Reef Tanks with Heavy Bio Load

[MikeyG]

Hi Guys,

I want to start a thread to address what i consider might be an uncommon setup for most reef keepers. That is, hobbyist who like to keep corals, but love to have a large fish collection as well.
This scenario may include both small and large tanks.

By heavy bio load I mean anything you would consider above the typical recommendations from most experts, and hobbyist.

For example, I have a 300-gal display tank with a total of 50 fishes, and what I would consider a medium stock of corals…both hard and soft.

Let’s discuss some key topics.

1. Setup
   1. Lighting
   2. Plumbing
   3. Filtration
   4. Aqua scaping
   5. Flow
2. Maintenance
   1. Water parameters
   2. Hardware maintenance
   3. Dosing for both major and minor trace elements
      1. Manufacturer
         1. Program you are following (IE…Red Sea Reef Receipt, or Triton Core 7)
   4. Feeding
      1. Regiment for fish
      2. Regiment for corals
      3. Type of food used
3. Livestock
   1. Fish
      1. How many
      2. What size
      3. Compatibility
   2. Invertebrates
   3. Coals
      1. SPS
      2. LPS
      3. NPS
4. Challenges
   1. Nutrient export
      1. Water change
      2. Refugium/Algae Scrubber
   2. Growth
   3. Corals
   4. Livestock
   5. Nuisance Algae
   6. Introducing new livestock
   7. Making changes to the setup
5. Celebrations:
   1. Share our successes
   2. Show off your tank and livestock

We will add more topics as the community sees fit.

 

[brandon429]

great job. I was wondering right off that bat sand vs no sand, Id have done what you did to reduce catchpoints.

the more bioload, the more throughput v storage the system needs for long term success and with fewer catchpoints less accumulates over time

 

[MikeyG]

8 months ago I switched to a bare bottom tank....got rid of my 3inch crush coral bed. Results were positive leading to a dramatic drop in nitrates and phosphates. With the sand bed my nitrates were constantly above 20ppm and phosphates around 5 ppm.
With bare bottom my nitrates are between .75 to 1ppm. My phosphates around .22ppm to .9ppm

 

[MikeyG]

great job. I was wondering right off that bat sand vs no sand, Id have done what you did to reduce catchpoints.

the more bioload, the more throughput v storage the system needs for long term success and with fewer catchpoints less accumulates over time

These are amazing setups. I would not have expected nothing close to the density in such small space. This certainly gives me hope that my 300 gal tank can hold a heck of a lot more

 

[ca1ore]

I don't think a reef tank with a heavy fish load is as uncommon as you think.

 

[GlassMunky]

8 months ago I switched to a bare bottom tank....got rid of my 3inch crush coral bed. Results were positive leading to a dramatic drop in nitrates and phosphates. With the sand bed my nitrates were constantly above 20ppm and phosphates around 5 ppm.
With bare bottom my nitrates are between .75 to 1ppm. My phosphates around .22ppm to .9ppm

Crushed coral was your issue

 

[flchamp89]

Whether it's FW or SW more tanks are over stocked than under or properly stocked.

 

[motortrendz]

So my tank is about 100g total water volume. With about 22 fish total. Mostly small and a bunch if wrasses and a few tangs. I keep a good variety of corals from acropora to acans and euphelia, some leathers and soft corals. I run an oversized skimmer, vodka dose and run a big calcium reactor... my nitrates are about 5and phosphates are about 0.15 I stopped running gfo and noticed my corals are alot more colorful. I rely on the fish to feed the corals and when I feed them I sometimes broadcast feed the coral as well.

 

[Kevin Duprey]

I'll bite. I posted in the overstocker's anonymous post a few months ago, so I think I qualify for the heavy bioload option as well.

