Eric's Red Sea XXL 750
- Thread starter ESH
- Start date
Good point! tank would have to get wider if that was the case. no more wall space, though maybe part of the tank could be peninsula style?
Got my Q tank cleaned up, so I made my rounds to some LFS today, and got all the styrofoam from the tank crate to the Dart recycling center
-Picked up a Scopas tang from Reef Plus that looked fat, and was half black half yellow. Awesome price too!
-Found 6 more healthy looking dispair anthias from Reef Wise. Funny story with these. A while back I ordered 10 from liveaquaria, and only 2 made it. Then, I got 6 more from a local shop, and none of them made it more than a few days. Too scrawny, some got sick, others wouldn't eat. These ones looked pretty healthy, Ive already seen them eat frozen. fingers crossed I can get these through quarantine. Also, looks like reefwise is redoing their coral flats again and their SPS system is pretty much cleared out, and moved over to the other flat.
-Last, stopped by Gingerbread Coral in Naperville, and picked up a sailfin tang they had in one of their frag tanks for over 3 months. This guy is currently hanging out in my frag tank for observation. Of note, if anyone is looking for a fairly unique Tang, they do have a Brown Koi Tang in one of their tanks. It's pretty big, pricy (I think it was 6 or 700 - not as much as what you might find from TSM corals, listing $999+ for theirs). I wasn't sure if they were treating their tanks today or not as many had a yellow tint to them. Either way, cool store, lots of high end shrooms too!
pics to come!
Got my Q tank cleaned up, so I made my rounds to some LFS today, and got all the styrofoam from the tank crate to the Dart recycling center
-Picked up a Scopas tang from Reef Plus that looked fat, and was half black half yellow. Awesome price too!
-Found 6 more healthy looking dispair anthias from Reef Wise. Funny story with these. A while back I ordered 10 from liveaquaria, and only 2 made it. Then, I got 6 more from a local shop, and none of them made it more than a few days. Too scrawny, some got sick, others wouldn't eat. These ones looked pretty healthy, Ive already seen them eat frozen. fingers crossed I can get these through quarantine. Also, looks like reefwise is redoing their coral flats again and their SPS system is pretty much cleared out, and moved over to the other flat.
-Last, stopped by Gingerbread Coral in Naperville, and picked up a sailfin tang they had in one of their frag tanks for over 3 months. This guy is currently hanging out in my frag tank for observation. Of note, if anyone is looking for a fairly unique Tang, they do have a Brown Koi Tang in one of their tanks. It's pretty big, pricy (I think it was 6 or 700 - not as much as what you might find from TSM corals, listing $999+ for theirs). I wasn't sure if they were treating their tanks today or not as many had a yellow tint to them. Either way, cool store, lots of high end shrooms too!
pics to come!
Pictures!
From the Q tank - everyone made it through the night! The tang is being a bit shy
Juvenile sailfin. Everytime I take the camera out it turns its tail to me or the clowns see me and peck at the glass. I'm not 100% sure if its a pacific or red sea sailfin. Store only had it listed as a sailfin. If I were to guess I'd say red sea based on that the tail has more of a pattern in it.
I feel like the guys from top gear trying to take animal photos as I can't get the photo that Im trying to get
From the Q tank - everyone made it through the night! The tang is being a bit shy
Juvenile sailfin. Everytime I take the camera out it turns its tail to me or the clowns see me and peck at the glass. I'm not 100% sure if its a pacific or red sea sailfin. Store only had it listed as a sailfin. If I were to guess I'd say red sea based on that the tail has more of a pattern in it.
I feel like the guys from top gear trying to take animal photos as I can't get the photo that Im trying to get
This day sounds a whole lot better than my trip to home depot for a furnace filter and a door knob. Regarding a wider display tank, may i suggest(predict actually) in two years, the thought of plumbing a 2nd "display" tank in your basement will creep into your mind. Joking, kind of.
great set up and thanks for sharing.The funny thing is home depot was on my list of stops but I said nah it can wait till another day. and I could see adding another tank to the basement. I already have the 90 just sitting in my office waiting to either get sold or moved to the basement. Only way it would get plumbed into this tank is if I redid my sump and currently I don't want to go through all of that work.
