Zach's 120 Gallon Reef Resurgence - SPS/Mixed Reef - Build Journal

[zachxlutz]

I pulled this out of my refugium the other day... bubbly, spongy mass. Any ideas on what it is? It was just floating at the water line. ewwwwwww

 

[revhtree]

Looks like the blob has algae sunglasses! HA!

 

[zachxlutz]

Looks like the blob has algae sunglasses! HA!

haha! I can just see the "deal with it" glasses meme on it!

Someone on the other forum suggested it may be some sort of bacterial mass due to the Vibrant dosing. Possibly.

 

[zachxlutz]

Does anyone else have any Anthias that like to much on nori as it gets torn off by their herbivorous pals?

 

[zachxlutz]

This weekend I put some finishing touches on a few things that had been put on the back burner. The reinforcement board for the lights needed painting to match the surrounding ceiling area. Looks much better than the raw wood and really blends in now. I need to put some caulking around where the wood meets the ceiling, the popcorn finish made for some unsightly gaps.

Finished up painting the exterior of the stand and got it permanently attached to the structural portions. The sides are attached with velcro for ease of access. Fashioned up a little L shaped cover for all the wiring traveling from the tank to the equipment cabinet. The temperature cord is a little short and won't make the turns required to hide it. I need to find an extension for it. Anyone have any ideas? Sounds like a trip to Fry's or MicroCenter is needed. I believe it's a molex connector. Seems pretty standard.

So dark and mysterious...

 

[zachxlutz]

At some point, on some forum, I saw someone using a nice little storage container to hold all of their testing equipment and reagents and thought it was a great idea. Well, I was shopping at Lowe's the other day and came across this nice little deal and thought I'd share how I'm using it.

Stack-On Deep Cup Organizer from Lowe's.

It's a great container, all the bins come out for ease of use, it keeps my reagents nice and dry and keeps everything clean and in one spot.

Top Row, Left to Right:

• Nitrate/Phosphate color wheel, refractometer calibration fluids, salinity pipettes
• Red Sea Nitrate
• Red Sea Phosphate
• Salifert Calcium

Middle Row, Left to Right:

• Miscellaneous vials, extra Hannah alkalinity reagent, cleaning microfiber rag
• SR Aquaristik Speed Test portable magnetic stirrer
• Hannah Alkalinity Colorimeter
• Red Sea Magnesium

Bottom Row, Left to Right:

• Red Sea Coral Colors Test (Iodine)
• Red Sea Coral Colors Test (Potassium and Iron)

This little container has been immensely helpful in keeping things stored nice and neat. I hope it helps you out if you get to try it too!

 

[zachxlutz]

How has the Nitrate dosing worked out for you after a month? Are you noticing better colors in your SPS?

I believe it has worked exceptionally well with regards to coral coloration.

Some details and notes:

Since beginning dosing on 12/16/16, 245.5 ml of KNO3 solution has been added to the tank, usually between the amounts of 5 ml and 20 ml, but as much as 30 ml when I was first getting started.

245.5 ml of the KNO3 solution equals 49.48 ppm NO3 (nitrate) and 31.24 ppm K (potassium) added to the tank.

I've also dosed Vibrant weekly for 9 weeks at 15 ml for a total of 135 ml.

Vibrant plays a role in the reduction of NO3, as well as the natural uptake of NO3 by coral, algae, etc.

Recently I've noticed I don't have to dose as much KNO3 solution, so I think I'm starting to reach a sort of equilibrium. I believe that the combination of dosing Vibrant and KNO3 has allowed the tank to have appreciable nutrient levels with a lack of nuisance algae and has allowed the tank to avoid almost all of the new tank "uglies".

I've also pulled my GFO offline and have not been running any form of phosphate reduction since 11/28/16 and my phosphates have never risen over .08 ppm, usually hovering around .03 ppm. That being said, I feed A LOT. I have an auto feeder dropping in a pinch of pellets 4 times a day, plus supplemental frozen feeding and nori daily. I believe that keeping the NO3 value elevated higher is helping with the reduction of phosphates due to the Redfield Ratio (debateable, but seemingly verifiable).

I believe that the addition of KNO3 and Vibrant to the system has created a nutrient rich system with almost no algae growth, better coloration and an overall healthy look to the tank.

The most recent additions of Tyree Blue Acro and Orange Fungia have held their colors amazingly well, while the remainder of the corals seem to be coloring up, growing great and showing great polyp extension. The montipora spongodes and setosa are showing the slowest signs of recovery, but they lost almost all color within the first few days of entering the tank during the nutrient poor period. SPS coral seems to be quick to decline and very slow to recover.

Thanks for checking in. I'm hoping to add some more fish to the system soon which should help to reduce my need for supplemental KNO3 dosing.

 

[zachxlutz]

I just ordered a Jebao DP-4 (4 head) dosing pump to automate the dosing of Red Sea Coral Colors A, B, C and D. I'm only dosing .6 ml of each a day so I'm thinking about diluting the solutions to a 1/8 strength which would bring the dosing equivalent up to 4.8 ml a day. I think this will give me a better more accurate dosing regimen. Does anyone have experience dosing like this?

 

[zachxlutz]

PHOTO DUMP!

02/28/2017 FTS:

Chameleon Acro:

Showing really good coloration, growth and encrusting since parameters have been stable at target levels. This one was just purple and brown for the longest time in my system and is steadily improving and coloring up.

