If you can wait until November, Jason from Pristine Marine will be at our show with Australian live rock, not sure if show pricing though
Reef_Engineer's 300G System Build
- Thread starter NeverlosT
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I messaged this guy. These branch rocks look nice. U probably wont get much life from them since he told me these were dry rock and they only been in water for 3 months.
OP
OP
i had reached out to “thecoralfarm” they get shipments straight from australiaand thats what i was going for. Definitely dont need “dry-rock-turned-live” i can do that myself.Log into Facebook
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I messaged this guy. These branch rocks look nice. U probably wont get much life from them since he told me these were dry rock and they only been in water for 3 months.
OP
OP
I got impatient and ordered a few lbs of Australian wild uncured liverock from reefstop. Eric the owner is a great guy. Ill let you know how it looks tuesday.
My rock already has coralline growing which is pretty awesome. When i get back from my trip it is definitely fish time.
My rock already has coralline growing which is pretty awesome. When i get back from my trip it is definitely fish time.
OP
OP
Those little purple dots are… coraline algae. Sweet!
Params:
pH about 8.2-8.4
Alkalinity 8.1 dKh
Ca 455 ppm
Nitrate 8.5 ppm
Phosphate 0.21 ppm
S.G: 1.025
About where i figured since i just threw two mussels in there to rot and fed a cube of mysis to… nobody.
Skimmer on, lights on. Going to run like this for 2.5 weeks. Then fish. Pretty stoked for some fish.
Ill set up the QT when i get back, prepare to toss fish in. I still need to pull the trigger on flow.
OP
OP
Time to test the water again…
Got back from two weeks away and the tank grew a ton of algae (ugly phase). I need to get some tiger trochus snails this week to get to work on the algae. The tank has about a billion pods in it so that is good.
Slapped in a new pH probe and calibrated it, and epoxied two boards to mount electronics to:
About a week or two away from fish. Still deciding whether to get from all things aquatic and qt myself, or drop the coin on pre-quarantined fish from somewhere like marine collectors.
So far the system is running great. Only near term changes will be adding two mp60s and putting a canister filter on that will house all of my rubble and act as a cryptic sump to free up space in the actual sump for my miracle mud.
Got back from two weeks away and the tank grew a ton of algae (ugly phase). I need to get some tiger trochus snails this week to get to work on the algae. The tank has about a billion pods in it so that is good.
Slapped in a new pH probe and calibrated it, and epoxied two boards to mount electronics to:
About a week or two away from fish. Still deciding whether to get from all things aquatic and qt myself, or drop the coin on pre-quarantined fish from somewhere like marine collectors.
So far the system is running great. Only near term changes will be adding two mp60s and putting a canister filter on that will house all of my rubble and act as a cryptic sump to free up space in the actual sump for my miracle mud.
If you are fishless and coral-less (can't remember sorry) why not shut the lights off for a few days to kill the algea? I cycled my tank without the lights and I still randomly turn the lights off and now that I am writing this I am due for a blackout day as it's been a few weeks since I have!
OP
OP
Im going to let er grow. Green is beautiful! Lol
Nah i am gonna let it grow and be a tang/snail feast, then pop corals in when its all gone.
The algae already dragged nutrients down to zero. So when animals eat it and i skim out their waste, it’ll be clear sailing!
Chlorinated
Non-member
Never heard anyone put it that way. Many avoid lights when not needed to avoid algae. Hope it pans out well for you. Following
OP
OP
I hear you, I think that a lot of people want the fast solution for algae, on this system, I am not in much of a hurry, so I am willing to let the algae grow, suck out what I can, let the snails and fish eat the rest, and reach equilibrium that way.
If I turn the lights out now, then I have to feed the fish and snails, and when I do turn them on down the road the algae will appear then. I'd rather go through the uglies when I don't have any corals to impact.
Thank you for following along!
What is Reborn? I haven't heard of it.
Two Little Fishes Calcium Reactor Media.
