AJ's Acro Adventure [RSR 750XXL]

[AJsReef]

That was my big concern. And I like the Red Sea systems. I was thinking about doing that because with the AIO systems I don’t have to worry about getting the right things or forgetting to get something. All I would have to get is a heater and power heads

I’d do a Reefer 170, opens up a lot of flexibility long term and your not completely stuck into RS ecosystem

 

[Tyler Young]

I’d do a Reefer 170, opens up a lot of flexibility long term and your not completely stuck into RS ecosystem

Yeah, I thought about doing that. I’ll probably end up doing something like that. My friend just told me today that they have a 75 gallon tank and stand that his parents used for freshwater that he’d give me so at the very least I have a tank and stand already I know I’d have to clean it and take everything out because I wouldn’t be able to use anything that was used for the freshwater system unfortunately

 

[AJsReef]

Well, it’s official I’m running out of maintenance tasks. Today I stripped down the Vortechs so now everything has been cleaned. I removed the nem protect guards as frankly I was tired of looking at them. They also collected gunk like crazy. It wasn’t until reinstalling with out them that I realized just how badly they restricted flow as well. I took a quick video after a heavy rock blasting with a turkey baster to show off the random flow.

Starting to see some readable PO4 albeit not much at 2ppb. Bumping up my dosage to 30ml a day. Almost out of NeoPhos but luckily have Trisodium Phosphate to DIY. And last but certainly not least this beast showed up. Too bad I have to be patient until my new skimmer stand arrives

 

[AJsReef]

Quick update today -

Decided to place all but the small frags now they seem to be mostly adjusted. PO4 remaining .01 w/ NO3 ~5, would still like to increase this number. Letting my Alk/Ca/Mg level out to the TPM Pro mix. Unsure if I want to target 7.0 dKH as the salt mix or fight it a little and maintain 7.4 (7.2-7.6). Definitely seeing much more coraline growth with the increase in nutrients which is exciting.

With removing the Nem Protects and placing the frags I saw the direct flow was quite a bit too intense. I went ahead and reduced overall turnover to just under 50x and frags responded nicely. It's nice to know long term I have a lot of upward mobility. I may even explore placing all Vortechs on the side glass with one 3" or so from the bottom left and the other closer towards the surface on the upper right. Although, I really don't want to see more pumps on my side glass. This is all a thought, not changing anything for awhile, reducing variables. Currently, alternating pattern/schedule unchanged.

Some bonus coral pics

 

[AJsReef]

Couldn't wait any longer, made the Bubble King work on the existing stand while I wait for a new one. Man this skimmer is QUIET and the density of the foam it made immediately after turning on honestly I’m wowed. I was initially annoyed by the control box as you can’t unplug to route wires. Some quick reading online and I found out it’s IP68 which put me at ease about having it over the sump. New Avast swabbie installed too! Last but not least, I ordered a Salifert Nitrate. I was having a hard time reading the RS Pro and Nyos. Have to say, every Salifert test I have bought has become my preferred test. I should’ve listened years ago. Nitrate was very clearly 2.5 so I bumped to 5. PO4 staying 4 PPB

 

[AJsReef]

Time for another update -

Overall, tank remains much the same. Frags are settling in nicely and encrusting along with a pickup of coraline. A few are a tad pale so I’ve decided to boost the lighting to 80% now PO4 remains around 4ppb and NO3 2-5 range. I’m hesitant to dose further as frankly I don’t trust my testing abilities for NO3 with the color comparison. With the aggressive PO4/NO3 dosing to get levels up I did see Cyano and GHA pop up. Backed off the PO4 now that it’s detectable and added 20x trochus snails.

BK skimmer broke in quickly, still fine tuning it for the bioload. Definitely thinking some more fish is the way forward.

Last, picked up some WWC Montis and have another SPS pack coming in a few weeks. Hoping the tank really starts to take off soon!

 

[AJsReef]

Feels good to see some skimmate again! This is 3-4 days worth. Cyano and hair algae has backed down with the increased snails but corals were looking unhappy with the drop in PO4. Dosed back up to .05 today which took 35ml of my Sodium Triphosphate! I plan on testing 1-2x a day for awhile to figure out what it’s going to take to get detectable phosphates long term. Will have to say too that this QT is evident in my CO2 levels currently my tank is riding 8.0-8.15 which is down .15 from normal work schedule. In other news I ordered a trio of Lyretails which will be heading to QT when they arrive.

