29 gallon biocube build

[Speedfreak241]

Recently purchased a used biocube for $100 and am moving over everything from my 20 gallon to my biocube so it's easier to take care of.
http://s10.postimg.org/5vmw4j96d/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/5vmw4j96d/)
http://s22.postimg.org/hvr2b51jx/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/hvr2b51jx/)
Decided to do a live rock wall and came out pretty good for only 7 pounds of rock.

[fscmocsaj]

whah thats different haha. What are you going to keep in there?

[donut0079]

How are you addressing the water return? It looks like that wall would block it.

[Speedfreak241]

I glued the rock to a piece of acrylic then put in on the back of the tank. The acrylic has a hole where the water return is and where the water comes out so it still flows the same. Right now I just plan to keep my black ice clownfish in there and a blenny that I have but I will add more later down the road. Also plan on doing corals and maybe eventually a bta. The pictures are cloudy because I just had put the rocks in and added the rest of the sand.

[donny0007]

Looks good! Just picked up the same tank. Can't wait to get it going

[Speedfreak241]

http://s24.postimg.org/z7vopws81/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/z7vopws81/) the small black spot is the original flow spot.
http://s9.postimg.org/qdqgekrjf/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/qdqgekrjf/) side view.
The biocubes are great tanks other than lighting issues, but everyone has one so I decided I needed to do something different, so I built the rock wall. It turned out better than I hoped and really ties the tank together.

[fscmocsaj]

Looking good! good luck!

[Speedfreak241]

I have the original biocube protein skimmer and ik it's junk so what is the next affordable protein skimmer? I hear that the aquatic life 115 is good and fits with slight modification, but is that just for the coralife biocube or will it work in my oceanic also?

[DavidGraves]

It will work in the oceanic. A bit easier I think

[homer1475]

Since the tank design didn't change when corallife bought up oceanic, I can't see why it wouldn't fit.

To my knowledge corralife only changed the hood, and did some upgrades on the equipment it comes with. The tank itself is still exactly the same. You might have to mod the hood some(cut some extra bits of plastic), but it should definitely fit.

[DavidGraves]

^ on the coralife there is a hood hinge right over chamber 1. Makes it a bit more difficult to mod the hood

[homer1475]

^ on the coralife there is a hood hinge right over chamber 1. Makes it a bit more difficult to mod the hood


Yup have the coralife version myself.

Not sure why the location of a hinge would matter with regards to the mod needed to fit the AL115, but noted for future reference.

You either need to cut some of the plastic on the side of the hood to fit the bracket, or mod the 115 itself so it fits with a magnet to hold it in place.

I personally modded the AL115 so it fits and is held in place with a magnet. I think this mod is the best way to place it as it doesn't require cutting the hood(keeps stock look), and I have more control over water depth.

[DavidGraves]

Yeah I think the magnet is the way to go.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok thanks for the replies what magnet do I need to get to make it work. I've seen the YouTube videos on how to do it but it's not clearly stated on what magnet.

[soulpatch]

Since the tank design didn't change when corallife bought up oceanic, I can't see why it wouldn't fit.

To my knowledge corralife only changed the hood, and did some upgrades on the equipment it comes with. The tank itself is still exactly the same. You might have to mod the hood some(cut some extra bits of plastic), but it should definitely fit.

Coralife also changed the rear plastic wall of the tank and the height of the sump walls with a couple cutouts for overflow. In reality if it is plastic on the tank there are slight differences between the oceanic and coralife. minor but they are there.

That said I agree with homer and go the magnet route with the 115. You have to mod one way or another so might as well do the one that only impacts the piece of equipment.

[homer1475]

Just look up reefthuz on youtube. He has a compete walk-through on what's needed equipment wise, and what needs to be done to the AL115 for it to fit properly.

[soulpatch]

Goes without saying but don't watch/follow advice in his other setup videos....

[homer1475]

goes without saying but don't watch/follow advice in his other setup videos....
+1000

[donny0007]

Goes without saying but don't watch/follow advice in his other setup videos....
Other setup videos regarding the biocube or other tanks? I am setting a cube up now and thought his filter mod was worth doing. I'm definitely not using bio balls

[soulpatch]

His filter mod with the eshopps sponges. Yeah no. Don't do that. Seriously outside of his skimmer mod video you should ignore everything he says.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok I watched his video again I must have skipped the part with him talking about the magnet. Also I have a uv sterilizer in my tank and the bulb broke so if I plug it in it shocks the tank, is it worth the $40 to replace it or should I just leave it unplugged. I only see a couple threads on using uv sterilizers so is it really worth it or no.

[donny0007]

His filter mod with the eshopps sponges. Yeah no. Don't do that. Seriously outside of his skimmer mod video you should ignore everything he says.
Sent you pm

[ReefWreak]

Ok I watched his video again I must have skipped the part with him talking about the magnet. Also I have a uv sterilizer in my tank and the bulb broke so if I plug it in it shocks the tank, is it worth the $40 to replace it or should I just leave it unplugged. I only see a couple threads on using uv sterilizers so is it really worth it or no.

No it's not really worth it. Put the $60 towards something important.

Also, you should check out the FMAS forum here on ReefCentral (reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=235) for a lot of great resources locally to you. There's also a Palm Beach MAS, but I'm not sure how active they are these days. There is a lot of crossover between members, but FMAS is the big local group in South FL.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok thank you for that link the tank is cycling nicely and my ammonia levels are going down, so hopefully I can start adding in a few weeks to a month. I already have two black ice clowns and 2 blennies to go in it in my quarentine tank. Need to buy the skimmer online because my lfs doesn't sell the aquatic life 115.

[kindaconstant]

Good deal on the BC. Back wall looks unique, should look killer when it fills in

[Speedfreak241]

Yeah down here I get great deals on tanks. I just bought another biocube today that is the coralife version for 220 because I got a brs rodi unit with it and rock and a ton of equipment including a $300 pump that's new.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I got all my parameters in check and am going through a small algae outbreak now so hopefully soon I can add a couple fish. I have a bicolor blenny, two black ice clowns, a peppermint shrimp, and a few corals to go in it.

