Lucas's Rimless Shallow Reef - Long overdue update!

If those guys say it is a good method I would do it. Just go conservative and test until you reach the desired dKH in your new SW. I would also start doing the method with my next WC.

 

^+1! Keep us updated how the acid trick goes!

 

Good to know your thoughts John. Just waiting on the mail for the package

Actually added him about a week ago. Fromia stars are relatively hardy and will eat detritus and scraps. Linkia stars look similar, but have very low survival rates in tanks, IME...

Nope, that's his coloration. He was a pale orange all over when I added him, but he's darkened on the top while maintaining the original orange on the bottom. ;D

I added both at the same time, and placed an egg crate divider down the middle of the tank. There was a lot of flashing and tail beating the first few days, but after a week things seemed calm enough to remove the divider. By then they had both established homes in the rock on their respective sides, and while there was a little chasing at first, they've settled down. Now they just cruise along together looking for algae.

It is my dream too! Thanks for the kind words!

 

Preliminary results are in:

Freshly mixed IO reef crystals @ 1.026
ph @ 8.1
Alk @ 14 dKH

5 gallons w/ 4.7 ml of 32% muratic acid concentrate:
ph << 7.4 (test kit can't measure any lower)
Alk @ 8.1 dKH

Now I just let the water aerate for 24 hrs and test for ph again...

 

Hmmm and this is the reason I do not use RC, the alk mixes way too high for me. If your dosing to maintain around 9. 14 is too big of a swing.

 

Right, so the plan is to slowly bring the tank down to 8ish, and hold it there. Dosing acid to the waterchange water will have to be done each waterchange to maintain a dKH of 8...

Penny for your thoughts?

P.S. I was really suprised to see 14 dKH, had no idea it mixed that high... that's rediculous!

 

Why not just use IO?

 

Because I'm "smart" enough to purchase in bulk... :

 

;D glad for you that you discovered this problem with the salt!

 

Hey all... it's been almost 2 years since the last post in this thread, and since I hate reading threads that suddenly stop, I feel it's time to offer an explanation.

In March 2013 the tank was doing very well... dream list of fish and corals growing... Late that month we left for a 10 day vacation to visit family and friends in Wisconsin. You know how things always go south while away? Day 4 of our vacation I received a frantic phone call from my fish sitter who was in tears. Apparently she walked in the house that morning to the RKL beeping away, and found the tank temp was over 95 degrees. After I walked her through a power restart to the whole tank, everything continued working fine thereafter... Not sure why or how, but it seems a switch became stuck "on" within the PC4 controller, which let my dual heaters absolutely cook the tank in short time.

Total loss, all fish and corals were gone. I returned home 6 days later to bone white skeletons and an eerily calm tank.

Maybe it was for the best, since only a few months later my wife and I both accepted jobs and moved from California to Wisconsin. The empty tank came with, in hopes that perhaps one day I would start it back up. That day never came for me. I've lost pets before, but never experienced something like that. You always read about it and feel bad for the reefer, but now having lived it, I have even more respect for those with enough passion to bounce back and make another go of it.

Good luck to all! This hobby has taught me much, made me friends, and makes me smile every time I see a reef...

Thanks to the 3reef community for the great years!

Lucas