More Emperor Angelfish Color Change Progression

CaRx Effluent Increase

Yesterday morning I noticed my Alkalinity had dropped to 7.4 down from 7.8 last week. I had noticed this drop over the past several days but was waiting to see if it would maintain at a slightly lower level. Since it is continuing to drop I increased the effluent drip rate out of my reactor while maintaining a PH of 6.4-6.6 inside the reactor. This is maintained with my American Marine PH controller. Growth rates and color are looking better by the day at these lower values, and I am continuously feeding more to keep nutrient levels a bit higher.

December 2019 - State of The Tank Address

Overview:
As of August 2019 my reef reached its 2 year milestone and was met with several challenges. A sudden spike in Phosphate caused a large seemingly uncontrollable algae outbreak that I never thought would end. This encouraged me to restart the use of biopellets and ultimately discontinued using chaeto in the refugium. Although chaeto is great for the reproduction of pods it was too inconsistent with nutrient export in my set up. It would thrive for a period and then be unhappy all of a sudden. My choice to attack the algae outbreak with UWC vibrant also made this necessary since it would be detrimental for the plant anyway.

Coinciding with the algae outbreak I also noticed severe burnt tips on many of my SPS corals. I had been testing my alkalinity in the 9-9.5 range for some period of time which I determined to be too high for my ULNS tank. Reducing this down to ~7.5 along with the addition of the CO2 scrubber has shown very promising results in both appearance and growth rate of almost every coral.

With the tank chemistry under control, and a healthier overall appearance in the tank I decided to also remove the only remaining true mechanical filtration (pre-filter sponge) from the sump. My intent here is too allow the smaller particulates to either recirculate back to the tank to feed the corals, or be completely removed via the protein skimmer.

It is incredible how much better the skimmer is performing with the Mazzei Venturi. There is way for airflow and bubble creation producing a much thicker and more disgusting skimmate!! The increase in the body height of the skimmer was likely an accidental success attributing to this benefit. I believe there was too much flow prior to this change creating an excessively turbulent environment at the peak of the skimmer reaction area. A thank you to the Bulk Reef Supply video reviewing skimmer air flow along side water flow to allow the most productive skimming possible.

Equipment Changes/Modifications:
- 4.5" Extension to Protein Skimmer body and Mazzei Venturi addition (May)
- 12.5" Extension to Calcium Reactor body (December)
- Added Duo Jumbo BRS CO2 Scrubber recirculating via skimmer venturi (November)
- Removed Second Vortech MP60 due to excessive flow, running single unit at 50% on Nutrient Export mode (November)

Water Treatment:
- Weekly 10% water change via Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- BRS Bio Pellet Reactor
- LifeReef Calcium Reactor
- LifeReef Protein Skimmer w/CO2 scrubber
- Daily addition TLF AcroPower
- Bi-weekly addition of UWC vibrant
- Bag of BRS Carbon in sump

Water Flow:
- Ecotech Marine Vortech MP60 (50% Nutrient Export)
- Ecotech Marine L2 Return pump (40% constant - also feeds refugium which is empty)

Lighting:
- 3 X Ecotech Marine Radion Gen 4 Pro's
- 10:30 AM to 9:30 PM at 57% max intensity on Radiant Color Pre-Program

Water Quality (Last tested daily)
- Alkalinity: 7.6 DKH
- PH: 7.99 to 8.12

Others (Last tested 8/27/19)
- NH3: .02
- NO2: .007
- NO3: 1.5
- PO4: 0
-SiO2: .02
- K: 390
- Sr : 8.75
- Mg: 1260
- I: .06
- Cu: .02
- Ca: 432

LifeReef Calcium Reactor Extension

I am starting to burn through media much faster, so in order to extend periods between maintenance I increased the reaction chamber by 12".

SPS Photos

Emperor Angelfish 'BoTom' Update

Here come the stripes!

UWC Vibrant Review: It Works!!

