220 Gallon SPS Reef Build

[JonoH]

Been fragging my Green Sinularia like crazy at the moment, but its still growing like a weed!
Its a beautiful coral, but taking over an entire corner of my tank! (Pic after feeding the tank so a little cloudy)

Also have a Devils Hand leather that is looking amazing, moved it from the back of the tank to the front as it was kind of hidden at the back, and you couldnt see it - considering fragging a few pieces of it for local reefers but never done this one - any advice?

 

[JonoH]

Gotta love bargains
$15 Scolly, $20 Trachy and a $20 Poccy!

Makes up for the Favia i killed!
Just cant seem to keep them alive.

 

[DarkReefer]

Loookin sweet mate.
I've got a decent sinularia as well but it's rarely out in full. Every time it looks like it's about to get to the same size it was in the shop it seems to get some GHA caught up in it and it cracks it and sucks up again lol.

I love trachys and scolys but I've never had much success with those (and I'm not interested in target feeding at the moment). Hope you find better luck with these ones! ($15 for a scoly seems pretty good, even if it is small).

 

[JonoH]

Loookin sweet mate.
I've got a decent sinularia as well but it's rarely out in full. Every time it looks like it's about to get to the same size it was in the shop it seems to get some GHA caught up in it and it cracks it and sucks up again lol.

I love trachys and scolys but I've never had much success with those (and I'm not interested in target feeding at the moment). Hope you find better luck with these ones! ($15 for a scoly seems pretty good, even if it is small).

I'm having the same battle with GHA at the moment! Although its not out of control yet, i'm away for 3 weeks at Christmas and can see it being that way when i get back.

Thinking about adding in a GFO Reactor to get my phosphates down....but still in 2 minds!

I have had Scolys and Trachys before and they died when i lost all my hammers last - i suspect that may have been a bacterial thing though maybe. Who knows!

 

[DarkReefer]

I'm having the same battle with GHA at the moment! Although its not out of control yet, i'm away for 3 weeks at Christmas and can see it being that way when i get back.

Thinking about adding in a GFO Reactor to get my phosphates down....but still in 2 minds!

I have had Scolys and Trachys before and they died when i lost all my hammers last - i suspect that may have been a bacterial thing though maybe. Who knows!

Yeah at my LFS a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I was having issues and the guy asked about my light schedule. Told him I was running about 13hrs total (Only about 6-8 at it's peak), he straight up told me that it was way too long and to crank it down to like 8 hours or something. So that's what I've done. I've noticed what I think is some more coral growth, some of them look like they're stretching a bit more. GHA hasn't really deminished at all, but I haven't attacked it at all yet either (need to try and siphon the stuff out :( )

 

[JonoH]

Yeah at my LFS a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I was having issues and the guy asked about my light schedule. Told him I was running about 13hrs total (Only about 6-8 at it's peak), he straight up told me that it was way too long and to crank it down to like 8 hours or something. So that's what I've done. I've noticed what I think is some more coral growth, some of them look like they're stretching a bit more. GHA hasn't really deminished at all, but I haven't attacked it at all yet either (need to try and siphon the stuff out :( )

I've been brushing mine off with a toothbrush as i do water changes to it gets siphoned out, so its remaining under control with that at the moment.

Added in a heap of pods and phyto the other week which actually seemed to make a dent in it...not sure why, but it did haha.

 

[DarkReefer]

I've been brushing mine off with a toothbrush as i do water changes to it gets siphoned out, so its remaining under control with that at the moment.

Added in a heap of pods and phyto the other week which actually seemed to make a dent in it...not sure why, but it did haha.

Yeah nice!
I've done that a few times with a toothbrush but haven't much joy so far. I don't siphon it though I just let it float around/into the filter or wherever (probably made it worse for myself haha).

Over the past 2 months or so I think I spent about $3-500 on pods for the mandarin I got (sadly since passed...) and really didn't notice much if any change. Glad it's working for you though I think I've heard that they get into it a little.

 

[JonoH]

Officially GHA free!

Patience worked...just methodically brushing it off and doing everything i could to naturally lower my phosphates and i noticed yesterday it was all gone!

Tested my main numbers and got the below results (all with Hanna checkers)

Phosphate - 0.08
Nitrate - 34
Alk - 10.8

Contemplating vodka dosing to lower my nitrates a little, but everything for the most part is thriving except i cant seem to keep Favia alive!

Took a heap of macro shots of my Zoa's and hammers yesterday, need to use my main camera (not my iphone) to get some of the acro's in the tank - my Kryptonite is growing like crazy, has fully encrusted the rock below it.

 

[DarkReefer]

Officially GHA free!

Patience worked...just methodically brushing it off and doing everything i could to naturally lower my phosphates and i noticed yesterday it was all gone!

Tested my main numbers and got the below results (all with Hanna checkers)

Phosphate - 0.08
Nitrate - 34
Alk - 10.8

Contemplating vodka dosing to lower my nitrates a little, but everything for the most part is thriving except i cant seem to keep Favia alive!

Took a heap of macro shots of my Zoa's and hammers yesterday, need to use my main camera (not my iphone) to get some of the acro's in the tank - my Kryptonite is growing like crazy, has fully encrusted the rock below it.

Amazing shots and great to hear the GHA is gone. I'm jealous!

 

[JonoH]

Amazing shots and great to hear the GHA is gone. I'm jealous!

You know i reckon your suggestion from your LFS to reduce the light period is what finally did it!

I dropped the light period back by 2 hours a day.

 

[DarkReefer]

You know i reckon your suggestion from your LFS to reduce the light period is what finally did it!

I dropped the light period back by 2 hours a day.

Yeah I feel like I'm seeing a very slight improvement since doing it and I've not even started trying to manually remove anything yet.

