My new SPS Tank

[Justin_Casper]

Any updates? Just saw you posted a video on Youtube about taking down this tank.

 

[SecondCityCorals]

Any updates? Just saw you posted a video on Youtube about taking down this tank.

If I am understanding his video correctly, he is having a ton of problems with his lights. Something about not being able to control the intensity or spectrum, and the controller being 7 years old?

I don't know why that would be a reason to take the tank down. Just fix your equipment?

 

[Bpb]

Would love an update as well. I added fish and corals to my tank quickly as well and most the sps burnt up within days. Lps look great. Algae like mad. My last tank was an acro machine. This one is disappointing so far. Feel like a novice again. Enjoyed reading this thread for inspiration

 

[Roberto Denadai]

If I am understanding his video correctly, he is having a ton of problems with his lights. Something about not being able to control the intensity or spectrum, and the controller being 7 years old?

I don't know why that would be a reason to take the tank down. Just fix your equipment?

Yes, I have a problem with my Leds, all of them are not working and another reason for taking down this tank is because next year I´m going to a new house.

Everything here in Brazil is very expensive. Just to you have an idea 1 US dollar = 5.2 reais , in addition, we have 60% import fee and we also have the importer's profit and the LFS profit.

The price here is 16 thousand for 3 new Hydras. It's as if an American paid 16 thousand dollars for 3 new hydras

Also, you guys can buy T5 for 20 bucks, here is 400 each, but I'm still thinking about what to do with this tank.

Cheers

 

[SecondCityCorals]

I have a lot of folks in Brazil purchase from my ebay account. They use the international buyer feature to buy things for US prices and then I'm pretty sure they just skirt/lie about the import and don't pay for it. Maybe you could get a used replacement controller for cheap via the eBay international buyer program?

 

[Perry]

Yes, I have a problem with my Leds, all of them are not working and another reason for taking down this tank is because next year I´m going to a new house.

Everything here in Brazil is very expensive. Just to you have an idea 1 US dollar = 5.2 reais , in addition, we have 60% import fee and we also have the importer's profit and the LFS profit.

The price here is 16 thousand for 3 new Hydras. It's as if an American paid 16 thousand dollars for 3 new hydras

Also, you guys can buy T5 for 20 bucks, here is 400 each, but I'm still thinking about what to do with this tank.

Cheers

Roberto,
I am sorry to hear of the lighting issues. I think sometimes we forget how expensive this hobby can be, and in your case, much, much, more expensive. Certainly we are not done seeing your work of art, thank you for sharing this project, you should be proud Hopefully your next aquarium project will be just as amazing, well done Roberto!
Cheers

 

[Roberto Denadai]

I have a lot of folks in Brazil purchase from my ebay account. They use the international buyer feature to buy things for US prices and then I'm pretty sure they just skirt/lie about the import and don't pay for it. Maybe you could get a used replacement controller for cheap via the eBay international buyer program?

I haven't given up yet, I'm thinking about what I can do here

But it is almost impossible to find this controller and the problem is not only the controller, all leds have issues

 

[Roberto Denadai]

This pic is not good, just to see the coral size after 1.5 years

Maybe I buy a cheap Chinese T5 fixture...doing my research yet and I´m thinking about frag some corals that the shape is not good in my opinion

 

[drawman]

Shape looks great to me. Beautiful as always!

 

[BuBBlyFish&Corals]

Hi Guys,

After five years of keeping a Fish Only, I just started a new SPS tank.

This tank has 50 days and I´m keeping my alk and ca just with kalkwasser. In 2 or 3 months I think I will start with balling ( tropic Marin ) plus kalk

My setup is :

2x Hydra 52
1x Hydra 26 HD
2x T5 Blue Plus
2x T5 Coral Plus

Nero5 , Mp40 and Gyre

Viper 3.0

Skimmer octopus 1000

Apex controller and I´m dosing kalk with kamoer.

No3 = 0 ( salifert )
Po4 = 0,03ppm ( Hanna )
Alk = 7,5 ( Hanna )

This is the last video that I did for my youtube channel and I show my sump in this video :




Best Regards

 

[SliceGolfer]

This pic is not good, just to see the coral size after 1.5 years

Maybe I buy a cheap Chinese T5 fixture...doing my research yet and I´m thinking about frag some corals that the shape is not good in my opinion

After Roberto posts his lights aren’t working right, and then “a bad picture” and I compare it to my tank, maybe I’m the one who should take his tank down! Looks amazing despite the challenges. Nice growth!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Wow. Just wow with a bunch of awesomenesses

 

[Terrp]

Roberto - Wow. I just finished reading this thread from start to finish. Amazing tank and truly inspirational insights. Based on what I saw in the thread, your “secret sauce” for quick start-up with no ammonia spike or ugly phase (despite starting with dry rock and a bare bottom) appears to include the following key components:

1. Use Siporax, Matrix and sand (2” deep) in containers in the sump – These provide a LOT more surface area to offset the minimalist aquascape and lack of sand in the display. All of this media would be free of phosphates and organics, and most of it appears to be unlit (except perhaps the top layer that gets secondary light from the refugium), so you’ve created a huge amount of surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize and thrive without competition from nuisance algae.
   
