Old School SPS Reef v5.0
- Build Thread
- Thread starter spsick
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
spsick
Valuable Member
ICP came back almost perfect.
I like to test when everything is going good for a baseline.
Forgot to add to above post I dose 1ppm strontium/month to keep up which gets me pretty close to 9ppm.
I like to test when everything is going good for a baseline.
Forgot to add to above post I dose 1ppm strontium/month to keep up which gets me pretty close to 9ppm.
OP
OP
spsick
Valuable Member
I have a mini colony of Aquatic man going so I’ll prob unload that mother for cheap. Prob also need to hack up the Lime in the Sky. I know I should get rid of the first fire digi but it’s just a nice striking contrast in the tank.
*GAREEF*
Valuable Member
Amazing work that you have done!Somehow I’ve gone this long without a build thread on R2R, which has been where I spend the most time on as of late.
This thread contains my progression of a continuous system started 2/5/14 through 3 tanks to the current one started 1/25/21.
History
I’m Ben, an SPS nut from MN. I’ve been reefing for ~15 years from when I came to the dark side quickly after trying out Cichlids. After a couple triggers and puffers a man overheard me discussing live rock with a friend at a gas station and said he’s into saltwater and I should come check out his systems some time. A week later he sent me home with some pulsing Xenia and that was all it took. Within a year I discovered the allure of growing reef-building corals and have been hopelessly addicted since. I had a thriving mixed reef (see below) until I moved into a cool apartment I later found to only have 1 15a circuit for all of the outlets so I tore the tank down and took a break. Then LED lights became viable so I started up a 32g AIO tank that has evolved a few time to my current tank. It was ugly and never really thrived until I built a 40 breeder setup with T5 and a skimmer. That lead to this when I ran out of room.
75g around 2010
System Philosophy
I call it old school as I employ all the equipment and technique that gave me former success. I’ve tried a few newfangled things that have only lead to headache so I’ll stay the course. A modified Berlin setup- weekly water changes, T5 lights, strong skimmer, strong alternating flow, and as much German equipment as I can afford has always given me success. Years ago I ran DSB but now I have a thin sand bed I vacuum regularly and replace portions of throughout the year.
Equipment (see post #105 on for current tank)
36x24x18 65g tank by Custom Aquariums
Trigger Sapphire 26 Sump
Apex Classic (replaced my AC Jr that just died after MANY years of service)
36x6 ATI Dimmable Sunpower
Deltec SCA1351 Protein Skimmer
Tunze Silence 1073.040 Return Pump
2x Jebao SW8
2x Jebao PP4
2x JB Wave Controllers
2x 150w Finnex Titanium Heaters (staggered on Apex for redundancy)
2x 1.1ml BRS Dosers for 2 part controlled by Apex
7 stage BRS RODI (2 carbon block, 3 stage pro-DI)
Parameters
The only parameters I aim to have exact are Temp, Alk, and SG as I feel these are the most important. Everything else I have an acceptable range.
Alk- 7.5-8dKh (I’ve accidentally drifted to 5.9 with no ill effects unlike going higher.)
Ca- 400-420
Mg- 1300-1400ppm
K- 400ppm
NO3- 1-3ppm
PO4- .03ppm max
SG- 1.026
Temp- 78.5-79° F
Lighting
2x ATI B+ run 11 hours
2x ATI Actinic, 1 C+, 1 P+ run 6 hours
I’ve tried a variety of ATI bulb combinations with similar results. I used to prefer UVL bulbs as they gave me ***** success with VHO but you can’t get them these days unfortunately.
Fish
I would like more but I seem to have a peaceful hierarchy now and I really loathe the QT process so here we are.
Kole Tang
Female Onyx Clown
Flame Hawkfish
Midas Benny
Mated Pair Striped Blennies
Coral
This list is more so I can keep track.
Pink Lemonade
UC Strawberry Shortcake
Hawkins Echinata
Flashlight
Oregon Tort
Kelly Green Psammacora
RRC Pink Pink Caddy
BigR Walt Disney
Blue Tenuis
Red Dragon
Reef tech Starburst Cap
Yellow Turbinaria
Nubs:
RRC Pink Floyd
RR Orange Passion
Red Planet
Fox Flame
PC Rainbow
Pics:
All iPhone unfortunately. I own a Nikon DSLR and should probably pony up for a macro lens and a porthole. I’ll include some of the build and the 40 that sat on the stand before the current tank. I built the stand to accommodate gadgets behind the tank and plumbing but it allowed for a bigger tank eventually :)
2/20/17 40 got wet:
4/24/17 almost past the ugly phase, corals thriving!
Ugly phase complete, engage explosion phase!
Can’t stop, won’t stop! Stag’s too big so it’s gotta go!
Chop chop!
3/20/18
7/26/18 Tenuis is too big, chop a frag and sell the colony again!
8/11/18 added a controller “board” aka PVC sheet from Home Depot, larger ATO reservoir, and just a system shot. Top rim is removable for tank access.
10/1/18 Red Dragon and Bubblegum getting too big!
11/29/19 last pic before draining for upgrade
New tank and sump. I hate the blue back and regret ordering it vs/ black.
12/6/18 the dust has settled and my woes began. I’ll explain that in the next post.
You have made an awesome reef scape!
OP
OP
spsick
Valuable Member
Said farewell to a couple big colonies. Someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse in my Orange Passion and GC Ultimate Blue stag.
I think this may have been the largest Orange Passion in the country (at least that anyone shared photos of) and I fragged it 100 times over the past couple years. Had 4 frags cut and encrusted for the local frag swap so I just made this into a new franken-colony haha
Hard to tell from the angle but this is 12” front to back.
The GC Ultimate Blue stag was a monster too. Cut him down to 6 frags glued to a new rock less than 2 years ago and it was 18” tall including the rock when we packed it up.
I think this may have been the largest Orange Passion in the country (at least that anyone shared photos of) and I fragged it 100 times over the past couple years. Had 4 frags cut and encrusted for the local frag swap so I just made this into a new franken-colony haha
Hard to tell from the angle but this is 12” front to back.
The GC Ultimate Blue stag was a monster too. Cut him down to 6 frags glued to a new rock less than 2 years ago and it was 18” tall including the rock when we packed it up.
Lovely reef
Is that red guy wwc cherry blossom? It's gorgeous
skey44
2500 Club Member
Always love your tank. Your newer corals are very nice! Battlecorals?Took a couple pics after chiseling coralline for an hour haha
Similar threads
New Posts
-
20% Off All Fish, Coral, Inverts with Coupon, No minimums required!- Latest: saltwaterfish.com
-
Build Thread Reefer Matt’s ROTM 75 Gallon SPS Tank, a Journey Completed- Latest: Reefer Matt
-
