Canadian Reefer 350 Build & Journey

[Cutter79]

38 minutes ago, hedgeclipper2 said:

Are you liking the light spread better with the 3 Primes?

so far there seems to be more consistent light spread through the tank. I was not sure if i needed 3 but now that I have 3 when I cover the middle light there is a very noticeable difference.  Lets see how the corals respond. Also starting to get into the sps corals so figured 3 where a must.

[Reef Monster]

I would think 3 would be a must if you want sps across the tank compared to just spots. I have a 2 xr 15 and 1 prime hd on my 36inch and feel like I could still use another primes..... and my par meter says the same 

 

[Cutter79]

I stumbled across the redsea dosing unit that is coming out. This might be a cheaper option than taking out a second mortgage on the house for the Apex system. Has anyone heard when Redsea will be releasing this pump? 

[hedgeclipper2]

44 minutes ago, Cutter79 said:

I stumbled across the redsea dosing unit that is coming out. This might be a cheaper option than taking out a second mortgage on the house for the Apex system. Has anyone heard when Redsea will be releasing this pump? 

Haha amen. I am considering the Apex EL, but I just spent well over $3k upgrading to my Reefer 350 and my wallet needs a break. 

[Cutter79]

19 minutes ago, hedgeclipper2 said:

Haha amen. I am considering the Apex EL, but I just spent well over $3k upgrading to my Reefer 350 and my wallet needs a break. 

My thoughts exactly. Costs up here apex el $699.99 Dos $400 then you might as well buy a couple apex wave makes for another $270 ea and the wave mod $170. That only totals $1800 plus tax 🙄

[ninjamyst]

I hate the Apex dos.  Only two dosing pumps so not useful when you run balling method and need to dose mg separately or dose something else other than alk and ca.  

[Cutter79]

1 hour ago, ninjamyst said:

I hate the Apex dos.  Only two dosing pumps so not useful when you run balling method and need to dose mg separately or dose something else other than alk and ca.  

The Reefdose 4 has 4 pumps and apparently the quality is supposed to be very good. I emailed Redsea to see if they have a release date. What dosing pump are you running and are you happy with it?

[hedgeclipper2]

5 hours ago, Cutter79 said:

My thoughts exactly. Costs up here apex el $699.99 Dos $400 then you might as well buy a couple apex wave makes for another $270 ea and the wave mod $170. That only totals $1800 plus tax 🙄

“Only”!

;)

[Cutter79]

So Redsea emailed me back. July is when they planning on releasing there dosing unit to the us. So that's a bit of a wait but I think I will try and keep manually dosing till then.

[ninjamyst]

22 hours ago, Cutter79 said:

The Reefdose 4 has 4 pumps and apparently the quality is supposed to be very good. I emailed Redsea to see if they have a release date. What dosing pump are you running and are you happy with it?

The Apex dos =P

[Cutter79]

9 minutes ago, ninjamyst said:

The Apex dos =P

LOL. Tease.

[Cutter79]

Is it normal for the last month I have had 0 phosphates and 5ppm nitrates? I have been heavy feeding for the last month to try and get a reading on phosphates but same results after testing today. Also weird thing happened tonight, yesterday I cleaned out my sump really good and cleaned all the pumps and skimmer with vinegar. Water is crystal clear. I fed the tank half a bottle of zooplankton (was pretty cool to see them swim around in the moon lighting and the fish eating them). Everything was running great then I fed a cube of mysis shrimp, I usually drain them with the fish net but tonight I just dumped them in without draining and my protein skimmer went nuts. Is that normal? The skimmer started going nuts about 2 min after eating the food. 

[Cutter79]

My LFS just got some convict tangs in stock that I am interested in. I am planning on using my 6g fluval edge tank as a quarantine tank for 30-45 days. The tang is small so I thing the 6G will be ok size wise for the 30-45 days.  I am planning on taking about 4lbs of live rock out of my sump and 2lbs of cured pond matrix and filling the edge with water from my reefer 350. If the tank measures 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites after a couple days do you think it will be ready to add the tang? If the fish looks healthy and is eating would you add any medication?

[hedgeclipper2]

On 2/8/2019 at 12:01 PM, Cutter79 said:

My LFS just got some convict tangs in stock that I am interested in. I am planning on using my 6g fluval edge tank as a quarantine tank for 30-45 days. The tang is small so I thing the 6G will be ok size wise for the 30-45 days.  I am planning on taking about 4lbs of live rock out of my sump and 2lbs of cured pond matrix and filling the edge with water from my reefer 350. If the tank measures 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites after a couple days do you think it will be ready to add the tang? If the fish looks healthy and is eating would you add any medication?

It was always my understanding that Convict Tangs needed a tank bigger than the 350's 4' width.  I am still considering adding a Bristletooth Tang to my 350.

 

As for treatment, I am not a fan of prophylactic treatment, I only treat if it needs treatment, but everyone has their own method/opinion.  If you do treat, just remember you probably shouldn't put that live rock back in your display tank once the QT is over.

[Cutter79]

All the convict tangs where sold when I returned to the lfs. I bought a foxface Lo that just finished his 45 day quarantine at the store. I will send a picture when he calms down, he is super pissed. Was all black last night after putting him in the tank. This morning he was yellow swimming around and as soon as he saw me turned black again and tried to hide with the rock. He hates me but will learn to love me LOL

[Cutter79]

Coming along. Waiting on my bulkhead fittings for the DIY dosing containers 

[Cutter79]

Foxface had a good day today. Came out of hiding and ate like a pig. Still gets spooked easily but for the most part has been out all day 

[Dantrasy]

Your tank (and cabinet) are looking swish!

 

I just made dosing containers with Voss bottles too. I got the 6mm bulkheads and 6mm acrylic tubing. It worked out well.

 

 

[Cutter79]

Did a water change yesterday. I mixed my usual 1/2 cup salt to 1 gal of RO/DI water that usually puts me spot on 1.025. Before I added the new water to the tank checked the salinity with my refractometer and the readings showed 1.030 so I deluded the water and added to the tank. Last night I tested all my water perimeters and my tank salinity was reading 1.029. WTF! So not sure how often the refractometer needs to be re calibrated but after I re calibrated it my tank has a true measure of 1.020. I guess better low than high but not happy. Guessing its best to raise the salinity slowly. My plan now is to mix 10G at a salinity of 1.030 and change 5G tonight and test tomorrow morning and proceed from there. Do you think 5G will make to much or to little of a difference on a 92 G system?    

[Cutter79]

The latest additions to the tank over the last 2 weeks. Looking better.

[Cutter79]

Cleaner wrasse (flash) didn't come out to eat last night. Then found him on the floor beside the tank. Super sucky he was one of my favorites and was a good eater and tank mate. Damn open aquariums!

[hedgeclipper2]

9 hours ago, Cutter79 said:

Cleaner wrasse (flash) didn't come out to eat last night. Then found him on the floor beside the tank. Super sucky he was one of my favorites and was a good eater and tank mate. Damn open aquariums!

I love an open top too, but I didn't want any fishy suicides.  I added the Red Sea DIY top to mine, PITA to put together, but looks okay for not alot of $$.

[Cutter79]

Taking a break from the city. Hope the tank is ok lol

[Asureef]

That’s an amazing view.

[Cutter79]

Rearranged the sump. Added a fuge. Using the led light from my old fluval edge tank. Hope it works. Added another reactor. Trying to use 1 pump to run both but having a hard time dialing in the flow. The carbon tumbles so easy.