General advice wanted

[Blueringed_Octo]

Hello everyone,

Thanks again for the warm welcomes. I wanted to reach out with this post today to see if anyone viewing this has any 2 cents they would like to throw in when it comes to my tank at a glance. I am not a professional at all and for those who missed my greeting post, I took on livestock from a friend and put together this Red Sea tank. With that being said If there is any advice someone would like to offer on anything they see just from the pictures that they think or know I am doing wrong or could better improve from, please let me know. (i.e coral placement, equipment setup, livestock etc.) Thanks guys, I just want to make sure I don't kill the livestock. He gave me all of the fish, coral and liverock with the exception of the tank itself and the equipment I bought myself.


I am running the Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL
Dual Kessil AP700 lights.
- Schedule is currently (9:00=10% 11:00=30% 13:00=80% 17:00=80% 19:00=30% 21:00=0%)
Color spectrum is 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.

Interestingly enough, I have not had to change any of the four collection socks in the sump. about a few months ago when they were about halfway ready to be swapped, the population of microorganisms exploded and now there are so many that they eat any and everything that lands in the socks. I watched the socks go from dirty to crystal clean and see through with these little guys on the insides and outsides eating everything, so that's good I guess.

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 which I JUST got returned back to me in the mail after it had to be sent out for breaking. I got this when it first got announced through a connection I have with a LFS owner.

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.

I've also got a bunch of extra testing kits, trace element supplements and coral additives that my buddy gave me with the livestock but I'm too inexperienced still to do anything except display them in this lovely glass case.

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

Future additions:
1 purple tang
1 yellow tang (these two added last at same time)
sea urchins
another star
some emerald crabs and more cleaner crew
a school of black axil chromis/blue reef chromis
possible anemone (had a carpet never again lol but maybe a rose tip)
spider decorator crabs(coolest invert i've ever seen in my old tank hands down)
Clam

I have no idea about what coral are in my tank or kinds of zoes/polys or placements so I'm open to suggestions or corrections on that especially. I have everything he gave me and I don't know if they like where they are or not. I had a clam he gave me which was huge and beautiful but it started showing ill signs after the tank swap and I was afraid I would kill it so I took it to the fish store and gave it away for free in hopes it would recover. I would consider getting another clam later when I feel responsible enough to care for it.

Sorry for the long post but thank you all who took the time to read and thanks in advanced for the feedback!

 

[ndrwater]

I like it.. sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things..
One piece if advice which is often hard to abide by is go slow.. when you think you are going slow, slow down even more.
Don't chase numbers and look at your tank and inhabitants.. they will usually tell you what is going good or bad

 

[Dine]

Ok so first things first....you’re off to an excellent start. Really I can tell you’ve done your homework here. Just keep staying consistent with the water changes, testing, and patience.

2 small things I picked up on:

filter socks. These things love to hold nitrates and phosphates if not changed regularly. I’d get in the habit of switching them out every couple days with a new set. Keep a few sets on hand so you always have a clean set while you wash the others. Even better ditch the socks completely for filter floss or the more expensive option (since you already have a very expensive set up!) a roller mat. So much easier to maintain long term. I don’t want your nitrates and phosphates to creep up on you and cause you issues later. That’s what sends most new Reefers over the edge.

aptasia. I know it doesn’t bother you Now but it will. And it’s going to spread. Kill it with a passion while it’s manageable. When it gets into your display around all your nice coral it’s going to be harder to eradicate. You’re off to such a great start don’t let that stuff take root!

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

I like it.. sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things..
One piece if advice which is often hard to abide by is go slow.. when you think you are going slow, slow down even more.
Don't chase numbers and look at your tank and inhabitants.. they will usually tell you what is going good or bad

Thank you for the reply and advice, i'd like to think I'm slow and thankfully I don't chase numbers. Getting my PH up drove me crazy for a bit but its fine now thankfully.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Wow! That is quite the setup! I love it! Especially those kessils
Everything seems ok parameter wise.

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Ok so first things first....you’re off to an excellent start. Really I can tell you’ve done your homework here. Just keep staying consistent with the water changes, testing, and patience.

2 small things I picked up on:

filter socks. These things love to hold nitrates and phosphates if not changed regularly. I’d get in the habit of switching them out every couple days with a new set. Keep a few sets on hand so you always have a clean set while you wash the others. Even better ditch the socks completely for filter floss or the more expensive option (since you already have a very expensive set up!) a roller mat. So much easier to maintain long term. I don’t want your nitrates and phosphates to creep up on you and cause you issues later. That’s what sends most new Reefers over the edge.

aptasia. I know it doesn’t bother you Now but it will. And it’s going to spread. Kill it with a passion while it’s manageable. When it gets into your display around all your nice coral it’s going to be harder to eradicate. You’re off to such a great start don’t let that stuff take root!