Not having much luck in the Q tank. 5 of my 6 dispair anthia's crooked on me, and now the Scopus tang either has velvet or ich.., more likely velvet based on photo comparison. Guess this is the whole point of the Q tank Time for copper, and I hope I'm not too late. I only started seeing things these past few days, but was out of the country most of last week.
Sailfin is doing fine in the frag tank at least and has pretty much eaten all but the bubble algae that was growing out of control in there.
No tank goes without its challenges. I made the mistake of letting my Alkatronic's measurement fluid running dry between last night and today, and after mixing more, priming and recalibrating pumps, something seems off with it. First, priming pumps and calibration doesn't work well over wifi - this part seems to work best with bluetooth connection. Its easy to go from wifi, to bluetooth, but the other way around requires some manual removal and entry of wifi data in the app. My updated test results seem off. While I was measuring a solid 8 to 8.5 kH for the past month, today my first retest was at a 7.6, followed by a 7.08, followed by a 6.52, all within an hour. I cross checked using the hanna checker, which read 7.6 on two different tests. I tend to believe the hanna, and think this specific lower reading from the Hanna is accurate to what the Alkatronic has been reading, as usually around this time of day the system would do a small 50-80ml dose to correct the readings. View attachment 26447
I swear I mixed the test reagent correct. Calibration and fluid checks for the measurements are showing spot on. I could remix a batch and see if that changes anything, but otherwise I'm not sure if I was simply off previously, or currently off on my new readings. I'm not always concerned of the exact #, I'm sure there is some variance to it, I just want to keep a consistent reading level.
Time for copper, and I hope I'm not too late. I only started seeing things these past few days, but was out of the country most of last week. Sailfin is doing fine in the frag tank at least and has pretty much eaten all but the bubble algae that was growing out of control in there.
No tank goes without its challenges. I made the mistake of letting my Alkatronic's measurement fluid running dry between last night and today, and after mixing more, priming and recalibrating pumps, something seems off with it. First, priming pumps and calibration doesn't work well over wifi - this part seems to work best with bluetooth connection. Its easy to go from wifi, to bluetooth, but the other way around requires some manual removal and entry of wifi data in the app. My updated test results seem off. While I was measuring a solid 8 to 8.5 kH for the past month, today my first retest was at a 7.6, followed by a 7.08, followed by a 6.52, all within an hour. I cross checked using the hanna checker, which read 7.6 on two different tests. I tend to believe the hanna, and think this specific lower reading from the Hanna is accurate to what the Alkatronic has been reading, as usually around this time of day the system would do a small 50-80ml dose to correct the readings. View attachment 26447
I swear I mixed the test reagent correct. Calibration and fluid checks for the measurements are showing spot on. I could remix a batch and see if that changes anything, but otherwise I'm not sure if I was simply off previously, or currently off on my new readings. I'm not always concerned of the exact #, I'm sure there is some variance to it, I just want to keep a consistent reading level.
Well well well, look what we got here! 
My ancient iphone5 pictures will never match the advertising, but here you go! Heres to hoping this gives me some time back in my life from testing! I plan to have this auto test Mag, Calcium, nitrate, alternate phosphate in it as well as there are only 8 solution bottles. All need to be liquid tests.
Pretty solid packaging. Everything came in nicely. Lots of dust like particles from the foam packaging. Im somewhat concerned about it being in the test chambers and will have to read how to clean them out.
Test Chamber dust that I mentioned. Should be easy to clean out.
All parts are placed securely inside.
Each bottle has its own stirrer. Bunch of extra needles and syringes. Tubing, connectors, extra stirrers and adhesive labels (no need for the word doc!)
Power Supply. Its beefy, initial observation on this one is that I'm not 100% sure its sealed on the bottom, Taiwanese electronics are usually pretty good but still, like all electronics, not meant for water. My recommendation would be to keep this off the floor and away from the splash zone.
Hopefully I'll find time to get this up and running soon!
Now where to put it? Its the size of a computer case. Weighs about the same, and has small gaps around the edges where the clear covers are, so any water splashing from the sump or any spills that I do about 1-2x a week could result in salt creep getting in. So It has to be close enough to the tank to meet the water feed requirements, yet not so close to get water on it. Hmmm... time to organize my chaos and get a new shelf built!
