Hello Everyone.

Welcome to my reef page and my first official post. So here is my mindset the week before I put water in the sump and no NOT yet in the reef aquarium:

There is 160 pounds of (used) base rock up in the tank I took from storage that I have used in tanks in the past. I pressure washed it but I still expect it to have Nitrates and phosphate. I further expect it to leach into the water.
I have 3 Home Depot 5 gallon buckets of old sugar size sand I...

About coralline: the purple stuff...an FYI.
Coralline is a red algae that shows as purple: it binds calcium, and covers rock in a purple coat that many hobbyists find quite pretty. And it does limit where pest algae can grow. It seems to start out as a dark red velvety coat and then starts laying down the calcium-shelled purple/pink stuff right amid it.

Do you want coralline? here's how. First, obtain some live coralline. A single tiny spot on one rock will do. You can also...

Let's discuss...salt.
You'd think that salt mixes emulating the ocean would all be real similar...and you'd wonder why some cost more than others. Prettier package? Crazy pricing?

Well, not so much that...as salt for various purposes. PURE salt is sodium chloride, NaCl...but that won't do. [Yes, somebody always asks, can I use Morton's table salt?---no. That would be a disaster.]

If you look at the label of your salt mix, you'll see a very, very long list of...

The Aquarium is coming along nicely. The Seamless Sump has been completed. Plumbing to be done this weekend. Cycling to start shortly

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