75 gallon GlassCages build

[BAMatter]

That's too bad. Although most things seem to be ways to sell you more down the road. Let me know how the ESV stuff goes. I have the 2 part, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm waiting for the red sea to run out... or at least the red sea alk and then I will do a big switch out.

This was one of the reasons i wanted to use the ESV. Seems like a very simple system, and the calcium part includes mag…

 

[BAMatter]

I’m done trying to achieve 8.3 with kalk. It’s putting alk figures all over the place. I slid my kalk dosing schedule to 6:30am-6:30pm since PH in my system is lowest at those hours, and I’ve dialed in 8.20-8.22. Ends up being around 1500ml. Also looks like I’m getting about a .2dkh drop on top of that. I’ll be getting the ESV b-ionic system on the dosers and start adding that daytime Alk stability as well.

 

[BAMatter]

Latest ICP test. Little concerned about the molybdenum creeping up the past couple months, also the bromine and iodine drop I’ll address. Going to cut back on Aquavitro Fuel about 50% and separately dose bromine and iodine, as the molybdenum gets consumed and falls back to the range I’d like it in. I’m also keeping an eye on silicates and will run Seagel to bring down if needed, and will also add another silicate removing stage to my RODI filter. I have MECoral MEIons pack of individual elements on order and will start dosing when they show up. Other than that, full steam ahead

 

[BAMatter]

Current tank pic, water a tick cloudy recently fed phyto and no lens on camera…

 

[Llorgon]

Tank is looking awesome. I'm jealous!

How is the esv ionic working out?

 

[BAMatter]

Tank is looking awesome. I'm jealous!

How is the esv ionic working out?

Seems to be doing well so far… dosing 9ml daily and it’s keeping Alk 8.5-8.6kh, and my PH 8.3-8.4 due to the 1200ml of Kalkwasser daily.

 

[BAMatter]

Figured I’d post my current dosing/feeding just for tracking purposes. Tank seems to be doing well, Alk has stabilized at 8.7dkh…

DAILY:
1200ml dosing 24/7 of kalk
7.5ml of B-Ionic Alk/Cal
Live Phyto - 9ml
Auto feeder 2 rotations 4 times
Frozen food at night

MON, WED, FRI:
Aquavitro Fuel - 5ml

SUNDAYS:
Spot feed Coral Frenzy
MECoral individual elements:
Potassium - 18 drops
Strontium - 15 drops
Iodine - 15 drops
Bromide - 15 drops

WEDNESDAYS:
Spot feed Coral Frenzy
Iodine - 15 drops

 

[Llorgon]

Figured I’d post my current dosing/feeding just for tracking purposes. Tank seems to be doing well, Alk has stabilized at 8.7dkh…

DAILY:
1200ml dosing 24/7 of kalk
7.5ml of B-Ionic Alk/Cal
Live Phyto - 9ml
Auto feeder 2 rotations 4 times
Frozen food at night

MON, WED, FRI:
Aquavitro Fuel - 5ml

SUNDAYS:
Spot feed Coral Frenzy
MECoral individual elements:
Potassium - 18 drops
Strontium - 15 drops
Iodine - 15 drops
Bromide - 15 drops

WEDNESDAYS:
Spot feed Coral Frenzy
Iodine - 15 drops

That's a lot of stuff added to the tank!

What has made the biggest change for you? Ahas anything you've been adding made a noticeable difference to the growth/colour of the corals?

 

[BAMatter]

That's a lot of stuff added to the tank!

What has made the biggest change for you? Ahas anything you've been adding made a noticeable difference to the growth/colour of the corals?

I’d probably say the kalk… I’ve never had better extension from euphyllia before. Starting to believe the PH hype !

 

[Llorgon]

Oh interesting. Once I get through my algae troubles I'll have to look into better stabilizing my pH.

What are you using to monitor and dose the kalk? Does it dose based on the current pH or just the same amount each day?

 

[BAMatter]

Oh interesting. Once I get through my algae troubles I'll have to look into better stabilizing my pH.

What are you using to monitor and dose the kalk? Does it dose based on the current pH or just the same amount each day?

