Clint526 Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 I love seeing updates on this build! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Great updates. Keep them coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cmstone03 Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I got to see this with my own eyes. This is an awesome setup and these pictures don't do it justice. I hope mine turns out half as nice. watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 12 hours ago, watdachuck said: I did not use an additive but my start up did not go quite as I had planned either. I somewhat chronicled the tank change, but the initial set up had been running for about a month. The live rock from BRS was curing in a 45 gallon trash can about a month prior to that. The first week of curing the ammonia stench was harsh to say the least and I conducted several massive water changes. I continued to 10% changes every other day or so for about three weeks from there. Once I broke down the first tank, the rock cured for another month back in the trash can, but there was definitely enough dead matter from the get go to jump start the cycle. At this point I am comfortable adding fish to the tank without any fear of them stressing. I still conduct daily water tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and will send out my monthly test samples to aquamedicwatertesting.com for the full range. PH is averaging about 7.88 monitored in real time on a freshly calibrated PinPoint probe. At night it dips only slightly to about 7.82, and during the day only slightly higher at 7.92. I attribute the stability to the chaeto in the refugium which I had initially been running on a 24/7 light cycle. The growth was very fast but it seemed to be browning on the outside and very green on the inside. I now have the Kessil H380 on a wifi timer from 7:00 PM (DT goes off at 9:00 PM) and turn off at 9:00 AM (DT turns on at 11:00 AM). The spinning motion has encouraged it to mold into a nice ball shape. The pod population in the fuge has also been spectacular. I am sure the sixline wrasse is going to be very happy as those puppies overflow into the display. Question, what happens to your ph for that 2 hours no lights are on at all? Curious if the pinpoint picks that up and how much it moves if so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 When they are both off that is where I see the biggest dip, down into that 7.82 range. I may adjust the time so that this doesn't happen, but for now I'll leave it as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 Saw these industrial strength shelving units at Costco and knew what they were meant for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Nice and organized! The white rolls on the bottom shelf, do you have one of those rolling filter systems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 55 minutes ago, Muttley000 said: Nice and organized! The white rolls on the bottom shelf, do you have one of those rolling filter systems? Thanks. No, I just cut the 100 micron pads to size for my overflow in the sump. I don't always have one in there, otherwise there is just a prefilter sponge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 So, in anticipation of setting up the calcium reactor on the new tank I decided to do some research on my old one. I had a lot of success with this reactor so I thought I would share what I was reviewing. Below is a list of my water test results from June 2013 through February of 2015....ignore after that it was a different set up. Up until October of 2014 I had only been using kalkwasser to maintain calcium, and alkalinity with the addition of Brightwells Magnesion to dose magnesium (no other dosing, only water changes). The decision to begin using a reactor came when it seemed I could no longer maintain calcium with Kalk alone. Although, until that point it had proven for the most part reliable. Tank September 2014 (Pre-Reactor) Tank December 2014 (Post Reactor) Close ups from February 2015 All that being said, although growth and color was OK prior to the reactor, after it was introduced growth multiplied and color was much more dramatic. My initial thoughts on the new build were to follow the same process using kalk as long as possible before introducing the reactor. But I believe the reactor just does a much better job of supplying all the required elements to produce better growth and color in the correct combinations. Likely moving more sticks over from my holding tank this week, and filling the CO2 tanks next week to fire up the reactor. Nanoreef13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Great information! There is more to coral growth than the things we measure! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Cabinets are coming along....should be done by early next week I think. crimsonvice and Clint526 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint526 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Looking real good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 (edited) Just needs another coat of paint and we should be rocking!!! Edited August 15, 2017 by watdachuck Tonya 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint526 Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Awesome! Looks sweet! Can't wait to see some color in it! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WILDFISH Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Love it nice work watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanoreef13 Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Got to see this in person last weekend and pictures just don't do in justice. What a beautiful tank! I love the cabinets! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Great work, looks really nice! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 Quick update. I started the calcium reactor 3 days ago (1 bubble per second, 1 drop per second at PH 6.7) Alkalinity was at 7.9 the day it started, 8.1 after day 1, then 8.5 and today 8.6. Tank PH: 7.87 Tank Temp: 77 I'm going to wait a full week before sending out water samples for lab testing to compare to the Hanna tester. As of right now the tank is looking very clean. The skimmer is pulling very nice funky skimmate. I am running a single cup of Phosguard and what is now a mob of chaeto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 Tank looks awesome! watdachuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanoreef13 Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 I totally need to pick your brain on how to set up a calcium reactor! Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 38 minutes ago, Nanoreef13 said: I totally need to pick your brain on how to set up a calcium reactor! Looking good! Anytime....I will say the carbondoser from aquariumplants.com and the pH controller make it soooooo much easier. I probably spent a week dialing it in the first time a few years ago with a traditional solenoid and pH monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanoreef13 Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 8 hours ago, watdachuck said: Anytime....I will say the carbondoser from aquariumplants.com and the pH controller make it soooooo much easier. I probably spent a week dialing it in the first time a few years ago with a traditional solenoid and pH monitor. That's good to know thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 It has been a week since the CaRx was set up and I am going to send out water samples from today to compare with the Hanna Tester. Today's reading was 8.8, so we will see what the lab says along with the balance of the tanks parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watdachuck Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 Water test results from Sunday return... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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