Here we are. ~3 months into the tank. I will start off and give ALL my equipment and overall 4.5/5. I will rate my understanding of reef keeping now that I see what I didn't know a 3.5/5
Equipment:
I REALLY like my lighting. I want to give it a 5/5 but I feel like it wasn't user friendly enough for all walks of life during setup. Once it is setup you never think about it until it impresses you with a light show during a big storm, or the nights it simulates a full moon, or better yet a new moon. The lighting feels organic. PAR is probably a little lower than what some dominate SPS guys would want. I would go as for as to say that SPS will need to be kept in the top center of the lighting. I measured the area I would put SPS at a 8"Dx10"W from the surface while using the standard stand.
This skimmer is a horrible design. No one wants this design and it is all brought to you by the stupid, and I mean STUPID water level adjustment mechanism. So bad. Everything else about the skimmer is great. The collection cup had that drain hose that has become a must have on skimmers. It has a cool self clean deals which actually come in much more helpful than you might think. I think the volume pump are spot on for a 40 breeder under heavy load. I have yet to dial this thing down to a steady production of skimmate. I even did a test and fed heavy and got my Nitrates and Phosphates up high enough and never started producing much skimmate. So disappointed.
The AIO as a whole is still doing really well. I don't have any issues with the overflow noise, all thought the Red Sea diaphragm thing takes a bit of a learning curve. The sump is nice but it is tight, but that is almost a plus because I wanted it all in a closed box. You kinda get what you ask for. That's about all I have to say about that.
That VARIOS-4 is no joke. I feel like I could depend on it for my life. I don't know much of what to say about a return pump. This thing just works. It is such a luxury to have something of this caliber.
Sigh, Tunze oh Tunze. How you have let me down, yet make me smile. Our relationships has had its ups and downs but we stay strong together. Honest thoughts. They are exactly what I want. They offer me the flow that I was aiming for. 30x display turnover not including return. Both of these pumps were/are rating up to 1200gph. I call crap. Maybe I don't know my stuff. I have had Maxijets, I have had tanks with closed loops systems I just don't get it. My vision was to have then both ramping up and down 0-65%. In reality I have them both from 40-100% and feel like I could use a bit more flow. Lets talk some about what ramping means. When I think about it I think of the feeling of a wave coming at me and feeling it lift me up and down. These Tunze are like a railgun version of ramping up speed. Still, They had all the right boxes checked for me and still do. I look around the
market and still can not find something that competes with it in the ways I want a pump.
The tank as a whole has been nothing but a joy. I wouldn't trade any of it for something else. Everything has been great learning and sorting through things. There is still much to learn and enjoy.
LIvestock:
Let us start with the bad. I have lost 1 coral and 3 fish. The coral was a LPS she wasn't pretty but the family liked her because of the name it was sold under "Dirty Girl". Looked like a bright green coral with dirt stuck around the mouth. Next we have two Gobies, both sand sifting. Amblyeleotris wheelri, would not eat. Twin spot goby, again could not get to eat. Last and most recent was a BlueGreen Chromis. MIA.
Lets talk good. I have some Acans that are doing great with signs of grows. I have a Cyphastrea that looks healthy but I don't notice any growth(don't know what to look for). A really nice Chalice that my yellow clown goby calls home. I have a Leptoseris that has grown 4 times its size. I have something called a Green and Purple Platygyra Maze that is really doing super well and might scare me with the rate of growth. I have a Candycane and Duncan because, well because it is a reef tank. I also have 3 types of Montipora and man oh man, remember that 3.5/5 for things I didn't know that I should have. This is where that starts. Lots of testing and not understanding of what to do or fix or cause of it.
Parameters:
Temperature 78
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Phosphate 0.09ppm
Salinity 1.025
Alkalinity 8.3
Calcium 380ppm
Magnesium 1130ppm
Eyecandy:
Candycane
Green Shaggy Leptoseris
Lizard Scale Chalice
Bright Green and Purple Platygyra Maze
View from front door
My view at 3ft
My view at 1ft
Under tank
Electrical
Filter sock/ Carbon baggy
Dirty Skimmer Neck
Left Side
Mystic Sunset Montipora
Red White and Blue Acan
Bright Meteor Shower Cyphastrea
Best lil Duncan ever
Rainbow Favia
Bright Orange Acan
Disclaimer: Not all corals and fish have been shown in these photos. The ones left out have been compensated generously with yummy ReefRoids and Shrimp served with a slice of Nori.
