Ulmo's RSR 200XL Build

Ulmo

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Ulmo's RSR 200XL Build

It has been almost 7 years since my last build, and this will be my first tank with live coral. There are many pieces of equipment and conditions I've not worked with before. I wanted to take more pictures of components arriving and the mini-projects leading up to and after putting the tank together. Ended up trying to get as much done as I could on my days off work and realized I have now done much of it without documenting the steps.

Will upload more photos as able. Need to check the wife's phone to see if she has any of the build process. The only photos I have so far are those included here, almost all taken the day the tank was filled and right before I turned the light off to start cycling.

Photo caption: Was slightly cloudy from fill, cleared up very quick though. All of the little bubbles were gone within a day.
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IMG_20210819_2159214.jpg IMG_20210831_1645083.jpg


Photo caption: Blurry, I have an old phone and an unsteady hand.
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Photo caption: Hopefully I can find a picture showing a better angle of the back, it's really more organized than it looks from above. That said, I could definitely have put more thought towards cable management. Bundled some things together I maybe should not have. Went over or through cables that might give me troubles. Used lots of 3M double sided tape and command strips. Zip ties for extra cord wherever I could (with and without adhesive anchors). Some things will be hard to clean or swap.
IMG_20210831_1357545.jpg

Photo caption: Working on the aquascape on the deck. Strait of Juan de Fuca is fogged over in the background, otherwise you would be able to see Vancouver Island (CA), the San Juan Islands (WA), and Mount Baker.
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Build List:

Tank:
Red Sea Reefer 200XL (Black)
Notes: Simple modification done to hang door for right-hinge opening. Due to the corner the tank is in, access would have been severely limited using the factory left-hinge arrangement. It seemed like the Red Sea logo badge would have been especially difficult or damaging to remove, so I just covered it with a thin piece of black silicone sheet material, looks fine to me without the logo. Added a dark blue vinyl background to right side of DT, to avoid seeing the white wall it is up against through the glass when viewing from the left side. Added white contact paper to back and right sides of sump. Coated hinges and other exposed metals with Vaseline.

Light: Kessil A360X Tuna Blue [w/ Kessil WiFi unit, 90-degree mounting arm, and A-55 Reflector]

Cover: Clearview Classic version w/ black mesh (ordered 24-Aug, arrived 16-Sep)

Return Pump: Eheim 1260 [w/ Spears gate valve to control flow rate and Spears union] (bought an extra of the same pump to hold as spare)

Wavemaker: 2x IceCap Gyre 2K w/ WiFi controller [added IceCap mesh intake covers, like these so far, we'll see how they hold up. Tried a thick 3D printed version, but it restricted flow way too much and made the pumps incredibly loud]
- extra propeller blades to swap in between cleanings


Heaters:
Ranco Temperature Controller
Finnex Titanium HMS-150 (also have an HMH-150 I use for quarantine and/or water changes)
Eheim ThermoControl 75 (set 2 degrees lower as a backup in case the Finnex fails; have 2 of these for utility/spare)

Fans: Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 3000 PWM [2 mounted at rear opening to cabinet, 1 intake, 1 exhaust] + Noctua NF-F14 iPPC 3000 PWM [hung from top to blow air directly down and across surface water of sump]
- w/ Noctua NA-FC1 Fan Controller

Skimmer: Deltec 600ix
(Bubble Magus Curve 5 retired as spare)

Reactors: AquaMaxx FR-M Internal Media Reactor with Sicce Pump [have 2 of these, but only using 1]

Refugium Mod to sump: (removed and replaced with Santa Monica Filtration Surf2)
DIY divider, black acrylic piece drilled to allow flow [48 holes @ 3/8", more holes in bottom half than top, to hopefully force more water through the Chaeto]
Chaeto basket: DIY with egg crate, 4"x9" (roughly 2" tall) [used black acrylic rectangles to affix top to bottom and kept the long sides open that fit snugly up against two dividing sections. Due to the limited space, didn't want to give up more lighted surface area or Chaeto holding volume.]
Grow light: ReefBreeders Pico LED Light - Full Spectrum Refugium (8W) [w/ timer] (planning on a ~16hr lighting schedule, with the off period being in the evening, to enjoy tank without light creeping from cabinet)
Pod Hotel: DIY corrugated sign material (3"x5" footprint, 1.75" tall), glued it to a small piece of STAX rock so it stays on the bottom