[Speedfreak241]

How does everyone keep there biocubes cool my Temps are at 83-84 and that's with the ac running 4 degrees colder dew to the air outside being cold for Florida standards. I am trying now to see if leaveing the filtration door open helps keep it colder.
I Put a small frag of zoas in the biocube from one of my other tanks and they seem to be doing fine even with me not acclimating them. They came from one of my other tanks and I made sure in advance that the ph and salinity were the same.

[ReefWreak]

People run fans and/or open top on their tank. It comes up pretty often in the threads here.

I run my AC in NYC for my dog during the summer, but still bought a chiller in case my AC doesn't work, like it does sometimes.

[Speedfreak241]

Well added my first fish today, a tiny Pygmy (cherub) angel. I went to buy a banggai Cardinal and they only had one big one that was about 2-3" so I didn't want to put him in my tank so I found a small cherub angel that's about 3/4-1". Being a semi-aggressive fish i I hope it won't be to territorial once I go to add my clowns and bicolor blenny.
Pictures to come... I put him in once the lights were off so he bolted into the rocks and I wasn't able to get a picture.

[Speedfreak241]

Well the cherub angel still isn't coming out a whole lot. My rocks have a hole maze of caves inside and are not packed together tightly so he can swim around in them and never be seen. What I have seen of him isn't so pretty, it looks like he may have ick there is little white dots on his fins and body. But I don't know if it's ick or just stuff from in the rocks.
http://s11.postimg.org/g4gc0rxcv/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/g4gc0rxcv/)
If it is ick would it be ok for me to just leave home in there and put on a uv sterilizer?

[soulpatch]

UV sterilizer wont do anything for ICH really. It kills a few of the floating parasites but not those on the fish, rock, sand, ect.

Regardless of what you do your tank now has ich and needs to stay as is for the next 72 days or so. You will need to not add fish and wait this out.

Best case scenario is to remove the fish, do ttm, qt nd treat and leave the tank fallow for 72 days...

[Speedfreak241]

I am hoping that it is just junk from the rocks on him and not ick because my 20g qt tank already has 5 fish in it and is way overstocked as it is. The angel has been at the store for at least two weeks with no problems.

[ReefWreak]

I am hoping that it is just junk from the rocks on him and not ick because my 20g qt tank already has 5 fish in it and is way overstocked as it is. The angel has been at the store for at least two weeks with no problems.

If you're spending weeks QTing your other fishes, and you even suspect ich on the fish(es) currently in your display, then I would definitely pull all fishes from your display and QT them separately, even if in 5g buckets or something, just so when you do add the new fish that you worked so hard to keep healthy and QT it will not be for nothing.

[soulpatch]

Should also note that your fish looks like it has ich. They dont get covered like that in debris from rocks...

I agree with reef. I didnt see you had fish in QT waiting to come in. You need to pull the fish, treat it, and let the tank sit fallow for 72+ days to be sure.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok, just shocked because the angel has been at the lfs for at least two weeks and they haven't had a problem. What would cause the ick to just show up after being ok for two weeks. My biocube was just set up from a 20g I had and all those fish in my qt while the tank cycled.

[soulpatch]

2 weeks is not long enough of a time frame and you have no idea what was in their water. This is why QT is a minimum or 30 days so you can see issues arrise on the livestock before it goes in the tank.

You can also bring ich in with anything you put in the tank like corals, rock, marco algae. Anything can carry it into the tank which is why many QT everything before it goes into the tank. TTM everything will at least take care of the ich on new inhabitants.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok and is it possible for the spots of the fish to just disapear because today I can't seem to see any when he comes out of the rocks. The spots that were on his fins and tail are definetly not there anymore.

[soulpatch]

yes ich can lose spots for them to reappear in a couple days in its early stages.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok well thank you for the information ik I can be stubborn when it comes to things I don't want to do but I am making a new bach of saltwater and am going to start doing the tank transfer method tomorrow when it is finished dissolving. According to the post here on reef central it says to just match the salinity and temperature, but wouldn't you want to match the ph also so that doesn't shock the fish.

[ReefWreak]

I've never checked pH of a fresh batch of saltwater. Temperature and salinity, and as long as you are getting some movement on the surface of the water, that will cause aeration that will stabilize the pH.

Temp and salinity matter most, because salinity changes with temp, as one of our friends here learned recently. He was mixing saltwater without a heater, checking the salinity with a non-temperature-correcting measuring device, and was wondering why every time he did a water change, his livestock would die off, particularly salinity-sensitive invertibrates.

[Speedfreak241]

I matched the salinity last night and this morning before the lights came on I took apart the entire tank and got him out. He looks fine and is doing well in the five gallon bucket I put him in. Again I didn't see any spots on him when I took him out of the tank.
I was just wondering because the water coming from my ro has a ph of 7.8 and I try to run my tank at 8.2.

[ChadO]

I was just wondering because the water coming from my ro has a ph of 7.8 and I try to run my tank at 8.2.

Just trying to clarify here - are you saying that you measured the pH of your pure RO water before adding the salt and it was 7.8, or was this after you mixed in your salt that you got 7.8? I ask because everything that I have read on RO water says that given that straight RO water is unbuffered, the pH value can widely vary, and that it is only after you have added salt, or remineralized, if you're doing freshwater, that the pH will have a meaningful value.

[Speedfreak241]

I get 7.8 with the salt mixed in but if I put it on an aerator it goes up to 8.0-8.1. I usually add baking soda to raise my ph and alkalinity but I just bought seachem reef buffer and am going to give it a try.

[ChadO]

Got it. Curious to see how the Seachem Reef Buffer works, I'll be following along to learn.

[Kolkri]

Love the rock wall. Wish I had the patience and ability to make something like that for mine. Ill be watching your tank.

[Speedfreak241]

Well since my angel is now in an extra quarantine tank I set up and I can't add fish for over a month, I've been looking for more corals to put in my biocube. I have a few zoa frags in my 90g and a couple others that I'm waiting to add but until then I added a few acan corals and a duncan.
http://s14.postimg.org/qfr4ra0od/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/qfr4ra0od/)
This is my favorite and there's two other one head ones in the tank.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I finally figured out a way to cure one of my bad habits in reefing. I used the stenner 100dmp4 that I got when I bought the tank to make an automatic water change system. I tested it today with two Powerade battles, one on the floor and one on my table and it ran for about ten minutes and the water level staid the same in both. Now I just need to go to the store and get two 5.5 gallon tanks because they are the perfect size to fit in my stand.