OP
OP
Ok, got the trident running, need to pick up some hanna magnesium test reagent to calibrate it. The Neptune salinity (conductivity) probe is a crime against humanity. I think i'll just use it as a rought reference and stick to my refractometers.
After testing last night, my nutrients are zero, like zero zero. So I am going to start feeding the empty tank frozen food. The fish will help with the nutrient situation as soon as I can get some out of QT.
ALK was low, (6.8dKh) which explains low rate of coraline algae growth. I am going to start dosing calcium hydroxide daily to keep it around 8. CA was fine, around 430-450ppm.
Eventually I need to skin the stand, and set up a kalk/RODI top off system where based on the trident ALK input the tank tops off with Kalk or RO/DI to maintain an ALK around 8dKh. I'll run the tank that way until I get a calcium reactor online.
So now officially looking for fish... want to start with each as small as possible
Australian Stripey
Maculiceps Tang
Achilles Tang
2 or 3 Yellow Tangs (or yellows and a purple)
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Clowns (looking to get the red sea captive bred from the gentleman in mass)
Kuteri Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Bariene Tang
a bunch of lyretail anthias (hard to find small and healthy/eating)
some purple queen anthias
10-20 banded trochus snails
And others as I find em. This will take time to QT them all and to buy them since fish cost a fortune nowadays.
Oh I need to set up my autofeeder too...
After testing last night, my nutrients are zero, like zero zero. So I am going to start feeding the empty tank frozen food. The fish will help with the nutrient situation as soon as I can get some out of QT.
ALK was low, (6.8dKh) which explains low rate of coraline algae growth. I am going to start dosing calcium hydroxide daily to keep it around 8. CA was fine, around 430-450ppm.
Eventually I need to skin the stand, and set up a kalk/RODI top off system where based on the trident ALK input the tank tops off with Kalk or RO/DI to maintain an ALK around 8dKh. I'll run the tank that way until I get a calcium reactor online.
So now officially looking for fish... want to start with each as small as possible
Australian Stripey
Maculiceps Tang
Achilles Tang
2 or 3 Yellow Tangs (or yellows and a purple)
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Clowns (looking to get the red sea captive bred from the gentleman in mass)
Kuteri Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Bariene Tang
a bunch of lyretail anthias (hard to find small and healthy/eating)
some purple queen anthias
10-20 banded trochus snails
And others as I find em. This will take time to QT them all and to buy them since fish cost a fortune nowadays.
Oh I need to set up my autofeeder too...
OP
OP
Ok all, need input. I did a thing, let me know your thoughts.
I built a trap on my AC condensate drain in the basement. It is 3/4” pvc. This drains water from the unit in the attic. A decent stream when running.
Then i put a nipple on top of the downstream side and ran a 1/2” ID hose to my skimmer intake.
So IN THEORY in summer when i run AC, valve will be open and the trap fills and then the skimmer air can only pull from outside. In the winter when the line dries up, i turn the valve and still only get outside air.
There is some minor restriction if you try to suck a ton of air through the tube, but this was the best way i could think of to get outside air into int skimmer year round without putting more holes in the house.
Yes i may put an inline carbon filter to eliminate fines/pollen/whatever.
Ok let me know your thoughts!
I built a trap on my AC condensate drain in the basement. It is 3/4” pvc. This drains water from the unit in the attic. A decent stream when running.
Then i put a nipple on top of the downstream side and ran a 1/2” ID hose to my skimmer intake.
So IN THEORY in summer when i run AC, valve will be open and the trap fills and then the skimmer air can only pull from outside. In the winter when the line dries up, i turn the valve and still only get outside air.
There is some minor restriction if you try to suck a ton of air through the tube, but this was the best way i could think of to get outside air into int skimmer year round without putting more holes in the house.
Yes i may put an inline carbon filter to eliminate fines/pollen/whatever.
Ok let me know your thoughts!
I hear these work well for salinity probes. Keeps water moving around the probe without any bubbles. https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/shop/sps-kit-the-salinity-probe-shield/
