Blue Z Reef

You have any pics of this planned setup? Is a sump out of the question? for your questions: a. One of the better HOB skimmers most people use is the Aquamaxx HOB-1.5. I ask about a sump because most sump based skimmers will outperform HOB skimmers. b. You are looking more or less for a light timer from the sounds of it. These days there are cheap WiFi power strips ($20-60) that can do that. Check Amazon. A real aquarium controller is going to be in the $500+ range new but will have more functionality (heat control, accessory control, dosing, etc). c. Depending on the tank and how much you like it, always remember that basic tanks can be had for $1/gal at petco up to 30 gal and a 40B is $50. I only say that because your saying the setup is 10 years old so not sure how it’s condition has faired over the years. From experience, I would say to aim for the nicest tank you can afford (if you plan to keep it for a while) as tank swaps are difficult.

Does 1800petmeds not need an Rx for it? That’s cool if not. Last time I bought it (like 5+ years back), I had to order from some sketch site that got around Rx by shipping out of Australia or something random.

Still got em...how about $140. These are pretty much new.

Curious to see the tank for a friend...wondering if it’s drilled for sump...

I would definitely be interested in the Trigger, tang, and foxface. Shoot me a PM, can pickup when your ready

I remember seeing this a while back. Cool idea but wouldn’t substitute it for manual feeding. I notice when I use a “cube melter” type feeding, my fish tend to be a little more skittish getting the stray food flying out as it melts. When I do my nightly feeding with my frozen melted, it flys all over and everyone gets some. Just observations on my personal tank. Also easier to put the tank into feed mode for this, which I suppose is possible with the 0-10v input. I do like the Plank feeder to make sure the dry food sinks better. Definitely curious to see them tested by hobbyists!

You are looking for @Taylorhardy1 👍

Love these tutorials, makes figuring out Apex much easier! Only issue is I can’t see the pics on this...am I the only one? Looking on my iPhone

I didn’t want to buy another powerbar for my apex just for my garage mixing station so I tried this smart power strip. I just use it to turn on my mixing pump daily on my salt barrel. So far it’s been issue free! For $22 it was cheap/easy to try. Only been about a month now so I can’t speak to longevity. LARKKEY Smart Power Strip WiFi Power Bar with 4 USB Charging Ports and Smart AC Plugs, Compatible with Alexa,Google Home, Surge Protector 2.4GHz, FCC Listed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P15SJ84/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JoCeFb6BG64WW

Why are you dosing NoPox? What happens if you leave it out? Do your levels creep up? Also, why would you do it in your top off....I get that it’s one less dosing pump but we all have things that cause some degree of inconsistency with ATO. Seems like the easy fix is to get it on its own doser instead of in ATO, that is, if it’s even needed at all. I dose RE AB+ and have had cyano from dosing too much but since backing off slightly haven’t had it come back (after ChemiClean treatment that is).

So you are looking for known (visible) disease to test water and confirm you can identify the ich (or other) disease through testing? My fish had ich earlier on this year. Over the course of 2-3 months of feeding with Selcon/Garlic soaked frozen food plus adding a UV sterilizer, the ich slowly disappeared. I haven’t seen it for several months now. I’m sure it could still be present but the fish are eating well and haven’t had issues since. @EMeyer wouldn’t the testing be problematic when looking for things like ich that depend on the parasite being in a certain stage in its lifecycle to be free swimming (and thus be able to be potentially sampled from the water column)? Just seems like to get a clear picture if your tank had something or not it would need randomized/regular testing over the course of a few weeks to give an accurate picture.

You been to Petco bro?????? 🤣

Bump

Sump is a million times easier. More space for higher quality equipment. AIO and hang on stuff is limited by space constraints and usually performs sub par (especially skimmers IMO). All you need is a properly sized sump and you won’t have any flooding issues. As long as you have your returns setup to break siphon before the sump fills it’s pretty fool proof. Waterbox and Red Sea are going to be nice tanks. There is also Reef Octopus and CADlights but they aren’t as widely used (would probably go with RS or WB).

Does the 120 come with the wood stand?

I try to sweep the reefing spending under the rug...and hide it out back lol what is scarier for me is when I added up my Amazon spending with a banking app...Yikes! I did that a few years ago and now just keep my eyes closed 😂

Stand looks really nice Be careful with check valves. I had one on my last tank, no issues. Put one on my current tank and it would hammer open/shut repeatedly when I turned off the return. Super annoying. I took it out (wasn’t necessary for my sump). Some people have the same issue if you read about it. My only advise would be to try and mount it up higher instead of just after your return pump. Any reason your sump is so small?

The good thing about the hobby is you can definitely “grow into it”. Seeing people’s crazy setups, fish rooms, mixing stations, etc may seem intimidating but are usually a result of learning and adapting/upgrading over time. the good thing is companies like Red Sea know that some people get overloaded on what to buy so they make setups that come pretty much ready to go (sump/lights etc are included). I would find someone who has a similar setup to what you are looking at and see how they did things. Ask questions and get advice from people local, lots of knowledge you can get (and see) within a 50 mile radius of you. Cant speak to raising cuttlefish, but I have seen them at Cuttlefish and Coral in the past. Jeff (the owner) I’m sure would be a great resource for your questions about a setup. Breeding is it’s own beast though so be warned, you may end up with more than just a single tank to raise them. Haven’t heard of anyone locally doing it, only clowns and seahorses.

Trident/DOS combo is amazing. Can’t recommend it enough (if you don’t mind the price LOL). I have mine doing 8x tests a day. It’s amazing how much you learn about your tanks demand when it is mapped out throughout the day. I even noticed Alk demand changes from minor lighting adjustments. Honestly without testing as much as it does automatically some of the changes would be easy to miss (seeing the daily trends and adjusting dosing to fit is super cool). As you already have an apex you are already invested so that would be the route I would choose. Plus it’s epic to be lazy and get your testing done automatically! 😆

Frogspawn becomes so brittle as it gets big (and heavy). When I moved everything from my cube to my 210 I broke so many frogspawn colonies. My biggest one was a perfect dome the size of a melon. I was holding my lid and it slipped and bashed down right in the middle breaking it apart. I put it back together and said screw the rest lol 😂

Lowe’s/HD sells the white flex pvc (spa flex?) by the foot. Not sure if it goes down that small though. Could you just use clear tubing? I’d assume that one of the glues would hold it.

How does it compare to your other torches? Does it look like something else? Honestly, with so many lighting/photography/tank differences, it’s hard to say. Obviously we all want what we pay for but this hobby is a bit unique. Rudy sells amazing corals so I’m surprised it’s much different. This is mainly why I prefer in person buying.

Bump, great setup for a 6’ tank!

Mine nitrates were always 0. I have to dose daily Reef Energy AB+ plus I feed my fish 1-2x a day flake/pellet and about 3-4 cubes worth for dinner of frozen (mixed LRS/Mysis/etc cubes). Dose acropower once a week. After all that I read about 2 now (Salifert). I was dosing ME Coral nitrate for a bit, I’m ok with my reading at 2 now so haven’t been messing with dosing it now. I have some sodium nitrate granular if I decide to bring it up again higher. on my tank I think the marine pure is keeping it so low along with all my LPS of course