SubzeroLT

That's a squamosa. From Iwarna. Thanks. Quite fearful of melted power extension plugs & power trips affecting other devices. The circuit breaker & oversized cables has been a worthwhile investment.

So sad to hear this. I feel your pain Better cover all bases - gaps in net, battery backup, potential leaks etc. Remember to enable the 'heartbeat' feature on your Apex if not already done.

25ppm NO3 is quite common and wont kill SPS. Just that colors will be darker. Its unlikely that your lights are the cause - too bright will cause SPS/LPS to lighten after a few days. Prolonged low light will cause STN from the base or shaded parts but this is usually after a few weeks or months. Best way to know is to get your PAR measured. I do PAR measurement for a small fee (to cover equipment cost/transport). Can PM me if interested. Direct flow from wavemaker will damage corals within a few days. The easiest thing to do is to do major water change. As much as you can and as often as possible (eg. 100L every 2 days for a week). Total cost of water/salt isn't expensive in the entire scheme of things.

Yep. Using AI Hydra lights. The XL sized biopellets can be used in a reactor or bag since they do not need to be fluidized. Just need high flow through it. The regular bean sized biopellets definitely require a fluidized reactor else they will clump up. The bean sized ones will be 'more effective' than the XL per packet volume since it has more surface area. How high are your nitrates? There are many school of thought & products on reducing nitrates. Below are things that worked for me: - Feed less to the fishes (amount & frequency). Feed a lot less to LPS/SPS. - Siphon sand bed during water change to get rid of detritus. More frequent water change or larger volumes - Change your filter wool daily. Or use a roller mat system (eg. DD Clarisea) - 25 micron filter + removed from water quickly. - Some common options : Option 1 : Algae Turf Scrubber. Or Chaeto reactor. Need a very large one to be effective Option 2 : Aggressive dosing carbon source or bacteria. I use vodka/vinegar. Any of the following works as well : RedSea NoPox, Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 + BioFuel, Prodibio Biodigest + Prodibio Biotim. Must have a good skimmer to work. Option 3 : Biopellets as a carbon source instead of manually dosing carbon source or additive. Also must have a good skimmer to work Option 4 : Sulfur denitrator

Started using XL sized biopellets as a carbon source for the tank. Ran 1/2 pack for the past 3 weeks without issues & added the rest of the packet today. No reactor needed. Just place in a place with high flow rate. Nice thick skimmate Halloween crab feasting on a stomatella snail.

Lovely set up. Look forward to more pics

Having some kind of remote monitoring/trigger is quite helpful for keeping things in check when travelling. A couple of things done (most have changes from last update) : Web cams for general overview Sensor to detect ATO reservoir water level low. I'll then trigger a family member to help top it up Backup battery for each wavemaker. Total 3 batteries. Large skimmate bucket (20L) with 2 float sensors inside to sense waste water level (intermediate + high level) Alkatronic for close loop feedback on KH levels. KH dosing is triggered only when it drops below 7.5. Else, the CR takes care of things. Set up the Apex Neptune to call my mobile if critical sensors are triggered Clarisea Fleece filter / roller mat I made some changes to the CR & didn't have enough time to stabilize or tune it properly before my trip. This is quite risky. Fortunately, with the Alkatronic, its possible to monitor the KH levels & remotely change the CO2 timing on the Apex while on a biz trip. For those without an Apex, various brands of wifi power plugs can be remotely controlled too. Monitoring the dip in KH when lights are on. And tuning the CO2 switch- on hours for the KH catch up when lights are dimmer or off. Calcium reactor pH is running at 6.1. Setting the CR at higher pH but leaving it on for 24 hrs will result in higher KH swings during the entire day, so i've set mine up to run for 19hrs a day. CO2 off for a couple of hours a night.

Thanks. Think its called "Red Finger" Gorgonian. Got it from a fellow reefer. Thanks

This one is still alive. It opens up a couple of times a day and especially after water change (maybe it senses more particles floating in the water) The 2 that didn't make it is the tiger sponge & the blue polyp gorgonian

Mix of rotifer + some unknown pods that came with the rotifer culture + tisbe pods (from a fellow reefer)

I don't think its an overkill. The beauty of the Hydra is that its modular - and there is a lot of flexibility of placement. And able to bring old equipment over when you upgrade (eg. my 3 units of Hydra26 were brought over from my previous 3ft tank) You can get the config files here : http://www.aquaillumination.com/file/signature/ai-signature-leonTan.aip You can also get settings of other tank size & set up from here : http://www.aquaillumination.com/signature/ Its possible to 'preview' the settings by clicking on the timing green box to bring up the intensity dialog box. I feel that light settings should not be dependent whether a tank is 'new' or not but rather about having the right light intensity/duration vs coral type & placement. Once the light setting is roughly about right, water condition plays a bigger role in algae growth (eg. nitrage, phosphate, dosing supplements such as liquid food, amino acids or trace elements). Let's troubleshoot this. I'll reply in your thread.

Someone asked about my light configuration. No change from the last update. 4 Hydra 52 HD & 3 Hydra 26 (1HD + 2 non HD brought over from my old 3ft tank). Tank is 5 x 2.5 x 2ft with euro & top center brace. Hope this helps.

Adding pods into the tank. Culture is not too dense though This is from about 2 tau huey tubs. Weary of rusty clothes pegs. Using plastic clips now.

Spotted Mandarin Spathulata (Frag previously from Darren) Capitata Valida Opening up a RODI auto shut. Valve wont cut off fully

But its a useful clean up crew. Can reach the bits & pieces stuck in hard to reach places.

Serpent Star. Barely see it the past 3 years. It has grown quite a bit. Took this opportunity for a quick photo.

Looks good!!

Try this : https://support.ecotechmarine.com/hc/en-us/articles/206340448-Why-is-the-time-incorrect-in-my-EcoSmart-Live-account-

Check the time zone in "Manage Account". It should state GMT+8 Singapore

A H80 is 15W & H380 is 90W if i'm not mistaken. I don't think a 15W light will be too strong - most likely the chaeto didn't do well due to water condition (eg. too 'clean'?) The H380 will probably do a very good job. Can afford to hang it further to get better coverage & tune down for a start.

Yeah...definitely need to give it a good rinse. Normally I'll run it in a bucket with old tank water for 1-2 weeks before adding to the tank. Did you figure out why the chaeto died?

Random pics from the weekend : Anthelia. (Thanks Shri for the frag ) Milli from PCW (June 2017) July 2018 : Green stag : Blue florida ricordea Halloween crab : Feather Dusters. Looking for a lot more. Was told this is a red stag. But Red is not showing up at all.

Got 2 boxes of Maxpect Bio Sphere from ReefmarketSG last week. The marketing information was compelling - Very large surface area. Does not leach heavy metals. Relatively good price too. Unfortunately there isn't much user reviews available online. A mesh bag was included in the box. I didn't know how much volume 2kg would occupy else i'd have gotten a few more boxes. For reference, 2kg of the Maxpect Nano Sphere is roughly the volume of a Marine Pure block. Product seems quite hardy. Does not scrape off easily unlike some other ceramic based media. Definitely a positive 1st impression. Let's see how it holds up after use.

Ya... a lot of gems! The DD close up lens is nice to play with too.

They were purchased from overseas vendor. Sent you a PM.