Daniel's tank upgrade to RSM 250
- Thread starter Danreef
- Start date
Hi Oxy
No mayor changes. Always the refugium and the Matrix. Only change was done around thanksgiving that I took out the HOB acrylic fuge full of Matrix and placed the stones in 4 Media reactors , plus added more matrix. Plus I increased the fuge size from 20 to 40 G.
Husbandry :
- replaced all my pumps after 1+ year of continuous use. Washed all them with vinegar. Next year I will replace them again. In other words I have 2 pumps for each pump in the system. Always 1is backup. And will rotate them once a year.
- Weekly WC of around 15-20 G.
- Dry skimming. Clean skimmer cup every 2 weeks.
- No mechanical filtration (sponges or socks).
- every 2 weeks refugium pruning , or when needed. Normally is within 2 weeks. Now that the box with Macros inside of the 40G breeder Refugium is bigger I only did a small pruning when I moved the macros in and was not needed during the last 3 weeks.
- dosing B-ionic 2 parts.
-Alk 7 - 7.5 dkh , Salifert
-Ca and Mg are a while I do not measure them.
- Phop 2 days ago : 0.03 ppm, Hanna Checker
- NO3 last week 0.5 ppm, Salifert
- Salt Reef Crystal, but thinking in moving slowly to Probiotic Aquaforest Salt.
- Fish : I increase my population from 10 to 20. Feed heavily once a day. Have a big cleaning crew in DT. smaller in fuge and restricted to the macro box due to the 2 triggerfish I have there.
Let me know if I am missing something thar you are interested in knowing.
Cheers
Daniel
No mayor changes. Always the refugium and the Matrix. Only change was done around thanksgiving that I took out the HOB acrylic fuge full of Matrix and placed the stones in 4 Media reactors , plus added more matrix. Plus I increased the fuge size from 20 to 40 G.
Husbandry :
- replaced all my pumps after 1+ year of continuous use. Washed all them with vinegar. Next year I will replace them again. In other words I have 2 pumps for each pump in the system. Always 1is backup. And will rotate them once a year.
- Weekly WC of around 15-20 G.
- Dry skimming. Clean skimmer cup every 2 weeks.
- No mechanical filtration (sponges or socks).
- every 2 weeks refugium pruning , or when needed. Normally is within 2 weeks. Now that the box with Macros inside of the 40G breeder Refugium is bigger I only did a small pruning when I moved the macros in and was not needed during the last 3 weeks.
- dosing B-ionic 2 parts.
-Alk 7 - 7.5 dkh , Salifert
-Ca and Mg are a while I do not measure them.
- Phop 2 days ago : 0.03 ppm, Hanna Checker
- NO3 last week 0.5 ppm, Salifert
- Salt Reef Crystal, but thinking in moving slowly to Probiotic Aquaforest Salt.
- Fish : I increase my population from 10 to 20. Feed heavily once a day. Have a big cleaning crew in DT. smaller in fuge and restricted to the macro box due to the 2 triggerfish I have there.
Let me know if I am missing something thar you are interested in knowing.
Cheers
Daniel
Last edited:
Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
I also have two of every pump, but switch them out every 6-7 months. That way pumps are always running in the DT and I can take time to clean the others. Running them 24 hours in vinegar water, etc.
Why the switch in salts? From Salt Reef Crystal to Probiotic Aquaforest Salt? I'm always curious why people switch from something that is working well for them to something else? Are there issues with your current salt?
I also have two of every pump, but switch them out every 6-7 months. That way pumps are always running in the DT and I can take time to clean the others. Running them 24 hours in vinegar water, etc.
Why the switch in salts? From Salt Reef Crystal to Probiotic Aquaforest Salt? I'm always curious why people switch from something that is working well for them to something else? Are there issues with your current salt?
Oxy, on the below thread I posted what is below. Read the thread from this page :
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2468548&page=58
.........About the Aquaforest full system, I am not sure if I ever will be able to implement it. Yesterday night I was reading their guide and there are many supplements you have to add a drop per day. With my travel schedules that will put another burden over my wife that she also has to take care of 5 dogs, 2 parrots, 2 freshwater tanks and my reef/fuge tanks feeding....... LOL.... Crazy house mine.... LOL.
I started my 65G tank using Petco Ocean Water. It had a final volume of 50G after rocks and sand. I was changing a box (5G) per week. The Box price is almost $12. When I started with my nutrients issue, one of the changes was to do more frequent WC. On top of that, I was not sure if something changed on the ocean water quality, so I switched to Reef Crystal and installed my RODI system.
During the time I used the Petco ocean water, polyp extension during the day was amazing. The coral growth was exponential. In a few months mini colonies were big colonies. I NEVER had again that day light polyp extension. Corals stop dying, colors came back, in most, others still not there with all my changes. But, I am SURE there was something in the ocean water that Reef Crystal salt do not have. I wasn't adding any supplements for corals at the time of the ocean water, neither I do it now.
So, my rational, after reading more about this probiotic salt, and following your thread, is that "could be" this salt will have something that will make it "more similar" to the ocean water, and I can recover something of what I lost in my corals.
