My 50 gallon slice of the ocean

[sromero287]

Congrats on ur progress, SCA tanks are awesome and perfectly built. I saw u are using RSM salt blue bucket, same one i use. One of the main benefits from this salt is to keep parameters as close to natural sea water, my suggestion is to keep ur alk around 7-8 Dkh max cause if in ur corals list are SPS with a high alk u can have the tips of ur sticks burned. That's my .02 [emoji106][emoji225][emoji886]!!!!

 

[LEOreefer]

Congrats on ur progress, SCA tanks are awesome and perfectly built. I saw u are using RSM salt blue bucket, same one i use. One of the main benefits from this salt is to keep parameters as close to natural sea water, my suggestion is to keep ur alk around 7-8 Dkh max cause if in ur corals list are SPS with a high alk u can have the tips of ur sticks burned. That's my .02 [emoji106][emoji225][emoji886]!!!!

Thanks the the advise ! I am keeping calc at 440 and alk at 8.0.

 

[LEOreefer]

I haven’t updated in a few days so here it goes!
My levels are holding right where I like them.
Calcium is 450
Alk 8.4
I saw a slight jump in phosphate and nitrate.
Phosphate was .26
Nitrate was 12-25 ppm ( couldn’t tell the color difference)
I did a 10 gallon water change yesterday and moved the sand around to clear out some of the build up under the sand bed i saw.

I got a great deal on some corals right here on R2r that should be arriving tomorrow! I also ordered the coral box WiFi dosing pump that should be here Monday next week.
I just noticed my skimmer is going nuts , not sure what it could be from I did just make dinner and was frying chicken cutlets. My tank is about 20-30 ft away from the stove. My mushroom and gsp had no response and look happy.

 

[LEOreefer]

Quick update :
I’m having a small algae bloom. It’s brown and looks like it may be diatoms. It’s not as bad as the first time but I guess the tank is still just going through the motions. I’ve lost one or 2 snails but the rest are chugging along. My gsp and mushroom look happy as can be. The corals I ordered are delayed due to my work schedule I told the seller not to ship until the 18th plus this gives me some more time to nail down water parameters!

 

[LEOreefer]

Got a new Toy today! It’s a WiFi doser made by coral box. It was $189 on sale. I wanted something that I could control from my smartphone for ease of use. I tested it using regular salt water and it was dead on. I started dosing NOPOX today, I’m using the doser to dose it. As per instructions I need to dose 3ml per 25 gallons. That would mean I would need to dose 9ml daily. Instead of dosing 9 ml I’m dosing 4.5 daily at 430 pm and will re-evaluate my numbers. My starting numbers are
Nitrate: around 20
Phosphate:30

We will see how the numbers respond. I also have more alage now than I’ve ever had so we will see if that responds. Anyone have experience with NOPX ?

 

[Barrett]

Got a new Toy today! It’s a WiFi doser made by coral box. It was $189 on sale. I wanted something that I could control from my smartphone for ease of use. I tested it using regular salt water and it was dead on. I started dosing NOPOX today, I’m using the doser to dose it. As per instructions I need to dose 3ml per 25 gallons. That would mean I would need to dose 9ml daily. Instead of dosing 9 ml I’m dosing 4.5 daily at 430 pm and will re-evaluate my numbers. My starting numbers are
Nitrate: around 20
Phosphate:30

We will see how the numbers respond. I also have more alage now than I’ve ever had so we will see if that responds. Anyone have experience with NOPX ?

I used nopox and it seemed to work well, I was only dosing 1ml daily and seemed to get cloudy water a lot.

 

[LEOreefer]

I used nopox and it seemed to work well, I was only dosing 1ml daily and seemed to get cloudy water a lot.

I read that could be a problem when carbon dosing. What where your readings prior to nopox ? Or readings off the nopox ?

 

[trevormass7]

Following, beautiful tank

 

[LEOreefer]

Following, beautiful tank

Thank you!

 

[Barrett]

I was around 2-3 ppm nitrate and po4 was around .02. After stoping I am about the same.

