ksfulk's Red Sea Reefer 525xL

[ksfulk]

Have been reading from the beginning great build. When do you vacuum the sand as a part of your maintenance?

Thanks! I vacuum my sand as the water change - I just vacuum the sand until 10-20 gallons of water is removed from the tank, and then I just replace with fresh salt water. Generally, the sand has enough garbage in it that Im never completely done with vacuuming before Ive gotten plenty of water out of the tank.

 

[ksfulk]

Been a bit. Tank has been on neglected cruise control with work and the kids taking up the majority of my time lately. Still most things are growing and things are relatively stable. Alkalinity has been running a bit lower than usual (~6.0 dKH) but I’m slowly bumping it up as consumption increases.

One of my WAV pumps quit working after a power outage last week, so I’ve got a backup powerhead in there until I figure out what I want to do as a replacement. I might ditch the WAVs and go with some Tunze 6085s or 6105s instead. I really like the WAV pumps, but I’ve never been really happy with the mounting of them.

I just added a yellow watchman goby to hang out with my pistol shrimp. He made it fine through QT, but seems to be having a hard time with the current in the big tank. I’m sure it’ll be a few days before it settles in.

 

[Giraffe0621]

Had a couple of questions about my coral dipping procedure, so I figured today provided me an opportunity to make a video about my coral dipping procedure.


That said, I picked up my CherryCorals order this afternoon, and got them all dipped, remounted and put into the tank. I'll get some photos in a minute, but everything was polyped out and happy within an hour of being in the tank.

Kris - trying to see from the video, but can't tell... is the Bayer Complete you're using the Concentrated version, or normal? 10-15mL Bayer per 1L tank water, right?

Thanks A

 

[ksfulk]

I assume it’s the concentrated one? It doesn’t say it anywhere that I saw, but it’s the one that connects to the garden hose so it’s bound to be concentrated. Those measurements sound about right as well. There’s no real hard and fast to it. Make it look like skim milk and it’s good to go. If you are worried it’s too strong, you can do two dips with a rinse in between. Some zoas can also benefit with a scrub with a soft bristled brush to get in between the polyps.

 

[ksfulk]

 

[ksfulk]

 

[ksfulk]

Got some good news last night. Back on the 20th, I opened a ticket with Neptune because one of my WAV pumps stopped working. I shipped it off last thursday and it was recieved by Neptune on Tuesday. I assumed that whatever was the issue wouldnt be covered, since the pumps are well over their warranty period, but lo and behold, I got a notice that the pump had been replaced and shipped back to me yesterday and I should get it early next week. How awesome is that? Great support once again from a top notch vendor! Big thanks to Vincent and the rest of the customer service people over at Neptune! Pretty awesome.

That said... Im a sad panda because there are a bunch of little aiptasia that are popping up everywhere. I'm going to have to pick up some berghia I think since they are popping up more and more and its more than Im going to be able to superglue shut. ;Yuck

 

[ksfulk]

Replacement WAV showed up - yay!!!! Did some clean up and snapped a couple pictures of random things. New additions to my cleaning crew (a dozen or so astraea snails), My massive Goliath emerald crab (that’s a 4” wrasse next to it for scale), a shot of the molly Miller Blenny I’ve added to combat some aiptasia issues and the rare appearance of my pistol shrimp!

 

[aabjones888]

Nice clam, had it awhile?

 

[ksfulk]

Nice clam, had it awhile?

14 months - I got it Sept 9, 2016 (Post #30). Its probably tripled in sized since then.

 

[ksfulk]

Well... things continue to be broken

After replacing some media (carbon and zeo) I thought I would go ahead and replace the rear 4 bulbs on my T5 fixture. I replaced the rear 4 bulbs and then decided to switch bulbs 1&2 so that the Tropic bulb was in the #2 spot. Well, to my surprise, upon changing the bulbs, #1 & 2 no longer come on. :mad: That was on Monday. So, I just lived with it this week until I had some spare time today to take the light fixture down and take it apart. I tested the ballast to be sure that wasnt the issue - no problems there :mad:. I checked all the wires and none were loose ;Punch. Then I started messing with the end caps and found that if I wiggled the #2 bulb a little, I could get the lights to come back on ;Jawdrop. Elated, I put the fixture back together, checking at every step to make sure that the bulbs still turned on... and they did... until I hung the fixture up. ;Dead 1.5 hours down the drain ;Rage. I'm guessing there is some corrosion or something in the end caps thats causing the issue ;Shifty. I put in an order with ATI for 4 new end caps and some replacement screws for some of the original ones that are stripping and some new rubber grommets for the fans and hopefully I'll get those before I go on vacation next week.