I DO NOT REGRET the tank I have now. I am more than happy with this challeng of keeping SPS for the first time in my life, but as a biologist, that spend every free minute in front of the tank with a magnifying glass, enjoying the life inside of it, I have to tell you that the corals now are far away of what they were in Petco ocean water. They are good, as you saw in my pictures, but not yet how they were when I was using the Ocean Water from Petco.
Why I do not return to the ocean water ?
Well, for my actual routine of ~ 20 G weekly water changes, it will be too expensive ($12 x 4 boxes= $48 / week) . The 200 G box of Reef Cristals is $50. On top of that I cannot control how that ocean water is processed, so I am adding another potential point of issues. At least I can control how I do my salt water.
The probiotic salt is more expensive than Reef Crystals but less expensive than the Petco Ocean Water.
All these rational pushed me to order the probiotic salt and start to use it slowly and see if, at least with the salt alone (not the full system), I can see some of the past characteristics of my corals coming back...........
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2468548&page=58
.........About the Aquaforest full system, I am not sure if I ever will be able to implement it. Yesterday night I was reading their guide and there are many supplements you have to add a drop per day. With my travel schedules that will put another burden over my wife that she also has to take care of 5 dogs, 2 parrots, 2 freshwater tanks and my reef/fuge tanks feeding....... LOL.... Crazy house mine.... LOL.
I started my 65G tank using Petco Ocean Water. It had a final volume of 50G after rocks and sand. I was changing a box (5G) per week. The Box price is almost $12. When I started with my nutrients issue, one of the changes was to do more frequent WC. On top of that, I was not sure if something changed on the ocean water quality, so I switched to Reef Crystal and installed my RODI system.
During the time I used the Petco ocean water, polyp extension during the day was amazing. The coral growth was exponential. In a few months mini colonies were big colonies. I NEVER had again that day light polyp extension. Corals stop dying, colors came back, in most, others still not there with all my changes. But, I am SURE there was something in the ocean water that Reef Crystal salt do not have. I wasn't adding any supplements for corals at the time of the ocean water, neither I do it now.
So, my rational, after reading more about this probiotic salt, and following your thread, is that "could be" this salt will have something that will make it "more similar" to the ocean water, and I can recover something of what I lost in my corals.
I DO NOT REGRET the tank I have now. I am more than happy with this challeng of keeping SPS for the first time in my life, but as a biologist, that spend every free minute in front of the tank with a magnifying glass, enjoying the life inside of it, I have to tell you that the corals now are far away of what they were in Petco ocean water. They are good, as you saw in my pictures, but not yet how they were when I was using the Ocean Water from Petco.
Why I do not return to the ocean water ?
Well, for my actual routine of ~ 20 G weekly water changes, it will be too expensive ($12 x 4 boxes= $48 / week) . The 200 G box of Reef Cristals is $50. On top of that I cannot control how that ocean water is processed, so I am adding another potential point of issues. At least I can control how I do my salt water.
The probiotic salt is more expensive than Reef Crystals but less expensive than the Petco Ocean Water.
All these rational pushed me to order the probiotic salt and start to use it slowly and see if, at least with the salt alone (not the full system), I can see some of the past characteristics of my corals coming back...........
Oxy....take a look also to this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2338895
The previous one and this thread are ongoing right now.
Cheers
Daniel
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2338895
The previous one and this thread are ongoing right now.
Cheers
Daniel
All your corals are so thriving ! Great vid !
Pat24601
Well-Known Member
Since I've seen this video lots, it's not just the corals that look great, it's the placement. Very artistically done.
As an aside, I have purple month envy. I have no idea why, but I can't get purple montis to grow in my tank. I've tried quite a few times. I suspect bad lighting placement. My orange montis are taking over my tank.
Such is life.
As an aside, I have purple month envy. I have no idea why, but I can't get purple montis to grow in my tank. I've tried quite a few times. I suspect bad lighting placement. My orange montis are taking over my tank.
Such is life.
Pat24601
Well-Known Member
Also, btw, I still use the Petco water and it seems to work well for me. There are so many variables in a tank I'm not sure what kind of credit to give it, but my tank does seem to do quite nicely overall. So, I think you have better evidence than I do of the impact.
It is very expensive, though. Roughly twice the cost of LFS salt water, which is probably more than mixing yourself.
It is very expensive, though. Roughly twice the cost of LFS salt water, which is probably more than mixing yourself.
Today i did my first WC with AF Probiotic Reef Salt (20 G). It started, let see if I see something different. I will NOT go for the full product line. No time to keep all those dosing.
My Alk was today, at 10 AM (normally I measure it at ~ 9 PM) 7 dkh. The AF salt quality certificate stated that at 1023 the alk has to be 7.7 dkh for that lot. I measured it twice (Salifert Kit) and at 1026 it was 8.4 and 8.3 dkh.
Could that difference in salinity have an effect on the Salt Alk (increased). Nevertheless I did the WC. All looks OK.............now PICTURES
There is more...........WAIT !!!
My Alk was today, at 10 AM (normally I measure it at ~ 9 PM) 7 dkh. The AF salt quality certificate stated that at 1023 the alk has to be 7.7 dkh for that lot. I measured it twice (Salifert Kit) and at 1026 it was 8.4 and 8.3 dkh.
Could that difference in salinity have an effect on the Salt Alk (increased). Nevertheless I did the WC. All looks OK.............now PICTURES
There is more...........WAIT !!!
