obrien.david.j

Maybe they are confused and think it could be Agoraphobia, and are nervous to say something.

OBrien CNC Superman, Check-in: July 6 Still not sprinting for me. Currently working on increasing Nitrates in my system slightly.

I'm going to modify, and try this. Going to take a red sea bucket, strap some contact info on it, and set it out at the foot of my driveway. I'll post a picture after I do it. Would be nice to make some closer contacts. In that same spirit, this past weekend I was reading an older neighborhood newsletter. And there's an article about an Aquarist in Cedar Mill (my area).

Punch line, don't Use. "NOTE: Not intended for use with potable water" googled: ez flo pvc air hose Lowes offering looked about the same: https://www.lowes.com/pd/EASTMAN-3-8-in-Inner-Diameter-x-10-ft-PVC-Reinforced-Air-Hose/1000180611 its tricky, it does say; "Designed for high-pressure applications involving air and water" but, doesn't say anything about potable or food safeness Tried CA Prop 65 - which says it can cause cancer... Which seems like most things these days. Tried Installation Guide has the warning in it: http://pdf.lowes.com/installationguides/091712013402_install.pdf "NOTE: Not intended for use with potable water" BTW, I started by googling food safe pvc air hose. And every hose that came up looked some kind of transparent or white.

I run mine empty. If my setup read 250psi, I'd be very close to empty. Normal full tank reading for me is around 850psi-ish.

Double and taller than I'm thinking. I just drew up plans for a 65" long x 40" wide x 26" tall. I want taller than 24", but worried about going 27" or taller. And you're doing 36". Mainly fish tank, or still heavy corals? I need to send out requests for quotes. Who'd you pick, and how long did they quote to manufacture? I'm a glass person, yours glass?

I like the idea of a tops down only viewing of the black one. Being long and narrow, feels like it needs something special to accentuate the longness of it. How about two alternating return pumps, one on each end. And put things inside that will sway with the current (gorgonians, gsp, ...) and is there any animals that will naturally switch directions and face into the current. Coral Banded Shrimp, Blue Chromis, two cleaner shrimp with the big racing stripe down the middle... Is there a way so one end is the overflow, other end is the return flow source. and then make them switch roles. the first end is the return flow, and the other end is the overflow. Thus a clean back and forth action. Oh, what would be awesome could be eel grass and pipefish.

It's a pretty good hobby, if you can break even from each build - and build up some reefing friends in the process.

I was running dKH around 11, and I had a tip burning incident this spring. And now I learn I had zero PO4 and NO3... Live and learn.

I want in on some IPA! I seem to be buying a lot of Breakside IPA recently.

Although I plan to try non-dosing options for the next 10 days... Supplies Ordered! (Yes, its a smaller sized Potassium Nitrate, - its whats available.)

I always worry about using products like this in my tank. Super easy to have metal shavings/etc impurities in it, and still meet it's original purpose. I'm currently running AWC at to 2.4gal(9,000ml) per day, done three different 3,000ml slots. I'll have to watch minors more carefully in the future.

I suspected there was dosing going on. Thx.

OBrien Acan-A, Check-in: June 25: I took a step back this month. My previous mini-frag tank had Aptasia. And they weren't coming with the corals into the new frag tanks. So on June 12th, i snapped my frag off it's plug and transplanted it. In the process, I cracked the skeleton. So, attached is the June 12th picture (bright white plug) and today's photo. No need to get too close, nor fancy. At the same time, I've determined my system is low on NO3. So starting yesterday I'm on a an campaign to increase it. Maybe next month my acan frag will show some grown... June 12th New Frag Plug June 25th photos

Grrr - I love skimming. If it smell like crap, it should be removed from my system. It's got to be pulling more out than just NO3 and PO4. I'd rather dose these back in, in pure form.

If it didn't kill bacteria, it should have cooked encrusting inverts on the rock. How mature was your live rock, encrusting sponges/etc? I assume, you've already completed the 100% water change.

Thanks for the inputs everyone. The word Brightwell came up in the feedback, and it made me realize - I may have a 3yr old Brightwell Xport-N03 dimpled brick in the sump. Sure enough, I checked my purchase records and one of my bricks is N03 reducing brick. Now removed. Whats left is a normal Xport-BIO dimpled brick, and a basic bio plate. (pict below) Ancient Brightwell Xport-N03 brick Removed. I've been dosing Brightwell Amino at 1.5ml/day. Just increased that to 3.0ml/day.] I've been feeding 6 cubes a day, just increased to almost double of that - of reef frenzie I've been target feeding alternatively reef roids & bennipets, every 2-3 days. Increasing to every 1-2 days. Think I'll run this way for two weeks, and see where it lands. After that, may still give specific Nitrate additive a try. What remains in the sump now.

And that may be why your corals are growing so well! But do you add anything specific to achieve these results - or is it just Feeding well. Add anything else?

Did I mention I'm a mixed reef of LPS/SPS, but real focus is SPS.

I've noticed my corals not growing as fast any more. Bought a new set of Nitrate and Phosphate test kits , they're showing what I expect - I'm low on Nitrate. Temp : 77F pH: 8.05 Salinity :1.026 Alk : 8.0 CA: 493 Mg: 1360 Phosphate is at 44ppb/0.13ppm. (Hana HI736 ultra low range Phosphorus kit) Nitrate is at best 0.2ppm (Salifert low range test, visually difficult) I don't have a trend in time of my P and N03. And I've never nudged these up chemically. I've got a bunch of fish, and feed 6 cubes of food a day. Standard suggestions will come; feed more, turn off skimmer, dont change filter socks as much, add even more fish My Question: Besides Bio methods above, what do others use to increase or maintain higher nitrate levels? (I'm not going fast, just looking for inputs so I can go slow.)

I love branching rock structures!

When I needed my chiller serviced, Travis at Upscales knew an HVAC person who did it. (few years ago) If you're a complete bust, I'm sitting on a spare 1HP used chiller you could talk me out of selling if needed. Otherwise, it's my long term backup.

Beach is awesome! Recently, got a chance to be out on some water myself. Successful day in the sun.

I knocked mine back last year with Harlequin shrimp too, and they're only now starting to resurface. Only find 1-2 per week now, which I rip out as soon as I spot them. If I had more, I'd offer to save them for you.

Thanks to an Apex Alarm on Friday, I found a faulty chiller plugin. Just in time for the warm weekend. Friday afternoon, got an alarm email flagging my tank temp was higher than expected. I was in a call for work, and couldn't get to the tank before the 2nd alarm came in at 5:45. I try to control to to no hotter than 77.7 degrees, with an alarm set at 78.0. Debugged my setup, and thanks to some recent cable management work - I'd pulled my chiller plug out of the socket half way. Looked like it was plugged in, but wasn't. Few minutes later - Tank back within temp.