RedStick's 30g Reef Build

RedStickReefer · Mar 12, 2018

Just a quick update. I added a bicolor blenny to the tank last week. A very cool fish with a ton of personality. Unfortunately it has been incessantly picking at the maze brain and causing damage to the coral. I moved the coral to the other side of the tank and behind a rock, so it's out of the blenny's line of sight. I'm hoping if it's out of sight, it's out of mind and the coral has a chance to recover. I've been testing recently and the parameters are looking good now. I had dosed too much Mg causing my Ca to spike and Alk to drop. I increased my Ca and Alk dose and parameters are fine now. Just in time for a shipment of SPS from Fraghouse Corals! I bought some really nice SPS from Brandon and I can't wait to get them in the tank. They should be here tomorrow.

RedStickReefer · Mar 13, 2018

My SPS from @FraghouseCorals came in today! Super colored up frags and healthy as can be! I'll be ordering from Brandon again in the future. Nice guy and easy to work with. He replied to all my questions and was able to get the frags to me in time before I had to leave town for a couple days for work. Sorry my phone doesn't take the best pics, but these corals are POPPING!

Pictured from left to right: WWC Yoda, Purple Bonsai, Rainbow Doom Mille, M-80 Mille, and Golden Nugget Mille

2018-03-13_05-45-50 by Jensen Esneault

RedStickReefer · Mar 21, 2018

Well, all of the SPS corals I got from Brandon and Harry are still doing great. Currently dosing 30ml of Ca/Alk per day. Ca is holding at 430, Alk at 9.3, and Mg is still high at 1560 (but that's ok IMO). Below is a not so great FTS. Looking forward to ordering more sticks from Brandon in the future and filling in all the empty space in this tank. Grow baby Grow!

3/2018

2018-03-13_05-46-29 by Jensen Esneault

RedStickReefer · Mar 28, 2018

Not a much to update this week. I added a royal gramma and a sandsifting starfish today. I also bought some reef roids to try out. I'll be feeding that to the tank twice a week or so along with dosing aquavitro fuel intermittently. Parameters have been holding steady and the SPS are encrusting.

RedStickReefer · Nov 13, 2018

Sorry it's been so long since I updated this thread. After my last post my tank went on a downward spiral and I lost fish and some of my SPS. I've been plagued with equipment issues, parameter issues, etc...I'm officially on my 4th return pump and powerhead. So, now that the storm is over (praying) I've purchased some SPS from Adam @Battlecorals. WOW! These corals are beautiful and Adam's customer service is great! I placed the order on a Sunday afternoon expecting Adam would contact me Monday, but he sent me a response almost immediately and the corals were ready to ship out Monday evening. It was a pleasure dealing with Adam and I will be buying from him again.

Pictured below from left to right: Teen Wolf, Sanjay's Leprechaun's Beard, Garf Purple Bonsai, Soda Popinski, PC Rainbow, PC Superman

2018-11-13_02-46-36 by Jensen Esneault, on Flickr

RedStickReefer · Nov 14, 2018

The frags are still looking pretty good today. I can tell the teen wolf is stressed from shipping as a small amount of the brown skin between the branches/corallites has sloughed off, but I don't think it's anything to worry about at this point. The polyps are still out and it looks happy overall. I'm definitely feeling the pressure of keeping these corals alive.

I tested my parameters today and I'm still befuddled as to what's going on....So, I thought maybe my reef had started uptaking Mg/Alk instead of Ca/Alk, which would contribute to the constant low Alk (BTW, BRS reactor is off so GFO is not a factor). I knew I had overdosed Mg early on with my first batch of corals so I thought it was feasible, but I haven't dosed Mg since March and my level is still over 1600. I know elevated levels of Mg can help elevate calcium levels, but it is also supposed to help regulate the balance of Ca and Alk. With that said, my Ca is now sitting at 600 and my Alk is at 7.9. I checked the levels in my 2 part jugs and the dosing pump appears to be dosing equal parts of Ca/Alk, however, I recalibrated my dosing pumps today just in case. So, at this point my guess is my dosing pumps weren't dosing equal parts in spite of appearance, or it's this Fritz salt I'm currently using. Every time I test my water change water the levels are fine though. I gave the Alk a boost today and increased my 2 part dosing from 152mL to 160mL/day. I ordered two extra bottles of Alk reagent for my hanna checker and I'll be testing Alk levels daily from here on out until I'm 100% certain my parameters and dosing are where they need to be.

RedStickReefer · Nov 19, 2018

I figured if I was planning on adding a calcium reactor within the next year that now is the time to buy. I just ordered this Skimz ca reactor from BRS. Seemed like a good value with the black Friday sale they have going on right now. $52 off the original price. I also had to buy another pH monitor. Sucks having to rebuy reactors and monitors and such, but the flood ruined all my old equipment. My old reactors pumps were burnt up and the acrylic was pitted and stained with whatever contaminants were in the flood water. Definitely wasn't going to take a chance on using them for this reef. At least my CO2 regulator was salvageable. Glass bubbler is cracked and the regulator is a little rusty, but the regulator/solenoid still work and the reactor has it's own bubbler.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/skimz-monzter-cm122-external-calcium-reactor.html

RedStickReefer · Nov 30, 2018

My black friday purchases arrived. The skimz cm122

2018-11-30_04-39-49 by Jensen Esneault, on Flickr

...and some SPS from Fraghouse Corals. Pictured below from right to left are the FHC incinerator mille, green goblin anacropora, aquamarine jewel, a free green with purple tips acro (I think it's the dreamcatcher acro), WWC yellow tips, and RR USA the Vinh. Unfortunately I don't think the incinerator mille is going to survive, but we'll see.

2018-11-30_04-37-47 by Jensen Esneault, on Flickr