Revised 155 RR BF Reef Tank Thread

[Awibrandy]

Tom, I may be wrong, but I am thinking the alk is going down quickly because of all the w/c I was doing, not dosing alk, while dosing cal & mag to bring those values up. I hope so anyway.

btldreef, thank you! Seems that way, but mine was totally my fault. I should've been a bit more careful.:embarrassed:

 

[Awibrandy]

Did the weekly water change yesterday morning.

Pars this morning:

Mag 1440 ppm
Alk 8.4 dkh
Cal 405 ppm

Will test water 6/13/2012 to get an average of how much of each is being used in order to determine how much to dose if anything.

 

[Awibrandy]

Tested pars this evening.

Mag 1350 ppm down by 90 ppms in 4 days
Alk 9.85 dkh up by 1.5 (My guess is cal & mag being on point have caused alk to raise).
Cal 400 ppm down by 5 ppms
PH has been holding between 7.98 (early morning) & 80

Not going to dose anything for now. Coraline is beginning to grow back. Surviving corals are doing good!!!

 

[Keyman]

Great Job guys more pic please

 

[Awibrandy]

Great Job guys more pic please

Thank you Keyman!

Update:

Tank is doing much better. Weekly water changes with no dosing. Hadn't tested for a while.

7/8/2012
PH fluctuates 7.9 - 8.1
Alk 8.3dkh
Cal 385 a little low.
P04 .09 - 0.10 ppm a bit high - Removed sponges, changed socks & phos reactor.
Ran out of the Mag test kit.

Added torches, grape frogspawn, pink wall hammer, duncan - duncan, torches & frogspawn are doing great! Wall hammer did not make it.
I also added a small sps frag about 2wks ago, it is doing well. It is beginning to color up.
Also, found another pink tip aussie elegance at a great price with the help of a great friend!!! Thanks Favia Freak!:hug:

Keeping the skeleton to my original pink tip elegance on top of overflow as a constant reminder of what happens when one gets careless!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next change is: I'm dumping my MH/PC fixture for 4 of Wingo's LEDs "Cree Brick"! Very excited to make the move!!!
Thank you Wingo for making this possible!!! Without you creating this low budget fixtures I would not have been able to make the move.....:hug:

 

[fishman1069]

Thats awesome Awi! Great to hear your tank is doin better:thrash:

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks fishman!

 

[kenconnect]

Thats great news keep it up..

 

[rkaragozler]

Awi, I am so happy that things are getting back to normal, but please don't change out all the lights out at once. IMO the color spectrum, and intensity might harm the corals in your tank. I know that some people might think i'm crazy for saying this, but the way i look at it is that your coral in your tank is accustomed to a specific spectrum and intensity. when all your old lights are changed at one time it shifts this.
Now to a better thing, let me know if you want anything in my tank, I will cut it up and deliver it to you.

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you Ken! I definitely plan on staying on top of my tanks from here on.

Richie, thank you very much! As to not changing all my lights out all at once; there isn't much I can do. My light fixture takes up the entire length of the canopy where the LEDs are going. The other factor is that it is way past time to change out the PC, as well as time to change out the MH. Therefor, I don't think there is much life left to them. I do intend to acclimate the animals I do have slowly to the new LEDs. God willing all will go well with the switch.
The main reason for the switch is the heat factor; my tank jumps 2 - 3 degrees in just 1 hour from when the MH come on. The other reason is my LIPA bill. Last month's bill was nearly $500.

 

[3450500]

Graet story congrats to all MR who helped out

 

[Awibrandy]

Graet story congrats to all MR who helped out

MR is a great big FAMILY!!!:wink1:

 

[Awibrandy]

Switched to LEDs - 4 of Wingo's Cree Brick LEDs have replaced the old Odessy 3 X 250Watt MH/PC fixture. No more having to wait for help to change out old bulbs. No more $300 per year for bulb replacements either.

Best of all: Love the colors the LEDs bring out in my corals! Yeah, I'm :inlove:
Wish I could take decent pictures that would show you all the colors I am seeing. Unfortunately I have never been able to take a half way decent pic, and now it is even worse.:redface:

MH/PC FTS

Blue LEDs 100% FTS

Blue 100% Whites at about 60% FTS

Cree Brick LEDs packaging

 

[fishman1069]

Looks great Awi!

