ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

ToeSloth

Member
When my corals look a bit down, I always check my alk - I also always run cpe (carbon & gfo) and purigen

I have the Carbon still in COD and I'm running the cpe and purigen in the media rack. I thought I was holding down the phosphates with that. That is why I hadn't done that test in while. I will run a alk test and (it must be early as I have the seneye now) I know exactly what my PH is every 30 minutes! I have been running between 8.19 and 8.39 the last couple of days. I know that is a little high. Do you think I should look at the GFO reactor? Can I hook that up with the chiller hookup? I guess that would force me to cut another slot out as well because I'm running a ton of power and tubes through that cutout now.

It's not a cost issue I just feel like my tank is becoming a BORG!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/ - reading this now, starts making sense after the second reading. :)

Chris
 
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nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Do you think I should look at the GFO reactor? Can I hook that up with the chiller hookup?

I just run stock, sure some members can advise... I think that would be a nice addition, running gfo from Bulk Reef Supply and some ROX 8 carbon
 

ToeSloth

Member
So frustrated! Acropora gone! So what ate it overnight?Red legs, Blue legs, Pistol Shrimp. I did see the two red legs eating algae off the plug but they didn't seem interested in the coral itself.

This is the second coral I have had eaten on the first night in the tank. The other was paly that I posted the picture of a couple weeks back.

The frog spawn is still looking good but a little smaller than what it was at the LFS.

Chris


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.803613,-77.299916
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
So frustrated! Acropora gone! So what ate it overnight?

Is the frag plug still there? Could a hermit or snail have knocked him off? He is a hard coral and I can't think of what could have eaten him, not like you have a parrot fish or anything that eats hard corals :alien: look for him in the sand or rocks & see what others think...
 

ToeSloth

Member
In the frag plug and the LR piece on the plug are still in the brand new frag plug holder I bought.

Is it possible the frog spawn did something in the night to it? Doesn't seem likely since it was closed up almost right away and really isn't that big.

I will post a picture if the situation in a while. Still finishing my to do list of house work that doesn't include my tank!

c7bb9e14.jpg


It was on the empty frag to the right of the frog spawn.

Chris


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.803656,-77.299863
 
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ToeSloth

Member
After doing tests my Ca is 430 but my Alk was really low 1.2 so I used some RSM Coral buff to try and raise it up. I will test again tomorrow when I do the water change. New red fire fish is still doing well and eating but the frog spawn is looking off...I'm going to blame the Alk for now.

Best,

Chris
 

ToeSloth

Member
Problem is it spiked (8.7 for a peak) PH which was already high...I have been watching things over night and the PH is back down now to 8.39 which is still on high side. I still will need to test the Alk and see what the buffer did for it. I read some great articles yesterday on Ca, Alk and PH and I'm still digesting the information and reading some more. I think I will be picking up a two part solution to try and gt things balanced out. I'm not expecting magic but I think I should be able to find a maintenance balance that will keep things stable. I really don't want to add anything else to I get a handle on my levels.

Cheers Chris - bet this helps !
 

ToeSloth

Member
(PH is down to 8.37) - One good thing about the Seneye is the alerts I got for this and now I see it update the PH every 30 minutes and trend it as well!)

That's the crazy part about the low Alk - I have done a 5 gallon water change consistantly every 7-8 days. I wouldn't expect my Alk to be 1.2 - maybe my test is off but I believe I thought the last time I did it that it was just something I was doing wrong on the test. I will pick up a new kit and see. I will feel foolish for adding the Coral buffer if my current test for Alk is bad.

I don't dose a lot either... weekly water changes take care of 95% of everything for me

I will say though even if that comes out to be fine something in my tank is not right or my corals would be doing better and growing and not slowly dying off. Two zoa frags over a two week period and now the frog spawn is looking weaker than when I brought it home.

Best,

Chris
(Time to work on a signature I think)
 
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ToeSloth

Member
OK - performed my 5 gallon water change last night and notice very little change in my Alk from 1.2 to maybe 1.4 - I think the test kit is just bad! It's the original one from three years ago. I haven't gone out to get a new one yet so I don't know for sure. The overall PH is hovering from 8.19 to 8.39 so a little high but I don't think it's a big problem unless someone tells me otherwise.

Again the Seneye device has been nice for validating the PH levels every 30 minutes remotely and graphing the levels so I can adjust it when I'm ready and have the Alk figured out.

Best,

Chris
(still no sig!)
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
(still no sig!)

If it helps... here my sig... I removed the closing brackets ] and replaced them with Z so you could see it - hope this helps - all this is under Forum Actions, General Settings, Edit Signature - Cheers !

[SIZE="2"Z[COLOR="YellowGreen"Z[FONT="Comic Sans MS"Z[COLOR="YellowGreen"Z~ Red Sea Max 130D and RSM 250 ~
[/COLORZ [/FONTZ[/COLORZ[/SIZEZ
[URL="http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/44439-glenns-new-rsm-130d.html"ZGlenn's Reef 130[/URLZ [URL="http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/62437-glenns-reef-rsm-250-a.html"ZGlenn's Reef 250[/URLZ [COLOR="YellowGreen"Z

><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><((((º>[/COLORZ
 

ToeSloth

Member
It's been almost two years (something about November/December that pulls me back into tank focus) and I'm sure most are aware that in the last couple of years in the Northern Virginia area we had a couple major storms about a year apart. One was before my last posts (Hurricane Irene) and although my tank survived that one fairly well the derecho that came through last summer killed off everything in my tank but my clown fish Joker and the one armed pistol shrimp! I lost some motivation in there somewhere as well sorry to say to all you on here that have stayed committed to the club, hobby and each other for that matter.

Well in the next few weeks I plan on setting my tank up from the ground up again. I have made a few replacement purchases already like new bulbs and a couple of other tank changes like the replacement pump RSM is offering at the moment.

I have a few things I need to look into still like replacing the sand and how much I need (suggestions? I was happy with the RSM sand that came with it for the most part). I'm sure I will need advice as usual and I look forward to contributing to my thread and others as I can.

I went through my whole thread today and read things I didn't even remember doing! :) Lessons learned I hope in some cases not to repeat.

Best,

Chris
 

goma

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Welcome back!! Looking forward to the rejuvenation of your tank!
 

ToeSloth

Member
Thanks Greg and Glenn for welcome back message! I like the look of that sand Glenn! Thanks for the help.

We are getting new carpet through out the house this Thursday and Friday and all the pieces and parts I orders come in by then as well. If I get the sand I should be able to get water, sand, and rock into place over the weekend to start a cycle (if I remember how, got some old threads to read!). I'm going to NY on the MLK weekend so I'm trying to target fish after that point sometime so the time table should work if all goes well.

Chris
 
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