GreenJeans

Nope, no pod eaters, and definitely plenty of pods. I haven't been feeding phytos but they're still easy to find all over the tank...maybe I need to feed phytos to keep make sure my pods are happy and not munching on corals?

Thanks for all the thoughts, it's at least reassuring to know I'm not the only one - I'll lower the alk to 7.5-7.8. I'll also stop dosing No3/Po4-x. I started the nopox dosing pretty recently; I had been losing corals long before starting, the dosing is an attempt to lower nutrient levels thinking that was my problem. I'll also pause the UV, carbon reactor, and GFO reactor, then watch nutrients closely...I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, here my thinking was added toys for added security/success rate. Maybe the 24/7 GFO/carbon/UV is too much...

Forgot to mention feeding schedule - - One cube frozen food in the am (~3 grams) - 4x4" sheet of nori + some pellet fish food around noon - One cube frozen food in the pm - Feed corals twice a week after lights off with reef chili and aminos Livestock - a foxface and two tangs, 3-5" - two clowns - 8 anthias and 3 chromis - some firefish, inverts

yup, ULR hanna phosphate checker. It's always seemed a bit odd (but fortunate?) that I've never had an ugly phase... I did introduce a foxface fairly early on, but I've never had any kind of algae problem. I had a bit of a dino bloom once or twice. My first ball of chaeto melted away and had to be replaced, the chaeto I have now seems to be established but not growing much.

I'm using carbon 24/7, the sinularia was a new small frag and a very recent addition

I'm feeling frustrated and defeated. I don't understand why corals that used to thrive in my system are struggling or have died off completely, new corals struggle and usually die. The last couple frags I added died within a week or two. The stylopora was losing chunks of flesh like it was being eaten or just dissolving?! Seems like only softies are happy, and not even all of them... I feel like my system should be running perfectly right now, the tank filling with sps. It's got all the bells and whistles... I have been struggling to get nitrates/phosphates down, I guess I overfeed? I started dosing no3/po4-x. Also, there's lots of vermitid snails (more in the history summary) I think I need someone with experience (eyes for parasites?) to come take a look at my tank and offer advice. Params tested today - Alk: 8.8(hannah), 8.34(Trident) Ca: 440(hannah), 399(Trident) Mg: 1440(Red Sea), 1360(Trident) Nitrate: 5(Nyos) Phosphate: .08 System: - 120g display, 30g sump - 450gph turnover - 2 MP40's and 1 ReefWave 45 (see attached MP40 schedules) - 3 Kessil A360x (see attached light schedule, the AB+ line is redSea's AB+ program recommended schedule) - smallish sand bottom, 1-2" thick - filter socks - refugium with rocks and chaeto, inverse photoperiod - big UV on 24/7 - Carbon 24/7 - GFO 24/7 - big skimmer - 5 stage rodi Brief History - Started with Fritz Pro RPM blue box salt, BRS 2-part dosing - initial corals growing well, stylopora and birds nest grew significantly. mushrooms big and lush, dividing - never really got nitrates/phosphates under control, hovered around 20nitrate and .15phosphate - discovered what Vermitid snails are when they started covering everything in my tank - ran out of BRS 2-part, switched to Triton method 4-part (cause the sump was designed for it and I had the dosing pumps for it, figured I should) - got lazy about manual testing, relied on the Trident and 4-part dosing too much - calcium eventually dropped to ~300, no idea how long it was there - after a while I noticed coral growth was slowed, leptosiris mostly died away, purple stylo eventually slowly died all the way - Triton ICP test came back okay but said Iron was high, recommended weekly water changes with Tropic Marin salt - https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/icp-oes/155893 - switched back to BRS 2-part, switched to Tropic Marin Pro reef salt - 5 or 6 weekly ~20% water changes - Some things seem to be responding well, leptosiris, favias... - Added new frags - blue stag, birds nest, purple stylo - all those died quickly. The softies mostly seem okay (except for the sinularia), the brains seem alright too. See attached photos of the tank: - Blue eyed blond zoas have been closed for months, they used to be open and spreading. Candycane not spreading like it was. Paly growing fine - New brain coral frags doing okay. New softie frags doing...eh, alright? look at the sinularia(?) in the back, it's turned shrunken and spotty, looks like it wants to die - Leptosiris that I thought was dead is coming back! Frogspawn is hanging on but doesn't have the extension it used to, not growing like it was - look at that totally dead stylo skeleton I'm reluctant to remove from the tank, encrusted with corraline algae...the biggest skeleton grown in my tank - New birds nest frag is just about dead, growing algae. that orange thing looks sad - sponge and blasto look happy - nems look happy...never had the bubble tips but it used to be one RBT and now it's 3 that host 2 clowns Corals that should be thriving are still dying and I don't know what to do or how to figure out why. help?!

