jcolliii's IM25 Lagoon journey - MASTERTRONIC up and running!

OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Lazy weekend.

Just cleaned up under the tank and added a 5.5 gallon aquarium with an acrylic top for an ATO reservoir. Fits well enough, was pretty cheap, and I think I know how to make an easy filler neck for it - more on that when I have time.

Just looked back at my log... I started dosing All For Reef on 1-22-20. So it's been over 2 years. I bout my original big tub of carbo calcium, small bio magnesium, 500ml of both K+ and A- from BRS back in April 2020 for $100.29. I started dosing the pre-made stuff (one 500ml bottle I think) before moving on to the DIY recipe. I just made my last batch with the calcium and A- and K+ which should easily get me to June or probably July - so that's 27 months of all majors, minors, and traces for $3.71 per month.

Looks like the price for the DIY 5 liter kit has gone up to $109 or so - but still not bad. I have enough of the magnesium for a lifetime, but just bought more carbo calcium (ALK + Ca) and the K+ and A- for $70 for another 5 liters of solution. This stuff is one of the best things to come along in reefing in a long time, IMO. It's relatively cheap if you make AFR yourself using the separate products, and you only have to dose one thing for the majors, minors, and traces. Sometimes dialing it in is time consuming, but it's just fantastic stuff. For 12 cents per day.
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Lazy weekend.

Just cleaned up under the tank and added a 5.5 gallon aquarium with an acrylic top for an ATO reservoir. Fits well enough, was pretty cheap, and I think I know how to make an easy filler neck for it - more on that when I have time.

Just looked back at my log... I started dosing All For Reef on 1-22-20. So it's been over 2 years. I bout my original big tub of carbo calcium, small bio magnesium, 500ml of both K+ and A- from BRS back in April 2020 for $100.29. I started dosing the pre-made stuff (one 500ml bottle I think) before moving on to the DIY recipe. I just made my last batch with the calcium and A- and K+ which should easily get me to June or probably July - so that's 27 months of all majors, minors, and traces for $3.71 per month.

Looks like the price for the DIY 5 liter kit has gone up to $109 or so - but still not bad. I have enough of the magnesium for a lifetime, but just bought more carbo calcium (ALK + Ca) and the K+ and A- for $70 for another 5 liters of solution. This stuff is one of the best things to come along in reefing in a long time, IMO. It's relatively cheap if you make AFR yourself using the separate products, and you only have to dose one thing for the majors, minors, and traces. Sometimes dialing it in is time consuming, but it's just fantastic stuff. For 12 cents per day.
I’m thinking about picking up some of the pre mixed AFR to try. I’m still not convinced I need anything yet.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Probably don't need to for awhile if your elements stay elevated like they have been! When that cap starts to put on mass though, you'll see Ca, Mg, and ALK start to drop. I think the cap and my Oulphyllia/Platygyra brains use most of the major ions in my tank. Brain coral skeletons have some mass to them - they're heavy, low porosity things! They're really starting to dome as well.

The Focustronic app just updated itself on my tablet. Only thing I noticed so far is a slightly different start screen, and some info about how many uses certain items have before they should be replaced. Hopefully they've tweaked a couple of the things that have bothered me. It is still running fantastically, and has already helped stabilize water parameters. For example, I learned that when I feed Reef Roids, the PO4 is 0.25-0.3ppm higher the next day, and that takes 3-4 drops of LaCl to get back to around 0.1. The Brightwell Reef Blizzard food only requires 2 drops and only elevates PO4 0.1-0.15 the next day. It's been so much easier to dial in the ALK use as well.
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Probably don't need to for awhile if your elements stay elevated like they have been! When that cap starts to put on mass though, you'll see Ca, Mg, and ALK start to drop. I think the cap and my Oulphyllia/Platygyra brains use most of the major ions in my tank. Brain coral skeletons have some mass to them - they're heavy, low porosity things! They're really starting to dome as well.

