Scott's 270g aka Project Mayhem

[Scythanith]

Thanks everyone! I foolishly made a budget when I first started designing. As soon as my wife saw it she said no way in hell I'd keep within it. She's a fan of the tank so she just turns a somewhat blind eye and gives me free reign. She has a snake tank wall for all of here critters. It's finished in the same wood as the top of the tank. As for the design I definitely had been thinking about the system as a while for a couple years. A friend of mine designed the sump system and I made the changes to it that I wanted. A fish room was always a requirement.

Yep, now we are in the hurry up and wait category. I will always add/sell/move stuff and I need to add a good selection of SPS before the tank will be generally left alone (coral wise) to grow out. Fish wise I am waiting for a magnificent fox face and a small harem of golden rhomboid wrasses. After that it will just be individual wrasses and anything that really catches our eye.

I really hope to learn from you all, especially when it comes to SPS. I have always cared for LPS but SPS are new to me. And yes, I love Euphyllia sp.

 

[hung]

****** amazing, well thought out and executed.

 

[Scythanith]

Thanks! Some of the new SPS I have coming are the Reef Raft Blue Matrix, Tropical Hurricane, Wolverine, and Ultimate Orange Passion. I also have a nice cali tort, bonsai, green stag with blue tips, and beauty green sermentosa.

I saw an amazing monti on the SPS forum, the Phoenix Montipora danae! I would give a nut for that bad boy!

 

[Mabisyo]

Wow! Looking awesome

 

[CUNAReefer]

Your construction skills are amazing. I just cant wrap my head around how creative and talented some of you reefers are. Although I can grow some coral, I am a complete train wreck when it comes to construction projects. Your build is an inspiration

 

[rboutin111]

Very impressive build and basement. I would be down there all day and night!!!

 

[.Kevin.]

Very move setup there in the basement. Like it when a well thought out plan comes together. Amazing colored corals. Definitely a thread I will follow.

Kevin

 

[Scythanith]

Your construction skills are amazing. I just cant wrap my head around how creative and talented some of you reefers are. ...

Thanks CUNAReefer. All it takes is some reading and the desire to pick up a 2x4 and turn it into something We are spending more and more time down there now when we watch TV, build LEGO, etc. We actually sleep down there every once and a while and you cannot hear the tank, it's pretty quiet.

Does anyone have a regular method of introducing new SPS to a system? Do you find out where it was in the last system and try and replicate or do you start low and go higher? I'm leaning towards the first method Please let me know what your dip of choice is or how you search for AEFW eggs, etc.

 

[Oldude]

Things are looking great!

 

[CUNAReefer]

Thanks CUNAReefer. All it takes is some reading and the desire to pick up a 2x4 and turn it into something We are spending more and more time down there now when we watch TV, build LEGO, etc. We actually sleep down there every once and a while and you cannot hear the tank, it's pretty quiet.

Does anyone have a regular method of introducing new SPS to a system? Do you find out where it was in the last system and try and replicate or do you start low and go higher? I'm leaning towards the first method Please let me know what your dip of choice is or how you search for AEFW eggs, etc.

I can help here. First, the best method for avoiding pests is to dip (I use CoralRx, but have also used Bayer) and place in quarantine for several months. If you cannot quarantine, dipping and separating from the base (along with a good look with a magnifying glass) is second best. Look for any bite marks on the underside of the branches. These are little white circular patches. Also sift your dip water and place the contents on a white surface for inspection.

If you have a pest free frag, you want to always start in a lower light. If you have a PAR meter and the person you buy from has a PAR meter, this is makes the process VERY simple. If no one has a PAR meter, lower light it is. Over the course of three weeks, you can move your frag up to its final spot. The final spot should have enough light and enough flow to keep the polyps moving like a field of grass blowing in the wind. SPS produce a slime coat that needs to be removed via strong flow, otherwise it will suffocate (this causes tissue recession). Now the flow cannot be direct or you can stunt growth or rip the tissue off. If your lighting and flow are good then it comes down to the balance between Phosphate, Nitrate, Carbon, and Bacteria... and skimming. Dont forget about skimming. Oh... dont forget about trace and macro element.... And finally Ca, Alk, Mg... Cant forget about those. Lets toss in water changes as well just to be safe

Edit: If you DO have access to a PAR meter, I keep my SPS between 400 and 750 PAR with an ATI 8x80 Sunpower. Montis you can keep around 250. Thin branched sps always less than 500. Millis around 600.

