Lexinverts

Hi All,

We have a really fun meeting coming up. We'll be having the May meeting at my house in Corvallis. Send me a PM for my address and to RSVP.

The meeting will be from 1-4 and Eli of Aquabiomics will be presenting on the aquarium microbiome at 230. We'll have food, drinks, and raffles!

Follow this thread, as I will be posting more information about the raffles and the talk as we get closer to the meeting date. One of the raffles will be for corals from my tanks (see below).

In the meantime, don't forget about the NEXT club meeting that will be held at the Tyree Coral Farmers Market on 11-4 on Sunday April 28th at the Airport Holiday Inn Hotel. Hope to see you there!

19 hours ago, islandVib3s said:

Looks absolutely amazing 👏👏👏 curious to which ammonia product are you using?  How much dosage daily? Any weird results with live stock? I was using Dr tims ..if I remember correctly I kept losing my snails so I loaded that tank with hermits. But I was getting nice growth aswell 🤔🤔🤔

Thanks. No weird issues. Here's a link to the stuff on Amazon:

https://a.co/d/cb1kWWs

Mix 20 grams into 500 ml to get your diluted solution.

I am dosing 33 ml per day in my 198 gallon system. I started dosing 10 mls per day and gradually increased.

39 minutes ago, Krux said:

is the top off for photos, or do you walk on the wild side with jumpers these days?

I take the top off for the pics. I have too many wrasses to not a have a top....lol

Here's a long overdue tank update. I've been dosing ammonia to the tank instead of nitrate for a few months and I am getting improved growth! Just gave the tank a good cleaning in prep for an appearance on Reefbum next week (4/23/24)

Welcome to the club! We post monthly meetings and events here:

https://www.pnwmas.org/forums/forum/41-meetings-and-events/

The next event is the Steve Tyree Coral Farmers Market on April 28th

Hope to meet you at a club event sometime.

Sorry to hear that it got so bad, Ryan. The main thing I would do is continue with water changes. I'd worry less about the minor elements and keep moving a decent volume of water through that system to help strip all of the unknown nasties out of it. That Triton detox stuff I recommended depends on large water changes to work, as well.

I would also ditch the UV if at all possible. I wouldn't want there to be a non-zero change of the same issue repeating in the future.

Good luck!

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

6 hours ago, Eatfrenchfries said:

https://reefbuilders.com/2024/03/13/the-microbial-men-discuss-all-things-bacterial-at-reefstock-denver/

 

Featuring our own @Lexinverts 

We would have benefited from having Sharokh on the couch with us!

2 hours ago, Krux said:

I really enjoyed Eli's seminar, hopefully they publish that soon.

Eli's talk was one of the best I saw at Reefstock. He did a great job.

2 minutes ago, Krux said:

I am not sure if Keith will be there (he was talking about it on his stream this week), I was really excited to try to impersonate you in an attempt to volunteer to be on the show again - what a splendid surprise for you that would have been when he emailed to schedule it!

Lol, he emailed yesterday that he won't be there. 

6 minutes ago, Krux said:

Headed to Denver for a few days to attend Reefstock 2024.

I am starting to see product announcements for the show, and wanted to offer to engage with any vendors or take photos of things for anyone who has questions but were not able to make the trip.  I am interested personally in the new Red Sea dosing containers, and plan to try to meet up with the Tropic Marin folks.

Any other requests?

https://reefstock.show/denver/

I request that you do not tell anyone there that you are me. 🤔

I'll be there!

11 hours ago, Bicyclebill said:

Awesome! What a cool behind the scenes tour of the oyster hatchery but even better getting to see your amazing system in the same trip! I'm excited. 

Bill, you need to come on your motorcycle! 🏍️

The vials can get worn out. Lots of scratches on the vials can make readings be too high.

I would not worry about the unit itself though. I have not heard of that going bad.

10 hours ago, shaywood said:

Isn't there an OTC called flatworm exit. Worked for me years ago. 

This is a pre-treatment before using flatworm exit. You add the H202 and then many of the worms float in the water column where you can net them out of the system.

It prevents you from killing as many in the system with flatworm exit because dead worms release a toxin you then have to deal with.

11 hours ago, half-astronaut said:

Just for clarity, that’s with 3% H2O2. 

The stuff from the dollar store, whatever that is.

3 hours ago, Lifer said:

@badxgillen or @Lexinverts, last year at a club meeting you clued me in to using hydrogen peroxide as a pre-treatment to flatworm exit.  Can you (or anyone else) remind me of the recommended H2O2 dosing level?

1 ml per gallon

I would try adding Brightwell Neonitro to raise nitrates.

You might consider trying ATI Essentials Pro or B-ionic for Alk, Ca and Mag. Those products are easier to use in my experience.

Glad you are enjoying the Goni!

27 minutes ago, Krux said:

Keenly interested, though I work in the evening - will see if I can sneak out and see the facility!

Do it!

@islandVib3s who is next on the list who has paid a deposit? Thanks!

Hi All,

Regrettably, our meeting and venue plans for the end of this month (Feb) fell through.

