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LITTLE BLUE| IM30L (picking up pieces after the crush)


A Little Blue

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On 1/12/2019 at 8:14 PM, A Little Blue said:

Trash. Not at resort’ private beach but literally few yards from it (supposedly one of the top ***** resorts on the island). But that’s not the worst of it...... Wife and her girlfriend took a swim in what they though was a river ( ofcause both wasted). It wasn’t 🤫🤢

They swapped our leaking top floor rooms for VIP rooms so all is good at this point, but we really should have gone to Costarica or lagoons of Mexico. 

My buddy couldn’t keep up and is out cold. So drinkn solo watching wife’s regretful face.🥴

Well that's what they get for going to DR and swimming in a river lol.  Could have gone to Mississippi to do that 🙂

 

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A Little Blue
1 hour ago, specore said:

Well that's what they get for going to DR and swimming in a river lol.  Could have gone to Mississppi to do that 🙂

 

Wifey is fine but her friend spent two days in bed with some sort of nasty skin rush outbreak and fever. 

As a side note: why only people from 300lbs+ club join the pool aerobics??🙄

 

Wish I could say that I am enjoying the scenery....

 

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I am not sure how to interpret a slight rise in PH? Is it safe to assume that DKH might be slightly on the rise?

When I left for vaca my DKH was low in mid-upper 6DKH range. I’ve intentionally let the doser add slightly more in order to rise it up over several days. Any thoughts? 

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4 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Wifey is fine but her friend spent two days in bed with some sort of nasty skin rush outbreak and fever. 

As a side note: why only people from 300lbs+ club join the pool aerobics??🙄

 

Wish I could say that I am enjoying the scenery....

 

56758ED4-884D-4BBA-B798-10664F8E7B52.thumb.jpeg.f995580dedf8819e170f129a6ca37941.jpeg

 

I am not sure how to interpret a slight rise in PH? Is it safe to assume that DKH might be slightly on the rise?

When I left for vaca my DKH was low in mid-upper 6DKH range. I’ve intentionally let the doser add slightly more in order to rise it up over several days. Any thoughts? 

13C1012C-BB3B-4DD1-89BC-B2838C869FEF.jpeg.1754c3ddb74370a7fa8bca7620b25887.jpeg

That's probably it.  Could Co2 levels be lower with you and the wife out of the house?  

 

And I've made a mental note that swimming in "rivers" in borderline third world countries is not a good idea.  

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A Little Blue
40 minutes ago, specore said:

That's probably it.  Could Co2 levels be lower with you and the wife out of the house?  

 

And I've made a mental note that swimming in "rivers" in borderline third world countries is not a good idea.  

That’s a good point. I didn’t even take that into consideration. And to be absolutely transparent, I have never cared for or owned PH meter before. It just wasn’t a gauge that I would concider crucial to successful reef-keeping. Even now, I couldn’t care much about it, however. It seems like it might give you some indication of things that are happening in your tank. I just don’t known how to decode those messages. 

 

Don't really know how much DKH changes might affect PH. But I do believe there is some correlation between the two. Even when I was adjusting the new doser, volume of the fluids, time of dosing, etc, PH probe seemed to pick those changes up. Am I getting ADHD over it or is there something to it? 

Didn't need it in the past, now, I can’t stop looking at it and analyze it. 🤣

 

As to third world countries and its virgin, natural beauty....... way overrated. 

If it wasn’t for that “evil colonialism”, they would still use sticks to start the fire. 

 

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41 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

That’s a good point. I didn’t even take that into consideration. And to be absolutely transparent, I have never cared for or owned PH meter before. It just wasn’t a gauge that I would concider crucial to successful reef-keeping. Even now, I couldn’t care much about it, however. It seems like it might give you some indication of things that are happening in your tank. I just don’t known how to decode those messages. 

 

Don't really know how much DKH changes might affect PH. But I do believe there is some correlation between the two. Even when I was adjusting the new doser, volume of the fluids, time of dosing, etc, PH probe seemed to pick those changes up. Am I getting ADHD over it or is there something to it? 

