12DX - First saltwater tank

[Bennettp]

I'll have to try the vinegar trick. The biocube kinds gets neglected since it is my secondary tank. The salt creep drives me nuts. There is always a thick white line of salt going around the lid and the base of the tank. Also i have some light scratches that bug me when the glass is cleaned. I may have to order some cerium oxide and try and buff it out, i'm a total freak about scratches which was my motivation for selling my last tank.

 

[dsmhero]

My 12g came with a weird halo of scratches in one spot from factory! I dont get it, I have learned to live with it at the moment.

 

[Bennettp]

Ya, I tore apart my 9 gallon nanowave because of scratches and just use the parts of it like the ballast for miscellaneous projects. That tank was by far the coolest all-in-one I've owned and I can't find them anywhere anymore since they only produced a few of them and don't make them anymore. I left it setup at home for my mother to care for when I was at college and my niece and nephew liked to play with the magnetic algae scraper all day, little did I know. When I got back from college you could hardly look through the thing because they were grinding sand against the glass all day with the algae scraper. Now those things terrify me whenever I use them.

 

[dsmhero]

Few updates.

Removed the extremely large hairy mushroom it was getting far too large for my tank. Upon removing, it slimed my tank pretty bad but nothing seems affected. I did a quite water change and ran some extra carbon so hopefully it will clear up in the next few hours.

I switched to Reef Crystals but haven't used it enough to have an opinion. Also, started dosing 2-part.

Got my first Acro, will post a pic asap, its still acclimating.

 

[CarlaW]

Few updates.

Removed the extremely large hairy mushroom it was getting far too large for my tank. Upon removing, it slimed my tank pretty bad but nothing seems affected. I did a quite water change and ran some extra carbon so hopefully it will clear up in the next few hours.

I switched to Reef Crystals but haven't used it enough to have an opinion. Also, started dosing 2-part.

Got my first Acro, will post a pic asap, its still acclimating.

Keep a real close eye on the calcium and alk with reef crystals, OK.

Can't wait to see the acro.

 

[dsmhero]

Thanks for the heads up. Have you had experience with it?

I have been using Coralife Salt which params are wacked! 580 calcium and 8 alk. So I am hoping the alk in RC will be quite a bit higher.

 

[CarlaW]

Thanks for the heads up. Have you had experience with it?

I have been using Coralife Salt which params are wacked! 580 calcium and 8 alk. So I am hoping the alk in RC will be quite a bit higher.

I have been using reef crystals since this tank got redone in 2008, so yeah, a little experience with it

What I have found is that the calcium can be steady, well, let me be honest, I never test the made up salt water................................oops.

Then again, I am dealing with a large volume of water. What test kits are you using????

Just keep an eye on it my friend, there is nuthin wrong with 8 dkh for alk. My theory is keep it as close to NSW as you can, that way you never push the animals limits.

 

[dsmhero]

Right now I have API tests but slowly making the switch over to Salifert. I may end up biting the bullet and for alk and calcium, and get the Hanna Checkers(they look really nice).

For parameters, I am hoping to keep it around 440 calcium and 8-9 dkh. Any suggestions?

 

[CarlaW]

My calcium is normally around 420 and the alk. ......................... well I have one hell of a time trying to keep the alk around 8 dkh because of the sps concentration. I wouldn't really get to excited about the hanna stuff. Salifert has always been good by me, and if you have problems figuring it out, I know lots of folks that use Salifert .

Because of your water volume, you may have to be a little more conscious of your readings, but once you get them stable, and develop a system for doing so, you will OK

 

[dsmhero]

Good to know about the saliferts. Because of my logs I have noticed that this tank is using 20ppm of calcium every 5 days which if the BRS calculator is accurate will require me to dose 4ml everyday. I am going to start with 3ml daily once my calcium comes down and keep testing every few days.

 

[CarlaW]

Good to know about the saliferts. Because of my logs I have noticed that this tank is using 20ppm of calcium every 5 days which if the BRS calculator is accurate will require me to dose 4ml everyday. I am going to start with 3ml daily once my calcium comes down and keep testing every few days.

To be really honest here, I have trouble helping people that have nano tanks. I am so used to the large water volume. I will try to be helpful, OK. You wouldn't believe if I told you how I have been known to keep my parameters the way they are..............................lol. a little of this, a little of that, and poof, you are a parameter

 

[dsmhero]

Here is a pic of the new acro. Just acclimated so polyp extension may not be quite where it should be. If anyone knows this proper ID, I would be extremely grateful.

 

[CarlaW]

OK, where'd ya get it???? looks like a garf bonsai, aka maybe a A. nana or valida

 

[dsmhero]

Just some random frag at ReefMissoula.

 

[CarlaW]

keep the color up and you have a beauty

 

[dsmhero]

Any tips for maintaining sps color? All I have heard besides good lighting is just tank stability.

 

[CarlaW]

lighting and flow, start it at the bottom for sure

 

[CarlaW]

OK.............................. I gotta know your name man, this is drivin me nuts..........................lol. As I mentioned in my thread, I am gonna take some top down shots, I have a nice Garf bonsai on the right hand side that I'll show you. It is definitely a valida, you can call it a tricolor too. Anymore nobody gives the real name of the color they are selling, and that just irks the **** right outta me.

 

[dsmhero]

OK.............................. I gotta know your name man, this is drivin me nuts..........................lol. As I mentioned in my thread, I am gonna take some top down shots, I have a nice Garf bonsai on the right hand side that I'll show you. It is definitely a valida, you can call it a tricolor too. Anymore nobody gives the real name of the color they are selling, and that just irks the **** right outta me.

Haha, my name is Kelan. Nice to meet you finally

I can't wait to see these shots, I haven't checked my new coral since the lights shut off.

 

[CarlaW]

Haha, my name is Kelan. Nice to meet you finally

I can't wait to see these shots, I haven't checked my new coral since the lights shut off.

Well hallelujah Kelan, nice to meet you also, my name is...................................... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I forgot:moony:.

I read somewhere, along long time ago, that it will take a coral a little over 2 months to totally adjust to a particular system. Some take longer, some just go for it and love the conditions they are in, so don't get upset if things don't look right, right out of the chute, OK. I have had some SPS thathave taken a year and I gave them up for dead, so ride the tide my friend.