[Speedfreak241]

Well another update on this tank the cherub is in my small quarentine and the two clowns are hopefully pairing now in another. I removed the ocellaris that the one black ice was paired with and added the smaller one a couple days ago. There was some initial fighting and fun nipping but they have stopped and not to much damage has occurred.

I also ordered everything I need to make a diy auto top off system to go along with my automatic water change. I plan on using a float valve to control the pump and I'm going to mount another one backwards as a fail safe so if it gets to high it will shut off. Running a little low as far as cabinet space so I'll have to figure out where to put the ato resivore.

Lastly is there any other things I could do to the tank to make it easier to care for. I am leaving July to go to college and will have my mom and girlfriend feed and take care of the tank while I am away for the year and a half.

[ReefWreak]

Lastly is there any other things I could do to the tank to make it easier to care for. I am leaving July to go to college and will have my mom and girlfriend feed and take care of the tank while I am away for the year and a half.

Having been there and done that, if your tank needs more than RO/DI topoff from a tap, feeding, and maybe a skimmer cleaning here and there, it likely won't work out. My parents were in Boca and I was in Tallahassee, and I came home every other weekend or at least once a month, and it could still be touch-and-go with a big tank. If it is a nano, I'd either bring it with you, or break it down and pick it up again later. Or just greatly simplify. No automatic water changes, no manual dosing, just top off and feeding.

Good luck whichever way you go though. Nanos in a dorm room are always fun though :)

[homer1475]

I get 7.8 with the salt mixed in but if I put it on an aerator it goes up to 8.0-8.1. I usually add baking soda to raise my ph and alkalinity but I just bought seachem reef buffer and am going to give it a try.

Just a quick note on this product. If you hang out in the "New To The Hobby" section you know people have been using this with detrimental effects. While the product itself is safe, it will raise your alkalinity sky high while only temporarily increasing your PH.

Your PH will self regulate if you keep your ALK in line(FYI 7.8 is completely acceptable). Increasing O2 while decreasing CO2 will bring PH up also(airline from the outside to your skimmer will help greatly).

Everyone gets hung up on PH, and most experienced reefers will tell you they have no idea what their PH is, but ask them their ALK and they know it off the top of their heads.

[ReefWreak]

Yep, I'd just ignore pH. I'm ignoring it right now. I went from usually 7.8-8.2 daily swing, to now that I'm splitting my alk/calcium dosing up to 4 times a day in equal parts, I'm going from about 8.0 to 8.4, and the last 2 weeks my pH has been reading 8.6 during parts of the day, so at this point I think the probe is out of calibration, and I don't even care. I'll recalibrate it at some point, but for now, meh.

Chase alkalinity and calcium, and just make sure your tank is reasonably aerated (water surface disruption, skimmer, etc), and you'll be fine. No need to chase pH.

[soulpatch]

I have a lab grade PH probe for my Apex that is still sitting in a box over a year later. If you run calc reactor or such then sure look into those numbers but otherwise there isnt a ton of need.

[Speedfreak241]

I cannot bring any tanks with me because I will be staying in a apartment through the school and they do not allow any size tanks. My girlfriend has her own saltwater biocube and is always over so mainenance isn't a problem even without the ato and automatic water change. I will only be gone for a year and my school is only 3 hours away so if something goes wrong it will be ok because my girlfriend can fix it I can or my uncle who has bigger tanks then me that are way better than anything I've built. So far the calcium levels and alkalinity levels are staying constant even with no water changes, so with them it will be more than fine. The tank is only going to have 2 clowns, a bicolor blenny, and a cherub angel for fish and zoas, acans, and maybe a frogspawn.

[soulpatch]

relying on others to care for your tank over an extended period of time NEVER works out. Though that probably has more of a chance then a long distance relationship with a GF while you are at college hours away......

[Speedfreak241]

http://s8.postimg.org/3rx6d6dwx/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/3rx6d6dwx/)
Bought a few corals today and on the golden hammer I got has these barnacle looking things are they ok to be on there or should I try to remove them.

[soulpatch]

Too hard to tell anything from that picture

[Speedfreak241]

I will try to get better pics once I am home. They definetly look like little barnacles.
Will adding kalkwasser help because I always have a lower ph (7.8-8.0) and lower calcium (360-380) while my alkalinity is usually around 9-10. I always have a slower growth than my other biocube that I help run. It uses the same water and has a ph of 8.4. I have tried adding a bubbler to the tank and it didn't help. The only difference is that the other tank is at another house that is colder and is a 14g biocube.

[Speedfreak241]

Some photos of the new corals.
http://s14.postimg.org/4xahghf9p/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/4xahghf9p/)
acans I have in the tank.
http://s10.postimg.org/sp2dz5imd/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/sp2dz5imd/)
Gold tip hammer
http://s22.postimg.org/c6oahje7h/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/c6oahje7h/)
Also is it normal for torches to have multiple tips on the same branch.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I've been building on my automatic water change system and I have decide to use 2 20g tanks and build a seperate cabinet for it. Waiting for my schools construction shop to throw out the wood for the house we are building and then will get started on the cabinet. While I wait I made a switch box for the circulation pump and drainage pump for the tanks in the cabinet.
http://s29.postimg.org/ls1i6d103/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/ls1i6d103/)
I just colored it with a sharpie marker so I can tell until I label it.

Also have decided to order everything to make a temp controller for a shutoff for the cooling fans I ordered since my tank runs hotter than I would like at 82f. Will be posting another reply for that build.

[soulpatch]

I suggest you get something like this instead: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068LACFI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

You will want more outlets as you will need heater(s), powerhead, pump, ect.

On mine I have 2 different pumps, a heater, and a powerhead and having the switches is sweet...

[Speedfreak241]

I will look into those thanks but on this one I only needed 2 outlets because it's just for my awc and I don't run heaters and only need a circulation pump and I'm going to plumb a drainage pump so the it's easier to drain without bucketing it out. But those will come in handy on some of my other tank especially my 90 since I'm always having problems and having to shut things down, or my quarentines when I feed since I turn off the filter to prevent the food from being sucked up.

[soulpatch]

If you are mixing the salt water in the second tank then you need to heat it up before use to check the salinity. It changes as the water warms ever so slightly...

