500 Gallon SPS Dominant Zeovit

[WayneLScott]

Nice looking tank Wayne, I didn't think that the Moorish Idol was reef safe. Have you had any problems with him?

He just went in. I feed my tank 2-3 times a day so I think he will be fine. Everyone I know that has one says they haven't touched any corals.


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[spieszak]

if he's eating, thats a great first step with them from what i've read.. was he eating when you purchased him, or did you have to 'teach' him?

 

[WayneLScott]

if he's eating, thats a great first step with them from what i've read.. was he eating when you purchased him, or did you have to 'teach' him?

He was eating when I purchased him. I learned my lesson long ago that if they aren't eating in the store either wait or just dont buy the fish.

 

[N1Husker]

That's good, they are beautiful fish with a weird looking face. Good luck with him, I hope he eats okay for you. Nice tank by the way, Wayne, thanks for sharing.

 

[WayneLScott]

That's good, they are beautiful fish with a weird looking face. Good luck with him, I hope he eats okay for you. Nice tank by the way, Wayne, thanks for sharing.

Yes they are. I believe I found the right one crossing finger. Once he follows the other fish I know he will fit right in. :dance::dance::dance:

 

[WayneLScott]

You know, I've been concentrating on other areas of this build like stocking and lighting that I forgot about the look of the build.

I had a cabinet built

Then I recently(yesterday) added the doors to it

I still have to add the magnets to the doors so they can fully close.

And the base has been laid to place a granite slab.

Also here is my newest addition to the tank. I finally got a tru unicorn. He's a little skinny now but that won't last for long.

 

[WayneLScott]

 

[WayneLScott]

The bulbs are getting old on the T5 fixture over the frag tank so the money I could get in bulbs I got a couple LED fixtures. I will lower them to acclimate.

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[oldsaint]

Looking great, Wayne.

The par meter is going to cost you a visit to check out the tanks. ;-)

Wait!!!! Is that Flight 370 in your tank?

 

[WayneLScott]

Looking great, Wayne.

The par meter is going to cost you a visit to check out the tanks. ;-)

Wait!!!! Is that Flight 370 in your tank?

Mike you know you're always welch and yes it is. It's a trade off for corals from Australia.


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[WayneLScott]

Ok this is late but still disturbing and confused.



Like normal, Friday or Saturday I test my water parameters before I do a water change. I went from weekly water changes to biweekly because my nitrates and phosphates were 0 ppms for a little longer than a month. The past 6-8 weeks since the biweekly water changes the nitrates and phosphates have been averaging +/-1 ppm of nitrates and phosphates have been averaging .05 ppms. During this time the top three have been:



Calcium - 450

Alkalinity - 8.3

Magnesium - 1350(note I manually dose magnesium on occasion to to keep it at this level and I believe I will have to add more neomag to achieve this level.



Fast forward to Saturday, I go to clean the frag tank and notice my red dragon, yellow milli, and unnamed acro dead. I check my nitrates and phosphates and they are where I just mentioned. Next I test my alk and it is 6.65 with the Hanna and 6.7 with salifert. Does anyone know how my alk dropped 2 ppms in a week? All the other acros show some stress but there still is some polyp extension.



Please help me understand thank you for your input.


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[oldsaint]

Just some random thoughts, I'd first make sure what ever your using to supplement alk is working properly. Also, consider the addition of alk, if any the water changes were adding.

I had a similar issue with the 47 when I had an explosion of coralline while I was away for 6 days.

 

[WayneLScott]

I'm using a calcium reactor with a plant regulator on the CO2. It's been steady as I had mentioned earlier once I got it dialed in.


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[OneReefTx]

CR's are the best IME.

 

[WayneLScott]

Well everything has been going well as of late. But I also have been struggling with my pH. Everything else has been steady(i.e. Calcium and magnesium). So I added this to my topoff today to help out.

I also have an orange shoulder in QT that I rescued from a tank being torn down. He was pretty beat up but I think that because the owner took an hour to catch it and didn't remove any rock. He said he had him for about 2 years and he is still in juvenile stage.

 

[WayneLScott]

I am going to revamp my system again. I know I shouldn't be chasing numbers. I have been testing the alkalinity everyday since the day I had the mishap. Also I finally cracked a window in the fish room about 4-6 inches to get fresh air inside to aid in the pH of my system.

Since I don't like to use Kalkwasser, I purchased some pickling lime juice and added it into my top off at a rate of 1 tsp per gallon. I am thinking this is to much as for the past week my alkalinity has gone as follows:

17 May 2014 - 7.8 dKh
18 May 2014 - 7.89 dKh
19 May 2015 - 8.0 dKh
20 May 2014 - No test (guessing it was around 8.2-8.4 dKh)
21 May 2014 - 8.7 dKh
22 May 2014 - 9.13 dKh(refilled ATO)
23 May 2014 - 9.13 dKh
24 May 2014 - 9.24 dKh
25 May 2014 - 9.24 dKh (10%{40 gallons} performed)
26 May 2014 - 9.6 dKh

The ph during this span has risen from 7.7 and maintained around 7.9 - 8.0.

Do I turn up the CO2 to bring the alkalinity down? In all actuality I would like it no higher than 8 considering when I start purchasing my acroporas that the alkalinity of the water they are cultured in.