Reefing secrets

Alright what are some of your reefing tricks and secrets that you do. Or things that always works for your tank and why? Chemical, feeding, husbandry, routine, things you always use or do or not do like dosing methods, water changes, no water changes, bacteria, aminos, temp, salinity, etc

Really interesting topic! I'm also curious to know if anyone does 5S or "Kanban" style replenishment for their reefing needs. I've always found 5S style labeling helpful to save time and reduce errors when unplugging or unpowering equipment.

For Kanban, I use a 2-bin system for dosing (i.e. Kalwasser or All-For-Reef). Bottle #1 is in-use by doser, and Bottle #2 is prepped and replaces depleted bottle. In the pic below, the "supplier" is me making more for replenishment. Swapping out depleted bottles is a breeze and I never skip a beat on auto-dosing.

K.I.S.S method. (Oversized skimmer, Water changes biweekly, 2 part dosing).

Corals may be growing slower than some, but they are steadily showing growth with minimal problems with the tank. Barely any algae in the tank (mostly on the glass) despite it being next to a window and cyano is clearing up once I started changing the filter socks 2-3x a week.

Less is more , I’m very lazy and all I do is clean the glass. Due to my selection of inverts / fish / miracle mud / refugium they handle most of the cleaning. I also don’t do water changes, yes I add trace elements, cal , alk, and my. Sand stays white, a lot of algae on the glass due to it being infront of a window. Rather let the tank show me what it needs vs numbers , been dosing nitrate recently as tank consumes too much / noticing brown algae on glass.

I don’t think I have any secrets- maybe dollar store items that are useful: turkey baster, pot and pan scrubber things, magic erasers, make up brushes to softly brush corals when dipping, razor blades, h2o2- I’m sure there’s more. But I like to get these from dollar store to save a buck or twos.

one thing I’m (hopefully) going to do soon- is take my CaRX off line and start dosing lye. I think I jumped the gun with the calcium reactor- and it keeps PH too low. I don’t think my corals are big enough to absorbs enough co2 - so my ph is 7.8-8.0 daily. I really want to get up to 8.3+ . I have caRx line dripping into skimmer inlet - doesn’t help either


I started supplementing with a kelk stirrir. I dose 1 gal over 24 hr period. It helps some, but not enough. The lye is dangerous but takes 1/10 (give or take) the amount to get same results as kelk. I can’t dose any more kelk at the moment because my tank doesn’t evaporate enough. The kelk has been up and running fir last two weeks- and I see an increase in ph -7.9-8.1. I did reduce calcium reactor when I put the kelk online, I keep stable 9.5 alk- but still can’t get ph over 8.1 at it’s highest.

tank is in its own room, open widows and fans and no people. I have not run a line outside nor tried co2 scrubber. I few the line outside won’t make much difference here because the air in the room is pretty “fresh” but I will give it a shot.
Co2 scrubber seems to be a lot of media which I want to avoid.

I’ve recently looked into dosing lye- which acts much like kelk but takes much less to achieve same thing. but it’s a dangerous chemicals to work with and can easily be over dosed. So I’m not sure yet- still researching

While I haven't yet hit my stride with my current tank, I have a few tips that have helped me through the years.

One thing I hear is "patience is key" but I also feel you can be "too patient". For example, if you see a nuisance algae (like the green turf algae I dealt with), don't be too patient with it and hope that reduced excess nutrients or increased skimming will help. Once certain types of algae take hold, no amount of "clean water" will help eradicate it. Attack it before it gets out of hand (I ended up using H202 in tank with a syringe to get rid of it).

But overall, keeping it simple and consistent is my approach.
> 2-part dosing and Kalk drip to keep Ca/Alk/Mag steady
> Big/efficient skimmer to handle a large bioload, but adjustable so that it still works well once your tank is established and undissolved materials usually picked up by the skimmer is taken up by the corals/inverts
> Realizing we don't know it all. No matter what anybody says with certainty, there are so many things we don't know about this hobby (maybe better said that there are very few things we DO know with certainty). Don't jump on the latest "fad" or "quick-fix". Go with the things that you know have worked in the past and are proven. Let others be the guinea pigs unless you're up for the challenge and potential heartache that comes with it.

No hands in the tank

I have a few I have picked up.

1. Feed your fish in a net. Then if you have to grab a fish, you can put the net in the water, and they will swim right in.

2. When changing a carbon reactor, doing it during a water change. Fill the reactor with new media, then put the output of the reactor in your dump bucket. You can rinse your carbon and make your water change easier.

