24 Gal Cube SPS nano reef tank

project1004 · Jun 6, 2025

Yesterday 1hr after light on

This front rockscape holds most of all the bubble algae and hair algae. Emerald crabs are not coming near it.

Sides

LPS tank

project1004 · Jun 8, 2025

In the process of making room for the Alkatronic and dosetronic (missing ph4 solution atm), I figure I pickup the power blocks off the floor. I got this shelve that seems to work. Maybe one day, I get those wires cleaned up. Hehe

AND due to power outages where lights were flickering…. I lost both the apex display and the tunze skimmer. So using the skimmer (same one but older model) from the smaller tank.

project1004 · Jun 13, 2025

I have finished installing Alkatronic and Dosetronic. Took some extra work but it seems to be settling down.

Dosetronic is mounted on the wall and Alkatronic is seating on top of it.

Also with Dosetronic, I am currently with 5pump head
55ml of ESV alk
55ml of ESV cal
25ml of ESV Mag
2ml of bio fuel
2ml of Flatwarm exit (will stop when run out)

2500ml of kalk with 40ml of vinegar is added as ATO

Maybe something is wrong with me. I can’t get anything leveled in this house -.-;

project1004 · Jun 17, 2025

I got chance to pick up this skimz reactor and made it a turf scrubber. I hope this works better than that of SantaMonica turf scrubber. Nothing wrong with the SM scrubber. Just wanting to see if reverse light will help with stabilizing the pH at night. Currently running the skimmer with co2 scrubber only at night but I don’t see any changes. I plan on removing both reef biofuel (carbon) and flat warm exit.

I had to put a plastic strip to keep them suspended

It’s evident that I am pulling way too much nutrients for the scrubber to work efficiently. Reason removing the biofuel. But will continue to add 40ml vinegar to 5Gal ATO/kalk

It barely fits in the sump.

project1004 · Jun 21, 2025

LAZY MEN’S METHOD:
While considering about the smaller tank (I thought about adding the SM turf scrubber on it since the skimmer died).

SIMPLE yet idk why I never thought about it… Eventaully both tank will have same water parameters!

.

***This will eliminate needing to do two water changes and also eliminate needing to make two batch of kalk solutions.***

***Solution is, to do an automatic water change between the tank.***

Dedicated pump 2 and pump 4. Currently dosing 24hrs 24times so it is mixing very slowly. It’s exchanging 0.5gallons. About 80mls per hour.

backoffbella · Jun 30, 2025

looks great tae! what does the vinegar do? also been struggling with low pH recently. any ideas. been sitting at 7.9, corals are NOT happy but cant seem to get it up at all.

project1004 · Jul 1, 2025

Hey Bella, thank you

.

Recently I been tempted to put some more fishes in the tank but I had to hold off. I need some bottom dweller and my engineer goby is mia atm. Everyone is doing well.

Vinegar is use as CARBON source. But it’s not the same as Activate Carbon.

Vinegar, vodka, sugar, bio-fuel, bio-pellets etc. are used to able N/P loving bacteria to pollute which will eat but also produce good sources for the corals. Excess should be skimmed out and must go slow when starting whether you go with products like vinegar which are weaker compare to vodka and bio/pellet.

So it’s the way to use your N/P and also and feed your corals. I think…….

If you are having hard time holding your pH up, you should oxygenate your water.
So, good water changes with section of sand cleaning, good skimmer and aerate the water, turn off the heater and cool down the water for more oxygen, putting tons of flow in the tank as well as sump if you have one, co2 scrubbers to take out co2. ETC. Also using solution like Kalk helps with the growth and the pH.

. Vinegar in the Kalk solution allows me to dissolve more than it usually do by it also. Making it more acidic. And it is dosed with the Kalk solution for continuation instead all at once. Which is bad idea.

If you have alots of people and pets in the house or have bad flow of air, ph will be low. So put clean air “INTO” the tank.

project1004 · Jul 1, 2025

Carbon dosing litany for everyone.

