TWOLITREmedia's 75g BowFront Reef!

Ahh ok. So really it just that regular I/O does not have high enough calc, alk & mag for your liking, and not that there is anything wrong with it

 

Pretty much I am just a sponge of information, I go with the info that has been most clearly proven to me to be true....if you guys saw the guy I will be buying my coral from, you'd know why I don't doubt his methods. I will take some photos next time I'm there!

Disclaimer: Please no one take my opinion to heart of why I am changing from Instant Ocean, I know the product works for many different people and set ups but for what I have planned I believe my choice will be beneficial. If not then I paid 10$ more a bucket for some fancy packaging, oh well! haha

 

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I assure you I have not been sleeping on the job, just been "busy" enjoying my break from class before I power through the final semester of my life!

Ok so did a full run of tests on my tank the other day....

350/366 - Testing Madness by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Here are my perameters as of now, and I think I am pretty happy with them although I know there certainly will be adjustments made. I am just a week away before my "3 week wait" to put new live in here! I have already picked out the open brain coral, anenome for my clown, and two emerald crabs to make sure my tiny amount of bubble algea that shows up occasionally is under controll....plus I think they're cool

Calcium - 530ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Phosphate - .20
Alk 128
Mag 1250mg/litre
Iodine .06
Ph 7.9
nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 1.026
RO Water 7ppm TUS


Other then that, I'm not going to lie I cheated a bit and introduced one critter since setting up the tank! Meet dozer the giant hermit crab, I couldn't resist!


353/366 - New Inhabitant by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

He just mozzies around all day checking stuff out. Seems like he's not interested in knocking over any coral which is nice

Oh and I caught my starfish out to play for once!


Sand Star by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

I ordered my two Vortech MP10ES units and they are in tomorrow! I am very excited to see these things in action and I have been told it will be a nice step up from the Koralias I am currently running without a wavemaker.

More updates tomorrow!

 

Looks great.

Ca is a tad too high, not sure what you're doing dosing wise.

Phosphates level is going to be problematic, definitely something that should be addressed or you may have significant algae issues.

Alk is on the low side as well as the magnesium. I would bring up the mag and then see where Ca and alk fall.

LOL at all the test kits and probes, a man that likes the gizmos and gadgets.

 

Thanks!

Well as for calc, thats what I thought was it was a tad high. Now at the moment all I have is my clean up crew, 1 clow, 1 6 line wrasse, 1 damsel, 1 flame angel, 2 shrimp, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 frogspawn, 1 gonipora, 1 cluster of zoas so nothing really that consumers calcium all that much. We'll see what happens with that number after I ad some more coral in about a week.

Phosphates I'm thinking is possibly due to the tank just going through a mild diatom bloom since the move. I could be completely off, but I know it's definately not my feeding regiment as I keep it extremely light.

I'm hoping my two mp10 tonight will help move this water around alot more through the 100lbs of rock thats in there. The clogged up old Koralias are definitely lacking as they have not been cleaned in over six months from what I can tell. I dropped a pellet of food to see the undertow of the powerheads, and it's pathetic at the moment to say the least.

The skimmate that my skimmer is producing is incredibly dark lately since I tuned it a bit better. It doesn't accumulate quickly but like I said it's almost black.

I am definately a fan of all the high tech gizmos and gadgets, and I make sure to buy whatever is going to give me the best results, or most accurate information. I love the ease of use on the Hannah checkers, and everything else is made pretty simple as well. I am thankful that I was not into the hobby ten years ago or more as I understand water parameters were far from easy to come by.

Thanks for the input!

P.S. I am not dosing anything at the moment, but I may start to adjust for Mag and see what Alk does.

 

Alright so I realized it had been about a week since that last parameter testing session I posted about so I decided to run another tonight.


More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Here were the results one week ago:
Calcium - 530ppm
Nitrate - 40ppm
Phosphate - .20
Alk 128
Mag 1250mg/litre
Iodine .06
Ph 7.9
nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 1.026
RO Water 7ppm TUS

Today's results:
Calcium - 416ppm
Nitrate 30ppm
Phosphate - .09
Alk 119
Mag 1200mg/litre
Iodine .06
Ph 8.0
nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 1.025
RO Water 6ppm TUS

Calc is looking much more normal, alk and mag is still low I realize, and I am going to start dosing for mag next week. Glad to see the .11 drop in phosphate, and the nitrate dropping another 10ppm is always great. Slowly on the way to 0 hopefully eventually!

