SubzeroLT

Very nice! More pics please

Must remember to dip corals. Even if its from trusted friends. Its personal responsibility to ensure its pest free. This particular asterina star from a new coral frag looks different from the 'normal' ones that eat algae. Looks larger & has a darker/harder top surface. Using TLF Revive. Quite effective.

Got a new Prime Fuge recently after the previous one was repurposed. New light on the left. Previous one on the right. Slight change in LED configuration + new lens 3D printed a spacer Grows algae fast!!

Some pics of frags from fellow reefers in exchange for measuring PAR or frag trade Pink Stylo Green Birdsnest This was the most recent one from July '20

These day to day temperature variation you mentioned are perfectly normal and likely to occur gradually during the day. I would not call it a 'swing', which usually refers to sudden changes in temperature.

Water should be clear. Timing really depends on the power of the pump and amount of water mixed. You can also refer to this post

Random pics Gone to a good home Its frustrating when test kits give false readings. My Salifert Mg test kit (new box purchased a year ago. Not expired) was giving bad readings. Basically it does not change from pink to blue even when the whole syringe of reagents is used. Giving the perception that Mg is > 1500ppm.. The reality was Mg was dropping steadily to 1260ppm range for an extended period of time but it was not detected. Not good. I think this is a very isolated case. Possibly poor storage conditions or sitting standstill for too long? This post is not to bash a particular brand of test kit. Key point is if you suspect a faulty test kit, take action ASAP. Borrow or get another kit and not be complacent. I then got a Nyos magnesium test kit instead and find it very good. The color change from pink to blue is very distinct. Gentle reminder to reefers to wash & dry their frag cutter. Over time, rust can form even on 316 stainless steel.

Agree with SunkistC on zero nitrates & phosphates being a bad thing in a closed aquarium. One quick way is to feed more meaty foods (eg mysis cubes or chopped prawns) to raise nitrate/phosphate to the suggested levels.

Its been 1.5 months since running the AquaUV It was a good time to learn a little more on them with some use. Here are some findings : Love the improved water clarity. There were concerns about UV affecting trace elements such as iron. From recent ICP test, my tank's iron levels are perfectly fine. Provides some needed peace of mind that the water quality is improved 2 factors come into play to remove harmful protozoa. Need a recommended exposure of UV light. Cannot be too high for mixed reef as it may affect planktonic food supply needed for mixed reef. (45,000 µw/cm² for mixed reef & 90,000 µw/cm² for FOWLR) Need about 3x-5x tank turnover rate at the above exposure Based on the AquaUV product specs, based on 5x turnover rate For a mixed reef , the 25W unit is sufficient for a 640L tank. And the 57W unit is sufficient for 1700L tank. For fish only, the 25W is sufficient for 320L tank. And the 57W unit is sufficient for 850L tank. My thoughts on the 57W unit on a mixed reef : Practical. It gives one the option to max it out in events of ich outbreaks and other fish disease. If worried its too powerful, run it on a timer. My apex programming is as follows :

Fragged the chalice for a friend. Fortnightly harvest of hair algae.

Some phone pics from the weekend Side view Euphyllia garden. Green octo pressing against the glass Hope it does not propogate all over the tank as this gets trimmed by the wavemaker Full suite of additives. Dosed on Mon, Wed & Saturday.

The choice between the 2 probably will depend on tank size. Assuming a relatively similar tank load (mix of SPS/LPS), 1-2ft tank - consumption can easily be met with a dosing pump. 3ft tank - its a choice point between cost & long term convenience of a calcium reactor 4ft & above - clearly a calcium reactor for convenience A couple of points to note on using dosing pumps : If consumption is high, say 50cc - 100cc per day, then the dosing container needs to be refilled very often. If using purchased solution, that can be expensive. If self mixing powder, it can be troublesome. Dosing tubes especially the alkalinity line tends to clog. Needs to be checked weekly. Preventive tube change may be needed Need to get a good dosing pump that can hold its calibrated volumes well (i.e. good quality peristaltic pump tubes & mechanism)

Suggest to stop dosing various additives. If this is bacteria bloom, let the skimmer skim it out over the next days. If the slime & cloudiness persists, then UV filter is the easiest solution.

