ELF's RedSea XL 300 Reeftank

[ELF1024]

Another thing you mention tangs for the tank. They don't do well in 36 inch tank. I tried a bristletooth and the tank was to small for him and stressed him to much.

I'm hoping to find a smaller one that would work for a while then rehome that fish and find another smaller one. I am aware that they like larger tank sizes. Short of a Tang, I suppose a Lawnmower Blenny would work.

 

[Lavey29]

I'm hoping to find a smaller one that would work for a while then rehome that fish and find another smaller one. I am aware that they like larger tank sizes. Short of a Tang, I suppose a Lawnmower Blenny would work.

I had a GHA jungle covering everything. 3 tuxedo urchins and 2 turbos cleaned up my mess in 3 weeks. Get a good diverse cleaner crew as needed. For utilitarian fish look at a yellow coris wrasse and a 6 line. I have both and they are On the hunt all day long for tank pests.

 

[ELF1024]

Date	Time	Temp	Salinity	DKH	PH	NH3/NH4	NO3 ppb	NO2 ppm	PO₄³⁻ ppm			Notes
4/13/2022	7:00:00 AM	79.2	1.024	12	8.2		200	9.3				dosed 3g bicarbonate The ugly state started.
4/16/2022	6:30:00 AM	79.3	1.024	11.7	8		200	14.1
4/16/2022	7:45:00 AM	78.9	1.024	11.8			200					after w/c, dosed 5g of bicarb
4/20/2022	11:59:00 AM											Added Pods
4/20/2022	4:00:00 PM	79.1	1.024	11.2	8		200	23.8	0.23			add 1/4 cup salt mix doses 8g bicarb
4/23/2022	6:40:00 AM	79.6	1.024	10.9	8.1		200	15.9	0.16			dosed 10g bicarbonate

I purchased Clean Chaeto from Algaebarn, should be here Wednesday.

No other commentary today.

---

**update**

I used the dilution method to try and get an accurate reading of the Nitrites. Since the test kit I have maxed out at 200 ppb. I added one part of tank water, to four parts of freshly made saltwater using RODI water. The reading was 135... 135*5=675 ppb (.675 ppm).

Nitrite levels above 0.75 ppm in water can cause stress in fish and greater than 5 ppm can be toxic.

.75ppm (750 ppb) is the level for stress, and 5ppm (5000 ppb) is the level for toxicity.

So at .68 ppm, I'm near the level for stress, but nowhere near the level for toxicity. I'd still like to wait for the level to drop a bit before adding fish. I would rather not raise that .68 ppm over the .75 ppm level for stress.

So, if the stress level for Nitrites is at .75 ppm why in the hairy hell did they sell me a test kit that only reads up to .2 ppm?!? ***!

 

[ELF1024]

Date	Time	Temp	Salinity	DKH	PH	NH3/NH4	NO3 ppb	NO2 ppm	PO₄³⁻ ppm	CA ppm		Notes
4/20/2022	4:00:00 PM	79.1	1.024	11.2	8		200*	23.8	0.23			add 1/4 cup salt mix doses 8g bicarb
4/23/2022	6:40:00 AM	79.6	1.024	10.9	8.1		200*	15.9	0.16			dosed 10g bicarbonate
4/23/2022							675					One part tank water, 4 parts fresh saltwater; results x5
4/24/2022	4:00:00 PM											Added four damsels and one crab
4/25/2022	2:15:00 PM									430		First Calcium Test
4/26/2022	11:45:00 AM	78.9	1.024	10.4	8	1	500	12.8	0.04			Dosed 9g Bicarb
4/27/2022												Dosed 9g Bicarb

*Maximum reading for the test.

Yeah, yeah, so I'm no-patience-man. Sue me.

We added four, four spot damsels, and somehow we got some kind of hermit crab as an accident. No, I'm not sure what color he is. I think he is scarlett-legged, but his color isn't great.

