300gal+ Reefkeeping in KC, MO, USA

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R.Weller

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I am a few days late in posting the 6 month update to our display tank. The 300gal was brought online on 30-Jan-2020. Overall, the SPS & Zoa's are doing very well, but we have not been successful with euphyllia corals for a variety of reasons.

At 300 gallons, it's a little hard to grab a single picture with any detail, so here are a few pics.

FTS:
01 - FTS.jpg


The same area when the surge is activated (approx every 3 minutes):
02 - FTS - Surge.JPG


Here's a closer shot of the left side:
03 - Left Display.JPG


New to this side include the blue & green digi frags, the green horn frag, the purple lobo on the sand bed & a few Zoas. We have decent growth on the red monti (center - middle), the birds nest & purple stylo (center - top). The tiny stick on the top-left is a green slimmer acro. We've had this about a year & it's only recently starting to grow out from the base. The full green polyp rock (bottom - right) is from the first coral we purchased on 01-June-17. We had that one before we knew anything about proper reef-keeping (including lighting). It had turned brown but it's color & reproduction was restored as the system matured & our knowledge improved.

And here's a more detailed shot of the right side:
04 - Right Display.JPG


New on this side is a tiny green milli frag (top-right), tooth coral (out of view on the bottom), & candy button (left bottom). The growth pictures shared above on 22-July above are from the green acro in the center & fuzzy sps on the right behind our very photogenic tang. The birds nest, green mushrooms & zoa's on this side continue to thrive with the birds nest starting to shadow our orange lepto. It alone is 10" x 11" x 4". I'm not sure what (if anything) to do about that yet. There's a green monti in the middle that is just starting to plate. It's another coral that we have had for almost as long as the birds nest & it's only recently starting to show decent growth.

We continue manually dosing 100ml of phyto daily, & since early July, we have added over 3 gallons of copepods that were cultured exclusively on this same phytoplankton. Another 2 gallons of copepods should be ready to add to the system in the next 14 days. We also recently added a 1gal ziplock bag of sea lettuce to the refugium & the bug life (1" serpent starfishes, bristle worms & more amphipods than I can count), immediatly swarmed into it.

The bio-diversity in this system is absolutely delightful, with each zone having it's own character based on the light cycles. We have not done a water change on this system, & we continue to replenish CA & Alk via a kalk gravity drip.

Progress!
 
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So these just happened...

1597596034573.png


They are remarkably quiet & very powerful.

I'm having trouble with attaching video, so here are a few stills of the pumps in the display running around 60%.

Topside:
1597669028207.png


In tank.
1597668999491.png


These pumps easily produce the gyre flow across all 6' of the display. When the surge activates & microbubbles are released into the display, you can see how the pumps move water across all 36" of the width of the tank. This is a huge improvement over the previous wavemakers. Also comparing to the old wavemakers, these pumps are whisper quiet.
 
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RichtheReefer21

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So these just happened...

1597596034573.png


They are remarkably quiet & very powerful.

I'm having trouble with attaching video, so here are a few stills of the pumps in the display running around 60%.

Topside:
1597669028207.png


In tank.
1597668999491.png


These pumps easily produce the gyre flow across all 6' of the display. When the surge activates & microbubbles are released into the display, you can see how the pumps move water across all 36" of the width of the tank. This is a huge improvement over the previous wavemakers. Also comparing to the old wavemakers, these pumps are whisper quiet.
I love my gyres. Definitely cant run them over 60%. Hows the programability and interface?
 
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The pumps are controlled exclusively via the CoralVue Hydros app. CorvalVue manufactures IceCap, & they appear to be setting up for more capability with their WaveEngine platform. So rather than an App that is designed for the Gyre, it is an app that is designed for something larger, of which the Gyre is using a small part. So for example, I would appreciate a feed button on the pump controller itself, but instead, I must use the App to set the pumps to feed mode. In fariness, I can use the App to configure the duration of timeout & change the default from 15 min. to 5 min. to suit my application, but there are other small things that make it less usable / intuitive.

The pumps have sine wave, square wave, random & constant. Since we have a surge device to randomize the flow, we're using sine wave mode with 1 min duration that ramps the pump from 25% to 80% & down again w/n that 1 min timebox. Our surge hits the wave every 3.5 minutes at the center of the wave (perpendicular) & creates a cross-current. Using the App, you designate the side of the tank the pumps are on (same or opposite) based on how you install them & the gyre is running in no time.

After 1 week of use, I'll give them an A on the hardware & C for the software. I would absolutely recommend them to others & with cloud software, I do expect they will be making improvements in the months ahead as their platform matures & capability is added.
 
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I understand why a lot of people try really hard to keep sunlight off their tanks, but for us, it's part of the wonder of the hobby. After a few months of not being in position to get morning sun (we are approx 2600 miles north of the equator around the 40th parallel), the earth is moving back in our favor to provide 30 - 60 minutes of morning sun to the corals. Watching the marine-life respond to the sun is incredible. Besides, the herbivores love it.

1598629403706.png
 
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The Frag tank that I mentioned on 18-July is starting to take shape. The tank is drilled & ready. We're extending the fish room into the storage area. The shelf & receptical will be relocated. More details when the project is finished.
1603208923751.png
 
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The stand turned out close to the design. Not bad, considering this is only the second thing I’ve ever built out of wood. The plan Includes using the 5 gallon bucket to create a surge into the frag tank based on a bell siphon. Initial testing is positive. Almost time to start gluing.

2A0CE15F-3490-4F77-8E70-9484240BC2F5.jpeg
 
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The project to tie in the frag tank to our system is complete. Here’s a few clips of the surge device in operation.

Top View:


Surface View:


Operating & automatically resetting:


The plan right now is to move some rubble rocks to the frag tank until we have purchased a new light. We recently rescued a few damsels & they will stay in the tank until we have fully stocked our primary display tank.

And at the end of the day, this is all about the livestock & sharing the hobby with the community. So here’s a pic of our first coral purchased off a frag plug 3.5+ years ago. It has done well under the Ocean Revives, but new lights are in the works. Soon enough we hope to grow & share more.
72524532-D22C-46C8-A102-A339CE283044.jpeg
 
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Which damsels did you rescue?

One Blue & two Yellowtails. Our display already has two, so these might just stay in the frag tank. The are amusing to watch as they swim in the current created by the surge looking for food. Today is the first day for light on the frag tank along with a few small corals.
7DE136AD-23FE-4ABF-8C20-AC99DD0E4B69.jpeg


Also as a bonus, our green bubble-tip appears to be dividing. We’ve had it for years & it’s never done that. I suppose that makes it 1/2 price.
9DB5FE58-C306-481A-9EB2-B5C41D5459C5.jpeg


Growth is a good thing.
 
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It's probably helpful to drop some photos of the tank to show progress with the Ocean Revives. Most corals will grow but few actually thrived. That's been the primary driver behind upgrading the lights. So here's where the display stands now running the AI Hydra's:

01 - Fish.JPEG
02 - Fish.JPEG
03 - Fish.JPEG
04 - Sticks.JPEG
05 - Sticks.JPEG
06 - Nems.JPEG
07 - Nems.JPEG
08 - Acro.JPEG
09 - Nest.JPEG
10 - SPS 1.JPEG
11 - SPS 2.JPEG
12 - Lepto.JPEG
13 - Red Monti.JPEG
14 -Zoa.JPEG
15 - Zoa.JPEG
16 - Zoas.JPEG
17 - Paly.JPEG
18 - Shroom.JPEG
19 - Shroom.JPEG
20 - Grandis.JPEG
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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