All said and done, once I get it up and running, if anyone out there is interested in ordering one themselves but on the fence since this thing is so new to the market, I'd be happy to find a time so you can check it out. After I ordered it, I saw theres a $100 off code floating around for the first 100 people to order. Ordering was a challenge, as my bank kept flagging for fraud as the company's merchant processing is based out of Beirut lebanon. Transaction is in USD, but definitely looks like fraud to the bank. That is unless you commonly make purchases from there, but thats another story.
My ancient iphone5 pictures will never match the advertising, but here you go! Heres to hoping this gives me some time back in my life from testing! I plan to have this auto test Mag, Calcium, nitrate, alternate phosphate in it as well as there are only 8 solution bottles. All need to be liquid tests. Pretty solid packaging. Everything came in nicely. Lots of dust like particles from the foam packaging. Im somewhat concerned about it being in the test chambers and will have to read how to clean them out.
Test Chamber dust that I mentioned. Should be easy to clean out.
All parts are placed securely inside.
Each bottle has its own stirrer. Bunch of extra needles and syringes. Tubing, connectors, extra stirrers and adhesive labels (no need for the word doc!)
Power Supply. Its beefy, initial observation on this one is that I'm not 100% sure its sealed on the bottom, Taiwanese electronics are usually pretty good but still, like all electronics, not meant for water. My recommendation would be to keep this off the floor and away from the splash zone.
Hopefully I'll find time to get this up and running soon!
Now where to put it? Its the size of a computer case. Weighs about the same, and has small gaps around the edges where the clear covers are, so any water splashing from the sump or any spills that I do about 1-2x a week could result in salt creep getting in. So It has to be close enough to the tank to meet the water feed requirements, yet not so close to get water on it. Hmmm... time to organize my chaos and get a new shelf built!
All said and done, once I get it up and running, if anyone out there is interested in ordering one themselves but on the fence since this thing is so new to the market, I'd be happy to find a time so you can check it out. After I ordered it, I saw theres a $100 off code floating around for the first 100 people to order. Ordering was a challenge, as my bank kept flagging for fraud as the company's merchant processing is based out of Beirut lebanon. Transaction is in USD, but definitely looks like fraud to the bank. That is unless you commonly make purchases from there, but thats another story.
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Got the reef bot setup and running. Its still in the beta test phase, which means all the available tests for it are not up and running yet. Overall I'm liking it. I dont know if I'd compare it to the Alkatronic or Triton. Those are different peices of equipment which serve to specifically test for things then dose. This gives you the ability to customize which tests you want to automatically run to help identify problems before they come up.
I have the Tropic Marin Phosphate test (which is still going through testing with the developer, so not uploaded to the dash board for use yet), the red sea magnesium test, along with the API Nitrate test.
The red sea test kit performed as I expected. Pretty happy with how it worked. It does take much longer to do the test with the robot then it would be if you did it manually. You can see that it uses a photo sensor to match the color readings to give a result.
View attachment 26459
The Api test kit performed as expected as well. I have not been a fan of API tests because they are difficult to read, and are not always as accurate. With that said, this is currently the only Nitrate test kit I see supported, and having a calibrated robot do the test for me helps get rid of some human error.
View attachment 26460
Overall the sound of the pumps isn't too loud. I have it in the basement, so if you have it in a family room you are going to hear them. Similar sound to other peristaltic pumps.
Setup was interesting, well, really just figuring out the best place for me to place this. Luckily I had a cabinet I could move. It needs to be at the same or similar height to the sump/tank where the samples are coming from, and within the distance of the supplied tubes. Not much head pressure on the tubes, plus it appears to flush out the water sitting in the primed tubes (RO and Test water) each time it operates.
Overall, if you got the cash, want to put some time back into your weekends where you can spend with the family or do other things, I definitely recommend this. If you can get by with either not testing, or are good about doing your tests, then I still think the hanna checkers and red sea tests are some of the better ones out there.
I have the Tropic Marin Phosphate test (which is still going through testing with the developer, so not uploaded to the dash board for use yet), the red sea magnesium test, along with the API Nitrate test.
The red sea test kit performed as I expected. Pretty happy with how it worked. It does take much longer to do the test with the robot then it would be if you did it manually. You can see that it uses a photo sensor to match the color readings to give a result.