I’m using a Hydros controller to monitor PH and control the peristaltic pump. I originally started dosing kalk based off PH and kept a stable line between 8.30-8.31, but there were too many inconsistencies with CO2 in my house it seemed. Sometimes it would dose 3000+ml daily to keep up, sometimes far less than 1400ml’s. On days it was very high it was more than my evap rate. It made me uneasy dealing with that plus the alk swings that followed even though PH was steady. I decided to switch to a 24/7 dosing regimen that is about 1400ml’s daily. My pump dumps about 25ml’s every 15 mins. PH isn’t “stable” per se, but is definitely at good levels and only really swings around .1-.2 daily.

 

[Llorgon]

I’m using a Hydros controller to monitor PH and control the peristaltic pump. I originally started dosing kalk based off PH and kept a stable line between 8.30-8.31, but there were too many inconsistencies with CO2 in my house it seemed. Sometimes it would dose 3000+ml daily to keep up, sometimes far less than 1400ml’s. On days it was very high it was more than my evap rate. It made me uneasy dealing with that plus the alk swings that followed even though PH was steady. I decided to switch to a 24/7 dosing regimen that is about 1400ml’s daily. My pump dumps about 25ml’s every 15 mins. PH isn’t “stable” per se, but is definitely at good levels and only really swings around .1-.2 daily.

That's cool you can have it dose based on the ph. I could see how that would get tricky though depending on how many people are in the house at any given time.

I will definitely have to look into that. Since I temporarily shut off my refugium light, my nighttime swings have been larger. I did notice when my wife and I were away for a couple days the ph of the tank got up to 8.7

 

[Llorgon]

I can't remember if I have asked this before, but what settings do you have your octo pulses on?

 

[BAMatter]

I can't remember if I have asked this before, but what settings do you have your octo pulses on?

I alternate these every 30 mins. The output tiles are set to 100% max speed.

 

[Llorgon]

Are those the output tiles on the main page of the app? Like below?

 

[BAMatter]

Are those the output tiles on the main page of the app? Like below?

The first pics I posted were the schedules I run. My output tiles look like this…

 

[BAMatter]

Are those the output tiles on the main page of the app? Like below?

I’d say you aren’t pushing enough flow, if your pumps are spinning at 360 rpm running 53%… need to increase your pumps max speed substantially. Currently are very low as you have them set up unless I’m missing something. You may have found part of your issue.

 

[Llorgon]

Oh. I had them opposite. Pumps were set to max 85% and on the schedule it was set to 100%. I think I had them backwards. I switched them up similar to yours with the pumps max and the schedule limited to see how things do.

I don't find the wave engine very intuitive to program.

 

[BAMatter]

Oh. I had them opposite. Pumps were set to max 85% and on the schedule it was set to 100%. I think I had them backwards. I switched them up similar to yours with the pumps max and the schedule limited to see how things do.

I don't find the wave engine very intuitive to program.

You can set them up that way, just know that the fastest the pumps will go is 85% if the schedule is set for 100%.

I’ll have to disagree with them not being intuitive. The way they have the programming, you can set all sorts of different schedules at different intensities. If you want to do LPS mode at 50% for 4 hours, 60% for 4 hours, etc etc it easily allows this. Just need to keep in mind that those percentages are based off the pumps max speed in the tile settings.

 

[jhadaway]

Already had to call an audible on the skimmer situation. The BM Curve 5 Elite I originally wanted was on backorder, so I went with the Reef Octopus Classic 150INT. Should be a stronger skimmer, I just didn’t want to go too undersized with the 110INT. Also going to take up a bit too much space in the sump, so I’ll need to modify my plans for what carbon and GFO reactors I’ll be using. The 2 Little Fishies reactors look fairly narrow and will be able to hang on the inside of the sump wall even with the lip, and I’ve seen people running them in series so running them both off of 1 manifold output will be doable. Not even too sure if I’ll need a GFO reactor with the size of the fuge that I’ll be running with the bigger skimmer, PO4/NO3 should easily be kept in check, in theory anyways, but carbon will definitely be running.

I have the same skimmer. It's been great. Just make sure it's up on a stand if yo have a deep sump. I didn't....