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James, the problem with running closed loop is that the pumps can be electricity hogs and our tank was not drilled/setup for that. I think with the new advances in powerheads we will be just fine as now we can aim pumps at the back walls.
Yes muriatic may be the best way to go but we went with...
ATI hybrid fixture, and yes I agree this hobby can be maddening sometimes but I guess it if was easy we would not have reef forums to commiserate in the fun. Soem corals responded very well to the LEDs and some did not, so we figured lets go with the best of both worlds and run the hybrid...
Spam filter, basically we don't allow non members to post links. We used to have a massive problem with spam and once we turned that off it all went away.
Looking forward to following the thread.
It did plenty, trust me. The rock is stripped white and it actually became brittle as we broke a few pieces by just setting them down. I think if we used anything stronger, we would have been left with a pile of rubble.
What has done so far:
1. All rock pulled and soaked overnight in vinegar.
2. We spent today hosing and scrubbing it all off. Very white now and lots of dead stuff. Bubble algae still alive but comes off much easier.
3. Back into fresh water to soak a bit, we will monitor and switch to salt...
Thank you guys, the fish are doing very well.
Little update on the tank in general: We have been battling high phosphates for a while now which of course rears its ugly little head in the form of algae. Now even with the nature reef (which helps a ton btw), changing out a ton of phosguard...
Our camera cannot focus on the black tang so this is as good as it gets:
The next set of pictures gets a little hot and heavy so hide your kids eyes and prepare to clutch your pearls and/or monocle
Any time you disturb a reef there is always a chance things can go bad. However, given that you have a ton of time, you can plan this pretty well and take a lot of the risk out. If you can setup a tank at a temporary residence (that can be a tank or rubbermaid containers or anything inbetween)...
I used it but went with the regular tropic marin. The TMP pro mixes a lower alk than what I was used to so it was dropping my alk. The regular keeps me more in line.
1. Realize you are going to dc so always plan on traffic lol. We have only gone early if we wanted to really see what was outside the hall. If you are not into the sites, going down late Thursday or super early Friday is probably your best bet. There is plenty of time to get yourself registered...
Peppermint shrimp can eat aiptasia, but it is not guarenteed. A 20g tank leaves you very limited as far as fish go that eat them, so I would not look there. Try using epoxy to seal them over.