Didn't need it in the past, now, I can’t stop looking at it and analyze it. 🤣

 

As to third world countries and its virgin, natural beauty....... way overrated. 

If it wasn’t for that “evil colonialism”, they would still use sticks to start the fire. 

 

Well the solution itself is higher in pH, so even if there's not a direct correlation between alk there certainly is between calcium carbonate solution and pH.  My pH seems constantly to ebbing and flowing without reason, so wouldn't worry about it.  Not if it suddenly spikes then something is definitely off.  Really is more useful for people running a calcium reactor with CO2. 

 

***suppose pH would be helpful in identifying an issue with your lights not coming on or not going off

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A Little Blue
37 minutes ago, specore said:

Well the solution itself is higher in pH, so even if there's not a direct correlation between alk there certainly is between calcium carbonate solution and pH.  My pH seems constantly to ebbing and flowing without reason, so wouldn't worry about it.  Not if it suddenly spikes then something is definitely off.  Really is more useful for people running a calcium reactor with CO2. 

 

***suppose pH would be helpful in identifying an issue with your lights not coming on or not going off

 

37 minutes ago, specore said:

Well the solution itself is higher in pH, so even if there's not a direct correlation between alk there certainly is between calcium carbonate solution and pH.  My pH seems constantly to ebbing and flowing without reason, so wouldn't worry about it.  Not if it suddenly spikes then something is definitely off.  Really is more useful for people running a calcium reactor with CO2. 

 

***suppose pH would be helpful in identifying an issue with your lights not coming on or not going off

Got it. PH in this tank varies between 7.9-8.2 (avarage at 8.05) which doesn’t bother me at all. In all fairness, It seems like a descent number. 

As you have pointed out the light cycle is certainly a (huge) factor and it makes sense to use PH as a gauge to spot lighting issues. 

With that in mind and after getting a storm of anecdotal experiences from various sources, I did investigate potential benefits of dosing during lights out hrs. And I have to say, that after various combinations of dosing time and dosage amount, I concluded that it might help to certain degree (including running skimmer/fuge exclusively at night) but there is no way  to compensate for that PH drop. So yeah, it seems pointless to chase those “optimal” numbers. 

Thanks for your insight. Any info from a trusted source is valuable. And I take yours as such. 👍

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1 minute ago, A Little Blue said:

 

Got it. PH in this tank varies between 7.9-8.2 (avarage at 8.05) which doesn’t bother me at all. In all fairness, It seems like a descent number. 

As you have pointed out the light cycle is certainly a (huge) factor and it makes sense to use PH as a gauge to spot lighting issues. 

With that in mind and after getting a storm of anecdotal experiences from various sources, I did investigate potential benefits of dosing during lights out hrs. And I have to say, that after various combinations of dosing time and dosage amount, I concluded that it might help to certain degree (including running skimmer/fuge exclusively at night) but there is no way  to compensate for that PH drop. So yeah, it seems pointless to chase those “optimal” numbers. 

Thanks for your insight. Any info from a trusted source is valuable. And I take yours as such. 👍

Yep.  I threw in the towel and just dose every hour of every day.  Reverse lighting my fuge, night dosing, etc, still get the same pH drop as I would without those things.  

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A Little Blue
1 minute ago, specore said:

Yep.  I threw in the towel and just dose every hour of every day.  Reverse lighting my fuge, night dosing, etc, still get the same pH drop as I would without those things.  

Pretty much my experience but still, some claim significant results by using above mentioned techniques. And that says a lot about sources ppl get their information from. So lesson for new hobbyists, don’t believe everything you hear/read and filter your sources based on acctual results and data. 

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A Little Blue

Back from vaca!

Not a good start.

Got a $200 speeding ticket on the way home from JFK airport.🙄

Then, speculating on the condition of both tanks, possible casualties, water parameters, ATO reservoir getting sucked dry etc. 

Walked in the door and not getting this very familiar odor of crashed tank. 

So far so good. 

