FarmerTy

I like things with digital readouts because I'm slow and can't see well anymore. [emoji3] http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/milwaukee-digital-seawater-refractometer.html

If I had AEFW, I'd definitely go for a more aggressive approach. This is more of a prophylactic, Ty likes to sleep soundly at night so he triple dipped all his acros, dip. I'd highly be surprised if AEFW had any adverse reaction to Iodine (lugols) else any of the iodine based dips would have worked by now and people wouldn't have to resort to using Bayer. Mg is up in the air but I'd honestly be surprised if it had any effect. I also like the idea of telling you you're crazy so factor that in. [emoji12]

Aww dang, Juiceman got me. Perhaps I'll sell off the screaming green birdsnest first and THEN acquire a few more colonies and then do a final dip! [emoji4] Hey man I got dibbs on the birdsnest and or purple stylo. I love the frags I got from you but I want no NEED those mother colonies! Oh jeez, I don't know if anybody really wants the mother colonies as a whole! They're ginormous! That birdsnest alone is about 12" x 14".

I've never met a successful reefer that didn't have a touch of OCD to them. [emoji6]

I just texted you an updated picture for your phone. I got a haircut and it's looking sweet! Its threaded and I tried the lazy way first by siliconing around the edge. Didn't work so I did it right and removed the piece and added silicone to the actual threads. Believe it or not, you're actually not supposed to use teflon tape on pvc threaded connections. It has the potential to expand the joints causing even more leaks. That was a shocker when I heard it the first time.

Aww dang, Juiceman got me. Perhaps I'll sell off the screaming green birdsnest first and THEN acquire a few more colonies and then do a final dip! [emoji4]

Just building off of past experience here. Even when my previous tank was considered parasite free and in growth mode, I found AEFW down the line. The corals all look as happy as my current ones but you'll never see evidence of an unhappy coral until they reach plague proportions. So, I asked myself, why not just give a good solid final dip before securing all the acros to their final spots? It will also give me an opportunity to remove some montis that I'm not wanting on the main base rocks anymore. I only have about 2-3 acro colonies that have actually encrusted so removal and reglue would be pretty simple. I hear you guys on the "last acros" to put into the system but I am seriously out of room and don't have places to put any new ones anywhere anyways. In fact, I'll probably have to get rid of some. I'll probably be more open to setting up a QT after this final dip and QT any new acro frags coming in and be even more diligent for new introductions than just my bayer dip and search for eggs like I usually do.

Oh no, he's losing interest in reef tanks and became one of those nature loving rock stackers.

Of what? My devilishly charming smile? [emoji12]

Now that I've pretty much finalized my SPS stocklist and don't intend to add any more from this point, I was thinking of doing one last grandiose dip, one dip to rule them all as they might say in Moardor. I was going to do Bayer, followed by interceptor, followed by a potassium dip, and then back in the tank they go. Am I just being paranoid here? I'm open to pleads for sanity. [emoji41]

CaRX failed the 2nd leak test... apparently I need to work on my silicone skills. Version 3.0 is under way. I didn't half-arse it this time and did a full dismantle of the union and added silicone to the threads.

I'll tell you what, I bet my face had the same expression of excitement when I opened the Jaebo DC pump then if I opened the Vectra pump. My joyous opening of new toys knows no dollar value. Haha. It's just happy I got something new to play with. Now that joy may turn into a frown if it breaks down quickly but what's a guy to do? [emoji41]

BRS' customer service is top notch. If they can do it, they will! And if they can't, you still have an awesome pump at the end of the day.

That's ridiculous, but hilarious at the same time. Natural seawater crashed my fake reef! Sorry to derail as well Kim!

I'm cheap and like things to play nicely with my Apex. I'd return it in a heartbeat. That's nice that it has all the fancy features, being a "smart" return pump and all. To me, I just need something that moves water from my sump to my DT, doesn't cost as much as my controller running my whole tank, and is reliable. I bought the Jaebo DCS12000, pushes the same flow as the waveline, $120 cheaper than the waveline, and can hook it up to my Apex with a modified cable. Reliability is always going to be the question on these units but I've had good success so far with their powerheads. Sure, I've had a couple go out on me but replacement is cheap enough on those units that with pumps 4-5x the cost as the alternative, I win out even with replacing them. The price difference is not as great with the return pumps but I'm willing to hedge my bets on this one. And honestly, to me, buying the waveline is just as much of a gamble as buying a Jaebo. I do put the Vectra in the higher quality pump category but that's just me giving it some credibility just because of the manufacturer than really to its actual results of longevity, since it just came out. Just my 2 cents as always.

I don't have the starburst monti but Vincent-Thai has a piece, as well as Niko's I believe.

Just to be the natural skeptic as that's how I was trained all those years in consulting, that's just one location, on one reef, and we're basing that off of an unknown test kits. Was his sample taken within the reef system, or along the edge of the water where he could reach it easier? I'm sure he took a viable sample but just wanted to pose the questions. Also, test kits, which one's did he use? We're talking API or something of higher quality? There are natural variations in parameters amongst all natural reef systems. We keep corals from highly different areas and hope they like the conditions we keep them in. The best we can do is aim for a middle ground that still is tolerable to the many different corals we have in our systems and the varying parameters they come from. We also have to keep it in balance to have a safety cushioning effect. Alk generally can be in the lower ranges of 6-7.0 dKh on a natural reef system but that's skirting on the low end of a tank crash, so most keep it at 8dKh, higher than most natural systems but gives us enough of a buffer to react in our own manmade versions of a reef system. I'd imagine the same for calcium levels and magnesium levels. We're doing the best we can to replicate nature but at the same time, keep levels a tad higher than natural levels so it gives us a little buffer room to work with. Sorry for the traveling off subject there but just wanted to add some perspective to natural sea water levels and what we try to do in our versions of "nature" in our tanks. Believe it or not, my setosa and hawkins echinata looked the best they ever looked when my salinity was accidentally set at 1.031... unfortunately, the rest of my corals were dying at the same time. So I find a happy compromise keeping them all at 1.026. I also felt like I had slightly higher growth rates with a higher alk at 9-10 dKh, but some of my other corals were suffering in that range and never looked as good so I keep it at 8 dKh now.

Just a heads up, the sunset and jedi mind trick both encrust. They will cap out a little but are considered encrusters. I have a piece of both if you still want them, as well as a piece of the strawberry monti.

Just interesting fact, but for the most part, since I don't do water changes, I think I've dosed Ca maybe just one or two times ever to balance it back out. It's stayed pretty spot on with the CaRX for most of the time as long as I kept my alk in line. Victoly makes a great point... you'll get a stable uptake you can bank on when you reach max growth in your tank. It's the time in between that that keeps you on your toes to match the alk/Ca uptake demand of your tank.

Dang you Juiceman!!! Don't feel bad Ty. Someone beat me too.... [emoji17]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Dang you whoever you are then! [emoji38]

Dang you Juiceman!!!

When are you taking orders? It looks good Jimbo!

Believe it or not, teflon tape is not recommended for plastic to plastic threaded fittings. I came as a shock to me when I heard that. A little silicone on the threads while sealing it should do the trick usually. You can buy a small tube for $3-$4 usually.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Carry on sir! [emoji41]

FWIW, BRS has it listed for a heavy bioload at 120 gals and for a medium bioload at 150 gals. I tend to agree with this as I had a Skimz SM201 model and thought Skimz' own ratings were a tad higher than they should be. No knock on their skimmers as they are of high quality and perform great, I just think they overrate their tank capacity a bit.I'm a big fan of buying skimmers rated at double my tank volume so for a 75 gallon, you're just about right for a medium bioload.