bluringer
New Member
Hello I’m new and don’t have much reefing experience. I have a 32 gallon bio cube with a 120 gallon empty no filters canister filter in the stand for extra water and two hidden submersible in the back of the tank so all is hidden. I use sand so I increased the size of the outlet piping so there’s more flow and less pressure so more water is cycling. No visible pumps in the tank. The heat generated from the pumps the two skimmers and the uv light keeps the tank at 78-80. Depending on season I do also have a heater just in case. I have a sand bed not deep and haven’t changed the water in 2 years so I’m growing tiny snails. I use a pistol shrimp to constantly kick up sand and team of snails to push it back. Worms, no astera snails or other hitchhikers due to the scooter bleany. I use shrimp for any alipasia that grow from getting new frags. Clean up crew adds bio load so I use as needed. 3D printed some parts and frag holders from thingiverse so crabs can’t pick them off. I put sand in filter socks to cycle or remove or cycle instead of the pad. I use the stock hood with extra lighting glued on and increased the fan size. So it’s all one package. Ato for water top off and am not dosing. This is all run off solar panels totally green. Use live rock in the tank and the sand for filtration also the stock filter just reprinted do I can add filter floss. We have sps lps and the beginner corals. When the pistol shrimp starts making a mess or the octopus is acting strange I’ll just reboot the sand. The two eBay skimmers I had to get a 220v power adapter for travel they work great so nothing stays in the sand really because of the shrimp when he kicks up sand upsurge corals open it’s a delicate balance. Digi I had growth of 3/4 inch in 2.5 months my question is what test kits are good I need to get a set. What should I be testing for and what’s the best 2 part additive, is there something better. When do I dose at night or day time. Do I need to check alkalinity or add. Buffer?
Plus 1 on the test kits. As for dosing BRS has a good 2 part kit that you can buy or there is an all in one formula by tropic marin called all for reef. Definitely came to the right place!
