Journal 300

[MartyK]

Very happy to see you haven't packed your tank to the walls with corals and have left room for growth! Your reef looks wonderful now and will fill in beautifully. Your adjustments now sound like the progression most reef tanks (and their keepers) go through just past the one-year mark as you re-balance the increase in demand from coral, fish, and algae growth with the resulting nutrient increases. This is how most reef keepers end up with a few storage totes of various reactors, media, and other gadgets. I think I still have bags of GFO and biopellets I should have given away years ago...

Are you using a simple system of pumping top-off water through saturated kalk in a reactor for that dosing? You mentioned the pH differences with the building sealed or windows open, have you evaluated an outdoor air source and CO2 scrubber for your protein skimmer as an additional pH booster?

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

This is how most reef keepers end up with a few storage totes of various reactors, media, and other gadgets. I think I still have bags of GFO and biopellets I should have given away years ago...

Yep… shed… garage… loft… All full 😂

Are you using a simple system of pumping top-off water through saturated kalk in a reactor for that dosing?

Even simpler than that @MartyK . Just a separate ATO tank behind the tank for the moment, kalk stirred in and being pumped in by auto doser. It’s just a way to get started.

You mentioned the pH differences with the building sealed or windows open, have you evaluated an outdoor air source and CO2 scrubber for your protein skimmer as an additional pH booster?

It’s potentially an option but would be a long run. Considered this option a few times but so far not executed.

If kalkwasser and a refugium can reduce/condense the pH swings to 0.2 difference, then will settle for that level of consistency for now. We are generally trending back towards the 8’s this passed month, but it’s slow progress.

Really waiting to see how this plays out first. Testing tomorrow so will see if there’s room for upping the kalkwasser dosing further.

 

[Deano3]

Hi @Geoffrey Rea hope your well mate just wondering how all your setups are going. Dean

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Hi @Geoffrey Rea hope your well mate just wondering how all your setups are going. Dean

Hey Dean.

Guess it’s been a while huh. Looking after the systems and livestock in work has sort of stole the posting thunder.

They’re going well; pond, reef and bonsai at home. May start up a journal for a small 45P low tech that’s running at work. Will update the journals this weekend 😎

 

[Deano3]

I have been busy lately aswel but find myself coming back more lately, missing having a setup 😅 .

was looking at small dooa neo glass air and also small no filter tanks but now thinking a mini m as more scope and can actually have fish also thinking high tech now.

no room for a larger tank and want something small easy and cheap to rescape etc.
Looking forward to update and a new low tech jurnal @Geoffrey Rea .

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

was looking at small dooa neo glass air and also small no filter tanks but now thinking a mini m as more scope and can actually have fish also thinking high tech now.

Dude… just scape your all in one as a freshwater if you still have it. Would be so easy going.

 

[Deano3]

Dude… just scape your all in one as a freshwater if you still have it. Would be so easy going.

Not a fan of all in one tanks for fresh water want a nice looking ADA 😅 with a nice slim light etc and external filter, also don't want a cube tank. Going to have to have to get on with something though 😁

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Where were we? Marine… marine… 🤔

Ah yes, now I remember. Marine!!! The infinite money pit that has direct access to every pay check and targets the wallets of the weak willed. How could you forget 🤣

It’s been a while and been beavering away. We’re now on Kalkwasser and All For Reef dosing.

Managed to shift the pH a wee bit into a more desirable range:

Alk is locked in at 9dKH and Ca at 440 so dosing stays where it is, pH be damned.

You can spot the difference when folks are out of the house on the picture above, night and day difference. Alas… the family refuse to stop breathing in and out and the only cure will be open windows this summer for more stable co2.

An average of 8pH in winter is fair though:

In a period of self inflicted upheaval. The tank has settled and two species of coral grow particularly well; Goniopora’s and Acro’s.

On this note, mid way through jettisoning 80% of the LPS colonies. Hammers, Frogspawn, Elagance, Candy Canes, Duncan… all going:

Clam gone too.

Pulled the Pocillopora colony out wholesale from the base to free up some room and return good flow. Got the size of a skull and had the weight to boot.

We’re also running bare bottom and all the sand has been removed. 50% of the coral out and the tank has some space to play again:

Forgive the day glow orange frag rack, that’s the youngest sons choice 🤦🏻‍♂️

But we’re now in a position to start restocking. Already have five new Goniopora’s to get growing:

The hunt for some acros will have to wait until all the remaining LPS has been removed.