chrishayes
New member
I was able to get a few better pictures today. Still daylight but im constrained by my light cycle. Its never dark when the lights are all on yet...enjoy.
45 Galllon Cube. My dream tank...only smaller!
- Thread starter chrishayes
- Start date
chrishayes
New member
Not getting any LPS??
I have a few! LIkely to get a few more if the right ones come available and I cant resist like you! lol
chrishayes
New member
So I did another round of tests to see where I am with the kalk plus whether my feeding schedule of twice daily, one flake or cyclopeeze freeze dried and the other frozen reef caviar or cyclopeeze, roe, or mysis is doing any harm in the nitrate/PO4 side. Params are as follows:
Salinity-1.026
PH-8.10 to 8.25
Alk-7dkh
Cal-425ppm
Mg-1500+(have stopped tech m dosing due to no more byropsis)
NO3-0
P04-0.00(hanna)
So as you can see my alk and cal have fallen significantly from the waterchange last week to now. I went to BRS calculator and figured out I needed 29ml of alk and 69ml of cal recipe 1. I dosed those through the dosers after purging them since they hadnt been used in awhile. That bumped me to 7.8alk and 440 cal. Ill be targeting those numbers but I may have trouble with using regular IO. Ill have to adjust based off my numbers the next time I do a waterchange as it will be 100% IO.
My nitrate and phosphate is a welcome surprise. I figured I would fight those for awhile with the new setup and as much food as im dumping in. Im still dosing a drop of MB-7 daily along with 8 drops of iron. I plan to test PO4 weekly along with NO3 until I see a rise then ill base my waterchange schedule around that but I will be using only 2 part to keep up with demand unless PH falls.
My fuge is really rockin now, the caulerpa is goin NUTS with the ulva just slightly slower growing. Cheato is hardly growing and is still getting a light coat of cyano on it as had the sand here lately. Not sure why that is...im also not seeing a lot of worm activity so ill be getting a few more scoops of live sand soon. Maybe score some at the frag swap the coming weekend along with some birthday presents!
Salinity-1.026
PH-8.10 to 8.25
Alk-7dkh
Cal-425ppm
Mg-1500+(have stopped tech m dosing due to no more byropsis)
NO3-0
P04-0.00(hanna)
So as you can see my alk and cal have fallen significantly from the waterchange last week to now. I went to BRS calculator and figured out I needed 29ml of alk and 69ml of cal recipe 1. I dosed those through the dosers after purging them since they hadnt been used in awhile. That bumped me to 7.8alk and 440 cal. Ill be targeting those numbers but I may have trouble with using regular IO. Ill have to adjust based off my numbers the next time I do a waterchange as it will be 100% IO.
My nitrate and phosphate is a welcome surprise. I figured I would fight those for awhile with the new setup and as much food as im dumping in. Im still dosing a drop of MB-7 daily along with 8 drops of iron. I plan to test PO4 weekly along with NO3 until I see a rise then ill base my waterchange schedule around that but I will be using only 2 part to keep up with demand unless PH falls.
My fuge is really rockin now, the caulerpa is goin NUTS with the ulva just slightly slower growing. Cheato is hardly growing and is still getting a light coat of cyano on it as had the sand here lately. Not sure why that is...im also not seeing a lot of worm activity so ill be getting a few more scoops of live sand soon. Maybe score some at the frag swap the coming weekend along with some birthday presents!
Reef_Noob
New member
:lol2: Cool.
Saw your parameters looks very good. Almost ULNS like, right?
Just wanted to know. Is there any corelation with higher tank temperature and micro algae growth?
Good luck at the frag swap, do post some pics.:thumbsup:
Happy Reefing!!
chrishayes
New member
Man, my ph fell out the window overnight with the kalk offline...im concerned about it. My old tank was the same way hardly ever staying above 7.8 at night and only getting to 8.1 or less during the day...I cant believe its CO2 related as I have a good strong skimmer and the tank is entirely open. This is hard to grasp. Ill be testing here soon to see where my numbers are for alk and cal after bumping them up yesterday. im guessin by the PH plunge that the tank used up a lot of alk the past 24 hours.
chrishayes
New member
chrishayes
New member
Yeah noob, im ULNS for sure without any carbon dosing thats why i questioned you using it with such a young tank. Really there is just nothing in our tanks to be causing nutrients to build up. Not sure if my fuge is the reason for this or not but the amount of growth points to a significant amount of bioaccumulation of nutrients.
Now with regards to the temperature question, im not sure i understand. Higher temps usually gets you more microagae but I dnt know what role if any that it plays with macros. My temp stays at a pretty constant 79.5F with a spike of 81F if its overly hot out during the halide times so im not thinking temperature is a factor for me...
