Ash's 400 Gallon Reef

[Ashish Patel]

A year ago my nitrates were over 200 and after adding a nitrate destroyer reactor I've been able to get it down to 30 or so (I need to test to make sure it's not much lower!). Actually 40ppm isn't a bad value at all. I have the opposite problem with phosphates so I continue to use GFO to reduce them (also need to test again!).

I have typically had the same issue not being able to keep millepora... although I currently have 2 and they have been doing really well for a couple of months. Staying colorful and fuzzy! I really don't know why though. But I'm at the point where I will just keep whatever is doing well and not sweat the rest of it. I like the look of a smaller number of big colonies so whatever corals give me that reef will stay in my tank.

My phosphates drop because of the vodka dosing. I am dosing about 22ml per day and honestly I think i could create additional issues if I try to force the nitrates down. I think its the number of fish and how much I feed them. I have been ramping up my light intensity the last weeks and notice a big improvement. Especially on the bleeding tree which is starting to put out branches after 5 years of encrusting..maybe the next batch of corals will do better now that the tank is more established. But I hate that I cant even keep zoas..they are supposed to be bullet proof

 

[Ashish Patel]

Its time to setup a frag tank, my sump frag tank is a total failure, aiptasia growing all over the frag rack, not able to add inverts or fish because i dont have a proper divider, MP40 and light spill into the sump just creates a mess. So the goal is to not spend any money doing this, use my existing radions and Mp40, Tee my vectra m1 that feeds my protein skimmer and ATS and just have a 30-40 gallon dedicated frag tank next to the sump. This way I can actually have a place to add my frags and see them. Stay tune.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Look at me trying to take macro shots with my smartphone. The bleeding tree has got me pumped. Easily my favorite acro ever only took 5 years of encrusting.

 

[Ashish Patel]

So its time to retire this sump frag tank mess. I got a 30 gallon frag tank coming so moved my kalk setup next to the QT setup. Hopefully I can grow frags in this area and enjoy watching them. It will be alot of plumbing length but will just tee into my skimmer feed pump. I am wondering if I should use T5s with the radions.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Your boy is going to finally try to build this white oak stand. Still need to buy some baseboards but figured id use AI to help visualize the look

 

[Ashish Patel]

Just finished plumbing to my frag tank. Figured id rework the ATS plumbing so it stops leaking from the top. I also decided to run plumbing to my QT for each water changes from the main display. Only thing left is to finish the drain from the QT to sink.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Just finished plumbing to my frag tank. Figured id rework the ATS plumbing so it stops leaking from the top. I also decided to run plumbing to my QT for each water changes from the main display. Only thing left is to finish the drain from the QT to sink.

Can't wait to see that tank once it is full of frags!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Oooh looking forward to seeing your stand building skills! Ha!

 

[Roll221]

Glad it worked out. Still stressful in this heat and knowing your generator can stop at anytime. I am going to turn my generator on every 1-2 months for 5 minutes it in working order and just to test it. This is my first new gas engine purchase so im determined to take care of it. I want to build a small generator shed and have it hardwired

Good idea. My Generac kicks on for 5 mins everyother week just to keep everything lubed up.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Oooh looking forward to seeing your stand building skills! Ha!

Thanks Rev. I have enough pressure not to ruin my limited white oak lumber. Now I am looking for back up pieces just incase. Crazy no place in NJ sells it and i order it from my favorite lumber spot Baird bros in Ohio. I may have to call someone to make me some doors. You see why its taking so long

 

[Ashish Patel]

Good idea. My Generac kicks on for 5 mins everyother week just to keep everything lubed up.

Honestly committing to this is harder than it seems. I ran it one time after the power outage and it was you guessed it 1 day before another potential storm. Im not a calender guy. Still living in the 90s

 

[Ashish Patel]

Can't wait to see that tank once it is full of frags!

Thanks. It wont take long. The only concern i have it how much light i should be giving the tank. I am going to have 2 gen 4 radions and I have 2 T5 i am thinking to use. The only thing stopping me is they are kind of goofy to install bc they are retro kit ones. I would need to build a canopy. Which is more labor, electric plugs and timers. Something I want to avoid in my simple to maintain system

 

[Ashish Patel]

Finally done with plumbing for good. Got the QT plumbed to the sink. Got the ATS plumbing fixed so little chance of leak.
Just started the water to the QT. The plumbing cant handle much flow but I didnt want it too. Still shocked how important plumbing is for drainage. Honestly the satellite tanks still probably doing 5x turnover

 

[Ashish Patel]

Lights on

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

It's coming along!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Added 2 corals. Not sure how much light i can give this tank but im doing a modified ab+ focused on the blues at 50% overall intensity. Is this good starting point?

 

[Ashish Patel]

I just finished reading through my entire build thread, and I was honestly surprised by how much my tank has evolved and all the problems I shared. Kind of like therapy for me. It made me realize how much I've learned along the way, so I figured I'd share a few observations.

As some of you know, I typically go 3–4 months between water changes. When I do one, I usually use an entire 200-gallon box. Interestingly, I used a full box of fritz red box last April and again this April, and both summers I experienced excellent coral growth. Otherwise I use instant or reefcrystal (which i dont love bc i feel its cheap for a reason). I'm wondering if there's a connection or if it's simply the warmer temperatures. My tank runs around 75–77°F during winter and 78–79°F during summer. I also suspect the trace element levels in Fritz Red Box play a role. One reason I can go so long between water changes is my DIY trace element dosing. Over the years, I've used ICP testing to fine-tune my dosing until I found what works for my system. For about a year now, I've been making my own iron and manganese supplements. Before that using Red Sea C which i loved but it didnt last long so created my own. I also dose Lugol's solution weekly

My weekly dosing:

• 20 drops Lugol's solution
• 40 mL homemade iron /manganese

My theory (Fact) is that many of the benefits we see from water changes come from replenishing depleted trace elements, particularly iron, iodine, and manganese. If we can consistently replace these through dosing, perhaps we can maintain many of those benefits without frequent water changes. I dont see a drop of or gain between waterchanges, something I used to back in the day and questioned that even at any early age. That tells me the tank is getting its dopamine hit with a waterchange mainly from depleted iron, iodine, etc. Sure if your relying on waterchanges to control nutrients that will also play a part. Cheaper than salt to replenish and reduces my carbon footprint slightly, which is important to me. For now, I prefer using large water changes as an occasional reset to replenish anything I may have missed along with a potential threat.


This approach has been working well for me, so I figured I'd share. Curious if anyone else has noticed a similar relationship between trace elements, water changes, and seasonal coral growth