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Unread 03/09/2017, 10:18 AM   #376
MrsReefK
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Originally Posted by iced98lx View Post
Make sure you follow the upkeep suggestions your new generator, nothing worse than a generator that won't start when you need it! Keep a spark plug and fresh gas on hand.

Absolutely! Thank you for the advice!


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Unread 09/05/2017, 12:39 PM   #377
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Well Well well. Lots to update, it's been 6+ months since the last post. We have not added any new additions to the tank in regards to livestock, but the SPS's are growing fantastically. We have yet to do a water change (we are not advising others to follow this method), but finally putting the AWC with DOS into place this evening, if all goes well, the AWC will be dispensing the discarded water into our 2 QT tanks that overflow into the drain. This will give me the ability to do TTM, then keep tank mates in QT for the 76 (or is it 72, I can't remember) days without doing water changes manually.

We've had a few floods, due to my error of forgetting I turned on the fresh water to our ATO tank, that's next to tackle is the ATO to fill itself, likely next weeks project. The floods weren't substantial but enough to say 'we need a better solution'.

We get a decent sized order of inverts in tomorrow which I'm excited about. We've had a minor outbreak of aiptaisia taking hold, which is what's pushing me to get the AWC going, aiptaisia is present due to poorer water quality in my experience.

Tank mates are doing well, no losses and everyone is growing. The clowns have eggs non stop. We don't gather the eggs, once the eggs are eaten or become unattached, sure enough, there's new eggs within a day or 2. It's actually getting annoying because the clowns have owned their corner of the tank - not letting Ms. Tang over there, creating a bit of algae problem on the rock near them.

We were getting an algae on the front panels that would not come off with any of our 3 magnetic scrapers. We secured an old hotel key to the inside scraper and wow - what a miracle worker on acrylic. I'll grab pics of it tonight when I grab updated tank shots for you all.

All in all the tank is going wonderfully. We currently have an EB8 that failed to work and Neptune is replacing. We're having the same issue with our advanced leak detector on the apex, haven't talked to them on this one yet, odd that 2 brand new pieces of equipment failed so quickly. Neptunes Customer Service has been outstanding!

Also had our gaming adaptor go out on us that was connected to the Apex. Replaced with a new and working like a charm!

Another live and learn - the lid to our sump fell in (likely one of the cats jumping on it) and held down the float valve for the ATO. Thankfully I checked on the tank that morning and found that it had been filling with freshwater for who knows how long. No adverse effects from it, didn't notice a drop in salinity from it either. I'm not sure what the failsafe for that could be, besides hoping it doesn't happen again!

I will be QT'ing the new inverts. I am pretty confident that we are disease free with the current tank mates/corals we have today. If we're not completely disease free, we are DARN close with how meticulous I have been with our QT process and I don't want to risk messing that up over some inverts!



Last edited by MrsReefK; 09/05/2017 at 12:48 PM.
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Unread 09/06/2017, 10:25 AM   #378
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Aptasia don't just magically "appear." They were there all along, waiting for your water and light parameters to settle so they could thrive. You will have to look into one of the ascribed pest removers, e.g. aptasia-eating fish or shrimp.

Dave.M


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Unread 09/06/2017, 11:31 AM   #379
MrsReefK
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Aptasia don't just magically "appear." They were there all along, waiting for your water and light parameters to settle so they could thrive. You will have to look into one of the ascribed pest removers, e.g. aptasia-eating fish or shrimp.

Dave.M


Dave, definitely aware they don't just appear. We had a few stragglers in the frag tank in the beginning, they've recently expanded their population a bit. Got some peppermint shrimp to help eradicate and get under control. We'll be manually removing the large ones.


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Unread 09/08/2017, 08:44 AM   #380
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

The windows have been open in the house for quite some time because of the nice weather. Prior to having the windows open as much as we do, we didn't see much fluctuation with the ph. Now if I close the windows, the ph drops quite drastically, quickly. I'm considering looking to route fresh air into the system from outside. Does anyone have experience with this or good references/reading for research? Concern is it gets cold here in the winter. Many times below 0, what's the impact with the cold air overall? Is it ok in a climate this cold (Michigan) to route fresh air from outside?

We entertain, quite often. This would also be beneficial when we have 20-30+ people over and I can see the ph drop as the evenings go on with so many people over.

Edit: Should I look at a C02 scrubber possibly? Definitely not set on outside air, have just heard of it in the past. Total tank volume is around 500-525 gallons, any suggestions appreciated!

Another thought, may be a dumb one but I don't know the ins and outs of the chemistry so, could it be lowering now because my corals are larger colonies? Would it help if we got out calcium factor up and going? Better question, if calcium is at optimum levels, does that effect the ph?

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Last edited by MrsReefK; 09/08/2017 at 09:29 AM.
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Unread 09/08/2017, 09:44 AM   #381
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Alright. Did a bit more research and talked with BRS. They suggested getting our calcium reactor up and running. We're going to try that route and see what impact it has before looking at any other changes/additions.


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Unread 09/10/2017, 10:20 AM   #382
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Calcium reactor up and running and did the auto water change earlier this week. Both working like a charm!


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Unread 09/10/2017, 04:49 PM   #383
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Unread 09/10/2017, 06:31 PM   #384
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Unread 09/11/2017, 09:44 AM   #385
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

Here's the mod to the flipper we made, works amazing on our acrylic tank for coralline algae and the rougher random brown patches we get. Wears out somewhat quickly, just snip the zip ties and attach a new. Great thing is, you get 4 new "blades" out of each hotel key. Once it's exhausted, I cut it off, flip it over, use again before replacing with an entirely new key card. We have 3 different magnetic scrubbers and now this is the only we use because it's so effective.

