Damseluver
Reefing newb
Well I posted a few weeks back about some tank boredom setting in. I finally decided to trade in my soft corals and go all sps. This also involved a break down of the 125 and setting back up in a 75 gall tank that my light fixture was meant for anyways and was a necessity for the sps.
Tank specs now are 75gal nova extreme pro fixture 6x54 watt t5, no sump no skimmer. Various power heads and a hang on emporer 400 provides about 20x circulation for the sps. Inhabitants are various sps frags a cherub angel a small marron clown and various crabs and a few snails.
I have decided to go with water changes as primary maintnence and forget about relieing on equipment to maintain water quality. I have little confidence in any hobby level equipment. I do have a skimmer I can hang on and most likely will.
The water change routine is three or four gallons daily/every other day and involves less than five minuts of my time in the mornings. PH stability already is much better testing at a consistent 8.2 rather than the 8.0 the 125 tested at with weekly water changes. I have not bothered testing alk and calcium levels but I suspect they along with trace element content is much more stable also.
Cost on salt mix use of course will go up but considering the rate of break down on the equipment I ran on the 125 I suspect the expense if added at all is not much. Sump hassles/water on the floor worries are now gone also.
If algea growth is any indicator, which I guage by how often I have to clean the front glass, water qualtiy has seen significant improvement. This is despite the fact I am now running a 12 hour light cycle.
The 125 will most likely become a african cichlid tank. If I have time this weekend I will toss up some pics of the new setup.
Tank specs now are 75gal nova extreme pro fixture 6x54 watt t5, no sump no skimmer. Various power heads and a hang on emporer 400 provides about 20x circulation for the sps. Inhabitants are various sps frags a cherub angel a small marron clown and various crabs and a few snails.
I have decided to go with water changes as primary maintnence and forget about relieing on equipment to maintain water quality. I have little confidence in any hobby level equipment. I do have a skimmer I can hang on and most likely will.
The water change routine is three or four gallons daily/every other day and involves less than five minuts of my time in the mornings. PH stability already is much better testing at a consistent 8.2 rather than the 8.0 the 125 tested at with weekly water changes. I have not bothered testing alk and calcium levels but I suspect they along with trace element content is much more stable also.
Cost on salt mix use of course will go up but considering the rate of break down on the equipment I ran on the 125 I suspect the expense if added at all is not much. Sump hassles/water on the floor worries are now gone also.
If algea growth is any indicator, which I guage by how often I have to clean the front glass, water qualtiy has seen significant improvement. This is despite the fact I am now running a 12 hour light cycle.
The 125 will most likely become a african cichlid tank. If I have time this weekend I will toss up some pics of the new setup.
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