Back in the Hobby, Marcus' 220 Mixed Reef

[Billldg]

Been a few months since my last update so here are some significant changes to my system and future plans:

• Continued running nitrate reactor to lower nitrates from high 30s down to under 10ppm.
• I was told that carbon dosing/nitrate reactor wouldn't lower phosphates much but mine bottomed out so I totally removed the GFO(was running 200g rowaphos, replaced 1x per month), now they are running around 0.1 ppm
• Lowered ATS lighting time down to 12 hr/day, this was due to how well my nitrate reactor was working and since my phosphates were bottoming out. I have contemplated removing the ATS completely but I don't think I will.
• Removed my inkbird controller and now have Profilux control heaters/fan, much happier now as I was getting daily swings of around 2 degrees with inkbird, now I get a half degree daily swings. Also replaced all heaters as a precautionary measure.
• Bought a Tropic Marin high precision floating hydrometer as I find it easier and more precise than a refractometer(this is probably an unpopular opinion but it works for me)
• Wanted to add a few more fish since I removed some a few months ago when my nutrient levels increased. I feel the nutrient levels are at a good place now and I am safe to add more fish(can increase carbon dosing to nitrate reactor or increase ATS lighting schedule if needed). I really wanted an Achilles tang but they have been hard to find lately, I visited, called, or facebook messaged a few of the local sponsor stores but nobody had one in stock or offered to order one. So I started to look online, I have had success with Michaels NY Aquatics in the past and he put a few 3-4" Achilles tangs on his site a week before Black Friday. I emailed him and asked when his normal black friday sale would start and it started that day so I placed an order for the Achilles tang, DESJARDIN SAILFIN TANG, Foxface, and Copperband. I asked him to wait until the best shipping window, he held them for 3 weeks and then shipped them out the 3rd week in December. The fish arrived in great condition, the Achilles was probably 6-7" too. Very happy with the purchase, highly recommend this place.

• Future plans: I want to dose trace elements with better control, I have used Red Sea ABCD in the past but since they are mixed elements, I could be overdosing some and under dosing others. I have been looking at the reef moonshiners method or maybe a hybrid version of his "daily" elements along with ATI ICP recommendations. Reef moonshiners recommends running slightly elevated levels from natural sea water and I am not sure if I want to do that but I do want to dose the elements that I have seen to be rapidly depleting and those seem to be his "daily" elements. I am not to keen on dosing ~6 elements on a daily basis so I will investigate if it is feasible to incorporate some or all of the elements into my Auto Water Change NSW reservoir. It has been ~4 months since my last ICP so I will send one of this week and then decide how to proceed based on those results.

Here is a quick video the night I added my new fish, excuse the Christmas tree light glare and PVC elbows(added them to give new fish a place to hide)

https://imgur.com/a/pf0suZG

It may be because I have one, , BUT I LOVE that Achilles Tang!!!

Mine is smaller, BUT, someday.

 

[Billldg]

OHH, and though I may not have all the answers, I can also help you on the GHL setup.

 

[Wmb0003]

OHH, and though I may not have all the answers, I can also help you on the GHL setup.

Luckily google has been my friend when I had some issues. There was one issue where I couldn’t figure out how to get a float sensor to act like I wanted but Vinny helped me out. I have been loving all of my GHL products so far.

 

[Billldg]

Luckily google has been my friend when I had some issues. There was one issue where I couldn’t figure out how to get a float sensor to act like I wanted but Vinny helped me out. I have been loving all of my GHL products so far.

Vinny is the man. Thankfully, I have a direct line to him, LOL!!!

I am about to totally redo my returns and add GHL Flow sensor instead of Apex flow sensors.

I can not wait until my IOND arrives. I am patiently waiting for it.

GHL has a few more surprises coming in the future. Some of which are mind blowing and simple the same.

 

[Wmb0003]

Vinny is the man. Thankfully, I have a direct line to him, LOL!!!

