (stylofora pistillata) -- trying to learn the scientific names as well. I also moved a bunch of my biocube corals into the main tank. Took everything off plugs and dipped in Coral Rx for 15 minutes with aggressive baster-ing. I have Bayer's as well, but I'm a little scared to use it. Hopefully Coral Rx alone is ok? Any suggestions?

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Really looking forward to getting a proper macro lens one of these days. Don't think I can afford one any time soon. I don't actually know any of the names of the other corals I have in here besides the Ricordia and the xenia, so if anyone knows off the top of their head, that'd be great.

WATER TESTING
I took some time to do all the testing all at once.

Temp 78-79
Salinity 34
ORP 330-350ish
pH: 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.25
Alk 9.4
Ca 430
Phos 0.08
Mg 1400

So things seem to be looking good.

Have a total of 20 or so Trochus in the tank already and have 20 Ceriths coming in the mail from reef cleaners. Have two fighting conches. No crabs.

Nice to have some life in my tank.

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Gablami said:
But I also think that the rollermat functions better than a filter sock. It exports nutrients in real time, as opposed to a sock which sits around until we change it.
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Honestly, I switched from felt socks to mesh socks because I can't get enough nutrients to stay in the water.

I'm currently feeding a cube 2-3 times a day of my own mixture and I'm finally getting a steady 1 ppm nitrate / 0.02 phosphate reading and my sps are steadily gaining more and more color.

I'm also dosing Red Sea's Coral Color program and am starting to see more reds.


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Gablami said:
DAY 48

Had a fun weekend with the tank. Bought some shrimp (one cleaner and one fire) and my first two SPS :). A green slimer (acropora yongei) and a cat's paw (stylofora pistillata) -- trying to learn the scientific names as well. I also moved a bunch of my biocube corals into the main tank. Took everything off plugs and dipped in Coral Rx for 15 minutes with aggressive baster-ing. I have Bayer's as well, but I'm a little scared to use it. Hopefully Coral Rx alone is ok? Any suggestions?

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Really looking forward to getting a proper macro lens one of these days. Don't think I can afford one any time soon. I don't actually know any of the names of the other corals I have in here besides the Ricordia and the xenia, so if anyone knows off the top of their head, that'd be great.

WATER TESTING
I took some time to do all the testing all at once.

Temp 78-79
Salinity 34
ORP 330-350ish
pH: 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.25
Alk 9.4
Ca 430
Phos 0.08
Mg 1400

So things seem to be looking good.

Have a total of 20 or so Trochus in the tank already and have 20 Ceriths coming in the mail from reef cleaners. Have two fighting conches. No crabs.

Nice to have some life in my tank.

View attachment 5920
Click to expand...


Looking good! Maybe throw in some gfo to bring the phosphate down a little more before the hair algae take hold.

Bayer is gentler than coral Rx imo. I've had losses from dipping in CoralRx too long but have never lost a coral with Bayer


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Hmm, maybe I'll try the bayer next time.

Guess I can get some gfo and throw it in a filter bag. Will try to target <0.03 phosphate.

Right now my lights are turned down low at 10% for about 12 hrs a day. Trying to acclimate these new corals. Maybe increase 10% every few days?
 
I've used both and I have to say I'd prefer bayer. Coral RX just annoyed pests and they fell off, maybe died after a long, long soak. With bayer, most pests are good and dead within 7 minutes.

I've only lost coral to me being a num num. None that I could blame coral RX or Bayer.

Tank is looking good! Exciting to have livestock when you're tank's been empty for a month or two.
 
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Looking good man, pretty sure those are Acanthastrea lordhowensis in pics 1, 3, and 5. Fun little guys that will suck down mysis or other small foods if you turn the flow down and gently target feed them. Can be $50+ easy depending on coloring and number of heads, good score.
 
How are people running their LEDs? What is your lighting schedule? If I could, I would want to run the lights from 6a-9p, when I first wake up around 6, cause I like to do some maintenance around that time, but I also like having the lights on when I get home around 6-8ish pm. So if I have the lights on the entire time that's like a 14-15hr exposure. From my reading most people run lights 10-12 hrs for SPS. Would it be ok to have it run really low for 6-7am then off, then back on for real at 11a-9p? Any suggestions?
 
I have my lights on from 6-10. I have a very slow ramp up (about 6 hrs) with a sharper increase (2 hrs) in white light till peak (which lasts for 6 hrs). Ramp down is is 2 hrs.

Color ramps from the deepest blue to almost white then back down.
Intensity starts at 0 and peaks at 45%.
 
I start and end with blue like @Vhuang168 but my photo period is a little shorter. They come on at 6:30 and off at 8:30. Mine incrementally increase a couple percent every 1/2 hour until it peaks at about 30% then comes back down the same way. I've played around with slowly increasing the intensity in one or both the blue and white channels but have found the corals don't react well.
 
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