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Ash's 400 Gallon Reef

I'll share pics of the plan once I start but staying true to my very low maintenance routine. Eventually i want to get rid of my current livestock tank since it's not a tank I want to maintain once everything's backed up and or growing in the larger tank. Besides its a total temporary system which is too close to my new sump and I fear eventually I will cross contaminate some ich into the main display. The qt tank will be 20 feet away from my large sump so not concerned there
 
Hypo is going well. No issues and fish are not showing any spots so I know it's working. Moreover I calmed down algae feeding and turned of my uv to see if hypo is really doing its thing. I have 1 month left to go so really hope I can keep it out from inverts or corals. I am ok to Qt for 45 days but the droplets next to my sump is something I can't really see or prevent
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It’s the little things in life. Having a dedicated sink makes clean up easy.

yeah definitely a game changer, For 20+ years I was dumping water down toilet or waiting for everyone to go to sleep then using the sink to clean stinky skim mate. Big system its needed since i have to clean skimmer every 1-2 days.
 
I got my QT setup but probably shouldnt have thought to use my vectra m1. Very hard to calibrate with a 1" drain and it keeps overflowing, The 1" drain barely takes enough water without making alot of noise and even when the vectra is a 3% power its too much flow for the drain. hopefully i can figure this out since I want to get some corals in my QT ASAP


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Does anyone know someone that has a Bandsaw i can use for 1 day? I need it to cut dry rock and few Gonis and just cant afford to spend $500 on a new one just yet.
 

radiata

NJRC Member
Hi Ash,

Greetings, but unfortunately, I hadn't noticed your post until now. That said, "Welcome to the club"!

Bob
 

diana a

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
Nice! How long are you QT your corals? What are the acros at the top? I'm an acro junkie
 
Nice! How long are you QT your corals? What are the acros at the top? I'm an acro junkie
If all is clean 30 days - mainly for aiptasia. Starting from the left. 1 Pinky the bear (my guess). 2. Bleeding Tree abro. 3. WWC Nuclear grapes, 4. pink lemonade, 5 anacropora. These are just tester frags i have the backups in the main system. Hopefully they color up quickly! I have to add T5 and get the Alk down, its at 9.8DkH and they are coming from 7.9DKH tank. Until i get ALK low my acros won't be happy!
 

diana a

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
My acros aren't happy unless its around 7.5. If it's 8.0 and higher they are not good
 
My acros aren't happy unless its around 7.5. If it's 8.0 and higher they are not good
Yeah I generally keep it the same! I'd go to 6.5-7.5 if fritz mixed that low. - I found Acros are less prone to bleaching or RTN at this levels and can take on very high Phosphates and they seem to color up fine. Surprised when I read ppl saying their corals brown out when phosphates are too high, i just think its just a combination of few variable that have to be in line for color. I needed 3 big boxes of salt to bring my salinity back up - Reefcrystal was $40 for bucket so used 60% of that and 40% of fritz, still the Alk was very high. I think i will keep Reefcrystals handy for when I have to remove some water for new corals and keep fritz for waterchanges.
 
Same here. mine actually happiest around 7.
Yeah, that like natural seawater and Acros love that stuff, elevated elements work great i think for LPS and softies who are more robust.
I became a believe in low alk when a coral i got from Reefco that i tested the bagged water and it was 5.5DKH. Thinking he was going to have a tank crash I called the owner and then he told me it is lower than he wants but he tends to get very good color when its at 6.5DKH. Before that I was chasing that 8.5-9.5DH, now I am perfectly fine letting it to go 7.3 DKH before making any adjustment to my doser.
 
You think I should put some muratic acid in the 15 gallon new saltwater? I have it in my garage but scared of the thought
 
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