I am about to totally redo my returns and add GHL Flow sensor instead of Apex flow sensors.

I can not wait until my IOND arrives. I am patiently waiting for it.

GHL has a few more surprises coming in the future. Some of which are mind blowing and simple the same.

Nice, I am glad they finally got everything sorted out and started shipping those IOND; it was one thing after another.

I was following your conversion thread on R2R pretty closely when I was just setting up my GHL products. Not sure if my notifications got turned off or what but I got a few pages to catch up on.

 

[Billldg]

Nice, I am glad they finally got everything sorted out and started shipping those IOND; it was one thing after another.

I was following your conversion thread on R2R pretty closely when I was just setting up my GHL products. Not sure if my notifications got turned off or what but I got a few pages to catch up on.

GHL is trying to catch up, but the issue with the sensor messed them up. They were willing to stop shipping to fix the issue at their own expense...meaning...a default to their name to do the right thing at their own name's expense. I respect them as that takes some you know what, , and hope the true GHL members will understand. I know I do and have no issue waiting on the IOND as I know when I get it, it will get the best.

 

[Wmb0003]

So I finished a little experiment I was working on regarding dosing trace elements to my auto water change system and its effectiveness.

The full post can be found on Reef2Reef below:

Dosing Trace Elements to Auto Water Change Reservoir

That'll be an interesting ICP test. "tea colored" water will have a bunch of organics. The mud seems complicating: I read the description "Contains along with small amounts of Phosphates, Silicates and natural occurring Amino Acids and Vitamins the following: Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth...

www.reef2reef.com

Big takeaways are:
Conclusions from test:

• Some elements dropped from the start of the test to the end. This is what some of the experts thought might happen. Example: Iodine, Manganese, Vanadium, Nickel, Iron
• I believe dosing directly to the tank would be more effective than dosing to the AWC new salt reservoir, but I believe there is still some benefit to dosing to AWC NSW reservoir.
• Triton ICP tests are not very accurate, I will not be using this product again.

Ok so now to the questions that I now ask myself after this experiment:

• Exactly how accurate are ICP testing and should we be dosing based off their results?
  • See attached results, the differences in the tests are pretty vast
• Do corals really need trace elements?
  • The logic behind the corals needing the elements is that the elements are dropping in values over time, thus the corals are consuming them. But it seems the elements drop on their own in sterile salt water with no rock/coral/sand/etc.
• Do Auto Water Change Systems really give us the benefits that we think?
  • If trace elements are reduced from the time we mix up new salt water, the longer the NSW sits in the reservoir the less trace elements it actually boosts to our display tanks, however it is still effective at removing toxins or lowering nutrient levels.

 

[Wmb0003]

Been a little bit since my last update. Tank is pretty much well established and I am not so much hands on anymore besides the daily feedings, testing weekly or every other week and skimmer/ATS cleaning. I have had an issue with my RODI unit that I finally figured out yesterday so I wanted to share that.

I was out of town at the beach 3 weeks ago and I saw on my neighborhood facebook page a water main outside our neighborhood broke. No big deal, tank will run fine. However I do like to turn off my RODI water inlet and flush the water lines so all the dirt and debris doesn't clog up my unit. But since I was away from home I couldn't do that. So I inspected everything when I got back and there was a small drip coming from one of my RODI cannisters, I assumed near the ASOV fitting, and also all my anoin and mixed bed di resin had been completely exhausted. So I emptied my reservoir, put a fan where the water had leaked, everything dried nicely and no water damage . I replaced the ASOV with a new one. There was no more leaks but the RODI unti was still running and would not shut off. Strange....