Dosing Pump: Bubble Magus BM-T11 Dosing Package
Notes: The mounting platform it came with is nice, but sticks out a bit far because of the center support brace, especially on the limited space in the 200XL.
- 3x 800ML Voss bottle DIY dosing containers [package came with 1.5L SeaSide Aquatics containers, but they wouldn't fit next to the sump due to my moving the door hinges]
- IceCap magnetic dosing tube holder [package came with the SeaSide Aquatics tube holder, but caused fit issues on the sump rim where the UV sterilizer sits]
Dosing Compounds: Tropic Marin ABC Part Balling Set

UV Sterilizer: Aqua Ultraviolet 15 Watt Advantage 2000+ In-Line
Discarded due to rust issue: CoraLife Turbo Twist 6X (18W)

Sterilizer Pump: SICCE Syncra Silent 1.5 [added inline ball valve for easy flow rate adjustment]



Dry live rock: Used 42LB combination in display (RO/DI rinsed all)
- MarcoRock Premium Shelf Rock (60LB)
- Two Little Fishies STAX (40LB)
- CaribSea South Seas Base Rock (10LB) [ended up not using any of this in DT, except a couple pounds I crushed into powder for aquascaping with insta-cure glue, did used some in the small QT though]
Aquascape Notes: Not completely pleased with the result, but I can live with it. Bought too much rock hoping to get pieces I would like, and then had trouble on such a small tank putting them together in a way that allowed the negative space and open sand base I was going for.

Sand: Used roughly 35LB in display (washed with garden hose and rinsed with RO/DI)
- 20LB Tropic Eden Live Mesoflakes
- 30LB Tropic Eden Dry Miniflakes [only used approx. 15LB]

Salt: Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt


RO/DI Filter:
Marine Depot KleanWater 4-Stage Advanced RO/DI System - 100 GPD
- Changed stock membrane/filters to SpectraPure 90GPD Ultra 99% membrane, 0.5 micron sediment and carbon
- Added DI bypass and flush valves, stepped down to a 650CC flow restrictor (I get steady 85psi through the unit and have <50ppm municipal water, so I can get away with the lower 3.2:1 wastewater ratio I'm seeing)

Salinity meter: Milwaukee MIL-MA887 Digital Seawater Refractometer w/ case
Tropic Marin Hydrometer w/ Graduated Cylinder
BRS/ATC Refractometer that I bought a decade ago for the brackish tanks I had while living in China

Water testing kits:
Hanna Alkalinity, Phosphate, Nitrate
Salifert Calcium, Magnesium, PH, Nitrate [also Salifert Ammonia and Nitrite tests that won't often be useful after initial phases]


Filter Socks:
- Red Sea 225 micron Mesh Sock (x7) [will use these most of the time]
- Red Sea 225 micron Felt Sock (x3) + 100 micron Felt Sock (x3) [probably won't use these often, if at all, possibly for occasional polishing]
- Red Sea Filter Cup [don't want to create perpetual plastic waste though, so will give the socks a chance first before buying any Poly-Fill or filter pads to use with this]

Filter Media:
Surface area material: Maxspect Nano-Tech Bio-Block x 4 [2 in overflow chamber under ATO, 2 in main chamber under filter sock at front corner of sump]
- Purigen
- Chemi-Pure Elite
- ReefSpec Carbon
- Kolar HC GFO
- ecoBAK BioPellets (removed)
- Brightwell Phosphat-R (removed)


Bioculture Additives: Dr. Tim's One and Only + FritzZyme Turbo Start 900 / Dr. Tim's Ammonia Chloride dosing
Cycling notes (updated): If I remember correctly, it took about 12-15 days to be able to process doses inside 24hrs. Also added PNS ProBio over the first couple months, then started occasional doses of Brightwell MicroBacter7.


Cleaning Tools:
Tunze Care Long Magnet (+ extra blades),
Tunze Care Nano Magnet (modified with float cut from long version)
JBJ Aquascraper 4-in-1 (for sand raking and scraping some surfaces that the magnets can't get to)

Water Change/Sand Cleaning:
Sicce Multi Quiet 800 Pump (220 GPH) (for pumping new saltwater from buckets)
Python Pro-Clean Vacuum system + Python Hose Siphon adapter

Other Items:
- Hydor Nano 565 GPH powerhead (x2, one in sump for extra flow, other for salt mixing and QT)
- Two Little Fishies Magnetic Feeding Ring
- Two Little Fishies Magnetic Pouch Feeder (w/ 5 extra pouches)
- Innovative Marine Gourmet Grinder Feeder
- Eheim TWIN Automatic/Programmable Feeder (for potential vacations/trips)
- Marine Source 6" Acrylic Top-down viewer
- Pump tube/baster x 2
- SS Tweezers (long) x 2
- Battery powered airstones for short term emergency use
- 1500W Pure Sine Inverter for longer term emergency use (connect to SUV as a generator, tested and works fine. Probably not as practical as a dedicated generator with fuel reserves, may add eventually.)


