The Upgrade Build... From 110 to 180
- Large Build
- Thread starter Dj City
- Start date
- Tagged users None
TheWB
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 2,529
- Reaction score
- 3,997
- Location
- Puyallup,WA
- What state or country do you live in
- Washington
That’s very unfortunate. I feel bad for you man. How does that even happen so fast?I went from this last night...
To this, this morning...
I'm blown!
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
I have NO idea.
I am keeping a sharp eye on everything else. So far, the stag is the only one that has this problem.
Well...
it's not a problem anymore because the coral is 100% kaput.
I have just sent out my 1st ATI ICP test for this reef. I need to know what's going on that I can't see with my home tests.
I test everyday with the Neptune Trident. That tests Alk, Cal, and Mag.
I test Nitrate and Phosphate with the ReefBot using Tropic Marin for Nitrate and Red Sea for Phosphate.
Latest tests show 5ppm Nitrate and 0.08 Phosphate
Alk... 8.62
Cal...470
Mag...1410
Last edited:
TheWB
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 2,529
- Reaction score
- 3,997
- Location
- Puyallup,WA
- What state or country do you live in
- Washington
ICP test is a good idea then. I don’t see any parameters out of whack. I’m not an sps expert but those numbers generally look fine. Maybe the ICP will reveal something but you’d think other corals would be affected if that was the case. It’s a mystery.
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Update...
I've made room for more frags with the magnetic reef rocks.
The one from Reef Rax are cool enough but the one from Reefing Art are really good!
I will be looking into different sizes to try to get that slightly more natural look. At least a close to natural as I can with rocks floating on the back wall.
Besides the Staghorn kicking the bucket in under 12 hours, everything else is doing pretty good.
The reef looks so nice before the goby wake up and goes to work. He keeps particles floating around the water column making the tank look "dirty". Besides that, everything else is great.
I'm considering getting rid of my long spine urchin. He has gotten BIG! He goes around the tank stabbing all the corals.
I might try to trade him for a smaller one or just go a different direction altogether. He's beautiful though and I don't "want" to get rid of him but I might "need" to get rid of him.
I will take more pics of the floating rocks is a little while when the lights ramp up a bit more.
I've made room for more frags with the magnetic reef rocks.
The one from Reef Rax are cool enough but the one from Reefing Art are really good!
I will be looking into different sizes to try to get that slightly more natural look. At least a close to natural as I can with rocks floating on the back wall.
Besides the Staghorn kicking the bucket in under 12 hours, everything else is doing pretty good.
The reef looks so nice before the goby wake up and goes to work. He keeps particles floating around the water column making the tank look "dirty". Besides that, everything else is great.
I'm considering getting rid of my long spine urchin. He has gotten BIG! He goes around the tank stabbing all the corals.
I might try to trade him for a smaller one or just go a different direction altogether. He's beautiful though and I don't "want" to get rid of him but I might "need" to get rid of him.
I will take more pics of the floating rocks is a little while when the lights ramp up a bit more.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
I think these pics show the floating rocks a little better.
Also how the rock structure I built is coloring up.
Now if I could just get my reef to be clear and particle free...
Also how the rock structure I built is coloring up.
Now if I could just get my reef to be clear and particle free...
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Well,
The very large longspine urchin has been removed from my display and taken to the lfs.
Today was the day.
It had to be done.
I saw the urchin on my small red monticap very early this morning before the lights came on.
Last night, the red monticap was red, healthy and whole.
When the longspine urchin moved from the Monti this morning, I could see where he ate the coral. I literally could see the erosion on the rim of the Monti where the urchin had chewed through and eaten.
That was it! Last straw. He had to go and go he went!
This is what my red monticap used to look like
Here's what it looks like after the urchin munched on it.
I wonder how my corals will do now that the urchin is gone and no longer stabbing and eating them?
The very large longspine urchin has been removed from my display and taken to the lfs.
Today was the day.
It had to be done.
I saw the urchin on my small red monticap very early this morning before the lights came on.
Last night, the red monticap was red, healthy and whole.
When the longspine urchin moved from the Monti this morning, I could see where he ate the coral. I literally could see the erosion on the rim of the Monti where the urchin had chewed through and eaten.
That was it! Last straw. He had to go and go he went!
This is what my red monticap used to look like
Here's what it looks like after the urchin munched on it.
I wonder how my corals will do now that the urchin is gone and no longer stabbing and eating them?
Last edited:
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Yeah. He's an algae eating machine but also a large bulldozer with looooooong sharp spikes and a taste for sps.
It hurt my heart but...
He had to go.
wrassie86
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2020
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 192
- Location
- Maine
- What state or country do you live in
- Maine
Ya mine has ate strips across monti cap also and the base of a few acros. To bad on the stag. I always figure if they make it through the first 2 nights there good to go. You only had it for 12 hrs?
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
I had the stag for a few months. It was healthy and growing.
One night without warning, it went from all good to all bad in under 12 hours.
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
I'm beginning to have a balance problem.
My nitrates dropped to 0ppm but my phosphates crept up to 0.12 - 0.16.
I can easily drop my phosphates but don't want to do that while having 0 nitrates.
I need to get a little nitrate into the tank to balance it out.
Alk and cal crept up too. For that I just turned off the dosing to let levels drop a bit.
Right now I'm at...
Alk...8.66 (good)
Cal...470 (good but higher than I want)
Mag..1412 (a little high)
Nitrate...0ppm (bad)
Phos......0.12 - 0.16 (high)
My nitrates dropped to 0ppm but my phosphates crept up to 0.12 - 0.16.
