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Have to get them all very small so that there is no dominate female as of yet. Then add as many at the same time as possible. They will figure it out with the harem rules and things should be fine. I have 2 bonded pairs in my 180 it is fine.
You state to use media from the display tank and not the water, is that correct. In the past I have just taken display tank water since it is fully cycled and used that.
The great thing about tearing down your tank is soon enough you will get to do it all over again. This time you will learn from all your mistakes and do it better.
You only need the DOS if you want the trident to control the dosing, not required. I really want it so I can keep on eye on the levels. If I need to deal with dosing then maybe I will add a single dos for CA/ALK. Magnesium should be easily managed with an AWC system.
A friend used a cold style fridge, set to freeze that would flow water into a rig of cups with frozen food that then drained it down into the tank. Awesome concept but was very touchy and required a ton of maintenance. The Eheim, and Apex feeder work great for the mixture of pellets and flakes.
His instagram post proves my take on them is correct. Don't like them never will. The hobby wasn't saved by them at all. How many people who started a tank because of that show still have it 10 years later? My guess would be less than 5%. Finding Nemo did more for the hobby than these...
The problem is actually Animal Planet itself. Used to be an educational show about wildlife now it is a reality tv show that randomly has wildlife. Such a shame really.
The building part was always interesting, the 'What can you accomplish piece' but the show really didn't talk about planning fish or coral, and absolutely zero about maintenance. I definitely would not want to maintain the tanks they build that are 4' tall
Is the EB from the APEX a surge protector? I don't trust it so I have a Computer UPS/Battery between it and the wall. outlets still die on the apex but it isn't from surge, it is because the apex gear isn't the greatest.
I have about 6 that I rotate on a weekly basis, but there are times it is more or less frequent. I do it when it requires. As the socks age they clog more easily. I am sure if I washed them in the machine they would be fine but I just replace them entirely.
I have had mine for over a year or so. Great specimen and leaves my cleaner shrimp alone but any other clean up crew is fair game. If a hermit is too big he picks up to make it exposed and eats it. So is life. This is the price you pay for 'not so reef safe'
LRS Reef frenzy for frozen, but every other day or sometimes I stretch that out. I feed a mix of pellets as well, just to keep them going. Nori as well.
Unless you are going to screw down the top of the salt one there will be salt creep, no way around it. Doesn't really matter to me at all, since it is in my garage. I make 65 gallons on the top of RODI, turn a valve, drain 60 gallons into the bottom via gravity, then add 30 cups of salt, turn...
Do you have a controller? Generator or UPS being able to turn off non-essentials would prolong the life of both. For example if the power went out you need a return pump and maybe a power head, but not the lights, and not a reactor pump.
There really is nothing to it, I use the Apex DOS for the AWC control. That is in my garage, 1 wall is where my tank is the other is my laundry room sink. Easy to make water, dump water and get fresh salt to the tank. Nothing too complicated really.
This is my setup. Top is RODI water, bottom is salt. I let gravity feed the salt, about every 2 weeks and then I just refill the RODI. Both are 65 gallons