The Focustronic app just updated itself on my tablet. Only thing I noticed so far is a slightly different start screen, and some info about how many uses certain items have before they should be replaced. Hopefully they've tweaked a couple of the things that have bothered me. It is still running fantastically, and has already helped stabilize water parameters. For example, I learned that when I feed Reef Roids, the PO4 is 0.25-0.3ppm higher the next day, and that takes 3-4 drops of LaCl to get back to around 0.1. The Brightwell Reef Blizzard food only requires 2 drops and only elevates PO4 0.1-0.15 the next day. It's been so much easier to dial in the ALK use as well.
I’m glad it’s working out well for you so far. Seems to be a fantastic tool. I’d really like to have one, or at least a Triton, but the reefing budget is slashed right now while we try to figure out when we are selling the house. Not really supposed to add anything new but I just “acquired” a 17g acrylic peninsula AIO and a diy AIO insert for my spare 20 long that are going to cause nothing but trouble at my house lol. You’ll be hearing more about those later.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Mastertronic missed it's second scheduled test this morning. Was supposed to run an ALK test at 10am. No data for that test. Both missed tests were ALK, but the previous missed one was on a Thursday not a Tuesday. The app recently updated itself, and I think the software did as well. Hope they can get this issue fixed sooner rather than later.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The no test condition was related to a leak detected error. I say error because the warning which triggered multiple attempts to remotely start a test after the original failed scheduled test was false. No leak anywhere I could see. I had to power cycle the instrument to get to a condition where no leak was detected. I did try to clear the leak using the maintenance menu, which has an option for that, but that did not work. After power cycling, test ran just fine. This thing is glitchy... But when it runs well, it's awesome. Hopefully some new firmware soon will fix all of these niggling little issues. So now I have one ALK result from the afternoon and all the rest from 10am.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So far so good with the Mastertronic since the most recent software and app updates. No missed tests, but still takes15 or 20 seconds sometimes to connect to the device through the app. Tests keep looking good though and I have used the results to fine tune my AFR dosing regime and to know exactly when to augment the Ca and Mg. Really loving this device. Super easy to keep a handle on the PO4 as well - I test for PO4 every other day, just like ALK. When it goes above 0.1, I add a drop or two of LaCl and that drops it right back down to around 0.1 where I want it.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Since the most recent software update, there have been no missed tests or really any other issues to report at all. coming up on recalibration time here pretty soon, but that is pretty simple to do. They have updated the ap recently as well which has incorporated several small fixes. Lets you know in a pretty visible way how many tests remain on each syringe/needle/hose, etc. My auto-charting spreadsheet is working well to chart all of the data - I just email the data dump from the MT into my Excel tank tracker in the proper page and get a nice chart in just a few seconds. Still wish there was a way to adjust the x-axis in the ap itself, but maybe in a future update. I am on the facebook group with the manufacturer and the ap developer and they are pretty responsive to requests and fixes. It is a good, solid, easy-to-use instrument so far.

Gotta do a small waterchange today, so will be interesting to see how that shows up on tests early in the week. Little blip with 2 ALK tests in one day is where I added an adjustment dose of AFR and tested later in the day. The second peak is the same thing. Little adjustments to AFR dosing.

cap4-24.JPG
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Since the most recent software update, there have been no missed tests or really any other issues to report at all. coming up on recalibration time here pretty soon, but that is pretty simple to do. They have updated the ap recently as well which has incorporated several small fixes. Lets you know in a pretty visible way how many tests remain on each syringe/needle/hose, etc. My auto-charting spreadsheet is working well to chart all of the data - I just email the data dump from the MT into my Excel tank tracker in the proper page and get a nice chart in just a few seconds. Still wish there was a way to adjust the x-axis in the ap itself, but maybe in a future update. I am on the facebook group with the manufacturer and the ap developer and they are pretty responsive to requests and fixes. It is a good, solid, easy-to-use instrument so far.

Gotta do a small waterchange today, so will be interesting to see how that shows up on tests early in the week. Little blip with 2 ALK tests in one day is where I added an adjustment dose of AFR and tested later in the day. The second peak is the same thing. Little adjustments to AFR dosing.

cap4-24.JPG
There’s something about two tests in one day that just really messes up a nice graph, isn’t there lol.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks man!

Been meaning to update this for awhile, but stuff just keeps happening. There was a bird screaming outside of my window this afternoon for like two hours. I finally looked out the window and the bird was actually a 4 week old baby squirrel that was almost dead. Barely moved when I picked it up. He was nearly frozen to death I think (60ish here today and he only has a bit of hair). Made up a plastic tote home with pieces of fleece in it and a lid with lots of holes in it - added a mitten warmer under his house for a couple of hours and hes's come back up to temp. He wasn't dehydrated or injured - he crawls around just fine. He's got one little abrasion on the inside of one leg, but otherwise not too bad for falling out of a tree.

