Reef nutrition

Rygh's 250 gallon upgrade

I have hooks that pulled a tail spot blenny out if you decide to do it the hard way. Caught him on the second try, in about five minutes. Fit mysis just right.

I also have a trap that got the angel in two days of setting it. It caught other fish first, so if you are catching all, traps might work.
 
drain the tank a bunch, the less vertical space they have, the easier they'll be to catch. Just make sure you keep track of what fish you have, don't want to accidentally have one landlocked if they're in a cave when the water goes down :D
 
Ok, thanks for the advice.

I think I will take another shot with a trap. Make a bigger one, and be more patient.

Otherwise:
Since the fish usually all hide on one end, I think I can partition that off with some plastic,
then lower the water a ways, and pull the rocks and coral out of that section.
Should be easy enough to get them after that.
 
I have the super reef octopus 3000 internal for my 180g. It's an awesome skimmer and pulls out tons of crap from time = zero. You won't be dissapointed.
 
dzuckerm said:
I have the super reef octopus 3000 internal for my 180g. It's an awesome skimmer and pulls out tons of crap from time = zero. You won't be dissapointed.
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Good to hear!
Still waiting for it though ........ grr.
 
JAR said:
On board turf scrubber to process the waste in that?
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I saw that last night and got a good laugh.
:)

Of course, being an engineer, couldn't just stop there.
Nope, lying in bed, had to think .. what if ... hmm ....

No real way to run a turf scrubber on the black water, but that is not really the big problem anyway.

The major issue is the gray water, when the wife takes a long shower.
So been thinking that I could have a little solar powered pump, that
pushes the gray water through a small RODI membrane.
Then maybe an ozone or UV sterilizer on the fresh water tank.
Hmm.....
Better finish the fish tank first though.
 
Quick update:

I have almost all the corals in now, and most of the fish. Two large softies left.
They all seem very happy.
Both I and corals really seem to like the new lighting.
It is funny, one fairly yellow big chalice is suddenly quite green, where another coral
almost the same color, remained the same yellow.
Tricks of fluorescence I believe.
And the tank looks completely empty. I did not have that much to begin with, and now - forget it.

Yes, I need to get some pictures.

Recent problem is in fighting a low Calcium issue.
I just can't seem to get it up. ;)
Alk is steady at 8, but Calcium seems to be stuck at 380 or so.
I suspect low magnesium and a bad (old) test kit. Test kit says it is 1250 or so, but
it also says old tank is high.
 
Coral reefer said:
What salt mix did you use? All new water or did you use old tank water too? Maybe don't trust the test kit too much...especially if it's old
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I used standard Instant Ocean. (Not reef crystals)
All new water.
So I did not expect it to be particularly high in either magnesium or Calcium.
But I have added a pretty considerable amount of Calcium.
Added about 15 teaspoons of Kent Turbo calcium, without budging the value. (Not all in one day)
And that is along with a fairly considerable automatic drip of BRS two part.
I did add some Magnesium, but not much.

I have tried two different Calcium tests kits, and they match, so not likely to be that.

My magnesium test is a bit old, and I think last time I did not close one of the reagents tightly, and
it seems oddly low. Spillage would be ok, but evaporation would not. Buying a new test this weekend.
 
tuberider said:
I'm surprised your alk is at 8 with IO, usually you get #s like 12 380 1100 or somewhere thereabouts.
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Hmm, interesting.
I have tested Alk quite a few times, and kit is new (API), although could be bad.

Actually, I probably sent out some bad information that could explain the low Alk.
Water was new as meaning not from old tank. Not really "new".
It has gone through cycling the tank, so is in fact about 3 months old now, and
went through a lot of nasty bio-activity.
And until the end of cycling, I did not bother testing anything except salinity and pollution.

I will mix up a fresh batch of IO, and test that, plus test after the change.
Overdue for a sizable water change anyway.
 
3 month old water should keep the same parameters though, unless you had creatures actively using it, coraline algae might be a suspect if you had any growth there.
 
sfsuphysics said:
3 month old water should keep the same parameters though, unless you had creatures actively using it, coraline algae might be a suspect if you had any growth there.
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I thought decaying matter would cause Alk to drop. Which is what happens big time in cycling.
Need to look it up though, really unsure.
 
Ok, after the previous advice:
I measured a fresh batch of IO with current test kits, and got 11 / 340 / 1050.
I measured my water, and got 8 / 360 / 1150

To me, that means my test kits are probably ok-ish. Perhaps Ca test off on the low side.
So simply need to get the magnesium up first, then start pushing the Ca.
Need to bump Alk up a bit as well, prefer 9, and it may drop as I bump Ca.

I have 15 pounds of Mg mix from BRS on order. BRS calculator says I need to add about 4.
Still hard getting used to dealing with "pounds" of additives. :O

I did order a new Ca kit, and will try to find a new Mg kit as well.

Target specs = 9 / 440 / 1300, so I have a ways to go.
 
New toy arrived!
New Super Reef Octopus 3000 standard internal, with Bubble Blaster pump.

If you note, it is completely overflowing. In fact, top was pushed off.
I was testing it in the disconnected sump on my old tank.
Also a good way to break it in.
It was bubbling away nicely, but not really not doing much.
So for fun, I decided to pour in a cup of skimmate.
Volcano time. :O Wow.






From Aquarium_Release
 
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