I saw the first sign of alkalinity consumption this morning. Alkalinity dropped fro 8.7 to 8.4.
Performed a major sump clean out on Saturday. So much nuisance algae had built up in there. I didn’t get it all, but there is significantly less.
The WWC coral frags I received Friday are doing well. Currently they’re on the bottom in a piece of diffuser panel. I’ll start placing them on the rocks mid-week.
Performed a major sump clean out on Saturday. So much nuisance algae had built up in there. I didn’t get it all, but there is significantly less.
The WWC coral frags I received Friday are doing well. Currently they’re on the bottom in a piece of diffuser panel. I’ll start placing them on the rocks mid-week.
Yesterday I received my first shipment from WWC coral club. Good to get some SPS back in the tank.
Parameters are creeping up a bit with daily 1 mL dosing of Triton. I kind of expected that, but it is quicker than needed. This morning I turned off the doser so I can see uptake with the new corals. Once I get back to 8.0 dKH I’ll turn the doser on again. I measured pre-water change, so I’ll do another measure of all/calc after today’s WC to see what the “starting” values are.
All fish are doing great. They love the frequent feedings. Algae is a bit of an issue right now, but I expect to slowly get that under control as the chaeto in the fuge expands. I’ll keep pulling it from the display with water changes until then.
Update on power consumption. According to BRS website, the 1/10 HP chiller pulls 2.63 amps. So as long as the chiller and heater don't kick on together, and I hope they never do, the system pulls about 12.5 amps and should be okay on the 15 amp breaker. If it starts tripping, I only need to run a 12/2 wire to the breaker box and replace the breaker with a 20 amp. I wired all of the outlets using 20 amp rated outlets and the wiring between outlets is 12 gauge.
Yesterday my first new fish since moving arrived. I ordered 5 lyretail anthias and 2 pajama cardinalfish from LiveAquaria.com. 1 of the anthias was DOA, so I have submitted a warranty request with them. I added all of the fish to the display about 5:00 PM yesterday after drip acclimation and fed LRS twice before lights out. Everyone ate at both feedings. This morning, the 2 new pajamas are sticking close to the rockwork and the resident pajama has tried to school with them, though they are currently on the opposite side of the tank from where he normally hangs out. All of the anthias are swimming out in the open, but near the rocks on one end of the tank. When I approach the tank the anthias tuck into the rocks for a minute and then come back out. So, it looks like we have success so far.
On another note, I got a electric power meter to test how much current each piece of equipment draws. The tank is currently on a 15 amp circuit and I'm worried that it won't be enough when I fire up the metal halides. Readings for the major equipment are:
T5's 0.7A each bank - (~1.5 total)
Gyre pumps - 0.3A
return pump on setting 3 - 0.53A
Skimmer - 0.6A
300 W heater - 2.5A
metal halide (left) - 3.56A
metal halide (right) - 3.54A
Total (without chiller) = 12.53A
So, it is close but there's some wiggle room left before tripping the breaker. Obviously I need to check the chiller, but I'll have to wait until I clean it and get it ready to bring back online. Since the chiller and heater shouldn't be operating at the same time, this will help. However, I'm most worried about the compressor start-up spike since this can't be pretty big.
After moving, all corals were lost except ricordeas and hairy mushroom. Of the fish that I started with before the move, I still have both clownfish, 1 pajama cardinal, and the yellow watchman goby. I have various snails and maybe a hermit crab or two. There may be a pistol shrimp hiding with the YWG. My pencil urchin is still kicking too.
Yesterday I finally took the initiative to get the sump plumbed and all filtration running again. I added 30 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater to fill the sump. I'm sure this was a big improvement in water quality for the main tank.
Getting that big piece done has helped with my enthusiasm for getting a reef tank back up and running. This morning, I did some aqua-scaping with bond that I bought last year on our way to the beach. I really like the way the rock work looks now.
I'm about to do my fist round of testing in 10 months. I haven't been adding anything to the tank or doing water changes (shame on me). It is anybody's guess what this will look like. Now begins the process of getting everything back within reasonable and stable parameters so I can add SPS.
In celebration of getting the tank up, I did order some new fish. It will be nice to have some more movement and color in there.
On my to-do list now. 1) Clean the chiller and get it online. 2)Order an Apex system (been putting this off for 5 years, it is time. 3) Order new triton reagents and get doser back online.