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16ANA 240G starfire mixed reef (1 Viewer)

the way things are at the moment... I'm more inclined to take the saltwater down.. battling the pink algae is causing my usual calm some grief.
but yes the freshwater is listed on minnfish right now and will go on CL shortly.

I will give another shot at eradicting the pink hA this time use some phosphate removers and if that doesnt work .. toss the sand
 
I think my cyano issues are related to my sand too. I used old sand and though I thoroughly cleaned it and spread it out to dry completely but its been the one issue I can't get in order. Next time I will use new sand and a have it a lot shallower. If you need any help with it let me know.
 
This is the first time I used ALL new sand and first time I actually rinsed sand before using it. I was hoping to replicate the spectacular Reefs on reefcentral.
All times prior to this (this is my fourth tank) the sand was always used and never rinsed. personally it kind of reinforces to me that the trouble of rinsing, washing, acid washing is worth only for the first few days where everything looks white ... then nature takes over
 
Cleaning a reef tank is fun right? it can be exciting too

found this last night more than 18" long; found a smaller one too but thats not as exciting lol
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my first reaction was to drop the coral lol wasnt sure if this one would start some itchy scratchy episode like most bristle worms do.

new little buddies in the tank..
 
desi people.. awesome..
question for you... why were you filling the tank up, in your garage? :eek:
 
yup desi's with big tanks and no clue lol

I built the tank in the garage so we dont get intoxicated from all the Silicone fumes, and water tested it there just for safety.. if the seam gave way for whatever reason the water would find its way to the city's storm drains without me having to even blink an eye ;)
 
Even more amazing in person! Thanks for having us over Manish.
Surprisingly I did not get an immediate no when I showed the boss the pics. :)
 
The ATS was introduced to the system with the goal of being the primary nutrient export source, after having run the ATS without a skimmer or fuge it wasn't making a dent. the skimmer was retintroduced with no notable difference on the ATS. so I restarted the fuge in hopes of giving the ATS a chance.. although the ATS has been growing algae, and quite a bit also (one side was producing about 3 cups worth from one side at its peak but not the stringy stuff u see in data_loss thread), but not enough to make the tank look sparkly clean. then I went old school (never mind that ATS is just as old ;)) i went full blast on the fuge.. literally for the last 6 weeks or so I have the lights running 24x7 and the chaeto is growing nicely. also introduced an army of mexican turbos.. the tank is starting to show the sparkle of the gem it was meant to be. since moving to a 24x7 lighting on the fuge the ATS has been slowing down to a point where the harvest has dropped drastically.

key point is I dont have many fish but most of them are large so what they eat goes back, however with the aid of the skimmer I'd have expected the ATS to do a better job. this is because the skimmer gets the nutreint source out before it changes to dissolved nutrients and the ATS "should" be feeding primarily off the dissolved nutrients.

If I ever do an ATS again, I will use three screens sandwich style such that the screen in the middle never gets scrubbed so providing a better hold for the algae, basically acting like soil, think of cutting grass, we never cut it down to the soil. I also prefer the idea of using something better than a screen esp for the middle layer. but cost wise at the moment cant beat the screen.
 
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I have noticed running my fuge on a 24x7 schedule does a better job of nutrient export and on maintaining the PH over night. I had to cultivate my macro at least twice a month and it produced tons of pods as a side benefit! Glad to hear the setup is doing better and I can't wait to see some updated shots of the transformation once it's back to it glory!
 

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