Blueringed_Octo
Community Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2019
- Messages
- 63
- Reaction score
- 71
Hey everyone! Been a bit but now I have some really great progression pics to share with you all and anyone looking to get an idea of how much growth you can expect after 4 months of running the new upgrades I added to my tank. I will try to document the before and after equipment lists below as easy to follow as possible.
The following is what I was running when these before pictures were taken in Feb of 2020.
Dual Kessil AP700 lights.
- Schedule (9:00=10% 11:00=30% 13:00=80% 17:00=80% 19:00=30% 21:00=0%)
Color spectrum only Blue Leds with the exception of Red+10 and Green+25 from 13:00-17:00
Apex Fusion:
Salinity always between 33.5-34
ORP always between 410-417
PH always between 8.07-8.18
Temp always between 77.9-79.2
2 leak detection sensors
800 Watt TH Titanium Heating Element - Finnex
kicks on and off by the Apex automatically
Vectra M2 DC Return Pump (2000 GPH) - Ecotech Marine
-runs at about 2 leds on the dial below full power 24/7 even during feeding
Reef Octopus Classic 202-S 8" Internal Protein Skimmer
runs 24/7 with an air line that runs outside of the house in order to feed outdoor air directly into the skimmer
(noticed a much darker collection cup and higher PH level doing this as my PH used to be hard to keep up)
Sump has some rock and green macro algae growing however I noticed a massive amount of organisms including amphipods growing down there and in the display as well. I also have Aptasia but only a hand full in the sump which don't bother me. and a bunch of bristleworms in the sump as well but i've yet to see a single one in the display.
ATO built in the tank which i fill with RODI
7 Stage PRO Plus 75 GPD RO/DI System - Bulk Reef Supply
I use this and a 32 gal trash can to do about 30 gal water changes at a time.
Mixed with Red Sea Salt mix to replenish lost elements. I make the water overnight, use heater to warm up, then add the salt 2 hours before water change.
Maxspec Gyre wave makers (not sure which model but they seem to be enough current for 200gal)
Battery Backup - IceCap (only the Gyre wavemakers are hooked up to this)
And last but not least the incredible Trident
ALK, CA, and MG I try to get as close to RED SEA's website recommendations
CA
450
Magnesium
1350
Alkalinity
11.5
The tank gets fed once a day with LRS Reef Frenzy which I break off and thaw in a cup of tank water before serving.
Current Livestock:
4 Clowns(one white, two black, one orange)
4 Bangai Cardinals
1 Key Lime Wrasse
1 Chromis (green)
1 Diamond Watchman Goby
1 Green Mandarin
1 Royal Gramma
1 Flame Angel
1 serpent star
2 Skunk cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
about 75 blue legged hermit
25 red scarlet hermits
handful of mixed snails
Above pics were taken in Feb 2020....and now for the current pics taken in June 2020
As you can see, Coral growth exploded. I added more livestock and a few pieces of equipment which I will list below. Most notably, the UV Sterilizer really helped me clean the water up as well as having the Tang Gang to destroy any and all hair algae. Love those guys. NO ALGAE PUTS TANG GANG IN A CORNER!
Added Equipment:
Filter: I switched from socks to fiter floss and Red Sea 4" filter cups. I use a medium grade filter floss which I sit on top of the cup intake and IMO I feel it is a much better solution for my needs. Makes maintaining the water easier.
Lighting: stayed the same as well as the schedule
UV-VECTRON 600 from American Aquarium Products. LOTS of great info on their site regarding UV. If you are on the fence about UV and have time to do your research I highly recommend shooting over to their site and giving their articles a read.
Apex Energy Bar 4 (needed for extra equipment power needs)
V2 Optical level sensor with mag mount (For sump water level)
Pink Fusion and Purple Helix Coralline Algae kit
Apex Auto Feed System which I now fill with TDO-EP1 Medium 1.7mm Chroma Boost Fish Food from Reef Nutrition.
Fish are now on a twice a day feeding schedule at 12 noon and 3pm at which time the Return Pump and Skimmer are shut down automatically giving the fish plenty of time to eat before turning back on. I also still feed the same frozen food as before except more so twice a week along with seaweed on a clip for a more varied diet.
Neptune DOS & DDR Dosing System Package-This was easily a no brainer since I already had the Trident which now allows me to do Trident Controlled dosing. The trident runs its tests everyday and tells the dosing pumps exactly how much ALK & Cal to add without me ever having to mess with it.
Upgraded the LED Lighting under the cabinet with some cheap strips that were about $20 off amazon. The ones used before were super cheap and some of the leds had went out.