Red Planet Acro:

Just added this one to the system on Saturday. Things got a little messy with the superglue... can't wait to see this one color up and start tabling.

Tyree Blue Matrix Acro and Green Psammocora:

Added this acro pretty recently, showing great blue coloration and huge polyp extension... a little peeved in this photo because the flow was off and the tank was stagnant.

Orange Fungia and Meteor Shower Cyphastrea:

Montipora Digitata:

Purple/Pink Birdsnest and some photobombing anthias:

See the bubble algae? Hoping the Vibrant dosing 1x per week knocks that out.

Green Birdsnest:

Mint Pavona:

Montipora Setosa:

Still recovering from the sterile tank situation but starting to show some deeper colors.

Mystic Sunset Montipora:

Growth is great, coloration is great. Happy camper over here. Still dosing Vibrant weekly and KNO3 as needed.

 

[zachxlutz]

I did a little clean-up work on the reactor plumbing the other night... I'm quickly running out of room under the stand, so I'm trying to get things as clean and organized as possible. I need to come up with a plan to mount my new Jebao DP-4 dosing pump along with the 4 bottles of diluted Red Sea Coral Colors. I'm thinking about redesigning the entire dosing setup and building a new mount for the BRS dosing pumps and somehow incorporating the DP-4 to be mounted all in the same area. I also need to come up with a solution for the Cal/Alk containers. Thoughts?

 

[zachxlutz]

Sneak Preview:

I built a simple dosing pump stand out of some extra red acrylic I have for my new DIY sump project. Dosing containers and final touches coming soon.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking good!

 

[Maritimer]

Great storage and under-sump solutions!

Pretty tank, too ... wonder if those two things are connected in some way . . .

~Bruce

 

[zachxlutz]

Looking good!

Thank you. I'm very proud of what I've been able to accomplish with this tank. It brings me a lot of joy to be able to provide a healthy home to such amazing creatures. Being able to watch them all grow and feed and swim and scavenge and crawl and nibble and sway and everything else they all do is pretty dang incredible and extremely enjoyable.

 

[zachxlutz]

Great storage and under-sump solutions!

Pretty tank, too ... wonder if those two things are connected in some way . . .

~Bruce

Thanks! I'm always working on both aspects as both the aquarium and the corresponding components are aestheticly important to me. I'm glad you like it...I certainly do, too.

 

[zachxlutz]

...and now we've automated Red Sea Coral Color dosing!

I fabricated this little acrylic shelf for the Jebao DP-4 dosing pump, some 500ml Voss water bottles for the Coral Color solutions and some tubing routing and we're in business.

The Voss bottles are holding 50 ml of each A,B,C and D (respectively) with 450 ml of RO/DI water. This provides a lower concentration of the solution, therefore providing a more consistent and even dosing regimen.

I still need to make another dosing tube holder to fit on the trim of the sump similar to the tube holder the ATO, Cal and Alk lines fit in.

 

[zachxlutz]

So, someone (I'm not pointing fingers but I'm looking at you Mr. Magnificent...) got spooked last night when I was cleaning the glass or doing something in the tank and broke a frag off of the Montipora Spongodes. This Monti had been through some stress when my tank was nutrient poor and was just finally starting to color back up and show some growth. Hopefully, the stress of the impromptu fragging doesn't set back the progress of the main colony.

This was my first time gluing one of my own frags to a disk... The BRS superglue took forever to set up and I felt like I was doing some damage to the coral while I was holding it from falling over. Any tips or tricks for getting the super glue to set up faster?

 

[zachxlutz]

New Fish!

I picked up two female leopard wrasses and a blue stripe threadfin fairy wrasse (Temminckii) today, acclimated them and tossed them in QT. The Leopard wrasses are out hunting pods like crazy and the blue stripe is a little more timid. All three ate frozen mysis at my LFS, so I'm hoping they all transition to their new homes without incident.

Leopard Wrasses:

Blue Stripe / Threadfin (Temminckii) Wrasse:

...and VIDEO!

 

[zachxlutz]

MAIL DAY!

I've been itching for an apex and finally pulled the trigger. I also got some essentials I feel I've been missing lately.

 

[zachxlutz]

I've noticed a change in the flesh on this Cyphastrea.

I've had it in the system for about 5 months now. Great growth and great coloration. I just noticed that the flesh around some of the polyps appears to look "torn". The areas where I see it the most are near the polyps at the lower part of the coral where it's encrusting over the live rock.

All other coral in the tank are showing great polyp extension, coloration and growth. This issue appears to be confined to this particular piece.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

Parameters:
Temp: 78* F
Salinity: 35 ppt
Ph: 8.0-8.2
Alk: 8.3-8.5
Ca: 430-435
NO3: 3-5 ppm
PO4: .01-.03
Mg: 1380
(all parameters are very stable, I test very often)

Dosing (through dosing pumps):
BRS Alk/Cal: 31.5 ml daily each
Red Sea Coral Colors ABCD: .6ml daily each

Dosing (manual):
Nitrate: KNO3 - as needed, usually 10-20ml (28g/150ml solution) weekly
Vibrant: Weekly

Feeding:
Dry: Pellets, 4x daily through auto feeder
Frozen: Mysis, daily or every other day

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.