Livestock:
Fish:

* Clownfish x 2 (ORA Snowflake Ocellaris + ORA Picasso Percula)
* Radial Filefish x 2 (Biota)
* Helfrichi Firefish
* Lyretail Fang Blenny (Biota)
* Blue Mandarin (Biota)

Inverts:
* Tuxedo Urchin (Blue - ORA)
* Porcelain crab
* Micro Brittle Stars
* Siphonaria Limpets x 5 (ORA) (seemed to arrive dead or dying, not sure if any are still in there)
* Peppermint Shrimp x 1 (ORA)
* Cerith Snails x 10 (second set of 5 never moved after adding to tank though, so maybe arrived DOA)
* Trochus Snails x 5
* Brittle Starfish (1 large that I bought, plus a few more small-medium sized hitchhikers from live rock)
* Fighting Conch

Corals: (TBD) Note: I still have a lot of research to do here, and I (along with my wallet) still want to wait until the tank is a bit more mature, so that will give me some time.
Soft: Finger leather and GSP from LFS for some color and movement (I have been keeping the GSP contained to some small pieces of rock that can be moved/removed at will, hasn't been growing exceptionally fast for me.)
LPS: Torch coral from LFS (green tentacles with tan tips)
SPS: I know I'll want at least a birdsnest eventually, and so many beautiful acro to choose from.


Photo caption: View from the left side of tank
IMG_20210820_2054487.jpg



That's all for now, will update and add more photos as things progress. Thanks for looking.

Status:
31-Aug-2021: The tank has been up and running now for a few weeks and nitrogen cycle seems to be nearly finished. Next weekend I will probably do a big water change and turn the light on. First fish a week or two after that maybe.

Update:
19-Feb-2022: Tank has been running for over 6 months. For the most part, it's going well.

Update:
12-Mar-2023: Still good, long version of changes and experiences is in a reply below.


Setup changes:

Removed - Chaeto refugium section in November '21 due to buying multiple softball sized clumps that would then just melt and/or get overrun with other messy species. Could have been the wrong light, flow issues (tried different powerheads and positions in that section), or other factors I just didn't stick it out to dial in.

Added - Santa Monica Filtration Surf2 UAS in November '21, which has been great. Produces to near capacity every 6-7 days with an Eheim 400L/H Air Pump (modified with poly-fill for additional sound/vibration dampening). The light is on a timer for 18-19 hrs with the off period around 1200-1700).

Added - 15lb KP Aquatics Premium Aquacultured Live Rock in January '22 (shipped in water) [Split between approx. 10lb in DT + 5lb in sump]

Added - 7lb Aussie Live Rock in early March '22, removed 7lb of KP Aquatics to make space

Added - Air line from skimmer to outside (attic roof vent) in April '22

Added - Sochting Oxydator A in April '22

Replaced - UV Sterilizer in April '22, discarded Coralife Twist 6X (18W) and installed Aqua UV 15W

Replaced - ATO in February '23, retired stock ATO to storage, installed Tunze Osmolator and 5.5 gallon reservoir

Replaced - Skimmer in February '23, retired Curve 5 to storage, installed Deltec 600ix
 
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Ulmo

Ulmo

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Looking good! What fish are you planning to add first?
Most likely a bonded clownfish pair. Had planned to not even stock clownfish on this build, but the many positives outweigh my passive desire to take a path less traveled.

Maybe goby (single or bonded pair) next after the clowns. Then a set of chromis, chalk bass, or some other small schooling fish.

After those are all successful for a while and the tank is maturing, will get into corals and consider options for possibly adding another fish or two.
 

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Who can resist a pair of clowns?? They look like happy puppies when they swim :) Looking forward to watching your tank’s progression.
 
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Ulmo

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Some additional notes about the most recent 6+ month update.