Next, water is at normal level, no bubbles (means ATO wasn’t entirely depleted) and there is some movement in the tank. (So, not everything is death. It felt as if I dodged the bullet)

Relief! And for the first time I can comely take a closer look at water chemistry, check equipment and livestock. 

Forgot already about that $200 ticket!

Little Reef survived!!!!💪🍺

 

 

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A Little Blue

 

Glad to see these little guys survive. GSP is getting out of control. Nearly doubled in size since I got it several months ago. (Frag tank)

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New frag. Not sure but it looks like Miyagi tort. Also got some Rasta zoas but they’re super pissed after dipping and frag plug peroxide treatment. 

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Moved my green staghorn and now I can see this guy more often. It fell behind stag and I have never bothered to retrieve it. No clue what is the name of it.... freebie from one of online vendors. 

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And lastly, I am looking for water storage solution for my auto WC attempt. Something between 15-30gal (X2) with wide opening and safe. Found these tanks for $80each but they are killing on shipping cost. 

7483DA8F-76DC-4240-9209-D828FABE2558.thumb.jpeg.2e042af24df71f29cfe09b077eac541e.jpeg

 

Will update soon. I have some really nice growth and bunch of things I keep forgetting to mention. Lol 

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A Little Blue

Decided on two 15gal. containers for auto WC project. Also looking for portable RODI setup. I saw few options between $50-$65 on Amazon. Not sure if that would be sufficient enough for my needs. 15 gallons would be enough for 2-3months period for my WC needs. I really don’t do a lot of WC..... 15gal in the past 8 months or so but I feel that I might be pushing my luck. 

Ive finally setup one of pumps on 2nd DOS for Tropic Marin and dosing smaller frag tank. This stuff is pretty awesome to be quite honest with you. One pump, easy dosing, 2in1 solution.... it works.

(Frag tank running at 7.5dkh atm) 

42CC5322-A578-44FB-B442-8AD038F98020.thumb.jpeg.b7333584be5d506accca55d104bce192.jpeg

Pipefish in the frag tank is alive but in all honesty, I don’t know how🤗

It doesn’t seem to eat any of the regular dry/frozen food, there is also limited number of pods. Since its inception, this tank has been seeded just once with copepods. It seems active and not particularly skinny behind the ears. So not really sure what it feeds on? As you remember, I have treated this frag tank for flatworms and it seemed to work.... Well, not quite. Perhaps I was too conservative with dosing amount or some have survived in back chamber compartments. That was before we left for vaca. However, when we came back, flatworms were gone. Not one that I could find ....... plsease explain that to me because I just don’t get it. My wishful thinking is toying with the idea that perhaps this Pipefish, due to insufficient food source, forced itself to eat those nasty pests but I do honestly doubt it. 

 

As to the main tank, well, all is well. Corals are growing and it seems like most of them are super busy encrusting rock. Especially montis and acros. Made some rearrangements and still playing around with light and flow settings. Not by much, yet still. 

Might add another fish to the main display. Not sure what at the moment. Probably Pink-Streaked Wrasse.

In a month or so I’ll be gone for another week or so and I am a bit more confident with my life-support system.

It was flawless last time around. 

More later..... 

Ohhh added a permanent display to my Apex (cheap, never really used this fire unit from Amazon. It sucks).  

Now some quick pics:

 

Two DOS setup (phone cam)

823AE159-EC8A-43AA-A6F4-047C34AB4F2B.thumb.jpeg.8566745cce372c7918e351313d8286b0.jpeg

 

Apex display (phone quickie)

FFEE0051-3D4E-4389-8A8F-79B0CF6B7224.thumb.jpeg.1978cfff1ebc1c6aad17628e83b62acb.jpeg

And some redundant tank shots

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128ED726-52C4-4E68-8637-A3A2DA6482E4.thumb.jpeg.9b1f5bbf193c0056a3acf4365d788def.jpeg

 

F5447AD1-6BCE-4D48-9E0B-2C1258C336F3.thumb.jpeg.5f666c60fc86ec83584ca963e592e4cc.jpeg

 

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77DDA1EA-6810-4ED2-A665-0B4773C0B2F2.thumb.jpeg.c742f498ecb305959e2c78bf2fd4e408.jpeg

 

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2 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Decided on two 15gal. containers for auto WC project. Also looking for portable RODI setup. I saw few options between $50-$65 on Amazon. Not sure if that would be sufficient enough for my needs. 15 gallons would be enough for 2-3months period for my WC needs. I really don’t do a lot of WC..... 15gal in the past 8 months or so but I feel that I might be pushing my luck. 

