Where things are today...

It's been another month.  The 400g has been running for 5 years and 7 months as of tomorrow. I've been dosing 40 ml of Nopox daily for 58 days. It looks like nitrate is finally approaching 10 ppm (looks like 15 ppm today via API), down from 50 ppm.  Phosphates measured .1 ppm (Elos)

Other parameters:

33.4 PPT (1.025sg) Hanna
Alkalinity 9.45 dKH Trident  (Elos comparison 9.5 dKH)
Calcium 496 ppm Trident (Elos comparison 400 ppm)
Magnesium 1496 ppm Trident Elos comparison 1400 ppm)
Temperature 79.7°F Apex
pH 8.02 Apex
ORP 333 Apex

About a week ago, I did a major cleaning of the reef. Nopox had created a slime in many areas that needed to be extricated from the system. I dissassembed the Nyos 300 skimmer completely and cleaned out a lot of pink goo, and made sure the pumps were pristine again. All Vortech pumps were cleaned. The Abyzz 200A return pump was pulled apart and cleaned. Any sliming stuff I could remove inside the sump was removed.  Interestingly, I didn't see any slime whatsoever in the refugium zone.

All better:

The calcium reactor has been my source for alkalinity and calcium for 15 years. This week, I decided to allow my Apex to control the flow of CO2 based on Trident alkalinity test results. Using two virtual switches, it will either let the reactor run 100% as it should, or it will reduce the duration CO2 can be added.  It's a tricky setup because you are controlling the output of the reactor based on a reading that is only measured every six hours. The only way to be more real time would be to test alkalinity far more often, such as hourly.  That would be very costly in reagent use.

This weekend I did my water testing, cleaned all the glass with the Easy Blade so it's pristine once more, and tonight I'll clean both protein skimmer cups.  Yesterday I dosed Live Rock Enhance to the tanks.

The Anemone Cube essentially runs on autopilot. I still need to clean the L1 pump that feeds that aquarium from the main sump.  

This week, I'm working on the new sump for the 400g. I want a slightly different layout than what I've had all these years. At the same time, I want to replace the ATO reservoir with a newer one.

I also tested the Frag system's water:
Salinity 31.8 PPT (1.024 sg)
Temperature 80°F
pH 8.43
Phosphate .5 ppm
Alkalinity 9 dKH
Calcium 450 ppm
Magnesium 1250 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm

That tank is going to be reset soon. I want to do a big clean out, and add a new drain so I can set up a Herbie drain system. When I do that, I'll clean out the substrate, and add a frag rack across the front for corals, and rock across the back half.