I just turned off the water intake until I had time to think about the problem some more. I have my RODI output split 2 ways- to a Brute can and also running under the house to my ATO reservoir that has a float valve but is mainly triggered by a float switch and solenoid. So I ordered 100ft of new John's Guest/RODI tubing since when I originally ran the line to ATO reservoir I used some 1/4" vinyl garden tubing I already had. I was going back out of town this past weekend so I wanted to rerun the line before I was away from my house for 4 days again so I replaced the tube under my house on Wednesday and back out of town on Thursday. Everything seemed to be working fine, RODI was shutting off as intended by ASOV. But when I came back to my house on Monday evening, the RODI was running again and would not shut off...

Yesterday I got back under the house, the crawlspace under my house is quite tight, maybe 1-2ft of clearance so I have to crawl 50-60 feet back to where the RODI starts and investigate the issue, I crawl back maybe halfway and hear water hissing..... RATS! I see 2 places where the line is chewed and water is spitting. I cut out the chewed part and put a fitting to connect it back. It is working for now and I put a few rat traps under my house. For the long term solution, I will get some insulation and tie up the lines so they aren't sitting directly on the ground. That is a project for a later time, maybe this weekend if I have time.

I also have 2 more additional rodi lines running under my house for my auto water changer. I try to keep my salinty around 34ppt but it has creeped up to 35ppt recently so I think one or both of those lines are damaged too. I will shut off my AWC until I am able to check those lines and add insulation around all the lines.

Never would have thought rodents would have been an issue but am glad to have finally figured out the problem.

 

[civics14]

Been a little bit since my last update. Tank is pretty much well established and I am not so much hands on anymore besides the daily feedings, testing weekly or every other week and skimmer/ATS cleaning. I have had an issue with my RODI unit that I finally figured out yesterday so I wanted to share that.

I was out of town at the beach 3 weeks ago and I saw on my neighborhood facebook page a water main outside our neighborhood broke. No big deal, tank will run fine. However I do like to turn off my RODI water inlet and flush the water lines so all the dirt and debris doesn't clog up my unit. But since I was away from home I couldn't do that. So I inspected everything when I got back and there was a small drip coming from one of my RODI cannisters, I assumed near the ASOV fitting, and also all my anoin and mixed bed di resin had been completely exhausted. So I emptied my reservoir, put a fan where the water had leaked, everything dried nicely and no water damage . I replaced the ASOV with a new one. There was no more leaks but the RODI unti was still running and would not shut off. Strange....

I just turned off the water intake until I had time to think about the problem some more. I have my RODI output split 2 ways- to a Brute can and also running under the house to my ATO reservoir that has a float valve but is mainly triggered by a float switch and solenoid. So I ordered 100ft of new John's Guest/RODI tubing since when I originally ran the line to ATO reservoir I used some 1/4" vinyl garden tubing I already had. I was going back out of town this past weekend so I wanted to rerun the line before I was away from my house for 4 days again so I replaced the tube under my house on Wednesday and back out of town on Thursday. Everything seemed to be working fine, RODI was shutting off as intended by ASOV. But when I came back to my house on Monday evening, the RODI was running again and would not shut off...

Yesterday I got back under the house, the crawlspace under my house is quite tight, maybe 1-2ft of clearance so I have to crawl 50-60 feet back to where the RODI starts and investigate the issue, I crawl back maybe halfway and hear water hissing..... RATS! I see 2 places where the line is chewed and water is spitting. I cut out the chewed part and put a fitting to connect it back. It is working for now and I put a few rat traps under my house. For the long term solution, I will get some insulation and tie up the lines so they aren't sitting directly on the ground. That is a project for a later time, maybe this weekend if I have time.

I also have 2 more additional rodi lines running under my house for my auto water changer. I try to keep my salinty around 34ppt but it has creeped up to 35ppt recently so I think one or both of those lines are damaged too. I will shut off my AWC until I am able to check those lines and add insulation around all the lines.

Never would have thought rodents would have been an issue but am glad to have finally figured out the problem.

