obrien.david.j

Spent the last four days slowly disassembling the main display tank, fragging, tossing, and moving to the fish room frag tanks. Only left and right islands remain. Found a great technique to capture clowns... Move their favorite coral into a plastic tub, and slightly chase them with the lid. When scared, they move into the coral... And lid snaps on. An intact move to their new temporary home in the frag tanks. Snapshot of mid tank teardown, before frogspawns were removed.

Those are some serious showcase corals! The structure of the Monti is awesome. Well done.

And a view of the light bar just setting behind the tank. 2x4's over the tank are just temporary support (bar will be screwed into the wall behind)

Thanks. My #1 learning from this adventure is... Mixing Station and AWC!!! I should have build the mixing station, AND the auto water change setup 10 years ago! Life would have been soo much better. BTW, I've had auto top off for years. Not as fancy as today, but it worked. (old setup, added a fixed amount of water every day at the same time. Manually increased in warmer summer, decreased in cooler winter. - not precise, but functional) My mixing station is almost a copy of @SuncrestReef setup. Don't forget the detail to set it up high enough off the floor that a 5 gallon bucket can fit under the gravity fed spigots of each tank. Super Easy to get an extra bucket of RO, extra bucket of Salt water. Wouldn't have realized it without John's advice.

Next Phase has actualize - Light Support rack is designed, and has arrived. Tank is going into the corner of the room. Light support rack will be mounted to the wall behind the tank, screwed to the studs. I chose to build out of 8020 (8020.net online) to enable adjustments in height or spacing in the future. Tops Down Side Profile: 8020 structure, Assembled

Don't let the scroll length scare you. It wasn't a hard read.

Just stumbled on this article. I'd forgotten who well written it was. https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-chemistry-phosphate-and-math-yes-you-need-to-understand-both/ I think I'll go back and refresh a bunch of chemistry articles.

My pebbles look like someone ran them through some kind of rough tumbler. As opposed to white chunky gravel. As for Shiny... I'd just washed them in RO water - they're wet in this photo.

My skimmer has always lived in a dedicated room off the garage, outside the house. With a dedicated fresh air feed to the room. (and no cars live in the garage) Therefore, I can't say "Me too" to this one. Except, I happen to have left my CaReactor off last night - and you can see my pH INCREASE without the lower pH effluent entering the system.

Thanks. Adding directly is my next step.

My Mg has been lower lately (~1250, vs prior levels in the 1350-1450 range). So I trying ReMag for the first time. Put about 1lb (half a bag) on the top of my Calc Reactor. Reactor is loaded with ReBorn. Anyone used this before, anything to watch out for.

PM sent.

Welcome back to the hobby. Looking at the equip in your tank, you like water movement! I've always had a higher flow kind of tank setup. Love them.

This spring, I too started over. Complete overhaul of the equipment room. (sump/etc) My conclusion, best thing I've done is build the RO and SW mixing station, and connect them up with DOS pumps to do Daily Auto Top Off, and Daily Auto Water Changes. Why didn't I do this 15 years ago! And now, I'm overhauling the display tank side of the system. Working my way up to taking the existing display tank down and putting its replacement in place. This will happen in October.

Keep the updates coming. Maybe a new photo, each day - and your impressions of what's happening?

I had dinos and just completed this course. Read about treatment many places. Did the Dark Tank for three days. & the two bio bottles. And Bingo. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/80-gallon-dinoflagellate-treatment-bundle-dr-tim-s-bundle.html

call Patrick at Saltwater Obsession. I know he's got a back room of PVC parts, and I've seen Sch40 bulkheads there. Don't know about 1.5", youd just have to ask.

Your last posted picture was "on the bench". Can you post an updated photo of it "in the sump?" I'd like to visualize this better.

So far, I'm happy with it - should have done it years ago. Mad rush to home depot last night to buy flashing, calk, and trim boards. Got it trimmed out and weather proof last night before the rains come today/tonight/tomorrow...

Thank You! Guess I'll have to upgrade my Lucky number to 2. I've been working on my Alk control, and could really use an 2nd test kit/independent validation method. (can someone remind me how to pickup my winnings?)

Upgraded the Fishroom ventilation fan this weekend. Been running a 273CFM Dayton squirrel cage fan mounted in the door for years. It's been noisy, but on the opposite side of the house than bedrooms. Recently I realized it's just not evacuating enough warm air in the evenings. So Upgraded! (No wire management yet, just mounted and tried out) This is a PWM controlled fan, so ramps up/down slowly to reduce noise. Temp and Humidity controller included. Can program based on Timer, Temp, or Humidity setpoints. AC Infinity AIRLIFT T10, Shutter Exhaust Fan 10-inch with Temperature Humidity Controller https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07T75SS7V/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_uSmAFbY6Y9DE2 Before: After:

I'd heard, "there's a local guy who makes stands." I had no idea how good he was, nor how widely he's influence the local aquarist population. I simply repeat my earlier statement, "...I recommend doing business with him." Thanks @spectra

I like the light usage. Give us some details, what'd you put in it - and does it look good in this top down raceway configuration?

Big update for today, The Stand Has Arrived! Pictures below, plus current vision of it skinned out with a hood. Thanks @spectra FWIW, Scott is a stand up guy and I recommend doing business with him.

Would you mind summarizing the situation, and how you've setup control. Time light turn on & turn off Time you turn CR off & on any additional reactive CR off/on cycles (if Alk > X, turn CR off for Y hrs?? anything like this) CR pH control algorithm (simple turn on/off the gas based on CR pH? Or anything else) Is anything setup to react to trident Alk, (or Ca) readings? How often, and what times, is the trident taking readings (If it's easier to paste some Apex code snippets, that's fine) Just trying to compare your results and settings to how my tank is setup. Thanks