Thanks for the heads up! I'm going to kill the aptasia with some aptasia x I have this weekend. As for the socks, I used the mesh over the software floss material BC I read the soft socks will filter better but clog up much quicker so I opted for the other kind. When I say nothing builds up in them I mean nothing. Do you think even with the socks being empty they could still raise those levels? I've used filter floss before but never the roller mat, I'll have to look into that. Whould siporax cause the levels to go up as well? I've placed two large bags of siporax in the refugium to help host beneficial bacteria. Thanks again for the compliments!

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Wow! That is quite the setup! I love it! Especially those kessils
Everything seems ok parameter wise.

Thanks a lot! I bought the kessils just before RedSea released their new lights. I've already heard great things about them and might upgrade in the future. But the Kessils are awesome.

 

[Mical]

Nice set up! On your "future additions list" you mention urchins, be prepared they tend to be bulldozers when it comes to coral. Tuxedos will carry stuff around on them and long spines literally steam roller over corals. Attached is my "roomba"

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Nice set up! On your "future additions list" you mention urchins, be prepared they tend to be bulldozers when it comes to coral. Tuxedos will carry stuff around on them and long spines literally steam roller over corals. Attached is my "roomba"

Thanks for that heads up! I used to have a tuxedo urchin when I had my nano redsea and I named him Frank Sinatra BC he always wore "hats" so I was in a toss between another one or a long spine but now thanks to your advice I'll bring looking into another tuxedo instead of a long spine. Appreciate this greatly! Yours looks awesome, what coral is that in the bottom left?

 

[Mical]

Thanks for that heads up! I used to have a tuxedo urchin when I had my nano redsea and I named him Frank Sinatra BC he always wore "hats" so I was in a toss between another one or a long spine but now thanks to your advice I'll bring looking into another tuxedo instead of a long spine. Appreciate this greatly! Yours looks awesome, what coral is that in the bottom left?

That's a frogspawn - started as 2 heads 8 mos ago now (at last count) 12+

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

That's a frogspawn - started as 2 heads 8 mos ago now (at last count) 12+

Oh btw love the name of your urchin haha!

But man that's beautiful. I really want that in my tank! I'll have to see what they require and how much they typically run for

 

[Mical]

Frogspawn, hammers are usually priced pretty reasonable their counterparts "torches" are being held hostage lately. But Frogs, hammers are pretty easy to care for once your parameters are somewhat stable. They like moderate to bright lighting and a moderate amount of flow. I've found throwing in some reef roids with the pellets in my Eheim auto feeders keeps them happy.

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Frogspawn, hammers are usually priced pretty reasonable their counterparts "torches" are being held hostage lately. But Frogs, hammers are pretty easy to care for once your parameters are somewhat stable. They like moderate to bright lighting and a moderate amount of flow. I've found throwing in some reef roids with the pellets in my Eheim auto feeders keeps them happy.

I've never heard of reef roids, I imagine thats a sort of supplement for coral that you dose or? Nonetheless I really love the beauty of that in your tank. I'd love to have one in mine.

 

[Mical]

Reef roids is a coral food - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/polyp-lab-reef-roids-coral-food.html

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Reef roids is a coral food - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/polyp-lab-reef-roids-coral-food.html

Ahhh I see. I was reading up on this after you posted. It seems very proactive at stimulating growth and coloration of coral. For me my SPS seem to be growing at a rate I am satisfied with but my soft corals are expanding at an aggressive. So I am more interested in the coloration enhancement of this as I would love to have that extra "vivid" appearance when viewing coral. Thanks for this, I will most definitely be giving this a try!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Agree with others on getting the Aptasia under control before it spreads to your display, the other thing that jumps out at me is your high Alk.. that’s fine if your nutrients are in line but if they are low that could eventually cause problems, do you know your Nitrate and phosphate numbers?

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Agree with others on getting the Aptasia under control before it spreads to your display, the other thing that jumps out at me is your high Alk.. that’s fine if your nutrients are in line but if they are low that could eventually cause problems, do you know your Nitrate and phosphate numbers?

Agree with others on getting the Aptasia under control before it spreads to your display, the other thing that jumps out at me is your high Alk.. that’s fine if your nutrients are in line but if they are low that could eventually cause problems, do you know your Nitrate and phosphate numbers?

Thanks for the comment, I do not know yet I believe I have a kit to test for phosphates and ofcourse nitrates. I saw they made test kits that you just drrop water in and a digital meter reads the results to you. But I still have my buddys left over kits and a lot of them are really old as in the reagents are past expired so kinda hesitant to trust them. Everything else you read from my info originally is being shared in real time at any given moment from the Apex.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Probably wouldn’t trust out of date kits, being able to determine your nutrient levels is extremely beneficial so you may want to consider acquiring them.

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Probably wouldn’t trust out of date kits, being able to determine your nutrient levels is extremely beneficial so you may want to consider acquiring them.

Will do! I'm going to try to find those nicer digital kits. I'm big on self automated and instantly viewing data on the tank. Also removing human error is a plus. I took out all the aptasia with aptasia x tonight. I might get an arrow crab tomorrow from the LFS to keep in the sump BC there are a lot of bristle worms down there and a fat flat looking worm that makes me uneasy. Thanks for your advice!