[Speedfreak241]

The water is mixed in a five gallon bucket for now until I can get brute cans and then dumped in so it is already at the correct temp and salinity. My rodi tank is in my house so I really don't need to worry about temp because it has already sat there for a while but when I put the brute cans in my garage I would need a way to cool it because my garage is usually hot.

[DustanT]

Nice rock wall you got there, I just got a BC up and running a weeks ago and used the reefthuz sponge and floss idea. Now after reading don't do it I'm worried I screwed up. I feel very overwhelmed on what to do now. :(

[soulpatch]

The water is mixed in a five gallon bucket for now until I can get brute cans and then dumped in so it is already at the correct temp and salinity. My rodi tank is in my house so I really don't need to worry about temp because it has already sat there for a while but when I put the brute cans in my garage I would need a way to cool it because my garage is usually hot.

If you are not planning to mix in the one brute then that makes sense to only have the 2 outlets. I was under the impression that you were planning to pump between the 2 containers and mix within them and in that case you would want a heater and powerhead in addition to the pumps to move the water around.

[Speedfreak241]

Nope mixed in a seperate container, the two 20g tanks are just to hold the fill water and the drain for the awc. One outlet will control the circulation pump in the already mixed holding tank and the other will be hooked up so that I can flip out a tube and pump out the water into a container so I can dump it down the drain. If I do get a brute it will be in the garage where it's to hot so I won't need a heater anyway. Even in my house the water will get to 76f without a heater and I'm going to try and run the tank at 78 if the fans I ordered work like there supposed to, so I don't think 2-4 degrees should hurt anything.
Also doesn't using a refractometer get rid of the chance of the salinity being wrong, due to temp.

[soulpatch]

No. The temp calibration on the refractometer only sets it for ambient room temp. It has nothing to do with the temp of the water you are mixing. The temp of the water is important as the salinity shifts slightly as it heats which is why you should bring it up to temp and retest before use.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok well I found a salinity vs specific gravity vs temperature table and it seems like for every 5 degrees F the water will change about .0001 so not to bad.

[soulpatch]

I have experienced much wider swings then that bringing water up to temp.

But try it out in your own house since you air temp would be warmer then mine. But I have mixed water up to 1.025 only to have it be 1.01 or less when it was up to temp

[Speedfreak241]

Well finally got my cooling fans in and installed on the tank. I had to cut a bit of plastic but not much to get them on. Right now I have them blowing air down on the water. In the hour they've been on the tank it has gone down from 83.6 to 83.4 so seems like they are helping a little bit. Tank temps have been going up since Floridas "winter" is going away and my house is going back up to temp.
http://s29.postimg.org/u7uxl0h2b/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/u7uxl0h2b/)
Also rechecked and I mistyped it was supposed to be .001

[Speedfreak241]

Well after running the fans all night and lights pretty much all day my temps are only at 78.5. I only have a hour and a half left of light until they shut off. The temps were at about 77.6 when I got home from work today but didn't check the time so I will say it was around 11:30-12. I have a controller that I'm building so the fans shut off but the parts haven't come in come in yet so I can't install in.
What is a decent temp swing because it seems that if I get the water colder at night it won't go up as high during the day?

[Speedfreak241]

I think I need new builds I put a new zoa on the top of my aquascape and it is reaching for more light, even the zoas that are glue higher are reaching. Also is it normal for acans to be really bubbly and extending out from there base or is this another sign I need to change my bulbs.

[Speedfreak241]

Meant to say new bulbs and does anyone know if acans being really bubbly is normal because in my gf 14 there not as bubbly as my 29. Also which bulb should I replace first the actinic or the 10k, Also I have read to never change both at one time is this true?

[Speedfreak241]

Would a Sterilite® 54 Qt Air Tight Storage Tote work as a good ato resivore because I was going to use my 5.5 but I used it for a seahorse tank and can't use it anymore. They say that they are food grade. Will it leak phosphates into my water?

[soulpatch]

anything food grade is typically good to go. I used a container I got from Walmart for mine.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok tonight I will go on my usual run into town and get one.
I am also thinking about getting a leather if my lfs has one still they got a bunch last week and I suspect they may still have one. I've done some research and it always pulls up a 14 biocube so I would expect that it should be fine in my 29 but, where should I put it. It can go on my live rock wall or on the aquascape I don't care as long as it's healthy.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I feel like a complete dummy after looking at all the people switching to the mj1200 I decided to look into it. I never put two and two together and thought that mj stands for maxi jet. When I bought the tank it came with a ton of powerheads and one of them in the box was a mj1200. I had the box and all the accessories but figured I never got the pump. After scrubbing some old dried coraline off off all my pumps I found the mj1200! Now to get some tubing so I can get rid of the uv and add the pump.
http://s24.postimg.org/iddrgigz5/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/iddrgigz5/)
http://s10.postimg.org/b3mtfvyid/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/b3mtfvyid/)

[soulpatch]

the mj1200 we all talk about is the cobalt one. The Marineland version is MUCH lower quality. Both are named the same as they used to be one in the same but no longer.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok so it is cobalt I thought I read some people say that but didn't know. Would it still be an upgrade over stock or do you think I should just leave the stock one in. That or I could buy a new/used one where it's just missing the brackets and jut use the maxi jet brackets.

[soulpatch]

Its really not much of an upgrade for the sump so I wouldnt worry about it. I would use the pump to mix salt or something instead.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok couple questions is growing chaeto in the back chamber hard to do? I have the t5 light that goes back there but I don't have a fuge basket so I probably would have to get one. My lfs said that there 29 has chaeto in it and it makes a big different as they says it goes sometimes 3-5 months before getting a 10-20% water change with no problems. But it only has 2 fish in it and I highly sujest not doing this.
Also would this be overstocked:
•black ice clownfish pair
•bicolor blenny
•cherub angel
•Falco hawkfish
I haven't added any yet and have all but the hawk in quarentine but a fellow reefer down here is taking down his tank and will sell him to me.

[Pnewt]

Chaeto in my experience is pretty easy stuff. As long as a little light bleeds over on top of it and it has water running over it you should be good! i plan on putting some in my middle chamber of my solana. As far as the fish list i would lose the angel and maaybe even the blenny or the hawfish as well.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I went and picked up the hawkfish today an the guy threw in a banded coral shrimp and a mushroom. Anyone keep a banded coral shrimp in a biocube. I've heard they will eat small fish, would my clowns be ok? The hawk is way bigger than pictured because it was a old photo. He is probably 2-3" and is way bigger than my clowns, would this cause to much aggression? I have my 90 gallon of I need to put it in there along with the shrimp if need be.