I also bought the Poseidon Reef Systems PhytoTank CL Copepod System (not pictured)
I believe that was it for equipment. Other than the Tiger Shark PLUS Magnetic Algae Cleaner. I say this thing is a MUST if you own a reef tank with thick glass such as this Red Sea. The magnet is incredibly strong and it does a terrific job at keeping my glass clean.
Also side note, Red Sea sent me the upgrade for the tank stand for free as a solution to the cabinet structure integrity issue.
Livestock added:
Since Feb I have added the following
Blue Powder Tang
Yellow Tang
Tomini Tang
Black spot fox fish
Bicolor Blenny
(Wanted a Purple Tang so badly but the guy I get my fish from couldn't get any that were healthy at the start of the pandemic which isn't his fault, I just ran out of luck I guess. I am too nervous about adding the Purple tang last now that I already added the other three tangs in the tank.)
I get all of my fish now from Ocean Devotion by a guy named Adam Sklar. Just in case anyone else out there, like me is worried about online purchases nowadays. This guy is the new wave for sure. I used to use all the big retailers but the quality is so bad nowadays that all my livestock were either in poor health, DOA, or died shortly after arriving. Good customer service is hard to find but to anyone willing to give Adam a try, I can put my word down that you won't be disappointed. If I remember correctly, He is located and ships out of CA. He doesn't have a massive warehouse or anything like that, but you deal with him directly every time. He is on top of his email responses every day and any fish you want he can practically get and ship out to you. He basically offers two different prices. The higher of the two includes him QTing your livestock with a guarantee. If at any point during the QT or delivery or even shortly after arriving your livestock were to pass away, he refunds you the entire amount. All during which, he is doing constant water changes, medication, and feedings. He sends you updates of your fish with pictures and videos and his prices are reasonable. Not sure if I am allowed to post links but this isn't an advertisement by any means, I am simply a really satisfied customer leaving a good review for a service that I was struggling like most others to find for awhile. Hopefully those of you who need a reliable fish source can see this and find your solution.
Future additions:
The new Kessil lights if they get good feedback from customers
I'd like to add a clam and some more fish but not sure which ones yet
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my update and sorry for blabbing on for a bit. Hope you guys enjoy and if you have any questions about the set up of my tank, schedule, etc. Just let me know. I will be glad to help! And sorry in advance to anyone who is triggered by my poor cable management!
The following is what I was running when these before pictures were taken in Feb of 2020.
Dual Kessil AP700 lights.
- Schedule (9:00=10% 11:00=30% 13:00=80% 17:00=80% 19:00=30% 21:00=0%)
Color spectrum only Blue Leds with the exception of Red+10 and Green+25 from 13:00-17:00
Apex Fusion:
Salinity always between 33.5-34
ORP always between 410-417
PH always between 8.07-8.18
Temp always between 77.9-79.2
2 leak detection sensors
800 Watt TH Titanium Heating Element - Finnex
kicks on and off by the Apex automatically
Vectra M2 DC Return Pump (2000 GPH) - Ecotech Marine
-runs at about 2 leds on the dial below full power 24/7 even during feeding
Reef Octopus Classic 202-S 8" Internal Protein Skimmer
runs 24/7 with an air line that runs outside of the house in order to feed outdoor air directly into the skimmer
(noticed a much darker collection cup and higher PH level doing this as my PH used to be hard to keep up)
Sump has some rock and green macro algae growing however I noticed a massive amount of organisms including amphipods growing down there and in the display as well. I also have Aptasia but only a hand full in the sump which don't bother me. and a bunch of bristleworms in the sump as well but i've yet to see a single one in the display.
ATO built in the tank which i fill with RODI
7 Stage PRO Plus 75 GPD RO/DI System - Bulk Reef Supply
I use this and a 32 gal trash can to do about 30 gal water changes at a time.
Mixed with Red Sea Salt mix to replenish lost elements. I make the water overnight, use heater to warm up, then add the salt 2 hours before water change.
Maxspec Gyre wave makers (not sure which model but they seem to be enough current for 200gal)
Battery Backup - IceCap (only the Gyre wavemakers are hooked up to this)
And last but not least the incredible Trident
ALK, CA, and MG I try to get as close to RED SEA's website recommendations
CA
450
Magnesium
1350
Alkalinity
11.5
The tank gets fed once a day with LRS Reef Frenzy which I break off and thaw in a cup of tank water before serving.