I'm feeding them the TDO Small pellets for the time being, but will order some Rod's Food this weekend and will swap over to that next week. I've got nothing against the TDO Pellets, other than it's too easy to overfeed with pellet foods.

Red Sea Felt Socks are back doing mechanical filtering of the water. I'll clean them Sat and Wed. I'm ordering another pair this weekend. In speaking with my wife, she suggested I picked a small 10lbs portable washing machine for the socks. As most laundry detergents contain unwanted chemicals, I'd much rather use something dedicated to cleaning the socks than something that might get cross-contaminated. And honestly, I really don't want to put clothes and fish poop in the same device (and neither does she). So, it's on the list.

I did my first calcium and totally bolloxed it up the first time I ran it. The first time I did the test I got over 570 as a result. Which didn't seem to make sense with the other readings in the tank. So I figured I screwed something up. I had to print out the Hanna instructions and go over them a few times before I completely understood them. Those instructions are not user-friendly. The second time the result was more in line with the Red Sea Coral Pro Salt I'm using and made sense with the rest of the readings.

I likely won't test calcium again until I start to see Coraline algae, just to evaluate what I am going to need to dose. Hopefully, I can just get by with Tropic Marin All-For-Reef.

So, not totally unexpected, Ammonia is up. It's reading as "1 - stressed" on my little dipstick tests. So we are off on the mini-cycle after adding fish. Hopefully, that will be back to zero next time I test, which will likely be Saturday.

Now that I've figured out how to get good readings, Nitrites are falling, as are Nitrates and Phosphates. I guess whatever the organic brown gunk is in the tank, it's doing its job of soaking up both Nitrates and Phosphates. This definitely improves my mood. The other possibility is that the Nitrate test is being thrown off by the Nitrites. In either case, the Cheato should be showing up tomorrow.

I watched one of the BRS videos this week about refugium lighting and something Ryan said made sense, you can't expect to outproduce your aquarium lights if you have less than equal refugium lighting. So I may have gone a bit small on my refugium light, in that I got an H80. I have two of the Red Sea 90's on my tank.

That said, I'm still in Fish Only Without Live Rock mode, so I can run the lights how I want. So for the time being, I'm only running the Red Sea 90s at 10%. This limits the amount of photosynthetic energy available to the display tank. once the Cheato shows up, I'm starting the H80 on the grow setting at about 50% for 8 hours and will adjust as I see how the Chaeto manages.

 

[Simon Reefing]

Awesome tank!

 

[ELF1024]

Chaeto added

 

[Ranjib]

Looking good . Following along

 

[ELF1024]

Date

Time

Temp

Salinity

DKH

PH

NH3/NH4

NO3 ppb

NO2 ppm

PO₄³⁻ ppm

CA ppm

Socks Changed

Notes

Ratio NO2 to PO₄³⁻

4/24/2022

4:00:00 PM

x​

Added four damsels and one crab put socks back in

4/25/2022

2:15:00 PM

430

First Calcium Test

4/26/2022

11:45:00 AM

78.9

1.024

10.4

8

1

500

12.8

0.04

Dosed 9g Bicarb

320:1

4/27/2022

11:59:00 AM

x​

Added Chaeto to the Sump Dosed 9g Bicarb

4/28/2022

8:00:00 AM

Dosed 3g Bicarb

4/29/2022

7:00:00 AM

79.7

1.024

12.4

8.1

1

39

6.2

0.19

x​

33:1

5/4/2022

8:46:00 AM

79.3

1.023

10.3

8.1

0.5

4

4.3

0.09

x​

9g Bicarb 1/4 cup salt mix 4 caps ChaetoGro Scrubbed tank walls with an algae magnet New Socks

48:1

So far so good, the four damsels seem to have adjusted and love to hide in the rock. The crab seems to be doing his crabby thing.

I have increased the 'fuge light to 100% intensity.

Considering picking up a Seneye to monitor PH.

Also still considering that sock washing machine.