However, we are working on plans for our next meeting to be March 16th. Stay tuned!

Andy

1 hour ago, obrien.david.j said:

I love this hobby.   There are awesome products all over the place.  I'd never heard of Reefboxx, but see the obviousness of it's use and value.

1. I see two manual switches in your setup.  Did you add these, or they come with the setup?   (got a link?)

2. Does it come with it's own power brick (to the wall), or do you re-use the brick that came with your pump?

3. I did some research, ReefBuilders did an article in 2022 when this product came out.  

https://reefbuilders.com/2022/09/27/reefboxx-is-a-new-affordable-battery-backup-for-dc-reef-gear/

4. And the Reefboxx website says there's a version 2 coming out soon.  Looks like it can natively handle 36v in, if desired.  (that's three batteries in series).   But the biggest selling point looks like it comes with Two outputs.   I wonder if that means it needs a bigger input power brick?

Very interesting product, especially for pumps that don't offer the ecotech back up power port directly.  (which feels like basically, every other pump/power head out there)

 

 

And here is an easy Ecotech battery replacement. This has an auto switch and uses a LiFePO4 battery instead of lead acid, so it lasts much longer. The one linked below is refurbished with a 2 year warranty. Way cheaper than Ecotech.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144819918766?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fcvtjvdnswq&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=VvCQ6tlPRXG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Here's the DC cable that fits into cigarette lighter outlet.

GINTOOYUN 90 Degree DC 3.5mm x... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7RC7D7M?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Or this one for two pumps

ELECTOP 1 to 2 Car Cigarette Lighter Splitter Adapter Power Charger Port, 12V 24V Plug Socket 2-Way Splitter Y Adapter, 10 inch 16AWG Cigarette Lighter Extension Cord with 15A Fuse https://a.co/d/8OhYrmc

50 minutes ago, obrien.david.j said:

I love this hobby.   There are awesome products all over the place.  I'd never heard of Reefboxx, but see the obviousness of it's use and value.

1. I see two manual switches in your setup.   Did you add these, or they come with the setup?   (got a link?)

2. Does it come with it's own power brick (to the wall), or do you re-use the brick that came with your pump?

3. I did some research, ReefBuilders did an article in 2022 when this product came out.  

https://reefbuilders.com/2022/09/27/reefboxx-is-a-new-affordable-battery-backup-for-dc-reef-gear/

4. And the Reefboxx website says there's a version 2 coming out soon.  Looks like it can natively handle 36v in, if desired.  (that's three batteries in series).   But the biggest selling point looks like it comes with Two outputs.   I wonder if that means it needs a bigger input power brick?

Very interesting product, especially for pumps that don't offer the ecotech back up power port directly.  (which feels like basically, every other pump/power head out there)

 

 

I added the switches. They make it easier when doing water changes etc ... now that the main power switch is backed up.

TronicsPros 2pcs LED Strip Light Inline On/Off Switch Cable DC Jack (5.5x2.1mm) Male to Female Connector, DC Jack Switch, LED Tape Connector, 12V Inline Rocker Switch DC Power Adapter Connector https://a.co/d/1aingYe

The system uses the power brick for your pump.

It's all working great so far.

Hi All,

I'm finally posting my setup to this thread. This is not as economical as Dave's setup. I'm using the Reefboxx automatic switch ($100) along with a LiFePO4 battery ($60 for 20ah or $130 for 50ah) a fancy smart (trickle) charger ($85) and a 12V to 24V voltage booster + cables ($30).

My return pump is 24V and most of the economical batteries are 12V. You can use a booster to get 24V or you can set up two identical 12V batteries in series to get 24V. I wanted a single battery in the space.

This system will run my return pump if the power goes out while I am away. The automatic switch detects the outage and keeps everything running on battery, and the trickle charger keeps the battery charged and maintained. This charger has a cool bluetooth function that allows me to check the status via an app on my phone. I do need to get a bigger battery as the 20ah battery isn't big enough.

The 20ah battery should run my 65W pump (at full power) for 7.4 hours while a 50ah battery should run it for 18.5 hrs, and a 100ah battery should run it for 37 hrs. Of course, if I was home, I would turn the pump speed down in order to get more run time.

Link to Reefboxx + booster + cables package

https://puddleaquatics.com/collections/reef-boxx/products/the-reefboxx-package-12-24-volt

Link to smart charger

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TLCT7X7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Link to 50ah battery

https://www.eco-worthy.com/products/lifepo4-12v-50ah-lithium-iron-phosphate-battery?currency=USD&variant=42491122712825&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=ac7b7d784bf0&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA29auBhBxEiwAnKcSqj3ahabzickXKuoFmZG14epdVLJbitn_hHzO_2obxG8BkXXlKZLI8hoCyqAQAvD_BwE

10 hours ago, Brittany said:

I use All for reef.  I like it.  

I don’t have precipitation,  and it is much nicer on my hose & pumps than kalc.  I use powder and do mix it a little weak for calculating/pump reasons.  

it is quit good at increasing both ca+ and alk.

no potassium 

What is your mix recipe? Maybe diluting it a little bit is the answer. Thanks!