Mike's Red Sea Reefer 525 XL build

[mta_morrow]

Today’s test results

1.026
78 deg
Alk 7.6 was 7.8 last week. Going to up my daily dose and get up to 8-8.5 by next Sunday
PO4 0
NO3 16

Added chemi clean tonight.

Going lights out till Wed when I do a 20% WC and add carbon as required after Chemiclean.

Going to clean things up!

Also I am going back to what was working before

So I’m going back up to 10ml Nopox daily from 5ml and Vibrant every other week.

Also may place an order for Berghia nudibranchs to get rid of my aiptasia.

Checking out how they are doing for @Brew12

 

[mta_morrow]

Also my deresa has not been to happy and I think I have found out why.

It’s not the flame angel

It’s not the coral beauty

It’s Lenny! The flametail seems to like nipping at the mantle.

Well, I guess I will try to unload the clam.!

 

[Fudsey]

You could send me Lenny

 

[mta_morrow]

You could send me Lenny

I love my fish more than anything else in the tank.

But IF I chose to re home Lenny, I would send him to you

 

[mta_morrow]

With my last tank, I would use chemiclean and go lights out for 3 days every 3-4 months

I believe it may be worth doing with this one too.

My friend back in Ohio, Lazy’s coral house, formerly Lazy’s Frag House, did it with his display every 3 months as regular maintenance. He swore by it.

I’m expecting things to look great in a couple days as they did in the past.

Clean things up.

Kinda like a tank enima!

 

[NY_Caveman]

’Kinda like a tank enima!

Ha ha ha ha! and EWWWW!

 

[mta_morrow]

Skimmer is still going nutso from the chemiclean.

Nothin like a deep clean.

Wednesday I will do a 24% WC.

Also ordered my nudibranchs for Thursday delivery.

Reeftown has a 1/2 off holiday sale! So I got twice as many to get free shipping.

20 medium nudi’s, 1 free nudi as an R2R member, and 3 egg scrolls (ready to hatch and start eating!)

 

[mta_morrow]

Merry Christmas!

Making water for tomorrow’s water change.

It will be 2 1/2 days of chemiclean and 3 days lights out.

Going to change 24-28 gallons out of an estimated 120. So at least 20%.

And load up the reactor with carbon as instructed after using chemi clean.

 

[mta_morrow]

Also got my nori clip and frag rack from Octo Aquatics. Will get some pics posted this week after I get the lights back on.

I also have the Octo heater holder and adjustable skimmer stand.

Awesome quality!

Thanks to @cromag27 for upgrading the frag rack magnet for my thicker glass!

 

[Fudsey]

Merry Christmas ! ! !

 

[mta_morrow]

A full round of testing going on.

And just had the nudibranchs delivered!

Gotta have the powerheads off for a while so a good time for a deep clean!

Lights aren’t on yet, but the tank is super clean from the chemiclean and lights out for 3 days.

That’s now in the schedule for this tank, every 3-4 months

 

[revhtree]

Looks good!

 

[mta_morrow]

Looks good!

Thank you Rev !

 

[Doc Lemonjello]

Also my deresa has not been to happy and I think I have found out why.

It’s Lenny! The flametail seems to like nipping at the mantle.

Well, I guess I will try to unload the clam.!

I had a bicolor blenny that would destroy LPS. Jerk wasn't even shy about it.

 

[mta_morrow]

I had a bicolor blenny that would destroy LPS. Jerk wasn't even shy about it.

Some blennys are hit or miss.

This guy is one of them.

I absolutely loved my last one, so he stays

I’m keeping an eye on the clam though.

If it starts keeping its mantle retracted, I will find it a new home.

 

[Wheeljack]

Tank's looking good!

Hopefully the aptasia is short lived now.

Question about your deep cleaning routine. When you blow off the rocks, what sort of power head do you use? I bought a small one to use for mixing salt and blowing off the rocks. Any special considerations for coral like don't blast the poor things? I figured something with less umpf would be better.

 

[mta_morrow]

So here are the LED lights I use in the sump area.

Got them at BB&B. Uses 6 AAA batteries. It’s was time to change them.

All 4 lights pivot and it’s held firmly in place with a mounting bracket.

 

[mta_morrow]

Tank's looking good!

Hopefully the aptasia is short lived now.

Question about your deep cleaning routine. When you blow off the rocks, what sort of power head do you use? I bought a small one to use for mixing salt and blowing off the rocks. Any special considerations for coral like don't blast the poor things? I figured something with less umpf would be better.

I have only ever used a turkey baster for blowing off the rocks.

And since I have added the 2nd gyre, and running the otc cycle, I have minimal stuff that blows off.

Super happy with how the gyres work in my tank!

 

[mta_morrow]

A few pics inside the sump area

Return pump and UV pump(back up return)

6 liters of Seachem matrix and denitrate and a few extra pieces of rock

 

[mta_morrow]

And as promised pics of my Octo Aquatics gear

Thanks @cromag27