[ricks49reef]

The regular coral banded is aggressive.I would move him to the 90.Get either the blue or yellow coral banded,they are both peaceful and don't get so large.

[Speedfreak241]

Anyone else not that I don't trust a single person but I'd like to have many different answers. Right now I have the bicolor blenny, clowns, Falco hawk, and coral banded in my 20 holding with a damsel and a peppermint. The hawk Is easily double the size of my bigger clown and triple the size of my smaller one. So far there is no aggression between any fish or shrimp.

[ReefWreak]

I personally wouldn't add a coral banded shrimp, and would treat them with caution, but I think a lot of people keep them without any trouble (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1920005). I don't think it will bother anything or eat your fishes.

I'd also watch out for the hawk, just because they can get aggressive with other fishes. If you feel like he's "big" for a 20g tank, then safer bet is to move him to the bigger tank.

[soulpatch]

I woudln't do the hawk or coral banded either in that size tank.

[Speedfreak241]

Thanks for the fast replies I'll probably end up putting them in my 90. Hopefully the panther grouper doesn't eat the coral banded. It shouldn't since the shrimp is bigger than he is. I'll just keep the hawkfish in my 20 until he stops being scared and I can get a good feeding response since my 90 is a semi-agressive reef. I never planned to get the coral banded in the first place but the guy wanted him gone and just gave him to me. I always have wanted a scarlet skunk so maybe my lfs will let me trade him in.

[soulpatch]

skunk cleaners are awesome and very friendly. Mine will ride around on my hands and such.

[Speedfreak241]

Also I might add, how do you tell if it is a blue or regular coral banded shrimp. The one I got has a blue belly, but the rest of its body is normal.

[ReefWreak]

Coloration. But for what its worth, I suspect all coral banded have similar personalities as a group. That being said, even when you generalize a group's personalities, there are still individuals that don't fit the mold.

That's why you can't guarantee reef safe dwarf angels, even for a species that most are found to be reef-safe, there's always a few people who are going to have their zoas eaten or their acropora picked at. Individuals can have very different personalities.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok thank you. Also I'm looking to add more flow to the tank since I will be picking up a leather tomorrow and want to have more of a pulsation. Is there a pump that I could but to do that so I don't have to add a powerhead. If not I'll have to take of my jebao 10 off of my 90. I see jebao makes pumps also and look to have the same plug, could I use one of those pumps and the mp10 controller?

[ReefWreak]

The MP10 controller requires an MP10, it's not a plug-in, it is attached and part of the MP10. There are wavemakers out there that you can plug your powerheads into to moderate their flow or change their power, but MP10s are not one of them for either of those situations.

Hydor does make a controller for powerheads, and I believe Jebao makes one as well, so take a look at that. I have not owned either of them though.

Honestly, if the controller is ~$50-100, you're better off spending another $20-50 and buying a used MP10. I bought one for $120 on ebay that I used for 6-8 months. It broke and I've been meaning to fix it, but haven't gotten around to emailing Ecotech for a replacement part for it yet. Point is there are deals to be had on old ones.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I got a little impatient and took off my jebao off of my 90g. Turns out it is a rw-4. I have it in the top left back. I have it on its lowest setting pointed up at the surface and it is doing very little. My only problem is that if I put it any higher in any different direction it blows to much and starts creating a sand storm. How do you set yours up. I'm looking on YouTube and I'm finding very little about the rw-4.

[ricks49reef]

Also I might add, how do you tell if it is a blue or regular coral banded shrimp. The one I got has a blue belly, but the rest of its body is normal.

Go to Liveaquaria. And type in blue coral banded and than yellow coral banded and you will see the difference from the regular coral banded.Kept mine in 3 gallon Pico with three other sexy shrimp.No problems.The regular coral banded gets much bigger and is aggressive.

[ReefWreak]

I stand corrected. I'm still surprised that it'll stay smaller, but I hope it does. We'll see how big it gets.

[Speedfreak241]

Well update on the tank itself I've been adding new corals to it when I can and have around $250 in corals alone. Which while to me is a lot, it isn't bad since I only buy them when it's a good deal and there actually worth about $400. I have made sections for my zoas, acans, and mushrooms and plan to fill in the rest with whatever I see fits.
My only problem is my zoas never grow. They stay open for a while then just slowing stop opening and die off. They are doing this in my 90 and in my girlfriends tank. I haven't ever had a zoa grow any heads. I heard that I need to dose iodine to fix this, is that true?
Some pics of the tank.
http://s22.postimg.org/jqs4ddv6l/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/jqs4ddv6l/)

[ReefWreak]

No it is not true. Check for zoanthid eating pests. All other corals seem happy? I wish my zoas would melt away...

[Speedfreak241]

Ok I went out and bought corral dip so I can dip all new corals. My store says they dip everything when they come in,but I have added some from the wild and from other tanks so that may be the cause. It sucks because I like to see everything grow and thrive so I can have full colonies since I can't afford to get full size colonies because my store only sells colonies $60+. I've never had luck with zoas in any of my tanks.
Yes all other corals are fine and look good and are growing new heads.

[ReefWreak]

Did you spend time on reefcentral searching the species-specific forum for recommended dips? Most dips are trash, snake oil, or only target very specific pests. Gotta know what you're looking to kill before picking up your weaponry.

[Speedfreak241]

No I did not but my lfs sold me revive because it's what they use on all of there's and I remembered some people talking about it on here. Is revive good for zoanthid pests? I already dipped 5 frag plugs of zoanthids and it seemed to work since stuff fell of them. Even a giant astrea star that somehow I didn't notice.

[soulpatch]

No I did not but my lfs sold me revive because it's what they use on all of there's and I remembered some people talking about it on here. Is revive good for zoanthid pests? I already dipped 5 frag plugs of zoanthids and it seemed to work since stuff fell of them. Even a giant astrea star that somehow I didn't notice.

People sell revive because it is popular but as to it working well the answer is iffy. It depends on what you are after. The best solution out right now is bayer pesticide dip which eradicates much more then any typical coral dip.