Tank: RSR525XL

1. Setup
   1. Lighting - Hybrid - Aquatic Life 4x54W T5 with 3xRadion XR-15 gen4 pros with diffusers (thinking of switching to new Reefi Duo Extreme LED only)
   2. Plumbing - Standard RedSea running 2 return pumps main at ~1600 l/hr, with 2nd going through UV at ~400 l/hr for ~4X turnover
   3. Filtration - UV (Pentair 25W) and Deltec 1000xi skimmer
   4. Aqua scaping - fairly open
   5. Flow LOTS! 2 x Gyre 350 on either side of the tank + 2 x Gyre 230 vertical on back of tank
2. Maintenance
   1. Water parameters - NSW as much as possible (7ish dkH, 420, 1350) Nitrates 10ppm phosphates 0.16 ppm
   2. Hardware maintenance - clean gyres every 2-3 months, return pumps 6ish months, replace T5s and UV yearly.
   3. Dosing for both major and minor trace elements
      1. Manufacturer
         1. Program you are following (IE…Red Sea Reef Receipt, or Triton Core 7)
   4. Feeding
      1. Regiment for fish 2-3 x daily mix of algea sheets, frozen and pellets
      2. Regiment for corals - fish feed the coral.
      3. Type of food used - various high quality frozen and Hikari pellets
3. Livestock
   1. Fish
      1. How many: 20
      2. What size: varying (3-4" tangs to 1" chromis)
      3. Compatibility - As long as they remain well fed...
   2. Invertebrates - CB shrimp, Blood Red Shrimp, Harlequin, 2x peppermint, 1-2 emeralds, a hermit, 2 conchs, 1 urchin, various snails, an LTA and 2 rock flowers
   3. Corals
      1. SPS - too many to count, sticks to mini colonies
      2. LPS - >20, - Duncans, chalices, euphillia, etc.
      3. NPS - none
4. Challenges
   1. Nutrient export
      1. Water change 1% auto daily (I know this goes against Triton, but the coral really appreciate it.)
      2. Refugium/Algae Scrubber - Refugium
   2. Growth - all growing visibly, each SPS seems to have it's own spurt schedule, and two right next to each other may not be on the same schedule, it's weird, but I'm not complaining
   3. Corals - I get the occasional, unexplained STN. I usually frag and re-start. Nothing major, and no losses in at least 4 months
   4. Livestock - none right now. Had a significant loss 9 months ago, then bought the UV.
   5. Nuisance Algae - Tangs and Foxface take care of that...
   6. Introducing new livestock- Uh, NO!!!!
   7. Making changes to the setup - I work real hard to keeps hands-off as much as possible these days, other than intentional fragging of Monti caps that grow like weeds.
5. Celebrations:
   1. Share our successes - Knock on wood
   2. Show off your tank and livestock See my build thread for now. I'll upload a recent FTS tonight.

 

[ca1ore]

Sure, acrylic 450, lots of fish and corals …..

1. Setup
   1. Lighting - 4 XW30 Radions; 5 Kessil 360; 5 Kessil 160
   2. Plumbing - Basement sump/fish room; PanWorld 250 main pump; misc. Panworld pumps for reactor, etc.
   3. Filtration - no mechanical; GAC, GFO and polyfilter; sulfur reactor; large skimmer; ATS; RDSB; mangroves; large UV
   4. Aqua scaping - see photo
   5. Flow - 4 MP60; MP40; 2 RPM; Vectra/oceans motion closed loop
   6. Heat exchanger for heating and cooling
2. Maintenance
   1. Water parameters - alk 9.5; Ca 425; Mg 1350: PO4 0.2; NO3 20-30
   2. Hardware maintenance - normal periodic maintenance
   3. Dosing for both major and minor trace elements - large CaRx; dosing of three part to offset alk loss from sulfur reactor; judicious dosing of Fe and K.
   4. Feeding
      1. Regimen for fish - 3-4 times per day; nori, pellets and multiple frozen
      2. Regimen for corals - no specific feeding
      3. Type of food used
3. Livestock
   1. Fish
      1. How many - over 100
      2. What size - 60 are small (mostly damsels); 40 are larger tangs, angels, anthias, etc.
      3. Compatibility - all mostly reef safe
   2. Invertebrates - magnifica anemone; a few rock anemones; spiny lobster, misc, crabs
   3. Corals
      1. SPS - over 80 different colonies
      2. LPS - some euphyllia, mostly chalice
      3. NPS - none
4. Challenges
   1. Nutrient export
      1. Water change - not much, about 10% monthly
      2. Refugium/Algae Scrubber - DiY ATS; some chaeto, though growth is poor
   2. Growth - generally fine, if slowed a bit by higher NO3 (hopefully sulfur reactor will help)
   3. Corals - I will lose a colony occasionally; usually a consequence of shading or incursion; otherwise no systemic issues
   4. Fish - system has ich, which limits certain fish; is managed.
   5. Nuisance Algae - none in the display (too many mouths)
   6. Introducing new livestock - rigorous QT for fish; just dip for inverts.
   7. Making changes to the setup - constantly, though never right before a trip.
5. Celebrations:
   1. Share our successes
   2. Show off your tank and livestock - day 1 and day 700 ... thereabouts

