RollaJase's 30G Custom Cube - Tank Torn Down

[gena]

I think I don't get much fluctuation because I'm only changing out what amounts to maybe 10% weekly. I'm sure if I did bigger water changes I'd have an issue. I'm telling ya, having the doser is almost making me more lazy with my tank . Sometimes I don't even want to do a water change .

[RollaJase]

Lucky girl! Hopefully you are too. I'm not so lucky unfortunately. It swings 1.5 dKH with each water change. Maybe it's the smaller overall water volume? If I do more frequent small changes, alk creeps up higher than my SPS like it. I thought about dosing less to compensate, but that means more swings and more manual work/testing. I just want to be a lazy reefer and let the controller/doser do all that work for me! :-)

 

Right now it would be great to siphon up a bunch of brown goo off the sand--get that @@@@ out of the tank, ya know? But can't risk upsetting the acros even more by spiking alk with fresh water. That was the last straw for trying out the other salt. LOL

If the swing is any more than 1dKH I will be looking at a new salt mix. 8.5-9dKH is probably what I will aim for, maybe even as low as 8dKH eventually. I have noticed better colour in my SPS at the lower levels, less browning also. They are still pissed though and are showing less PE. I really hope the blue bucket works out for you, I will be keeping an eye on your thread for the results.

 

Thats a bit of a sticky situation to be in. Can you pick up a gallon or two of mixed water from your LFS just to get the cleaning out of the way? Not something I have ever seen at any of the LFS's here but seems common practise over there.

 

 

I think I don't get much fluctuation because I'm only changing out what amounts to maybe 10% weekly. I'm sure if I did bigger water changes I'd have an issue. I'm telling ya, having the doser is almost making me more lazy with my tank . Sometimes I don't even want to do a water change .

My water changes tend to be 20-25% every fortnight so I will probably see a larger fluctuation then. Maybe I'll only do a 10% change this week. I agree 100%, the main reason I wanted a doser (besides stability) was so if I missed a water change I wouldn't shoot myself in the foot too much haha .

[Polarcollision]

amino acids can increase polyp extension. Ex: the spongeodes and superman monti extend so much that the flesh is almost completely hidden by polyps when I dose regularly.

 

It's a great feeling when the tank is cruising along and doesn't need anything but food for 2 weeks at a time! Let's have more of that and less fiddling. Unless that's enjoyable, of course!

 

P.S. Congrats again for your TOTM. Sorry to see it's time is coming to a close.

[Veng]

Blazing a new trail is scary out there. You're never sure if you're doing the right thing or you're too far off the beaten path and are walking down the trail to ruin. I will say in the last several months, I've really backed off wanting a high dKh as I've seen much better color with lower dKH.

[RollaJase]

amino acids can increase polyp extension. Ex: the spongeodes and superman monti extend so much that the flesh is almost completely hidden by polyps when I dose regularly.

 

It's a great feeling when the tank is cruising along and doesn't need anything but food for 2 weeks at a time! Let's have more of that and less fiddling. Unless that's enjoyable, of course!

 

P.S. Congrats again for your TOTM. Sorry to see it's time is coming to a close.

I dose 5ml of Salifert Coralline AminoAcids onec a week as directed, and make sure the skimemr is offline for atleast an hour post dose. I have found it to help with colour but didn't really notice anything on the PE front. I love messing arund with the tank, when things are going smoothly. I really find it a chore to spend time when things are not going well, it depresses me haha. I'd like to get things to the stage again where all I had to worry about was feeding and standard maintenance with the off water change thrown into the mix.

 

Thanks again . It has been a great month for me personally. I can't wait to see who gets TOTM for August .

 

Blazing a new trail is scary out there. You're never sure if you're doing the right thing or you're too far off the beaten path and are walking down the trail to ruin. I will say in the last several months, I've really backed off wanting a high dKh as I've seen much better color with lower dKH.

What dKH are you aiming for now Veng? I agree I have noticed better colour around the lower end of the scale (around 8-9dKH). I'm going to take things slow for the time being. I don't want to rush into any changes that could possible make the situation worse for me.