Clownfish: These were the first fish added. In September I ordered a Diver's Den WYSIWYG bonded Snowflake Ocellaris pair, and they sent me one wrong fish, a Picasso Percula. The first few months they were amiable towards each other, then a couple rounds of fairly intense aggression from the Snowflake toward the Picasso, there were some minor abrasions involved. Maybe the slightly smaller Picasso was not doing the twitch quickly or convincingly enough. Snowflake stopped letting him eat much for a couple weeks, the size gap widened a little bit more and things calmed, and lately they seem to be scouting and practicing places to lay eggs.

Mandarin: Added 23-Nov at less than 1", is now between 2"-2.5" and fat. Waited to buy until pod population seemed healthy. Have added 1-4 bottles of AlgaeBarn EcoPods monthly since August (dosing OceanMagik). A couple early explosions were fun to watch. An amphipod explosion too that must have hitchhiked in on something, though haven't seen many since adding the Mandarin.

Live Rock: Wanted to add some diversity. Happy with the 15LB of KP rock I received, shipped in water. Cured it in a big container with flow/heat/water changes, added it to system after only 10 days due to reading no additional ammonia after the first few days. Was surprised how few hitchhikers I found though. Did a 1.040 salinity dip a couple times (only 1-2 minutes each time), not a thing came out except a couple spaghetti worms which I put in tank. The daily visual inspections are how I found a single micro brittle star and a couple small-medium normal brittles, added to DT. There was also a yellow-green color star I found that I put in sump in case it was the fish eating kind. I had been setting traps (shot glass, cut/inverted water bottle, and the X-terminator trap door thing), caught nothing and no bait was taken. Was of course mainly worried about things like gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp, and bobbit worms. Tried another 1-2 minute dip by adding carbonated water into a hyper-salinity container (averaged to 1.025 or so) hoping to flush something out. Two caribbean blue legged pistol shrimp and another spaghetti worm evacuated, that was it. Put the rock in the tank and taking my chances. It seemed unlikely to me that so few hitchhikers could be in 15lb of live rock shipped in water fresh from the ocean. Hopefully no killers show up later.

Lighting: Running for 13 hours a day, but with no SPS, it's a very slow ramp up/down with peak only being 21% intensity (with higher violet numbers).

Flow: Had the 2 gyres running an opposite sine/triangle wave at 1/2-2/3 power for a while, but felt like the fish were always trying to hide from it. Again with no corals yet requiring high flow, turned them down to a 1/3 constant flow with a 10 minute 3/4 speed export period each day.

Dosing: Only 5ml per day, in one dose per pump of Tropic Marin Balling ABC, due to only having softies so far.

Feeding: 1 cube of frozen each night. My fish all readily accept the San Francisco Bay Brand Marine Cuisine/Emerald Cuisine/Frozen Mysis which I rotate. Almost none of them will touch the frozen PE Mysis that I bought four packs of. My nearest LFS other than Petco is over 1.5hrs away, and neither carry any of the often referred brands. May have to pay the shipping to try some others options, like Reef/Fish Frenzy. Reef Nutrition ROE mid-day every day (wife does it when I'm at work). Probably too much of this, because it's just so easy to go give them a squirt or two, but it of course distributes all over the tank and some ends up in the mesh filter socks. Have already gone through over 2.5 of the 32oz bottles in just over 5 months. Occasionally feed a 5 pellet blend as supplemental day time feeding, just 2-3 presses averaging every 2-3 days with a IM Gourmet Grinder. This does crush some to powder that I'm sure dissolves and increases my waste. When I try to feed pellets directly without the grinder only the clowns and filefish will go near the feeding ring and the rest sink in a way that the firefish and blenny ignore them. They readily go chasing after smaller crushed pieces from the grinder that take a less direct path to the bottom.

Nutrients: I've been struggling to get nutrients down, but not trying very hard or doing anything fast. Nitrates usually around 35-50+, Phosphate hovers in 0.3-0.4, both possibly due to broadcast feeding. I dose DIY Vinegar/Vodka mix, about 2-3ml daily. Have been performing a 10-12% water change every 6 days (each "weekend" of my 3 days on duty/3 days off schedule).

Annoyances: Bryopsis! Just added 5 capsules of ReefFlux Fluconazole last week to try to beat this. GHA would slowly and steadily grow, which I didn't mind manually removing once a month, as it seemed to be less and less each time. The Bryopsis holds tight to the softies and the sand, trying to remove it manually is not fun and it just kept coming back in greater numbers. Will bring skimmer back online in the next day, and hope my nutrients won't get too much crazier between that and skipping water changes for a couple weeks.