That said you need to address what is causing the damage to know how to treat. Some pests will go through a dip without issue and others lay eggs profusely so no dip will really help.

Dont go out buying stuff to buy stuff thinking it will help. Read up and really inspect the corals to find out what it causing them issues. A magnifying glass goes a long way in this hobby to really see what might be causing the corals an issue.

[Speedfreak241]

Well just looked back at the dates and it looks like 04/15/2016 will be 72 days since I removed the Angel. Sadly it didn't make it in the holding tank and died only a couple days ago.
But as far as the biocube goes, I'm considering removing the bio-balls and adding a egg crate refugium basket with chaeto. How slowly should I remove the bio-balls as I only have corals and a clean up crew in the tank so there isn't much bioload. After seeing almost everyone on here doing it I thought that I should go ahead and try so that it makes it easier to care for.

[ReefWreak]

Remove the bioballs ASAP. If you have light stocking like you do, you shouldn't have a problem.

[Speedfreak241]

Would it be ok to just throw the chaeto in the gutted 2nd chamber because I cannot seem to make a decent fuge basket out of milk crate.

[soulpatch]

sure if you are ok with it being sucked into your return pump constantly...

[Speedfreak241]

Even with the grate at the bottom.

[soulpatch]

the grate at the bottom is not fine at all and is only meant to hold back large bioballs.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok this is confusing me. The grate is finer than the egg crate that I see a lot of people run, what keeps the chaeto from passing. The egg crate has 1/2 inch square holes in it and the grate only has 1/8-1/4 inch holes. Should I put in the sponge between 2 and 3 to prevent the chaeto from entering the pump.

[soulpatch]

I dont think the egg crate does that great of a job either. Both allow pieces of the chateau to get to the return pump

[Speedfreak241]

So what should I do to keep the fragments of chaeto from entering the pump? I could re-install the sponge but I hear that it is not good for the tank.

[ReefWreak]

If the chaeto is in a ball, it won't get into the pump. My pump also has a grate/pre-filter on it, so the chaeto won't get into it. Not sure what others are doing.

[Speedfreak241]

Well whenever my lfs gets some chaeto in I will get some. They usually only get it when it's ordered. So it won't probably be till next week.

Now to start adressing my wiring problem...
http://s28.postimg.org/x82n3dey1/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/x82n3dey1/)
I suck with organization but, I have ordered a 12 outlet strip so I can fit my five timers and six cords on one outlet. I am also thinking about building a box to hold all of the plugs and then painting it black to match the stand and screwing it to the back wall.
http://s21.postimg.org/f1aeprqhv/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/f1aeprqhv/)

[Speedfreak241]

Well went and got chaeto today from my lfs and it had tons of mantis shrimp in it and was a mix of different algae. I told the stairs and they are refunding me my money.
Also they had used current USA truelumen strips for sale and I was wondering if I should get the blue or blue and white mix to help accent and help my corals grow.

[ReefWreak]

Not mantis shrimp.... They wouldn't really fit in chaeto. Amphipods maybe? Also, it looks like there are a few typos mixing up your message.

I generally don't trust Current USA lights, though some have been decent lately. I wouldn't bother honestly.

[Speedfreak241]

http://s3.postimg.org/5ecmovb3j/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/5ecmovb3j/)
Deffinetly looks like the pictures on google when you look up baby mantis shrimp. Phones camera sucks so this is all I can get of a good shot of him.

[soulpatch]

Looks like amphipod to me

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Speedfreak241]

Now that I look at some pictures of amphipods it may be one but I was worried about putting them in my tank. Also it's not just chaeto and has some bubbling algae and other algae. I may go ahead and throw it in my 20 hob refugium. The biocube has reached its 72 day no fish period but now with not having filtration I'm going to wait to add fish.

[soulpatch]

Look up culpera. If it has that in it I would NOT use it. That stuff is a PAIN to get rid of and requires some chemical warfare in the tank basically...

[Speedfreak241]

yes it did have culpera in it so I told them and they gave me a new softball size ball of straight chaeto. I have the lights for the chaeto reversed so that my blue lights go out then a couple hours later it turns on. I have the coralife hang on t5 light. So far it looks good no browning in the chaeto that I can see and most of the loose pieces haven't clogged the pump.

[Speedfreak241]

everything is doing good now that I fixed a couple problems in my tank. First one was my pump wasn't pumping water because the hose going to the uv sterilizer was so hard it was leaking out, so I took two pieces of tubing from my water change hoses and cut them to fit and got rid of the uv. That fixed part of my flow problem but then I noticed I had a blockage between chambers two and three. It was that stock black filter block and it was clogged with stuff. I thought I removed it after I set the tank up but I guess I didn't. So now my flow is back to normal and the two pumps are fighting each other causing a nice pulsing flow.

Also what should I add first my bicolor blenny or my clown pair? I'm thinking the bicolor since he is probably the least aggressive. I am going to pick up a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp tomorrow and want to have at least one fish in with it and my bicolor is getting picked on by my hawkfish.

[Speedfreak241]

Well finally got a new actinic bulb in it and it looks great the green is only in the picture because it really makes the colors glow. All of my corals are now coloring up and it's only been an hour.
Before
http://s32.postimg.org/pz7ua57bl/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/pz7ua57bl/)
After
http://s32.postimg.org/fl3uctoi9/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/fl3uctoi9/)

Another question do hammers and torches usually have a few polyps that have more than one head on them like frogspawns.
http://s32.postimg.org/zerflvtch/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/zerflvtch/) One of my hammers
http://s32.postimg.org/wh2bl2y4x/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/wh2bl2y4x/) One of my torches.

[ReefWreak]

If you see two distinct mouths forming on the torch, it may be starting to split and grow into two. Stuff looks good.

The actinic excites fluorescent pigments in the corals, so some corals look different under actinic right off the bat. The corals didn't change (though they can get more or less florescent over time, but it isn't isn't instant).

[Speedfreak241]

Another question my chaeto went from a tight softball sized ball to a very loose ball smaller than a baseball. My lighting is over 12 hours and I'm using the coralife light. What could be wrong? Could the bulbs need replacing?

