OM’s 260 gallon SPS dominant build

[Om84]

It’s April, 2023. Everything had been going smoothly for the most part until suddenly almost within a few days I started noticing dinoflagellate rear its ugly head. I checked my parameters and sure enough nitrates was undetectable while phosphates were near zero.

 

[Om84]

I tried many methods to eradicate dinoflagellates. Here I am suctioning Dinos. This helped but they would always return within a few days.

 

[Om84]

I tried dosing Brightwell’s Microbacter, hydrogen peroxide, suctioning dinos, and turning lights off. I also tried feeding more and dosing nitrates. Turning lights off for 3 days at a time helped the most. All dinos would disappear but eventually within 3 weeks they would be back covering every rock. Luckily the type of dinos I had was not toxic to the fish. Dinos would get on sps and I did lose some sps because of this. This battle lasted about 6 months but I didn’t give up. The tank looked ugly but corals continued to grow.

Ultimately, one day I had a mishap where my auto feeder (Avast Plank) some how failed and dosed for a few hours. Apex some how left the Plank on. I still don’t know how this happened. My nitrates were at 30 and Phos went to 0.75. Dinoflagellates disappeared within days and have not appeared since. I was keeping nitrates 5-10 and phos about 0.1 but this did not rid the dinos.

Fortunately the only thing I lost because of this mishap were dinos!

 

[Om84]

 

[Reef-Engineer]

I tried dosing Brightwell’s Microbacter, hydrogen peroxide, suctioning dinos, and turning lights off. I also tried feeding more and dosing nitrates. Turning lights off for 3 days at a time helped the most. All dinos would disappear but eventually within 3 weeks they would be back covering every rock. Luckily the type of dinos I had was not toxic to the fish. Dinos would get on sps and I did lose some sps because of this. This battle lasted about 6 months but I didn’t give up. The tank looked ugly but corals continued to grow.

Ultimately, one day I had a mishap where my auto feeder (Avast Plank) some how failed and dosed for a few hours. Apex some how left the Plank on. I still don’t know how this happened. My nitrates were at 30 and Phos went to 0.75. Dinoflagellates disappeared within days and have not appeared since. I was keeping nitrates 5-10 and phos about 0.1 but this did not rid the dinos.

Fortunately the only thing I lost because of this mishap were dinos!

Your phos went to .75?? Not .075? Wow thats up there! Glad the dinos were defeated. A little heavy feeding did the trick! Wild.

 

[Om84]

Your phos went to .75?? Not .075? Wow thats up there! Glad the dinos were defeated. A little heavy feeding did the trick! Wild.

yep, 0.75! I keep phos 0.15 - 0.2 now and nitrates 10-20 ppm.

 

[Jimbo327]

Need an update on this awesome tank.

 

[Om84]

I wanted to be able to watch my tank closely when I’m away. I installed a couple Eufy security cameras by sticking them on either side of the reef. This has been a relative inexpensive way to keep eyes on the reef!

 

[legalizedreefer]

Incredible aquascape!

 

[Om84]

Here is an updated picture from today from the left side of the reef.

 

[alxjrz]

Goals!!! I love the flexibility of having such a large tank. I had an acrylic tank built in early 2000's a little over 300 gallons for the complete system. stability was great but what a HOG they are! haha

 

[Om84]

Goals!!! I love the flexibility of having such a large tank. I had an acrylic tank built in early 2000's a little over 300 gallons for the complete system. stability was great but what a HOG they are! haha

Thanks! lol
This is the biggest reef I have ran and you are too right!

 

[REEFRIED!]

Great build thread. You tank looks beautiful. I too have fought Dinos and I am currently fighting GHA. I beat the Dino’s by removing my sand. They still pop up occasionally but not bad. The GHA has proven much harder to fight! I set my tank up with dry Marco rocks as well. I wouldn’t do it again

 

[Om84]

Great build thread. You tank looks beautiful. I too have fought Dinos and I am currently fighting GHA. I beat the Dino’s by removing my sand. They still pop up occasionally but not bad. The GHA has proven much harder to fight! I set my tank up with dry Marco rocks as well. I wouldn’t do it again

Thank you!
If you have beat dinos then GHA will be easy. You need an army of turbo snails. I don't know the size of your tank but for perspective in this tank I must have put in 75 turbos. I also lowered the light and kept phosphates in check as much as possible. Problem is dry rock takes a while and you have to go through the mandatory ugly phase. I honestly agree with the opinion that if you are going to start with all dry rock then you better give it a year before putting in corals. This way you can turn down the lights and let the leaching and the uglies disappear. Hope you get that GHA under control!

 

[jdpeters]

I’m currently planning a 40 breeder and flirting with the idea to go bare bottom, I hate managing sand. I know another user ended up here with HDPE questions. You still like it? I’m thinking about doing a 1/8 or 1/4 inch textured HDPE sheet. I’m not concerned about detritus getting under it but mostly about warping or any other concerns. How thick is yours and do you recommend it?

 

[Om84]

I’m currently planning a 40 breeder and flirting with the idea to go bare bottom, I hate managing sand. I know another user ended up here with HDPE questions. You still like it? I’m thinking about doing a 1/8 or 1/4 inch textured HDPE sheet. I’m not concerned about detritus getting under it but mostly about warping or any other concerns. How thick is yours and do you recommend it?

My hdpe sheet is 1/2” thick. I agree warping is the real issue. Due to increased length I went with a thicker sheet. I don’t think I would recommend anything less than 1/4” for a 40 breeder. Once you put enough rock on top I don’t think it will warp. I did silicone the seams mostly so it creates a flap which in my opinion makes it harder for detritus to accumulate underneath. I have no idea how much detritus is under the board but I really don’t care because it hasn’t been an issue with my parameters.

 

[jdpeters]

Thank you for the response. I will look into purchasing a 1/4 or 1/2 sheet then. I’m going to run the system with a fish in cycle for a lengthy amount of time so I will monitor it closely. Worse case scenario I just pull it out.