Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[SashimiTurtle]

Anyone wondering, this is the exact sand to avoid... it's the Tahitian Moon color and I'm certain it has been discontinued by Caribsea for killing freshwater fish.

 

[Why-Me]

Anyone wondering, this is the exact sand to avoid... it's the Tahitian Moon color and I'm certain it has been discontinued by Caribsea for killing freshwater fish.

So super and so natural they left the rare earth metals intact in the sand...

 

[SashimiTurtle]

It's supposed to be a fish tank not a wrench tank ;Smuggrin

Probably could have forged a wrench with the metal content of my water. 500ppm nickel at one point.

BTW, DO NOT use H2O2 in a metal contaminated tank. Instantly oxidizes everything in the tank. Zoas close up instantly and melt in hours...

 

[sfin52]

Anyone wondering, this is the exact sand to avoid... it's the Tahitian Moon color and I'm certain it has been discontinued by Caribsea for killing freshwater fish.

I believe it was recalled

 

[SashimiTurtle]

So super and so natural they left the rare earth metals intact in the sand

We figured the lava went thru a metal vein when it came thru the earth. Whatever was in it when collected, got pulverized and went right into the bags.

My tip off after finding so much metal on ICP was dragging a magnet thru the sand looking for a screw or razor, picking it up and all the sand was stuck to the magnet. Brew offered to test it before the magnet, but while the sample was in the mail, I was pulling sand out and throwing it away.

FWIW, the "Hawaiian Black" sand was tested also in the above thread. It had trace amounts of iron, which should be ok if you have a fuge to use it up... but I wont trust anything but pure white aragonite sand from now on.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I believe it was recalled

I believe you're right.

 

[living_tribunal]

I swear, some people on here can be so frustrating. People take idioms of the hobby and use them to excuse everything.

If another person tells me to stop chasing numbers when I'm trying to figure out how to increase phosphates to combat dino, I'm going to drink this bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Lol, let me just leave my tank alone and starve my corals of nutrition while allowing dino to bloom unfettered in the name of "letting the tank work itself out".

Facepalm. My rant is over, I promise.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I swear, some people on here can be so frustrating. People take idioms of the hobby and use them to excuse everything.

If another person tells me to stop chasing numbers when I'm trying to figure out how to increase phosphates to combat dino, I'm going to drink this bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Lol, let me just leave my tank alone and starve my corals of nutrition while allowing dino to bloom unfettered in the name of "letting the tank work itself out".

Facepalm. My rant is over, I promise.

I've been thru the ringer in the hobby... and I think a happy medium is the best approach in normal situations. Dont chase numbers but let them tell you where they want to be, within reason.

When having issues that effect the health of your tank and leaving it be would cause certain damage. Chase the numbers...

 

[living_tribunal]

I've been thru the ringer in the hobby... and I think a happy medium is the best approach in normal situations. Dont chase numbers but let them tell you where they want to be, within reason.

When having issues that effect the health of your tank and leaving it be would cause certain damage. Chase the numbers...

I'm not even chasing numbers, I'm chasing ANY number that isn't 0 lol. Imagine someone taking that advice to just let phosphates stay at 0 and not worry about dino.

I don't like my lps flaccid, nor my sps bleached.

I don't know who you all are, but I like you all already lol.

Oh ya, get the plate Caveman or I'll get it for you.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I bought it. I feel no shame. It is the most beautiful plate I have seen.

 

[living_tribunal]

I bought it. I feel no shame. It is the most beautiful plate I have seen.

It's going to look even more beautiful in your tank. We're here to peer pressure you caveman, that's what friends are for.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I'm not even chasing numbers, I'm chasing ANY number that isn't 0 lol. Imagine someone taking that advice to just let phosphates stay at 0 and not worry about dino.

I don't like my lps flaccid, nor my sps bleached.

I don't know who you all are, but I like you all already lol.

Oh ya, get the plate Caveman or I'll get it for you.

I'm sure you've tried thousands of things... but I found most times when N or P are low, to just make your fish fat. Feed the daylights out of them. I had some problems before with bottomed out nutrients and I started feeding two and sometimes three times a day. I feed LRS frozen most of the time, as it's pretty natural and balanced in nutrients so things dont get sideways. That and a huge fuge soaking up excess nutrients and pumping natural bugs into the display help me keep a tank from going sideways. I also love phyto. It's so good for the tank, it can act as a refugium in limited capacity and doesn't elevate N or P yet is the first stepping stone of the reef food pyramid.

