Unconventional Triton Tank

[dgrigor02]

Tanks itself has been running since 2009. Liverock and some corals are up to 10-15 years old. Additional info on my website, it is mostly up to date.

Been running Algae Turf Scrubber and no skimmer for over 4 years on 180g show tank. Keeps nitrates near undetectable and phosphates will hover around .06-.08ppm. If I add 2 tablespoons of GFO to the weekly carbon it easily gets to .02 but haven't seen any benefit, .06ppm range seems to be the sweet spot for my tank.

Near Zero Water change since March 2015 ( approx. 15month ).
Just prior to March 2015 a number of sps/acropora where show very slow ressession I lost about 4 larger colonies over a 3 month period, fragging didn't help. While not 100% sure my best quess at this point is high salinity ( 1.028-1.030 ) for a long period of time. This is when I decided to give Triton tests a try.

I've done 4 Triton tests so far:

Instant Ocean freshly mixed. ( This is where the Li and Al are coming from )
March 2015
8 months later
Latest is this June.

I've got my dosages tweaked pretty good now adjusting the monthly dosages ( below ) after each test results, Only real thing is sulphate has been steadily going down. Will switch to Epsom Salt for the Magnesium and see what happens on next test around Thanksgiving/Christmas time frame.


Exports:

1 cup of carbon changed weekly and a little bit of filter floss to keep the carbon well packed which does trap some organics.
Algae harvest of between 32oz- 64oz cup of hand squeezed and rinsed algae.
Occasional siphon of the substrate into a disposable filter sock.
I've have a couple different spills and selling trading corals so about 20g maybe 40g tops of water change over the 15month period.


Imports:
I feed pretty heavily about 3-5 times per day, 1 sitting of frozen mysis, 1 full sheet of nori, several pinches of flake, several pinches of pellet ( primarily for the mandarin ).

Elements:

I'm a long term Kalkwasser user and didn't want to change. Triton doesn't sell just the 3A/3B supplements so I have come up with my own regiment trying to use DIY as much as possible. I do use a few Triton supplements becuase it made sense $ wise and hard to source.

Ca/Alk: Kalkwasser using Randy's resevoir method.
Daily round robin 20mil so each is dose every 3rd day: HW Miro-tip Trace-tip 1, Trace-tip 2
Mag: Randys DIY supplement as needed. I knew before the last test it was going to be above 1400ppm.
Randys DIY Iron: 10 drops daily
DIY Iodine ( from Iherb ) 2 drops, I added too much last go around and will reduce for next time.

Monthly:

I started out with just the HW as a starting point and waited 8 months. Then made one time additions of a number of elements and came up with some monthly dosages to bridge the gap.

1/3 cup of Potassium Chloride ( Now brand from Iherb, 2 8oz in 1 gal ro/di )
.25 mil Triton Vanadium
8 drop Manganese DIY solution
1 capsule of Molybdenum ( from Iherb )
Triton Zinc - .5mil
Triton Nickel - 4mil
Silicate - AKA Liquid Glass 5mil per month

Attached is the latest test results. Will tweak the dosages again after next test but getting pretty darn close where they should be.

Tank is doing well no losses of anykind. Convict tang seems to be loosing weight despite eating lots. Zoanthids colonies have slowed growth but thats all I have notice. No color issue with corals etc.

 

[singedop]

very nice looking tank

 

[Diesel]

Following!

 

[120reefkeeper]

Following!

 

[Triton US]

Looking great!

 

[dgrigor02]

Approx 18months ( March 2015 ) since going to the Triton philosophy. I did my first water change this week ( all others were due to spills or accidents ), 40g to drain/clean the sump. No tank issues or concerns just easier to do a water change than to try to save the sump water.

No livestock additions or losses. Just rearranged a few corals and moved some smaller pieces to the frag tank to reduce the clutter on the substrate.

Next Triton test is due in Oct/Nov timeframe.

Tank shot with my ugly mug before heading to MACNA tomorrow:

Full shot without the ugly mug:

 

[rebekwl]

beautiful tank!

 

[kc350twin]

Great looking tank, thanks for sharing.

How did you determine the Lithium and Aluminum are coming from IO Salt?

The reason I ask is that I did a Triton test last year and Lithium was off the charts and it was believed to be from Kents Tech M

Thanks for your time
KC3

 

[dgrigor02]

Easy. I had freshly mixed Instant Ocean tested at the very beginning so I would know if something was high it would help determine where it came from.

 

[dgrigor02]

Tanks is doing well. No livestock additions or losses. I've done a little fragging/trimming and minor coral rearrangments since last update but nothing major. I did do a 40g water change since the June Triton tests. I just find it easier to use fresh saltwater when draining and cleaning the sump than try to reclaim the saltwater.

Latest Triton results recieved today. No real issues just continue doing minor tweaks to my monthly dosages. Details can be seen on my website if you want to see the details: http://davidgrigor.weebly.com/updates/latest-triton-results-are-in

Fast approaching on the 5 year anniversary of going skimmerless ( Jan 2012 ).

