Welcome! My channel is dedicated to the awesomeness of coral reefs and my quest to recreate some of this 'magic' in my home aquarium. Come nerd out on reef keeping, the science and biology behind natural and artificial reefs, and my journey to create a stony coral dominated reef tank! Cheers! Amro. [note: we are in the process of rebranding... have a couple of last looks at the intro video... its going to be gone soon!]
I think the problem with the Hanna Checker isn’t the device, but the method. Conductivity seems to be notoriously unreliable. A good refractometer should be in every reefer’s “new tank kit.” The VeeGee STX-3 is solid as a rock and my recommendation for new reefers as it’s designed to be calibrated using RO/DI water-no running out of calibration solution or recurring costs. Salinity is so often the overlooked cause of many problems in a reef tank, so it’s worth spending a little extra and having a quality device to prevent mishaps. I have no idea why devices like the STX-3 and the Misco Refractometer aren’t more popular in the hobby with the crazy amounts of money some people spend on testing gear and automation chasing nitrate and phosphate levels while they leave salinity to a $20 Amazon refractometer. (Not saying you, just an observation of the hobby in general).
I don't mean to be presumptuous and offer unsolicited advice, but Fauna Marin ReBiotic may give that tank the bacterial reset it's been struggling with forever. Still my favourite 905 SPS content, your sticks and wrasses are epic when your tanks find their groove. Science forward and you wear a 007 NATO strap on your diver? RU-vid could use more of that :).
Great update still cant wrap my head by the amount of coralline haha, seeing your blue star makes me miss mine. What is that thing you feed that sticks to the glass?
Yup also had the same issue with the Hanna salinity pen. I calibrated it every time, always read 35, but I was having some issues as well. I checked with my refractometer and it was actually closer to 40! Now I just use my refractometer and periodically check that against my glass tropic Marin hydrometer
Yeah they seem to be really poor despite a few glowing reviews by popular RU-vidrs 😂😭 it’s really shitty when you upgrade to a new bit of kit that is supposed to make things easier / better when in fact it ends up messing us your tank
Forget those digital refractometers....manual never fails. I calibrate mine monthly and never fails. Some things dont meed to he digital...and actually cause more issues.
Have to mention the Loripies... Fantastic it's not only alive.....but doing well. Did you say you'll be fragging it. I'll take a pre-order....first in line. Isn't that my Bio-Bank? LOL It's a beauty and quite unique. Amazing once it starts tabling and when it start having multiple shades of pink.
I had it in an acclimation box for a few hours and observed interactions… everybody seemed chill so i released it. Then a day later i noticed that it was getting bullied by the djardini tang
Why do you recommend a crown guard for underwater use? there many certified divers like the citizen promaster which don't have a crown guard but a nice screw down crown and seem to work very well for underwater use.
I've been using Tropic marin pro from the getgo. I think it's time to make a switch to the cheaper option to see what happens. Thank you for the informative video.
Can this procedure be implemented in the daily basis water change ( 1/5th of the total volume of 150 gallon capacity of tank ) schedule of a discus tank? The Tds level of my tap water is very high ( borewell ) so RO is mandatory. DI is optional. I need to do perform Siphoning on daily basis in my discus tank to remove detritus and other matters like uneaten foods and fish poop and change 1/5th of the total volume ( water) of the tank capacity to maintain pristine water quality. Too much labour in this water change schedule manually on daily basis. So is this AUTOMATED procedure..can be implemented to do the work?.
A few other tips I did when battling UV resistant Dinos: 1) Constantly tested Nitrate and Phosphates to maintain an approximate 1/100 ratio between them (i.e. 10 ppm nitrate to .1 ppm phosphate 2) decreased my light schedule (I only ran blue lights and no white lights while battling dinos), 3) decreased my skimmer so it's not taking out all the nutrients, 4) increased water flow (added another powerhead) so it is harder for dinos to attach to things, 5) I added Money Cowrie snails and Tisbee Pods (both are known to eat dinos), 6) added Phytoplankton, and 7) Bought a 5 micron filter sock and siphoned out the layers of Dinos on the sand bed by lightly grazing over the top of the sand with a siphon hose. I did try the Python gravel cleaner but the Dinos would not siphon up through the tube so I just used a 1/2" hose which worked great, but you will siphon some of the sand as well. I put the filter sock attached to a 15G drum so that the water siphoned through it and caught the Dinos (and some of the sand). I then pumped just the water back into the tank. I then put what little sand that was caught in the filter sock into a bucket and let it soak in 12% Hydrogen Peroxide and then rinsed it with RODI water. I repeatedly did this siphon every few days whenever more Dinos reappeared.
Love this. I always did glow on cause figured it was less then no flow and the real number… but then just guessed at the number I saw most as it jumped around. No glue tests from now on to stop guessing haha
Thanks! I got the cherry pop frag from Adam’s frag garage in BC. He ships really well and his corals are Awesome. I did first see cherry pop in one of Abe’s vids and I met up with him and saw his tank in person recently when i was in San Diego for a work thing. That made me appreciate the colony so much more. But sadly, can’t take anything back acropora from our friends /LFS stores in the US without cites permits I Believe
