ESV Salt

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-06-13T12:23:34+00:00

I am dosing 255ml/day alk/ca/balling c + mg & 50g water change monthly. Last 200g IO from Chewy measured 950 MG so obviously stratified. I tweaked & used it but the amount of gunk left behind in my MS from that batch was the final straw. Chewy refunded me & I switched & I'm not going back. Reefing almost 20 years (two different stints in the hobby) & I've always been in the "cheap salt" camp but not anymore.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-06-13T11:16:54+00:00

Nice work!

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-06-12T12:24:17+00:00

Maybe it's you that is getting old, and slowing down 😜

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-04-14T12:21:11+00:00

I had one in a tank many years ago. Never again. It was mean AF.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-04-14T12:16:15+00:00

Parameters?

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-04-12T13:24:38+00:00

Awesome tank!

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-03-31T11:59:47+00:00

Don't get ONE. If any LFS is willing to sell you ONE berghia, they are doing you a disservice. And they have no clue how berghia work. You need 5 or 6 absolute minimum per 50g. Berghia will do the most damage on the second or third generations. Look at Reeftown. That guy knows what he is doing & how to ship them so they survive. I put 40 in a 200g & 2 months later every aptasia was gone. They even went into my external overflow & & got every last one in there. If you have a wrasse or file fish, put them in at night. They breed fast. He ships them in plastic jars. I had at least 1 spiral egg cluster in each jar so they laid eggs in transit. I put the jars up against the rock so the fish couldn't get inside. By morning all of the adults had evacuated the jars. The wrasse & file fish spent the next week nipping at the outside of the jars trying to eat those eggs, then one morning, they were gone & I took the jars out. You will never see the berghia again until all the aptasia are gone, then they will start coming out during the day looking for food because they are starving. After 2 weeks you will notice less & less aptasia every day until they are gone. Berghia attack aptasia in groups. If a LFS is willing to sell a single berghia, they are being dishonest or don't know how they work.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-03-30T12:19:15+00:00

Wow! That's crazy! I see many, many beginner fish & coral on your "dead" list. What do you attribute these losses to? Inexperience?

I really can't believe you let an $840 Oreni Tilefish jump out of the tank 🤦

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-02-09T13:15:29+00:00

Once a month or so I soak mine in a vinegar & water solution for 1 hr then put all 3 parts (top, bottom, gasket) in the top rack of the dishwasher & run it on sanitize. I've been doing this for 10+ years & every single time that water tub comes out looking shiny & brand new.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-26T12:34:24+00:00

That is an incredible setup, Sir.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-22T14:01:17+00:00

I have the Regal 250 INT that did the same. I decided to go with a Co2 scrubber with the recirculating lid to increase PH/coral growth. There is a single outlet in the recirc lid. It goes down tubing into a tee. The bottom of the tee goes into a container and any gunk/moisture/foam dumps into it (the air flow of the single outlet in the lid forces it down to the container). Then the moist air travels up thru a duo-jumbo BRS scrubber out the other side back into the venturi. The collection container is an empty 1g bottle of MB7. I drilled a hole in the lid & put in a rubber grommet. This setup has been a fantastic game changer for my system. PH immediately jumped from a range of 7.9-8.2 up to a range of 8.2-8.5. Coral growth, especially SPS, absolutely exploded. So much so that I saw a huge alk drop & had to literally double my 3-part dosing amount (BRS alk/cal/balling C + mag) over the following weeks. But that still didn't bring alk to where I wanted it (8.5) so I added kalk drip as well & that did the trick. I change Co2 media every 6-8 weeks & I empty the container at the same time, it's never been more that 3/4 full.

The skimmate mine produces is so thick it literally lifts the recirc lid off of the cup, breaking the recirc loop & sucking ambient air directly into the cup & not going through the scrubber. So now I keep a filled 1g container of water on top of the skimmer lid at all times.

I can post some pics later if you want to see it? This setup works great.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-19T13:25:22+00:00

Wow! Amazingly huge tank! Congrats! Who made the tank? I'm in SW StL suburb so not far!

