SuncrestReef

I finally set up a quarantine tank. When I first set up my Reefer XL 425 about 6 months ago, I stocked it quickly with several fish and a cleanup crew, but I didn't bother quarantining anything because there wasn't that much in the tank at risk. Now, months later and 45+ corals later with everything healthy, I'm more paranoid that anything new could screw things up. I picked up a basic 20 gallon long tank, lid, LED light, HOB filter and heater. I have an 8" block of MarinePure that's been in my sump for several months that I'll place in the QT for a bacteria population, and I'll add a few PVC elbows for hiding places. This week I plan to get a couple more fish to round out my collection and put them into QT. In particular, I'm looking forward to getting a kole tang to tackle my green wire algae after going through quarantine. I'll also use the QT for future corals. This is something I've been meaning to do for some time, so it feels like a sense of relief to finally set it up. (it's funny how the power strip appears to be underwater in this shot, but it's actually behind the tank)

I haven't participated in one of these. How does it work? (sorry for the newbie questions...)

I got my 1" frag from Jeff for $60 last month.

No sir, officer, this bag clearly states it's just potassium chloride...

I was laughing to myself about what non-aquarists who came into the bar must have been thinking as you guys were trading and/or buying bags of white powder. 😂

I was there from about 4:15 - 5:15.

Thanks for setting up this meeting. It was nice to meet more of you and the bar was pretty cool. Thanks @badxgillen for the frags. I'll post some photos soon!

@Gil&Fin Holly would probably win it, until "Liz" walks back in to claim it from her...😂

You might be a redneck if...cleaning your carpet means vacuuming your sandbed.

Arrggg..... a snail knocked over a chalice onto my scoly, and by the time I noticed it both corals had substantial scarring. I need to glue things down better. 😞

The only thing the tang police could bust you for is a broken tail light, expired tags, or speeding. 😂

I would love to hear the back story on why someone built this! Can you imaging towing your reef tank around on the freeway?

I have a GFO reactor and a refugium with chaeto. I've taken phosphates all the way down to zero for over a month by running both, but the green wire algae still seems to thrive. I've since shut down the GFO reactor because I don't want phosphates to remain at 0. Did you buy your pukani as dry rock, or was it already live rock? Mine started dry and I cured it for 2 months before cycling the tank.

Would either of these be too big for my Reefer XL 425 (88 gal)? I don't want the Tang Police to come after me...

I've had an ongoing problem with green wire algae in my tank for months. I have pukani rock which is known to leach phosphates, so even though my water tests reveal phosphates at 0.06ppm, I'm guessing the algae is thriving on phosphates directly from the rocks. I've been manually removing it where I can, but the rocks have too many small holes to get my fingers or tweezers into. My cleanup crew seems to munch on it a bit, but not enough to make much difference. Any tips on battling it, or specific herbivores that might tackle it?

If your tank has sand, add one or two sand conchs. They do an amazing job, and they're fun to watch.

You should be able to see the model number on the barcode sticker on the back of the magnet mount. Here's the sticker on my Maxpect XF230:

My mixing station is in the garage, about 30 feet from my display tank in my living room. I ran a 3/4" conduit through the wall and fed 3 poly tubes through the conduit, along with an AquaBus cable for the DOS to connect to my Apex. The waste water drains into a utility sink next to my mixing station. In addition to auto water changes, I'm using my 75 gallon RO/DI storage tank as my ATO reservoir. I've heard of others running plumbing over 100 feet for the DOS with no problems. Orange tube = new salt water Black tube = waste water Blue tube = RO/DI for ATO

I'm just doing daily 1.5 gallon water changes with a Neptune DOS from my 75 gallon storage tanks. If you ever decide to try it, it works amazingly well.

Which model of Maxpect Gyre?

Nice! How many gallons are those barrels? Do you have a way to run some 1/4" tubing from your mixing station to your sump to do automatic water changes? That's the best thing I decided to do on my system. Let me know if you want details on how I set it up.

This one I got recently from Jeff is similar, but yours definitely has more colors.

Wow, that's gorgeous!

You shouldn't base changing filters just on age. The two factors that really matter are how much sediment is in your water system & house plumbing, and how much RO/DI water you have produced. Portland-area water supplied from the Bull Run reservoir will be different than Beaverton's water from the Tualatin Water District, and those will both be dramatically different than rural homes with well water. Your own home's pluming can also make a huge difference (be glad you're not in Flint, MI). I'm in a newer home (1995) in Beaverton, but I used to live in a 1928 Portland house that had some really corroded pipes. You should change your sediment filter when you start to see a drop in water pressure leading to the membrane filters. I'm using the BRS 5-stage 150GPD Plus Water Saver unit, and during the first few months I was producing a lot of water while curing dry rock and cycling my tank. I didn't count, but estimate I produced about 2,000 gallons within 4 months when I started to see a drop in pressure on my gauge. Here's what the sediment filter looked like when I changed it after 4 months: Since that time my water production needs have dropped dramatically since I'm just doing routine water changes now. I'm planning to change my other filters soon which will be around the 6-month mark.