30 Gallon SPS Reef Build

[snakeblitz33]

I am of the opinion that a healthy and thriving reef will have some algae growing somewhere... Like you said, if you starve the algae for nutrients, you are also starving your corals...
I am in the process of re-reading The Reef Aquarium Vol. 1 by Sprung and Delbeek and have ran across some very interesting information that I didn't consider before. I was going to make a thread about it soon,... it has to do with what we are discussing now.
If you want to direct the algae growth to somewhere else in the system, you could consider a UAS? Upflow Algae Scrubber... it will get rid of the algae in the tank and grow it on the screen out of sight. Best of all, you can feed as much as you want and the screen will keep pace.

 

[lubeck]

good points from all. I'm really just trying to find a balance and a certain level of algae that I can accept and live with. What I don't understand is that my cheato is growing really well but the dt is still growing.
I can say that the ha has stopped growing but the question is will it come back

 

[geoj]

good points from all. I'm really just trying to find a balance and a certain level of algae that I can accept and live with. What I don't understand is that my cheato is growing really well but the dt is still growing.
I can say that the ha has stopped growing but the question is will it come back I would say yes the HA will come and go. Even if you eradicate the HA with Agaefix, you can reintroduce it to the tank when buying new corals. My goal is to keep algae at very low level, that is pleasing and controllable. So my corals can thrive and my tank looks good. If you have OCD I think your tank will frustrate you most of the time. :laughing:

 

[lubeck]

Oh, I thought everyone that has a tank is OCD:rotfl::rotfl:

 

[snakeblitz33]

lol, when it comes to tanks, I am OCD about research, and less about the actual tank.

 

[lubeck]

New Toys!!! Yay. Well I decided not to upgrade my tank this year and instead bought some toys for my current tank.
Apex controller
Auto top off unit Doser for kalk
350 kessil wide angle blue
I'm so pumped. Items should start arriving Friday and should have everything by Tuesday next week.

 

[novahobbies]

NICE! Can't wait to see the new stuff installed!

 

[lubeck]

Pics. New lights came in. Going to sell the 150s and get another 350. I also got the apex in but havent been able to install.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Looking pretty good so far! I like the new lights!
Let us know how well/easy that controller installs..

 

[lubeck]

I love the 350 kessils. I put my old lights tonight and sold all three 150s for 450. Hopefully the guy pulls through and shows up tomorrow morning. I will be going to get another 350 on Monday.
I will be getting my ato Doser and kalk Tuesday. I'm so pumped.
On another note. I ripped out 90% of the hair algae and have dosed 4 x with the algaefix It has not grown back yet but will prob dose at least 4 more times. I still need to find out the source once I stop dosing. We will see

 

[lubeck]

Ive been very busy.. I setup the apex controller last night it was hell but I finally had it running on the network and on my iphone by 5am this morning, thats right, I was up till 5 this morning setting it up. I also got my 2nd 350 Kessil wide. I do love these lights but wish they were adjustable with the apex. I also setup my ATO with kalk. Is it okay to add liquid mag to the kalk top off? I would love to be able to add it to the mix>
i will have to wait till tomorrow for pics but i just picked up a dozen frags too.

 

[reefr]

nice! spare me some zoas?

 

[lubeck]

New lights and coral pics.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Looking good. I like the kessils more then I thought I would.

 

[acrylic51]

Looks very good!!!!!! Any update on the algae issue.....

 

[spanko]

 

[ibew41]

nice just watch for bleaching when changing to leds

 

[lubeck]

Thanks everyone. As for the algae it has subsided but still not completely gone. It seems that I'm headed in the right direction though. I did a 30% wc last night which took my trates from 5 to 2.5-3 and my phos down below to .03. I took a reading of my fresh salt water and I did find traces of both phos and trates. I have not checked my water source yet but I think it's coming from dirty containers.
. A few things I've learned with my new controller. At night time my ph drops to 7.7 even though I have a fuge light on. During the day it's around 8.1.
Any ideas how to bring it up? I do run kalk too. I'm not sure what to do ??!
Oh one other question, can you add mag to your kalk mixture?

 

[snakeblitz33]

no, do not add magnesium to your kalk mixture. You will have to dose that seperately.
Make sure you are dripping kalkwasser in properly. Most of the time, kalk is dripped in overnight so that it maintains pH levels.
If your fuge isn't doing much for you, try increasing the lumens/brightness of the bulbs that you are using. Simply increasing the wattage will help the algae grow faster and more algae helps keep your pH more stable.

 

[lubeck]

I'm dripping all day a d night. Gonna need a bigger light for fuge. Prob gonna need to add more kalk to top off. Going for 3 tsp per gallon