Beginner Reefer here!

[sights2012]

Hi everyone! I was forwarded to this site and so far am seeing some great stuff!

I am new to reefing, and have a 90 gallon mixed reef tank that has been running for 6 months with not too many problems. I have never used RODI water (currently on about 95 TDS well water...I know!!!) , and am in the process of setting one up within the next week or two. It's pretty fun, and enjoyable to do this! Something cool I use to monitor my levels is Google Slides. I posted my values below, and even have some cool graphs that are automatically updated! Also, I just started dosing alkalinity and and calcium/ trace elements. I think it was Seachem two part liquid. My orange SPS has closed and started to bleach, but upon further inspection, I can see orange polyps inside. I am thinking it is a Kh problem, but could also be a phos, or nitrate problem. I also added some Chaeto in my refugium with a timed light to run during the night. Let me know what you think! Recommendations are definitely welcome!

 

[coralfishreef]

Welcome

 

[Cpage101]

 

[sights2012]

View attachment 168949

Haha, thanks! I love the quote:

"120G Mixed Reef
Only Bad things happen quickly in this hobby.
Happy Reefing!"

 

[Cpage101]

Haha, thanks! I love the quote:

"120G Mixed Reef
Only Bad things happen quickly in this hobby.
Happy Reefing!"

Thank you but it is the truth lol!

 

[sights2012]

Yes, although I haven't had any crashes, I haven't seen much good happen very quickly lol, but I stay on top of monitoring my levels. It just sucks these last few weeks since I broke my ankle.

 

[Cpage101]

Yes, although I haven't had any crashes, I haven't seen much good happen very quickly lol, but I stay on top of monitoring my levels. It just sucks these last few weeks since I broke my ankle.

hope for a speedy recovery I do it the easy way

 

[sights2012]

Man thats amazing. I don't have the money for that lol

 

[Cpage101]

been in the game since 2013 it did not get to here quickly. just go slow research, research research and enjoy the ride
The biggest lesson I learned is don’t wast money on cheap equipment because you will be buying it again. I started with a used 55g with HOB power filters

 

[sights2012]

been in the game since 2013 it did not get to here quickly. just go slow research, research research and enjoy the ride
The biggest lesson I learned is don’t wast money on cheap equipment because you will be buying it again. I started with a used 55g with HOB power filters

Haha, my Dad was telling me about his old saltwater tanks, and he told me about a DIY rig he used to put a bunch of bio balls in like a sump, but he never had an actual sump, it hung on the side of his tank! I definitely went a little quick when first starting, but now it's easier to be patient, especially since all of the research I've done in the past 6 months. What is crazy to me is that I feel like I can literally do anything I want for my tank, and it is cool.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

 

[Mike Lemming]

Welcome! You’re off to a great start! Definitely consider setting up an RODI system. It might cure a lot of your problems. Good luck!

 

[sights2012]

Welcome! You’re off to a great start! Definitely consider setting up an RODI system. It might cure a lot of your problems. Good luck!

Thanks! Yeah it's been rough the last few weeks with my broken ankle. Couldn't do it without my brother. I have 2 55 gallon barrels that I need to clean out since they had vegetable oil in there. Currently filling them with ro water and bleach. I'm going to let them sit for a day or so then empty, clean with some water and bleach and then rinse a lot. Any recommendations? After that it's game on.

 

[Mike Lemming]

Thanks! Yeah it's been rough the last few weeks with my broken ankle. Couldn't do it without my brother. I have 2 55 gallon barrels that I need to clean out since they had vegetable oil in there. Currently filling them with ro water and bleach. I'm going to let them sit for a day or so then empty, clean with some water and bleach and then rinse a lot. Any recommendations? After that it's game on.

If your bleaching them, no need to use ro water to do that. Don’t waste it. Tap is fine. I use max water 6 stage rodi unit with a booster pump and the flood guardian but, everyone has success with the BRS one. Might even be a little cheaper.

 

[sights2012]

If your bleaching them, no need to use ro water to do that. Don’t waste it. Tap is fine. I use max water 6 stage rodi unit with a booster pump and the flood guardian but, everyone has success with the BRS one. Might even be a little cheaper.

Okay, I will have to look at it! I am using RO buddie right now since it was super cheap, and need to start RODI sooner rather than later.

 

[luu78]

Welcome, how did you dose your two part? I remembered when I first started two part dosing, I saw a YouTube video showing the dude pouring a cup of Alk into the top of his tank and was instructing everyone to do the same. Well. I did as instructed and within a couple minutes, all my SPS corals retracted and stressed out. I remembered most died over the next few days but some eventually made full recovery a few months later. I guess it all depends how far away the SPS corals are from where you poured the Alk in but he didn’t mention that…Obviously, I never tried that method ever again. I remembered hating myself for doing so because the tank was doing awesome a few minutes prior, but I was trying to raise the 7dKh to 8dKh within 24 hrs. The dosage amount was correct just the concentration at a brief amount of time in the tank caused the SPS stress.

 

[sights2012]

Oh interesting, I have been putting one dose in the return pump resorvoir and the other diluted in my tank water on the top near the power heads. For some reason my orange SPS has closed for a week or so now. It did have a little green algae on it and seems to still have a tiny bit on the bottom. Do you think that I should try to remove It? it's more like a stain though rather than something I can brush off. It doesn't have to do with dosing but my kH had dropped to 7 and so I have so far got it up to 8 over a week. I can see small orange polyps inside the cal skeleton so the whole thing isn't bleached yet. Everyone else in the tank are doing great including my green SPA bird's-nest coral. What do you think? I think right now my goal is to get it to 10 in a month or so and look into dosing pumps. Am I on the right track for Dkh? My pH, salinity, nitrate and phosphates (high), has been super stable. My alk, cal and mag have been slowly dropping over the last couple weeks. I posted a pdf of my parameters above if you want to check them out. Thanks for the input!

 

[Zeefishies]

Very informative site , lots of great knowledge and information.
Welcome and enjoy the ride.
Happy reefing

 

[luu78]

Oh interesting, I have been putting one dose in the return pump resorvoir and the other diluted in my tank water on the top near the power heads. For some reason my orange SPS has closed for a week or so now. It did have a little green algae on it and seems to still have a tiny bit on the bottom. Do you think that I should try to remove It? it's more like a stain though rather than something I can brush off. It doesn't have to do with dosing but my kH had dropped to 7 and so I have so far got it up to 8 over a week. I can see small orange polyps inside the cal skeleton so the whole thing isn't bleached yet. Everyone else in the tank are doing great including my green SPA bird's-nest coral. What do you think? I think right now my goal is to get it to 10 in a month or so and look into dosing pumps. Am I on the right track for Dkh? My pH, salinity, nitrate and phosphates (high), has been super stable. My alk, cal and mag have been slowly dropping over the last couple weeks. I posted a pdf of my parameters above if you want to check them out. Thanks for the input!

Hi, I’d leave the stressed coral in question alone in the same spot. Chances are if it didn’t die in 3 days, it will slowly come back if water parameters are solid. Sometimes moving it cause it to die the next day…that’s my experience. Your high phosphate level might cause more algae to grow on it skeleton more than you like…but I wouldnt go mess with phosphate drastically to save one coral while the rest of the tank is in good shape…

 

[sights2012]

Okay, I'll go slow with everything and wish me luck!