swannyson7
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There seems to be quite a few threads lately questioning the way that people manage to grow corals in their tank, so I would like to take a moment to outline the husbandry used in my tank for a good mix of coloration & growth. This is by no means the only way to acheive successful growth within your aquarium, but it is what has worked the best for me.
Tank: 180g reef ready AGA with corner overflows.
Sump: 55g DIY sump.
Protein Skimmer: Octopus Extreme 200. I replaced the Sicce psk-2500 with a bubble blaster 3000 pump.
Carbon/Phosphate Filtration: I run two TLF-150 reactors; One with GAC, and the other with Rowaphos. (I recently purchased some PO4x4 and I'll be trying this once the Rowaphos is exhausted.) I also run a TLF-550 with 1 liter of WM EcoBak. All three reactors are fed by a QuietOne 4000 with ball valves inline to regulate flow through the media. I also have a section of my sump partitioned off as a refugium with a DSB, LR rubble, and chaetomoprha.
Return Pump: QuietOne 6000
Water Circulation: Two MP40s (one on each end of the tank) run in antisync in reef crest mode. Two MP10s on the back wall run independently in reef crest mode.
Calcium/Alkalinity dosing: I use BRS 2 part on dosing pumps and my ATO runs through a TLF kalk reactor. Since dosing kalk, I have noticed a significant increase in growth as it stabilizes the paramenters between dosing of 2-part. I dose magnesium manually as needed to maintain levels between 1300-1400 ppm.
ATO: DIY setup using 3 float switches for redundancy controlled through my Apex.
Heating/Cooling: I use two 300w Finnex titanium heaters with external thermostats and they are hooked into my Apex for redundancy.
System Control: Neptune Apex
I use 450w of LED (three Gen2 fixtures from Reef Filtration) and 468w of T5 lighting. The T5 bulbs are mainly used to tweak the coloration, provide a broader spectrum range, and to provide a dawn/dusk/high noon effect. The T5 fixture is a Nova Extreme Pro with twelve 39w bulbs, currently comprised of six ATI Blue+, two ATI Purple+, two UVL SuperActinic, and two Current 10k. Here's my current light cycle:
7:00 AM: Actinic T5s ON (Actually two UVL Superactinic & two Blue+)
9:00 AM: LEDs ON
11:30 AM: Daytime T5s ON
1:30 PM: Daytime T5s OFF
4:30 PM: LEDs OFF
7:00 PM: Actinic T5s OFF
First off, a little information about my system:
System Overview:
Tank: 180g reef ready AGA with corner overflows.
Sump: 55g DIY sump.
Protein Skimmer: Octopus Extreme 200. I replaced the Sicce psk-2500 with a bubble blaster 3000 pump.
Carbon/Phosphate Filtration: I run two TLF-150 reactors; One with GAC, and the other with Rowaphos. (I recently purchased some PO4x4 and I'll be trying this once the Rowaphos is exhausted.) I also run a TLF-550 with 1 liter of WM EcoBak. All three reactors are fed by a QuietOne 4000 with ball valves inline to regulate flow through the media. I also have a section of my sump partitioned off as a refugium with a DSB, LR rubble, and chaetomoprha.
Return Pump: QuietOne 6000
Water Circulation: Two MP40s (one on each end of the tank) run in antisync in reef crest mode. Two MP10s on the back wall run independently in reef crest mode.
Calcium/Alkalinity dosing: I use BRS 2 part on dosing pumps and my ATO runs through a TLF kalk reactor. Since dosing kalk, I have noticed a significant increase in growth as it stabilizes the paramenters between dosing of 2-part. I dose magnesium manually as needed to maintain levels between 1300-1400 ppm.
ATO: DIY setup using 3 float switches for redundancy controlled through my Apex.
Heating/Cooling: I use two 300w Finnex titanium heaters with external thermostats and they are hooked into my Apex for redundancy.
