Elos 160 - First Build
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Zaffor
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Picked up some frags from the Reef Raft live sale a few weeks ago, and purchased a new magnetic frag rack from oceans wonder.
This would be my first time ordering anything online and I must say Reef Raft did an EXCELLENT job packing the frags (14 total).
Dipped corals in Bayer
Rinsed twice and added to new frag rack
This would be my first time ordering anything online and I must say Reef Raft did an EXCELLENT job packing the frags (14 total).
Dipped corals in Bayer
Rinsed twice and added to new frag rack
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Zaffor
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Cant stress the need to dip AND inspect all new additions enough.
Buddy of mine shipped me a few frags and I found one frag to contain AEFW.
Since running into this pest (along with red bugs) in the past I make it a point to dip and usually replace the plug on everything I add. Colonies should have entire bases cut off to avoid risk.
First line of defense
Found this guy in the milky bayer water (one drawback of bayer is the inability to see clearly what comes off the frags)
With magnification you can clearly see the bite marks as well as the eggs (thx Marvin for the photo modification to point out eggs)
I hate to swap plugs where the frag is already encrusting but as these pests seem to be more prevalent I think its the safer route.
Buddy of mine shipped me a few frags and I found one frag to contain AEFW.
Since running into this pest (along with red bugs) in the past I make it a point to dip and usually replace the plug on everything I add. Colonies should have entire bases cut off to avoid risk.
First line of defense
Found this guy in the milky bayer water (one drawback of bayer is the inability to see clearly what comes off the frags)
With magnification you can clearly see the bite marks as well as the eggs (thx Marvin for the photo modification to point out eggs)
I hate to swap plugs where the frag is already encrusting but as these pests seem to be more prevalent I think its the safer route.
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Zaffor
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Upgraded my MP40's with the new QD's. They definitely move more water than the previous versions, i had to lower the percentage from 90% to 70% because they were moving too much sand. Noticeably quieter as well.
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Zaffor
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Been a while since i posted anything, so I figured I would update.
After battling pale sps and recently a bout of tip necrosis (maybe due to alk climbing to the 9s and nutrients too low) I pulled my biopellet reactor. The reactor might have been too large for my tank even though i used very little pellets. A few sps folks suggested I stop the bio pellets and just keep up with reg maintenance. Its a bit early to tell and there was already some damage done but it seems to be headed in the right direction.
I also changed the orientation of my lights and it looks like it provides a more even coverage. I had installed the wide angle lenses but i might go back to the normal ones after seeing the spread.
I think im going to vacuum some of my sand thats blowing around with the mp40s and buy some special grade to see if it stays put.
After battling pale sps and recently a bout of tip necrosis (maybe due to alk climbing to the 9s and nutrients too low) I pulled my biopellet reactor. The reactor might have been too large for my tank even though i used very little pellets. A few sps folks suggested I stop the bio pellets and just keep up with reg maintenance. Its a bit early to tell and there was already some damage done but it seems to be headed in the right direction.
I also changed the orientation of my lights and it looks like it provides a more even coverage. I had installed the wide angle lenses but i might go back to the normal ones after seeing the spread.
I think im going to vacuum some of my sand thats blowing around with the mp40s and buy some special grade to see if it stays put.
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Zaffor
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Just looking through my saved threads and noticed I had not updated this since July. To begin with, I had posted a while back that I was getting poor color from my sps even though at times growth had been good. A few months ago (due to some bad hanna alk reag) I had a slight alk increase to about 9.8 up from the 8 I thought i was at. I am not totally sure if the alk spike caused this, but a short time after this happened I lost several frags and many others started to show damaged tips. Once the tissue at the tips was dead algae would begin to grow in its place.
After some conversation with a few friends and also Adam at battlecorals, i decided to pull my bio-pellet reactor. Too many guys telling me my water may just have been too clean. I was also suggested to try and lower the alk some as well.
Fast forward nearly three months and I am happy to report that my colors have never looked better! I had been dosing various supplements and fidgeting with so many variables up to now (light intensity/colors/height I even purchased the radion wide angle kit for my lights and then ended up reverting to the original lenses after doing some par tests) and getting nowhere. Seems simplicity wins here, and simply removing the bio-pellets with the very small amount of pellets i was using did it. My sps have not yet fully recovered from the damaged tips (i guess this takes time) BUT i am seeing colors on some of my frags I have never seen in my tank. I notice my glass doesnt last as long without needing to be cleaned, but everything else seems to be fine. I am running Adam's old Radion schedule and slowly ramping up the intensity to 70% to see if things improve further.