 

[dgrigor02]

2 Year Anniversary of Near Zero Water Change. Passed the 5 year mark in January of Algae Turf Scrubber as main filtration and skimmerless. Exports consist of 1 cup of carbon weekly, algae harvest, siphon substrate into a filter sock, and a little bit of filter floss.

Triton Test results from 3/08/2017. I lost a couple of soft corals due to dipping zoanthids in Fenbendazole to remove blue clove polyps that had infested. Didn't rinse the larger colonies before putting frags back in the tank and enough medication made it in ( details of that here: http://davidgrigor.weebly.com/updates/erradicating-blue-clove-polyps ). I did have to do a series of water changes back in October to dilute Fenbendazole . Nothing else unusual since last post to note.

I did remove my 14+ year orange monitpora cap that was in the back middle it was so thick from all the years of fragging that it no longer scrolled and it weighed just over 5lbs. Fragged a few small pieces to start over.

Dosages are pretty dialed in. No changes to my dosages. Additive details can be found here: http://davidgrigor.weebly.com/additives.html

I did add a the Zinc monthly dosage ( 1ml ) the same day as I sent the test it so not surprised a little high. Will just skip next month dosage.

Lithium has always been in the red but have never accumulated and actually down slighty from last quarter test result.

Full tank shot from Today:

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[Dogtown]

That's one impressive setup you have there and the results of your DIY elements routine is respectful. You mentioned that you tested a fresh batch of instant ocean salt water when you started. Did you find IO to have anything high or low other than elevated Alk?

 

[dgrigor02]

Instant Ocean, for most you do need to bump up both ca and mg. Everything else is already at or slightly above natural levels. Elements like K and Strontium are slightly elevated so if you do regular water changes there should not be any need to supplement. My test in 2014 had 2ppb copper level, 368ppb lithium ( which seems to be typical of most salts ) everything else is good nothing too elevated or deficient.

Tank has been doing great, so great that I have been lax on sending in another test. So I'm about 9 months since last test. I do plan to get one in the mail soon.

 

[dgrigor02]

I hosted Twin City Marine Aquarium Society Last night.

Tank is doing well. I need to get off my lazy rear end and send in another water sample but all things are doing pretty well. I did loose a few smaller frags over the last 6 months. As tank matures I need to weed out anyways so no plans to replace any of the lost ones.

Gen 1 Radions been running them since Nov. 2011.

6 years this last January since going skimmerless. ATS is main filtration.

3 Year Anniversary this month of going to a Near Zero Water Change Philosophy ( Basically the Triton method but using DIY additives becuase I am a hard core kalkwasser user and they don't have additives built for that so I make most of my own ).


These shots are just from a phone camera of one of the club members. Thank you Carl.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

Your tank is so awesome!

 

[FredsNJReef]

Incredible colors!!!

 

[Tim2@Triton]

Looking Great! consistency is key!

 

[shred5]

David is this the same tank that i saw in your basement 15 20 years ago or something?
Obviously it has changed allot.

Looks great ...

 

[dgrigor02]

Hi Dave. This tank was up and in place since 2009 so almost 10 years. Pretty much all the rockwork and some of the corals are certainly 15+ years old.

Unfortunately as of this week the tank is no more. Bill Capman the Biology Teacher at Augsburg College took all but just a few corals and about half of the fish. So I know they are in good hands will be viewed daily but lots of students and if/when ready to start back up I know where to go to get pieces back.

Going through some life changes looking to move in the spring so tank had to come down to get house ready for selling next year ( sheet rock repairs, replace floors etc. in and around the tank ).

This method I'm 100% confident works and any future tank will use all the same philosophies. I may eat my words later but I don't ever see doing water changes ( except when really needed ) or using a skimmer ever again on any tank.

I'm seeing any future tanks probably won't be at my house. Likely be something others can enjoy like at a school, church or some other ministry. It's all good and I'm at peace about the decision.

 

[shred5]

Hi Dave. This tank was up and in place since 2009 so almost 10 years. Pretty much all the rockwork and some of the corals are certainly 15+ years old.

Unfortunately as of this week the tank is no more. Bill Capman the Biology Teacher at Augsburg College took all but just a few corals and about half of the fish. So I know they are in good hands will be viewed daily but lots of students and if/when ready to start back up I know where to go to get pieces back.

Going through some life changes looking to move in the spring so tank had to come down to get house ready for selling next year ( sheet rock repairs, replace floors etc. in and around the tank ).

This method I'm 100% confident works and any future tank will use all the same philosophies. I may eat my words later but I don't ever see doing water changes ( except when really needed ) or using a skimmer ever again on any tank.

I'm seeing any future tanks probably won't be at my house. Likely be something others can enjoy like at a school, church or some other ministry. It's all good and I'm at peace about the decision.

Hmm thought it was longer than that.

http://www.interacomm.com/shred/minn.htm

This was the trip. Gareth, Eric and I stayed at Agu's house and then your house. There are two pics at the bottom of the page of your tank, the first are of Augsburg college tanks and a few of Agu's. This site has not been touched in forever, I am surprised it is even sill up: