FarmerTy

I thought I remember you mentioning you had dinos? Or I may just be remembering wrong. If you do, they can irritate corals. If the brown algae is dust-like, then that's diatoms and will go away after all the silicates in your system are used up. If its cyano, then you have a nutrient issue.

I sent them a pdf of my BRS receipt. Hopefully that is good! +1

I want my cut Reeflover for using my name in advertising! [emoji12]

I haven't switched bottles yet so I haven't noticed a drop in my alk. Who knows what my actual alk is but everybody is happy so for now, it's all good. We'll find out the real number when the new bottles start arriving. For your case, we're looking at 7.5 dKh to 8.7 dKh. I wouldn't sweat the difference... if they are looking good, whatever the number, I'd leave it alone.

Hey Good Greef, the fellas above covered it pretty well. It might help, but probably no more than your standard rubble. You definitely need anoxic zones for denitrification and you're simply not going to get it with those in my opinion. I have two blocks of the Marine Pure in my tank, won them both at C4. My aluminum coincidentally is very high according to my Triton results but I take that with a grain of salt with their results. I will say at over 100x the recommended level for aluminum by Triton, my tank is running just fine. This is WITHOUT water changes so unlike most tanks which run water changes, my aluminum doesn't get diluted other than by GFO, which also binds some aluminum. In the end, I wouldn't worry about it.

Sorry to hear! That's awful! Do a large water change and run some carbon. I'd continue to do water changes every day for a couple of days until things look more normal.

All 3 bottles need to be replaced. Nice! Well, as long as the precision is there, I'll forgive the accuracy and continue to use these bottles and just correct for the difference once I receive the replacement bottles to compare them with. Thanks Hanna!

I would imagine it will have an impact to your macro algae as well.

Two different things there. Vodka dosing removes nutrients to starve out algae and dinos. The hydrogen peroxide attacks dinos when dosed in the tank and can do the same to algae if applied in higher concentration outside the tank. So vodka, starve it, fix problem. Hydrogen peroxide, attack and kill it, but if nutrient issue is still there, they'll come back.

Oh jeez, chromis may not help your new fish live/die ratio. For everyone 5 I've ever bought, 3 will die within the year. Then over the successive years, they'll kill each other off one by one. I always end up with just one.

Most dose it to cure dinos. It's very efficient at oxidizing the water and attacks single-celled organisms very well. Longer exposure to it can kill algae but needs to be done outside the tank to have it at a concentration high enough to kill the algae.

Welcome to the club! Great looking tank!

I wouldn't worry much about the detritus. I have a layer almost 1/2" deep in my sump. If it bugs you, you can always vacuum it out. I'd honestly rather it be in my sump where it's easily removable then allowing it to settle in my sand instead. In my lower flow area of one of my baffles, I put two blocks of the ceramico media in there as putting it in low flow will help with denitrification (removal of nitrates). Putting them in high flow will help with nitrification (conversion of ammonia/nitrite to nitrate).

Hi Scott! Not to overthink it but I think it's simply just the type of fish that were added. That's why I asked what types as some are more difficult to acclimate than others to tank life. Anthias are generally shy and hard to acclimate to eating prepared foods. It's best to QT them first and get them eating and used to the foods you'll feed before introducing then into the tank to compete with other fish. The sunburst anthias, on top of being an anthia and harder to acclimate to tank life, is a deepwater species that prefers dimmer lights and needs caves to hide and rest in. Like Mike mentioned, mandarins and the lawnmower blennies have very specialized diets that perhaps your tank wasn't meeting them. I think it's simply just the fish choices and the lower success associated with those particular fish species than probably anything that is wrong with your tank. Just my 2 cents. If you buy a new damsel and kill it, then I'd be worried.

Hey Manta, glad you're keeping up with the GFO and DI/RO filters/resin. What fish have you been losing? I think you mentioned anthias, but what other fish have you tried and lost?

I'll be the judge of that upon inspection.

Hey, that's a trademarked, LazyTy RO/DI system setup! I hope you paid the usage rights!

Remember, we have a set of bits for Premium members of ARC to borrow. It has assorted sizes so I'm sure you'll find one that works for you.

Those SCH80 bulkheads are super solid compared to the SCH40. The SCH40 ones work just fine but if you are a fan of being over-engineered, those SCH80 are awesome and makes the SCH40 seem like cheap plastic comparatively.

Do you have a picture?

Just starting out. What do you mean overdosing vodka. I have seen it a few times on this site.Vodka dosing is a form of carbon dosing meant to increase bacterial growth in your tank and when combined with a skimmer, can help keep your nitrates lower. It also removes some phosphates but generally not enough that you can run without some type of phosphate remover like GFO. I currently dose carbon in the form of biopellets these days.

While not under $100, I'm a big fan of the Ocean Revive S026 and T247 lights. On occasion, you may be able to get the S026 on sale for near $100.

You're in luck! I'm hosting the February meeting and Gig'em likes to come mooch on the free eggrolls and spring rolls and try to sneak off with some of my frags when I'm not looking. Come join us! It'll be a blast!

Derek, I had some issues with my montis when my salinity was higher too. It could be a possibility. If you want, swing some water by me sometime during the week and I'll test it for you to see if anything looks off.

Hey Tom, the swap is tomorrow in San Antonio so can't do it then. When are you free next?How about Monday Ty?I should be around sir.