SuncrestReef

We all know there is no such thing as "only one" aiptasia in a tank. I removed the snail from the tank and manually removed the aiptasia with tweezers and a toothbrush before putting it back. But I also found one on my return nozzle and another on the back wall so I zapped those with my laser. I'm certain I'll start discovering more in the next few weeks, and if the population gets large enough then I'll buy some more nudibranchs. But for now there aren't enough aiptasia to support a nudibranch population.

I’ll need to train some nudibranchs to ride seahorses.

After several months without aiptasia, they have returned. And this time, they’ve figured out transportation! They’re probably working on weapons for the next iteration. 😬

Here's a list of compatible test kits for the ReefBot. While it's cool that it can test many different parameters, it's too bad the number of tests before needing refilling is so low for many of them. Additionally, I'm surprised at how long each test takes! The Trident can run approximately 100 tests before needing to replace reagents, and each test takes between 10 - 20 minutes. Source: https://reefkinetics.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000508730-what-is-the-estimated-duration-for-each-test-brand-and-parameter-

Here's a pretty good walkthrough of setting up the ReefBot and showing it in action:

Cough...A float switch only tells you when water reaches a certain level, not the specific depth at a point in time...cough. DIY people have easily done it, including dual pressure sensors to compensate for real atmospheric pressure. I'm hoping for a consumer product that can interface with the Apex. See: https://www.designnews.com/gadget-freak/hows-your-water-level-build-wireless-depth-detector/16531323856938?fbclid=IwAR1QYQGjo1VTziyZk4Lnw_Ag0goqqQCz7fmjja84M9ZTVuHW-zdf8I4R4pQ My reason for wanting this it to automate the replacement of skimmate loss. I know the exact volume of my skimmate locker, so if I had a depth sensor I could program my DOS to add a specific volume of saltwater when my skimmate locker reaches 25%, then add more when it reaches 50%, then 75%, etc. For now I need to periodically check it and manually dump in water, or wait until it's full and by then the salinity had dropped more than I want. The Apex salinity probe is not accurate enough to be able to program against for this scenario.

I live only 9 minutes from Tigard city limits. Does that make me cool enough??? 🤣

@MrBret What hours are you open during the Tuesday farmer's market? My wife & I might stop in sometime soon!!!

You should put some zoas out next to those blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Either that or you should do wine tasting inside you shop!!! 🍷😂

I'm amazed that nobody has come out with a simple water depth probe. They are common in commercial settings like public works and refineries.

You should set up a "Hatch Cam" livestream video!

Here are the two frags I won in the Golden Basket TFT auction: Great additions to my reef. Thanks @goldenbasketreef Rudy!

"Welcome to the monthly meeting. Here's your raffle ticket, and your piece of monti undata. Burgers are on the grill out back..." 🤣

Yes. I have a small 3.5 gallon refugium (originally the ATO reservoir) with chaeto, but it’s not enough to keep PO4 down to acceptable levels on its own, so I also have a GFO reactor. I started my tank with dry Pukani rock and my PO4 levels were extremely high (over 1.5 ppm) for the first month or so, but the combination of chaeto and GFO brought it down to 0.1 ppm. Just recently I increased the GFO flow and ran the chaeto lights 24/7 to further reduce PO4 to 0.01-0.02 ppm.

Anyone want to go in together on this? https://www.forbes.com/sites/billspringer/2019/06/21/billionaire-bucket-list-this-216-foot-long-luxury-support-catamaran-carries-the-subs-speedboats-helicopters-atvs-and-crew-that-every-superyacht-owner-needs/#88b483530aa0

None of my fish or inverts have nipped on corals in the past, and I haven't added any new livestock in the past 6 months. Since I'm retired, I'm looking at my tank very frequently at all hours of the day so I'm pretty in touch with behaviors in my tank and I doubt they're nipping behind my back. 😊

I've been running GFO for a year, but recently turned up the flow through GFO reactor by about 25%, and started running my refugium lights 24/7 to increase chaeto growth. No additives. If I just turn down the GFO and revert back to 12 hour refugium lighting, I'm sure my PO4 will bounce back due to fish feeding and Reef Roids.

No, none of these corals are within reach of any other corals. I feed them at night, so I'm frequently observing them after lights out and know how far sweeper tentacles can reach, and these are all safe from neighbors. There are no corals that could fall on them either. All 3 have started showing problems within days of each other, and they're at opposite ends and the middle of the tank, so it's not isolated to one area.

It seems unlikely. You'd need to expand the cabinet, the vial holder, the stepper motor track, the program logic to know how far to move, and the system to know it has extra vials:

Over the past few days some of my LPS corals have been losing tissue. It started about a week ago with a favia, then my large acan colony, and now my plate coral. I monitor my parameters carefully and the only thing that has changed is phosphate. I've been working to reduce phosphate over the past several weeks to combat a few patches of stubborn algae, and now for the past week or so my PO4 has been consistently around 0.01 - 0.02 ppm. In the past it was between 0.05 - 0.10 ppm: Is it possible this reduction in PO4 could be the cause? I could easily bring the levels back up to where they were before. There has been no other change in lighting or flow, and these corals had been healthy for many months until this week. All of my other LPS (hammers, duncans, gonioporas, lobos, etc.) and SPS seem to be doing fine. I spot feed all my corals Reef Roids twice per week. My parameters are: Temp = 78 Salinity = 1.026 pH = 8.1 - 8.35 Alk = 8.20 dKH Cal = 420 ppm Mag = 1360 ppm PO4 = 0.01 - 0.02 ppm NO3 = 4 - 8 ppm Thoughts?

There's definitely no right or wrong way to run a reef tank (well, there probably are a lot of wrong ways to do it..) and all of us have different methodologies. I'll confess I'm a data junkie and can't get enough input to satisfy me. All of these automated testing systems have pros & cons. I'm just glad to see the industry moving this direction.

Here's that same graph including pH. The daily pH swing didn't really change after adjusting the dosing schedule to smooth out alkalinity.

In my tank the swing wasn't huge, but with frequent testing and then adjusting the dosing schedule to account for the peak and low demand periods, I was able to really smooth it out. Here are some graphs I posted a while back in my Trident Hands On thread: If you only test once per day (the red line below), you may think your parameters are very stable. This shows what's actually happening:

I know a lot of people don’t like the Trident forcing you to run at least 4 tests per day and can understand the cost of reagents is an issue for some people. One thing I like to point out is that things can change even when you’re not dosing anything or trying to dial something in. To me the beauty of having automated testing is that you’ll never get caught off guard and realize a parameter is off after it’s too late. After having the Trident for only the first few days I learned how much alkalinity and calcium can fluctuate over a 24 hour period. Without frequent testing, you’ll never realize the swings you’re subjecting your corals to.

Yes, the Trident will not work for multiple tanks (unless they shared a common sump). If you're not planning to automate changes to dosing, then the Trident's value is reduced to just test results of alk, cal, and mag.