My 54g Corner

[bsfmaximus]

This my my 54 gal corner tank. These tanks are nice. My only complaint is the space underneath for anything. Barely fits my sump

Nice! Not sure why I didn't get a notification about this but I like your setup. Agreed on the space below. Mostly the reason I use a canister filter so I have space for other stuff. What kind of lights are you running? Looks light natural light in the picture. Also, what are those coral on the right side about half way up? Three purple cone shaped pieces.

 

[bsfmaximus]

Since keeping my levels in check, my softies have taken over my tank. I quickly grew bored and felt trapped by zoas... so it was time to make a change.

 

[bsfmaximus]

Giant toadstool, gone.

 

[bsfmaximus]

Zoas and GSP, gone. New rock, two torches, and my first SPS have taken their place. I just installed a dosing pump and am trying to switch from dosing two part daily, to dosing kalkwasser.

I also cleaned up my tank by putting my canister intake and surface skimmer attachment into a modified black skimmer box in the back right of the tank.

 

[Dystinction]

Just caught sight of this.
Great progression thread. It's really interesting and fun to see a 'time-lapse' of the changes and growth.

BTW......
Anyone else see a baby rhino in the very first pic??? ;Pompus

 

[bsfmaximus]

Thanks!
I don't have a clue so I've got to ask... baby rhino?

 

[Dystinction]

LOL, yeah.....the top rock in the back looks like a baby rhino to me, with the head facing the right.
....just my random, useless nonsense for the day.....you're just the lucky winner!

 

[bsfmaximus]

Haha yeah I see it... I thought baby rhino might have been some cool reef thing I am unfamiliar with!

 

[Dystinction]

Well....in all honesty, it's probably the name of a Zoa somewhere.....but other than that, no...

 

[TbyZ]

Since keeping my levels in check, my softies have taken over my tank. I quickly grew bored and felt trapped by zoas... so it was time to make a change.

So you believe that monitoring your major elements & dosing to keep them stable has made a big difference to the health & growth of your corals?

I'm also interested in your decision to change to kalkwasser?

 

[cpvince]

Nice looking corner! I dig the atoll scape

 

[bsfmaximus]

Nice looking corner! I dig the atoll scape

Thanks!

 

[bsfmaximus]

So you believe that monitoring your major elements & dosing to keep them stable has made a big difference to the health & growth of your corals?

I'm also interested in your decision to change to kalkwasser?

Yes, monitoring and dosing alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium (to a lesser extent) made a significant impact on my corals. Originally I was only testing nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, and pH. The only thing I acted on was nitrates really, when they would rise I would do a water change. Zoas did fine, but didn't thrive. I lost a hammer and had issues with a toadstool.

I started dosing calcium and superbuffer for alkalinity... Although at first, I dosed reactively when I would notice calcium or alkalinity had dropped. I saw improvement but saw significant improvement when I started dosing daily, keeping levels consistent.

Why did I switch to kalkwasser instead of two part? Top of the list are price, ease, and pH. This is what I've learned...
pH - This is what pushed me to switch initially. My pH was always close to 8, but after I cleared out all the zoas for some reason pH dropped close to 7.7 within a day and the trend seemed downward the following days. I tried superbuffer but it didn't have an impact aside from boosting my alkalinity. Kalkwasser helps raise pH while maintaining calcium and alkalinity.
Ease - Kalk is supposed to be good at keeping calcium and alk levels consistent versus raising them. You're achieving calcium and alkalinity with one product. Plus, its easy to dose... you mix it with a large volume of water which you can then use essentially as your top off water (just use a pump or auto top off to add slowly).
Price - Just an added bonus. I just went with a big $10 jar from Kent to get started, but from what I've read you can get it very affordably elsewhere.

 

[bsfmaximus]

December 2017 - 2 years 6 months.
Some changes: I've added a few more frags of SPS. All have taken on decent color under my orbit LEDs (pleasant surprise). Growth and encrusting is happening quickly with my acros. I added a 20,000k strip of white LED lights, picked up cheap from Amazon. My intention was to add this spectrum to my lighting to enhance colors. I have no evidence that it is or isn't working.
I removed my powerheads and added a Jebao Gyre type pump, the smaller of the two they offer. So far, I love it. I've had it a month. It really seems to create flow everywhere in the tank.
I've added a smart plug to my skimmer, canister, and gyre pump. I now say "Alexa, turn off the pumps" and I then have calm water to feed my fish and coral. I love this ability.
I traded my large brittle star for a monti. The brittle star was fine except I am trying to nurse a goniopora back to life and the brittle star would steal any coral food I target fed the goni. I most recently added a blue stylo. To be honest, I am more excited than I've been about my tank for a while - excited for growth in the months to come from all of my SPS. I still greatly enjoy euphyllias, it is however difficult to keep them happy in a tank with a decent amount of flow. I've found some dead spots they seem to like, for now.
A few complaints: vermetid snails, feather dusters, needing to target feed my goni and sun corals daily.

 

[bsfmaximus]

January 2018 - 2 years 7 months
I've changed lighting from Current USA Marine Orbit (18 and 24 inch) to Fluval Marine and Reef 2.0 (two lights, both 24 inch). I am attempting to acclimate my corals and get the light to full intensity. I hope the more complete spectrum offered by this light and the higher wattage will increase growth and coloration. Too early to tell, although everything definitely has more color under the blues at night.

I rearranged some coral - my purple hammer and green frogspawn did not seem happy close to one another. I'd always heard frogspawn and hammers are fine to touch, just no torches touching them. Didn't seem to be the case. Both are looking much better now. My goniopora died; It kept getting covered in algae and had a bad looking spot within the flesh it from day one. I've also added a new, large rock in the back.

 

[bsfmaximus]

June 2018 - Approximately 3 years...
For the past couple of months I have found myself disinterested in my tank. I have been enjoying it less. For the past two weeks, I have been seriously considering tearing it down and parting it out. I was struggling with this dilemma over the weekend and made a moment's decision to completely re-do my rockscape instead of tearing it down. So far, I am very pleased. I have realized the rock setup I had before was a big cause of my disinterest. I quickly ran out of room to put new coral and everything seemed crowded. I feel like I have more room for SPS and I have them in a better spot (middle, centered). Plus, I have more usable sand bed space for my LPS. And there is a nice cave in the middle of the rockwork.
What I learned at the three year mark? Don't be afraid to make big changes including totally rearranging the tank.