First Reef Tank - IM Nuvo Fusion 40

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muzikalmatt

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Tank looks great. You still have the flame scallop after a year?

Thanks very much! The tank has been running for a year (including the cycle) but I've only had the flame scallop for just over four months. From my research I know they only tend to last 6 months to a year in a reef tank but I'm hopeful I can do better. (Although I also read their typical lifespan is only about 3 years anyways.) It moved around several times in the first week, but it has been in this spot ever since and seems happy and healthy. While it's not an ideal spot for visibility, I can still see it from the right side of the tank and I know not to move him.

I broadcast feed the tank pretty heavily with Reef Nutrition's Phyto Feast about every other day as I have several other filter feeders in the tank (feather duster and coco worm) and I actually spot feet him Phyto Feast probably every 7-10 days to make sure he's getting enough to eat. It seems to be working well so far and hasn't affected my tank's parameters so I'm hopeful he'll make it past the one year mark.
 

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Thanks very much! The tank has been running for a year (including the cycle) but I've only had the flame scallop for just over four months. From my research I know they only tend to last 6 months to a year in a reef tank but I'm hopeful I can do better. (Although I also read their typical lifespan is only about 3 years anyways.) It moved around several times in the first week, but it has been in this spot ever since and seems happy and healthy. While it's not an ideal spot for visibility, I can still see it from the right side of the tank and I know not to move him.

I broadcast feed the tank pretty heavily with Reef Nutrition's Phyto Feast about every other day as I have several other filter feeders in the tank (feather duster and coco worm) and I actually spot feet him Phyto Feast probably every 7-10 days to make sure he's getting enough to eat. It seems to be working well so far and hasn't affected my tank's parameters so I'm hopeful he'll make it past the one year mark.

Thanks so much for using our Phyto-Feast. Your animals look really good and it's great to see how far this tank has come. We truly appreciate you choosing our phytoplankton product. Hope you like that density and shelf-life. ;)

Best,
Chad
 
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Thanks so much for using our Phyto-Feast. Your animals look really good and it's great to see how far this tank has come. We truly appreciate you choosing our phytoplankton product. Hope you like that density and shelf-life. ;)

Best,
Chad

Wow thanks a lot for the praise! I love your products! I also use Oyster Feast and ROE almost everyday and the fish and corals love it! The Phyto-Feast is great and I'm sure it's a big part of why the tank and its inhabitants are doing so well.
 
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Cheers! I felt like that was a toast. :)

Haha! Cheers!

giphy[1].gif
 
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Well, it's been over three months since my last tank update so I figured I am long overdue. I have to admit I caught a wicked case of LARS (Lazy butt Reefer Syndrome) and the tank suffered for it.

I slacked on water changes and let the tank's alkalinity drop too low, then overcompensated too quickly to try and fix it. I also think I over-pruned the chaeto in my refugium which caused a spike in nitrates. Those issues combined led to some coral loss, including the green birdsnest at the top center of the tank, kryptonite candy cane, and green monticap. The red monticap bleached out quite a bit as well, but it's on the comeback and seems like it will recover. Unfortunately, I also lost my staghorn hermit crab as his shell (which is technically a coral) grew a bunch of algae on it and he disappeared. My torch coral was also bleaching out so I moved it back to the sand bed. The color appears to be coming back but I believe one of the heads is a goner.

All in all not too bad given the circumstances, but this setback has definitely made me more vigilant with my husbandry lately. I've been pretty consistent for the past month or so, and things look on the mend. Below are some recent pictures to show the tank's current state.

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Once things are fully back on track and consistent I'm looking to add some more livestock (fish and corals), so any suggestions would definitely be appreciated!
 
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The tank has been looking pretty solid lately, so I figured I'd share a few more pictures.

Platygyra Brain Coral - Although it's hard to tell, this thing is about the diameter of a softball and puts out ~6" sweepers at night. That's why I have to keep him tucked in the corner. My yellow watchman goby likes to chill out on him though.
0425202126.jpg


Here is the YWG lounging on the brain coral while the pistol shrimp goes to work. Sorry for the blues, I didn't have time to put the filter on to catch this picture.
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The zoa garden is really taking off. I have some clementines, no-name yellow zoas (although I call them blueberries for the blue center), everlasting gobstoppers, and gorilla nipples that are spreading like a weed. Surprisingly the pandoras which are normally weeds are slow growers for me...probably the location and lack of light.
0425202125d.jpg


Some Sunny D's and Utter Chaos on the sandbed along with a Duncan that's exploded from one to 7 heads.
0425202125a.jpg


This rock flower anemone has gotten massive!
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Obligatory full tank shot.
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Tank looks awesome :)

Thanks man! I really need to do something with the top middle rock structure. The trash palys have taken over and the birdsnest is nearly a goner. I need some high light centerpiece corals to put up there once I clear those palys off.
 
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Do you run socks?
Same Kessil lighting?
What were you doing to replace elements?

TIA

@Tahoe61 For mechanical filtration, I have the inTank media basket in the far right chamber and the inTank filter floss holder in the far left chamber. I use inTank's filter floss in both and change them out every 3-4 days.

For lighting, I'm still using a single Kessil A360WE mounted about 10" off the water surface. I'll have to double-check the settings in the Kessil spectral controller, but I believe I'm running ~8 hours of total lighting. My max intensity is 80-85% for ~6 hours with an hour ramp up and an hour ramp down. I think for spectrum I cap it at 50% for the mid-day peak and dial it down to 0% in the evenings as I like the heavy blues. I've been considering ramping up the intensity slowly over time, but I'm hesitant as things have been working well with these settings. I'd really like to get a PAR meter to see where things are at and make adjustments based on that information. Eventually, I'd really like to setup a T5/LED hybrid to get better overall spread and address shadowing, but for now the Kessil is doing great and the corals are growing.

For replacing elements I'm dosing BRS 2-part by hand ~8-10 mL a day. I dose Calcium in the morning, Alkalinity (soda ash) at night and dose Magnesium as needed when the levels get lower than I'd like. I try to keep the tank around 8.6 dKH and this dosing regimen seems to do the trick. It's a little labor intensive doing it by hand, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on a doser. I may get one in the future when the demand gets higher. For trace elements, I pretty much rely on water changes. I change ~5 gallons weekly which is between 10-15% of my total water volume. (I used Reef Crystals salt mix at 1.026 salinity.) I have dosed ChaetoGro every once in a while to help my chaeto refugium when it seems like it's not growing as fast as normal and my nitrates are creeping up. That helps replenish a lot of the trace elements like Iron and Potassium.

Let me know if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.6%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 66 34.0%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.9%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.4%
  • Other.

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