Aquatop Recife Eco 24G AIO Mixed

[HiBRiD109]

I upgraded from my Fluval 13.5g to this Aquatop 24g AIO almost a year ago. I am deciding to post a build thread for its 1 year birthday. Although its been good, I still have been dealing with algae issues which I will blame myself for the lack of upkeep.

Equipment

• Tank: Aquatop Recife Eco 24g AIO
• Light: AI Prime HD with arm bracket
• Flow: 2 Jebao Wavemakers running in "C" mode so back and forth (OW-10 and a PP-4?)
• Heater: 75w Cobalt NeoTherm heater
• Filtration: Filter Floss
• Return: Stock pump GPH 200-300?
• Dosing Pump: Bubble Magus BM-TM01 with BM-T02 expansion
• Skimmer: Stock Skimmer (Not very good but better than nothing)
• ATO: XP Aqua Duetto ATO
• Misc Hardware: DIY eggcrate shelves in Chamber 1 and Chamber 3

Stock

• Softies: Ricordia, Lava Lamp shrooms, Green Hairy shrooms, Zoas, Toadstool, Kenyan Tree, GSP
• LPS: Duncan, Hammers, Acan, Goniopora, Torch
• SPS: Blue Green Acros, Red plating Monit, Rainbow encrusting Monti
• Anemones: Rock Flower Nem
• Inverts: Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Pincushion Urchin, Snails, 1 Blue legged hermit.
• Fish: Frostbite Clowns

Regement

• Dosing: BRS 2-Part: Daily - 7ml of Ca, 7ml of Alk, and 6ml of Mag
• Feed: LRS Feeding Frenzy Nano - eraser head 6 times a week
• Change floss every 2-3 days.

 

[HiBRiD109]

I've been dealing with nuisance algae ever since I started the hobby. Its most likely due to me not keeping up on my water changes which honestly I don't remember the last time I did one. Probably 6 months ago though I was doing weekly water changes before and still had issues. I battled bryopsis and won thanks to fluconazole. I did have a refugium in chamber 3 that ran great for a month but then the chaeto stopped growing, I am assuming its from low iron as I was only dosing Tropic Marin All-for-Reef which I now switched out for BRS 2-part this week. I do add fresh mixed salt water at a higher salinity to keep the salinity stable. I stopped the refugium and installed the stock skimmer, it kind of works though it skims wet when it does work. The corals have been fine and slowly growing just been fighting GHA.

Future plans:
Get the algae under control, looking into algae reactor and better skimmer.
Add more snails and maybe another hermit.
Remove Kenya Tree, place birds nest maybe or another vertical growing sps.
Add more Rock Flower, maybe get a small RBTA.

 

[HiBRiD109]

Update
I threw in the towel of just doing weekly water changes and pulling the GHA. It would just grow back to the same amount. So I went chemical warfare and used fluconazole. I went 4 weeks without a water change to nuke the GHA. I got 99% of it though I can see a few strands hiding in tough to reach places so I might have to try again if it start getting out of hand.

I added 4 Astrea snails and an emerald crag to my cuc to hopefully keep nuisance algae in check.

I removed a few pieces of coral and swapped them at the LFS for a frag of monti digi, pocillopora, and birdsnest.

Where the kenya tree I removed, I placed some new rock to give more vertical appeal, I'm still not sure if I will keep it that way. I'm thinking that 2 of the new frags will get put on there.

I placed the acan colony on a small piece of rock. The lower polyps didnt seem very happy on the sand. Now it looks much better.

The frag of rainbow monti seems to have STN and is dying off, i'm not sure if it was from when I fragged it or if something else has upset it. I was fine until i fragged it last week. Hopefully it will recover.

The zoas are starting to slowly open. I've been scrubbing them and blowing debris off them every other day while dosing Fuel.

 

[Sweetreef21]

Great looking tank and good job on the comeback !! That pink goni is pretty i want one lol

 

[X-37B]

Nice tank! I had the same tank only the model with the sump.
Ran it for 3 years then upgraded.