View attachment 26459
The Api test kit performed as expected as well. I have not been a fan of API tests because they are difficult to read, and are not always as accurate. With that said, this is currently the only Nitrate test kit I see supported, and having a calibrated robot do the test for me helps get rid of some human error.
View attachment 26460
Overall the sound of the pumps isn't too loud. I have it in the basement, so if you have it in a family room you are going to hear them. Similar sound to other peristaltic pumps.
Setup was interesting, well, really just figuring out the best place for me to place this. Luckily I had a cabinet I could move. It needs to be at the same or similar height to the sump/tank where the samples are coming from, and within the distance of the supplied tubes. Not much head pressure on the tubes, plus it appears to flush out the water sitting in the primed tubes (RO and Test water) each time it operates.
Overall, if you got the cash, want to put some time back into your weekends where you can spend with the family or do other things, I definitely recommend this. If you can get by with either not testing, or are good about doing your tests, then I still think the hanna checkers and red sea tests are some of the better ones out there.
Testing with it seems to be fairly accurate. Magnesium tests take 53 min. Theres a few minutes of delay between when the the cloud sends the message to initiate the test and when it actually starts. Then it flushes the test chamber out 3 times, which clears out water that was sitting in the line, followed by flushing out the RODI chamber 3x, and flushing out the needle 3x. Some people are reporting issues with the needle bending on them, possibly due to not having it set in the machine correctly.
The 1400ppm test result was the first one I did and I suspect that one to be off slightly. Tests Ive done since are pretty consistent. Time to start dosing some Mag to bring the #s up.
View attachment 26478
Nitrate tests have all been 0. Still waiting for the Tropic Marin Phosphate test to get added. Looks like there is a beta test with the Red Sea calcium test. You basically have to premix a solution with the powder. Instructions are out there. If they are able to do this with one products powder, I cannot see why others with powder mixes cannot get added.
Side note, not sure why I never thought of this before, but Im starting to learn with any controller, if you want a consistent level, make the variance small. I just did this with my heater and Apex, changing it from a 1 degree between high and low mark to a .2 degree difference between when it cuts it on and off. So now Im thinking, for my Alkatronic, since Im reading a range of 8 to 8.4 throughout the day with an auto dosing 1x to correct it, why don't I just narrow the margin from something like 8.3 to 8.5? This should result in 2 smaller doses through out the day vs 1 30-50ml dose 1x per day. Lets see how this goes.
The 1400ppm test result was the first one I did and I suspect that one to be off slightly. Tests Ive done since are pretty consistent. Time to start dosing some Mag to bring the #s up.
View attachment 26478
Nitrate tests have all been 0. Still waiting for the Tropic Marin Phosphate test to get added. Looks like there is a beta test with the Red Sea calcium test. You basically have to premix a solution with the powder. Instructions are out there. If they are able to do this with one products powder, I cannot see why others with powder mixes cannot get added.
Side note, not sure why I never thought of this before, but Im starting to learn with any controller, if you want a consistent level, make the variance small. I just did this with my heater and Apex, changing it from a 1 degree between high and low mark to a .2 degree difference between when it cuts it on and off. So now Im thinking, for my Alkatronic, since Im reading a range of 8 to 8.4 throughout the day with an auto dosing 1x to correct it, why don't I just narrow the margin from something like 8.3 to 8.5? This should result in 2 smaller doses through out the day vs 1 30-50ml dose 1x per day. Lets see how this goes.
Been a while since I've done any updates.
The reef bot is currently down - though should be up and running soon. I've been working with their technicians on trying to figure out why my mixing chamber keeps overflowing. Their team has been awesome, talking with me in the early mornings over the past month. The challenge with this is their team is in Lebanon, and trouble shooting often takes 1 day per item to test before I get a possible solution, or on to the next test. We've determined a drain valve went bad and that a connector pin had a defect, so they sent me some new parts and sent a how to video. Luckily I like doing these types of things, otherwise I could see this being a bit of a technical challenge. I think you can make the argument that if you are having to cut wires and solder something into a brand new device, then the company should just take it back and replace it under their warranty. Having never had to solder a wire, this was a learning experience. Im still not sure if I did it right but it appeared to work after I swapped it out. So the valve is fixed, the wiring looks good as new, and the device overall appears to be working. I'm waiting for the Reefbot team to calibrate all the pumps as tests are not working and Im getting error messages, but at least the device is no longer overflow!! At the end of the day, I still think this is a great tool to have and would recommend this to anyone, and I think the reason is because of how supportive the company has been working through this issue. Reading through other forums I've seen mostly good reviews, and only 1 other person who seemed to have a similar issue.