[ninjamyst]

I love messing arund with the tank, when things are going smoothly. I really find it a chore to spend time when things are not going well, it depresses me haha.

 

so true. when things are not going well, i find excuses not to even look at my tank, which only makes things worst....

[RollaJase]

so true. when things are not going well, i find excuses not to even look at my tank, which only makes things worst....

Yeah it sucks but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done. I put off doign a deep clean of my sandbed for a few months, only made matters worse and resulted in almsot a 50% water change on my part to get things back on track.

[Polarcollision]

Blazing a new trail is scary out there. You're never sure if you're doing the right thing or you're too far off the beaten path and are walking down the trail to ruin. I will say in the last several months, I've really backed off wanting a high dKh as I've seen much better color with lower dKH.

 

Veng, mind sharing your po4, nitrate and dKH levels when dKH was higher and color was less vibrant? I've noticed a trend from all my reading and wouldn't mind adding more data points to see if the trend holds.

 

I dose 5ml of Salifert Coralline AminoAcids onec a week as directed, and make sure the skimemr is offline for atleast an hour post dose. I have found it to help with colour but didn't really notice anything on the PE front.

 

A while ago I noticed Acropower says to dose *at least* 5mL/25 g/week. Had previously just dosed 5 mL/week. So... now I'm adding 2.5 mL every other day for ~ 22 gallons of actual water until all coral is back to their vibrant selves. Wonder if polyp extension has anything to do with that difference?

[RollaJase]

A while ago I noticed Acropower says to dose *at least* 5mL/25 g/week. Had previously just dosed 5 mL/week. So... now I'm adding 2.5 mL every other day for ~ 22 gallons of actual water until all coral is back to their vibrant selves. Wonder if polyp extension has anything to do with that difference?

Interesting, the Salifert Amino's I dose has the same dosing reccomendations. Keep in mind that the gallons they refer to on Salifert products should be UK gallons (as they are a European company) which is larger than US gallons. My total tank volume is roughly 100L (without rock/sand etc.) which is 30US gallons, roughly 25UK gallons. Realistically I am overdosing their reccomendations as it is but I may try adding a few extra ml tonight or tomorrow night as I initially dosed last Saturday. Maybe next time round I'll break the dose up over the week and see what happens?

[RollaJase]

Dosing containers arrived today, no leaks from the doser, digital timers arrived from China. Today was a good day . I just need my Alk levels to be stable when I test a little later and things will be magic . I also found out what the name of the last component I need for my dosing system is called, 'Gland Fittings'.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290631532692?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

These will allow me to pass the rigid airline tubing through the lid of the containers without it moving around and is easily adjustable.

[Veng]

For a while I was shooting really high, dKH ~12-14. I backed off and now I try to live in the 9-10 range. As for nitrate and PO4, no idea. I don't regularly test for them. Between the fuge puting out chaeto and the media reactor with GFO, they're kept in check fairly well. I've never had a PO4 test that was accurate enough to give me reliable readings. As for Nitrates, close very to zero.

[RollaJase]

For a while I was shooting really high, dKH ~12-14. I backed off and now I try to live in the 9-10 range. As for nitrate and PO4, no idea. I don't regularly test for them. Between the fuge puting out chaeto and the media reactor with GFO, they're kept in check fairly well. I've never had a PO4 test that was accurate enough to give me reliable readings. As for Nitrates, close very to zero.

Good to know. Hmm, maybe I will stick with my dKH around 9-9.5 for the time being and see how things go.

[markalot]

I used RS Blue Bucket for 6 months. Good salt, great for keeping lower alk, but keep an eye on your Mg levels because you can start getting low between water changes. I used it over a year ago and was kind of clueless, but if I could get it in smaller bags I would probably switch back. I don't like these salts with insanely elevated levels.

[Veng]

I used RS Blue Bucket for 6 months. Good salt, great for keeping lower alk, but keep an eye on your Mg levels because you can start getting low between water changes. I used it over a year ago and was kind of clueless, but if I could get it in smaller bags I would probably switch back. I don't like these salts with insanely elevated levels.