[Speedfreak241]

http://s33.postimg.org/b3axrap7f/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/b3axrap7f/)
Any clue what this guy is kinda looks like some type of sea hare. He is only a half and inch long and rolls into a ball when I tried to get him out.

[ReefWreak]

Lettuce nudibranch? Good guy if that's what it is. The ruffles on the back look like it is.

[Speedfreak241]

Looking at pictures on Google it could be but its so small it's hard to tell.

[ReefWreak]

Yours is too small to tell? I thought lettuce nudibranch were pretty common, including live aquaria selling them

[Speedfreak241]

Well after searching I've found many of these little things in my tank and even one in my gf 29 so I'm sure there ok. Also I've been on eBay lately and found an open box aquaticlife 115 and purchased it. I'm going to try and mount it with the stock parts but if it doesn't work I'll order the magnets that I see people using. What height is everyone setting them at as I have never gotten a protien skimmer to work and actually removed the one on my 90 gallon as it constantly overflowed or just didn't produce skimate.

[Speedfreak241]

Attempted to install the skimmer with the stock hang on bracket and it just isn't working. I have the oceanic model so I have to completely remove the hood in order to work on the tank. The skimmer fit no problem and started to pull a very small amount of light yellow skim in a matter of a half hour. The problem I'm having is the cup doesn't jut set on it, you have to push on it really hard and wiggle it to get it to fit. The stock mount doesn't allow for this and it just pops down. How does everyone get to the cup all the time and not mess up the adjustments.

[Speedfreak241]

Well I've been using a syringe to empty the cup and may end up jut drilling it and adding a drain tube to my waste awc tank.
I have been getting a ton of acans and all of them are changing colors to red or purple. They start out rainbow or just bi colored and end up one single color. I have been thinking about taking out my white bulb and putting us a 50/50. Would a 50/50 hurt my hammer, torch, frogspawn, or zoas growth. I keep thinking about buying a used tank in my area that has a rapid led upgrade but wouldn't know how to tune it.

[soulpatch]

The lighting is not sufficient for the acans to keep the color. Even with a rapid led kit I lost a lot of color in my acans. I got some back switching to a kessil but nothing compared to what I have now under led and t5...

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160629/c1074584825a8e7d4c76f0696347166a.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160629/1a868c974751047d6750f9d4c9164744.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160629/e90683befb741b6188afca801fe410a8.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160629/bc3ca8c350ee8034498968069cb085e8.jpg

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[Speedfreak241]

I have always seen that they color up good under t5. What system do you have? I have a coralife quad lunar t5 that I used to use on my 20g but I don't know if that would be sufficient enough.
With the stock lights I can't ever keep orange or green colors. Even my once completely green cyphastrea is turning a reddish color.

[soulpatch]

Mind you those pics are in my 150 and I have a ATI fixture in there. Just having a T5 bulb is not the end all though as refelctors and such are also VERY important. I think you would see significant changes from the coralife T5 to a ATI T5 but there is obviously a cost to do so.

[Speedfreak241]

Well an update on the tank. It has been running stable for a while without much care which I like since I will be going off to college in a week. I have figured out how much reef buffer to add to my top off so that my alkalinity stays around 7-8. My calcium I have to test for and haven't figured out but in a week or two it doesn't ever drop more than 20-40 and I keep it at 420-460. I think dosing will be fine since I use very easy chemicals and the test kits are easy enough for my girlfriend to do. If not one of my lfs do free tests and she will just have to stop by weekly.
I have been getting a small amount of hair algae and couldn't find out why because of my api test kits. They kept saying I had less than 5ppm nitrate until today they said 10-15. So I had to do my first water change on the tank since I have a auto water change system on it. Come to find out I had the system turned down to only .39 gallons a day. Or 18% water change biweekly. Which wouldn't be a problem but I like to feed heavy so that my watchman goby gets plenty to eat and my corals have food.
Lastly the new protein skimmer stopped producing micro bubbles and settled down and is now producing very dark skimate and my chaeto finally broke off enough to be able to tumble and is now starting to grow.

[Speedfreak241]

Well came home this week to surprise my family and my tank is full of what looks to be caulerpa algae. At first I thought it was hair algae but now that's it's grown without me there and my girlfriend doing ever other day hand removal it's getting out of hand. It looks close to caulerpa sertularioides on Google search. The only difference is that the leaf stuff is only on the very top. Is there anything that will get rid of this. I could possibly get a lawn mower blenny and transfer him into my 90 once it's gone or get a emerald crab.

[soulpatch]

Just look into peroxide dipping and paste. Search peroxide paste on YouTube and you can find my video

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[Speedfreak241]

Is it safe to use with my acan corals on the rock? I won't be able to get all of it at one time as it is everywhere and is even in my sand bed.

[soulpatch]

Yup is safe

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Speedfreak241]

Couple more questions. Wouldn't the baking soda affect the ph and alkalinity and could I just remove the rocks and dip them in a small tub fills with a mixture of saltwater and peroxide?

[soulpatch]

its best to dip but for those areas you cant pull out the paste is awesome and no there is not much issue with it causing any water issues. You should use the paste during a water change if you go that route

[Speedfreak241]

Ok pulled a couple rocks to test it out on that didn't have corals on them and put them in a mixture of 10 parts tank water with 1 part peroxide and it seemed to do absolutely nothing. It didn't bubble or even kill the aptasia on the rock as it was open the entire time and opened right back up after I rinse the rock and added back to the tank.

[soulpatch]

way too weak IMHO. With normal 3% peroxide you get at store you want to do a 50/50 dip at a min. I typically did a 60% or so peroxide.

Again this wont impact your corals. You can see a walk through in my build thread as I have pics and such in there but you dip for a min of 5 minutes in the solution and then rinse before putting back in the tank. I typically went longer for the dip but it is up to you.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok I will try again either later tonight or tomorrow. I am just nervous as I leave tomorrow again and don't plan on coming back for a few weeks and it's hard to tell what's wrong over a phone call and some photos.

[Speedfreak241]

Ok well I dipped my rocks around 10 last nite at a 30-40% mixture because I ran out of peroxide. They wet in for 3-4 minutes and while it was in there I scrubbed the rocks with my finger and tried to get all the algae off. By this morning most of the algae was gone with only a little bit left. There is still more because it didn't get all of it or the aptasia and there is still a lot on my rocks and sand and I just can't dip all of it. I will have to do the paste and water changes in the future as I am about to leave to go back to my other apartment in Orlando for school.