I also built a screen cover. I went with the redsea kit. I've used the BRS DIY kits for my other 2 tanks, made some mistakes but learned how to put these things together. The instructions for the red sea kit give pretty decent sizes on what to cut everything to. The front, sides, and ribs, once cut, fit perfectly. The back edge was a challenge as I had to carefully measure out where I had my lights placed and my auto feeder. To make cuts, I used a hack saw and a miter box.
Laid out
Test fit - had to do this a bunch of times to get the back side exact
Netting
Cut and pressed in
Side view
Front
Auto Feeder
Corner edge cut out for cord
So there you have it! I read lots of negative reviews about this kit on BRS, but to be honest if you take your time, measure twice cut once, or just recut using the extra parts like I had to , then it all works out. The fit is perfect, barely any gaps and it looks very clean. Not as nice as some of those acrylic ones out there, but for about 1/3 to 1/4 the price with the real cost being time to build it. Functionality wise, its relatively easy to take on and off, with the center bracing serving as handles. I'm going to order another set of edge clips. They are PVC, but I can see this as a wear and tear item that over time could easily break when I'm taking this on and off the tank.
Only other thing going on with the tank right now is a bit of GHA in the display. Life's gotten crazy, so I got behind on maintenance and some GHA took over. I added to the clean up crew this past week with an order from Indo Pacific Sea farms, and then scrubbed a lot of GHA out. Ive a feeling this will be a battle thats going to take some time, but hopefully with most of it mowed down the fish and clean up crew can help keep it in check.
The reef bot is currently down - though should be up and running soon. I've been working with their technicians on trying to figure out why my mixing chamber keeps overflowing. Their team has been awesome, talking with me in the early mornings over the past month. The challenge with this is their team is in Lebanon, and trouble shooting often takes 1 day per item to test before I get a possible solution, or on to the next test. We've determined a drain valve went bad and that a connector pin had a defect, so they sent me some new parts and sent a how to video. Luckily I like doing these types of things, otherwise I could see this being a bit of a technical challenge. I think you can make the argument that if you are having to cut wires and solder something into a brand new device, then the company should just take it back and replace it under their warranty. Having never had to solder a wire, this was a learning experience. Im still not sure if I did it right but it appeared to work after I swapped it out. So the valve is fixed, the wiring looks good as new, and the device overall appears to be working. I'm waiting for the Reefbot team to calibrate all the pumps as tests are not working and Im getting error messages, but at least the device is no longer overflow!!
At the end of the day, I still think this is a great tool to have and would recommend this to anyone, and I think the reason is because of how supportive the company has been working through this issue. Reading through other forums I've seen mostly good reviews, and only 1 other person who seemed to have a similar issue. I also built a screen cover. I went with the redsea kit. I've used the BRS DIY kits for my other 2 tanks, made some mistakes but learned how to put these things together. The instructions for the red sea kit give pretty decent sizes on what to cut everything to. The front, sides, and ribs, once cut, fit perfectly. The back edge was a challenge as I had to carefully measure out where I had my lights placed and my auto feeder. To make cuts, I used a hack saw and a miter box.
Laid out
Test fit - had to do this a bunch of times to get the back side exact
Netting
Cut and pressed in
Side view
Front
Auto Feeder
Corner edge cut out for cord
So there you have it! I read lots of negative reviews about this kit on BRS, but to be honest if you take your time, measure twice cut once, or just recut using the extra parts like I had to
, then it all works out. The fit is perfect, barely any gaps and it looks very clean. Not as nice as some of those acrylic ones out there, but for about 1/3 to 1/4 the price with the real cost being time to build it. Functionality wise, its relatively easy to take on and off, with the center bracing serving as handles. I'm going to order another set of edge clips. They are PVC, but I can see this as a wear and tear item that over time could easily break when I'm taking this on and off the tank. Only other thing going on with the tank right now is a bit of GHA in the display. Life's gotten crazy, so I got behind on maintenance and some GHA took over. I added to the clean up crew this past week with an order from Indo Pacific Sea farms, and then scrubbed a lot of GHA out. Ive a feeling this will be a battle thats going to take some time, but hopefully with most of it mowed down the fish and clean up crew can help keep it in check.
