UPDATE 9/16 - Gabby and Brian's 90g Reef

yikes i re read my post...lol so many type O's not sure how you could understand it? haha any way its a linksys gaming adapter i now use. was a bit pricey but its well worth it. since it has never failed. oh here is your answers to the water on floor sensor http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/apex-water-floor-sensor-123471.html the sensor you need is only 18.99 i have 2 types on mine in 2 different spots
and for the fans you would use the same code as you would use as your heater fail safe really, just different numbers.
if you go on reeftronics.com you can now read others codes they have set up in their controllers. this will help you to set up what ever codes you need to set up, and give you ideas!

 

You have me concerned.. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. For some reason, I was under the impression that these rocks were man made. I guess not. The website says that the rocks are "pre-cured." Though, many other people seem to have a problem with them.. Maybe it would be worth while to take out a few pounds and leave just the base rocks. I can throw them in the tub with the rock for now..

The majority of the coral has been fine in the tub for the past week. The wrasse is still doing fine, we gave him a cup of sand in there. We can never see him at night, so I'm guessing that he found it... We are making the tub situation a bit more permanent, and we will keep it running for a few weeks to ensure everything in the 90 is fine, and to have a backup plan. I really hope that this tank doesn't cycle, but if it does, we will be prepared. We have a good amount of GFO on hand in case PO4 becomes a problem. Algae will tell that story, but I do have a Hanna phosphate checker. I usually use that to know when to change my GFO.

Yes we do have some prime on hand from when we started our first tank. I don't usually like adding chemicals like that... But if necessary, then I guess I'll have to. Though, there are many other simple solutions to nitrate and phosphate. We could spend a fortune on GFO for the phosphate. Increasing the sump size and adding a ton of macro algae will reduce both. Additionally, continuing with the frequent water changes that we have always done. On our 37g, we always did 25% weekly WC's. The reason I am extremely hesitant to use these chemicals is because many of them do not provide an ingredient list..

I agree. We added some more LR last night, and will add some more tonight. I'm not sure if we have enough bacteria in the tub. Its been fine for about a week. I have been doing frequent water changes. Not sure if its the WC's or bacteria that is keeping the tank stable. What do you think? I am thinking of decreasing the wc's to 25% every other day. If a cycle does happen to occur in the 90.. Can the corals survive that? I mean its a pretty big tank. The ammonia can easily be reduced with wc's..

I agree with the chemical thing. We spend a lot of money on our RO/DI units. The reason is so we can start out with pure water, then knowingly add the substances that we want (stating the obvious). That way, we know exactly what is in our tank (besides the salt mixes I suppose). Adding chemicals of unknown composition completely defeats this idea. Additionally, if you add unknown substances to your tank, it is much more difficult to isolate the source of any problem that may occur..

 

A week later, without a water change, levels are as follows:
Temp: 77.7
pH: 7.9
SG: 1.025
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PO4: 0.01

Can't get much better than that! I didn't get around to testing Ca, Alk, Mg this morning. I also didn't want to waste a test. The levels were fine last week and I doubt that one 1/2" frag and some cloves are going to make a significant impact on those levels. A snail has also lasted about 5 days in there.. Time to add some more corals? I think so. I'll do a 10% water change on the tank, and 25% changes on the tubs as well. Actually, I may just scrap the LR tub, its getting gross. Plus, I took out most of the LR and threw it in the tank earlier this week.

 

Thats great. Glad its going well.8)

 

I know! I was expecting the worst! I also threw in a ball of chaeto for some extra filtration and to get some more pods in there. Think I would have seen signs of a cycle by now?

And also, a bigger and more important question...

How do I get this stupid sticker off?!

 

Goo-gone or acetone.

 

Try rubbing alcohol and/or a sharp razor blade. You can also use some dawn liquid. soak sticker with a little soap and water and it should come off fairly easily.

 

that goo-gone is awesome stuff

 

Goo gone is Naptha mixed with Citrus oil. Most of the time if Goo gone works Naptha will work just as well. Was trying to suggest something a little less toxic.;D

 

I have goo gone, I just have to dig out the razor blade that we use to scrape the coralline. Everything is sort of a mess because we are still unpacking from the move. Thanks!

We put most of the coral in last night, along with some inverts that happened to be ouin those rocks. The lights are still out so I will post a pic when they come on.. Everyone looks normal though!

Yesterday we bought a 29g for the sump. Today we just have to have some 1/4" thick pieces of glass cut for the baffles. We are also going to start the canopy build today so we can get those LED's in there. That will probably be finished by next weekend because we have to stain it and put a few coats of polyurethane on it outside.. I'll be sure to snap some pics of both the canopy and sump build! Here is the basic sump design we are going for.

Simple as that. Any suggestions?

I'll probably try the rubbing alcohol first... But whatever I use, it'll just be a tiny bit. I'll probably put a little on a paper towel and test a little spot. I'll wipe it off with water afterwards. Thanks

In other news, we found out that there is a par meter that is owned by our local reef club, and passed around to members. By next weekend, we plan to have the LED's running on the tank. In simple terms, I am scared.. The corals are currently being exposed to 6 T5HO bulbs (some ATI blue plus's, aqua blue specials, and another common brand but I forget what its called). I am not familiar with par meters or the related terminology. Can anyone tell me what I am looking for with these LED's? For reference:

For more info on the LED's, its a DIY RapidLED build, but we bought a pre-built setup from this guy, who posted a detailed build thread:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/my-rapidled-build-fts-color-blended-pg6-121438.html