It has been 8 weeks and 8 doses into my 160G reef, and there is zero algae nor the cyanobacteria that appeared between weeks 3 and 6. I am a believer in this product and will continue to dose it on the bi-weekly scheduled. The cyano period was my skeptical point, but I imagine much of the ding algae was releasing nutrients into the tank and temporarily promoting the bacteria.

Before and after below.

Random Photo of Center

BRS CO2 Scrubber Part 2 - Data

November 21: 7.80 Low - 8.00 High, Alk 9.3 (Baseline)
November 22: 8.03 Low - 8.17 High, Alk 9.1
-(Bottom 1 inch of first cylinder pink)
November 23: 8.05 Low - 8.22 High
November 24: 8.03 Low - 8.21 High, Alk 9.4
-(Bottom 4 inches of first cylinder pink)
November 25: 8.06 Low - 8.20 High, Alk 9.2
November 26: 8.05 Low - 8.20 High, Alk 9.4
-(Bottom half of first cylinder pink)
November 27: 8.01 Low - 8.16 High, Alk 9.1
-(Changed out media in cylinder one and swapped 1 with 2)
November 28: 8.08 Low - 8.14 High, Alk 9.1
-(Guessing due to Thanksgiving guests)
November 29: 8.00 Low - 8.14 High, Alk 9.0
November 30: 8.03 Low - 8.14 High, Alk 9.0
December 1: 7.96 Low - TBD High, Alk 9.0
-(Cylinder 1 nearly all pink, house guests leave this morning)
December 2: 8.08 Low - 8.19 High

BRS CO2 Scrubber Part 1

I have heard a lot of success stories from reefers using CO2 scrubbers to boost PH and encourage coral growth. My tank currently swings between 7.80 in the mornings and 8.00 by lights out.

Day 1 with the scrubber installed pushed the PH to 8.10 by the end of the day with alkalinity at 9.3. Observations and results to come

Photo Update

A few growth shots of some of my favorites and up and comers.

Coral Updates

Curious to see the update water test results since I have been pretty happy with recent growth. Guessing there might be a slight deficiency in magnesium, but otherwise in great shape.

Lab Water Test Update

I only test two parameters on a regular basis, salinity and alkalinity. Every few months water samples are sent to AquariumWaterTesting.com for a full review of water chemistry.

Today I sent out samples and tested my water prior to sending for a comparison of what I currently test at home.

Salinity:
Home Test - 1.026 (34.6 ppt)
AWT Test - 1.023 ????

Alkalinity:
Home Test - 7.1 dKH (2.54 meq/L)
AWT Test - 7.5 dKH (2.61 meq/L)

Other:

Ammonia (NH3-4)	Good	0.02
Nitrite (NO2)	Good	0.007
Nitrate (NO3)	Good	1.5
Phosphate (PO4)	Good	0
Silica (Sio2-3)	Good	0.02
Potassium (K)	Good	390
Boron (B)		NA
Molybdenum (Mo)	High	0.3
Strontium (Sr)	Good	8.75
Magnesium (Mg)	Good	1260
Iodine (I)	Good	0.06
Copper (Cu)	Good	0.02
Alkalinity (meq/L)	Good	3.75
Calcium (Ca)	Good	432

Meteor Shower Cyphastrea and Unkown Monti

Reef Restoration

https://mauinow.com/2019/08/03/bipartisan-bill-to-restore-and-conserve-coral-reefs/

At least it's something.

Radion Schedule Update 07.30.19

As is the case most of the time in the hobby, I should have stuck with what I knew was working instead of continuing to tweak my schedule. That being said I have adjusted my Radions back to the true Radiant Color pre-programming at 75% intensity. The only modification will be the moonlight period which I have extended later into the evening for viewing purposes.

FTS July 2019

ReefLink Flow Schedule and Radion Lighting Tweak

Some before photos since I just made an adjustment to my flow schedule and lighting. My intention is keep more of the detritus suspended while also increasing the random flow for the SPS.

LifeReef Skimmer Upgrade Part 2

Installation of the Mazzei Venturi is now complete. The larger ID if the Venturi itself along with the air intake are producing a much greater mass of air input. These photos were taken just after the install, so we will see how the skimmate looks shortly after.