Reefer 170 SPS Dominated Floating Aqua Scape

[Blitheran]

Alright, I’ve finally ramped the lighting back up. I started at 5% and increased it by 5% increments over the last few weeks, and I’m now back up to 75%. I do plan on pushing it higher. I have an Apogee PAR meter (spelling?) that I need to break out to verify actual readings, but my goal is to push 400+ PAR.

Dinos are no longer present. I’m going to slowly taper off bacterial dosing, with only occasional MicroBacter7 to help maintain a healthy bacterial population.

Right now, nitrates are hovering around 5–9 ppm. Phosphates are still on the low side at ~0.02 ppm, which I’ve been actively dosing to keep detectable. Overall, things are looking solid.

Now the focus shifts to growth. I’m starting to see increased consumption of alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. These had previously stalled, which forced me to stop dosing altogether, but I’m now slowly ramping my dosing regimen back up as demand increases.

 

[Blitheran]

Tank is cruising along. I had to perform a second black out due to a 5 day vacation and my nutrients bottomed out. Seems as though, I can keep Nitrates at around 5 but I have to dose Phosphates daily to keep them present. Presently in search of a DOS QD, so I can remove my need to dose it daily (I like things automated).

I placed another order of SPS!

Going for a more high end Pieces.

 

[Blitheran]

So at 80% intensity the par readings are as such with an Apogee 510.

I really want to keep higher end SPS so my goal is to really push the boundaries with the light and the goal is to have 300 at the lowest levels of rock and 400+ at the peaks.

Currently have the light at 86% intensity and will see where 90% gets me.

So far dosing 400 ML of Kalk daily to keep levels steady.

I am going to pull the Magnesium doser off line and swap it out for Phospahates as it keeps wanting to drop so I am dosing a capful a day to keep levels present. Will have to determine what I need to dose to keep a consistent amount of .05 or more.

Nitrates have been staying pretty steady at 5-9. So no issues there. I have reintroduced water changes again. I want to keep that consistent. Still dosing a capful of waste away every night. Hoping I can slowly start to ween off of that as well.

 

[Blitheran]

Current full tank shots.

Tank has been cruising along. I took a picture with white lights.

I removed the Mag off of my 4th dose head and swapped it for NeoPhos. I currently dose 5ml a day in the morning but usually by the next morning when I test my phosphates sit around the .01-.02 range. I may dose 4ml in the morning and 3 ml at night. Once I get a more level reading of phosphates I will play with it from there.

Nitrates hover steady without dosing between 6-9.

I need more corals but not rushing into it. I have my next batch of 4 corals coming beginning of March.

 

[Blitheran]

Absolutely terrible shots but I had to run home to place the corals in the tank and then run back to work. I got a sweet deal on a coral pack. So finally starting to get some corals in the tank.


TGC Redwing Mille

CB Tangerine Dream

CCA Dragon Slayer Spath

CCA Funcky Rainbow

WWC Pink Panther

TSA Zombieland

As of right now, I am keeping nitrates steady 5-9 but Phospahtes want to keep bottoming out. So I placed it on a doser and dose about 5ml a day broken up between evening and morning so it’s not depleted before the next day. So far the few times I have checked, I am steady at about 4-7.

 

[Blitheran]

Tank is doing significantly better.

After tons and tons of research. I determined that the micro biome of the tank is why Dino’s are more present. Dry rock is too unstable along with Snake Oil bottle for bacteria.

I determined an order of GLF pico package would be sufficient. So I did a 2 day black out to subdue the Dino’s. I added the live rock and live sand into the tank. I placed the live rock directly into the display temporarily to ensure the bacteria can quickly spread amongst the rock and tank.

After a few days I have been Dino Free and Light is rocking at 86% which gets me to the 300+ par I want.

I Recieved a few more corals as well.

Pictured left to right.

Chewbacca, Rainbow Loom, Fruit Loops and Cherry Bomb.

Will place them in the tank this weekend!

 

[Blitheran]

A pic of the tank, I need to let the tank settle in with the new Rock and Sand, I have placed them in a few strategic locations that are touching to speed up the process of the bacteria transferring from the rock to the tank. I will eventually place all the rock underneath the tank, but until then. I will leave them how you see it now

Also, amongst all the cause the Meridian Staff (I believe how you spell it) is growing!

Here is a before

And after

Vivid Confetti is doing well, starting to base out from where the epoxy is!

Overall, most corals have some
Good polyp extension so now it is going to be letting the tank cruise on cruise control! Hope to start seeing some explosive growth here pretty soon

 

[Blitheran]

Alright so I have designed the tank to be left alone. I have purchased higher end equipment for that reason alone. I went to Maui, Hawaii for 6 days and came back to a beautiful tank. **note these pictures were after the cleaning and water change**

Coraline is growing but it’s not exploding. There are little patches here and there but the coral growth is booming. The myagi tort has exploded in growth! A few of the other pieces are getting vertical and horizontal growth.

The rock has since been moved to the sump and it will remain there as a kind of filtration.

