Ash's 400 Gallon Reef

[biecacka]

Do you think your skimmer would be more effective of it had less sump turnover? That in turn could help control po4.


corey

 

[Cthulukelele]

Where is the rock from? I've heard of older live rock leeching out massive amounts of phosphate, and that phosphate growth rate at that volume of tank water seems astronomical unless you're feeding several full handfuls of food every day and mostly dry food

 

[Ashish Patel]

Do you think your skimmer would be more effective of it had less sump turnover? That in turn could help control po4.


corey

Definately not, I dont buy this having the same flow through sump as the skimmer pump bc skimmer is not taking 100% of the organics out per pass. I had it even for 1 year and it just let to very high PO. In the past 1 week or ramping up the flow by double I am getting better skimmer performance and last 2 days my PO increased only .04 PPM. Before this change it was going up .10 in the same time period. I got a feeding station for my eheim feeder (which helps by not sending pellets to the sump), and I am adding frozen food in small quantity (4 feeds) so no waste.

I have to finish building a good size turf scrubber, Once PO are trending down naturally I will be glad since I am testing PO every other day now and dont want to rely on LC or GFO, which binds up Alk and reduces PH.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I sometimes wonder about that too ..
maybe more $$$ in selling people multiple doser pumps??

Yeah for sure, its great not having to mess with 2 part right now, I have one 30 gallon drum, 2 dosers feeding my display and 1 feeding the QT. The container is air tight and very easy to top off every 1-2 months. I think I would consider a avast Kalk stir if I didnt have a the space. If one has the space a large container is fool proof!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Where is the rock from? I've heard of older live rock leeching out massive amounts of phosphate, and that phosphate growth rate at that volume of tank water seems astronomical unless you're feeding several full handfuls of food every day and mostly dry food

Marshall island, Tonga, some Haitian. Tank setup for 12 months...The rock definitely was leeching PO since my PO where at .60 PPM after 3 months of cycling the tank without any animals or light. However, the PO came down to manageable levels until the tank was 8 months and I added a 14 massive turbos and fish just grew really big when i decided to overfeed them to avoid aggression. Today I feed about 6 teaspoons of pellets (3 feeds of a feeder) and maybe 1-2 OZ of frozen food per day (3-4 feeds per day). Not what I had in mind when i setup this tank but Achilles, Powder, and Orange shoulder are highly active and get chippy when they are not well fed.

Good news is the PO only increase by 0.02 daily as of the last 48 hours of testing. Big improvement since it was 0.05 a fw week ago.

 

[flagg37]

PH has stayed above 8.3 for 5 strait days...Alk 7.5 and feel Kalk is incredible. Almost makes you feel 2part is just made up

Kalkwasser is limited by your evaporation. After you max it out that way you’ll need to continue to supplement it with either two part or a CaRx. That takes a while though.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Not sure how my first reef tank in 2010 had no hair algae or ugly phase with a crappy sump and skimmer. I started with 80% dry rock too and had maybe 5lbs of liverock

 

[Ashish Patel]

Kalkwasser is limited by your evaporation. After you max it out that way you’ll need to continue to supplement it with either two part or a CaRx. That takes a while though.

Yeah, then we just frag corals and sell them to bring down the demand.

 

[flagg37]

Yeah, then we just frag corals and sell them to bring down the demand.

That’s one way to do it.

 

[sawdonkey]

Kalkwasser is limited by your evaporation. After you max it out that way you’ll need to continue to supplement it with either two part or a CaRx. That takes a while though.

I think people underestimate how much alk demand kalk can satisfy. My 210 before breakdown was loaded with acros and kalk kept up just fine. I have a buddy that has an even more packed aquarium full of SPS and Kalk does fine for home too. In the summer when humidity is higher (evaporation less) he plows a fan at his water surface.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I think people underestimate how much alk demand kalk can satisfy. My 210 before breakdown was loaded with acros and kalk kept up just fine. I have a buddy that has an even more packed aquarium full of SPS and Kalk does fine for home too. In the summer when humidity is higher (evaporation less) he plows a fan at his water surface.

Nice, how many gallons of Kalk where you using per day on your 220 gallon?

 

[Ashish Patel]

Man, are the gen 5 radions so powerful that my zoas close up during peak. I mean 3 fixtured 50% intensity ab+ in a 30" deep tank isnt much intensity. T5 on 2 hours. See similar thing with my stylos and 1 goni. Montis are the only corals that dont seem to be stressed. Last time i checked its 100-140 par at bottom and 150-250 towards top for the few hours T5s are on. Otherwise chop 30% of that intensity

 

[Ashish Patel]

These zoas tend to recover in QT but this 400gallon had alot of kinks. Flow is strong and maybe too strong now that one of MP60 doenst do anti sync so flow on both at 80% i feel is too high flow. Maybe i am just underestimating how powerful T5s are

 

[sawdonkey]

Nice, how many gallons of Kalk where you using per day on your 220 gallon?

Probably about 4 or so. I have a 25 gallon ATO tank that lasts about 5 days.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Probably about 4 or so. I have a 25 gallon ATO tank that lasts about 5 days.

Thanks. Ill cap mine at 7 gallons and if the need arises i am hoping i can just do weekly manual 2 part doses to bring up dkh if needed. Aslong as Kalk can hold it within range i should be good.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Build a woodworking table....Now its time to find quality lumber and build cabinetry.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Weirdest thing ive ever seen.
Both my Urchins carrying the same zoa head

 

[Ashish Patel]

Finished making a face frame for a face frame, need it for a marble or plaster ledge. Then ill use white oak to make 9 inset doors. I maybe stuborn enough to succeed in making it look like a pro, but if i skrew it up i have the option to remove and call my carpenter for the rescue

 

[Ashish Patel]

Tanks still getting mature but my gutts telling me something is wrong with the rock. Mainly bc all my Zoas shrivel up and Im not sure its the light. All montis seem to be doing good and 4 acros are encrusting.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Anyways been working on my workshop and operation get of the floor is underway