Help - 3 Questions - Tank video

[natefende]

Hello! 3 Questions, and here is a video of my reef start up. 300 gallon DD tank, was FOWLR for 10+ years before.

Question 1: What do I need to have to make this a real reef tank?
I have Hanna test kits for Alk, Phosphate, Mag, Calcium and Nitrate
3 Uno Pro 2.0 lights
Probes for temp, salinity, PH
Auto top off
Not dosing anything yet (help)
What can I add to help make this thrive?

Question 2: How do I setup my lights for optimum growth?
My par meter shows 100 at the sand 27” down, middle is 125-150, top is 200+.
Looking for advise on color spectrum with UNO 2s… I’m using the default SPS setting at about 47% power to get these numbers at peak. How long should peak light be? I think it’s only an hour now so numbers drop.

Question 3: How’s my initial placement of coral look? What would you do different and what should I get next?

Appreciate you all!

-Nate from Cincy

 

[natefende]

Hello! 3 Questions, and here is a video of my reef start up. 300 gallon DD tank, was FOWLR for 10+ years before.

Question 1: What do I need to have to make this a real reef tank?
I have Hanna test kits for Alk, Phosphate, Mag, Calcium and Nitrate
3 Uno Pro 2.0 lights
Probes for temp, salinity, PH
Auto top off
Not dosing anything yet (help)
What can I add to help make this thrive?

Question 2: How do I setup my lights for optimum growth?
My par meter shows 100 at the sand 27” down, middle is 125-150, top is 200+.
Looking for advise on color spectrum with UNO 2s… I’m using the default SPS setting at about 47% power to get these numbers at peak. How long should peak light be? I think it’s only an hour now so numbers drop.

Question 3: How’s my initial placement of coral look? What would you do different and what should I get next?

Appreciate you all!

-Nate from Cincy

 

[rayadog]

Dang you got some crazy mushrooms in there already. Looks well on it’s way. Idk anything about those lights. Pars are about what I have in my 75 tank and seem to be doing well. If the coral is open and extended, it’s likely an okay spot for now.

How long have the corals been in there?

 

[natefende]

Dang you got some crazy mushrooms in there already. Looks well on it’s way. Idk anything about those lights. Pars are about what I have in my 75 tank and seem to be doing well. If the coral is open and extended, it’s likely an okay spot for now.

How long have the corals been in there?

I started adding coral in January. Anemone in December. Most are a couple months some just weeks.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

I think everything sounds pretty good here. You’ve a nice setup and it should thrive. You don’t have too much coral yet, so water changes can suffice, but down the line I would start dosing. Waterchanges are costly and labour intensive on a tank this big!
I’m in university, so tight on cash. I crunched the numbers about a year ago and here in Ireland ATI essentials pro was the cheapest & best solution for a mixed reef.
It’s a two part solution. To be honest you don’t need any sort of fancy doser. Your tank is nice and big so not as sensitive anyways to fluctuations.
It’s designed so that alk gets used up at the same rate as cal and mag, so too be honest, once you’ve it set up, I just test alk every two weeks and make sure it’s steady. It’s apparently got all the trace elements needed, but I still do a 20% water change on my 500L tank every month to make sure.
The other thing maybe is phosphates and nitrates. What’re your numbers ? I was a bit crazy about them at the start, but now I don’t really think nitrates matter too much in my experience anyways. Just between 5-25 is fine for me.
I do think phosphates matter. They can act as a coral growth inhibitor at high levels. I use a GFO reactor to control them. I test every 1-2 weeks, and just add a tablespoon or two to my reactor as needed. They’ve sat at 0.05 fright from the start. I’d aim for 1 or below as long as they’re not completely bottomed out (they’re needed in small doses all the same!)
Best of luck, this should be a great system.