 

[Blitheran]

Tank is still settling in, and the adventures keep continuing as it matures. One thing is for sure the first year of a reef tank is the hardest because it takes time for everything to mature and stabilize. I’m still working toward that balance.

I battled dinos for a while, and one of the biggest fixes was stabilizing my phosphate. It was constantly bottoming out at 0, so automating phosphate dosing helped keep it detectable and more stable. From there, it became more about managing the algae itself.

For the past month and a half, my nitrates were abnormally high, hovering between 20–40 ppm. I honestly thought that was just going to be my normal range, but about a week ago they slowly started dropping and have now stayed around 7 ppm. What’s funny is that once nitrates came down to 7, everything started looking noticeably better. A lot of my corals had been pretty pale, but now I’m seeing their colors return. The goal now is finding that sweet spot.

Phosphate is still hovering around .10–.15, but since I’m still dosing phosphate daily, I’ve slowly started pulling the dosage back.

I’m still battling some cyano and green algae on the sand bed, but I may just need to disturb the sand a little more regularly.

As for new additions, I recently hooked up Brightwell Aquatics Replenish to a doser and I’m currently dosing 1 mL per day.

Current dosing setup:

1. Kalkwasser — primary dosing source, approximately 500–1000 mL daily
2. Alkalinity — 2 mL daily just to keep solution moving through the line
3. Calcium — 2 mL daily just to keep solution moving through the line
4. Phosphate — currently 6 mL daily (previously up to 15 mL)
5. Brightwell Replenish — 1 mL daily
6. Empty slot — I want to try Two Little Fishies AcroPower, but I don’t want to throw off my chemistry by adding it too soon

After every water change, I’ve also been dosing a capful of Dr. Tim's Aquatics Waste-Away along with a few drops of Korallen-Zucht ZeoBak.

The biggest sign that my reef tank is truly maturing though… CORALLINE! It’s absolutely exploding everywhere. I know someday I’ll probably hate scraping it off the glass, but right now I love seeing it. It’s a sign the tank is slowly reaching equilibrium.

 

[Tahoe61]

Your patience is definitely paying off. Looks great.
What value is the phosphate staying at?

 

[Project1004]

“After every water change, I’ve also been dosing a capful of Dr. Tim's Aquatics Waste-Away along with a few drops of Korallen-Zucht ZeoBak.”

I would consider not adding these two products after doing the water changes. Perhaps wait a day or two before. While you are removing old water and introducing new water, you are adding additional products to remove even more nutrients and maybe cause longer for your tank to stabilize.

I dose phytoplankton with my water changes. And very little. Few drops of phytofeast which is very concentrated. I think adding natural organic matters are better for the tank. The mud is another option.

 

[Blitheran]

Your patience is definitely paying off. Looks great.
What value is the phosphate staying at?

Right now I test everyday for nitrate and phosphate and so phosphate has been at 1.5. That’s is me adding 8ml of phosphate so I have slowly been reducing it. Currently at 6ml so I will keep reducing my dosing until I get around .07 - .1

Trying to maintain a 100 to 1

 

[Blitheran]

“After every water change, I’ve also been dosing a capful of Dr. Tim's Aquatics Waste-Away along with a few drops of Korallen-Zucht ZeoBak.”

I would consider not adding these two products after doing the water changes. Perhaps wait a day or two before. While you are removing old water and introducing new water, you are adding additional products to remove even more nutrients and maybe cause longer for your tank to stabilize.

I dose phytoplankton with my water changes. And very little. Few drops of phytofeast which is very concentrated. I think adding natural organic matters are better for the tank. The mud is another option.

Ahhh, I was mainly doing it just to replenish my bacterial population and keep up due to my long drawn out fight with dinos. I didn’t realize they were hurting.

Only reason I did is I read a lot of refers just throw bacteria in occasionally.

I do have Fiji mud if that is helpful, what about acropower for nutrients? I hear everyone dosing phytoplankton. Do you dose it once per week?

 

[Project1004]

I dose phytoplankton few times a week. And definitely with the water changes.
I consider phytoplankton to be the bottom of the food chain. Bacteria > Phytoplankton > zooplankton > CUC and encrustation > corals and fishes.

The Fiji mud supposed to be a natural sources from the ocean. You may have great result with it. I’ve used it few times from a local reefers suggestion. I think it’s great product but it has some magnetic particles which messed up my return pump so I stop use it after the first time. There were magnetic particles stuck and grinding against the impeller and its housing.

Acropower and other amino acids has its place for sure. It’s just extra food sources. I use it when my nitrate gets very low. For phosphate, I use polyp booster. But first one I try is extra feedings. I had to dose nitrate and phosphate for 3yrs. Now I am finally backing off and I went cold turkey on ammonium bicarbonate and potassium phosphate. My nitrate is under 10 and phosphate around 0.20- 0.10. And will continue to use acropower/redsea ab+ and polypbooster. Maybe twice a week when I just remember ad these are not automated.