 

[ELF1024]

Date	Time	Temp	Salinity	DKH	PH	NH3/NH4	NO3 ppb	NO2 ppm	PO₄³⁻ ppm	CA ppm	Socks Changed	Notes	Ratio NO2 to PO₄³⁻
4/26/2022	11:45:00 AM	78.9	1.024	10.4	8	1	500	12.8	0.04			Dosed 9g Bicarb	320:1
4/27/2022	11:59:00 AM										x​	Added Chaeto to the Sump Dosed 9g Bicarb
4/28/2022	8:00:00 AM											Dosed 3g Bicarb
4/29/2022	7:00:00 AM	79.7	1.024	12.4	8.1	1	39	6.2	0.19		x​		33:1
5/4/2022	8:46:00 AM	79.3	1.023	10.3	8.1	0.5	4	4.3	0.09		x​	9g Bicarb 1/4 cup saltmix 4 caps ChaetoGro Scrubbed tank walls with algea magnet New Socks	48:1
5/5/2022			1.024									9g Bicarb Dosing 2g Bicarb Daily
5/7/2022	9:00:00 AM	79.8	1.024	12	8.5	0.5	12	4.8	0.2		x​	10g water change 3g Bicarb 9g Bicarb 1/4 cup saltmix 4 caps ChaetoGro	24:1

It appears that cleaning the algae off the tank's walls set the re-uptake of Nitrate and Phosphate back a bit as both Nitrate and Phosphate are reading higher today than they did on the 24th.

I increased the photoperiod of the Refugium to be the inverse of the tank, when the tank shuts down at 1800, the 'fuge lights come on, and when the 'fuge lights turn off at 07, the tank lights come on.

I am noticing some ugly brown showing up in the 'fuge today. I am also seeing what I think is the beginnings of Coraline algae in the tank.

The wife was asking me when we could put corals in, I'm still wanting to get refugium more settled in, and UV setup before I get corals, so some months to go before that.

 

[Lavey29]

Unless you used live ocean rock its not coraline in a 2 month old tank. Most likely early cyano. Coraline will show up on plastic parts like powerheads long before you see it on rock or glass.

 

[ELF1024]

Unless you used live ocean rock its not coraline in a 2 month old tank. Most likely early cyano. Coraline will show up on plastic parts like powerheads long before you see it on rock or glass.

I would agree with you, except that I specifically dosed Coraline back on 4/7.

I suppose we will see who is right within a week or two.

 

[Lavey29]

I would agree with you, except that I specifically dosed Coraline back on 4/7.

I suppose we will see who is right within a week or two.

I hope you are right. I dosed 3 bottles at 2 months. Coraline started on my plastic at 5 months.

Plus it's easy to tell if it's cyano which will wipe off easily or turkey blast it. Coraline will stay affixed but im sure you know this and checked already.

 

[ELF1024]

Date	Time	Temp	Salinity	DKH	PH	NH3/NH4	NO3 ppb	NO2 ppm	PO₄³⁻ ppm	CA ppm	Socks Changed	Notes	Ratio NO2 to PO₄³⁻
4/24/2022	4:00:00 PM										x	Added four damsels and one crab put socks back in
4/25/2022	2:15:00 PM									430		First Calcium Test
4/26/2022	11:45:00 AM	78.9	1.024	10.4	8	1	500	12.8	0.04			Dosed 9g Bicarb	320:1
4/27/2022	11:59:00 AM										x	Added Chaeto to the Sump Dosed 9g Bicarb
4/28/2022	8:00:00 AM											Dosed 3g Bicarb
4/29/2022	7:00:00 AM	79.7	1.024	12.4	8.1	1	39	6.2	0.19		x		33:1
5/4/2022	8:46:00 AM	79.3	1.023	10.3	8.1	0.5	4	4.3	0.09		x	9g Bicarb 1/4 cup salt mix 4 caps ChaetoGro Scrubbed tank walls with an algae magnet New Socks	48:1
5/5/2022			1.024									9g Bicarb Dosing 2g Bicarb Daily
5/7/2022	9:00:00 AM	79.8	1.024	12	8.5	0.5	12	4.8	0.2		x	10g water change 3g Bicarb 4 caps ChaetoGro	24:1
5/11/2022	6:00:00 AM	79.6	1.024	12.1	7.9	1.5	7	4.8	0.09		x	4 caps ChaetoGro 2g Bicarb	53:1
5/12/2022												Added Lawnmower Blenny Added 5 Banded Trochus snails
5/14/2022	6:30:00 AM	79.4	1.024	12.9	8.2	0.5	7	4.7	0.06	318	x	4 caps Chaeto Gro	78:1