Ive finally setup one of pumps on 2nd DOS for Tropic Marin and dosing smaller frag tank. This stuff is pretty awesome to be quite honest with you. One pump, easy dosing, 2in1 solution.... it works.

(Frag tank running at 7.5dkh atm) 

42CC5322-A578-44FB-B442-8AD038F98020.thumb.jpeg.b7333584be5d506accca55d104bce192.jpeg

Pipefish in the frag tank is alive but in all honesty, I don’t know how🤗

It doesn’t seem to eat any of the regular dry/frozen food, there is also limited number of pods. Since its inception, this tank has been seeded just once with copepods. It seems active and not particularly skinny behind the ears. So not really sure what it feeds on? As you remember, I have treated this frag tank for flatworms and it seemed to work.... Well, not quite. Perhaps I was too conservative with dosing amount or some have survived in back chamber compartments. That was before we left for vaca. However, when we came back, flatworms were gone. Not one that I could find ....... plsease explain that to me because I just don’t get it. My wishful thinking is toying with the idea that perhaps this Pipefish, due to insufficient food source, forced itself to eat those nasty pests but I do honestly doubt it. 

 

As to the main tank, well, all is well. Corals are growing and it seems like most of them are super busy encrusting rock. Especially montis and acros. Made some rearrangements and still playing around with light and flow settings. Not by much, yet still. 

Might add another fish to the main display. Not sure what at the moment. Probably Pink-Streaked Wrasse.

In a month or so I’ll be gone for another week or so and I am a bit more confident with my life-support system.

It was flawless last time around. 

More later..... 

Ohhh added a permanent display to my Apex (cheap, never really used this fire unit from Amazon. It sucks).  

Now some quick pics:

 

Two DOS setup (phone cam)

E83BABD1-BDD3-43D2-9D8C-4E134B356758.thumb.jpeg.305fb62edd9194527884c9d1a4f3e72d.jpeg

Apex display (phone quickie)7FA77214-7784-424E-B9FD-11296B64199C.thumb.jpeg.6789a3b593ab441c7c45508556f4a2d6.jpeg

And some redundant tank shots

CBE2C858-A1D4-4B08-A7C0-F2B0E1E68F0B.thumb.jpeg.997119ab22015bc27ccebc00bfaae041.jpeg

 

128ED726-52C4-4E68-8637-A3A2DA6482E4.thumb.jpeg.9b1f5bbf193c0056a3acf4365d788def.jpeg

 

F5447AD1-6BCE-4D48-9E0B-2C1258C336F3.thumb.jpeg.5f666c60fc86ec83584ca963e592e4cc.jpeg

 

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I’ve seen my Tang and my Angel eat flatworms off the glass because they watched the Six Line do it and didn’t want to miss out. 😄 

 

Nice FTS. 

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A Little Blue
10 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

I’ve seen my Tang and my Angel eat flatworms off the glass because they watched the Six Line do it and didn’t want to miss out. 😄 

 

Nice FTS. 

I had a small sixline in that tank to keep pests at bay. Unfortunately (for him) he presumably “jumped”. His body wasn’t found to this day.  If it sounds like a mob hit and it looks like a mob hit, it’s definitely a mob hit. 

Your experience with Tangs/Angel flatworm eaters give me a bit of my sanity back, as I could swear that this Pipefish wants to get on my good side and finished those f*****rs off. 