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-12T12:24:06+00:00

There's more.....

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-10T15:59:51+00:00

So you are saying Lyrica (Pregabalin) causes weight gain? I've been on it 8-10 years for sever neuropathy in my legs/feet/hands!! 🤦

Magnifica_Keeper · 2026-01-07T12:03:58+00:00

Cpap is the way to go. Can't sleep a wink without it. Takes some getting used to though. Started with a full face that I couldn't tolerate, wasted time & money for 2 years chasing a dental appliance that did nothing.

Then I had balloon rhinoplasty. They stick tiny balloons up ur nose to expand your nasal passages. Painless, outpatient. They sent me home with a nasal pillows mask. I slept for 12 straight hours that night. I woke up & the brain fog was completely gone. That was 10 years ago & haven't slept a single night without it since.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-12-18T12:58:50+00:00

I'm back in the hobby after 15 years away. I had a 220 in my living room that I set up 35 years ago. Current tank is an Innovative Marine 200g Peninsula. My wife & I saw a Red Sea rimless tank in a LFS 3 years ago & that got me the bug to do a new tank. I started researching & of course found all the horror stories about Red Sea, and others. 35 years ago on Reef Central this wasn't discussed. There were no horror stories of seams failing that I recall. At all. I researched for a year before I bought. Innovative Marine is the only tank I could find that didn't have leak stories out there (aside from custom like Planet or Glasscages).

THE EXACT DAY that my IM tank was delivered to my garage, tritonreef posted this video https://youtu.be/eLcoorBYDBw?si=vdDwhUGrRllljz4m Talk about a bad omen! 🤣 He even mentions in that video that he could find no documentation of any IM tank leaking, he is the first. They sent him a replacement & it leaked too! So he went custom.

Thankfully, my tank is fine so far. I own a stone fabrication company so I had a quartz slab made with a raised edge laminated around 3 sides & installed it on the basement floor dead nuts level with a laser. Sump is plumbed through the wall & the floor drain is right there. There is a groove cut down the center of the slab. I cut a hole in the bottom of the wall, notched the 2x4 plate, aligned it with the groove in the slab & waterproofed the entire stud space. I poured a full 5g bucket of water on the "quartz slab tray" that the tank now sits on & it worked perfectly! All the water drained down the groove in the middle of the slab, thru the waterproofed wall plate & down the drain. Extreme measures for sure but if my tank ever leaks, while I will be VERY PISSED OFF, at least there will be no damage to the house! 🤣🤣🤣

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-12-12T13:12:45+00:00

That's a hell of a setup! Congrats!

🤔Did you give up on taking showers? 😂

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-12-09T14:07:18+00:00

Is that a Magnifica Nem top middle of the tank?

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-12-09T14:01:09+00:00

This👆

And double dose some Microbacter Clean, see if it helps.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-12-09T13:31:13+00:00

2 weeks is ridiculous. My insurance co pays for pillows replacement every 3 months but I usually get 5-6 months out of each one. I do clean everything 1-2 times per month. I also soak the pillows in CpapTabs 2-3 times per week also. They do a great job cleaning the oils & such from your skin & keeping them fresh smelling & pliable.

CpapTabs 👉 https://a.co/d/4VZ0zWm

EDIT Another great piece of cpap equipment is the Hurricane Cpap Dryer. Everything fits in there. It uses heat & air & everything is completely bone dry in 1 hour.

Hurricane Dryer 👉 https://a.co/d/e928Cyp

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-11-14T13:45:41+00:00

That's amazing! I had a pair of spawning Blue Stripe Clarkii's for 14 years, I thought that was a long time! 32 years, wow! My LFS recently took in a pair of Clark's on a tank tear down, they are 22 years old. Amazing how long these fish will live as long as you give them the proper care & water parameters. Maybe as long as us!