I forgot it had been a while since I posted a photo of the entire tank with the new aquascaping in place around the top and front of the tank so here it is pre-mp10 installation.

More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

You will see the difference the MP10s make for a clean looking tank in a second.

My 1050 Koralia Evolutions that will be for sale after clean-up!

More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Speaking of MP10s.....So here's my question. Usually you have to pay extra to convert the non-wireless versions of these to be able talk to each other with an IR module. I thought I got the non-wireless version, but when I opened it there was a "W" on the modules. I think they may be just including the wireless units regardless when you buy new MP10es heads.


More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Also grabbed an "AquaStik" to get my coral peices fixed down nicely as I am adding more flow with the mp10s different modes and the pulse modes could knock them off their perches.


Here is what the wall of crazy LEDs looks like now with the two new controllers mounted.


More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Here is what the tank looks like now with the Vortecs as well as I moved the Reefkeeper Elites PH probe and Temp probe over by the heater on the left side to keep all "probe like" objects together. I will begin thinking off ways to clean up the tubing from the reactors, and one way is going to be to run a T junction with a stronger pump to run both reactors instead of having two pumps in there.


More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

I just think the Vortec system is a marvel of engineering in the power head world....

More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

My Koralias ready for a night bath of diluted vinegar...

More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

"The Wall" at night I love LEDs!

More Upgrades! by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr


That's all for now, check back very soon for some new coral additions!

 

Well today was the long awaited day that I got to finally add some new coral to my tank! Did some last minute water parameter checks and drip, drop, and away they go. Picked up a neon green and neon pink open brain coral which is still fully opening slowly and a pinkish orange bubble tip anenome for my clownfish. Can't wait to see this guy host him Big thanks to Don (Crazy4Coral) as per usual for supplying the goods, and holding on to the anemone and brain for me!

P.S. Don't mind the inaccurate colours and lighting in these photos. I dropped these guys in after my lights were out so tomorrow I will grab some pics for sure!


New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Here were my parameters for tonight after a full set of tests, magnesium dosing is clearly helping as I am up 200ppm from last week and everything is looking even nicer than before:
Calcium - 513ppm
Nitrate 30ppm
Phosphate - .12
Alk 117
Mag 1300mg/litre
Iodine .06
Ph 8.0
nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 1.025
RO Water 6ppm TUS

4 Days Ago:
Calcium - 416ppm
Nitrate 30ppm
Phosphate - .09
Alk 119
Mag 1200mg/litre
Iodine .06
Ph 8.0
nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 1.025
RO Water 6ppm TUS

Getting acclimated....30 minute float, then drop acclimation for another 20 for both the anemone on his rock and the Open Brain..

New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr


New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Here is the both of them 5 minutes after placing them in the tank, looking a little flat ...that will change quickly!

New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr


New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

After 4 hours in the tank, already a HUGE difference! Can't wait to see everything with the lights on tomorrow

New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr


New Signs of Life! by Emilio Ciccarelli | http://www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Well that's all for now, will have more updates very soon!

 

Alright so after introducing my new open brain coral and anemone last night they have really opened up! The bubble tips on the anemone are fully swelled and the open brain and completely open now and I will try feeding it tomorrow.

Other than that, I just want to point out the polyp extension since I have started dosing Mag. It's amazing what being closer to the correct water parameters will do for your livestock!

More coming soon

Fully Open Brainnnnnnnnnnnn

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Bubbly Bubbly Tips!

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Look at the polyp extension compared to previous images when I wasn't dosing Mag on my alvepora...unreal!

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Frogspawn looking nice and chubby

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

ZOA's polyps looking huge now, and filling in the garden with some more soon!

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

Overview of the tank, and what seems to be what will be the final aquascape in this thing!

Fully Extended by Emilio Ciccarelli | www.TWOLITREmedia.com, on Flickr

 

The tank looks amazing!

 

^ Thanks I'm super happy with the results so far
Picked up a little 5$ frag of some cool ass blue Zoas tonight to add to my garden, as well as a sweet little mandarin! Picks up soon...