29 gallon Reef Recked build

[Reef Recked]

Looks good. Glad to see ya back on track and all things fixed.

Thank you! hopefully it stays that way! even my girlfriend is starting to hound me about when i can actually put fish in the tank

Man, I have loved this build since day one!

Still, do, and thanks for sharing all the steps, procedures and pics!

Thanks Quint! that means alot! the fun is just beginning!

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Fish yet?

 

[Reef Recked]

Hello everyone! So been trying to fix some problems, i had some mold start to grow on my removable pieces of the stand so i had to bleach, sand down, restain and then coat them with a few coats of Poly, so far the mold hasnt come back but we will see how it goes.

my latest issues are my nitrates are still too high i believe for a new tank (16-18 ppm), i even bought the pro algae test kit to make sure it wasnt my other test kit. im doing a 15% water change about every week/ week and a half (trying to get better about it), and just have been ghost feeding a small pinch or two a day of mysis pellets. The only display tank inhabitants are 4 Trochus snails and 5 red legged hermit crabs so far. at the end of cycle i did a 50% WC along with a couple 15% WC a week later. Still havent been able to lower the nitrates. but my phosphates are zero. do you guys think im just feeding to much food ?

And now despite how hard ive tried to keep it out i believe the algae im getting (pictured below) is hair algae? Please let me know if im correct. I think it was introduced on one of my snails from the LFS . I think im going to try to scrape it off and remove as much as i can tonight before doing another water change. and possibly going to get some no3pox nitrate remover and see if once its down how quick it comes back etc.

I have also seeded my tank with 5280 pods, ocean magik Phytoplankton and started my refugium with Clean Chaeto. it is possible that the algae was introduced from one of these products but i think from my research its more likely that it was the snails.

ALSO I have my first fish! a purple firefish that has been in quarantine for a month now so i will be introducing him to the tank this week once i finish putting together the mesh top for my display (i hear they are jumpers!)

See Pictures below and let me know if you have any questions guys!

 

[Reef Recked]

Fish yet?

yes sir about to introduce the purple firefish thats been in quarantine a little over a month!

 

[Iván Olalla]

WOW, very sharp and clean build, love the acrylic work, it's spot on!
Welcome to nano section, not to many builds but very interesting ones to watch!

 

[Reef Recked]

WOW, very sharp and clean build, love the acrylic work, it's spot on!
Welcome to nano section, not to many builds but very interesting ones to watch!

Thank you Ivan! its been a journey so far but excited to finally get some fish and some corals hopefully soon in the tank!

there are definitely some talented people here building some great tanks and reefs, happy to be a part of the community!

 

[Iván Olalla]

Thank you Ivan! its been a journey so far but excited to finally get some fish and some corals hopefully soon in the tank!

there are definitely some talented people here building some great tanks and reefs, happy to be a part of the community!

Keep up the good work and share pics! Happy reefing!

 

[Reef Recked]

Okay update: i scraped off all the algae from the glass, took out my rock in refugium, and brushed all the algae off with a toothbrush then did two 15% water changes. I think the nitrates are coming from my sand! i havent really been cleaning it out because i didnt think i needed too yet until i was feeding heavy and got fish. Immediately after the last water change my nitrates were about 12 ppm and by the next day they dropped to about 7-8 ppm. Now i also think the algaebarn phytoplankton is either dead or just raising my nitrate level cause i put a good amount in the tank (as it was the last day it was still good and my nitrates are now back to about 12 ppm.


Also put together this top to make sure my new inhabitant cant jump out! hes been in the display a few days now and seems to be doing fine although its been harder to get him to eat.




Also when i vacuumed up my sand to clean it alot of milky white substance seemed to come out, i dont think this is normal any ideas on what it is and if the sand is my problem???


I know there are alot of mixed reviews about this but especially cause i started with dry rock but love the look of coralline algae i got some purple helix to try, considering i was already thinking of adding some more nitrifying bacteria and all the proceeds supposedly go to coral reefs in florida i figured id give it a try.


Also im pretty sure i have the hair algae growing within my chaeto! it might have even originated from the chaeto even though it was suppose to be "clean". am i going to have to just throw it all out and start over? any help is appreciated. thank you guys!