 

[JustinSmi86]

Some great looking tanks here!

 

[MikeyG]

I don't think a reef tank with a heavy fish load is as uncommon as you think.

I am beginning to see that as well. With recent advancements and the availability of shared knowledge the hobby is certainly evolving. I know personally that my understanding of the critical requirements needed for maintaining life in a reef system hsa come a long way in just the past 5 years.

 

[MikeyG]

Sure, acrylic 450, lots of fish and corals …..

1. Setup
   1. Lighting - 4 XW30 Radions; 5 Kessil 360; 5 Kessil 160
   2. Plumbing - Basement sump/fish room; PanWorld 250 main pump; misc. Panworld pumps for reactor, etc.
   3. Filtration - no mechanical; GAC, GFO and polyfilter; sulfur reactor; large skimmer; ATS; RDSB; mangroves; large UV
   4. Aqua scaping - see photo
   5. Flow - 4 MP60; MP40; 2 RPM; Vectra/oceans motion closed loop
   6. Heat exchanger for heating and cooling
2. Maintenance
   1. Water parameters - alk 9.5; Ca 425; Mg 1350: PO4 0.2; NO3 20-30
   2. Hardware maintenance - normal periodic maintenance
   3. Dosing for both major and minor trace elements - large CaRx; dosing of three part to offset alk loss from sulfur reactor; judicious dosing of Fe and K.
   4. Feeding
      1. Regimen for fish - 3-4 times per day; nori, pellets and multiple frozen
      2. Regimen for corals - no specific feeding
      3. Type of food used
3. Livestock
   1. Fish
      1. How many - over 100
      2. What size - 60 are small (mostly damsels); 40 are larger tangs, angels, anthias, etc.
      3. Compatibility - all mostly reef safe
   2. Invertebrates - magnifica anemone; a few rock anemones; spiny lobster, misc, crabs
   3. Corals
      1. SPS - over 80 different colonies
      2. LPS - some euphyllia, mostly chalice
      3. NPS - none
4. Challenges
   1. Nutrient export
      1. Water change - not much, about 10% monthly
      2. Refugium/Algae Scrubber - DiY ATS; some chaeto, though growth is poor
   2. Growth - generally fine, if slowed a bit by higher NO3 (hopefully sulfur reactor will help)
   3. Corals - I will lose a colony occasionally; usually a consequence of shading or incursion; otherwise no systemic issues
   4. Fish - system has ich, which limits certain fish; is managed.
   5. Nuisance Algae - none in the display (too many mouths)
   6. Introducing new livestock - rigorous QT for fish; just dip for inverts.
   7. Making changes to the setup - constantly, though never right before a trip.
5. Celebrations:
   1. Share our successes
   2. Show off your tank and livestock - day 1 and day 700 ... thereabouts

ca1ore, this is an amazing journey and certainly deserving of celebration! I would say you have been very successful regardless of the challenges. And this fit's the image of our hobby...bake it work regardless of the challenges. Just curious, are your NO3 actually 20-30ppm?
What is your lighting cycle? have you actually done any PAR measurements with your current lighting setup?
I have some data i will be sharing from my most recent PAR test using the Apage PAR meter...rented from BRS.

