SuncrestReef

Sounds good. Welcome back.

No, I'm not requiring a new acquaintance, I just didn't want to play delivery boy. Want me to bring along the camera porthole as well?

My first wrasse stayed buried for about 4 days straight. We turned it into a game:

South Beaverton, 185th Aloha/Cooper Mountain area.

No offense, but part of the fun in giving something away is to meet the person. If I were selling it, that would be a different story. If you can't meet me at CNC then you should arrange to pick it up from me in Beaverton rather than making me drive just to drop it off. Otherwise, I'll wait for the next person to respond.

I ordered a Red Sea Trace Colors Pro test kit from BRS. When it arrived I found the Iodine reagent B had leaked inside the case. Not a big leak, but enough to stain the instruction manual and left other items a little damp. BRS sent me a replacement kit for free. I’m sure this kit is still perfectly good so I didn’t want to throw it away. I’m offering it free to whoever replies first. You pick up in Beaverton, or I can meet you at Cuttlefish.

Wow, that looks like relativistic jets emitting from the center of a black hole! Very cool looking nem. Never seen that before.

What’s your water change schedule, and have you tested a fresh batch of saltwater to know the parameters?

I'm no expert in the subject, but my understanding is that alkalinity consumption will vary based on calcium levels, magnesium levels, lighting, pH, and temperature. I'll assume your lighting and temperature are consistent day to day, but how often are you testing your calcium, magnesium and pH to see how they compare on days you notice the smaller alk drop? Also, keep in mind all test kits have a margin of error.

Thanks! Glad you like it. This thread is only a fraction of what I've documented for the past year on my Reefer XL 425 build thread over at R2R: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/suncrestreefs-red-sea-reefer-xl-425-build.358990/

Bump. Attention newly joined members...this thread is a fun way to learn about your fellow club members and we'd love to learn more about what you do outside of reefing!

The only concern would be if your new saltwater parameters are way off from your tank water. In my case, as long as my tank stays between 7.8 - 8.6 then the Trident will keep humming along to test and adjust the dosing appropriately. Outside that range it will alert me and discontinue adjusting the dosing. I wouldn't want to do a water change that throws off the numbers that much even without a Trident.

It doesn't have traditional "probes". It's a robotic system that draws tank water and reagents into a reaction chamber, mixes them, and then optically compares the color change. It will need routine maintenance once every 18-24 months. It also has fail-safes where it will only adjust your dosing +/- 35% of your normal amount, so if it reads the parameters outside that range it will stop the automation, just dose the normal amount, and alert you of the problem.

I've only had the Trident controlling my dosing for a couple days now, but it does appear to have reduced the day/night swings a little bit. This graph shows the days leading up to switching over (while I was also increasing the alkalinity), and two days of data since. I have it set to target 8.20 dKH, but keep in mind the Trident has a +/- 0.05 dKH margin of error, so the reported numbers could be anywhere within that range.

My fastest grower is my green slimer. This should give you a good idea of growth rate:

Just keep an eye on these forums. The $10 frag sales usually happen a couple times per year and announcements are posted in advance.

Welcome back to the hobby. I started my Red Sea Reefer 425 just over one year ago. I added my first fish after 2 months, then corals on the 3rd month. By month 5 I had about 30 corals, so I don't think you're rushing with yours. I currently have about 85 corals and no regrets on how quickly I added things. Nice rock work! Looks good.

You could check with some local shops to see if any of them have the Hanna ULR. Maybe they could test a sample for you.

I snapped a few shots:

I snapped this photo when the pipefish was hunting next to the feather star: I wish I had my Nikon camera with me, but this iPhone shot wasn’t too bad.

Welcome! Sounds like you're well on your way. Your tank is about 6 months behind mine in age, so I've had recent experience with the progression of a new tank. Post some photos and give us a description of your setup when you have a chance. Also, feel free to ask advice if you're having any particular problems. There are many people her with good advice.

Which test kits are you using? Some are more accurate than others. PO4 in particular can be tough to measure in the small quantities we shoot for, so kits like the Hanna Ultra Low Range Phosphate tester are useful. It measures my water at 0.04 ppm, but other tests would show that as 0 ppm.

You can also capture a selected area of your screen so it doesn't include the task bar or window titles. Press “Windows + Shift + S”. Your screen will appear grayed out and your mouse cursor will change. Click and drag on your screen to select the part of your screen you want to capture. A screenshot of the screen region you selected will be copied to your clipboard.

I just capture a screenshot of my photos to post. This reduces them from 32 MB RAW files down to about 2 MB JPG files.