Hello from California

[xximanoobxx]

Hi, i'm new to the forum and in the hobby sorta. I've had my 10 gallon AIO for about 2 months now. It's barebottom and mostly SPS with a bunch of zoas, palys, and chalices. I'm vinegar dosing and doing the zeovit nano power package and right now everything's looking better. The colors and poly extensions of my SPS are out of this world! Also, my pink boobies almost died on me before doing a ULNS and zeovit and now it's making a come back!

I'm looking forward to my stay here on RF!

 

[pandora32]

Welcome to the site! Glad your here. Ive heard of dosing peroxide and vodka, but what does dosing vinegar do? Is it a carbon sorce or something?

 

[xximanoobxx]

Yes, it's a carbon source. Acetate is a type of carbon. I'm not 21 yet, so I couldn't buy vodka(But turning 21 in 7 days!). But I think I'm going to stay with vinegar for a while until I build a recirculating biopellet reactor just to be safe. Also, vinegar is more diluted so there's more wiggle room when dosing it.

I also will start 2-part dosing(probably in january or something) once I get more SPS in. It's the holidays and there's a lot of sales everywhere!

Here's a picture from 2 weeks ago! I've added a few more frags then

IMG_20121118_201302 by Solanzo, on Flickr

 

[pandora32]

Thats kinda what i thought about carbon source. If you do start vodka dosing, be careful. You know this already though. I was having major major hair algae problems back in spring. Started dosing vodka to boost the bacteria and all. After the 2ndtank week, couldnt handle it anymore. It smelled like bad beer. Me and my wife dont drink so we wernt to happy with the smell. It took almost 2 months for the house to smell normal again. Your tank is looking good.

 

[mojoreef]

Welcome aboard xximanoobxx , good to have ya here!!

Try to get your self to the pellet reactor as a source of carbon as quickly as you can. Remember that when you dose any form of liquid carbon you dont have the ability to measure it, so you dont know what kind of levels your tank is holding. That Carbon pool just keeps on building, and if you get a bacterial bloom from it it will suck the oxygen right out of your tank.

Tank looks like its off to a great start!!


Mojo

 

[xximanoobxx]

I don't think I will build my own biopellet reactor. I think instead, I'll buy a 2-part doser and use the 3rd pump to dose my vinegar. With that, I don't think I'd need to do biopellets. I already spent way too much money on a 10 gallon haha. I'm hoping to upgrade to a bigger tank once I get out of college and get a job or something.

 

[kpiotrowski]

I 2nd the biopellets. liquid carbon dosing on a 10g is just asking for trouble! why would you need a dosing pump for vinergar on a 10 gal....shouldn't the amount you are dosing be a wet fingertip. what about the affects on ph?

welcome to the forum!

you will find much info here!

 

[Krish]

Welcome aboard dude!! Hope you enjoy it here!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Peppie]

I am not sure a 10 gal tank is worth all the trouble and risk of dosing ANYTHING.
Try a 2 gal water change every seven days.

BTW Welcome to RF

 

[cpwebsite]

Welcome to the site. I hope you have a great time here and enjoy yourself!

 

[xximanoobxx]

I do the 2 gal water change every 7 days. But I'm going to be adding more SPS soon and I don't want my Ca and Alk to be swinging. Right now. I think my alk swings by 1kh a week and 30ppm a week for calcium.

Also, I don't have space in my tank for a biopellet reactor so that'll be a huge problem to me. Any of you guys have suggestions at all?

I'm down for any challenges really.
The reason why I only have a 10 gallon is that I'm a college student and I need to move my tank a few times a year. I don't want to leave my tank by itself.
I think I can make the vinegar dosing work. Time will tell. All my corals look great right now though.
I'll create a journal here after I move my tank home after finals week.

Thanks all for the warm welcome!

 

[Peppie]

I am sure you have test kits. You should be able to tell by the result if you need to dose or not.
From the looks of your tank in the pic the calc.load shouldnt need adjusted as long as you do your weekly WC. A 30ppt swing is not much.

 

[xximanoobxx]

I'm about to treat myself with 2 acro packs in the next few weeks. I'm gonna monitor the Ca,alk,mag weekly.

How much swing for ca and alk is dangerous?


Thanks

 

[Peppie]

THIS ARTICLE IS EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND
It helped me understand when to dose and when not to
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[xximanoobxx]

Thanks peppie.

I'd like a recommendation on an external biopellet reactor. The pump has to be external as well since I don't have space in my tank chambers.

 

[kpiotrowski]

the suggestion for the biopellets was to instead of vinegar and not a solution for a 10g. for a 10g all you should need to do is water changes...even if you have to do 2-3 gallons every 3 days, make sure you buy reef salt wich has more ca,alk, and mg.

 

[ReefGeeker]

Nice tank did you make it?

 

[Peppie]

I am not aware of any p reactor that will work with the external pump drawing water up out of the tank. You could however place the pump in your tank to feed the p reactor. It is very important to direct the out flow water of the p reactor directly to the inflow of your skimmer. What type of skimmer are you running on your AIO?

 

[xximanoobxx]

I'm using the aquaticlife 115 skimmer. It's pretty nice. I did the airline mod and I'm getting really good skimmate out of it.
Oh, and I didn't make the tank. I bought it from someone who built it for me. I'll take pictures of the chambers once I'm done with finals.

I'm pretty set in stone with my plan on having a biopellet reactor. I set a challenge for myself and I have to accomplish it. So I don't think I'm coming back to a non ULNS system.

Thanks for the recommendations though. I appreciate it.

 

[pandora32]

Every tank is different. Thats what makes this hobby fun, and frustrating at the same time. If you want a reactor, i say go for it. If you want to dose vinegar, go for it, just be careful doing it. Ever think bout building your own reactor? You shouldnt need a big one.