 

[alton]

I have grown Frogspawn and GSP for 17 + Years. I treat my home tanks about as bad as you can with 60 gallon water changes and forgetting to dump the skimmer every week, it is amazing how anything survives? But Frogspawn and GSP do a great job of helping to control nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates are a little under 10? I don't test much. Blueface - 2 /Regal Angel / Chrysurus / Flame Angel Pair / 3 Wrasses / Black Tang. I am still needing to add another regal angel and one more tang. The following is a picture of my 180, and if I can sell it I will going back to a 300+. Too bad the wife doesn't read these post.

 

[ca1ore]

ca1ore, this is an amazing journey and certainly deserving of celebration! I would say you have been very successful regardless of the challenges. And this fit's the image of our hobby...bake it work regardless of the challenges. Just curious, are your NO3 actually 20-30ppm?
What is your lighting cycle? have you actually done any PAR measurements with your current lighting setup?
I have some data i will be sharing from my most recent PAR test using the Apage PAR meter...rented from BRS.

I haven't actually tested NO3 in a while, so 20-30 is something of a WAG - though it's probably a good WAG. I do have to do it, partly because I have recently added a sulfur reactor and want to monitor progress. Light cycle is essentially 12 on/12 odd, with some ramping early and late. Never bothered to measure PAR/PUR.

 

[MikeyG]

I have grown Frogspawn and GSP for 17 + Years. I treat my home tanks about as bad as you can with 60 gallon water changes and forgetting to dump the skimmer every week, it is amazing how anything survives? But Frogspawn and GSP do a great job of helping to control nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates are a little under 10? I don't test much. Blueface - 2 /Regal Angel / Chrysurus / Flame Angel Pair / 3 Wrasses / Black Tang. I am still needing to add another regal angel and one more tang. The following is a picture of my 180, and if I can sell it I will going back to a 300+. Too bad the wife doesn't read these post.

These are amazing. I tell my wife if it was not for my reef tank hobby I would most likely be doing something far worst and certainly something should even hate..

 

[MikeyG]

What are your thoughts around the benefits of a refugium?
I currently run a 18gal refugium as part of my Trigger System Triton 48 v2 sump.
However, due to the heavy bio load of over 50 fish...mainly very large tangs my phosphate level stays around 0.9ppm if not treated with GFO or other AL based products. Mixed reef tank recommendations are for 0.08ppm to 0.12ppm phosphates. As you can see my levels are about 43 times higher than the recommended phosphate levels.
My hope is that the larger refugium will help get me closer to the recommended ranges as well provide additional long term benefits to the system.
The attached pictures are my current setup.

I plan on moving my Reef Octopus RPS-3000ext skimmer, and other equipment from the 50gal trough to the fuge area in the sump, and convert the sump to a full refugium. I will most likely remove the 2nd skimmer from the system all together, because it's not contributing much to waste removal.

Currently, the 50gal trough, and my algae scrubber are fed water from a Current USA DC pump which sits in the 2nd chamber of the Trigger sump.
Plans are to re-plumb the system so water drains directly from the tank to the 50gal trough (new fuge) and return from the fuge area of the Trigger sump where the skimmer will sit.
I will update this thread with the changes

 

[ca1ore]

FWIW, I did my monthly testing. Phosphate is right around 0.2; nitrate nominally around 30. Hanna test for the former; API for latter. I’ve had a sulfur reactor sitting idle for a while, so planning to press that into service to see if I can at least get the nitrates down.

 

[MikeyG]

FWIW, I did my monthly testing. Phosphate is right around 0.2; nitrate nominally around 30. Hanna test for the former; API for latter. I’ve had a sulfur reactor sitting idle for a while, so planning to press that into service to see if I can at least get the nitrates down.

Got you....not a fan of the API test kits. I use Hanna for both Kh and Po4. Also use Red Sea for No3, CA MG and Kh along with Salifert for CA and MG

 

[Mark3]

I use the API tests too ... but