Dluce510: My "Ok I might have a problem" SPS 120 Thread

[DLuce510]

Hump Day Update

Things have been progessing nicley since the crash and move, things are coloring up nicely and Im feeling move and more confident everyday to share my reef.

Parameters have been a lttle off latley, I went back to Dosing Triton method from my Calcium Reactor and im still trying to get things fine tuned. Alk has had slow swing but Calcium has been all over. Im high on Iodine (.09) according to red sea and I suspect thats why my RR The Vihn has browned out on me HARD, but still getting bigger and bigger.

Change my T5 combo one last time. Currently at:
6 Blue +
1 Aqua Blue Special
1 Purple+

Enjoy!

Killer deal on this from my LFS buddy

Developing Nicley

Enjoy some meditation!

 

[Sahin]

Very nice. It's good that you haven't given up.

How many fish do you currently have inn the tank and what foods do you feed the fish daily?

 

[DLuce510]

Very nice. It's good that you haven't given up.

How many fish do you currently have inn the tank and what foods do you feed the fish daily?

Thank you! Its not always easy but it is rewarding.
Currently we have:
4 Lyre Tail Anthias
3 Green Chromis
3 Purple fire fish
1 Mystery Wrasse
1 mandarin Goby
1 Magnificent Fox Face
1 Okinawa Goby
1 Possum Wrasse
2 Platnium Clowns
1 Lightning Maroon
I think thats it, im probably forgetting somthing. We're still building our numbers up from the move. Plans for one more shoal of Anthias plus a Borbonias and a Sunburst before we start adding Tangs again.

I feed pretty heavy, I've had a problem keeping my system from being nutrient starved. Usually feed 3 times a day of:
LRF Reef Frenzy
Ocean nutrtion Mysis
That Fish Food (which is fantastic and I never see it any where else but Diablo Corals)
And NanoV Zooplankton for the anthias and coral

I've alson been a big fan of Reef Emergy A &B for several years now. Its the only Amino that doesnt cause Cyano in my system.

Happy Reefing!

 

[CoralWealth]

very nice. with that many fish and feeding that much, what is your nutrient export? Do you use carbon or GFO?

 

[DLuce510]

very nice. with that many fish and feeding that much, what is your nutrient export? Do you use carbon or GFO?

Thanks! I use GAC but really just to keep the water clear and par up. I have a reef octopus 170ss DC tuned down. Its rated for 400 gallons I believe. Im always planning for the future!
I have a hefty ball of cheato in the sump but thats more for pH balence and Iron uptake from using Triton. I believe it started with that old mentality of 0 n03 & p04. I was carbon dosing about 3 years ago and my nutrients never came back up. I guess it's a good problem to have, I've been dosing nitrogen flourish for the last couple of years to keep my nitrate around to PPM. Seems to keep the corals happy

 

[CoralWealth]

how much gfo?

Yeah I thought i had a problem with low nutrients, now I added too much and have hair and turf algae issues.

 

[DLuce510]

Sorry not GFO but GAC. I dont use GFO and havent used it for a long time. Honestly a lot of that stuff seems to take care of itself over a period of time. If your test are showing up 0 then Tangs and CUC (lots and lots of crabs) are about all you can do along with good husbandry, turkey basting and pulling it out by hand. Sooner or later the coraline algae should out compete the algae.

 

[DLuce510]

Full Tank Shot Friday!

 

[DLuce510]

DIY Frag Tank

I haven't mentioned much about my Frag Tank yet. I built this a little over a year ago. Like I've said before my profession is in construction and fabrication so I cant bring myself to buy somthing I can build. My first seam not the best but by the end I was getting pretty good.

Dimensions:
24"x12"x7"
Total water volume was some where around 7.5 Gallons

I made this frag tank to fit on the side of my main system, which is why its 24" long, and I wanted it to look like it belongs.

I made it rimless and used 3/8" acrylic on the sides and 1/2" for the bottom, I dont why I did! It made sense to me at the time, in hindsight should have been the other way around since the sides have bowed but its holding strong none the less.

I used my router to make the teeth for the external overflow to maximize space for frags. I should add I have no experience in building tanks, just a little willingness and know how. I recently removed the frag rack and cut all plugs to have a bare bottom. The rack would slow flow and let detritus build up.

The tank is lit by a 6 bulb T5 fixture that I built on 2 channels. I found single bulb fixtures for under $20 and daisy chained them and hung from a kessil AP700 mount for a nice clean look. The combo has been:
4 Blue+
1 Purple+
1 Actinic
For the last year. Growth and color are good and PAR is around 400. All in all it has served its purpose and would be happy to build another making use of the expirence Ive gained.

2 Blue+
1 Actinic

All 6 bulbs

Happy Monday Reefing!

 

[DLuce510]

Updates Coming Soon!

Fish room almost complete. Switching equipment, frag tank and sump this weekend. Gonna be big!

Sneak Peek

Plus... New Light!!!

 

[DLuce510]

Been super lagging/ busy. Quick update pics, please enjoy.

 

[DLuce510]

Ive hesitated on posting this video for a while. The fish room is done but it could have used some detailing for visual appeal. Sorry for the length, but this is it, my home built fish shed!

:correction, my pH was not 8.6, it needed to be re calibrated:

 

[CoralWealth]

how is everything going now?

 

[DLuce510]

how is everything going now?

I'll do an update when I get home from work, thanks for asking!

 

[DLuce510]

Quick late night update. The system is really getting its groove back. Bunch of growth starting to take off, so of coarse I got a bunch of frags from all the winter sales. I've always hated tanks that are frag city but its an interesting combo when its mixed with some colonies. Ill post some pictures of general groups of Acros and in a few days I'll probably start cataloging individuals. Sorry for the overly blue but its night time. Enjoy!

My Monti Cove

Branching Cyphastrea on a Leather Backgroung

Cornbred's Grafted Setosa. This thing is almost hard to look at under actinics.

And a Chromi photo bomb!

Good night!

 

[Tahoe61]

The Setosa is gorgeous.

Do you feed any specific sps foods?

 

[revhtree]

Tank looks great!

 

[DLuce510]

Tank looks great!

Thanks Rev!

The Setosa is gorgeous.

Do you feed any specific sps foods?

Thanks. Ive always fed pretty generously, my system has always been a little nutrient starved. I try to even incorporate my fish food with things that will feed my corals like zoo plankton (mainly for Anthias) and some oyster feast that makes the fish go crazy.
I don't do anything extraordinary, every night I feed 25ml of reef energy A&B. Its probably the only Amino additive that doesn't cause cyano in my system. Along with that I add 5mls of phyto feast. Oyster feast every other night. Every now and then I'll add Coral Frenzy or Reef Riods but that's maybe every couple of weeks. I do believe feeding helps the Acros, so called immune system. By my standards its pretty simple.

 

[coseal]

Change my T5 combo one last time. Currently at:
6 Blue +
1 Aqua Blue Special
1 Purple+

are you still running this bulb combo? tank looks great btw!

 

[DLuce510]

are you still running this bulb combo? tank looks great btw!

Thanks! Yup I still do have the same combo. I've been considering going to 5 Blue+
3 purple+
Or maybe a actinic in there. I was always concerned about PAR but with my fixture that doesn't seem to be a issue, along with a newer line of thought and experiences that a lot of our Acros do just fine in more medium light like 250 par. My colors are still the last thing to recover from the crash and move but if every thing keeps moving the way it is its only gonna get better.