RandyC
Supporting Member
That is in the works.
Randy's Red Sea Reefer 250
- Thread starter RandyC
- Start date
That is in the works.
RandyC
Supporting Member
Time for an update. Been way too long between updates, but I had to follow suit as it seems everyone else is providing an update and it's been so long since I've done so. Loads of changes.
September - November
1. I had my first real reef hiccup and it was a pain. Went on a 10-day vacation at the beginning of September and came back to a nasty mess of GHA. Feeding was pellets once a day by an auto feeder and a frozen cube of mysis or spirulina brine every other day by my neighbor. Nutrients never got crazy out of control it seems as I only came back to nitrates around 25 and phosphates 0.03.
2. At the same time as my GHA issue, there was some serious funk in my tank. Had a few acros RTN/STN and growth seemed to be paused on all acros. A number of them also browned out. I could never figure out what the issue was even after a triton test showed nothing crazy.
3. It took me two to three months to clean out the GHA without chemicals even after getting my nutrients back to a close to ULNS level. I ended up doing a 3.5-day blackout, installing a second algae reactor so that I could have one reactor on all the time. They run on 12-hour cycles each.
4. Adding the second reactor made me realize my bio-pellet reactor wasn't doing much. So that came offline.
5. I took GFO out as well as the second algae reactor made the use of it in my tank obsolete.
6. Tank was finally clean of all GHA by mid Nov.
7. So at this point, I was down to only running carbon, two algae reactors, a skimmer and filter socks for filtration.
November - Present Day
1. Removed all filter socks and went to filter cups with filter pads. So much easier to toss cut up filter pad squares into trash than washing socks.
2. After a series of triton tests, I determined that my calcium reactor wasn't supplying iron or iodide and I noticed that my chaeto growth would stall out without water changes. I believe it was due to lack of iron. So I decided to give these Korallen-Zucht tabs a chance because I'm lazy with dosing.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/korallen-zucht-iron-concentrate-automatic-elements.html
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/korallen-zucht-potassium-iodide-fluoride-automatic-elements.html
3. I haven't done a water change since November 6, 2017.
4. I have been seeing good growth and coloration for all coral for the past month or month and a half...probably more than I have ever seen in my tank. I'm finally back in a happy state again after my GHA/"some funk in my tank" mini-fiasco.
5. Removed black backing and added some "mood-lighting" like @Gablami did.
6. Lost my radiant wrasse and mama clowfish to carpet surfing. Added a small yellow tang. Don't start with me tang police.
7. Added the newly released diffusers on my Radion xr15w g4 pros and initially thought they were overhyped by BRS. After having had them on for a month or so, there's no way in hell I could ever look at my tank without them again. The disco ball effect would drive me nuts.
8. Euphillya have all been moved over to the IM 25 gallon lagoon.
Day 501 video
September - November
1. I had my first real reef hiccup and it was a pain. Went on a 10-day vacation at the beginning of September and came back to a nasty mess of GHA. Feeding was pellets once a day by an auto feeder and a frozen cube of mysis or spirulina brine every other day by my neighbor. Nutrients never got crazy out of control it seems as I only came back to nitrates around 25 and phosphates 0.03.
2. At the same time as my GHA issue, there was some serious funk in my tank. Had a few acros RTN/STN and growth seemed to be paused on all acros. A number of them also browned out. I could never figure out what the issue was even after a triton test showed nothing crazy.
3. It took me two to three months to clean out the GHA without chemicals even after getting my nutrients back to a close to ULNS level. I ended up doing a 3.5-day blackout, installing a second algae reactor so that I could have one reactor on all the time. They run on 12-hour cycles each.
4. Adding the second reactor made me realize my bio-pellet reactor wasn't doing much. So that came offline.
5. I took GFO out as well as the second algae reactor made the use of it in my tank obsolete.
6. Tank was finally clean of all GHA by mid Nov.
7. So at this point, I was down to only running carbon, two algae reactors, a skimmer and filter socks for filtration.
November - Present Day
1. Removed all filter socks and went to filter cups with filter pads. So much easier to toss cut up filter pad squares into trash than washing socks.
2. After a series of triton tests, I determined that my calcium reactor wasn't supplying iron or iodide and I noticed that my chaeto growth would stall out without water changes. I believe it was due to lack of iron. So I decided to give these Korallen-Zucht tabs a chance because I'm lazy with dosing.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/korallen-zucht-iron-concentrate-automatic-elements.html
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/korallen-zucht-potassium-iodide-fluoride-automatic-elements.html
3. I haven't done a water change since November 6, 2017.
4. I have been seeing good growth and coloration for all coral for the past month or month and a half...probably more than I have ever seen in my tank. I'm finally back in a happy state again after my GHA/"some funk in my tank" mini-fiasco.
5. Removed black backing and added some "mood-lighting" like @Gablami did.
6. Lost my radiant wrasse and mama clowfish to carpet surfing. Added a small yellow tang. Don't start with me tang police.
7. Added the newly released diffusers on my Radion xr15w g4 pros and initially thought they were overhyped by BRS. After having had them on for a month or so, there's no way in hell I could ever look at my tank without them again. The disco ball effect would drive me nuts.
8. Euphillya have all been moved over to the IM 25 gallon lagoon.
Day 501 video
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RandyC
Supporting Member
Day 505: Dusting off the macro lens
Rainbow Millepora - This one has been very hardy and has been through all my mishaps since the first CFM in Sunnyvale. Lost it's color a bit during my mini-fiasco, but its colors are back in full force.
Random Aussie Millepora - I've had this wild piece for at least 8 months and it had taken a beating with my mishap in September as well, but is mounting a nice little comeback.