Current Livestock:
4 Clowns(one white, two black, one orange)
4 Bangai Cardinals
1 Key Lime Wrasse
1 Chromis (green)
1 Diamond Watchman Goby
1 Green Mandarin
1 Royal Gramma
1 Flame Angel
1 serpent star
2 Skunk cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
about 75 blue legged hermit
25 red scarlet hermits
handful of mixed snails
Above pics were taken in Feb 2020....and now for the current pics taken in June 2020
As you can see, Coral growth exploded. I added more livestock and a few pieces of equipment which I will list below. Most notably, the UV Sterilizer really helped me clean the water up as well as having the Tang Gang to destroy any and all hair algae. Love those guys. NO ALGAE PUTS TANG GANG IN A CORNER!
Added Equipment:
Filter: I switched from socks to fiter floss and Red Sea 4" filter cups. I use a medium grade filter floss which I sit on top of the cup intake and IMO I feel it is a much better solution for my needs. Makes maintaining the water easier.
Lighting: stayed the same as well as the schedule
UV-VECTRON 600 from American Aquarium Products. LOTS of great info on their site regarding UV. If you are on the fence about UV and have time to do your research I highly recommend shooting over to their site and giving their articles a read.
Apex Energy Bar 4 (needed for extra equipment power needs)
V2 Optical level sensor with mag mount (For sump water level)
Pink Fusion and Purple Helix Coralline Algae kit
Apex Auto Feed System which I now fill with TDO-EP1 Medium 1.7mm Chroma Boost Fish Food from Reef Nutrition.
Fish are now on a twice a day feeding schedule at 12 noon and 3pm at which time the Return Pump and Skimmer are shut down automatically giving the fish plenty of time to eat before turning back on. I also still feed the same frozen food as before except more so twice a week along with seaweed on a clip for a more varied diet.
Neptune DOS & DDR Dosing System Package-This was easily a no brainer since I already had the Trident which now allows me to do Trident Controlled dosing. The trident runs its tests everyday and tells the dosing pumps exactly how much ALK & Cal to add without me ever having to mess with it.
Upgraded the LED Lighting under the cabinet with some cheap strips that were about $20 off amazon. The ones used before were super cheap and some of the leds had went out.
I also bought the Poseidon Reef Systems PhytoTank CL Copepod System (not pictured)
I believe that was it for equipment. Other than the Tiger Shark PLUS Magnetic Algae Cleaner. I say this thing is a MUST if you own a reef tank with thick glass such as this Red Sea. The magnet is incredibly strong and it does a terrific job at keeping my glass clean.
Also side note, Red Sea sent me the upgrade for the tank stand for free as a solution to the cabinet structure integrity issue.
Livestock added:
Since Feb I have added the following
Blue Powder Tang
Yellow Tang
Tomini Tang
Black spot fox fish
Bicolor Blenny
(Wanted a Purple Tang so badly but the guy I get my fish from couldn't get any that were healthy at the start of the pandemic which isn't his fault, I just ran out of luck I guess. I am too nervous about adding the Purple tang last now that I already added the other three tangs in the tank.)
I get all of my fish now from Ocean Devotion by a guy named Adam Sklar. Just in case anyone else out there, like me is worried about online purchases nowadays. This guy is the new wave for sure. I used to use all the big retailers but the quality is so bad nowadays that all my livestock were either in poor health, DOA, or died shortly after arriving. Good customer service is hard to find but to anyone willing to give Adam a try, I can put my word down that you won't be disappointed. If I remember correctly, He is located and ships out of CA. He doesn't have a massive warehouse or anything like that, but you deal with him directly every time. He is on top of his email responses every day and any fish you want he can practically get and ship out to you. He basically offers two different prices. The higher of the two includes him QTing your livestock with a guarantee. If at any point during the QT or delivery or even shortly after arriving your livestock were to pass away, he refunds you the entire amount. All during which, he is doing constant water changes, medication, and feedings. He sends you updates of your fish with pictures and videos and his prices are reasonable. Not sure if I am allowed to post links but this isn't an advertisement by any means, I am simply a really satisfied customer leaving a good review for a service that I was struggling like most others to find for awhile. Hopefully those of you who need a reliable fish source can see this and find your solution.
Future additions:
The new Kessil lights if they get good feedback from customers
I'd like to add a clam and some more fish but not sure which ones yet
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my update and sorry for blabbing on for a bit. Hope you guys enjoy and if you have any questions about the set up of my tank, schedule, etc. Just let me know. I will be glad to help! And sorry in advance to anyone who is triggered by my poor cable management!