Overall Status:
Things seem to be progressing well enough, excited to see more maturation (of aquarium and myself) in the next 6 months.

Will get some newer photos taken and posted when I'm not at work.
 
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Ulmo

Ulmo

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Photos taken at peak intensity lighting today. Haven't cleaned the glass or other surfaces in a couple weeks.

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The aquascape is going to be a challenge for me to arrange corals, but I don't plan on getting a great many. Just a few colorful choices to accent areas will probably be enough for me. Recommendations on species and placement locations are certainly welcome. The live rock pieces are not glued in and can be moved easily, but all dry rock is solidly affixed together and to a bottom plate under the sand.
 
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Ulmo

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19 month update:

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Still loving this tank, and have made a few changes since last update.

Equipment changes/additions:

Sochting Oxydator:
Added one of these, the larger "A" model, to potentially get some ozonation benefits without the complicated setup. Bought 4 gallons of 12% H2O2, which I mix with RODI to about 9% and use with only one of the catalysts. Requires refilling about every 2-3 weeks. Considering adding the second catalyst and/or using the 12% H2O2 without further dilution. Had it in the main sump chamber for a while, but now it's in the first overflow chamber before filter sock.
DSC_0120.JPG


UV Sterilizer:
Around a year ago I took out the Coralife Twist 18W to clean it and discovered the dreaded rust creep inside. Wasn't terrible, probably because I spent so much time coating the interior with clear PlastiDip before putting it online, but was still concerned enough to make me toss it. Added a AquaUV 15W and feel much safer with that reputable piece of kit. Required an extensive plumbing revision that I also like better than the former setup.
DSC_0116.JPG


Air line to outside:
I ran a ~32' x 3/8" ID pneumatic hose from the skimmer to a roof vent in my attic (widened a hole in the ceiling right above the tank that was previously used for speaker wire to another zone). I put a small media canister made for pneumatic tools at the intake and try to keep fresh carbon inside. Noticed a small pH boost under normal conditions, but I like the idea of fresh air coming in. I certainly enjoy breathing it when I walk out the door after being inside for extended periods of time, hopefully the tank feels the same.
DSC_0103.JPG


ATO:
Removed the stock ATO, for various reasons. The low volume reservoir (~1.8G) would only last a couple of days. Float valve would also frequently build up goo and stick the plug in the up position and allow unchecked evaporation until I would notice it pulling air into the return pump. Always caught it fairly quickly, but it would cause me stress. Bought a replacement float to rotate in for cleaning, still remained a headache.

Added a Tunze Osmolator 3155, which is as convenient as people say. Able to set optical sensor and high water float right where I want them. I only have a couple complaints. The power lines to the pump and wall plug are a little short for my setup, and it is a pain to insulate the bulky power lead connection assembly from salt creep. Also, the indicator lights are not shielded, so the light spreads throughout the panel (i.e. the "level" light shifts to always appear in the "too high" window due to viewing angles where it is mounted on my side cabinet wall).

I put a storage ottoman next to the tank with a 5.5 gallon Rimless Aqueon inside. Made a water level chart to affix to it. Now I just top that off with a 5 gallon hedpak or bucket each week. That alone was worth the investment, no more daily shuffling back and forth with pitchers to top off the in cabinet reservoir. Initially bought the 10 gallon version of the same rimless tank, but it wouldn't fit in the only ottoman I could find that met dimension and decor requirements. I don't know what I'll do with yet, may end up as a small freshwater tank for the basement office.

Fun side story: To squeeze the ottoman in, I had to move the whole tank over an inch to be closer to flush with the right wall. I did that without emptying any water. Bought an air shim rated for 500LB, but that provided what seemed like very little help under the thin cabinet walls. The rest was on me to lift and push a tank that had settled deep into the carpet and padding. It was a workout for me, and a series of small earthquakes for the fish.
DSC_0112.JPG


Skimmer:
While the Bubble Magus Curve 5 was a nice little skimmer, and I'd still recommend it for a budget build, I had regrets on cheaping out for that important component. Recently upgraded to a Deltec 600ix. I like the reliability of AC pumps. This skimmer is much better in so many ways. The increased air draw, the precise tuning control of water level, the buit-in neck squeegee, better footprint, and so on. The body and neck do seem to be oversized for this tank, and I have to run the water level fairly high to keep it producing in the cup. Considered removing one of the two Stax rocks I have under it to reduce the head pressure and be able to open the outflow valve a bit more, but it seems to be doing ok for now.
DSC_0111.JPG


Settings changes:

Lighting:
Still absolutely love the Kessil, but I grew somewhat tired of the heavy purple/dark blue hues. Turned the violet settings down a bit, to let the white and light blue hues come out a bit more. Also dropped light intensity to 13% max for an increased duration between ramp up/down. Didn't notice any adverse effects.