System Control: Neptune Apex
Parameters:
Temp: 79-80 F
Salinity:1.026
pH: 8.3-8.5
Calcium: 430-450
Alkalinity: 8 dKH
Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm
NO3: 0-1 on Salifert test kit
NO2, NH3, PO4: All undetectable on salifert and phosphate is measured with a Hanna calorimeter.
Temp: 79-80 F
Salinity:1.026
pH: 8.3-8.5
Calcium: 430-450
Alkalinity: 8 dKH
Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm
NO3: 0-1 on Salifert test kit
NO2, NH3, PO4: All undetectable on salifert and phosphate is measured with a Hanna calorimeter.
Lighting:
I use 450w of LED (three Gen2 fixtures from Reef Filtration) and 468w of T5 lighting. The T5 bulbs are mainly used to tweak the coloration, provide a broader spectrum range, and to provide a dawn/dusk/high noon effect. The T5 fixture is a Nova Extreme Pro with twelve 39w bulbs, currently comprised of six ATI Blue+, two ATI Purple+, two UVL SuperActinic, and two Current 10k. Here's my current light cycle:
7:00 AM: Actinic T5s ON (Actually two UVL Superactinic & two Blue+)
9:00 AM: LEDs ON
11:30 AM: Daytime T5s ON
1:30 PM: Daytime T5s OFF
4:30 PM: LEDs OFF
7:00 PM: Actinic T5s OFF
Routine Maintenance:
I complete a 40g water change every 2-3 weeks using Reef Crystals salt. I've tried several brands of salt over the years and I find that for the price, RC has served me the best. It has consistent levels and I've never gotten a bad batch (knock on wood). When I complete my water changes, I check all equpment for calcium buildup or anything else that would cause an equipment failure. I use 200m felt filter socks, which are swapped out every week, and the skimmer is cleaned every time I complete a water change. Carbon & GFO are swapped out monthly, and chaeto is trimmed back each month as well. Coral Feeding:
I keep an ULNS, so without feeding my corals, their coloration & growth suffers. Every other day, I dose 15 drops of Brightwell's CoralAmino to help feed my corals. Twice per week I broadcast feed my tank with either Coral Frenzy, Reef Nutrition Oyster Feast, or live baby brine shrimp. I also have noticed feeding response from some of my SPS when I add Cyclopeeze or my DIY food to the tank, but those are added primarily for the fish inhabitants. Since starting my current feeding regimen, I've noticed significant improvement in the coloration of all corals, but I've managed to keep NH3, NO2, & PO4 at undetectable levels through probiotic dosing and aggressive skimming. NO3 levels are sometimes detectable at about 1ppm, but they are usually undetectable about 24 hours later.Other Dosing:
I dose Mg solution from BRS manually, as needed to maintain Magnesium levels in the range of 1300-1400 ppm. I also dose 3 drops of Lugol's solution daily (mainly for the potassium content) to help with coloration in my blue & purple corals. Each morning I add 1 capful of MB7 to help maintain my bacteria population.Other Notes:
Many people strive to keep their alk at levels higher than 8 dKH, but I've read several articles that argue a high alkalinity level can be problematic in an ULNS. I've found that the most important thing when keeping an SPS dominated tank is patience. When I first started keeping SPS, I would constantly move frags around trying to find that "sweet spot" and expecting instantaneous signals that they were in the right spot. It seems as though I was moving frags every 2-3 weeks and never really gave them a chance to settle in so that they could take off. Now, I pick out a spot based on their light/flow demands and based on their growth structure. I slowly light acclimate them from the sandbed over a few weeks to their new home and glue them in place so that I can't keep moving them around. Also, I've found that taking pictures every few months helps immensely. It's easy to get discouraged when housing some slow growing SPS, and looking at our tanks daily will make it seem as though things aren't growing at all. I keep a detailed spreadsheet documenting any changes to my regular maintenance/dosing schedule to see what has worked in my tank along with progressive shots to note changes in coloration, growth rates, PE, etc..
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