 

[rayadog]

^ agreed. As long as N and P are not zero

 

[natefende]

I think everything sounds pretty good here. You’ve a nice setup and it should thrive. You don’t have too much coral yet, so water changes can suffice, but down the line I would start dosing. Waterchanges are costly and labour intensive on a tank this big!
I’m in university, so tight on cash. I crunched the numbers about a year ago and here in Ireland ATI essentials pro was the cheapest & best solution for a mixed reef.
It’s a two part solution. To be honest you don’t need any sort of fancy doser. Your tank is nice and big so not as sensitive anyways to fluctuations.
It’s designed so that alk gets used up at the same rate as cal and mag, so too be honest, once you’ve it set up, I just test alk every two weeks and make sure it’s steady. It’s apparently got all the trace elements needed, but I still do a 20% water change on my 500L tank every month to make sure.
The other thing maybe is phosphates and nitrates. What’re your numbers ? I was a bit crazy about them at the start, but now I don’t really think nitrates matter too much in my experience anyways. Just between 5-25 is fine for me.
I do think phosphates matter. They can act as a coral growth inhibitor at high levels. I use a GFO reactor to control them. I test every 1-2 weeks, and just add a tablespoon or two to my reactor as needed. They’ve sat at 0.05 fright from the start. I’d aim for 1 or below as long as they’re not completely bottomed out (they’re needed in small doses all the same!)
Best of luck, this should be a great system.

Hello,

I appreciate the response. Here are my numbers:

ALK - 253
Nitrate - 10.9
Phosphate - .9
Calcium - 480 API 525 Hanna (usually I’m at 400-420) I was dosing too much I guess.
Mag - 1325
Temp - 78.9
SG - 1.024
PH - 8.1

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Hanna for nitrates, phosphates and alk.
Salifert is the best for mag and cal here in Ireland but people don’t use Hanna anyways. Apparently they’re very inaccurate.
Everything else looks perfect, apart from phosphates which are sky sky high. Are you sure you didn’t mean 0.09??? Instead of 0.9

 

[natefende]

Hanna for nitrates, phosphates and alk.
Salifert is the best for mag and cal here in Ireland but people don’t use Hanna anyways. Apparently they’re very inaccurate.
Everything else looks perfect, apart from phosphates which are sky sky high. Are you sure you didn’t mean 0.09??? Instead of 0.9

Welp, I tested it again and made sure I cleaned the vial with a paper towel so no smudges on it. Got .9 again. My API test looks very close to 0 and that’s where it is normally. It would be much darker even for .25 or .5. I must be doing something wrong or it’s not calibrated right. Not much algae in the tank you can see and I have cheato in the sump. I do have to clean the glass but it’s not much after a few days.

 

[Skippy The Meh]

I think everything sounds pretty good here. You’ve a nice setup and it should thrive. You don’t have too much coral yet, so water changes can suffice, but down the line I would start dosing. Waterchanges are costly and labour intensive on a tank this big!
I’m in university, so tight on cash. I crunched the numbers about a year ago and here in Ireland ATI essentials pro was the cheapest & best solution for a mixed reef.
It’s a two part solution. To be honest you don’t need any sort of fancy doser. Your tank is nice and big so not as sensitive anyways to fluctuations.
It’s designed so that alk gets used up at the same rate as cal and mag, so too be honest, once you’ve it set up, I just test alk every two weeks and make sure it’s steady. It’s apparently got all the trace elements needed, but I still do a 20% water change on my 500L tank every month to make sure.
The other thing maybe is phosphates and nitrates. What’re your numbers ? I was a bit crazy about them at the start, but now I don’t really think nitrates matter too much in my experience anyways. Just between 5-25 is fine for me.
I do think phosphates matter. They can act as a coral growth inhibitor at high levels. I use a GFO reactor to control them. I test every 1-2 weeks, and just add a tablespoon or two to my reactor as needed. They’ve sat at 0.05 fright from the start. I’d aim for 1 or below as long as they’re not completely bottomed out (they’re needed in small doses all the same!)
Best of luck, this should be a great system.

So fun fact: hannah phosphate testers only go up to .9. It will just max out and read .9 every time. Your phosphates are higher than .9. It might also mean that theres an error in your process somewhere. Follow directions to a T.