 

[LEOreefer]

Tank it’s progressing. I’m still fighting an alage out break. It’s not terrible but definitely worse it’s been since the tank has been up and running. My phosphates are sitting at .02 and nitrates around 20 ppm. I started to get what appears to be green coralline growth which makes sense since I saw a drop in alk and calc from 8.4 to 7.9 alk and 450 to 400 calcium. I bumped those numbers knees back to 8.4 and 450. I don’t think I’m at the point where I need to put the calc and alk on the doser but I’m guessing within the next few weeks I will have to especially once I get my shipment of corals next week. I’m also 3 days into nopox and sitting at a dose of 5.5 ml once a day via doser. I have my bachelor party this weekend and a busy work week so I won’t be around the tank much to observe. How Can I forget! My coral, both my gsp and mushroom look extremely happy and are definitely growing. I know there easy beginner corals but it’s the first time I’ve ever had success with any coral so it’s a great milestone for me. I would love to find a Ricordea mushroom and try that out.
#supportingmembers

 

[LEOreefer]

Update time !
Leaving for my bachelor party tomorrow morning! So I did tank maintenance today as I won’t be home until Sunday. My phosphate is sitting at .03 and nitrates at 5ppm. This is way down from the last measurement and I’m not sure if it’s the fact I ran lights out yesterday or maybe I’m starting to see the NOPOX work! That alage is definitely much thinner and looks like it’s dying. I’m still sitting at a nopox does of 5.5ml when the recommendation is 9ml.
My skimmer has to be emptied pretty much daily as is pulling out this Dark nasty skimmate. I’ve deff seen a huge change in the way the skimmer is working since starting nopox.
Some cool finds today I noticed I had little pods all over my glass today. I’ll post a pic you really can’t see them but they look like dust specs. I also found a little starfish ( I forget the name something with “A”) he was hanging out on my glass.
Monday I have corals shipping out that I got from someone on R2R ! It’s exciting times !

 

[Brew12]

Uh oh, I hope you pulled that little starfish when you saw it!

 

[LEOreefer]

Uh oh, I hope you pulled that little starfish when you saw it!

Lol I did not should I ?!

 

[Denisk]

So I've decided to purchase the doser coral box wifi doser. There's not many reviews but the ones that are out there are really good! Its a 4 head setup that is controlled totally from your phone. I need to bring my alk up to aroun 9 and calcium to about 450. Between the BRS 2 part and kalkwasser I should be able to bring those levels up in no time

Make sure you watch the calibration and bubbles in the airline. My calibration everytime I checked was off. I may have gotten a bad one but it was enough for me to go with something else. The customer service from reefbreeder however was excellent!!

 

[Brew12]

Lol I did not should I ?!

I would have pulled it, but some people like them. They work as an effective part of your CuC but if you feed your tank heavily you can end up with a population of thousands. Just not something that I want. Most species are harmless but there are a few known coral eaters in the Asterina star family.

 

[LEOreefer]

Make sure you watch the calibration and bubbles in the airline. My calibration everytime I checked was off. I may have gotten a bad one but it was enough for me to go with something else. The customer service from reefbreeder however was excellent!!

I actually just noticed today that there was bubbles in the airline and it seems as tho around where the pumps are there’s no fluid at all like it leaked out of the hose

 

[Denisk]

I actually just noticed today that there was bubbles in the airline and it seems as tho around where the pumps are there’s no fluid at all like it leaked out of the hose

Yeah I went through spending money on different tubing and different check lines and couldn't get it. I did speak to someone who had good luck with them. So I would just keep a close eye on them.

 

[LEOreefer]

Update time :

Things continue as planned. My nitrate is 5-12 ppm and phosphate sitting at .02. The corals I bought a few weeks ago are being shipped tomorrow and delivered weds! The corals I got are tsa firework coral, mystic sunset monti, JF freak hair, green Pavona, and a purple green hammer. I’m pumped to give these corals a shot. I paid $100 for all through a seller I met on here!

I’m having some issues with my dosing pump. The fluid is draining out of the tube where it goes into the sump leaving 2-3 inches of dry space. I reached out to the manufacturer and they told me to install check valves. So I went ahead and did it and it really didn’t help. At this point I think I’m going to return it and try a different pump for peace of mind. What’s everyone’s opinion on the dosing pump leaving dry air at the end of the tube ?

 

[marioensf]

Peristaltic pumps shouldn't have that issue, the rollers act as a way to prevent the liquid from moving back and forth; specially small diameter tubing IMO