Glad you caught it tho. Now kill them rats! Lol

 

[Wmb0003]

Good news is I got the culprit, reset the trap and doesn't appear to be any more rodents under my house. Also got all the lines re-ran, secured off the ground, and wrapped in insulation so they should be more protected.

While all of this was going on, my di resin had gotten fully exhausted due to the constant leaking. Mixed bed and anion completely exhausted. Cation was still pretty good. From past experience, I knew some silicates would pass through but wondered if anything else would. I was somewhat due for an ICP test so I sent one out. Turns out copper will sneak through also....yikes lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/4bb368f1dba79d3f752c

Copper in my DT was detectable but not high enough for me to be concerned with. lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/1be6a7b3ac795c2f39aa Tin is somewhat concerning but will monitor on next test. I have some metasorb I might drop in my tank to get rid of it.

 

[Wmb0003]

Haven't updated in a while. Here is my latest ICP test, a short video of the whole tank, and some growth pics of some coral I got locally from @dball711 .

Video:

https://imgur.com/a/MOcQBlP

ICP: https://lab.atiaquaristik.com//share/558b2289b06ee0bfaa7b
Growth Pics:
I compiled some comparison growth pictures the other day. How is the growth/color in y'alls opinion? Also I believe the issue I had where salinity creeped up over a 6 month period stunted the growth.
The first 4 were all purchased at the same time so timeframe is the same for them.

CB Beastmode and TSA Princess Peach.

 

[Wmb0003]

Been 6 months since my last update, everything has been chugging along. Pretty much on cruise control for the most part. Well it was up until the point I was on an airplane for a vacation and checked my controller and my alk had dropped almost a point in 12 hours Texted my neighbor that's in the hobby also to see if he could test my alk and check on my doser. He confirmed the controller results were accurate and doser was not working right. Alk had dropped to about 6dkh at the lowest. My neighbor was able to manually dose 1x per day for me while I was gone. Switched the alk to a different dosing head last night and it seems to be working. Hope the swings weren't too much... time will tell.

I am also in one of the R2R Battlecorals grow out competitions; think I am doing fairly well. I really hope this doesn't stunt the growth; I have about 2 months left in the competition. I will attach a progress shot collage. I really need to work on my photography skills; right now I am using just an iphone; no lens but I do run my lighting a little whiter than most so pictures arent horrible imo but could be better. My wife has a Nikon D3200 with a standard 18-55mm and also "Tamron Auto Focus 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens". If anyone has any tips for that camera or if those lens would be any good; it would be appreciated.

 

[billyocean]

Nice! I was in the blood bank comp and forgot to reattach my frag when I bumped into it cleaning...2 or 3 days on the sand didn't in! Yours looks great!

 

[Jikkermanccini]

Been 6 months since my last update, everything has been chugging along. Pretty much on cruise control for the most part. Well it was up until the point I was on an airplane for a vacation and checked my controller and my alk had dropped almost a point in 12 hours Texted my neighbor that's in the hobby also to see if he could test my alk and check on my doser. He confirmed the controller results were accurate and doser was not working right. Alk had dropped to about 6dkh at the lowest. My neighbor was able to manually dose 1x per day for me while I was gone. Switched the alk to a different dosing head last night and it seems to be working. Hope the swings weren't too much... time will tell.

I am also in one of the R2R Battlecorals grow out competitions; think I am doing fairly well. I really hope this doesn't stunt the growth; I have about 2 months left in the competition. I will attach a progress shot collage. I really need to work on my photography skills; right now I am using just an iphone; no lens but I do run my lighting a little whiter than most so pictures arent horrible imo but could be better. My wife has a Nikon D3200 with a standard 18-55mm and also "Tamron Auto Focus 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens". If anyone has any tips for that camera or if those lens would be any good; it would be appreciated.

View attachment 77625

I did the Bonfire competition back in 2020, I think it was his first or second one and it was totally janky lol people using different rulers, weird camera angles, etc. Mine unfortunately died right before the contest ended. I wish you good luck!