 

[Scythanith]

Thanks CUNAReefer! That is exactly the kind of information I am looking for! I was looking at picking up an apogee PAR meter. I will probably snag one. I just read something from Sanjay Joshi about using a PAR meter with LED's. There was a good cheat sheet for calibrations but they have to be done for each channel.... boourns!

Lighting is 3 x Mitras running nowhere near full power. Flow is ~ 2000gph from the return pump and 4 MP40's running in all sorts of modes. I have a BK DC 250 with a RD3 speedy running full torque. I find I really have to keep the choke valve near closed to get a happy water column height and I have the skimmer sitting in the optimal water depth according to RE. Phosphates are 0.05ppm (Hanna low tester), Ca stable at 400, Alk is variable 8-9 dKh, Mg sits around 1300. I use a GHL dower and TM 3 part. As for trace minerals I use TM K+ & A-. Water changes are done using TM Bio-actif salt. I do ~20g per change, and 2-3 changes per month (10-15%). I honestly don't test for Nitrate but I will start doing so.

 

[Oldude]

To search for AEFW eggs I use a lighted magnifying glass.

 

[surfriderb]

Amazing setup! I didn't see you post anywhere the program used to first design your system (the first couple of 3d diagrams that show plumbing)... I'm a bit of a design geek as well as a reef tank geek... Would you mind sharing?

 

[Bps619]

you win!

 

[Scythanith]

Thanks Greg, I have a 10x loupe, a zeiss stemi-c, and a lighted camera sensor loop. Those should cover my bases My only question is if I remove the sps from the plug how do I keep it relocatable throughout the tank while finding its happy space? With no base it would be difficult to keep it steady in place.

Amazing setup! I didn't see you post anywhere the program used to first design your system (the first couple of 3d diagrams that show plumbing)... I'm a bit of a design geek as well as a reef tank geek... Would you mind sharing?

I honestly couldn't say. My buddy Steve (Piping Stress Analysis, Piping Engineering, FEA > Pi Engineering Inc) did the design. I knew what I wanted tank size wise, where the sumps needed to be and the dimensions the fish room had and asked Steve to go wild. His ideas were the double sumps which I really liked since I can shut of the lower sump and it doesn't affect the tank and it's main life systems. Here is Steve's build if you want to see what he does.

Cheers!
Scott

 

[Scythanith]

Just ordered an Apogee MQ-200 and the sensor Now I can have some sort of quantitative measurement for the corals!

 

[dragonfish]

wow amazing work !!!

 

[Scythanith]

Couldn't have done it without my LFS, reef buddies and forums like this one! I had ~4 reef tanks before this one and heavily researched new techniques and equipment before getting into this system.

 

[Scythanith]

So my RR sps are showing up today and here are my test results from this morning:

Mg 1350, Ca 400, Alk 7.9 dKh, phosphate 0.04ppm, Nitrate 0.2ppm, s.g. 1.025

My apogee meter showed up and I will start testing today or tomorrow

I also picked up a couple nice chalices and some zoo's from the LFS. They are sweet!

 

[Scythanith]

Details:

Mitras 6100HV running in High Efficiency mode with max output at 80% (brightness set to 70% in Light composer)
Initial PAR numbers:

~280 at water surface (9.5" from lights)
~150 9" down from water surface
~80 20" down from water surface in somewhat shade

Mitras 6100HV running in High Efficiency mode with max output at 100% (brightness set to 95% in Light composer)

~480 at water surface
~250 9" down from water surface
~120 20" down from water surface in somewhat shade
~150 on bottom of tank

So the important question is do you think bringing up the average PAR values by 50% is a bad idea? Seems a little drastic to me. I am thinking maybe dial them back to a 25% increase and see how things react and then go back to the 95% brightness. Suggestions, opinions, etc?