Not sure I understand about "final" pictures...A reef tank is never done. Its constantly changing with growth and new additions or replacements.
chrishayes
New member
Ok, numbers are as follows:
Alk-7dkh
Cal-420ppm
So I lost a full dkh and 20 ppm of alk and cal, respectively. Im adding the same dose as yesterday right now all at once and will then setup the dosing multi timers to add the same amount over the next 24 hours in 1 hour increments then test again tomorrow at this time to see where I am.
I also just noticed some brown stringy slime in the sand bed of the display tank. Its not dinos so im guessing it is bacteria...Ive never used a probiotic before so I dont know if this is normal. Anyone?
Alk-7dkh
Cal-420ppm
So I lost a full dkh and 20 ppm of alk and cal, respectively. Im adding the same dose as yesterday right now all at once and will then setup the dosing multi timers to add the same amount over the next 24 hours in 1 hour increments then test again tomorrow at this time to see where I am.
I also just noticed some brown stringy slime in the sand bed of the display tank. Its not dinos so im guessing it is bacteria...Ive never used a probiotic before so I dont know if this is normal. Anyone?
Reef_Noob
New member
Well yes my tanks pretty young to be considered an ULNS...the real game starts when stocking with more fishes :fish1:....But i am aiming for an ULNS system...hence the dosing
And moreover i do not have a refugium plumbed in....
The temperature question was a question in general Chris...just a doubt i had regarding the temp-micro algae relationship...
I did some coral shopping today...mixed bag...LPS and SPS
il post some pics once they have settled in my DT.:wave:
chrishayes
New member
ahh I see. Well I did some shopping today as well! Got a fish, pistol shrimp and some snails along with a few scoops of live sand for the fuge. Im still finding tiny bits of bubble algae in the fuge sand. It came from the guy I got the original sand and macros from. As I said, I have little faith in keeping this pest out of the tank but ill still be diligent in removing any I see. I also noticed two aiptasia on a rock that I got as "clean, cooked, pest free rock" so so far ive gotten a predatory worm, bubble algae and aiptasia from "trusted" sources...its just a very common thing in this hobby I guess. Oh well, all corals will still be dipped and QT'ed but items like above are just about impossible to screen or QT so its inevitable I suppose...
Ill post pics later as well. Likely tomorrow when the lights are on.
Ill post pics later as well. Likely tomorrow when the lights are on.
Birdhawk23
New member
I had an incredibly enjoyable time reading your build Chris. Incredibly impressed with your patient to all the hardwork and DIY you've added to make this tank yours. You have inspired me to want to downsize from my 120 to this size of tank...
I was wondering how is it doing with water evap?
And where did you get all these beautiful corals!!? Is it a local LFS or did you order offline, purely stunning!
I was wondering how is it doing with water evap?
And where did you get all these beautiful corals!!? Is it a local LFS or did you order offline, purely stunning!
chrishayes
New member
Wow! Thank you! Those are some kind words.
I wouldnt hesitate to use this size tank, I feel its the perfect "small" tank. Id love to have one larger but am extremly satisfied with this one. However, if I had it to do over again I would have one built with the same dimensions using starfire glass and rimless. The build quality of this marineland tank leaves a lot to be desired. The glass isnt square anywhere, there are sloppy silicone joints and the rim is less than well thought out. First, something that I didnt notice until recently is that they put a "checked by Susie" sticker behind the upper rim where I cant get it off. I can see this when looking inside the tank...also, just tonight I noticed that its leaking where the flow is rising up to the inside canopy lip. Im going to have to raise the front of the stand to gain some height by making it unlevel plus redoing the flow to keep surface aggitation to a minimum.
Right now I am only running the halide for 4.25 hours and the fan kicks on several times over that span and I likely go through 1/2 to 1 gal of topoff daily. Keep in mind the tank is COMPLETELy open including no doors on the stand. FOr reference im using a 2.5gal tank for my ato resevoir and I have to fill it every couple days which wont work when we take a weeks vacation so im going to have to remedy that at some point.
As to the corals, I think I have very bland coral with only 3 corals being "named" coral. All have been grown from tiny frags over the last couple years and I am rather thrifty so I usually only buy "cheap" coral. Most are in the >$20 range with my tenuis, tri color and wild garf bonsai look alike being over $40. I just cant bring myself to pay designer coral prices nor am I a fan of online buying due to not being able to know the basics about the corals health and size to name a few. Now I am going to pick up some "nicer" pieces to fill out the rest of the tank and might even swap a few that I have out just because I really like several varieties that ive seen in some others tank threads. Plus I know this system will provide them with a proper environment so theres little risk. I hate gambling so that sums me up. If theres any chance for a particular coral to not be able to thrive in my system I just wont buy it.