So far it doesn't appear to be cyano. Which is good, in my experience cyano does not have patience. However, I still could be wrong. I considered picking up UV this week but ended up getting something else instead. I've already got a DC pump for the UV, I just haven't gotten around to picking up the UV.

This week, I picked up a Sailfin/Algae "Lawnmower" Blenny and 5 Banded Trochus Snails as part of a clean-up crew. I have dubbed them, Blenny and the Jets. The snails are going to town on the rocks and glass, while the Blenny is still shy and hides in the rockwork. He pokes his head out to watch what is going on but seems a bit intimidated by the Domino Damsels.

The largest of the Dominos I have named Skippy, after a certain ******* beer can who has been brought to life through the efforts of Craig Alanson in his UN Expeditionary Force novels. Of course, the largest Domino is named after an ******* because she is an *******. Being the largest, I am assuming she is female and is harassing the males because she can. If she starts in the on the Blenny I may need to put her in a box to teach her some manners.

In any case, I figured I would start with a handful of snails and see how that goes. I've made the mistake of buying one of those pre-made kits in the past, and it just ended up being a waste of money. I'd rather have five fat and happy snails than 30 starving snails. I'm also not a huge fan of the hermit crabs eating my snails for their shells.

Tested Calcium today, and it's low at 318 ppm. So I'll need to pick up the BRS Two-Part Starter Pack soon. I've just been using plain old Arm & Hammer bicarb to dose the tank for Alk so far. I guess since something is using up the CA, it's time to move up to Two-Part.

I've noticed the water is starting to get slightly yellow, so I've ordered a mini-Carbon Reactor and 0.8 active carbon media to use with it. I've also got some Nori and Seaweed Extreme coming for the Blenny. I figure he can find enough to eat on the rocks for the next day or two until that shows up.

I've also had to reduce my photoperiod on the Chaeto. It appears I was too aggressive as some of the Chaeto has turned white. I've reduced it down to 8 hours. If the Chaeto doesn't look better in a few days, I'll reduce the intensity of the light as well.

So far so good...

 

[NotoriousDMC]

I have the same tank. I had an H80 that got wet so I replaced it with a used Neptune GRO. But it grew chaeto easily at 100%, competing against two LED90s, also at around 90 percent. Good lights, but I recently upgraded to two XR30 Pros (42%) and the Neptune GRO still grows chaeto and some Xenia in the fuge.

I dosed coralline multiple times—bottled and scraping—and it didn’t take until my tank, which was growing softies and LPS coral fine, was very stable. Here’s the tank at about 15 months, FWIW. Also, FWIW, I dose All for Reef and Bacto Balance and my numbers are very stable (Trident. + Hanna for P04 and N03).

I was new to the hobby and my only piece of advice on corals is: think long term. GSP, Xenia and other corals (some mushrooms, zoas, etc.) might be “easy” and even look cool at first but they are invasive and next to impossible to remove if/when you want that space for yellow torches and fuzzy sticks (). And same for nems (which I am patiently catching when they decide to go for walks). I will keep ONE and try to get it to live in a magnetic nem container on my back wall. If that fails, they’re all out.

Anyway, I’m still new and learning. Way more knowledgeable people are here to help you!