3. Speaking of carbon, the tubs that BRS uses for their carbon, keep them. They are so handy. Perfect size for changing filter socks, dumping skimmate, or my favorite number 4:

4. Fill the BRS bucket with citric acid, place it right next to the tank, then put your powerheads straight into the citric acid. Take out after a few hours. Dip them in a brs carbon bucket of fresh water and right back into the tank. I clean my powerheads every couple of weeks, it takes 10 minutes or less of my actual time.

5. If you don't have a neck swabbie, clean your skimmer cup and neck daily. It makes a HUGE difference.

6. If you are keeping sticks just test your alk daily. If anything is off with CA or Mg it shows up in the alk first.

7. When something is wrong with your tank that you know, look how your animals are reacting. I know that my digitata is the first to close up if the alk is low. If the bristleworms are exposing themselves to air in the sump then my salinity is to high. There are lots of strange tells we can learn when paying attention when things are bad. Then next time you see that thing happening you won't have to spend 30 minutes figuring out what is wrong.

8. I use a pond liner inside my stand where my sump is. If my sump were to crack and leak water, my stand can hold about 15 gallons. Make spilling in the stand much less of a worry, since the pond liner is so easy to wipe up.

9. If you want to find the best piece of equipment the way to get the most responses is to post online that any random type of that same equipment is best. You will quickly have 100 people tell you why you are wrong.

10. High flow, especially that rotates and is chaotic tis so much easier to setup then it is to clean a tank. Not all your powerheads have to be on all day. They can cycle on and off, and it will be good for your tank. Your fish and coral can handle so much more water movement then you think, and your first time you scuba (at least for me) you will be amazed. At peak water movement I have gone up to 160x tank turnover an hour. Everything lives.

I don't think anyone wants to read more then 10 from me LOL. Probably no one read all of these. 22 years though I picked up a few things.

No more water changes with moonshine method. Makes reefing so much easier. Siphon detritus out to filter sock once a month. I do have alkatronic and mastertronic to help manage my parameters.

How are you liking the reefers moonshine? I have followed Andre for a few years but haven't tried his method yet. I am setting up a few tanks in the future and have thought quite a bit about it.

Man I remember like 15-16y back when I said “I rarely do water changes, maybe like 4 a year” I got so much flack about it I stopped saying it. You would have thought I was taking pic inside the Roman Catholic Church.
Granted I was a lazy idiot and dumped in a bunch of Kent marine products in weekly. Now these days with ICP tests we can get a better understanding of water parameters.

But I still remember how much crap got tossed at me for not doing weekly water changes.

Yeah, it's kinda crazy. There are literally thousands of ways to run a reef, so for someone to say you have to run it a certain way is a joke. Stability is achieved in so many ways and each tank is its own unique ecosystem. The only reason I do water changes these days is to dilute metals and/or elevated elements when necessary.
As far as secrets go, I think there are a lot of little ones that just add up. Here are just a few.
CaRx effluent into skimmer intake or refugium/algae chamber to minimize pH drop.
Don't kill bristle worms, one of the best CUC, ever!
Turn flow up at night when fish are resting/hiding to kick up detritus.
Use media bags for all chemical filtration (makes exchanging for new media super fast and clean) within reactors. Also, just rinse in tap water, especially carbon or gfo.
Aquilonastra stars (not asterina) are awesome algae eaters (and keep coralline under control) and are not actually pests.

I didn't catch on until 2009. Before that I was doing two 30% water changes a week. (free salt water)

I got so much shit for it, every time I posted advice I would have to post a picture of my tank. Then a series of pictures so people could see the growth.

We were all brainwashed for years of bad information. I think well meaning people regurgitate what they have read to other people and spread this kind of basic tribal wisdom that everyone accepts, because everyone says it. Any challenge to the false ideologies to that tribal wisdom is met with huge resistance. Yes, I am still talking about reefing.

So far so good with reef moonshine. Been running it for around 8 months now with icp test every 1-2 months. You’re spending money on icp but saving on salt and rodi usage. You also get a better understanding of the elements in your tank.

There are 5 elements that u dose daily (~10 drops each - takes less than min with a dropper). There’s a fb group if u need to search for any info or feel free to message me.

I've been a shiner for almost 2 years, one of the best moves/changes that I've made. I'm dosing 7 dailies every evening and my monthly corrections are getting smaller in regards to how many elements that need correcting. For those who have never heard of Reef Moonshiners, download the free handbook and give it a read through (a couple times), it's one of the best secrets out there. Andre has done all of the homework for you, but it's all there for you to understand in great detail.