 

[Reef Recked]

also not sure why my pictures keep posting sideways, everything i upload is right side up but then when adding it turns sideways ;Dead

 

[Reef Recked]

Also added this inkbird wifi heater controller to make sure my temperature is more consistent and i can check on it from anywhere. the probe i read wasnt resistant or coated to deal with saltwater so i put a coat of silicone over it to keep it protected but at the worst its replaceable. I still plan on eventually building a reef pi controller but this should work nicely until then and then i can use this on my QT tank etc.

- Also cleaned out my SW mixing station, man these get dirty fast! thinking of changing salt to see if it helps i know there are better salts out there just wanted to start with the reef crystals and see how it went.

-Picked up some Nitrate remover im considering using this to try to lower my nitrate and see if my tank can maintain the lower nitrates. I did another 15% WC yesterday and my nitrates appear to be between 8-12 ppm still too high for what im working towards.

- MOST IMPORTANTLY i bid on some WWC corals at their auction and "accidentally" ;Shamefullyembarrased won a duncan so figured i had to try and win some others for the shipping to make more sense. at the end i ended up with a Goochsters Zoa, Rainbow Ricordea, and neon Duncan (also added a cleaner shrimp, emerald crab and some more snails etc. to enhance my clean up crew and hopefully keep the hair algae away)

 

[Pyrosteve]

Great stuff. I'm enjoying watching your progress. I'm in the same boat about a month behind you.

One thing I would suggest is picking up a used Reefkeeper until you get around to building your ReefPi. I planned on doing the same but probably won't bother for a while since I got the RKL. They're discontinued but who cares they're selling for about $100-$150. Really can't beat it. They're in the Dry Goods forum every couple weeks. This was there today...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-keeper-cache.612964/

 

[Reef Recked]

Great stuff. I'm enjoying watching your progress. I'm in the same boat about a month behind you.

One thing I would suggest is picking up a used Reefkeeper until you get around to building your ReefPi. I planned on doing the same but probably won't bother for a while since I got the RKL. They're discontinued but who cares they're selling for about $100-$150. Really can't beat it. They're in the Dry Goods forum every couple weeks. This was there today...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-keeper-cache.612964/

thats awesome Pyro! it starts to get pretty exciting once you start adding the coral. ill have to go through your build!

Thank you, i was thinking of getting a Reefkepper because of the low price but my PH etc is pretty stable and now so is my temp with the heat controller, and i actually just ordered the arduino and some of the other parts for the Reef Pi so im going to start putting it together in the next few weeks

 

[Reef Recked]

Okay got My nassarius snails, hermits, emerald, cleaner shrimp and my first corals acclimated. I also added some extra Shells to hopefully reduce aggression between the hermits (after cleaning the shells). Here are the corals about 24 hours after being in the tank, the duncan shrunk up almost completely but is starting to come out! The hermits were really going at the frag plugs and bothering the coral so i purchased a frag rack today from my LFS to hopefully keep them away and let this corals get settled.

Also my Nitrates are down some to about 10? somewhere between 8-12 id say. im just going to do a 50% water change this weekend to try and get them under 5 and see if it can be maintained.

Anyways here are my tank paramters as of 6/10/2019 (forgot to upload)
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 7/8 ppm
Alkalinity = 6
PH = 8.1
Phosphate = 0
Nitrate (using pro kit) = over 4 / under 8
Calcium = 400
Salifert Phosphate = 0
Water into RODI = 7 TDS
Water out of RODI = 0 TDS

Im hoping once i start mixing the Kalkwasser into my ATO it will raise my Calcium, alkalinity and PH somewhat.

 

[Reef Recked]

okay guys so did another 50% water change this weekend and it appears the nitrates are finally in order. my nitrates are around 3/4 and have been maintaining that for the last three days. as of the water change here are my water parameters.
PH - 8.1 / 8.2
Alkalinity - 7 DKH / 2.5 Mep/L (not 100% on this one kind of confused on when to start with the deepness of the blue color on test kit)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 3/4
Phosphate - 0
Calcium - 455
Water into RODI - 5TDS
Water out RODI - 0 TDS

im okay with those levels but would like to raise my PH/Alk and calcium some which im going to use the Kalk to try and get up.

