My 300DD SPS Dominant Tank

HBL · May 23, 2018

Looks like the nitrate level raised a bit, probably between 2-2.5 ppm. The test is visibly more pinkish today. I'm good with this level. If it continues to raise tomorrow, then I'll probably lower the dosage to 30 ml daily.

HBL · May 24, 2018

50 ml definitely raise my nitrate level a bit, so I'll reduce the dosage to 30ml starting tomorrow. So far, everything looks good.

justin.k.nelson · May 24, 2018

Nice process and following along. I used to dose nitrate but after a miscalculation, I had to do a massive water change to get things back. Now I just feed like crazy but have a batch of spectracide just in case. Which test kit are you using? I like the redsea but the 10 min wait time kills me. I even use a magnetic stirrer to help but the wait makes it hard to test it more frequently than weekly.

HBL · May 25, 2018

justin.k.nelson said:
Nice process and following along. I used to dose nitrate but after a miscalculation, I had to do a massive water change to get things back. Now I just feed like crazy but have a batch of spectracide just in case. Which test kit are you using? I like the redsea but the 10 min wait time kills me. I even use a magnetic stirrer to help but the wait makes it hard to test it more frequently than weekly.

I'm glad you were able to save the tank on a mishap. I can't recalled how many I've to save me from myself when it comes to my reef tank... lol.

I've tried feeding more but the result was my phosphate level raised more than my nitrate. I'm assuming it was because of the frozen food, so i decided to dose nitrate again. When i first dosed spectracide, I started out with just 10 ml of my mixed solution, and tested an hour later to see if it had any affect on the tank. I kept adding 20ml to the dosage and test daily until i found the right amount to dose to raise my nitrate by 1ppm. This time around i'm not too nervous about it. Although, I kept checking the numbers i entered in the calculator i posted above more than a dozen times. It's a good thing i've done so since using the grams and the tablespoons options in the calculator yields inconsistent result.

Based on my experience, I would recommend throwing away the spectracide and instead get the food/reagent grade sodium or potassium nitrate to reduce the chance of introducing any other impurities into your tank. I used the Salifert nitrate test kit to measure my nitrate. I felt like it is accurate enough for my usage. I usually wait about 3 mins after the test procedures to check the result. Although compared the result to the color chart is a little tough, but if my nitrate level fluctuate less than 5ppm, then i'm ok with that.

HBL · May 26, 2018

Forgot to dose nitrate this morning, and the nitrate came down to about 2.5ppm. Looks like 30 ml will be the magic number .

HBL · May 29, 2018

So I stopped dosing nitrate this weekend, since a few acro didn't look too good. I highly doubt it's because of dosing sodium nitrate but rather the residue from dosing spectracide stump remover. In any case, I did a 100 gallon water change just to be safe and plan on repeat it every three days or so.

The Fox flame is super ticked, and I doubt it will make it. I do see some polyps at night, so there's still hope that it will pull through.

HBL · May 29, 2018

Worked on rebuilding my zero edge tank all weekend. I'm rebuilding the new stand with some built-in overflow prevention functionality. This way if i forget to clean the sponge and the tank overflowed. It will get route back to the sump while i have time to clean the sponge.

I waterproof the stand by using a product called pond armor and went with some left over gray paint from repainting the house stairs.

The tank is being buffed starting with 800 grit sand paper in a up and down pattern, then 1200 grit side to side. I finished it off with novus 2, and the tank started to look new again.

HBL · May 30, 2018

I bought a used Prestige LED Gamma t5/led combo to go on this tank. T5/led is my favorite light combo, so I'm excited to see how this light will do.

HBL · Jun 5, 2018

So the red dragon and fox flame are gone. I'm pretty sure the cause started with dosing Spectracide Stump Remover with impurities that stressed them out, then combine with the recent halide bulbs changed, they just couldn't survive it. Even though I acclimated the new light bulbs, I only gave them 2 weeks before I blasted them for 8 hrs/day and i don't think that's suffice. The lesson that I keep having to relearn "nothing happened fast in this hobby."

My nitrate level continues to reach undetectable, so I began dosing some nitrate again and also shut off my skimmer for a few days. Despite the two losses, everything else is doing great so far.

justin.k.nelson · Jun 6, 2018

Have you tried sourcing potassium iodide? I heard about it from watching a video somewhere. Worth looking into. If I have to dose nitrates again, I'm staying at 5 ppm now, I'm going to toss spectracide and go with this stuff.

HBL · Jun 7, 2018

justin.k.nelson said:
Have you tried sourcing potassium iodide? I heard about it from watching a video somewhere. Worth looking into. If I have to dose nitrates again, I'm staying at 5 ppm now, I'm going to toss spectracide and go with this stuff.

I know a local guy that dose potassium, iodide, iodine and strontium. He pulls out some amazing color on his sps which makes me want to try dosing them, but im afraid it might get expensive real quick with a 400+ system.

HBL · Jun 7, 2018

So my gold torch spawned and now I got a tiny head right underneath my acro. This is way too cool.

HBL · Jun 14, 2018

Almost there. Swapping out the old reeflo dart for the Varios DC return so I don't have to worry about replacing the seal.

HBL · Jun 16, 2018

Aquascape done. Also, hooked up lights, return pump and controller. Next up, it is getting wet and will test for leakage. Hopefully things will go smoothly.

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