Cali Kid Corals

Max’s 30 gal

I learned today there’s another side to the salifert NO3 test instructions and it describes how to read the test for lower range so I can see I am above 0! But still less than 1...

Alk has been going up slowly and is at 8.2 now, Im going to slightly reduce the dosing cause I don’t want it to continue going up. With the KHG testing for me I’d rather try and keep it steady until I see a decrease then increase rather than wait for it to stop increasing. Seems like that would be the more stable option.

I moved the Nero to be under the overflow instead of under the return and it’s flow seems to be bouncing off the returns flow, it’s good to see things moving in more than just one direction! torches still aren’t opening up very much but they looked to be freshly cut for my order so I think that plus the shipping might just have them retracted.

I moved a lot of rocks around again but I think I won’t do that anymore, I like how it’s arranged and the potential it gives me. I have some things touching so encrusting corals can jump to other rocks and really solidify some connections. Only thing I might do is removed rock if it limits flow potential when I have Vertical growth.
 
Hungry corals
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moving the powerhead to under the overflow and switching to the pulse instead of random has helped prevent the one sided flow issue. The wave makes the gonis whip back and forth in a pulse which I think will be better than pushed one way with heavy flow then with slower flow, which is what the random mode was doing.
the green tipped torch has really started to open up more and looks awesome. It’s one of the few corals I see from my desk since I’m saving room for stuff cooking on the frag rack
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Upped Sodium nitrate dosing to 5mL and will be getting it on my doser tonight for 4mL a day dosing. Tested NO3 today and it was between .25 and .5 I believe. Still below 1 but improving. PO4 is .15ppm. I will continue dosing nitrates and then will test again in a couple days, I will dose the first .25mL of NP balance from TM. I’m technically above the range due to the relatively high phosphates (relative to the NP balance instructions, if I followed their instructions I should use NP elim but I would prefer to use their milder carbon dosing in order to not bottom out PO4.

I want to automate the nutrient import for the tank both feeding and dosing in order to keep it consistent if in the future I need to travel. I had a pretty bad time earlier during quarantine when I was away from my tank for too long and nutrients bottomed out due to reduced feeding. I have a mini fridge from my dorm that I might drill in order to automate refrigerated food feeding with a pipe going through the fridge which a doser “injects” with the food. I believe someone on BAR had a setup like that which will be my inspiration if I go that route. I might get two eheim auto feeder and have them feed pellets in one and reef roids in the other.

I am also considering removing my filter floss since it is the only mechanical filtration I have. I think with the low nutrients I have that before I go too far down the rabbit hole with automation to increase nutrients that I should first reduce filtration as a way to increase nutrients. It is possible that changing my filter pad (whenever it is fully dirty) has been adequate for collecting food before it breaks down to phosphate and nitrate. I have a bare bottom and frequently blast detritus into the water column with a baster since it’s easy to do in the shallow tank, which means almost everything goes into the filter pad so removing it could be interesting
 
My pH sits around 7.5 and I would like to raise that. I don’t have a skimmer so co2 scrubber won’t work, I can’t setup a fuge because nutrients are low enough without more export, and I don’t really want to deal with balancing kalk and 2 part dosing.

Any recommendations?

Today I’m gonna work with my windows open since it’s finally a little less smoky but still isn’t great. I have waves from my power head so I think surface agitation is enough. I have a good amount of plants in my apartment too so that should help once they’re larger. I may end up getting a skimmer and could just tune it to not skim much, or buy a bad nano one that can’t skim anyways lol. And then I could set up my co2 scrubber again
 
max_nano said:
My pH sits around 7.5 and I would like to raise that. I don’t have a skimmer so co2 scrubber won’t work, I can’t setup a fuge because nutrients are low enough without more export, and I don’t really want to deal with balancing kalk and 2 part dosing.

Any recommendations?

Today I’m gonna work with my windows open since it’s finally a little less smoky but still isn’t great. I have waves from my power head so I think surface agitation is enough. I have a good amount of plants in my apartment too so that should help once they’re larger. I may end up getting a skimmer and could just tune it to not skim much, or buy a bad nano one that can’t skim anyways lol. And then I could set up my co2 scrubber again
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If opening a window will not cut it, I fear co2 scrubber is the way to go. I used to like kalk but then I learned it bined po4 and will release it later when po4 drop in the tank..

This is assuming your alk is stable and not too low ofcourse
 
Meshmez said:
You could just use an airstone. Maybe put it under a little acrylic cup so you don't get salt creep.
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Any chance you know of one with a tube for the air intake? The ones I’m seeing don’t have an Intake tube. I guess I would be able to send the air stone output through the scrubber and into the tank? Does the scrubber like to be sucked or blown? (Don’t be immature!)
 
Also a little different but I got an aeroponic system from my parents and it’s got a cool all in one food that seems to be an AFR for plants! Maybe I should dose some to the tank and see if it miracle grows. This system pumps water at a 15on 15off interval and tells me when to add food/water. Pretty cool system for growing herbs and stuff, I have a bunch of lettuce pods to try next
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ofzakaria said:
If opening a window will not cut it, I fear co2 scrubber is the way to go. I used to like kalk but then I learned it bined po4 and will release it later when po4 drop in the tank..

This is assuming your alk is stable and not too low ofcourse
Click to expand...
Window open has been working but it’s chilly, haha. 61° for me today
 
max_nano said:
Any chance you know of one with a tube for the air intake? The ones I’m seeing don’t have an Intake tube. I guess I would be able to send the air stone output through the scrubber and into the tank? Does the scrubber like to be sucked or blown? (Don’t be immature!)
Click to expand...
I would assume the scrubber doesn't care which way its coming through. I just meant the airstone to get better aeration with the existing air. basically a skimmer but smaller and just for aeration.
 
Meshmez said:
You could just use an airstone. Maybe put it under a little acrylic cup so you don't get salt creep.
Click to expand...

Adding an airstone is not guaranteed to work. If the co2 in the house is high because it’s a well sealed house, could actually have the opposite effect.
 
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