 

[ELF1024]

I have the same tank. I had an H80 that got wet so I replaced it with a used Neptune GRO. But it grew chaeto easily at 100%, competing against two LED90s, also at around 90 percent. Good lights, but I recently upgraded to two XR30 Pros (42%) and the Neptune GRO still grows chaeto and some Xenia in the fuge.

I dosed coralline multiple times—bottled and scraping—and it didn’t take until my tank, which was growing softies and LPS coral fine, was very stable. Here’s the tank at about 15 months, FWIW. Also, FWIW, I dose All for Reef and Bacto Balance and my numbers are very stable (Trident. + Hanna for P04 and N03).

I was new to the hobby and my only piece of advice on corals is: think long term. GSP, Xenia and other corals (some mushrooms, zoas, etc.) might be “easy” and even look cool at first but they are invasive and next to impossible to remove if/when you want that space for yellow torches and fuzzy sticks (). And same for nems (which I am patiently catching when they decide to go for walks). I will keep ONE and try to get it to live in a magnetic nem container on my back wall. If that fails, they’re all out.

Anyway, I’m still new and learning. Way more knowledgeable people are here to help you!

Thank you very much for the tank pictures. Looks awesome.

I didn't do a sand bed, so I'm thinking of doing GSP on the bottom glass. I do understand that it can be a bit of a weed to control. Anything else I'll try and place on the rock work, depending on the light needs.

I'm not anywhere ready for coral yet.

Thanks for your comments

 

[NotoriousDMC]

Thank you very much for the tank pictures. Looks awesome.

I didn't so a sand bed, so I'm thinking of doing GSP on the bottom glass. I do understand that it can be a bit of a weed to control. Anything else I'll try and place on the rock work, depending on the light needs.

I'm not anywhere ready for coral yet.

Thanks for your comments

I’d def consider going without sand next time or on a second tank.

 

[ELF1024]

Sailfin/Algae/Lawnmower Blenny

 

[ELF1024]

Date	Time	Temp	Salinity	DKH	PH	NH3/NH4 ppm​	NO3 ppb	NO2 ppm	PO₄³⁻ ppm	CA ppm	Mag ppm	Carbon Changed	Socks Changed	10 Gallon Water Change	Notes	Ratio NO2 to PO₄³⁻​
5/4/2022	8:46:00 AM	79.3	1.023	10.3	8.1	0.5	4	4.3	0.09				x		9g Bicarb 1/4 cup saltmix 4 caps ChaetoGro Scrubbed tank walls with algea magnet New Socks	48:1
5/5/2022			1.024												9g Bicarb Dosing 2g Bicarb Daily
5/7/2022	9:00:00 AM	79.8	1.024	12	8.5	0.5	12	4.8	0.2				x	x	3g Bicarb 4 caps ChaetoGro	24:1
5/11/2022	6:00:00 AM	79.6	1.024	12.1	7.9	1.5	7	4.8	0.09				x		4 caps ChaetoGro 2g Bicarb	53:1
5/12/2022															Added Lawnmower Blenny Added 5 Banded Trochus snails
5/14/2022	6:30:00 AM	79.4	1.024	12.9	8.2	0.5	7	4.7	0.06	318			x		4 caps Chaeto Gro	78:1
5/18/2022	6:00:00 AM	79.4	1.024	11.8	8.1	0.5	14	3.5	0.08				x		2g Bicarb 1/4 cup salt	44:1
5/18/2022	16:00:00 PM											x			Added Mini-Carbon Reactor with 1/2 cup of carbon Added 8 caps of Microbacter7 Added 8 caps of Microbacter Clean
5/19/2022	9:00:00 AM														2g Bicarb 3 Caps MbClean
5/20/2022	6:00:00 AM														2g Bicarb .5oz MbClean
5/21/2022	7:30:00 AM	79.2	1.024	16.7	8.2		6	4.8	0				x	x	.5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7
5/22/2022	7:00:00 AM														.5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7
5/23/2022	7:00:00 AM														.5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7
5/24/2022	7:00:00 AM														.5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7 .5oz ChaetoGro
5/25/2022	6:30:00 AM	79.6	1.024	11.5	8.1			5.3	0.01				x		7g bicarb .5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7	530:1
5/26/2022	9:30:00 PM	79.7		11.6		0.005				329					Seneye 40ml Soda Ash 400ml Calcium (of 990ml)
5/27/2022	9:30:00 AM	79.1				0.005					60				400ml Calcium (of 590ml) 645ml Mag (of 7000ml)
5/28/2022	7:30:00 AM	79.1	1.024	11.3	8.05	0.005		6.4	0.03				x	x	190ml Calcium 645ml Mag (of 6355ml) .5oz MbClean 1oz Mb7 1oz ChaetoGro 57ml Soda	213:1