Of course, my tank is sideways now from neglecting it for 2 months... so I may know nothing like Jon Snow.

 

[living_tribunal]

I'm sure you've tried thousands of things... but I found most times when N or P are low, to just make your fish fat. Feed the daylights out of them. I had some problems before with bottomed out nutrients and I started feeding two and sometimes three times a day. I feed LRS frozen most of the time, as it's pretty natural and balanced in nutrients so things dont get sideways. That and a huge fuge soaking up excess nutrients and pumping natural bugs into the display help me keep a tank from going sideways. I also love phyto. It's so good for the tank, it can act as a refugium in limited capacity and doesn't elevate N or P yet is the first stepping stone of the reef food pyramid.

Of course, my tank is sideways now from neglecting it for 2 months... so I may know nothing like Jon Snow.

I did that but went a little overboard and caused a bacterial bloom in the tank.

I also couldn't even make a dent in the phosphate increases. I'm dosing a full .1ppm of phosphate and not even that is keeping it up above 0. Randy broke it down to me what's going on so I have a better idea on what to do. Dang dry rock. Next time I'm going to cure the dry rock in phosphate at the precise range that I want. That's a way to avoid this altogether. Going to experiment with it.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I did that but went a little overboard and caused a bacterial bloom in the tank.

I also couldn't even make a dent in the phosphate increases. I'm dosing a full .1ppm of phosphate and not even that is keeping it up above 0. Randy broke it down to me what's going on so I have a better idea on what to do. Dang dry rock. Next time I'm going to cure the dry rock in phosphate at the precise range that I want. That's a way to avoid this altogether. Going to experiment with it.

What dry rock did you use...? I understand yours is acting as a phosphate sink? News to me. Love that about this hobby; science, math, wizardry...

 

[living_tribunal]

What dry rock did you use...? I understand yours is acting as a phosphate sink? News to me. Love that about this hobby; science, math, wizardry...

So any dry rock with calcium carbonate will bind phosphate. Argonite sand and rock can bind up to 52ppm of phosphate per lb. It also acts as a buffer releasing phosphate when levels in the tank decrease an absorbing it when they increase.

So right now, most all of the phosphate I'm adding are being bound to the rock.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

So any dry rock with calcium carbonate will bind phosphate. Argonite sand and rock can bind up to 52ppm of phosphate. It also acts as a buffer releasing phosphate when levels in the tank decrease an absorbing it when they increase.

So right now, most all of the phosphate I'm adding are being bound to the rock.

Huh, does it always do that? I dont think I've ever experienced it, or maybe I haven't paid any attention to it? I have ocean direct live sand "directly from the ocean floor" and caribsea liferock, which is basically aragonite sand that had been cemented together into different shapes then coated with some purple colored stuff and bacteria spores.

 

[living_tribunal]

Huh, does it always do that? I dont think I've ever experienced it, or maybe I haven't paid any attention to it? I have ocean direct live sand "directly from the ocean floor" and caribsea liferock, which is basically aragonite sand that had been cemented together into different shapes then coated with some purple colored stuff and bacteria spores.

It's only with dry rock, but no I don't think it's too common. I'm not too knowledgeable on specifics and am trying to find as much info on it as possible. There's just not much.

I have a thread about it and currently there is some testy individual being a hot head in it, but you can check out what others are saying (beyond him) here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/p...specific-questions.664261/page-5#post-6731777

 

[JoshH]

I hope everyone enjoyed the real time enabling that just occurred.

I enjoyed the replay munching on some snacks! Gotta say you lasted longer than most of us would, impressive!

Did not say, but I would assume so. It really is beautiful. Yes, I am smiling. At least I got something done at work.

I'm with @Why-Me, every one of those buttons would be pushed if I was there, I would fulfill all of those buttons destiny's of being pushed ;Smuggrin

I bought it. I feel no shame. It is the most beautiful plate I have seen.

And don't feel shame, embrace the enabling with open arms

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Did not say, but I would assume so. It really is beautiful. Yes, I am smiling. At least I got something done at work.

How did I miss this? Yes, mash all the buttons.



What do they do?

 

[NY_Caveman]

How did I miss this? Yes, mash all the buttons.

What do they do?

TV magic. I basically do what an editor does, but I do it live, in real time, based on what a director calls. Cutting cameras and feeds, overlaying graphics, whooshy wipes, heads in boxes, heart wipes, etc. I am responsible for all visual aspects of a show.