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Unread 08/10/2018, 08:24 PM   #76
spiritwalker
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Today is day 20 of the display tank being set up. There is a lot going on in this little ecosystem. Looks like some diatom action and some other really bright greens starting to develop. I swear I see purple but I know it's really early so I'll leave it at that. The diatoms definitely appear more when I run the lights. Not sure if I should just continue to run them or go lights out to keep it from taking off.

Time to turn my attention to a water mixing station. Might try to knock one out this weekend.

Here are some day 20 pics..

















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Unread 08/11/2018, 10:00 PM   #77
spiritwalker
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Made good progress on the water mixing station today. Ordered a pump from Amazon and it came same day! I'll get it plumbed tomorrow. This pump will mix the saltwater and push water via hose to my tank.





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Unread 08/12/2018, 10:30 PM   #78
spiritwalker
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Glad to have this built. Still need to route some power but its functional.

The rock continues to mature. It has some interesting colors growing on it.











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Unread 08/13/2018, 06:03 PM   #79
Zoahoarder
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Rock is looking great. That mixing station looks good. Are you worried at all about it being outside?


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Unread 08/13/2018, 06:29 PM   #80
spiritwalker
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoahoarder View Post
Rock is looking great. That mixing station looks good. Are you worried at all about it being outside?
It should be fine outside. Maybe a bit hot in aug/sept but should be able to work around it.

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Unread 08/15/2018, 12:04 AM   #81
spiritwalker
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The diatom bloom seems to be on it's way out. Rocks noticiblly cleaner today. Skimmate was much darker than it has been and water seemed a bit cloudy earlier in the day but very clear late tonight.

Headed out on a biz trip for 3 days. Wife is reluctantly in charge of the tanks while I am gone. There is also a scheduled power outage this Thursday night. Wish us luck.







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Unread 08/15/2018, 09:15 PM   #82
BruceWayne
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Like the set up and mixing station is very cool


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Unread 08/18/2018, 10:32 AM   #83
spiritwalker
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Like the set up and mixing station is very cool
Thanks. After using the mixing station a few times I can say it is a huge asset. It is so nice to have water on hand at all times. I should ever have to wait for it to be made.


Came back from my trip. Killed the lights while I was gone and upon returning, the tank/rocms looks super clean. CUC is doing a great jop.

Fish in QT seem to be doing well.



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Unread 08/19/2018, 05:00 PM   #84
spiritwalker
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Tested today..

Ammonia 0
NO3 18ppm- has come up
PO4 0.08 - has come down
CA 480ppm
MG 1520ppm
dKH 9.0


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Unread 08/20/2018, 10:48 AM   #85
Jsarrow
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Sweet build, and awesome find with the ATO tank.


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Unread 08/20/2018, 11:36 PM   #86
spiritwalker
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Sweet build, and awesome find with the ATO tank.
Thanks!


Macro algae is growing well. Chaeto is probably 5x bigger since when I got it. The calurpa is growing slower and has attached to some rock.



Need to figure out how to get some water movement in the return pump chamber of the sump because it seems to get a thick surface layer.




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Unread 08/23/2018, 12:29 AM   #87
spiritwalker
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Display tank up and running for 31 days. Diatoms seem to mostly be gone. Got some bright green growing on the rocks. Not sure what to think of it other than it's somewhat expected. Not sure if I should cut back on lighting or let it ride. I'll probably do a water change this weekend just to see how it affects my numbers and to see if it has any impact on the algea growth.



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Unread 08/24/2018, 07:42 PM   #88
spiritwalker
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Noticed today the tank and fuge are full of copopods. Must have been introduced with the macro algea.



Also noticed the first sign of coraline algea on the bottom glass.



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Unread 08/24/2018, 09:21 PM   #89
spiritwalker
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Vid of the pods..

https://youtu.be/AAMQAESK1CI

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Unread 08/27/2018, 11:38 PM   #90
spiritwalker
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First water change yesterday. Also did some work to reduce microbubbles. Tested nitrate 8 and phosphate 0.06. Cut back lighting a couple hours as well.



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Unread 09/06/2018, 05:44 PM   #91
spiritwalker
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Added these buggers to the DT..


Need to figure out what to add next..

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Unread 09/09/2018, 09:55 PM   #92
spiritwalker
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DT going well.. Green algae on the rocks seems to be mellow and not causing any nuisance. Coraline is continuing to appear. The changes I made to reduce micro bubbles worked great and the water is nice and clear.

The clowns and chromis seem happy and appear to like the high flow in the tank.

I put 3 more fish in QT. Got a yellow, powder blue, and sailfin tang. Getting along in QT so far. Sorry for the crappy pohto.. It was taken through a plastic bin..






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Unread 09/16/2018, 08:27 PM   #93
spiritwalker
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Water test day.. Red Sea Pro test kits.

Temp 78.1
Spec gravity 1.025
PH 8.1
Ammonia 0 ppm
Phosphate 0.04 ppm
Nitrate 1.0 ppm
Calcium 475 ppm
Magnesium 1440 ppm
Alkalinity 9.1 dKH

Not sure what is going on but it looks like I got bubble algea popping up numerous places. Hard to believe I'm going to have to deal with that after starting with dry rock and this early in the tanks life. Water parameters look good so the bubble algae is definitely a disappoint.

Purple and red coraline continue to grow. Tangs are doing well in QT.

















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Unread 09/18/2018, 06:55 PM   #94
spiritwalker
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Tank Transfer day. This tank transfer method for quarantine is working out pretty well so far. Here is a picture of the setup.

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Unread 09/23/2018, 05:48 PM   #95
spiritwalker
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New tangs are in the display tank. Everyone is eating and seems to be happy.



[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/HoI3M-et2MQ[/VIDEO]

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Unread 10/08/2018, 10:45 PM   #96
spiritwalker
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Tangs and other fish are all doing great.

I have only done the one water change to date. And parameters are still looking good.

Yesterday's test results:

Temp 78
Specific gravity 1.024
Nitrate 4 ppm
Phosphate 0.04 ppm
Calcium 465 ppm
Alkalinity 9.0 dKH
Magnesium 1460 ppm

Visited reefapolooza this past Sat and picked up some frags.

Pink branching cyphastria*
Tubbs stellata*Montipora
Red Montipora Digitata
Grafted montipora satosa
Acanthastrea
Goniopora red flowerpot
Euphyllia ancora Hammer
Few different Zoas..

























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Unread 11/04/2018, 05:50 PM   #97
spiritwalker
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Installed apex dos and alk/ca jugs. Built cabinet door pockets to hold the jugs.

Got many of the corals glued in place. I did lose a zoa frag that disappeared from its frag plug. Another plug dropped into a hole deeper than I thought it would go. Looks like those will be staying there and hopefully they will grow their way out.
























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Unread 02/17/2019, 12:55 AM   #98
spiritwalker
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Little update.. came to the realization I didn't like the rock pile. It was unstable, collecting detritus, and not getting enough flow through the pile. I've got about 30+ frags and figured I'd better fix this now before things start growing and encrusting.

The other day I saw a fellow reefers tank where he used STAX rocks and I really liked how it looked. So, I made my own imitation stax rock using my tile saw and a fence set at 2". Sliced up my live rock a few pieces at a time and put right back in the tank. Then started stacking.

Here is a pic at my first attempt. It's pretty close to how I envisioned it. Excuse the cloudiness, the water is still clearing up.



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Unread 03/23/2019, 07:58 PM   #99
Toglco
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How'd it go with the hair algae?


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Unread 03/23/2019, 08:00 PM   #100
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Oops, I meant bubble algae.


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