I also bought a frag rack because my hermits kept trying to clean the plugs and just kept bumping the corals closing them up.
also picked up some tongs, reef roids, and diamond dremel bits for cutting corals and plugs. Its amazing how there is always something else to buy in this hobby.;Greedy

ALSO i ended up getting carried away and bid on some more corals last night I ended up with
WWC Captain America Favia
Yellow Submarine Zoas
Lime Ricordea mushroom
WWC Kraken FAvia
WWC Hulkster Acro

i know the Acro is probly too soon for my tank but i love this coral and got it for a good price so i figured id try it and as long as i hold off on getting anymore itll be okay. ;Nailbiting

Again if anyone knows how i can stop getting my pictures to load sideways that would be great lol.

I started running my Carbon Reactor but should i even worry about running my GFO reactor if my phosphates are already zero?

 

[ReeferReefer]

Loving the build so far. The Inkbird controller is great for the money. I like how you can control a fan with it too.

 

[Reef Recked]

Loving the build so far. The Inkbird controller is great for the money. I like how you can control a fan with it too.

Thank you Reefer! im really liking it especially for it being able to notify me from my phone anywhere etc. and seems to keep my temp pretty steady within .5 degrees most of the time

 

[Reef Recked]

ok always another problem lol, I got home yesterday to the very top of my rocks starting to turn white, i thought the algae was just some time of algae encrusting my rock now im thinking it was actually coralline and the white is light shock that killed it turning it white?
this makes sense to me cause i was running my lights (ViparSpectra 165w) through the cycle etc at only 6% intensity on both channels and now that i have corals in the tank ive raised the intensity to 13% on both channels in just a matter of a few days, while a 6% increase isnt much it is double what they were use to is this possible? I just did a 50% water change this weekend after blowing off all the rocks but they werent exposed very much with the water low. i also have had a small diatom bloom (i think) on top of my sand where i vacuum it the day after water changes.

My calcium is 460,
Nitrate =3/4 ppm
Phosphate = 0
Alkalinity 6.5/7 dkh
PH = 8.1/8.2
Ammonia = 0
Water out of RODI = 0 TDS

Does anyone have any ideas on what they think it could be? or how to remedy this problem?
ive attached pictures but it is kind of hard to tell,

The hard part is that my corals seem to like the increased light, especially the Zoa( of course) yesterday was the most open ive seen him!

 

[ReeferReefer]

Not sure if this is whats happening, but coraline can turn white if it dies. You could have just bleached it but I generally don't find it to be that sensitive to changes in light.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Not sure if this is whats happening, but coraline can turn white if it dies. You could have just bleached it but I generally don't find it to be that sensitive to changes in light.

I find it much more sensitive to changes in Alkalinity.

 

[Reef Recked]

Not sure if this is whats happening, but coraline can turn white if it dies. You could have just bleached it but I generally don't find it to be that sensitive to changes in light.

I find it much more sensitive to changes in Alkalinity.

Yeah i couldnt find much information at all on coralline getting light shock thats why im not too sure, is it possible al my water changes the last few weeks just raised the ALk and kept it up more than it was used too? when i started testing Alk it seemed to be around 5.5/6 now it has been around 7, It was 7 after 50% water change this wednesday but last night was down to 6.5, i plan to start dosing the kalkwasser this weekend to help raise Kalk, PH and originally Calcium, but considering my calcium has been 450/460 im now kind of worried about adding the Kalk, any advice?

Heres some more pictures of the rock its still hard to tell but doesnt seem to have gotten any worse, if anything looks like some GHA is trying to grow on the bare spots now . Its just hard to know what to do cause my duncan seems fully open and the Zoa is looking more colorful than it has since i got it I think if anything they want more light and so will the corals ill be picking up this weekend, i think im just going to leave it and maybe monday/tuesday up it another 3% and every week bump it up 3% until I get to atleast 30/40% intensity?

And this Polyp lab lense is awesome! can finally show you guys more accurately what im seeing.

Also My shrimp Molted!