After some conversation with a few friends and also Adam at battlecorals, i decided to pull my bio-pellet reactor. Too many guys telling me my water may just have been too clean. I was also suggested to try and lower the alk some as well.
Fast forward nearly three months and I am happy to report that my colors have never looked better! I had been dosing various supplements and fidgeting with so many variables up to now (light intensity/colors/height I even purchased the radion wide angle kit for my lights and then ended up reverting to the original lenses after doing some par tests) and getting nowhere. Seems simplicity wins here, and simply removing the bio-pellets with the very small amount of pellets i was using did it. My sps have not yet fully recovered from the damaged tips (i guess this takes time) BUT i am seeing colors on some of my frags I have never seen in my tank. I notice my glass doesnt last as long without needing to be cleaned, but everything else seems to be fine. I am running Adam's old Radion schedule and slowly ramping up the intensity to 70% to see if things improve further.
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Zaffor
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I decided to vacuum the finer sand I had initially used to setup my tank and replace it with Caribsea Special Grade (1-2mm) sand. I was having so much trouble with sandstorms and constantly having to move sand back and forth where the vortechs had relocated it. I had tried different positions for the mp40s but no matter where I put them, they always moved sand when I ran them anywhere near max. I syphoned out a section of sand every few days and replaced with the coarser sand. I used dry sand rinsed well with my garden hose and then rinsed with RO water. Hardly any cloudiness at all and no ill effects. I can now run my mp40s opposing each other at much higher speeds with very minimal sand moving and no sandstorms.
I photographed my yasha goby / pistol shrimp pair and you can see a close up of the coarser sand
I photographed my yasha goby / pistol shrimp pair and you can see a close up of the coarser sand
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Zaffor
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Installed an ecotech vectra M1 return pump and used that opportunity to re-do the plumbing with some red pvc i had purchased a while back for this purpose. The Jebao was quiet but i had it shut down on me once for no apparent reason, therefore I chose to go with the vectra. Its possibly a little bit quieter and the controller is clean and matches with my mp40s. Also the reeflink control is a plus.
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Zaffor
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I have been running it for a few months now and its working well. I think one of my errors was constantly changing things (like light schedule) where i now believe stability is more important. I did like the look of his schedule and stuck with it.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-radion-schedule.172507/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-radion-schedule.172507/
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Zaffor
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Update time...
I had a friend fabricate a top for my sump to clean things up a bit further and to lessen some of the salt spray that comes from the drain chamber and the filter socks.
Being that it was extremely difficult to empty and pull out the sump, i chose to install the lid in place. After a little research and some quick test pieces I decided on weld-on 16. I removed as much as I could from the sump, emptied and vacuumed the main chambers and then dry fitted to make sure it sat where I wanted. Then applied a small bead of the glue all around the edge and installed the lid with some weight on top.
I now have a lid above my sock chamber and small bulkhead fittings for dosing/ATO/Auto water change
I had a friend fabricate a top for my sump to clean things up a bit further and to lessen some of the salt spray that comes from the drain chamber and the filter socks.
Being that it was extremely difficult to empty and pull out the sump, i chose to install the lid in place. After a little research and some quick test pieces I decided on weld-on 16. I removed as much as I could from the sump, emptied and vacuumed the main chambers and then dry fitted to make sure it sat where I wanted. Then applied a small bead of the glue all around the edge and installed the lid with some weight on top.
I now have a lid above my sock chamber and small bulkhead fittings for dosing/ATO/Auto water change
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Zaffor
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Thanks!
I think its been about 2 years since I bought this tank. I guess its been alot of ups and downs but it is finally steadily heading in the right direction! This hobby is so enjoyable when you can see the fruits of your labor with healthy growing corals. I cant wait until I have a display that mirrors some of the great builds on these forums.
I think its been about 2 years since I bought this tank. I guess its been alot of ups and downs but it is finally steadily heading in the right direction! This hobby is so enjoyable when you can see the fruits of your labor with healthy growing corals. I cant wait until I have a display that mirrors some of the great builds on these forums.
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