Rob's Really Rad 180 Reef Rally

[RobB'z Reef]

Getting my fuge ready to go and hopefully up and running with some chaeto this weekend. What does everyone think about sand in a refugium? I have just enough left to put about an 1 1/2 on the bottom of the area in my sump. Do it, screw it? Let me know!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

First batch of phyto and pods underway. Wish me luck.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Wooot! Fish are returning to the DT tonight post fallow, finally!

 

[jk_s124]

Wooot! Fish are returning to the DT tonight post fallow, finally!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

They're all back in! Including the first batch that survived my TTM trial lol. Thank you to @jk_s124 for the birds nest and a few other frags! Good luck on your move from your 29 to your 40, it's looking good!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Yay chaeto!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Minor upgrades to my mixing station today. Added an inkbird to control the heater as well as an American Marine Pinpoint salinity monitor. I found they had a DC plug in adaptor so I don't have to run it off the 9v battery which is far more useful. Definitely a nice to have when you're going thru TTM and want to make sure you're on point when doing the frequent water changes it requires.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

So this is a good trend so far. Top pic was on 2/11 bottom ones is from today. The phyto culture is on the left, pods right in both shots. The green is fading to the right, evidence of pods consuming their phyto that was added at the start. Phyto culture in the left is far more noticeably darker green which tells me the culture is growing well. Theoretically these should be able to be split and started all over again in a couple days. We shall see.

I swear I didn't switch these around lol

 

[jk_s124]

So this is a good trend so far. Top pic was on 2/11 bottom ones is from today. The phyto culture is on the left, pods right in both shots. The green is fading to the right, evidence of pods consuming their phyto that was added at the start. Phyto culture in the left is far more noticeably darker green which tells me the culture is growing well. Theoretically these should be able to be split and started all over again in a couple days. We shall see.

I swear I didn't switch these around lol

Sweet!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Big 'ol jug of soda lime lol. See how long this stuff lasts. Doing some longevity testing now on my CO2 scrubber. Between that, getting my fuge going and adding fresh outside air with dosing kalk I been running 8.1-8.3 pH the last few days! Huge improvement over the 7.8-8 if I was lucky before.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Project alert! Aquarium vacuum cleaner system build starts this weekend.

 

[jk_s124]

Project alert! Aquarium vacuum cleaner system build starts this weekend.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Lol it'll be more like a tragedy

 

[RobB'z Reef]

So I was jamming to these cats while doing reef stuff tonight...

 

[RobB'z Reef]

The phyto efforts were a huge success in my mind! looked like a good culture, had enough to bottle, restart the next one as well as the pods. The pods didn't go all that well I think. Due to the extreme cold I think they took a pretty hard hit during shipment. There wasn't a lot of activity after i got them and while i could see live pods (barely, those buggers are small!) it just didn't seem to be a thriving number so instead of splitting them I put everything back in and rebooted that batch with new phyto and we'll see how it goes. I think because their numbers were so depleted they just need more time. But there were viable pods and they did seem to eat the phyto that was in the jar as it was quite clear in color. Hopefully this next round gets me there.

pouches filled (I intend to reuse these)

Sealer

All done!

Also, sent in my first ICP test yesterday!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Gonna attempt to butcher/mod this thing and see what happens...

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Nice build there you have here. I'm in the middle of building my 270g and I'm still trying to decide on the sump. I had looked at the Bashea sumps, but their return section was supper tiny due to have they set those up. I did not know that they did custom designs. I'm actually looking to do something very similar to what you have done. Roller mat instead of socks and dual return pumps.

 

[jk_s124]

The phyto efforts were a huge success in my mind! looked like a good culture, had enough to bottle, restart the next one as well as the pods. The pods didn't go all that well I think. Due to the extreme cold I think they took a pretty hard hit during shipment. There wasn't a lot of activity after i got them and while i could see live pods (barely, those buggers are small!) it just didn't seem to be a thriving number so instead of splitting them I put everything back in and rebooted that batch with new phyto and we'll see how it goes. I think because their numbers were so depleted they just need more time. But there were viable pods and they did seem to eat the phyto that was in the jar as it was quite clear in color. Hopefully this next round gets me there.

pouches filled (I intend to reuse these)

Sealer

All done!

Also, sent in my first ICP test yesterday!

Did those pouches and that sealer come with the Poseidon phytotank set?

 

[jk_s124]

Gonna attempt to butcher/mod this thing and see what happens...

What do you have in mind with that?

 

[RobB'z Reef]

First successful pod harvest. These were Tisbe pods. Being that I have to travel soon I didn't want to split the batch and start a new one. Also want to do some more homework on which type is best for my tank. When I get back I'll get another batch of whatever from algae barn and start them up again. Using the spare tank for an additional batch of phyto now. I can run one more after this before I have to hit the road. I can restart the phyto from what I have stored in the refrigerator. Need to find some larger storage containers I think.

Harvest: