hbginline Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 i love your aquascape and the progress your tank has made from page 1. it's very impressive and i hope i can accomplish what you've done. The livestock you have in your tank is almost exactly what I had planned for mine, and of course your corals, flat out amazing what you've done over the course of 2-3 months. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 i love your aquascape and the progress your tank has made from page 1. it's very impressive and i hope i can accomplish what you've done. The livestock you have in your tank is almost exactly what I had planned for mine, and of course your corals, flat out amazing what you've done over the course of 2-3 months. Thank you. Gotta say, obsessive testing was my key to success. I did stock too fast, bacteria starter helped and the testing confirmed. Link to comment
hbginline Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 would you recommend that red sea test kit? what'd you mean when you said you needed calcium? the kit told you that your calcium levels were low or the kit needs a calcium test? also whats all this talk about a reefkeeper and alc? Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 would you recommend that red sea test kit? what'd you mean when you said you needed calcium? the kit told you that your calcium levels were low or the kit needs a calcium test? also whats all this talk about a reefkeeper and alc? The red sea kit is very nice,I would recommend it. And my current calcium is 400, I want it up to 450. the reefkeeper is a controller unit and the alc is a light controller. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 went to get water today and remembered that LFS was having a CUC sale again. got a margarita, 5 more nerites, and three more hermits. i think i am full up now as far as the CUC goes. the hunt now is to find some cool zoas and palys to fill some of the shelf rocks i have. not for a few weeks but i can window shop for now. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 what does everyone use to dose calcium? the first one i am trying is the kent liquid calcium. not sure if my corals are just using it up this fast or what. last night i had a reading of 400, i added .5ml today and tested tonight and still had 400. i added another .5ml after testing and will add another .5ml tomorrow around noon and test tomorrow night again. anyone have a dosing schedule they use for kent or what is the consensus on good calcium additives? has anyone tried the BRS stuff? my group buy runs through tomorrow so if anyone has a good vibe on the BRS stuff please let me know. thanks in advance for any responses. thanks to everybody for showing me some love over the last few pages as well. it is good to feel that i belong. as i have mentioned before, hopefully this thread will be a guide to new reefers for the process of setup and maintenance. i know i am not perfect, that is why i test. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 what does everyone use to dose calcium? the first one i am trying is the kent liquid calcium. not sure if my corals are just using it up this fast or what. last night i had a reading of 400, i added .5ml today and tested tonight and still had 400. i added another .5ml after testing and will add another .5ml tomorrow around noon and test tomorrow night again. anyone have a dosing schedule they use for kent or what is the consensus on good calcium additives? has anyone tried the BRS stuff? my group buy runs through tomorrow so if anyone has a good vibe on the BRS stuff please let me know. thanks in advance for any responses. thanks to everybody for showing me some love over the last few pages as well. it is good to feel that i belong. as i have mentioned before, hopefully this thread will be a guide to new reefers for the process of setup and maintenance. i know i am not perfect, that is why i test. Hi Tink! E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium seems to be a popular choice. I have no personal experience with it though. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 so, adding alk and calcium through the last few days since testing my levels today are mg1200ppm, cal 400ppm (still), alk 12.6. these numbers are consistent with all four tests. i will do my 4g WC tomorrow and test an hour later. still want to get calcium higher. anyone have any feelings as far as these numbers go? Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 on another note, the CUC has finally dealt with the diatom bloom i had a couple weeks ago, it is now nice white sand again. also, it is nice to see GHA dying, there are still a few patches on the back wall, but they do not look good. the flame algae i got looks awesome! it is growing all kinds of spikes up towards the light and getting longer. the xenia is clumping together and looks great. the kenya tree has taken hold in its spot, it is cool to see it set itself into the rock. the yellow polyps seem to be growing roots, i know this is just it pushing out new polyps but it is cool to me. the duncan was all closed up this morning and i found what i assume was a vermetid snail in one of the polyps. not sure how the hell it thought it was gonna live there, but i got it with the forceps and smashed it for messing with my duncan. they opened back up within half an hour of removal and seem happy again tonight. i know, i know... TL;DR but... this is such a great experience! i love every little thing that happens with the tank. my fresh tanks have been so automatic that it seems to be set it and forget it, the reef tank makes me think and work. so far this has been my greatest aquatic adventure. Link to comment
like-fish Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 update them pics! Some of are are following along and love to see the progress! Is the dosing a pain or a simple procedure. Im a bit hesitant to even consider it in the future. Did you water changes not provide enough additional minerals or are you trying to maintain optimum levels? Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hi Tink, Have you made a decision on a controller yet? Still shopping around? -Gravy Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Dosing has been pretty easy, it just takes a bit to figure it out. I am just trying to get to a more optimal numbers. Still looking at controllers, not decided yet. Will try to get a new pic tonight. Link to comment
RedStang Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Dosing has been pretty easy, it just takes a bit to figure it out. I am just trying to get to a more optimal numbers. Still looking at controllers, not decided yet. Will try to get a new pic tonight. Apex, Apex, Apex...... Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 pics to satiate the readers. the tanks is grumpy tonight i think. also, i am planning on a not so crappy digi cam in the next few weeks. gotta find the right one at the right price first though. the flame algae is looking cool. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 duncan has finally decided to open up again after a couple days of blah. still messing around with the dosing and testing to see what the tank needs. this stasis mode for growth makes for boring thread growth. sorry all, i will try to add something next month so i have something to talk about. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 can anyone with an apex please post or send me some pics of how the lighting all ties into the system. i have not yet figured out how the dimming control ties into the apex jr. or if no pics could someone at least describe what it is. is it on the power module, is it a different mod, what makes apex the tops? also, how do extra power bars get controlled, parallel or series wired or just a control wire? thanks in advance for any help. Link to comment
RedStang Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 can anyone with an apex please post or send me some pics of how the lighting all ties into the system. i have not yet figured out how the dimming control ties into the apex jr. or if no pics could someone at least describe what it is. is it on the power module, is it a different mod, what makes apex the tops? also, how do extra power bars get controlled, parallel or series wired or just a control wire? thanks in advance for any help. Do you have the VDM? That's what allows dimming of the lights. It sends a 0-10v signal through what amounts to a network cable. I was sure I had pics in my thread. If not, I'll find some for ya. Extra apex electrical bars get controlled through an aqua bus cable. I added an EB8 to mine. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Do you have the VDM? That's what allows dimming of the lights. It sends a 0-10v signal through what amounts to a network cable. I was sure I had pics in my thread. If not, I'll find some for ya. Extra apex electrical bars get controlled through an aqua bus cable. I added an EB8 to mine. i'll look again, might have forgotten it. is that a standard piece or an add on? i will look later. EDIT: looked back through your thread and didn't see the connections for the apex. Link to comment
RedStang Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 i'll look again, might have forgotten it. is that a standard piece or an add on? i will look later. EDIT: looked back through your thread and didn't see the connections for the apex. VDM is an add-on. Let me see if I can find the pics. I have some info on the thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...0382&page=4 Can't find pics though. Have you downloaded the unofficial guide to the apex? That's what helped me a ton. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 just downloaded the guide. this should do the trick for a bit. thanks man Link to comment
cberglof Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hows the tank doing? I think I may run over to discovery tomorrow and see whats new. Maybe they will have a must have. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 stasis is boring to talk about so i have been fairly quiet as of late, but the tank is doing well except for the torch who seems perpetually pissed. everything else is growing like crazy and the pistol/goby combo has been active this week. i have been planning out the LED system and trying to figure out exactly what i want to put on it and with it. i am gonna go crazy with red and turquoise and a couple violet as well. might as well be on the cutting edge. i still owe ya a couple containers as i remember, might have to use that as an excuse to see ya again. i know jay said he got some new stuff this week, work was hell this week as corporate was all over pushing the new add campaign so i am a little out of the loop. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 well, i am at the point of no return, i placed my LED order just now. here we go... Link to comment
cberglof Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 well, i am at the point of no return, i placed my LED order just now. here we go... Awesome you won't regret it. Which kit did you go with? Link to comment
tinkerer Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Didn't go with a kit, went the way of self planning I will post it when I get home from work. Link to comment
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