ARC Fireworks - new addition on 1/14/18
Paletta Pink Tip - new addition on 1/14/18
Rainbow Millepora - This one has been very hardy and has been through all my mishaps since the first CFM in Sunnyvale. Lost it's color a bit during my mini-fiasco, but its colors are back in full force.
Random Aussie Millepora - I've had this wild piece for at least 8 months and it had taken a beating with my mishap in September as well, but is mounting a nice little comeback.
ARC Fireworks - new addition on 1/14/18
Paletta Pink Tip - new addition on 1/14/18
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RandyC
Supporting Member
Day 559: Got Chalice?
Some quick iPhone pics of some of the chalices in the Reefer. Aside from a small spike in nutrients that might have caused an STN issue in my red tabling acro, tank has been doing pretty well. Nutrient issue taken care of with a few water changes.
Unknown Chalice from Neptune's (looks like a Goldmeister Chalice)
Miami Hurricane Chalice
OG Mummy Eye Chalice
Unknown Chalice
Avatar Chalice
Some quick iPhone pics of some of the chalices in the Reefer. Aside from a small spike in nutrients that might have caused an STN issue in my red tabling acro, tank has been doing pretty well. Nutrient issue taken care of with a few water changes.
Unknown Chalice from Neptune's (looks like a Goldmeister Chalice)
Miami Hurricane Chalice
OG Mummy Eye Chalice
Unknown Chalice
Avatar Chalice
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RandyC
Supporting Member
Thanks. Just an iPhone and an orange gel filter used.
jorahx4
Guest
Like actually? Do you adjust the lights at all during photos ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RandyC
Supporting Member
No light adjustments.
Coral reefer
Past President
SO why is it called Pink Floyd if it’s yellow? Pink polyps or something?
Where’d you get that first chalice? I like the fourth one a lot.
Where’d you get that first chalice? I like the fourth one a lot.
RandyC
Supporting Member
Coral reefer
Past President
It’s a cool coral for sure, sometimes I just don’t understand where the names come from. I like the coral, and Pink Floyd, but I don’t get it.I think so.....maybe the colors on mine just suck so far?
RandyC
Supporting Member
Day 573
Not much to update. Tank continues to chug along without so much as a whimper. Must be my reward for having issues with IM 25G Lagoon. I've had this gonipora for a little over 6 months now. I've had a 50% success ratio so far with goniporas/alvepora. I'm just glad the most expensive one is thriving.
Not much to update. Tank continues to chug along without so much as a whimper. Must be my reward for having issues with IM 25G Lagoon. I've had this gonipora for a little over 6 months now. I've had a 50% success ratio so far with goniporas/alvepora. I'm just glad the most expensive one is thriving.
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Flagg37
Guest
That one’s a beauty.Day 557
Not much to update. Tank continues to chug along without so much as a whimper. Must be my reward for having issues with IM 25G Lagoon. I've had this gonipora for a little over 6 months now. I've had a 50% success ratio so far with goniporas/alvepora. I'm just glad the most expensive one is thriving.
RandyC
Supporting Member
Day 624
Following my first cracked algae reactor (see this post), I've been running with a single algae reactor instead of my normal two for the past two months, well, the second one finally starting leaking. The plus side of this experience is that I was able to test out my Neptune LDK and it worked like a champ notifying me there was a leak. Didn't leak much, just a small puddle, so no damage done.
Decided to move away from algae reactors (they're a pain to keep clean) and also see how much more cramped I can make a reefer 250 cabinet. I added an external fuge to the system a few days ago. I took my old 12g fluval edge that's been sitting on the shelf and drilled three holes in it for 3/4" bulkheads - full siphon drain, emergency drain and a return line.
Had to build a little stand to get the bulkheads a little higher. Electronics are a little close, but since the fuge is mostly covered, it's not as bad as it looks, but yes, I probably should clean up the electronics and wiring.
I lit this thing up with two 45W LED grow panels. Should be plenty.
I have no idea why, but I can stare at tumbling chaeto for a while. It's mesmerizes me.
So far, a couple nice benefits I've had from the change.
- I've noticed in the past few days that my pH doesn't bottom out as low as it used to. I've gained somewhere between 0.07-0.10 on my pH minimum and bottom out around 7.90 at night now. I also moved my calcium reactor effluent drip to the fuge hoping that will help balance out the acidic drip from the carx.
- I gained almost 20% more water volume with the additional 10 gallons.
Following my first cracked algae reactor (see this post), I've been running with a single algae reactor instead of my normal two for the past two months, well, the second one finally starting leaking. The plus side of this experience is that I was able to test out my Neptune LDK and it worked like a champ notifying me there was a leak. Didn't leak much, just a small puddle, so no damage done.
Decided to move away from algae reactors (they're a pain to keep clean) and also see how much more cramped I can make a reefer 250 cabinet. I added an external fuge to the system a few days ago. I took my old 12g fluval edge that's been sitting on the shelf and drilled three holes in it for 3/4" bulkheads - full siphon drain, emergency drain and a return line.
Had to build a little stand to get the bulkheads a little higher. Electronics are a little close, but since the fuge is mostly covered, it's not as bad as it looks, but yes, I probably should clean up the electronics and wiring.
I lit this thing up with two 45W LED grow panels. Should be plenty.
I have no idea why, but I can stare at tumbling chaeto for a while. It's mesmerizes me.
So far, a couple nice benefits I've had from the change.
- I've noticed in the past few days that my pH doesn't bottom out as low as it used to. I've gained somewhere between 0.07-0.10 on my pH minimum and bottom out around 7.90 at night now. I also moved my calcium reactor effluent drip to the fuge hoping that will help balance out the acidic drip from the carx.
- I gained almost 20% more water volume with the additional 10 gallons.
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Coral reefer
Past President
Damn that's a lot of light! I woulda thought one would be plenty.