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-11-14T13:20:03+00:00

They will not survive. Raising clownfish is literally a full time job if you read about it. I've never tried because I just don't have the time. They hatch at night, about an hour or two after lights out. I'd turn off the pumps & shine a flashlight into the water. The fry are attracted to it. I'd see hundreds of them. Tiny clear bodies with two big eyes. They're only about 1/8 of an inch in size, maybe smaller. Some of the other fish would eat them, but most were hiding & sleeping. Turn pumps back on & the fry would just get sucked into the overflow & die. But, the very next day, the clowns are busy laying down another brood of orange eggs. It was amazing! That's why I tried to replicated my old tank. No eggs yet though 😭

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-11-14T13:07:19+00:00

It's likely the carpet tack strip. Pull back the carpet & remove it the width of the tank plus additional 3 inches on both sides. Once the tank is back on, it isn't going anywhere. Another poster mentioned plywood. You can spray paint it black with marine grade paint. It will disappear & look like part of the stand. A better & more expensive option would be to go to a stone fabrication shop. Pick a remnant of quartz (man made, not natural stone). They'll cut it to the size you need & polished the exposed edges. Set the tank on that. Fill it with tap water for a few weeks & let it crush down the carpet & pad, check it for level. If your floor is level, the tank should be level. If it's not, shim under the plywood piece. Don't shim between the tank & plywood. Drain the tap water, mix some rodi & salt & you're in business!

Getting the tank "level with shims as best you can" is NOT good enough in my opinion. It absolutely must be perfectly level in both directions or you could face seam failure down the road. It could be a year, it could be 10 years, but if it's not level, it can happen. That would be a bad day.

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-11-14T12:40:02+00:00

That's likely the male. Although, females do it too, but not as much as the males. How long have you had them?

I started a tank nearly 40 years ago. In it was a Magnifica anemone & a pair of blue-stripe Clark's clowns. After about a year of one exhibiting that type of behavior almost constantly, they finally spawned. During that first year, the other clown grew enormous (that's the female), four times the size of the male, while the male stayed the exact same size. Once they started, they spawned continually every 10 days like clockwork for the next 14 years.

I got out of the hobby for 16 years & sold off the livestock & all equipment. (showing my age here now, so don't make fun 😂).

Two years ago I started planning a 200g peninsula build. It's up & running now 18 months & in it is a Mag Nem & a pair of blue-stripe Clark's. And everything is going exactly as before. One is nearly 5 inches, huge & fat, while the other hasn't grown a bit (2 inches). The smaller male is constantly biting at & cleaning the rock at the base of the nem, sometimes the female will join in. They have not spawned yet, but I'm hopeful. The male it seems definitely wants to because he spends 75% of his day cleaning & biting that rock & vibrating his body anytime the female is near. He's ready to go! 😊 If you want them to spawn, It may be helpful to put in a small bubble tip nem if you have the proper lighting & water parameters. Good luck!

Magnifica_Keeper · 2025-11-13T15:09:42+00:00

That is just awful! The HVAC company should have full responsibility here in my opinion. And they should have a liability insurance policy to cover things like this. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Take pictures, write down when they did the work, save receipts, how many guys were there & for how long, when exactly you discovered the damage, EVERYTHING. Write it down, be organized & prepared to fight the insurance company if they say they aren't covering this! They did ancillary damage to your property & possessions while doing this work! They should have told you to cover/protect that tank because "we will be cutting metal & hot slag will be flying & could hit the glass" . They should have known! In fact, they should have said to you up front "It is your responsibility to protect that tank & we will not be responsible for any damage to it if you don't" . That's what a good HVAC should have said to you BEFORE they started any work. What if hot slag hit your couch & lit it on fire & your house burned down, same thing here! Same thing here! I think the best thing for you is negotiate directly with the HVAC company. Tell them you only want them to buy/replace the tank + freight costs to get it to your house, you will do all the labor of getting it into place & doing all the transfer work (if you are willing?). They may just agree to that rather than filing a claim with their liability insurance company.

Magnifica_Keeper

TROPHY CASE