I was beginning to question the accuracy of my NH3 test strips, or maybe more accurately I was questioning my ability to differentiate the colors on the strip. I only had an 8 box of crayons in school so my color palette is limited. I've been meaning to pick up a Seneye for tank monitoring anyway, and I finally got one.

I also picked up the BRS 2-part starter kit and a magnesium test kit. (they both arrived late Thursday)

I tested Calcium in the past and knew it was low so I retested on Thursday and have started dosing. I tested Magnesium on Friday and have found it was nearly depleted, so I am now doing Magnesium.

Nitrates are under 10, and Phosphates are at 0.03, so I'm a happy camper.

I also added the BRS Mini carbon reactor. I'm only running carbon, no GFO. My phosphates are low and I don't feel the need to reduce them further. If they stay this low I may need to add phosphates at some point.

The tank looks really good, most of the algae has been removed by Blenny and the Jets (Algae Blenny, and his 5 Trochus snails).

However, who isn't doing well is my stupid Chaeto. I think I've lost half of it, and I didn't get that much to start with. I've been dosing Chaeto grow, but it hasn't seemed to help. I can't imagine that my trace elements are that low with only a small amount of Chaeto. I hear that Chaeto is supposed to grow like a weed, but I'm not having that kind of success yet. I guess with my phosphates being so low I shouldn't be too surprised. This would be the main reason why I may look at dosing phosphates at some point down the road.

There was some hair algae growing on the bio balls in the refugium area off the sump. I attempted to scrub the algae off with my thumb and put them in a less lit part of the sump.

I had one major issue happen with my water change on the 21st. I didn't mix the salt mix (Red Sea Coral Pro) well enough before use and ended up with an DKH of 16.7. However, by my next water test on the 25th, the DKH was back down to 11.5. Everybody survived.

So I'm settling into my maintenance routine, water change on Sat, testing on Wed and Saturday (after water change); dosing as needed. Carbon is replaced every 14 days on Wednesday.

I've been running the lights at 10% as I've gotten things stabilized. Now that I have gotten rid of the unwanted algae in the tank, I'm acclimating the lights up to 100% over the next 60 days. Hopefully, that will help enough of the unwanted algae to grow to keep "Blenny and the Jets" alive. Blenny (thus far) has no interest in Seaweed Extreme pellets or in Nori.

 

[Lavey29]

Your calcium is low because you spiked your alk. If you are doing regular water changes with coral pro salt there is no way you have depleted magnesium and may want a second opinion test done. Magnesium depletes very slowly at maybe 1/10th the rate of calcium and water changes typically suffice to keep magnesium perfect. At some point low level magnesium dosing may be required in heavily stocked tanks.

 

[ELF1024]

Your calcium is low because you spiked your alk. If you are doing regular water changes with coral pro salt there is no way you have depleted magnesium and may want a second opinion test done. Magnesium depletes very slowly at maybe 1/10th the rate of calcium and water changes typically suffice to keep magnesium perfect. At some point low level magnesium dosing may be required in heavily stocked tanks.

You are correct this time. I did the test again, and got the same result... the issue wasn't the test kit, it was the moron reading it.

I had to watch the video to see what i was doing wrong. I was reading the chart backward. Mag is now high (due to dosing), now low.