But,

If you over dose, you will get bacteria bloom in a Milky Way or cyano and Dino.

But,

If you dose it right, you will have “clearer” water. So dose very little and very slow. I was dosing 1ml of vinegar in the 24Gal tank. And had to back off as well!!

Must have good water flow and aeration!!! Skimmer is recommended. I think…

My Alkatronic however read’s my pH much lower than my Apex. Also reads way higher than my Hanna. But because it is consistent!!! For now!!! I’m going with Alkatronic. Currently testing 4 times ad at and keeping my dkh at low 9-10. Hanna Says my dkh is 8…. So someone is wrong…. But I actually had to lower my 2pt dosing. Which I thought was too high initially. Thanks To Alkatronic

2pt is down to 28ml atm.

project1004 · Jul 3, 2025

I am just a week shy of 3 years anniversary for my reef tank. This tank gone thru 2 house moving and 3 upgrade transfers. Ow at its final resting place and “knock on wood” all things are good >.<

I was doing a water change and took some photos.

project1004 · Jul 3, 2025

24 LPS (Hairy mushroom killed my Sunkist mushroom I think). I don’t know if it will recover

This tank is sharing water with my SPS tank so it’s going to get better I think.

project1004 · 2025-07-22T15:13:05-0400

So lately I had feeling something is wrong with my tank. It just didn’t feel right…. So I went down the memory lane and decided that maybe I should test for calcium levels since it’s been year or so since last time I did.

I’ve heavily relied on Alk test as base line for my system and it has been working just fine until now.

I went and recalibrated the whole system yesterday and FINALLY working as it should. Lol.

I been having an issue with setting baseline of alkalinity because Alkatronic was registering at way higher than my Hannah tester. (+2dkH) So I was going to just use as trend. It’s been reading at 10 but Hanna reading are at 8 and my salt mixes at 8….

But initially I thought it was high because the amount of 2pt I was doing was at almost max rate. I was dosing 45ml on 50Gal. Upto 55ml which will consider max dosing for my size tank and I don’t have full of SPS.

I have used Hannah tester as my base for last 3yrs until month ago when I installed Alkatronic and once it stabilized I thought it was what it was but I was wrong…

Reason I been using Hannah was because I am not so good with color changing and rather rely on digital reading….

Well, it was reading Calcium at 535 and and 565 the next day.

I wasn’t sure about calcium (since it’s my only test kit) but I was still concern with alkalinity as I wasn’t sure if it was at 8ish as Hanna says or 10ish as Alkatronic says.

So only way to reference this was to buy a new test kits. So I went to LFS and bought a Red Sea dkh/calc/mag test kit. (3rd time better be charm?!? I had two other one expired unfortunately and it didn’t work. lol. They all need to goto trash).

So the redsea testing came back calcium level at 550. Magnesium at 1440 and alkanility at 7.5. So Hannah was right the whole time. And Red Sea backs it up….

So…. Stopped calcium dosing and raising alk by 25% per day until I can get it upto 8.5-9.0 preferably.

Other thing I got to consider is my evaporation rate has dropped to 0.5 Gallon a day from over 1Gallon so only half of the kalk solution is being added. Perhaps my system was doing well because I was doing much more 2pt before a month ago. I am down to half. I was doing around 40ml went to 55ml and now down to 20ml of esv alk. (I am now adding 25% more each day). I was doing exactly same for calcium, it should take few days but once calcium comes down I will keep it at 430ish. Mag was at 1440 with red sea. I do have salifert Mag test kit if I feel need to double check but I’m going to say it’s fine for now.

So, my alk is around 7.5, mag 1400 and calcium at 1550.

Nitrate is around10ish and Phosphate around 0.02.

My fishes are keeping my nitrate stable. I do dose powder food for phosphate twice a week.

Alk at 7.5 phosphate at 0.02

Nitrate at 7.8 last week was around 9. My smaller tank alk is at 8.5. Probably due to me adding all for reef on a wing. I thought it would be lower than other tank. Just going to stop dosing All for reef for sometime.