No signs of any scratching from this what so ever.


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Unread 09/12/2017, 03:05 PM   #386
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

Ordered a tripod today so I can start taking real pics of the reef. My phone brings out the blue way too much. Do I need any filters for the DSLR lens to wash out the blue at all?


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Unread 09/13/2017, 06:47 AM   #387
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Ordered a tripod today so I can start taking real pics of the reef. My phone brings out the blue way too much. Do I need any filters for the DSLR lens to wash out the blue at all?


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You can use a simple piece of gel to filter out the blue on your cell phone too. Super cheap, super easy!


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Unread 09/13/2017, 06:52 AM   #388
MrsReefK
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You can use a simple piece of gel to filter out the blue on your cell phone too. Super cheap, super easy!


Awesome! Thanks!


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Unread 09/13/2017, 07:33 AM   #389
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Do I need any filters for the DSLR lens to wash out the blue at all?
On your DSLR you will find all manner of options. One is to shoot in RAW mode. Another is to adjust the white balance. There is a whole photography forum here on RC with tips and tricks by the experts.

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Unread 09/13/2017, 07:53 AM   #390
MrsReefK
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On your DSLR you will find all manner of options. One is to shoot in RAW mode. Another is to adjust the white balance. There is a whole photography forum here on RC with tips and tricks by the experts.

Dave.M

Thanks, Dave! I'll check it out. Didn't notice the photography forum on here!


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Unread 09/13/2017, 08:27 AM   #391
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can i see more info on your keycard scrubber???? i would love that for my acrylic tank as the mighty magnet with the bulldozer pad isn't that effective.


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Unread 09/13/2017, 09:42 AM   #392
MrsReefK
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

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can i see more info on your keycard scrubber???? i would love that for my acrylic tank as the mighty magnet with the bulldozer pad isn't that effective.


corey


Hey Corey, sure thing. Ill pull it out of the tank this evening to get pics of the other side for you. The most difficult part is getting the key card to be the right size (not that complicated, might just take a few cuttings the first time) after I find the right sizing, I cut several more from "template". It helps I travel a lot for work, I bring home on average 4-6 keys a month. I probably only use 3 full keys a month when it's bad. Maybe 1-2 (2-4 blades worth) on a good clean month.

Do you have the flipper? It has perfect holes to zip strip to. We have the mighty magnet as well and I don't think this would work as well. The flippers holes and angle of their stock blade works amazingly for this. We have the tunze magnet as well that this would not work on.

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Unread 09/13/2017, 11:15 AM   #393
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no i don't have the flipper, but i am not opposed to buying one if it works that good!! I am all about ease......not to mention that i have slacked on my cleaning and the bottom 4-6 inches on 3 panels is covered in coraline.....


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Unread 09/13/2017, 11:18 AM   #394
MrsReefK
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no i don't have the flipper, but i am not opposed to buying one if it works that good!! I am all about ease......not to mention that i have slacked on my cleaning and the bottom 4-6 inches on 3 panels is covered in coraline.....


corey

Yessss. This is so great for the bottom 3 inches. That's where it's a god send. I'll get some video of it working tonight as well on coralline if there's any present, but I know I have a nasty tough brown algae that's almost just as bad.

The ONLY scratching I've had from this is when a baby snail was behind the inside magnet and I didn't check it before dragging it across the panel. That's my bad, nothing to do with this modification at all.


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Unread 09/13/2017, 11:32 AM   #395
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i will be looking forward to the video!!!!


corey


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Unread 09/13/2017, 01:28 PM   #396
MrsReefK
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Anyone know how to load a video on here via Tapatalk? I've done it in the past but it's not bringing up videos as an option when I try the add photo or attachment option. The video is in my phones picture library (iPhone)


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Unread 09/13/2017, 03:43 PM   #397
MrsReefK
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

Corey,

Here's the videos.

Dull mod blade, not working well on the "tough stuff" we get.


Here's how to change the mod blade:


Here's the new mod blade in action on the same spot as the first video:


And just some more cleaning:


I did about triple what I showed on the videos of the rough/tough to come off stuff. It needs a new blade again. But I use this daily to give a good once over and get any films off. You will go through blades rather quickly on your initial cleanup, but once you're past the rougher grime, they last a decent amount of time. Not a perfect solution, but it sure saves me from getting in the tank to scrub it!


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Unread 09/13/2017, 03:46 PM   #398
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i will be looking forward to the video!!!!


corey


Hey Corey, videos posted in this thread, forgot to quote you on the post so you get notice. Thanks, Stace


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Unread 09/13/2017, 07:34 PM   #399
biecacka
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Stace,

Is that just a "normal" flipper that you modified?

Corey


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Unread 09/13/2017, 10:52 PM   #400
MrsReefK
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Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build

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Stace,

Is that just a "normal" flipper that you modified?

Corey

Corey, yes. Just a normal "stock" flipper, the holes in the end of the "stock" blade where the zip tie goes they were already there.

The angle that it holds the key card is a perfect angle.

I should add. The stock flipper worked like shown in the videos for about 2 ish weeks, with a lot of scrubbing the more difficult. It wore out, and it was overnight it stopped working, just like the key cards, once it's worn out, you know! I'm sure flipper makes replacement tips for acrylic, however this is cost effective and takes less than one minute to replace.

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Last edited by MrsReefK; 09/13/2017 at 10:57 PM.
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