FarmerTy

I had the Red Sea kit once upon a time but never tried the Salifert but heard that was a good kit. Anything is better than API! I'm still in the rebuilding phases Robb... what better time to experiment! Sent via Tapatalk

Just as I was explaining today to a fellow reefer that I am not prone to impulsive decisions... guess who was invited to the party! For those that enjoy my wacky science experiments with my tank, consider this part 2. I've already dosed phosphate into my system before... now I'm looking to add nitrates to my system. Good ol' potassium nitrate, in the form of Spectracide stump remover! I found a calculator online and away I went. I mixed 2 teaspoons to 300 ml of water and then dosed it slowly over a 3 hr period. Then I tested the nitrate in the tank to see how it corresponded. A few observations: 1) I probably need to buy a small digital food scale or the calculator was a bit off. I was aiming for 5ppm of nitrates and I ended up with 15ppm. 2) I only saw a visible reaction from my Duncans. All other corals showed no reaction to the increase in nitrates. 3) I need to buy a higher resolution nitrate test kit. This API nitrate kit isn't going to cut it. I plan on retesting after a 24-hr period and see how much has been removed via denitrification and bacterial activity (biopellets). I guess I should also take "before" pictures of my SPS and then down the road, "after" pictures to document my progression. The goal is to see if me artificially increasing the nitrate levels will increase coloration in the SPS and stop my random STN I am getting on some acros. Wish me luck! Sent via Tapatalk

Very nice work on the stand! Welcome back to Austin and welcome to the club!

I'd turn those waterfalls into algae turf scrubbers!

I believe RCA has some of their glue in stock. Sent via Tapatalk

Yep, but it takes approximately 3 cups to raise a 250g tank by 100ppm. *sigh*I feel you Mike! I dumped in a couple cups and then measured... sighed... then went online and ordered a gallon of it. #bigtankproblemsSent via Tapatalk

Sorry about the sps losses bud. Give it some time and try again down the road. I'm sure you'll get the itch again. Sent via Tapatalk

I heard cheetah tears can power a small country for up to 4 years! Sent via Tapatalk

How about Hydrogeologist I or Hydrogeologist III. Haha. Sent via Tapatalk

Big Als sells it online by the gallon. Sent via Tapatalk

I like the pyramidal schematic where the 1st floor is tier 1 and the awesome stuff at the top is tier 3. Sent via Tapatalk

Are the flaming suns tier 1 or tier 3? Sent via Tapatalk

I increased mine to 2200 ppm Mg (though I would not recommend going that high) and the list of effects I saw were my snails being very lethargic and one actually died, my zoas dumping some zooxanthella but all survived, and my sps colors changed a bit. I have a mixed reef tank with lots of corals and fish. I would highly advise using Tech M as I have observed using BRS Mg to increase Mg level was not as effective as the Tech M. Sent via Tapatalk

Are you going for my 3rd tier prizes? Lol! Sure thing, PM me and let me know what you might be interested in. Sent via Tapatalk

Put me on the list for some emeralds on fire Xanreefer. My frag sprouted legs and walked off on me. Sent via Tapatalk

Well you got the nerd part right! Sent via Tapatalk

Since I was the 3rd child in my family, I'm going with 3rd tier is the best!

Those babies are home-grown, FarmerTy exclusives! They originated in the 125-gallon tank and got transferred to the 215-gallon... never seen anything besides that! I forgot to put the hologram monti on there as well... 3rd tier!!! The tiering system is scientifically rooted and purely based on... well that one's pretty... oooh... but that one is prettier... to... man, I'd give up my left hand for that frag!