Get more asterina snails. I did a fluc treatment and then added 1 per 2 gallons.
So 60 in my 120.
I would add 15-20 to your system. They will keep algae at bay if it is short enough.
If its to long they wont touch it.
I add 10-15 to replace the ones that die every few months to keep the count up.

I do the same in my frag system.

 

[HiBRiD109]

Tank is staying algae free so far. I am trying to stay on top of weekly 20% wc.

I am dosing Fuel and Acropower 4 times a week alternating with a target/broadcast of BRS Reef Chili once a week. I feel like my tank was stripped of nutrients. After 3 weeks of dosing my sps is looking good and almost all my zoas are open. My GSP is growing really long and is starting to plate/branch.

I glued the new sps in areas I though would be best. I removed the new rock work as I figured the sps will fill it out.

The rainbows monti looks to have completely die but I keep it in there till all the tissue is gone. I've seen sps bounce back after complete death so I shall see.

 

[paulrathor92]

What kind of skimmer do you use. The one that came with mines making crazy micro bubbles?

 

[HiBRiD109]

What kind of skimmer do you use. The one that came with mines making crazy micro bubbles?

I was using the one that came with but it also put micro bubbles in the main display. I tried floss and filter pads in the next chamber which seemed to help but I still had bubbles. I ended up turning it off after a month. I just do weekly water changes of 4 gallons and everything has been good for a few months now. Hardly any algae and coral are growing very well.

 

[paulrathor92]

I was using the one that came with but it also put micro bubbles in the main display. I tried floss and filter pads in the next chamber which seemed to help but I still had bubbles. I ended up turning it off after a month. I just do weekly water changes of 4 gallons and everything has been good for a few months now. Hardly any algae and coral are growing very well.

So as long as I do my weekly water change I don't need to use the skimmer?

 

[Squirrellyman]

So as long as I do my weekly water change I don't need to use the skimmer?

Yes... and many would swear that weekly water changes are better than skimming, since it removes the bad stuff like a skimmer and refreshes the good stuff (trace elements, etc.).

The only trick is being disciplined and staying on top of the water changes.

 

[paulrathor92]

Yes... and many would swear that weekly water changes are better than skimming, since it removes the bad stuff like a skimmer and refreshes the good stuff (trace elements, etc.).

The only trick is being disciplined and staying on top of the water changes.

Thank you for all the tips!!!

 

[HiBRiD109]

So as long as I do my weekly water change I don't need to use the skimmer?

Correct, most people with nano tanks run successfully with just 20% weekly water changes. I mean you are more than welcome to add gear if it helps you run successfully as some do. I want to be a gear junkie. But right now for me, everything is running great. I've had to actually remove or frag coral because they are starting to take up too much room or go to war. The best thing is keeping things very stable. So I have my dosers, flow, lighting, and feeding regiment dialed in. I think the biggest thing that helped me was to blast the rock and zoas with a turkey baster before I do a water change. I think the detritus was causing my algae issues. A lot of it got hung up in the zoas/palys and in the rock so a nice gentle blast knocks it free and into the overflow.

 

[HiBRiD109]

Update

Removed the gsp dominate rock as the gsp was plating and looking to take over the tank. A few polyps hit in the sand bed and in 2 months, already spreading again. Might just eraticate it.

Sps is doing well.

The purple tip hammer is getting huge. Ive moved it twice to make room.

The torch killed a good part of the green acro as the good water condition has made the torch explode.

Zoas are doing well and spreading.

Palys are trying to take over so every 2 weeks I hit the encroaching polyps with some aiptasia x to kill them and they return in about 2 weeks.

 

[bgraen]

Your tank looks awesome, I recently bought the Aquatop AIO 29 gallon and plan on downsizing my 50 gallon to the 29 after it cycles. Your coral look amazing, please share which salt for water changes.