   
2. Use a skimmer, occasional mechanical filter, Zeomix, GFO, and a lot of chaeto from the beginning for filtration and nutrient export while the bio filter develops – The skimmer and mechanical filter remove organics before they break down. The Zeomix absorbs ammonia. The GFO absorbs phosphates. The chaeto absorbs ammonia, nitrates and phosphates. If the chaeto is from an established tank and wasn’t rinsed, it may also have introduced some bacterial diversity.
   
   
3. Keep a really clean tank – This eliminates fuel for nuisance algae and prevents nuisance algae from taking hold anywhere while the beneficial bacteria proliferates.
   
   
4. Add copepods and amphipods from the beginning – These likely help with keeping the tank clean and algae free as the bio load starts to grow.
   
   
5. Keep NO3 and PO4 near zero – While established tanks with fully developed bacterial diversity may support higher levels, a new tank may be more likely to avoid the uglies with near zero levels. I note your ALK is mid-7’s to allow low N & P.
   
   
6. Keep stable parameters.
   
   
7. Add corals early – These help filter the tank while the bio filter develops and may bring some bacterial diversity as well. You mentioned that you added fish after 10 days and coral after 20 but later said that you think it better to add coral first and then add fish after a couple more weeks to allow the corals to uptake nutrients from the fish. This makes sense and reminded me of the following article: Ask Reef Builders #3: How Long Should I Cycle A Reef Tank Before Putting Corals In? | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog. Of course, this only worked because you avoided an ugly phase that would have allowed dinos, GHA or other problems to wipe out your corals.
   
   
8. Add fish early (with focus on algae eaters) – You seem to have avoided an ammonia spike and ugly phase when adding fish early because of all of the above steps.
   
   
9. Remove the chaeto when it starts to die (about 40 days for you) – By then, the tank will have a better developed bacterial filter and not need the chaeto until the bio load rises enough to need a refugium to help with NO3/PO4 export.

I had a few questions about some other things that may have helped:

1. Rock source and preparation? – Your rocks don’t look like the dry rocks typically offered in the US. I wonder if what we get may have some organics and phosphates that yours lack such that our dry rocks may be more likely to fuel an ugly phase. Where did you get your dry rocks originally, and were they in an established system (with established bio filter) before being placed in this tank? If not from an established system, did you do anything to prepare them before putting them in this tank (such as soaking them in the dark in RODI water with Phosguard, GFO, carbon and/or a mechanical filter for a few months)?
   
   
2. Other than pods and tangs, what cleanup crew did you add and when?
   
   
3. Did you place the Siporax or Matrix in an established system to seed them with diverse bacteria before using in this tank?
   
   
4. Is there anything else you can think of that might have been a factor to avoid an ammonia spike and the uglies without a long cycle?

Thanks for all the insights!

 

[terraincognita]

Thank you. So I think we are getting old right?

I used to have a small pico ( 10G ) with led ( one hydra 52 ). But this time I also have 4xT5 with leds, better coverage I think.

Here , two pictures :

Looks like you were running that with a HOB filter as well which is awesome.

I'm not sure if someone already has asked you this Q on this thread and you answered but I didn't see it scanning.

If you don't mind me asking what was your basic care method for this 10G Nano tank? Were you manually dosing kalk? WC's? What was your basic routine/schedule like?

 

[Roberto Denadai]

Looks like you were running that with a HOB filter as well which is awesome.

I'm not sure if someone already has asked you this Q on this thread and you answered but I didn't see it scanning.

If you don't mind me asking what was your basic care method for this 10G Nano tank? Were you manually dosing kalk? WC's? What was your basic routine/schedule like?

I was running this nano without skimmer but I had a hang on filter with some GFO and I did weekly water changes ( 30% ). I used to dose balling as well. Very simple.

 

[Roberto Denadai]

Roberto - Wow. I just finished reading this thread from start to finish. Amazing tank and truly inspirational insights. Based on what I saw in the thread, your “secret sauce” for quick start-up with no ammonia spike or ugly phase (despite starting with dry rock and a bare bottom) appears to include the following key components:

1. Use Siporax, Matrix and sand (2” deep) in containers in the sump – These provide a LOT more surface area to offset the minimalist aquascape and lack of sand in the display. All of this media would be free of phosphates and organics, and most of it appears to be unlit (except perhaps the top layer that gets secondary light from the refugium), so you’ve created a huge amount of surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize and thrive without competition from nuisance algae.
   