That top turned out really nice. I've always used the aluminum framing from the hardware store but may have to try out one of those red sea kits.Been a while since I've done any updates.
The reef bot is currently down - though should be up and running soon. I've been working with their technicians on trying to figure out why my mixing chamber keeps overflowing. Their team has been awesome, talking with me in the early mornings over the past month. The challenge with this is their team is in Lebanon, and trouble shooting often takes 1 day per item to test before I get a possible solution, or on to the next test. We've determined a drain valve went bad and that a connector pin had a defect, so they sent me some new parts and sent a how to video. Luckily I like doing these types of things, otherwise I could see this being a bit of a technical challenge. I think you can make the argument that if you are having to cut wires and solder something into a brand new device, then the company should just take it back and replace it under their warranty. Having never had to solder a wire, this was a learning experience. Im still not sure if I did it right but it appeared to work after I swapped it out. So the valve is fixed, the wiring looks good as new, and the device overall appears to be working. I'm waiting for the Reefbot team to calibrate all the pumps as tests are not working and Im getting error messages, but at least the device is no longer overflow!!
I also built a screen cover. I went with the redsea kit. I've used the BRS DIY kits for my other 2 tanks, made some mistakes but learned how to put these things together. The instructions for the red sea kit give pretty decent sizes on what to cut everything to. The front, sides, and ribs, once cut, fit perfectly. The back edge was a challenge as I had to carefully measure out where I had my lights placed and my auto feeder. To make cuts, I used a hack saw and a miter box.
Laid out
Test fit - had to do this a bunch of times to get the back side exact
Netting
Cut and pressed in
Side view
Front
Auto Feeder
Corner edge cut out for cord
So there you have it! I read lots of negative reviews about this kit on BRS, but to be honest if you take your time, measure twice cut once, or just recut using the extra parts like I had to
Only other thing going on with the tank right now is a bit of GHA in the display. Life's gotten crazy, so I got behind on maintenance and some GHA took over. I added to the clean up crew this past week with an order from Indo Pacific Sea farms, and then scrubbed a lot of GHA out. Ive a feeling this will be a battle thats going to take some time, but hopefully with most of it mowed down the fish and clean up crew can help keep it in check.
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Reefbot update: The valve fix worked, but then something was off on the color sensor in the light chamber. We tried to do a few fixes and unfortunatly were not able to resolve it. Tests executed, but wouldn't provide results. ReefKinetics has kindly agreed to send me a new Reefbot to replace mine so they can troubleshoot this unit further. Way more then I'd ever expect them to do. Searching forums, this seems to be a one off issue. I'm pretty impressed with their customer service. It doesn't seem like a large team, but all said in done they have been very responsive and sent great instructions throughout the process. New one will be sent out this coming week.
Other tank challenges: GHA battle is ongoing.
Some SPS randomly bleached out on me. Some recovered a few others are goners. Water parameters are reading ok with some areas off.
Alk is stable between 8.2-8.5. Ph is 8.1-8.4, Mag is high at 1600, Nitrate 0 - lower than expected. Ca is at 360 lower then expected. Increasing flow rate
Meanwhile, picked up a few Scolys at CMAS
Mini one from Blue Line
And this one from another vendor. Not sure what to call this one: Bleeding apple / bleeding rainbow / Rain Paint/ War-bow? Tons of colors - orange green red purple red.
Scoly Crew - Lots of flow in the tank so they don't open up as much as they did in my frag tank. The War paint used to be about double in size when fully open.
Got a couple of Croc Island scolys in a higher flow area that are doing well. Picked up the red one last fall, the Green from Cali Kid Corals during their March Live sale.
OG Bounce Favia - $15000 if anyone wants it lol. Not sure why it's formed this bubble on itself.
Other tank challenges: GHA battle is ongoing.
Some SPS randomly bleached out on me. Some recovered a few others are goners. Water parameters are reading ok with some areas off.