The high dKH salts can be handy if you've got a small tank where you use frequent small water changes instead of dosing to add Ca/dKH. You'd still need a different salt on hand, closer to your target levels if you need to do a large water change.

[RollaJase]

I used RS Blue Bucket for 6 months. Good salt, great for keeping lower alk, but keep an eye on your Mg levels because you can start getting low between water changes. I used it over a year ago and was kind of clueless, but if I could get it in smaller bags I would probably switch back. I don't like these salts with insanely elevated levels.

I'll be dosing Mag anyway so the lower levels in the salt doesn't really bother me. I think I might pick up a small bag of blue bucket to try. Heck I might even just buy another big bucket and 50/50 blend coral pro and blue bucket, that should put levels roughly where I want them haha.

 

The high dKH salts can be handy if you've got a small tank where you use frequent small water changes instead of dosing to add Ca/dKH. You'd still need a different salt on hand, closer to your target levels if you need to do a large water change.

I never noticed the Alk issues when I was doing weekly water changes, when changing to fortnightly on the other hand I have had big issues. You are right though, anything out of the standard water change could cause serious swings with coral pro.

[RollaJase]

Traded the rest of my Xenia in for a 2KG bag of the Red Sea blue bucket salt. Tomorrow when I do my water change I am going to do a 50/50 mix of coral pro and blue bucket and test the parameters once mixed. I think the Alk will be at a level more suitable to my tank.

 

I moved my red chalice a bit recently in preparation for the rescape and it has not taken to well to the move. It is starting to show signs of the skeleton poking through the flesh. I had moved it into a slightly shaded spot to one with full light on the sand bed and slightly more flow. I have moved it into another shaded spot with some more flow and I'll keep and eye on how it goes.

[4x5]

That new chalice is really sexy. How's the doser treating you?

[RollaJase]

That new chalice is really sexy. How's the doser treating you?

Thanks man, I love it and it is colouring up really well under the LEDs.

 

The doser has not skipped a beat. Easy to set up and use which is fantastic. I'm still in the process of dialing it in but it looks to be working well. As someone who has never used a doser before I can tell you I will never go back . The quality seems to be quite good. From what I found in my research this Marine Color unit is essentially the same as the Kamoer and Bubble Magus units which are available. This means that the build should be good and there are a ton of options available when it comes to spare parts. I am going to order a few dosing heads and a spare pump to keep on hand in a month or so.

[4x5]

Excellent. Last question and sorry if you've already said it somewhere. Do you set the amount to dose per day and how many doses per day to split it into or do you set each dose amount manually?

[RollaJase]

Excellent. Last question and sorry if you've already said it somewhere. Do you set the amount to dose per day and how many doses per day to split it into or do you set each dose amount manually?

I set the liquid amount for the daily doses as well as how many times I want to dose during the day and the doser does the calculations. I can also tell, for example, for Pump 1 only to dose between 0800 and 2200 hours and for pump 2 to dose between 1200 and 1500 hours. This helps with trying to work around precipitation. I do not believe that this doser allows you to individually set dosing increments throughout the day for specific liquids and quantities.

[4x5]

Oh man that's awesome, my Marine Magic doser is a pain in the ass, each dose has to be set manually and I have it set to dose every hour so you can imagine the pain to make adjustments.

[RollaJase]

Oh yeah that would not be fun at all. This is really easy, if I need to add an extra 1ml into the daily dose I just increase the quantity and the doser does the rest, makes it really simple to work with. It is also quite easy to calculate when the doser should dose depending on the pumping hours you stipulate and the total number of doses per day you allow.

[BattleAthletics]

Does your Doser have the same grammar problem?

[RollaJase]

Does your Doser have the same grammar problem?

As in not being able to read the instructions etc. due to poor translation. It was actually very good, one of the better ones I have seen. The UI is very easy to understand also.

[BattleAthletics]

As in not being able to read the instructions etc. due to poor translation. It was actually very good, one of the better ones I have seen. The UI is very easy to understand also.

Lol I'll take a picture of mine in the afternoon, at work right now.