 

[AJsReef]

Two consecutive days above .03 PO4 with very minimal dosing!

In other news, finally got the QT tank set up (leak test over night) and Lyretails coming in tomorrow!

 

[AJsReef]

Another great pack of corals received today from Panic! Including JF Yellow Jacket, Tyre Pinky the Bear, Arc Fireworks and Walt Disney

PO4 stable around .03/NO3 10

Got the fish closet tiled and full approval from the wife to turn it into more of a fish room! Thinking about trying to plumb a larger sump and remove the sump from under my display. As well as likely getting plastic tanks for RO/SW so I can consolidate to one area for all my tank support equipment.

 

[AJsReef]

Quick update since it's been quite awhile... Shortly after last post tank got overran by GHA and my quick trigger with trying to treat it wiped almost all my Acros. If there's anything for sure in the last few years I am great at turning acros white...

Decided to once again let the tank sit for awhile. Thanks to a local reefer managed to get some decently sized mini colonies to reboot. Here's to restart number 3? This time I'm going to try my absolute best for no sudden changes or remedies.

The tank does sit on the very low nutrient side. As a result, I'll be doing several feedings throughout the day of frozen food and have opened the bypass on my roller mat slightly...

Hoping for the best this time

 

[AJsReef]

Decided to freshen up the scape. Added 40lb of Carib Sea shelf and 20lb Carib Sea Branch rock. After many years of watching YouTube videos in scapes finally decided to try mortar to build out a scape. Moved my shelf rocks for use as foundation and then built away. Very happy with the new “arches” scape

Added some more frags this week as well. Huge shout out to AquaSD for awesome frags and prices on their live sale. Loaded up with some Acro frags and decided to add some mixed corals as well; Acans, chalices and some Euphyllia. Including a super vibrant 3 headed Aussie Gold Torch

 

[AJsReef]

Over the past week I’ve been trying to nail down NO3/PO4 levels in order to prevent them from bottoming out and repeating potential previous issues.

Nitrates have been pretty stable in depletion using roughly .575ppm/day. Currently targeting around 3ppm but dosing every few days so I can track some depletion over time. Phosphate on the other hand are wildly depleting. I though I had success midweek when I dosed 40ml and saw 1ppb the day after but I’ve been unable to see recordable levels when dosing 1x over 24 hours. With it being weekend I tested this afternoon ~15 hours front nightly dose of 50ml to find 0ppm. Dosed another 50ml and tested after 90 minutes to find 11ppb. Going to rest eat here shortly to see where I’m at. Based on reading I’m assuming the rock is absorbing the PO4... I’m trying to get above .02ppm long term.

Corals all seem very happy, there’s been a noticeable change in the Orange Passion PE since I began dosing NO3/PO4.

To increase natural bio load still considering some more fish. With the crazy prices these days I’m considering buying pre QT’d for an extra level of precaution. ($400 Yellow and Kole Tangs, yikes)

I’ll also include a picture of what a year of Trident waste looks like

 

[zbryant91]

Nice build. I'm gathering parts for a new build. Right now my plan is a 180. Went ahead and pulled the trigger on 3 xr30 gen5's because they were on sale. Are you still liking yours? Was debating on the pro vs blue and like the color of yours.

 

[AJsReef]

Nice build. I'm gathering parts for a new build. Right now my plan is a 180. Went ahead and pulled the trigger on 3 xr30 gen5's because they were on sale. Are you still liking yours? Was debating on the pro vs blue and like the color of yours.

Love the color, no complaints there. I’m was, and still am, disappointed with the fan noise of the Gen5s since they were marketed as being quieter than the Gen4s. But it is what it is there.

That said, I have noticed even with small colonies/larger frags that with the 3x mounted parallel to the tank there is significant shadowing. Hoping a 4th light and perpendicular mounting will do the trick. In spinning the ones I have perpendicular shading immediately looked far less. Just something to think about.

 

[zbryant91]

Love the color, no complaints there. I’m was, and still am, disappointed with the fan noise of the Gen5s since they were marketed as being quieter than the Gen4s. But it is what it is there.