Also would a Molly Miller blenny eat hair algae and possibly some of the caulerpa. The store by my school in Orlando has a bunch of them and they have been there for months. They have great personalities and are alway at the front of the glass. They are also pretty fat and look healthy as do all of there fish.

[soulpatch]

stick with the peroxide. CUC really isn't a CUC if you have the source in your water column from either not changing it or something leaching. Snails/mollies and such eat the algae then poop the phosphate and such right back into the water. Without GFO and water changes you don't address the issues.

[Speedfreak241]

All of the coraline on all the rocks I dipped is now bleach white and algae is still on one of them and aptasia is also still alive. The algae is still spreading everywhere fast and is covering the whole tank so there is no way for me to peroxide all of it.

[soulpatch]

peroxide does nothing to aptasia. Coraline is an algae so you will lose some with the dipping. If you aren't losing the algae after dipping then you are ding something wrong. The peroxide breaks down every algae from inside out which is why you see it bubble when done right.

Either way the peroxide will only rid of what youhave but does nothing for the source. You have a seirous issue with phosphates and nitrates that you need to address first.

[Speedfreak241]

Well tried to do the peroxide paste last night and the only thing it killed was my scarlet skunk shrimp. The aptasia are still alive and so is the algae. I only mixed a very small amount to test so that I wouldn't have any spikes do to the baking soda. When I woke up this morning my shrimp was dead in the back of my tank. Sucks because they are almost $30 at my lfs and the most expensive thing ive put in the tank.
Also I tested my waters yesterday before I did anything and my nitrate levels were below 5 on a couple different tests kits. As for phosphate I have been running phosguard and don't have even a slight reading on my Api test kit. I am trying to find a lfs that will test my water for free or at least cheap, as they either use Api or want $8+ to test the basics.

[soulpatch]

Tests ate useless right now since you have algae. They will consume the phosphate and nitrates faster than a test will show.

If you did the paste dieing a water change your shrimp should not have been impacted. Spot treat small area and suck or the paste or use turkey baster to remove.

Again it has no impact on aptasia but you keep posting that they survive...

It sounds to me that you should concentrate on near constant water changes, a lights out period, and a few days of no feeding. You need to control the source and get your tank back in line.



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[Speedfreak241]

My tank is on a automatic water change system that pulls out .6 of a gallon a day unless I manually override it. With the math I'm doing about a 30% water change bi-weekly and lately I have been letting that run and doing a 10-15% water change on Saturday or Sunday as well.
As for lights out I have done a 3 day lights out and waited a week then have done another 3 day lights out. They algae almost never dies during the lights out and is usually unaffected.

As for feeding I have been feeding much lighter and haven't been feeding the corals at all.

I have heard numerous reports on hydrogen peroxide killing aptasia and used it on my uncles reef to kill some around a coral so it could be moved into another tank.

Lastly will the hydrogen peroxide cause my skimmer to stop foaming because my skimmer hasn't been producing much lately. I am only getting 5ml every couple days and I used to get 20-30ml. It's either this or just my hands in the tank causing it.

[Speedfreak241]

Anyone ever use the realuz 12k bulbs in the biocube? I found one on eBay and wondering if the worth it. I am tired of all my corals loosing there color even with new stock bulbs. A led fixture is not in the budget until I can sell my 120 or trade it for one. I am also thinking about trying a actinic and 50/50 but I am worried that it won't be able to support my corals.

[ReefWreak]

What bulbs are you currently using? LED doesn't fix color. I'm having color difficulties with some corals under LED (some of mine look fine).

Depending on what wattage and SE or DE would change the recommendation for bulbs.

[Speedfreak241]

I am currently using the stock lighting with one actinic and one 10k.

[ReefWreak]

So the realuz are power compact bulbs? I probably wouldn't mess around with trying fancy PC bulbs to improve color. If it's time to replace bulbs anyway (9 months), then by all means, try out some new color combinations, but I wouldn't expect a big difference.

[soulpatch]

given they are cheap PC fixtures with horrid reflectors I would not expect any real improvement. Best to save your money and go a different route when you can.

[ReefWreak]

given they are cheap PC fixtures with horrid reflectors I would not expect any real improvement. Best to save your money and go a different route when you can.

That's a fair point. It's whatever the replacement bulbs cost towards a more effective fixture. My vote is an AI prime. Slick little fixture with wifi control.

[Speedfreak241]

I have actually been looking into the ai prime but I am in college now and don't have the money to put into it. If someone would trade me an ai prime for my 120 I would happily take it but no one in Florida will. I really like the light and for only $200 it is a great light. Would I be able to keep sps with that light because I have put a branching montipora in my tank and one other sps in the cube and there both surviving but that's it. There polyps are always overextended even one inch below the water.

[soulpatch]

yes the prime can support SPS in the BC

[Speedfreak241]

Ok another quick question. The algae I have turned out to be bryopsis and I have been dosing tech m. My only problem is in one day my mag is dropping 60. I do the tests twice to make sure only thing I did was add seachem calcium. But it is always dropping even if I don't dose calcium.

[soulpatch]

I dont recall your stock list but if you are doing 20% water changes weekly you shouldn't need to dose anything unless you are SPS dominant which you are given your lighting.

Also why are you not dosing alk if you are dosing calc? Are you testing both constantly?

Your tank will eat mag if you are dosing incorrectly.

Honestly I would stop all calc/alk dosing and focus on just the mag with the tech m to rid your issue or go the peroxide route like I laid out before.

[Speedfreak241]

I have a lot of lps corals in my tank. My automatic water change system is changing a small portion everyday so it equals a 30% bi weekly change. I am thinking of changing it so it does more and doesn't it Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. My only problem is with the magnesium. In one day it dropped from 1320 to 1260.

[Speedfreak241]

Well took my water into my lfs and paid the $5 to have them test my water.
API ph: 7.5
API phosphate: 0
API calcium: 340
Api alkalinity: 8
Salifert mag: 1470- also didn't use the plastic tip on it so don't know if this could affect it.
Salinity: 1.028

I don't know if maybe there tests are inaccurate or if mine are so I will be ordering a new set of salifert test kits so that there more accurate. Could the low calcium be the reason my mag is dropping so much.