I also moved the WAVs from the sides of the tank to the rear glass just to change it up a bit. Looks good so far, but there is still some sand movement. Im not sure it'll stick for long, but its fun for now.

 

[ksfulk]

Pre vacation video in case things are horrible when I get home....

 

[ksfulk]

Hooray! Nothing went horribly wrong while on vacation...

... with the tank at least. A broken water pump on the car, a broken furnace and a stolen bank card happened, but the tank is fine!

I spent last night taking apart the ATI fixture again and replacing the end caps that I bought from ATI, as well as a few other little odds and ends for the fixture. I also ordered more bulbs from BRS during the Black Friday sale, and replaced most of the rest of the bulbs, but unfortunately one of the new ones arrived broken, so I’ll have to await a replacement.

This was a strange year where I didn’t really buy much for the tank on Black Friday... some filter socks, some ESV two part because it was a good deal and some replacement bulbs... I keep eyeballing the vertex calcium reactor since it goes on sale for a good discount during that sale, but I don’t think I have the room for it under the tank - and I don’t use enough two part daily right now to really justify switching over.

 

[zachxlutz]

Hooray! Nothing went horribly wrong while on vacation...

... with the tank at least. A broken water pump on the car, a broken furnace and a stolen bank card happened, but the tank is fine!

I spent last night taking apart the ATI fixture again and replacing the end caps that I bought from ATI, as well as a few other little odds and ends for the fixture. I also ordered more bulbs from BRS during the Black Friday sale, and replaced most of the rest of the bulbs, but unfortunately one of the new ones arrived broken, so I’ll have to await a replacement.

This was a strange year where I didn’t really buy much for the tank on Black Friday... some filter socks, some ESV two part because it was a good deal and some replacement bulbs... I keep eyeballing the vertex calcium reactor since it goes on sale for a good discount during that sale, but I don’t think I have the room for it under the tank - and I don’t use enough two part daily right now to really justify switching over.

Glad your tank made it through the vacay, despite the other bad news.

I've had T5 bulbs shipped from BRS that arrived broken, too. The packaging looks great, I can't figure out why they've broken. That being said, BRS did a kick butt job at replacing the broken bulbs, no questions asked.

I went HAM on BRS Black Friday sale. I was hoping I wouldn't. But I did.

 

[ksfulk]

 

[*HOVA*]

Where did you get your screen top?

 

[Velcro]

Where did you get your screen top?

Looks like mine, from octoaquatics.

 

[ksfulk]

Where did you get your screen top?

Looks like mine, from octoaquatics.

Its actually from @ArtFully Acrylic. I think I got it at the end of last year. Its held up nicely - though I might rescreen it in the future, as thats pretty easy to do and I need to replace the spline anyhow. Good deal for the money, and I dont really have any complaints about it. Nice, lightweight and I havent had anything escape!

 

[ksfulk]

Random pictures of growing sticks...

 

[ksfulk]

Made a trade recently for a hippo tang that was fat and happy and have spent the last few weeks running it through TTM and Prazi rounds. Its been in the acclimation box since Friday night, but none of the other fish seem to even notice it. So its swimming out free and happy. Also started working on the aiptasia problem with some local berghia which are starting to clear up a few of the pest anemones (I think three small ones have vanished so far, but PROGRESS!!! ;Smug)

Missed out on Cherry's holiday live sale, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm planning on heading over there in January to stick shop so I'll get over it. Ive also signed up for the Battlecorals grow out contest with the Vivid's Rainbow acropora which should show up the first week of January. I think things are going nicely - Im starting to take a look at some of the more expensive sticks on my list and debating on if I should start checking some of them off of my list. ;Nailbiting