There was no squirrel looking for him and, again, he was out there crying for help for a good 2 hours before I went and grabbed him. Help was not coming.

He's eaten a couple ml of slightly diluted puppy formula earlier this evening, and is sleeping a lot. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery. About an hour ago, he had his first positive feeding response - actually going after the formula, and then had a bath in nice warm water when I saw a flea on him. Now he's nice and clean and has some food in his belly. Our neighborhood raised an orphaned baby squirrel back when I was like 12, and have dug in to the research, and the prognosis seems to be positive for now.

rocky.jpg


Oh yeah - so this is a reef forum, isn't it?

The tank continues to do great - good color, good growth. The Tunze skimmer is working great, only thing I have done is a cleaning once and it is skimming great. The Mastertronic is working great too - only missed tests recently were due to low reagents. Seems to be very consistent. Fish are doing great, corals are growing in nicely, the urchin does a great job on algae. Have had a bit more algae recently - seems to be growing in the sand mostly - the main reason I don't like sand. Need to get some sand sifters, I suppose. I added a lawnmower a few weeks ago to help, and he's fat, so he's getting enough to eat, but he doesn't seem to touch the stuff in the sand that much... ugh.

The recent coral additions are going well - the two acros have at least doubled in size, and are coloring up fantastically. I am not sure what this unknown freebie acro from ASD was that I got a few months ago, but it is coloring up to be an absolute stunner. This picture below is awful...

output_image1654928022190.jpg

... but it has an overall green body color, but with purple growth edges around the base and a bit of purple on the branches, but the branch ends transition to yellow with orange axial tips! This thing is nuts - and no idea what it is.

Remember that baby torch that settled in that crack?

output_image1654912832539.jpg

... not the dragon soul type one (which is eating in this pic), but the one more toward the left of the cristata clump there toward the bottom right... yeah - it's that whole thing on the left there. It's now an adult single head cristata.

Crappy cell phone FTS, but you can get the idea at least from this...
output_image1654912946151.jpg


Yep, have to reglue a couple things (urchin...), but going well - and look at the size of those brains!
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks man!

Been meaning to update this for awhile, but stuff just keeps happening. There was a bird screaming outside of my window this afternoon for like two hours. I finally looked out the window and the bird was actually a 4 week old baby squirrel that was almost dead. Barely moved when I picked it up. He was nearly frozen to death I think (60ish here today and he only has a bit of hair). Made up a plastic tote home with pieces of fleece in it and a lid with lots of holes in it - added a mitten warmer under his house for a couple of hours and hes's come back up to temp. He wasn't dehydrated or injured - he crawls around just fine. He's got one little abrasion on the inside of one leg, but otherwise not too bad for falling out of a tree.

There was no squirrel looking for him and, again, he was out there crying for help for a good 2 hours before I went and grabbed him. Help was not coming.

He's eaten a couple ml of slightly diluted puppy formula earlier this evening, and is sleeping a lot. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery. About an hour ago, he had his first positive feeding response - actually going after the formula, and then had a bath in nice warm water when I saw a flea on him. Now he's nice and clean and has some food in his belly. Our neighborhood raised an orphaned baby squirrel back when I was like 12, and have dug in to the research, and the prognosis seems to be positive for now.

rocky.jpg


Oh yeah - so this is a reef forum, isn't it?

The tank continues to do great - good color, good growth. The Tunze skimmer is working great, only thing I have done is a cleaning once and it is skimming great. The Mastertronic is working great too - only missed tests recently were due to low reagents. Seems to be very consistent. Fish are doing great, corals are growing in nicely, the urchin does a great job on algae. Have had a bit more algae recently - seems to be growing in the sand mostly - the main reason I don't like sand. Need to get some sand sifters, I suppose. I added a lawnmower a few weeks ago to help, and he's fat, so he's getting enough to eat, but he doesn't seem to touch the stuff in the sand that much... ugh.

The recent coral additions are going well - the two acros have at least doubled in size, and are coloring up fantastically. I am not sure what this unknown freebie acro from ASD was that I got a few months ago, but it is coloring up to be an absolute stunner. This picture below is awful...

output_image1654928022190.jpg

... but it has an overall green body color, but with purple growth edges around the base and a bit of purple on the branches, but the branch ends transition to yellow with orange axial tips! This thing is nuts - and no idea what it is.