Hello my fellow reefers, I am excited to introduce my new program for referrals. Some have already taken advantage of the previous program and made out like bandits with free corals just for having me help their friends/family with their home sale/purchase. Sorry guys, I don't do leases but if you ever need any help with that, I can always refer you to an agent that can. My new referral program is very exciting to me for personal reasons (I get to collect some really awesome frags) and hopefully be exciting for everyone on the club as well (because you get to have them)! You ready to hear more? Alright! That's the spirit! If you happen to know anybody that is contemplating selling their current home or purchasing a new home, just give them my contact information (in my signature) or have them visit my website, www.TyTheRealEstateGuy.com. Tell them to say that you sent them to me so I know who the referral is coming from. It would also help if you sent me a PM as a heads up so that I can link the ARC screen name to the actual person (it might be hard for me to figure out the scoobydoobyscolymia is really Steve ). For the referral, you will have your choice of any TWO 1st-tier frags that I have available. I have them listed below and will try to keep the list updated as possible. Now the fun part! If your referral ends up selling their house or buying a house with me, then you will also get ONE 2nd-tier frag and ONE coveted 3rd-tier frag of your choice upon closing. Happy reefing! -Ty 1st Tier Frags: -Screaming green birdsnest -green fungia plate -kryptonite candy cane -red cap -green cap -strawberry fields cap -red people eaters palys -pretty penny zoas -fire and ice zoas -a cinnamon paly 2nd Tier Frags: -setosa -purple stylo -ORA Jeremy's monti -yellow scroll coral -superman monti -jedi mind trick monti -warp speed monti -sunsets monti -a grandis paly -king midas zoas -purple death palys -candy apple red palys -Tubbs blue zoas -pink zippers palys -armor of god palys -cat eyes palys -bam bam zoas -cherry bomb/zombie eyes zoas -pink chalice -undata 3rd Tier Frags: -Neon green surhasoni -Oregon Tort -Blue tenius -ORA Hawkins Echinata -Ice Fire Echinata -Orange fungia plate -Candy Apple Orange/bowser paly -superman mushroom -orange mandarin zoas -fruit loop zoas -Japanese deepwater sunburst zoas -Japanese deepwater blue jade zoas -rainbow stylo -hologram monti

That's good to hear and kudos to Chris for helping save your livestock. We have good people on this club! I think as long as you rinsed the live rock with saltwater to remove the gfo debris and never let it dry out, you can essentially put new sand in (rinse it well!), dose some bacteria, and add your new water, live rock, and corals back into the tank. You'll probably get a mini-cycle from the sand but I'd imagine most will survive that. Sent via Tapatalk

Hilarious fighting conchs! Those guys are weird, but in an entertaining way. Sent via Tapatalk

I just noticed the creepy eye in the sand in the picture with my new clam.

The biopellet debacle seems to be over. I reduced my biopellet amount greatly and did a couple of water changes. Everything is looking back to normal. I did lose that sweet tabling colony I got from Aquadome but there was a big question mark if that was going to survive anyways since it was completely bleached. I also lost my new efflo and lokani as well but everything else made it through with just a bit of STN. That's what I get for putting way too much biopellets in my reactor! This weekend I could already see the encrusting again on my SPS bases and the alk usage has gone up tremendously so I know I am getting back on the right road again. I even have a hint of PO4 again which is awesome! I'll wait one more week to try to dial the alk in to keep up with happy corals and then glue the rest of my frags up and record a video for the big reveal. Here are couple of recent additions so my tank doesn't feel too stagnant and boring for me. Teenie tiny ORA maxima clam (I know I know, get it off the sand... I am light acclimating it) For size reference (8-9" deresa clam behind it) Exquisite acro from Unique Coral (hopefully it'll color up like the pic online) Ice fire echinata from AquaSD (photos to be inserted later) Sent via Tapatalk

Tank is looking good Orion. I am assuming you took care of the higher phosphate and nitrate levels as all the corals seem very happy. I would avoid buffers if at all possible. For now, with your stocking load, simple weekly or bi-weekly water changes should be able to maintain your levels. I had a 65-gal awhile ago and that worked for me. If you start adding a bunch more SPS or even some clams, then I'd look into what you were speaking of, 2 peristaltic dosing pumps, one for calcium and the other for alkalinity. Most run the 2-part solution from bulk reef supply and have great success. If you wanted, you can also dose amino acids once or twice a week. Just keep an eye on your nutrient levels (phosphates and nitrates) as it sometimes increases those levels. Sent via Tapatalk

I would imagine there are survivors. My reactor went nuts once and blew a ton of GFO in my sump. Some corals got irritated but all made it though the debacle. Sent via Tapatalk