 

[dubs]

wow awi it hurt to look at ur tank with out all that stuff u had in there nice to see ur still going at

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks fishman lol, you are to kind.. Wish I could actually capture what I am seeing.

Anyone want to try, and get a decent pic of my tank? It is a shame that I can't show you guys how pretty it really looks.

Dubs, it will soon have more. Just not the elegance!;( I did try another, but it went south.

 

[dubs]

Don't mention elegance that a coral I proly won't have again unless someone give it to for free I had a nice as u remember and my cheap lta got shreaded by my power head and kill it then I got small one not as nice as that big Aussie one I had and that ish died to for what ever reason so u know i have 3 strike rule with fish and corals if they die on me too time or more that it I don't waste my time or I just let it go

 

[Awibrandy]

I hear ya Dubs! I have the same rule, except with my Majestic Angelfish.lol I went through a few of them before I got the one in my tank now. He has been growing, and staying fat & happy for 1.5+ years.

To update with another story of trials & tribulation with my mixed reef!

I was having problems with my RK2, and a reefer buddy gave me his ACJr. The ACjr also gave me grief although it was working just fine for the previous owner. I tried reaching out to Neptune, but they never got back to me. The RK2 still has 4 outlets that can be programmed, and I cannot afford to purchase new controllers.
What I finally did is: I went to Lowes, purchased two "Digital 8-Outlet Power Strip Timers". The reason for the need to purchase two is that although they are 8-outlets on each only 4 outlets are programmable. The other 4 are standard constant on outlets.

I used one to control the Blue LEDs, and the 4 Koralias, and the other controls the White LEDs as well as serve as the source for the first strip.
The programmable 4 outlets on the RK2 are in use for the 2 heaters, the sump light, and 1 canopy fan.
The sump fan is on continuously during the summer so not to worry about not being able to control it. The return pumps, ato pump, and BRS gfo & gac pump are all connected to a surge protector.
Of course once I got all the above done, and squared away something else goes wrong.LOL Really! It seems that this year has not been the greatest for my reefing experience.:happysad:
Yesterday after double checking that everything was in order, and I could sit have a glass of wine, smoke a cigarette, and chill I find the 8 month old pump to my skimmer is not running. Spend a couple of hours fidgeting to no avail. The pump refuses to work the moment the cover gets placed on it. Best part is that while trying to get the pump off of the skimmer I somehow cracked the body around the coupling. So now I need a new skimmer (new to me at least).
I was so PO last night that I told hubby I felt like selling all the animals, lr, and turn the tank in to a cichlid tank like what I began with some 40+ years ago. Hubby was not pleased with that idea. So I am still in.

Thanks for reading my rant!!!!

Pix of the tank inhabitants as of today. They make it all worth while!:lovestory

 

[Awibrandy]

Waiting on a response from the manufacturer of the Sedra 3500 pump concerning warranty.
I called Marine Depot who told me to call the manufacturer. The woman who answered the call transferred me to a voice mail to leave message. I left message yesterday afternoon (PST).
In the mean time I am looking to purchase a good used skimmer. I cannot afford to purchase a new one. After the skimmer, I will see about the purchase of a controller. Probably next month.
Jeez, this hobby can certainly get quite expensive.LOL I think this hobby is probably more expensive then crack.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Waiting on a response from the manufacturer of the Sedra 3500 pump concerning warranty.
I called Marine Depot who told me to call the manufacturer. The woman who answered the call transferred me to a voice mail to leave message. I left message yesterday afternoon (PST).
In the mean time I am looking to purchase a good used skimmer. I cannot afford to purchase a new one. After the skimmer, I will see about the purchase of a controller. Probably next month.
Jeez, this hobby can certainly get quite expensive.LOL I think this hobby is probably more expensive then crack.

awi, i have a spare skimmer you can borrow. it's a bermuda bps-3c rated for 100-300g can be used internally or externally. i might even have a mag 7 or mag 9 lying around somewhere. looks like this.
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61074-bermuda-bps-3c-skimmer
i can bring it to my office in flushing this saturday. lmk.