Tim's 54 Gallon Corner -> Going Reef

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TLTGF said:
"In God we trust, everyone else bring data."

Thanks for bringing data too the mix. It's time to switch to the mesh.

I am an engineer. Data is my life...

I really like the mesh, it is cheap and I bought a roll from them. Haven't seen it anywhere else.
I stretched it into some cheap aluminum screen window frames. Since they don't get in the water, they work fine and have lasted for years. Wood frames as Mr_X suggested would work just fine as well.
 
Finally finished refuge yesterday. Tank has been up and running from a month and a half. Hopefully done spending large chunks of cash for a while. I way underestimated this hobby. Oh well no regrets.........yet!

I guess I just read about another thing I am doing wrong. I have a glass lid. Well so far so good so i'm just gonna leave it in place. I don't like evaporation since i have to manually top off and there is no reasonable way of installing a top off system. I have learned a lot from this forum and definitely appreciate all the posts, but I also have come to realize that there are so many opinions out there and my system would have been torn down or changed at least five times already since inception. I think I'm gonna just let her run and change as problems occur.
 

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katoom27 said:
Finally finished refuge yesterday. Tank has been up and running from a month and a half. Hopefully done spending large chunks of cash for a while. I way underestimated this hobby. Oh well no regrets.........yet!

I guess I just read about another thing I am doing wrong. I have a glass lid. Well so far so good so i'm just gonna leave it in place. I don't like evaporation since i have to manually top off and there is no reasonable way of installing a top off system. I have learned a lot from this forum and definitely appreciate all the posts, but I also have come to realize that there are so many opinions out there and my system would have been torn down or changed at least five times already since inception. I think I'm gonna just let her run and change as problems occur.

Don't mess with something that is working. Low oxygen and co2 buildup (with ph nose diving) is the first sign there isn't enough gas turnover at the surface of your tank. Until or if that happens...carry on!
 
I got my bottle of Coraffix today, but it was sitting in the cold for an hour or so before I realized it was there. I didn't have time to try it before work, so tomorrow I will work on trying to glue my new shrooms to some rubble. I already found a couple 2" flat pieces to use.

I'm planning to use some of my tank water in a separate container while doing to the process.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. It kinda sucks we're spread out throughout the country. It would be nice to be able to frag corals and see everyone's systems close up. Oh well this site is gonna have to do
 
I can't remember what thread I was reading a while ago talking about Hanna checkers, it was probably a few and I think this is one of them. Anyways I was browsing aquacave.com today and seen Milwaukee has a similar product for testing phosphate and iodine. Just heads up to everyone.
 
looks good Ktoom, get some Cheato in that fug, I keep Cheato, caulerpa & mangroves in mine. I have also added a phosban reactor with GFO & everything is doing great.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. It kinda sucks we're spread out throughout the country. It would be nice to be able to frag corals and see everyone's systems close up. Oh well this site is gonna have to do
You probably have a local reef club near you. What town do you live in?
 
just google "Phoenix Arizona Reef Club". I did and found the Arizona Fish and Reef Aquarium Group. I don't know if they are still going , but it's a start.
 
Thanks KC. I currently have chaeto in the refugium. Is there any reason I should put another macro or mangroves in the fuge. Mangroves would be cool but I don't have much room.

X I live in So. Cal. I'll look into reef clubs in my area thanks.
 
After I posted I noticed you had some cheato in there, I have the worst luck with cheato not growing. I was told I needed to add magnesium to help with it's growth. Everything else grows like wildfire.
 
Thought I'd post my latest news...

BAD:

McCosker's wrasse never did show back up after went missing a couple weeks ago.
Still haven't been able to ID the 1/8" white dots that are multiplying and taking over the glass.
Woke up this morning to find my clam had become crab food - no clue how / why he died.
Blastomussa didn't pull through even moving to a lower light situation.

GOOD:

Everyone else appears to be thriving. My SPS corals are growing at an insane rate. The Monti plate has doubled since purchase and is now 12" across.
All other corals seem fantastic.
Got my two ric's on their new rubble - CorAffix worked well.
Within the month, if the universe lines up, I will have a skimmer, canopy, new sump design, and a pump for water changes.
Nitrates have been staying at 5ppm which is fantastic in my book.

Here are some pics of the white dot plague (which is not pyramid snails), and the ric's on their new spot:
 
I get the white dots too. Like crazy. I just scrape em off. I have no idea what they are. Just know they are annoying to see
 
I would leave them on the back pane. What are they hurting? I don't know what they are yet, but i'm guessing Q-tip sponges?
 
In my tank those white dots turn into coralline. First a light green then they morph over to purple after a few weeks. I have thousands of those darn dots! LOL
 
I'll leave em alone and see what happens. The only thing I really don't like is when I scrape them from the front glass, it leaves a white outline of where it was and it's really hard to remove.
 
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