Diver's Paradise: Take Two!

Yep! Went from 0 anemones in the old set-up to now 12!

 

I sure hope so too! Luckily the BTA's have their own island all to themselves, so they can walk all they want without bothering anything. They can't walk across sand, so they can't get off their island unless they go free floating. From what I've heard they'll only usually free float if they're really stressed. How are my clowns btw? I can come get them next weekend. I'm hoping they'll love the new BTAs.

 

Wow! Amazing! Especially for just a couple months progress. I am absolutely loving those rock flower anemones. I think this is the first I've seen them!

And your rock has colored up nicely too! Any tips?

:thumbup:

 

Thank you! Yeah, this tank has really come together quickly. It definitely doesn't always happen that way

The rock flower anemones aren't very common in stores around here so I had to order them online. I'm hooked! They're so colorful and easy to care for. Other than the fact that they walk around like other anemones, so you have to leave them plenty of room away from other corals.

My rock actually came all colored up like that. I ordered my live rock online from a company in Florida called KP Aquatics. They have a live rock farm in the Florida Keys and their rock is just amazingly colorful and full of life. Also, you can't beat the price! I got that super colorful rock for $5.60 a lb including the shipping. Their website is sealifeinc.net if you're interested.

 

@FeliciaLynn, what are your water params? Hope you don't mind me asking. I want something to shoot for. :thumbup:

 

Sure! I don't mind at all!

Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 78 F
pH: ~8
Amm.: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: I honestly don't measure nitrate unless something looks off or there seem to be excess nutrients in the system.
Alk: 9.5 dKH
Ca: 310 ppm (I've been working on raising this up a bit with dosing)
Mg: 1440 ppm
Phosphates: I don't measure this. The kits are just too hard to read. I only worry about it if there is nuisance algae. I run a reactor with GFO to remove phosphates in my sump.

 

Do you also dose to keep mg and alk levels up? Or is that simply from your salt?

 

I have a doser that doses Alk every day. I have it set on a timer so it comes on and doses 3.3 mL at midnight and then 3.3 mL at noon and that keeps the Alk at around 9.5 dKH right now.

Ca I'm dosing by hand every couple days because it doesn't drop nearly as quickly for me. The 310 ppm I measured recently was right before my next water change, so it had taken like 2 weeks to drop to that level.

Mg I don't dose and my salt keeps in in range with my once every 2 week water changes.

 

Thanks for answering!! Very informative. I used to dose B-Ionic on my previous tanks. I'm trying to log what the people who have successful systems are using.

 

You're very welcome! I use B-Ionic right now, but I'm thinking I may need to switch to something else since I go through alk a lot faster than the Ca portion. Since you have to buy B-Ionic as the set of two parts I end up with tons of extra Ca component.

 

Kalk in the ATO!

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/how-to-add-kalk-to-your-auto-top-off

 

Yeah, I don't really want to deal with mixing Kalk and putting it in the ATO. I like using my dosing pump since its easier to figure out an exact amount. I'm thinking I'll get some powdered Sodium Bicarbonate when I run out of 2 part.

 

Baked baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate, just so ya know not to spend a bunch of money

http://www.reef2reef.com/blog/baking-soda-the-reef-aquarium/

 

Yep! I could probably go to Costco or something and pick it up in bulk. The little grocery store boxes aren't going to be any cheaper than buying a bulk container from BRS or something.

 

I buy the little box, bake it 1 hour at 400 and it will last me 1 month dosing VIA my ATO. $1.29

 

Good to know! Thanks for the info, Dan. So do you mix it up in bulk? I was thinking I'd mix up like a half gallon jug of it dissolved in RODI water so that I can use my doser. Mind telling me your process for mixing it up?

 

It took a few weeks to figure out just how much all my corals take up. I am mixing 7 teaspoons for my 5g ATO jug. Lasts about 5 days. Keeps my alk in the 9.5 to 9.8 range. I also test the alk daily on my hanna checker to make sure I am on track for the day. If needed I can mix a tsp on the spot in a few cups of water and wait for it to mix clear. Add slowly over an hour or so.

This is of course for my water volume and the pH difference could be a lot more in a smaller tank so just be careful!

 

I can't wait to see the video of the new clowns.
Thanks for coming by
Grow them...love them
You are the only other person that they know

 

Thanks again for the clowns! They're acclimating now. I'll take good care of them

 

Thanks for the details, Dan! I'd have to make my solution quite a bit more concentrated since I'd rather use my dosing pump for it. I could probably just follow BRS's instructions for mixing up their bulk sodium bicarbonate and then use their calculator to get an idea of starting dose. The amount that gets topped off just changes so much day to day depending on the temperature, so I don't want to have to worry about it varying in the ATO. I also hate testing it everyday, so I want to just be able to dose an exact amount with the doser based on how much its decreases per day.