Blue Z Reef

There's something about my FP Clowns and red fish. Like a bull lol. My older clown is like 7 years old so I leave the old geezer bee.

Yikes, that seems fast, how long did you run the 5500? They have a 1-2 year warranty, you sending it in? Kinda scared since I'm running the same one :O

I would avoid flame Hawks with clowns, mine were mortal enemies. Lots of cool wrasse options out there, that's what I'd suggest.

I saw your post on FB, mad props to you! Wish I remembered programming better :( Didn't you have an App functioning too?

Jebao DC6000 would be perfect for your system. Those ecoplus pumps are pretty loud, a DC pump will be basically silent.

Yes, they are well worth the investment! From what I've seen, the Apex is a better choice. I have a Digital Aquatics Archon and have mixed feelings about it. For a basic cheap controller the Reef Keeper Lite is a great choice. Apex just has nicer graphs and software features than the archon does (which is slowly developing as it goes). Both can be tricky to setup initially but lots of people here can help.

nassarius snails do a good job on the sand. Maybe get a sand sifting star also.

Not at all, I don't sell fish ever from my system. Just saying I'd rather not remove all the fish and go through the QT process when they recover just fine with feeding well. I haven't lost any to it yet (fingers crossed, knock on wood).

Jeremy, you're the jerry riggin captain LOL! Maybe the OP should try a kalk reactor. The 2 little fishes one is pretty cheap. Put your AL before it and shouldn't have a clog issue. When I ran Kalk with ALs I would have like 4 that I swapped around and cleaned.

My tang had ick when I got him, lasted a day or two and went away. None of my other 3 tangs got it. Feeding regularly was the only treatment. I haven't seen a flare up in the 2 years he's been in my tank. I agree that the stress is more than I would put the fish through to remove and QT. I do tell people to dip frags, but that really should be done regardless of where they come from.

Cal and Alk look fine but your Mag is low, I'd address that and it will help the others stabilize. 50 gal is pretty small, I'd say dosing is going to be more cost effective for you than a Ca reactor. Good luck, sucks when this happens but we all pull through! Sounds like you are staying on top of it with water changes though.

I think bare bottom is easier to prevent detritus buildup. I know when I had a remote fuge and finally removed it there was lots of detritus at the bottom (even with a filter sock and skimmer before it). If you have the chaeto tumble it avoids this and grows the ball 360 degrees around. I don't personally tumble mine but don't keep sand either to avoid any buildup. As said, both methods work. Pods can be bought or you can get some cheato from the share thread from someone who has them already. Also some keep "pod condos" that can be transferred to others tanks to seed them with pods.

Cadlights is making some sweet aquariums these days! For the light, have you looked at the AI Prime? I think you would be happier overall with all the cool features. They only run $200. A few people are running them on here recently.

I have a valve before my DI resin that I open and the water goes into the waste line, thus not exhausting my resin unnecessarily. When I first turn on my unit the membrane output TDS starts out at like 8 or 10, then after 5-10 minutes of flushing we are down to 1-2. I understand what you mean about flushing the line, that's why as many have said I'd just skip the hassle and fill a reservoir to top off from.

I am in the same boat as Matty, 5 gal top of reservoir to avoid the potential disaster. I have a manual flush that I use before starting to fill my large reservoir, I know they make auto flush valves that may help out in your situation.

I've got lots of you need some. My weekend is a little busy but maybe a weekday evening will work, PM me for details

I think many of the uploading sites will resize for you when you upload.

Not saying that zeroed out phosphates are bad, but my corals really responded when I brought them up a hair. You may want to try some AcroPower at least, i run it on a doser along with my Ca reactor. Maybe give them some oyster feast occasionally also. Corals are gluttons and will eat as much as you feed them, so make sure you keep them fed!

Hey Mike, Wondering a few more things, how are your levels? What are you dosing? Bio load? I ask these things because at one point I found myself in a similar situation and was thinking my lights were the culprit. It turned out that my nutrients were too low and I was dosing vodka also, basically leaving next to nothing for the corals to eat. Colors sucked, growth slowed, etc. After identifying this as the issue, I started feeding more, dosing aminos, no more vodka dosing and the tank has done a 180, colors and growth has been crazy. Just saying to cover your bases. Lighting may be playing into it but many other factors to analyze.

At that size tank a wrasse is likely your best choice. We are lucky around here that the local shops get some cool ones in. Hawaiian flame wrasses are cool and not something you see everyday. I had a tamarin wrasse that was unique as well. Finding a male tamarin would be very cool if someone could order you one.

Oh yeah, the housing can be rotated around haha, I was wondering why you did that.

That's a lot of elbos, which is going to reduce the efficiency a bit, any reason you didn't go straight in?

PM'd you

Sweet! Beast mode engage!

Yes, mine isn't "branded" or anything but same light. Layouts vary slightly but the one he posted looked more or less identical.