Remember that baby torch that settled in that crack?

output_image1654912832539.jpg

... not the dragon soul type one (which is eating in this pic), but the one more toward the left of the cristata clump there toward the bottom right... yeah - it's that whole thing on the left there. It's now an adult single head cristata.

Crappy cell phone FTS, but you can get the idea at least from this...
output_image1654912946151.jpg


Yep, have to reglue a couple things (urchin...), but going well - and look at the size of those brains!
Wow, squirrel adventures. That’s real nice of you to nurse it back to health. Not everyone would.
Tank is looking really good. I’m starting to appreciate more your targeted approach to the corals you’re keeping. Many of my Zoas are getting out of control and growing onto other rocks with different corals on them during the last month or two while I’ve been concentrating on other things. More careful placement of my sps and lps, like you have done, would have helped to avoid that. I’ll be keeping that in mind as I upgrade the size of my tank and start over in the next few months.
Your Starki was out in that last shot. I always enjoy seeing it, need to get one of those myself soon.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
9/1/22 Update

Been awhile - trying to get a new lab group up and running looking at tracking anthropogenic-derived nutrient fluxes and heavy metals in a freshwater lake. Most of my purchases have been made, including a new HACH spectrophotometer - that would be one heck of a device for tracking nutrients in a marine tank. Downside, it's $7k. But it will test pretty much anything to the ppb or ppm level, uses standards, is NIST traceable, and has a gob of TNT-type reagents-in-the-vial tests for pretty much anything you would want to know about. Anyhow, lab stuff only in that instrument.

Been working a lot this summer, and working on the MINI Cooper a bit too. Little Rocky was released back into the wild successfully, but I still bring him an avocado from time to time (his favorite!) and peanuts so he can have some help making it through his first winter.

Tank has been doing pretty well. More algae than I would like in the sand bed. Bee thinking about sucking all of the sand out and going back to bare bottom. Had a bit of a scare this weekend. I turned the alarm off on the GHL Mini when I did my last water change because it is a really annoying sound - great attribute for an alarm. Anyway - forgot to turn it back on and looked at it on Saturday just before a couple gallon WC to suck out a patch of algae in the sand and it was 73.5 degrees! So, ran to the pet store, got a new 100w heater, old one out, new one in and started warming back up. Because the firmware update for the Mini that GHL has said would contain an update allowing data storage and tracking (the GHL Mini does not save any data - instantaneous data display only), I don't know when the heater bit it. Again, if you are on the fence about a controller, I *HIGHLY* recommend going with someone other than GHL. It is ridiculous that this simple update to enable this has not yet been done (probably so they can make you spend a TON more for this minimal level of functionality.

The Mastertronic continues to function flawlessly. I have to purchase some consumables here before much longer - the silicone lids on some of the reagent jars are a bit ratty, others still look new. But I only test 5x per week or so, so it is not subjected to a torture test each week. This thing is reliable, it updates its own software when it needs to and I believe they have added some additional parameters recently. Really awesome device. Only downside - it's big, and right now I have no place to hide it. So it's big!

I also just lost Starski. Found him floating about a week ago. He's been having some eye issues over the past several months - one eye would periodically swell up somewhat, and then the next day it would be fine. He looked healthy and had been eating like his typical pig self. He was a fat and happy fish. Hope he didn't die because of the lower temps and me not seeing it. My other fish were absolutely fine, and none of the other corals look the worse for it - other than the yellow octospawn. It had retracted - thought it was just a cycle sort of thing, but it has not really gotten back to its normal inflation yet - but it's also not dead, so that's good. I bought an algae blenny a few months ago to nibble away some of the hair that was popping up between things that the urchin could not get to, and he did a pretty good job until he started eating meat. Now I see him pack at algae occasionally, but when I feed pellets that fat little sucker mows them down. Easily the fattest fish in the tank. Lawnmower type, I think.

I think I will pick up another JP or two when I see them around locally. Pretty fish and pretty peaceful. Maybe a small yellow or tomini tang if I can find one less than 2 inches. I can find someone to give it to when it gets too big, but yellows seem to be pretty rare lately. In fact, have not seen many fish since the whole COVID thing. Although my local petco had a cute saddle puffer - so wish they were reef safe - such really interesting fish.