That said, I have noticed even with small colonies/larger frags that with the 3x mounted parallel to the tank there is significant shadowing. Hoping a 4th light and perpendicular mounting will do the trick. In spinning the ones I have perpendicular shading immediately looked far less. Just something to think about.

Gotcha. Thanks for the tips. I think I'm going to use the RMS Rail, still undecided on that as I kind of want to have euro bracing on the tank but I could be talked out of it. Meeting with a tank builder today.. haha
So, with the rail I could add some xho strips or a 4th light as needed when things fill in. But that's obviously going to be a while.

Also glad I finally ran across a build that shows a bit more of the AWC setup. Currently using a dos for trident controlled dosing and was trying to figure out if I should get another for AWC. I have a closet right behind my tank that I have mixing tanks ordered for so the AWC setup may become real before the new tank so I can work out the kinks on my current tank.

Have you dialed in how much water you are changing daily or is that still a moving target?

Sorry for all the questions. I just stumbled across your build yesterday and you have a lot of the things that I have planned in my head so just trying to make sure my list is as functional as I'm hoping... haha

 

[AJsReef]

Gotcha. Thanks for the tips. I think I'm going to use the RMS Rail, still undecided on that as I kind of want to have euro bracing on the tank but I could be talked out of it. Meeting with a tank builder today.. haha
So, with the rail I could add some xho strips or a 4th light as needed when things fill in. But that's obviously going to be a while.

Also glad I finally ran across a build that shows a bit more of the AWC setup. Currently using a dos for trident controlled dosing and was trying to figure out if I should get another for AWC. I have a closet right behind my tank that I have mixing tanks ordered for so the AWC setup may become real before the new tank so I can work out the kinks on my current tank.

Have you dialed in how much water you are changing daily or is that still a moving target?

Sorry for all the questions. I just stumbled across your build yesterday and you have a lot of the things that I have planned in my head so just trying to make sure my list is as functional as I'm hoping... haha

No worries on the questions. Happy to help, I’ve changed 2 gallons per day for several years now. Happy with that number, albeit I could probably scale down as I have a hard time keeping nutrients down.

I would strongly advice against the DOS for AWC implementation. It is far too loud for continuous usage unless you can run the unit remotely as in a garage, etc. I switched over to Versas when they became available and they are silent. I leverage an energy bar outlet as a fail safe. It monitors the ATO Hi and Salinity outputs to prevent issues there.

 

[mattgsa]

I'm loving the build. You can never go wrong with a BK skimmer, I know I love mine. Where did you find the Nitrate calculator?

 

[AJsReef]

I'm loving the build. You can never go wrong with a BK skimmer, I know I love mine. Where did you find the Nitrate calculator?

Thank you, the are awesome for sure. My only gripe is the IP rated control box doesn’t allow for power line disconnect. Which forced me to place it in my sub compartment (all other controllers are in a dry room behind). But I suppose it’s engineered for that purpose!

I used this one, daily testing for a week or two was the difference for dialing in dosing IMO. Hanna Nitrate despite being a massive pain to use was super helpful too.

 

[AJsReef]

Bare bottom blues resurfaced as I attempted to raise nutrients Dinos began to pop up again. In an effort to avoid the fails of years past I quickly purchased a UV sterilizer as an attempt to dwindle their numbers. Thanks to BRS and UPS overnight I was able to get ahead of the problem. I also happened to stumble upon ReefDudes video where Elegant Corals shared their Dino treatment plan. Needless to say, after my previous issues with this tank I decided to throw everything at the Dinos early. Happy to report that after the 7 day treatment plan combined with 3 days UV prior and now running UV full time at 3x turnover I don't see visible Dinos (knocks on wood)

It wasn't without a few casualties, lost 3 smaller acro frags total but I'll take the L there. Now the focus is maintaining N/P levels in an effort to keep the in tank bio balance more favorable.

For those interested here is the Elegant guide

Tank ugly during bacterial bloom - it got much worse, my wife nicknamed it "hurricane" haha

DIY CO2 scrubber for aeration during treatment-

Pentair 80w HO UV (need to clean up wiring)

Post treatment

 

[AJsReef]

Double update today - coming out of my Dino treatment finally seeing some nutrients in my water, very happy and PE looking great