It’s only 14gal but I might get a couple Tangs and Angels just to make sure

“flats “ never come back. 😉

 

 

ohhh and Thanks☺️

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A Little Blue

Pretty sure no one cares but for those who are wondering about basic settings of lights, pumps etc, well here are some of it. 

Both Kessil lights settings will get posted over the weekend, as well as my dosing parameters via Apex. 

Keep in mind that these settings change a bit as I tweak the system. However, those changes are minute to say the least. 

 

AI Prime HD settings on Frag/Dump tank

AI Nero pump settings on IM30L tank

KPS wavemakes settings on IM30L 

 

As far as Auto Water change project and container hunting is concerned..... well, I am contemplating the idea of a direct drainage to the outside of the house and getting a 30gal salt water tank/reservoir (found one at $100 free shipping). I could also use this project to rout airline from outside to my skimmer. We will see. Just some ideas to consider. 

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A Little Blue

Ordered 35 gallon so plan is to route waste water out of the house.

Should be ready in few weeks time

(if I can figure out how to safely route it out and secure it from the weather element).

Plan is for %30WC monthly/2.5gal weekly, so this water tank should last me for at least 3 months. 

Stay tuned. 

81C9EC73-4426-4919-A4F6-9231F07405EB.thumb.jpeg.fa552cd13b51edbee5ccd66ffdaa6f8c.jpeg

 

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A Little Blue

Had a few too many last night and dealt with some major hangover earlier this morning/afternoon. Still, I promised to post my new light settings (Kessil 360X, A160 and fuge 80). So here we go:

 

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A Little Blue

 

Coming in next weekend.

Not big on zoas but my local buddy doesn’t have any interesting sticks at the moment. He does have a nice size Red Dragon tho. I had Red Dragon before but it was such a small and fragile piece that my Urchin had no problem breaking it off, kidnapping it, then turned it into a beached skeleton. It was doing fine (before kidnapping) so I decided to give it another shot with a more robust frag. Might also pick up Pink-Streaked Wrasse from LFS if they got them in stock. 

*Utters/Scrambled/Blow Pops/Pink Zippers

1433C9F3-3099-45EB-87E9-BD53D09307F4.thumb.jpeg.114713558e586453954766fa7b25a648.jpeg

 

Added this vid. Tank through my night driving glasses (deep blue lights sundown setting) 

 

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4 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Coming in next weekend.

Not big on zoas but my local buddy doesn’t have any interesting sticks at the moment. He does have a nice size Red Dragon tho. I had Red Dragon before but it was such a small and fragile piece that my Urchin had no problem breaking it off, kidnapping it, then turned it into a beached skeleton. It was doing fine (before kidnapping) so I decided to give it another shot with a more robust frag. Might also pick up Pink-Streaked Wrasse from LFS if they got them in stock. 

*Utters/Scrambled/Blow Pops/Pink Zippers

1433C9F3-3099-45EB-87E9-BD53D09307F4.thumb.jpeg.114713558e586453954766fa7b25a648.jpeg

Those Zippers look nice. 

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18 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Those Zippers look nice. 

Huh...........they look like gobstoppers to me :lol:

 

Eggs have always been one of my favs...........

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2 minutes ago, spectra said:

Huh...........they look like gobstoppers to me :lol:

 

Eggs have always been one of my favs...........

Whatever they are....... they’re pretty. 😄

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Just now, WV Reefer said:

Zoas usually don’t like me so it all works out. 

Huh WTF zoas like everyone...........hell your tank should be a zoa paradise with no skimmer or sump..........

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A Little Blue
18 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Whatever they are....... they’re pretty. 😄

Two pics on the left arent the acctual pics. They're quick google pic suggestions. 

I honestly couldn’t care less what their names are or what their “real” value is. 

I got stuff from him at half off what my LFS charges (he sells a lot of his corals to this particular LFS). 

There are some spots in shaded areas of the tank so I figured why not. 

 

Also, added a vid to my previous post of the image through my night driving glasses. Interesting to say the least. They have orange lenses (night glasses have either orange or yellow lenses) so I figure that it might be fun to try. 

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