Flow:
Put the Gyres back on opposite sine/triangle wave, around 1/3-1/2 power for most of the day. The torch coral seems to like that random flow better. Still have the export period in the evening.

Dosing:
Increased each Balling component to 10ml/day. Also starting to experiment with increasing DIY Nopox dosing to see if I can beat the GHA growth or at least slow it further. Had been autodosed daily at 5ml vinegar + 2.5ml vodka for the last year, with test reading range usually 35-50ppm Nitrate and 0.15-0.3ppm Phosphate. Recently bumped the dose settings to 6.5ml vinegar + 3.5ml vodka daily. Hoping I can cut nutrient range in half and figure out maintenance dose without making any big mistakes.


Livestock notes:

Fish:

All the same as listed in first post. Everybody fat and healthy. The fighting conch hasn't done any voluntary daytime cruising since the first couple months it was in the tank. A few times I figured it was dead, and at intervals measured in months, I would feel around with tongs and unbury it from the sand. It would wake up, do a few laps of the tank, then disappear again. Maybe it is coming up during the overnight hours when lights are off, but I haven't caught a glimpse of that, though occasionally notice a small amount of sand shifting/turnover that could be caused by its movement.


Feeding:

The fish still get one cube of frozen each night, usually Mysis. Roughly every two days they get a supplemental day time feeding of either ROE or Masstick.

After reading about the benefits of feeding clams to the tank, I started buying live clams from the grocery store and freezing them. I use a microplane to shave into bite size morsels and feed that usually once per week. The fish go crazy for it and I'd probably feed it more often if it didn't require so much skimmer tuning to avoid cup overflow after.

Have added many jars of pods since setup. EcoPods a few times, but usually just jars of Tisbe every couple months to supplement the food for the Mandarin. Amphipod population seems to remain the healthiest without any additions, maybe just more noticable due to their larger size and tendency to gather in large numbers on filter socks and media bags.


Corals:
Still want more, but no local stores, and haven't committed yet to put the time and money into shopping them online. Lost an open-brain coral that I added when the tank was still very young. Then lost some zoas that the GSP grew on top of before I could move them. One of the heads on my torch coral seems to have stopped extending recently and has a white mass covering it. Other head is still extending fully daily, hopefully it pulls through.

GSP has spread to cover the entire top of the tower it is on. I see it starting to reach downwards, but it is mostly shaded below the platform at top. I hope it is unsuccessful in engulfing the entire rock structure. My wife and I like it the way it is now, but if it turns into a massive blob with no visible rock I think I would lose some appreciation for it.

Eventually I'll get the motivation to research which species would do well in the spots available on my aquascape, and then open the wallet. None of the live rock pieces resting in the display are glued down yet due to uncertainty about future coral choices.


Nuisances/Maintenance:

Haven't seen any more bryopsis in the last 10 months. Required several ReefFlux treatments before I became desperate enough to allow a sufficient duration without skimmer, media, or water changes.

GHA still grows slowly and steadily in the tank, requiring a big manual removal from sandbed and rocks every month or two (depending how thick I let it grow). In fact, it seems to have outcompeted the Surf2 as I no longer harvest algae manually from that, though the whole unit is a metropolis of amphipods and micro crabs, maybe their large population is harvesting immediately as it grows.

Had aiptasia at one point over a year ago, but haven't seen any in the display since applying F-Aiptasia. I see semi-transparent structures in the sump that look similar, but they are staying small and not spreading wildly.

Coralline algae has been present for a while, and seems to be really taking off, but it has a hard time competing in the spots where GHA tends to grow. Also the highest rocks in the tank have virtually none due to the tuxedo urchin making that its preferred area to keep clean.

Slowed way down on water changes around 6 months ago, now doing 25% once a month.

DSC_0117.JPG DSC_0118.JPG DSC_0119.JPG
 
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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 38.2%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 64 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.1%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 0.5%
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