Blog Comments

Sounds like you did some very important maintenance - good!

Whenever I buy a new test kit, I write the date on the box with a sharpie marker. And when I start using it, I write that date as well. That takes the guesswork out of when they need replacing; they are usually good for one year, but I've used older kits merely because they weren't used up yet. Still, it's best at some point to get a new kit and test the water with the old and new kit to make sure the numbers you've been getting (for the past six months) are accurate.

Guy I know from the LFS told me the same thing about the LED strips. Funny thing, I told him I was going to MH, and he told me he's selling and rebuilding.. and he's going with T5s and LEDs. lol

That is a calcium-using macro algae nicknamed "Money Plant". It's called Halimeda.

Not bad at all.

Nice leather, whats the green grass looking stuff, or did I just answer my own question.

Yeah I agree about the shimmer. If I could spare the few extra bucks for the lighting I would probably go with the MH but T5's for me do to the energy efficiency. You could go T5 and add LED strips, I think IceCap just came out with led T5 bulbs, they should add a little shimmer. Won't be great though. I was thinking of doing that myself. Buying like a 6 bulb fixture using 4 for the real lighting and putting two of the LED bulbs for some pretty effects.

Yea around $190 for bulbs, and if I were to try and pull it apart and add reflectors it would be another $185 on top of that. Thanks for the input, just gonna investigate a new fixture. Tough part is deciding on whether to stick with T5's or go MH, lol. I love the color combo's available with the T5s', but the "shimmer" of MH's is sweet lol.

Well sounds like you may pay up to 190 bucks for 8 bulbs at roughly 23 bucks each. I would probably save that money and use it to buy a ballast kit but some dont have the bulbs included so you may be looking at the price of buying a full fixture where you can pick your own bulbs. At that point I personally would probably just buy a fixture like ATI Sunpower or Powermoduale or the Tek Elite and be able to select my own bulbs.

One thing I did maintain was keeping the glass pretty clean :-)

Doesn't look bad at all. I like that you are keeping the back scraped clean and that the tank isn't overrun with nuisance algae.

You guys are on the right track.

Shall we call it BS and more BS ?

Exactly! Back to the basics. "Slow, steady, balance and basics" couldn't have said it better.

I agree, I got caught up on all the fancy shiny things and it took my FW planted tank to really make me rethink my approach to the reef tank. Slow, steady, balance and basics. It's like moving through the rhythms of Tai Chi.

I have to agree with Marc, once I got on a schedule that I could work with my tank started improving by leaps and bounds. Its not TOTM material yet but the improvements can be seen almost on a weekly basis. I have learned that if its not broke don't fix it. I once made a change is salt mixes because I could get a "deal" in a group buy. Well that "deal" almost wiped out my SPS and luckily I had a buddy that could babysit them while I got thing under control. That's when I learned that not all salt mixes are the same and I should test each batch of new saltwater. Now I use the same salt, mix it the same way and ALWAYS test it for ALK, CA and SG before it goes in the tank. I spend at least 1-2 hours a day just looking for things that may not be right, most of the time its just the enjoyment of watching the underwater world before me but sometimes a coral will show signs of not being happy, then its time to check and double check things.

Good luck in your quest and let us know if you need any help or advice.

The difference between an average hobbyist and an addict are the first three letters: A.D.D. You need a little bit of this over-the-top attention to your system for it to give you those TOTM-desired results. If you are lackadaisical in your husbandry, it's going to be a rough ride for a reef tank. Daily scans of how things are operating is key, just double-checking that all is working properly. Don't delay on fixing little things before they become major obstacles. Learn better habits, sticking to a schedule. With my little 29g that you liked, I tested water every Saturday like clockwork. This allowed me to stay on top of water parameters and my tank did well. Find a system you can stick to, and stick to that system.