I hope I answered your questions and I really appreciate your compliment! If I can help in anyway during your build dont hesitate to ask.
chrishayes
New member
Oh, I have gotten the bulk of my coral from an lfs that I think you have in Indy as well, Aquarium Adventure. The Tenuis and a valida along with my caps came from a local coral farm and the tri color came from a local in the CORA club. I reccomend joining a local club and buying frags from them. You will get nicer pieces, better prices and youll be supporting not only your local economy but a fellow reefers addiction!
Birdhawk23
New member
I didn't realize you were somewhat close to me! haha
You have much the demeanor about this hobby that I do, I refuse to pay much more than 25 dollars for any Coral when I can buy a frag from one of my local buddys for 5$ at the maximum 10-15. I love my 120 (4 foot long) but I spent all summer designing it, plumbing it, getting the stand and canopy and lights all set to how I wanted them I've found myself bored now. I already have a 34 gallon cube, but I like the look of the taller cubes so I think I'm gonna take your advice and start searching for a taller rimless tank. Do you have any designs or templates you used to make your stand or did you just go with what you felt?
You have much the demeanor about this hobby that I do, I refuse to pay much more than 25 dollars for any Coral when I can buy a frag from one of my local buddys for 5$ at the maximum 10-15. I love my 120 (4 foot long) but I spent all summer designing it, plumbing it, getting the stand and canopy and lights all set to how I wanted them I've found myself bored now. I already have a 34 gallon cube, but I like the look of the taller cubes so I think I'm gonna take your advice and start searching for a taller rimless tank. Do you have any designs or templates you used to make your stand or did you just go with what you felt?
chrishayes
New member
The design "concept" came from board member roklem. He built one for his 93 gal marineland tank that gave me the vison but the basic design is from rocketengineer here in the diy forum. The dimensions were made to fit where the tank is placed.
Im with ya, I like building, planning and researching way more than reefing honestly and I bore easily as well! lol Doesnt mean I dont love watching a reef grow but if it were my choice id build tanks all over the house just to keep actively "moving"...good luck finding a good tank. I think Mr Aqua tanks has a 45 rimless cube that is only like $300 but I think they use tempered glass on the back and bottom but im not sure on that. Somewhere to start looking at least! Keep me up to speed on this so I can follow along and live vicariously through your tools!
Anyone of your buddies have good coral? You or them have a tank thread anywhere?
Im with ya, I like building, planning and researching way more than reefing honestly and I bore easily as well! lol Doesnt mean I dont love watching a reef grow but if it were my choice id build tanks all over the house just to keep actively "moving"...good luck finding a good tank. I think Mr Aqua tanks has a 45 rimless cube that is only like $300 but I think they use tempered glass on the back and bottom but im not sure on that. Somewhere to start looking at least! Keep me up to speed on this so I can follow along and live vicariously through your tools!
Anyone of your buddies have good coral? You or them have a tank thread anywhere?
chrishayes
New member
Heres the new fish, its a coral beauty. An oldy but a goody! Hes still skittish but coming out more and more. Im watchin him like a hawk, every peck he takes my heart sinks! Hes not bothered anything yet. Ive kept them in the past with no issues so I hope this one follows suit.
Camera hog!
Camera hog!
chrishayes
New member
Heres some pics of the fuge as of today. Note the HUGE number of stomatella!
Reef_Noob
New member
Hi Chris...
Good looking Angel there,,,,,i think the coral beauty is one among the top three reef safe dwarf angels available for the hobby. i have kept a few with LPS with no issues before. I had found them to be quite unaggressive with other dwarf angels too....
I have kept a coral beauty and a keyhole angel together in a 80cm LPS tank with no issues before. They eat everything once they are out of their initial "shyness."
Good luck on this one
Good looking Angel there,,,,,i think the coral beauty is one among the top three reef safe dwarf angels available for the hobby. i have kept a few with LPS with no issues before. I had found them to be quite unaggressive with other dwarf angels too....
I have kept a coral beauty and a keyhole angel together in a 80cm LPS tank with no issues before. They eat everything once they are out of their initial "shyness."
Good luck on this one
chrishayes
New member
Glad to hear youve had good luck with the coral beauty and the beast(wifey name it)! I have as well so fingers crossed! Headin to the biannual swap in an hour of so! Cant wait.