 

[JonoH]

My LFS i go to most weeks has always had a tank full of Acro colony's that look amazing, but i've never asked about price as i assumed they would be $$$ (given the price of frags etc)

Well...as it turns out...they are way cheaper than buying frags! :flushed-face:

So my tank has 5 new huge Acro's in it - all slightly different colouring, but since they have only just been added in, it will take some time for their colours to come through properly.

Took some pics with my SLR camera as the phone cant get the zoom into the back of the tank where they sit - still need to work on my actual camera photography...just never use it these days!

Also one had a bonus Acro crab in it...which i have sumped for now...what are everyone's thoughts on Acro crabs? I've read mixed feedback on them being both good and bad...

^^This one is a slight Blue Colour (came with the Crab inside) - its a tableing type...my Green and Gold Tableing Acro to the right for size reference that i have grown from a frag over the last year!

Another Tableing Acro^

Branching type 1^

Branching Type 2^

And finally another Tabling Acro^ - this one is huge! (being photobombed by my yellow tang)

My chalice that never seems to grow...

Cool shot of one of my Zoa's

Trachy looking for food

In other news...i banished my Urchin back to the fish shop...he was just being an absolute menace with frags and taking corals off the rock all the time.

My Turbo snail population is still exploding, so took about 200 to the LFS today for them! Still have a few hundred in the tank!

I also built my own frozen food auto feeder as i am going away for a few weeks at the end of the year...just testing it over the last couple of weeks, so far seems to be working well.

 

[Janci]

Great new additions.
I love those corals. They are the kind that you could find while snorkeling in tropical waters.
Those fancy name acros are not that natural to me.

Acro crabs I would leave them in the tank. Especially if it was living already in a bigger acro piece that looks great, I would assume it does not harm.

 

[DarkReefer]

Awesome additions mate. Envious!
I don't know much about the crabs but I would assume Janci is on the right track. If it was living in there before, then maybe there's no harm in letting it stay there.

 

[JonoH]

Great new additions.
I love those corals. They are the kind that you could find while snorkeling in tropical waters.
Those fancy name acros are not that natural to me.

Acro crabs I would leave them in the tank. Especially if it was living already in a bigger acro piece that looks great, I would assume it does not harm.

Crab has been re-united with the Acro :-)!
I was worried it may be a bad one, but the guy at my LFS that sold them to me said they were good, that he would normally sell them seperately so i got a good bonus!

They are Wild Aussie Acropora, so they do remind me of the reef...and when you pay less than 100 for all 5...cant really complain!

Interesting now to monitor my Alk uptake and see if it starts dropping, so far there has been no change, i'm only dosing about 30ml a day at the moment, its nice because i have 5L dosing containers that last months at a time.

 

[DarkReefer]

They are Wild Aussie Acropora, so they do remind me of the reef...and when you pay less than 100 for all 5...cant really complain!

Interesting now to monitor my Alk uptake and see if it starts dropping, so far there has been no change, i'm only dosing about 30ml a day at the moment, its nice because i have 5L dosing containers that last months at a time.

Nice price! I'd love to get some sps but always a bit worried they wont last, especially when looking at those cruddy little sticks on frag plugs etc. that often look to cost about $20-$50 for a plug. $100 for 5 big colonies is great, even if there's some trial and error I think having the colony would be less likely to fall over and die as quickly.

 

[JonoH]

Nice price! I'd love to get some sps but always a bit worried they wont last, especially when looking at those cruddy little sticks on frag plugs etc. that often look to cost about $20-$50 for a plug. $100 for 5 big colonies is great, even if there's some trial and error I think having the colony would be less likely to fall over and die as quickly.

Plus the fancy one's do tend to be a lot more finicky...
Although i do have a Frankie's Kryptonite that is growing awesome.

My Red Pollyp Dallis randomly died though.

My LFS shop had these in their own tank for a few months, so i know they are acclimitised ok, i think some of the small sticks get shipped in a shipped out so fast they never have a chance to actually settle.

 

[Subsea]

Picked up most of the plumbing i will need on Friday, so will start dry fitting that in the next week or so.

Today i cut out the filter sock section on the sump, then routed the opening in the acrylic to fit the reefmatt in better. It still sits a little higher than normal, but i think it will still work fine (any thoughts?)

Also water tested the sump to make sure it was all good - no leaks so i'm happy.

Next job is to glue in another baffle for the fuge (roughly shown in the last pic) with the skimmer and reefmatt in place.
Also will need to make a stand for the skimmer to lift it up around 4-6 inches.

1st Pic - water testing and showing the end i routed out (kept the rebate just in case it ever gets changed back to suit socks and a lid)

I read the first & last page of your thread: would you detail your refugium? I assume you are happy with its results.

Kudos to beautiful corals & coral pictures.

 

[JonoH]

I read the first & last page of your thread: would you detail your refugium? I assume you are happy with its results.

Kudos to beautiful corals & coral pictures.

Pics of my Sump below - nothing super special, but its loaded with live rock wherever i can fit it in.

 

[JonoH]

Way to hot over here on the weekend (40 degrees Celsius plus), so finally made a control board for all the various controllers and tidied up the wiring. I've spent so much time just looking at this happily now, should have done it months ago! (UPS slips in behind the tank perfectly).



I still need to change the globe in the UV Sterilizer, so its actually been off for 2 weeks now, and everything has been running fine, so tempted to actually leave it off for a while and see if there are any changes.

Also upgraded my ATO holding chamber to a 60L tank, i'm heading away to NSW this week for 2 and a half weeks, so wanted it to pretty much last the whole time i'm away (that way out house sitter doesnt need to worry about filling it).