Alk is stable between 8.2-8.5. Ph is 8.1-8.4, Mag is high at 1600, Nitrate 0 - lower than expected. Ca is at 360 lower then expected. Increasing flow rate
Meanwhile, picked up a few Scolys at CMAS
Mini one from Blue Line
And this one from another vendor. Not sure what to call this one: Bleeding apple / bleeding rainbow / Rain Paint/ War-bow? Tons of colors - orange green red purple red.
Scoly Crew - Lots of flow in the tank so they don't open up as much as they did in my frag tank. The War paint used to be about double in size when fully open.
Got a couple of Croc Island scolys in a higher flow area that are doing well. Picked up the red one last fall, the Green from Cali Kid Corals during their March Live sale.
OG Bounce Favia - $15000 if anyone wants it lol. Not sure why it's formed this bubble on itself.
Tank updates:
- New reefbot is up and running. Life is good again. Really like being able to swap out for different tests and having the ability to reprogram in only a few minutes via my phone. Test efficiency appears to have gotten a heck of a lot better from when I got my first. Previously Id run a test, and it would take 5-10 min before the test command even made it to the bot. Now I click test, and less than a minute goes by and I see the bot turn from blue to green indicating its running a test.
- Oops I forgo to quarantine my CUC! I posted this in another thread, but I believe because I did not quarantine my clean up crew I brought in ich to the tank. While im pretty sure it was from the crew, I dont know from where as I got them from multiple sources. Ive also recently added additional Pods to the refugium, and some new corals in the same time frame with minimal quarantine, so it could of came from anywhere. Either way, the fish are doing alright. Ive increased feedings and they are all getting fat and happy.
- No time for catching all the fish and going fallow, so I added a 40 watt UV. I just got that in today and setup. Flow is slow through the UV.
- GHA battle continues. Ive been doing manual removal, and its hard to tell if Im just mowing it down or making progress.
- Believe the tank has diatoms. Im seeing air bubbles on the GHA and close to rock work. I'm not seeing any kind of micro bubbles coming from anywhere getting blown in the return line and when I manually blow off with a turkey baster they come back within the day. Im hoping that the new UV can help battle this. I haven't tried to identify what kind they are yet so if the UV works its just an added bonus. I also don't know if the slower flow rate settings covers down for both fish diseases and diatoms.
- I picked up a 3 stage DI add on to my RO system. Haven't set this up yet, but I got this because Im always burning through DI resin with the single stage. TDS always creeps up from 0 to 1 or 2 after the first 60-80 gallons and never made sense as the water going in to the DI was usually 7 to 12 TDS.
- Bounce Favia's continue to bubble up. Now different one is doing the same thing. The heck is going on?
Haven't posted any updates in while.
Mid June, Moved these three out of quarantine. Cleaner shrimp and a couple of Sunburst Anthia's.
Mid June, Moved these three out of quarantine. Cleaner shrimp and a couple of Sunburst Anthia's.
- Since moving, the Sunburst Anthia's hide all the time, though one is swimming out in the open more frequently. Haven't seen the second in some time. Hopefully it's still alive.
- Hair algae is pretty much gone! Huge victory!
- Brown tang still has Ich, no other fish are showing any signs. I don't get it. Going fallow isn't an option for me,
- Thought I had Dino's, but it might have just been a combo of cyano and my skimmer throwing micro bubbles into the tank. Or, maybe the UV killed it? I never did take a sample to scope... I dosed a cyano remover and it pretty much took care of it. Skimmer was off in the tank during this time and the bubbles went away. When I turned it back on, I started noticing some bubbles came back in the tank, and my frag tank had lots of bubbles.
- Skimmer is throwing tons of micro bubbles into the sump, and I'm not sure what the best way to stop this is. Before I dosed to clear out the cyano, the skimmer was pulling out a ton of foam gunk. So I'm going to have to take it apart, clean out, and see whats up. It was sending bubbles into the tank before, I just didn't notice it due to all the other issues I was having
- The red sea gate valve does ok, and Ill randomly have to adjust it throughout the week. Though, I came home to a loud gurgling sound one day this past week to find my roller mat turned into a skimmer
- Picked up a couple of new clams from Pacific East Aquaculture. They are tiny! My other two clams are not that big.
- Mimosa and a Gold Maxima
- Also, Pacific East Aquaculture's shipping boxes are the best! the handle is a game changer!
