Mattdg's 120G SPS / Mixed Reef Build and Progress

[mattdg]

Beautiful Tank!!

As for lights, I'd 100% recommend Luca over at Quanta Lights. I have a good friend who is close friends with Luca and I've seen what Quanta lights can do and its just stunning. If you're used to T5's you might really enjoy the Atlas fixtures as they are more white and replicate more of the Halide/T5 colors. They have amazing coverage. If you look them up on youtube you'll find par testing over my good friend's empty growout tub. They have some outstanding par and coverage despite not being a "full coverage" or large rectangle fixture. Quanta also makes a LED bar called the Helix which is very well reviewed and a great light if you'd want to go the bar route. I think I'll be doing the Helix bars when I change out from my T5 fixture in the future.

Nice. I will check out the Luca lights.

 

[Featherweight]

The front glass on my tank is so scratched. The days of worrying about little details like that are long gone. Now I just enjoy the fruitful bounty. Alk has really stabilized lately. I'm am going to try to ween this reef off of BRS Alk & Cal "pharma" supplements soon and transition to something not so expensive. BRS has been jacking their prices up, like they think all reef keepers are crypto millionaires. I wish. I need to ween myself off of my co-dependency with them. They were THE BEST back in the day. Now my skin kind of crawls, when I log on to the site. Anyway, the tank is doing well, but needs a bit of trimming. Definitely an updated ICP to see where all the trace dosing is leveling out. Just remembered the other day, I have been really bad about keeping up with Strontium dosing. Need to probably replace my T5's soon too. I imagine I will replace them with something like AI blades (which I really like in theory), but TBT, I am kind of tired of the whole overpriced Aperature reef products hype. Seriously, this tank did just as well on black boxes as it does on the current AI hydra 64 HD's... potentially better. This build thread is proof. Anyway, not sure why I am feeling like such a grump about the current state of "popular" vendors and products, but if any of you know of a more affordable, quality strip light, similar to the AI blades, that are working for you.. let me know.

Love the quanta bars. I have them on both reefs now

 

[Featherweight]

Great reef! Thanks for sharing your inputs

 

[mattdg]

What 2 part are you going to switch to?

Already switched. Peladow 2 cups / gallon RODI and bulk Soda Ash 381 Grams / Gallon or 4.2 pounds / 5 gallon RODI. I mix 100ml each Tropic Marin A- and K+ into my 1 gallon dosing reservoirs. The new Alk / Cal solution cost less than 1/4 what I paid before and great results so far. Will run an ICP to check on everything in a month or two.

 

[Featherweight]

Already switched. Peladow 2 cups / gallon RODI and bulk Soda Ash 381 Grams / Gallon or 4.2 pounds / 5 gallon RODI. I mix 100ml each Tropic Marin A- and K+ into my 1 gallon dosing reservoirs. The new Alk / Cal solution cost less than 1/4 what I paid before and great results so far. Will run an ICP to check on everything in a month or two.

If you run kalk, I'll message you a cheap buy purest kalk source

 

[mattdg]

If you run kalk, I'll message you a cheap buy purest kalk source

I run it, but only supplemental during overnight hours to bump PH

 

[Chessmanmark]

(Cough, cough)

Matt, you are long over due for an update.

Happy New Year my friend. I hope all is well with you and yours.

 

[mattdg]

So it has been some time since I updated this build thread. As I am sure all understand, life and work gets in the way. That said, I have been keeping up with basic maintenance. The aquarium has really shifted focus from trying to keep a spectacular mixed display, to just appreciating it for the wet pets we love and maybe even some times talk to.

Months back, I had a string of mechanical failures while away for work / vacay, that took its toll on much of the SPS. Was a slow decline following, but mostly due to two Versa dosers. The AWC return gears stripped out and Alk doser simply decided to start skipping random doses. At first thought it a leaky line, but ended up being a faulty unit. Anyway, they are great dosers when things are going well. Shifting SG and Alk are generally a recipe for disaster. It was sad at first. Honestly, now feels like a bit of a blessing. The tank is now less of a grind and more enjoyable. I don't live in fear of catastrophic failure, the way I used too. It is still a solid mixed reef, kind of starting over in some ways. Most of the SPS colonies that survived are smaller and there is more emphasis on the LPS that I really love, such as my modest collection of Chalice coral. I even hand dosed Alk/Cal for a number of months. Helped me to feel connected to the reef again, the way I used to. I am now back to auto dosing with new Versas, but the connectedness still applies.

A few months back Chessmanmark hosted a reef meetup. Thanks Mark!! Was really neat to see his beautiful home and collection of coral, even sharing a few pieces. The way it used to be... back when I started to get serious about reef keeping nearly 20 years ago. I think, for now, I will continue to focus on the calmer / purer side of what makes this hobby enjoyable.

The tank is now stabilized, but I am in no rush to add anything high end or fancy.. well maybe an Amazeballs Goni (LET ME KNOW IF ANY OF YOU HAVE ONE TO SELL), but that would be for my nano reef which for some reason is cranking out the goniopora. Again.. a simple setup that brings a lot of joy. I will share a few pictures soon and do my best to post a YT video. Hope your reef are doing great!

 

[mattdg]

Here are some pictures of the 120 mixed reef. First picture is the 10G nano.

 

[mattdg]

More Pictures.

 

[Chessmanmark]

After a decline, you do relax a little knowing that the pieces that you still have are much more resilient.

At this point I can appreciate the beauty of a simple weeping willow, which is closer to were I was when I began my journey in the hobby.

I’m happy to see that you are a lifer in this hobby like Randy, Chris and myself. We are an endangered species around here these days.

Let’s try to get together again later in the fall.

 

[mattdg]

Definitely not my first crash, this system and others over the years. It's like an experienced reef keeper friend of mine said many years back, if you haven't had a few major crashes, you are not a true reef keeper yet. Sometimes it is hard to know how to even define a crash, especially when housing SPS colonies which tend to randomly self destruct. That said, when over 40% of the coral are effected, that's a good indication. Of course a lot of the more resilient coral survived. Happy that I still have a few very small pieces of the homewrecker and the CA Multimedia Milli, among others, slowly recovering in the basement system. Two systems or none, is definitely one of my mottos when it comes to SPS. Happy to be more relaxed and honored to be included in the lifer club with you and Randy! Let's catch up soon!