Back to basics- 29g adventure

[snakeblitz33]

I'm getting new growth on the montipora that I have. Woohoo. Small successes. The one acro frag that is still alive is coloring up blue with green polyps and is looking pretty. I have a water change mixed up with instant ocean. It will probably be my last water change using regular instant ocean mix.

Been giving the tank anywhere from 12-14 hours per day, and the acro frag has been enjoying it a lot. So something is going right. After Christmas, I plan on changing out the GFO and carbon. It's all going to get back on track. I'm pretty excited.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Everything is looking good so far. I'm happy with the results of the water changes. My new salt mix, instant ocean reef crystals has come in the mail today. My wife wants to wrap the box for Christmas. I guess I will let her.

The new jebao rw4 powerhead came in and I took a look at it... Jeez, the pump is tiny. I hope it will do what it says it can do. The koralia I have just seems so huge compared to it, but doesn't put off near enough flow in the tank to justify keeping it. After installing and running it, I may decide on getting another one, depending on the dead spots and necessity.

Glad I got in another pound of GFO.

 

[snakeblitz33]

So I made an impulse purchase and bought an AI Hydra 26 LED system. Gotta buy the controller, but I can manually do it for the next couple of weeks.

It looks great. The colors make the corals color pop. My wife even noticed a major difference.

Can't wait for Christmas to install my jebao rw4 powerhead.

Getting the tank back on track feels great!

 

[snakeblitz33]

The LED light gets pretty warm. I read that there is a temp meter somewhere and that the fan comes on at 108*F or 40*C. That's kinda neat. Sinc3 I don't have the controller yet, all I can do is increase the intensity of the light by 20%. I'm leaving it at 40% and letting my corals adjust.

Water change later today, perhaps while I'm preparing Christmas dinner for tomorrow.

Have a merry Christmas y'all.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Did an early morning water change and I'm mixing up four more gallons of water with the new reef crystals salt. I might test my calcium and alkalinity before and after the change, just to kinda see what is going on.

If all goes well, I may have some new frags lined up soon from a local friend of mine.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Doing my first water change with the new salt mix this morning.

Things are looking good so far. Pictures to come.

 

[novahobbies]

What do you think of that RW4? My WP40 finally kicked the bucket last week.....these Jebaos are decent, but I don't expect them to run for more than a few years for whatever reason....so I ordered a RW15 for my 110g as a replacement. Just installed it today, and I'm amazed at how much nicer it is than the "comparable" WP40 pump.

Show us a FTS and some close ups when you can...I want to see the new setup!

 

[snakeblitz33]

My tank is really nothing to shake a stick at. Lol. I'll get some pics soon I guess.

I am extremely impressed with Jebao. If they only last two or three years, the price point is spot on. I'd rather pay $50 for three years of service than $250+ and be stuck with the same pump for years to come.

The corals are doing fine. I am hoping to get a controller for my AI Hydra 26 this week. I am ready to set a schedule and customize the lights.

The frags I got are doing fine so far. The SPS corals are doing just fine.

Doing a 4g water change every other day has been pretty easy so far. Been testing calcium and alkalinity and making the necessary adjustments on a weekly basis. Maybe the levels won't be so off with the new salt mix.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I gotta take the time out of my evening to epoxy some frags to rocks. It's a good problem to have.

Feels good getting the tank back on track.

 

[eric b 125]

Congrats on all the progress! I've heard and read a lot of good things about the AI Hydra's. Did you get the HD? Looking forward to pics!

 

[snakeblitz33]

I'm pretty sure they are the HDs. I bought them from the LFS.

I'm enjoying it so far. I'm ready to get a controller so I can customize.

 

[novahobbies]

You're on a roll, dude!

I'm still very iffy about the whole controller issue. I've yet to find a real, measurable reason that I need one. The biggest reason is because (1) I found a dedicated "controller" for my LED lights that controls all the channels, has timers, and is completely dimmable as I choose, and (2) the main tank properties I would want to monitor just aren't available as simple probes (and one probably won't ever be). If you told me that there was a probe to monitor Ca, Mg, and Alk on a continuous basis, I would be COMPLETELY on board.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I am on a roll!

Fixing to buy the director. I bought the regular Hydra, which needs it.

I had an apex Jr. I just sold. I'm kinda like you.

 

[novahobbies]

Ah, gotcha! I use a pair of RapidLED Onyx fixtures (I LOVE these things!) so I got myself a Bluefish controller for them. I don't think it works with Hydra lights as a plug and play unit though; you'd have to do some DIY with a break-out box. I'm sure there are easier options. ;-)

 

[snakeblitz33]

Im going to buy another jebao rw4 pump. I think two will be great, I think. Just seems like there needs to be just a little more flow.

This morning I did a four gallon water change with reef crystals reef salt. I still have yet to test my water for calcium and alkalinity. I think I will do that this afternoon.

I also changed out my phosphate media, added back 4oz of GFO. I'm glad I changed it out. I'm pretty sure that everything will be fine when I get home. In the past, it made my montis shed.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Goodness, I thought the new reef salt would keep my calcium and alkalinity levels up where they need to be, but apparently they aren't.

Calcium is at 380ppm and alkalinity is sitting at 6dKH.

Apparently I need to keep manually dosing the tank to make sure its meeting its requirements.

I'll bring up calcium to 460ppm tonight and drip in 2dKH alkalinity overnight and another 2dKH tomorrow during the day.

Jeez, I had no idea. Glad I spot checked it.

 

[snakeblitz33]

So the good news is that with the new LED light, I am seeing some pretty awesome growth on my SPS corals. The most interesting part that I have seen is that the brown algae from the last light I was using is going away, but now I am seeing traces of hair algae on the sandbed. I'm going to siphon what I can. The new GFO media I put in my reactor should inhibit its growth for now.

I'll be back to doing regular water changes here in a few days with the new reef crystals salt mix.

I adjusted my calcium and alkalinity up some (460ppm CA and 10dkh alk).

Anyways, the new corals are doing fine.

 

[novahobbies]

I just had myself a small alk drop, and I was trying to figure out why....until I realized I forgot to put the doser out of "Manual" mode when I was priming pump 3 to run my carbon source! Dummy me....doser's been off for 2 days. Thankfully that's not enough to do any real harm, but still....dumb mistake.

So how do you like the reef crystals brand for mixing? My 200g box just showed up, so I can put the darned jugs away again.....whew. I hate lugging those up the stairs.

I've really been enjoying reading your progress. Can't wait for a pic or two!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Apparently a four gallon water change in a 29g tank every other day wasn't keeping up with the calcium and alkalinity demand with that salt mix. I've been having to manually dose to keep my levels up.

 

[bang guy]

Have you tracked your average daily alkalinity consumption? That would help with the math.