Time to change fleece. The last roll lasted 2 months 9 days. Quite good. Playing around with the new DD Gen2 Coral Color lens. Will post more pics tomorrow.

Making a larger ring for the chalice frag. Printed it out of ABS material. All done. Chalice removed from tank Underside of the frag. This is the 3rd extension. A mess of material used. But i just print with whatever ABS is loaded. Back in the tank within 2 min

These are rocks given by fellow reefers. Were in very bad dirty state. Soaking in vinegar is supposed to melt away some of the dirty surface, resulting in less organics waste when setting the tank. i.e.attempting to start with a clean slate. Below is a screen shot from BRSTV.

Welcome back!! Yeah. Look forward to your updates.

You can find sulfur media from Aquamarin (Skimz brand). In the past, I also got it from DE Aquatic (Caribsea brand)

Seachem denitrate works. Inlet water can be 10ppm nitrate. Output water can be 0.5ppm nitrate (or even 0ppm). However it dripped at a slow rate @ 1 drop per second. For a 850L tank, this drip rate is not effective enough in the whole scheme of things. I later switch to biopellet reactor which is basically carbon dosing. It is effective but has its issues : For the amount of media used (~700ml), it needed very very high flow rate through the fluidized reactor (possibly 2000L/hr) to prevent the biopellets from clumping Biopellet water is fed directly into the skimmer for it to take away the excess slime. However its very likely that not all the slime is removed by the skimmer Was using NP biopellet (not cheap @ $100 per liter). It depletes quite fast and expect to use about 2 bags per year. Some cyano bacteria appeared in low flow areas of the display tank after about 2 months. Hence the decision to take it down. After removing the biopellet reactor, nitrates shot up to the 25ppm levels. I'm currently using a sulfur reactor. It has its set up challenges but feel its the best choice made so far and will likely use this long term. Pros : Media will last for many years. Just set it up & leave it. Despite quite heavy daily feeding. Tank nitrate level is about 2.5ppm. Good enough. I think a larger reactor is needed if there is a need to reduce further. Cons : The sulfur reactor tends to clog very easily because the effluent flow isn't high. It has a lot of slime that will even clog a 6mm hose. Due to the regular clogging, I rely on the ORP meter/Apex to monitor. Next steps could be to use a Versa peristaltic pump. That should resolve the clogging issue entirely. Initial set up is more expensive - recirculating reactor like a calcium reactor, ORP meter/controller

The Nyos Torq reactor works very well. The media fluidizing capability is amazing, allowing good contact time & able to control phosphates quickly. I placed it in the compartment between skimmer & return section (that's the only space available) At the same time, my tank's pH was quite low ~ 7.8. Partially contributed by the high effluent rate from the calcium reactor (~ 140ml/min). A 'refugium' box growing algae is supposed to help take up some of the CO2. Hence it became a choice point to sacrifice the Nyos Torq in place of a box to take up CO2 laden water. Pic below shows the Prime fuge light + acrylic box straddling on top of the media section. Since the rowa is still needed, its now running using a TLF Phosban 150 reactor. Its clearly less effective compared to a Nyos Torq for this tank size.

Thanks

Lovey shot. Yeah...they are very elusive.

Tops down iPhone pics This purplish candy cane is changing color under very high light. Top up CR today.

Wow...2 tubes. It will surely hold. I thought 1/2 tube should be sufficient. A small bit goes a long way. You can control the M2 output power with Mobius or Reeflink @ 1% increments. With that, you will be able to get a totally silent drainage as well.

Sometimes its hard to frag zoa when they grow on rocks. 3D printed a simple 'connected' frag plate where the tabs are easy to cut with a knife. Makes more sense for zoa than stony corals. A frag of zoa Stuck the chalice on anyway Close up of the bottom