I can easily drop my phosphates but don't want to do that while having 0 nitrates.
I need to get a little nitrate into the tank to balance it out.
Alk and cal crept up too. For that I just turned off the dosing to let levels drop a bit.
Right now I'm at...
Alk...8.66 (good)
Cal...470 (good but higher than I want)
Mag..1412 (a little high)
Nitrate...0ppm (bad)
Phos......0.12 - 0.16 (high)
Last edited:
wrassie86
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2020
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 192
- Location
- Maine
- What state or country do you live in
- Maine
In my 180g i have to dose 2 capfuls of flourish phos and 10 mil of nitrate every few weeks. ya i would not drop the phos and risk dinos or starving the corals, I believe if you dose nitrate it will drop the phos level a bit, seems to work that way in my tank. i don't think your phos levels are high yet.
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Yeah.
Raising nitrates a bit should drop (balance out) phosphates a bit.
Phos is not high yet but it's much higher than I would like it to be.
Do you have a build thread?
I would like to follow if you do.
wrassie86
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2020
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 192
- Location
- Maine
- What state or country do you live in
- Maine
I do have a thread, just started it, so playing catch up at this point with the thread.
www.reef2reef.com
Large Build - Rob's 75g to 180g build
Hello all, My name is Rob aka Wrassie86 been in the hobby since early 2000's. Took a few years off for life changes, but back again. started a 75g in early 2019. Then had a good deal on a used 180g fall into my lap, always wanted a large tank so went for it. I'm big into DIY and there wont be a...
www.reef2reef.com
wrassie86
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2020
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 192
- Location
- Maine
- What state or country do you live in
- Maine
Those black things on your returns (I forget what there called) I have 2 of those i bought in like 2008 sitting in a box, may have to pull them out. what size pump are you running them on?
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
I was considering getting the ReefBrite XHO Actinic LED light to replace my T5 bulb. I want a deeper, darker blue look to the reef. I don't want the "Windex" look but I am looking for that crisp Blue look like I had with my old 110 gallon reef.
Right now, when the T5 comes on, it washes the other color away a bit and gives the reef a pastel lighter blue color.
I think the XHO Actinic would have been a great upgrade except for the fact that I can't figure out a good way to mount it into my existing ReefBreeders Photon 50 V2+ light fixture the way I have the T5 fixture mounted.
Then I had a revelation...
Why not save a BUNCH of money and just get the True Actinic T5 bulb to replace the Blue Plus bulb?
So that's what I did.
I will be able to see how an Actinic bulb makes the reef look without the commitment of an expensive fixture.
If I like it, I can plan for the future. If I don't, I can simply put the Blue Plus bulb back in and keep it moving.
I'm also eying the new Kessil A500x lights.
I always liked Kessil with their "Kessil Logic" and shimmer but my reef is 30" deep and the kessils just don't go deep enough...
Until now with the A500X.
I am waiting for BRS to do their testing on these lights and to see what the community as a whole has to say about them.
It's not that i'm "Not Happy" with my current lights, I just think I can do better.
Right now, when the T5 comes on, it washes the other color away a bit and gives the reef a pastel lighter blue color.
I think the XHO Actinic would have been a great upgrade except for the fact that I can't figure out a good way to mount it into my existing ReefBreeders Photon 50 V2+ light fixture the way I have the T5 fixture mounted.
Then I had a revelation...
Why not save a BUNCH of money and just get the True Actinic T5 bulb to replace the Blue Plus bulb?
So that's what I did.
I will be able to see how an Actinic bulb makes the reef look without the commitment of an expensive fixture.
If I like it, I can plan for the future. If I don't, I can simply put the Blue Plus bulb back in and keep it moving.
I'm also eying the new Kessil A500x lights.
I always liked Kessil with their "Kessil Logic" and shimmer but my reef is 30" deep and the kessils just don't go deep enough...
Until now with the A500X.
I am waiting for BRS to do their testing on these lights and to see what the community as a whole has to say about them.
It's not that i'm "Not Happy" with my current lights, I just think I can do better.
OP
OP
Dj City
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 3,163
- Reaction score
- 3,407
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Good times and bad times...
I have not seen my timor Wrasse yet today. he should have made an appearance by now but has not surfaced yet.
My Yellow Flanked wrasse is acting VERY weird and I am worried he may not be with me for much longer.
He's swimming but not as vigorously as usual. his color is not as viberant as usual. I've seen him do a few 360's this morning, turning belly over back a few times spinning / rolling in the water. Something is wrong or he's practicing a new trick. He ate along with the other fish but not as vigorously as he normally would.
I will keep an eye out for the Timor wrasse. Maybe he just had a late night and is taking longer to wake up this morning.
I will be keeping an eye on the Yellow Flanked Wrasse as well. I don't know what I might be able to do for him. He's such a beautiful fish. I don't want to lose him.
I have not seen my timor Wrasse yet today. he should have made an appearance by now but has not surfaced yet.
My Yellow Flanked wrasse is acting VERY weird and I am worried he may not be with me for much longer.
He's swimming but not as vigorously as usual. his color is not as viberant as usual. I've seen him do a few 360's this morning, turning belly over back a few times spinning / rolling in the water. Something is wrong or he's practicing a new trick. He ate along with the other fish but not as vigorously as he normally would.
I will keep an eye out for the Timor wrasse. Maybe he just had a late night and is taking longer to wake up this morning.
I will be keeping an eye on the Yellow Flanked Wrasse as well. I don't know what I might be able to do for him. He's such a beautiful fish. I don't want to lose him.