Just mixed up a couple bottles of All FOr Reef - continues to supply everything my little reef needs. I still find I have to adjust Mg every so often, but for the most part, if I maintain for ALK, the Ca stays pretty stable. AFR says to maintain for Ca, but I tried that for a month and my ALK moved around more than I wanted it to. So went back to what has worked for me for over 2 years now. Love this stuff. I have enough supplies to make another year's worth on hand.

dang torch and hammers are getting too big and are stinging stuff around them now. So I need to move them around a bit so I can try to get some of my other things off the sand bed. It's tough though because they have grown so much. The one head gold hammer that I was sent as a freebie has to be five heads now and that little baby cristata that originated in the tank is now two heads and going. It has ever so slightly larger tentacles than the other cristata, but is approximately the same color. That dragon soul though has to be 6 or 8 heads now and the tentacles are super long. Looks really pretty, but so do the other corals when they are alive. May have to add a small piece of rubble to its base to make it longer overall - that might do it for now.

NO3 and PO4 continue to drop if I don't maintain them. PO4 drops ~1/2ppm per week and nitrate will drop between 0.5 and 1ppm/week. Good problem to have I suppose and the Mastertronic lets me know if the PO4 drops too much. I dose my homemade PO4 soln derived from trisodium phosphate from home dumpster when needed. In fact, need to cut this short and run to home dumpster before they close to get some aquamend putty to extend that torch a bit. Will try to get a couple pics tonight after sunset.
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
9/1/22 Update

Been awhile - trying to get a new lab group up and running looking at tracking anthropogenic-derived nutrient fluxes and heavy metals in a freshwater lake. Most of my purchases have been made, including a new HACH spectrophotometer - that would be one heck of a device for tracking nutrients in a marine tank. Downside, it's $7k. But it will test pretty much anything to the ppb or ppm level, uses standards, is NIST traceable, and has a gob of TNT-type reagents-in-the-vial tests for pretty much anything you would want to know about. Anyhow, lab stuff only in that instrument.

Been working a lot this summer, and working on the MINI Cooper a bit too. Little Rocky was released back into the wild successfully, but I still bring him an avocado from time to time (his favorite!) and peanuts so he can have some help making it through his first winter.

Tank has been doing pretty well. More algae than I would like in the sand bed. Bee thinking about sucking all of the sand out and going back to bare bottom. Had a bit of a scare this weekend. I turned the alarm off on the GHL Mini when I did my last water change because it is a really annoying sound - great attribute for an alarm. Anyway - forgot to turn it back on and looked at it on Saturday just before a couple gallon WC to suck out a patch of algae in the sand and it was 73.5 degrees! So, ran to the pet store, got a new 100w heater, old one out, new one in and started warming back up. Because the firmware update for the Mini that GHL has said would contain an update allowing data storage and tracking (the GHL Mini does not save any data - instantaneous data display only), I don't know when the heater bit it. Again, if you are on the fence about a controller, I *HIGHLY* recommend going with someone other than GHL. It is ridiculous that this simple update to enable this has not yet been done (probably so they can make you spend a TON more for this minimal level of functionality.

The Mastertronic continues to function flawlessly. I have to purchase some consumables here before much longer - the silicone lids on some of the reagent jars are a bit ratty, others still look new. But I only test 5x per week or so, so it is not subjected to a torture test each week. This thing is reliable, it updates its own software when it needs to and I believe they have added some additional parameters recently. Really awesome device. Only downside - it's big, and right now I have no place to hide it. So it's big!

I also just lost Starski. Found him floating about a week ago. He's been having some eye issues over the past several months - one eye would periodically swell up somewhat, and then the next day it would be fine. He looked healthy and had been eating like his typical pig self. He was a fat and happy fish. Hope he didn't die because of the lower temps and me not seeing it. My other fish were absolutely fine, and none of the other corals look the worse for it - other than the yellow octospawn. It had retracted - thought it was just a cycle sort of thing, but it has not really gotten back to its normal inflation yet - but it's also not dead, so that's good. I bought an algae blenny a few months ago to nibble away some of the hair that was popping up between things that the urchin could not get to, and he did a pretty good job until he started eating meat. Now I see him pack at algae occasionally, but when I feed pellets that fat little sucker mows them down. Easily the fattest fish in the tank. Lawnmower type, I think.

I think I will pick up another JP or two when I see them around locally. Pretty fish and pretty peaceful. Maybe a small yellow or tomini tang if I can find one less than 2 inches. I can find someone to give it to when it gets too big, but yellows seem to be pretty rare lately. In fact, have not seen many fish since the whole COVID thing. Although my local petco had a cute saddle puffer - so wish they were reef safe - such really interesting fish.

Just mixed up a couple bottles of All FOr Reef - continues to supply everything my little reef needs. I still find I have to adjust Mg every so often, but for the most part, if I maintain for ALK, the Ca stays pretty stable. AFR says to maintain for Ca, but I tried that for a month and my ALK moved around more than I wanted it to. So went back to what has worked for me for over 2 years now. Love this stuff. I have enough supplies to make another year's worth on hand.

dang torch and hammers are getting too big and are stinging stuff around them now. So I need to move them around a bit so I can try to get some of my other things off the sand bed. It's tough though because they have grown so much. The one head gold hammer that I was sent as a freebie has to be five heads now and that little baby cristata that originated in the tank is now two heads and going. It has ever so slightly larger tentacles than the other cristata, but is approximately the same color. That dragon soul though has to be 6 or 8 heads now and the tentacles are super long. Looks really pretty, but so do the other corals when they are alive. May have to add a small piece of rubble to its base to make it longer overall - that might do it for now.

NO3 and PO4 continue to drop if I don't maintain them. PO4 drops ~1/2ppm per week and nitrate will drop between 0.5 and 1ppm/week. Good problem to have I suppose and the Mastertronic lets me know if the PO4 drops too much. I dose my homemade PO4 soln derived from trisodium phosphate from home dumpster when needed. In fact, need to cut this short and run to home dumpster before they close to get some aquamend putty to extend that torch a bit. Will try to get a couple pics tonight after sunset.
Good to see you back, its been too long. Seems like you've had a lot going on.
Sorry to hear about the Starki, they are such nice looking fish. Will you get another?
You gotta dump that GHL mini, too much stress involved with an item that's supposed to be making your reefing life easier. There's a new Hanna PH, Temp, Salinity monitor coming out that might be promising for your situation. I'd probably trust it for ph and temp out of the box but salinity is always the wildcard, depends on how they design the probe and connector. But if your looking for simple alarms when those perameters are out of range then it will probably do the trick. I doubt it has the memory or capability to graph though.
I'll be looking forward to seeing those pictures.
 
OP
OP
jcolliii

jcolliii

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
1,030
Reaction score
1,772
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don't think I will replace the Starkii. Great looking fish, but it's getting harder and harder for me to justify expensive fish that last a year or two.

Here is what it's looking like tonight. PO4 running lower than I want right now, and that's why I think I have had a slight slow down in growth recently. Image is poor quality, but that seems to be all I can get with my phone recently.

output_image1663641759786.jpg


Oh, and the little Tunze skimmer has been a champ. Works like a charm until it stops building foam. That is the signal that it's time for a clean out. Then back to working A-ok. I think it's around 3 weeks or so between cup cleanings and maybe 6 weeks between body cleanings. Working out great!
 

TheWB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
3,997
Location
Puyallup,WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don't think I will replace the Starkii. Great looking fish, but it's getting harder and harder for me to justify expensive fish that last a year or two.

Here is what it's looking like tonight. PO4 running lower than I want right now, and that's why I think I have had a slight slow down in growth recently. Image is poor quality, but that seems to be all I can get with my phone recently.

output_image1663641759786.jpg


Oh, and the little Tunze skimmer has been a champ. Works like a charm until it stops building foam. That is the signal that it's time for a clean out. Then back to working A-ok. I think it's around 3 weeks or so between cup cleanings and maybe 6 weeks between body cleanings. Working out great!
The tank is looking good. I hear ya about expensive fish but that particular one is such a nice centerpiece fish for your size tank. Too bad they aren't a little more readily available and less money. hard to spend over $100 on a damsel.
 

tapeworm123

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
185
Reaction score
33
Location
milwaukee wisconsin
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Have you had the problem where the back needle clogs? Mine clogs once a week. I’ve bought new needles and still having the issue? Maybe the silicone caps I use is not a good match.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top