A Highschooler's Reef Build

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Got a BRS dual reactor and GFO and ROX carbon for about $100. Also got a TaoTronics LED grow light for $27 on amazon.
I’ve been having a diatom issue so I got some ceriths from reef cleaners, should be coming soon.
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Are you still having a diatom issue? I had one for about 4 months! If you're having trouble let me know and I'll share everything I did in the end that I "think" solved it
 
Are you still having a diatom issue? I had one for about 4 months! If you're having trouble let me know and I'll share everything I did in the end that I "think" solved it

A lot of the diatoms have gone away but there is still a slight brown tint on my rocks and my back glass that won’t seem to go away! Would love to hear what you did, any help is appreciated!
 
A lot of the diatoms have gone away but there is still a slight brown tint on my rocks and my back glass that won’t seem to go away! Would love to hear what you did, any help is appreciated!

Sounds like they are going away fast for you so you may not need to take any drastic measures. I did constant water changes and cleaning the sand and rocks and it offered little in the way of getting rid of the diatoms. If the continue to be an issue for you, try these as I think they offered the best way to combat it for me.

1. Put mechanical filters over your power heads. They will pretty much gunk up in a day. Wash them every day, this seems to clear them out faster than cleaning the sand.
2. Mexican Turbo Snails were the only ones to make enough of a dent in the diatom outbreak. No other snail helped. Becareful as they grow fast and have a tendency to knock over coral that isn't glued down
3. Sea Lettuce! I posted a quick storyu how in the end sea lettuce seemed to get rid of the diatoms completely. Not sure if it was a co-incidence or not, but give it a shot.
 
Hey - nice build. Curious how much rock you ordered from Reef Cleaners and how much did you end up using? Also, did you cure the rock, or was it ready to add to the tank?
 
Sounds like they are going away fast for you so you may not need to take any drastic measures. I did constant water changes and cleaning the sand and rocks and it offered little in the way of getting rid of the diatoms. If the continue to be an issue for you, try these as I think they offered the best way to combat it for me.

1. Put mechanical filters over your power heads. They will pretty much gunk up in a day. Wash them every day, this seems to clear them out faster than cleaning the sand.
2. Mexican Turbo Snails were the only ones to make enough of a dent in the diatom outbreak. No other snail helped. Becareful as they grow fast and have a tendency to knock over coral that isn't glued down
3. Sea Lettuce! I posted a quick storyu how in the end sea lettuce seemed to get rid of the diatoms completely. Not sure if it was a co-incidence or not, but give it a shot.

Thanks for the info. If it doesn’t recede, I’ll definitely try them out
 
Hey - nice build. Curious how much rock you ordered from Reef Cleaners and how much did you end up using? Also, did you cure the rock, or was it ready to add to the tank?

Thanks, I ordered 100 lbs of live rock for $180. I ended up using all of it with about 1 pound of rubble left over. Reef Cleaners rock is already pre-cured in a deep well for several months, so I didn’t have to cure the rock
 
Its been a while... heres whats new:
Slowly doing less water changes and letting the tank sort of marinate a bit. The purple tang was showing aggression towards the tankmates so I taped a picture of a larger tang to the glass and solved the problem. My dwarf angel has become my least favorite as he ate most of my zoas and likes to chase my foxface. The wrasse also started nipping at my toadstool so it never was able to open up. After setting up an automatic feeder, everyone seems happy now. All in all, the tank has been progressing slowly with a couple of new pieces added. Here are some pictures [emoji1]
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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