I'll take the skimmer if it's still available...

Anything left?

I've got some E-Marco, free to a good home! Happy to take any frags off your hands lol...

I didn't think the small square hole that I left open would be so attractive, but I lost a pintail fairy wrasse and a female clown after they jumped and I never noticed. I now have a solo male clown...how do I introduce more/new clowns? Should I?

I've also got two available if anyone is interested, one set of wheels

Anyone have some chaeto or other macros to share? My last ball died off and I'm ready to try again to see if something will grow.

Belated update! I'm so glad I started this project before quarantine, it's been great to have a project to focus on. The most recent livestock additions are a blue hippo and a purple tang. I tried to add a harem of lyretail anthias, but only one female made it through QT (the rest got uronema) Both the fish and the coral QTs are empty!! Time to go pick something up...I was thinking I'd add a Bella Goby, some kind of Blenny, and a harem of Lyretail Anthias if I can find some... Any thoughts? Also hoping for some Apex debugging tips (@suncrestreef?) - my return will occasionally shut off for just an instant (which triggers the dependent equipment off) and immediately come right back on. I haven't figured out what's causing it. I have logging enabled for all my switches (based on a vOutlet, since you can't log switches), and nothing is appearing in my logs. Still never had any issues with algae showing up, in fact my ball of chaeto died off. I've got a TON of vermitid snails 😞

The BRS heaters are junk, mine were also allowing 2+deg swings when the hysteresis was set to 0.3 I've been super happy with these cheap ones. rock solid, very precise, excellent hysteresis. I've been using 2 for 6+ months. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KEYDNKK

Ouch! If you're not using an Apex, at least use something like this to cut the heater power if the temp gets that high https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/smart-temp-security-autoaqua.html

I'd probably mark a number or a color on the bottom foam so it's hidden while the pump is in use, then just keep a journal of events/wetside#. Mark a number in sharpie, white-out pen, nail polish...I'm sure something would work well. Hell, you could even cut a small notch on the bottom foam as an indicator...# of cut lines? Storing coupled to each other with a piece of cardboard is a fine idea. I kept the box/bubble wrap from my wet side and store my spare in that.

Do you still have any available? I'd love to pick one up!

All spoken for, thanks everyone! At the moment no, in the future probably.

Shoot me a PM so we can coordinate a pickup

I'm sure we all made mistakes early in our hobby - hopefully mine is salvageable! I ordered a discount 6-pack of softies from LiveAquaria.com, and the only thing I actually want to add to my tank is the zoa frag...oops. From the sale page Here's what showed up...really not sure of the IDs, but best guess: (I'll keep the zoa) - 2 kinds of pulsing Xenia - Green star polyp? Maybe Starburst polyps? - Green clove polyp? maybe Organpipe? - Cespitularia Totally my mistake, and hoping to avoid having to dispose of any of these - happy to give them away for free! Feel free to toss me a couple bucks if you like

I'd like to try to set up my flow as close to "ideal" as possible before I start adding corals to my 4'x2'x2' tank, and could use some pointers! I know the first tip is going to be "watch how your corals respond" but I don't have any, sooo.... 😛 I intend this to be a mixed reef, eventually sps heavy. I have 2x MP40wqd running off the Apex WXM module, and a Redsea Reefwave 45. The left MP40 is set about as far forward and low as possible - to keep detritus from settling on the sand and create flow low in front of the rocks. The right MP40 is in the middle (just in front of the rocks), and about as high as it can probably go. The Reefwave 45 is creating a (random mode) sheet along the back glass and behind the rocks. What do you think of this pump placement, and how would you program the pumps? Attached is my apex profile for the right MP40. The left MP40 is doing basically the same (anti-sync when appropriate) at a lower intensity to prevent kicking up sand. I guess my biggest question right now - there's very little surface agitation with the pumps set like this, unless the right mp40 is running at fairly high power...is this fine? The surface on the left side is usually super still. Video tour: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NRKKM6BMXXNkJpgf9

double post

#6 Sold!

d'oh, you posted the solution before I got there! I got here, and was about to try adding the defer statements... v1 (turn on): if output a OFF then OFF if SW closed then ON v2 (turn off): If output a ON then OFF if SW closed then ON a (outlet): if v1 ON then ON if v2 ON then OFF