   
2. Use a skimmer, occasional mechanical filter, Zeomix, GFO, and a lot of chaeto from the beginning for filtration and nutrient export while the bio filter develops – The skimmer and mechanical filter remove organics before they break down. The Zeomix absorbs ammonia. The GFO absorbs phosphates. The chaeto absorbs ammonia, nitrates and phosphates. If the chaeto is from an established tank and wasn’t rinsed, it may also have introduced some bacterial diversity.
   
   
3. Keep a really clean tank – This eliminates fuel for nuisance algae and prevents nuisance algae from taking hold anywhere while the beneficial bacteria proliferates.
   
   
4. Add copepods and amphipods from the beginning – These likely help with keeping the tank clean and algae free as the bio load starts to grow.
   
   
5. Keep NO3 and PO4 near zero – While established tanks with fully developed bacterial diversity may support higher levels, a new tank may be more likely to avoid the uglies with near zero levels. I note your ALK is mid-7’s to allow low N & P.
   
   
6. Keep stable parameters.
   
   
7. Add corals early – These help filter the tank while the bio filter develops and may bring some bacterial diversity as well. You mentioned that you added fish after 10 days and coral after 20 but later said that you think it better to add coral first and then add fish after a couple more weeks to allow the corals to uptake nutrients from the fish. This makes sense and reminded me of the following article: Ask Reef Builders #3: How Long Should I Cycle A Reef Tank Before Putting Corals In? | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog. Of course, this only worked because you avoided an ugly phase that would have allowed dinos, GHA or other problems to wipe out your corals.
   
   
8. Add fish early (with focus on algae eaters) – You seem to have avoided an ammonia spike and ugly phase when adding fish early because of all of the above steps.
   
   
9. Remove the chaeto when it starts to die (about 40 days for you) – By then, the tank will have a better developed bacterial filter and not need the chaeto until the bio load rises enough to need a refugium to help with NO3/PO4 export.

I had a few questions about some other things that may have helped:

1. Rock source and preparation? – Your rocks don’t look like the dry rocks typically offered in the US. I wonder if what we get may have some organics and phosphates that yours lack such that our dry rocks may be more likely to fuel an ugly phase. Where did you get your dry rocks originally, and were they in an established system (with established bio filter) before being placed in this tank? If not from an established system, did you do anything to prepare them before putting them in this tank (such as soaking them in the dark in RODI water with Phosguard, GFO, carbon and/or a mechanical filter for a few months)?
   
   
2. Other than pods and tangs, what cleanup crew did you add and when?
   
   
3. Did you place the Siporax or Matrix in an established system to seed them with diverse bacteria before using in this tank?
   
   
4. Is there anything else you can think of that might have been a factor to avoid an ammonia spike and the uglies without a long cycle?

Thanks for all the insights!

Hi Terrp,

I think you know my tank better than me LOL Your summary is perfect

About your questions :

1- I bleached my rocks, I was using them in my FO for years. My idea was to start the tank with mature rocks but I did some tests and they were releasing PO4, so I bleached them to start. You can see these rocks in my first video on my channel when I was running my FO yet

2- I don´t use cleanup crew in my tanks

3 - Matrix and Siporax was new

4 - Just Dedication and patience and nature will do the miracle

Best Regards

 

[Mystikal]

Hope you can get something cheap and replace the lights.

 

[Jeff2021]

Hi guys

I´m using 2x Old Hydras and 1x new Hydra 26 HD. I prefer the old one, much better color blend than the new HD

90% blue/violet
65% white
100% UV
20% red
0% green

I have 7 fish, they was camera shy at the moment I was taking the pics

Some close pics with more white light to see the real coral color

very nice

 

[Jeff2021]

Hi Terrp,

I think you know my tank better than me LOL Your summary is perfect

About your questions :

1- I bleached my rocks, I was using them in my FO for years. My idea was to start the tank with mature rocks but I did some tests and they were releasing PO4, so I bleached them to start. You can see these rocks in my first video on my channel when I was running my FO yet

2- I don´t use cleanup crew in my tanks

3 - Matrix and Siporax was new

4 - Just Dedication and patience and nature will do the miracle

Best Regards

Hi Roberto
What is Matrix?

 

[Righteous]

Hi Roberto
What is Matrix?

Not Roberto… but am familiar with and have used matrix:

Seachem - Matrix

www.seachem.com

It’s basically Pumice stone. Very high surface area for denitrification. I’ve used it before in nano tanks in sump areas and it’s fairly effective at reducing nitrates.

And @Roberto Denadai … beautiful tank!!