A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build
- Thread starter rockworm
- Start date
I am going to sell the 220g. I just have to remove the sand and then it is ready to go. It is in our living room and I wanted to reclaim the room. The 400g is in the family room (man cave). I did set up a 75g in the living room so we would still have a saltwater presence. It will be used for lps. The 400 will be a primarily sps. I will probably sneak a few sps in there and hope the sps junkies don't notice. lol
I have been thinking about adding an anemone to the 75. I don't want one on my sps tank, but it might be kind of neat to have one.
I would like that. I have been more active in the forums since I set up the 400. This has become my number 1 hobby so I am following threads more closely so I can learn more.
I feel you on the lighting. I have over 1700w in lighting between my MH, T5 and LED. I still use MH, but up here in Canada, our winters can get pretty dang cold, so MH is actually beneficial. My heaters don't run as much. I have to crank up the fans and ac in July and Aug, but the rest of the year the tank temps are pretty stable.
I love the shimmer of MH but due to where my set up is. The extra heat would be a major issue as I would not have anywhere near the tank for a chiller. I wonder what the effect of having a AC vent laid directly into the canopy? Not sure that would be feasible or if it would keep
It too cold. I have the opposite problem as I'm in Miami where it's 90 on Xmas.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It too cold. I have the opposite problem as I'm in Miami where it's 90 on Xmas.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a 90g plus 65g that I have been using for the sump. I could replace them with the 220, but I have them plumbed together as a sump.Never considered using the 200 as a sump? Will give you a lot more total system volume.double as a frag, fuge mansion
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can understand the heat issues for you. [emoji1] I could send you some snow, but I don't think it would last long enough to help. Lol.
LOL. There will be pics coming. I decided to jump on the Aquaforest program and I expect 4 shipments over the next few days. I plan to photo everything in the tank, including the current algae outbreak (phosphates from the dry rock) so I have a before and after record of the AF results.
In the meantime, get some water in your bad boy. LOL
The Aquaforest program kind of sits between the triton and Zeovit program. It is a ULNS and has additives to promote a strong coral growth program. This is the first time that I will venture into a marine tank program that is designed to stimulate and enhance coral growth. I have seen some incredible results with sps corals and am hoping to emulate the systems I have seen.
I will keep you posted. I have seen a lot of good results and it is not that complicated which is a good thing for me. I tend to confuse easily. [emoji16]
Last edited:
I have started the transition to some of the Aquaforest program over the past week. I received four of the 25 kg boxes of reef salt (have to get through Amazon, so stocked up while they had it). I decided against the probiotic salt because I do daily water changes and the PB salt has to be used too quickly. I also got the Pro Bio S, -NP Pro, Amino, Vitality, Energy and Build additives.
I have a hair algae issue, as you can see here:
I understand that the Pro Bio S and -NP Pro will help eliminate this.
I started with a 40g water change last Sunday. Since then, I have upped my daily water change from 6g to 8g. I will be doing another 40g water change tomorrow. It will take a month or so before the saltwater becomes primarily AF from the Reef Crystals that I used.
I have started manual removal of the hair algae by picking it off the rocks. At the same time, I have beefed up my clean up crew. I now have a sea hare, 4 urchins, 10 small turbos, 5 large turbos and a crap load of trochus and astrea snails.
I am adding the -NP Pro and Pro Bio S at half the recommended dose. At the same time, I am reducing the vinegar dosing that I had implemented. I have been aggressive in this reduction because of the lack of nitrate reading.
My phosphates sit at .06 and my nitrates are, to my eye, undetectable (salifert). Because of the low nutrients, I have seen a few corals fade in colour, so I have been adding the Build, Amino, Vitality and energy at 1/3 the recommended dose. I will increase this over time.
So far, so good. Other than a little coral fading, eveything is looking good.
Ward
I have a hair algae issue, as you can see here:
I understand that the Pro Bio S and -NP Pro will help eliminate this.
I started with a 40g water change last Sunday. Since then, I have upped my daily water change from 6g to 8g. I will be doing another 40g water change tomorrow. It will take a month or so before the saltwater becomes primarily AF from the Reef Crystals that I used.
I have started manual removal of the hair algae by picking it off the rocks. At the same time, I have beefed up my clean up crew. I now have a sea hare, 4 urchins, 10 small turbos, 5 large turbos and a crap load of trochus and astrea snails.
I am adding the -NP Pro and Pro Bio S at half the recommended dose. At the same time, I am reducing the vinegar dosing that I had implemented. I have been aggressive in this reduction because of the lack of nitrate reading.
My phosphates sit at .06 and my nitrates are, to my eye, undetectable (salifert). Because of the low nutrients, I have seen a few corals fade in colour, so I have been adding the Build, Amino, Vitality and energy at 1/3 the recommended dose. I will increase this over time.
So far, so good. Other than a little coral fading, eveything is looking good.
Ward
reefmutt
Active member
Looking good, Ward.
That's a serious cuc you added. They should take care of that algea in no time.
It'll be interesting to see where those n and p numbers go when all the algae gets consumed.
I have found that the np pro takes quite a bit of time to have an effect on the system, so don't go too fast with it. It's not like vinigar where you see almost an immediate nutrient drop from adding it.
That's a serious cuc you added. They should take care of that algea in no time.
It'll be interesting to see where those n and p numbers go when all the algae gets consumed.
I have found that the np pro takes quite a bit of time to have an effect on the system, so don't go too fast with it. It's not like vinigar where you see almost an immediate nutrient drop from adding it.
Thanks Matt. The clean up crew is starting to make a dent. I have also reduced the Nori to every other day. The tangs and rabbitfish are helping the rest of the clean up crew. I don't want to stop the Nori because there may be some nutrients not available in the GHA. I really don't know if there are variances in nutrients, but I figure it won't hurt. Plus, most of the wrasses will eat some of the Nori, but don't bother with the GHA.
I appreciate the heads up about the NP Pro. I was using vinegar and you are right in that the effect is relatively quick. I still run 40 ml a day of vinegar, at this time, while ramping up the NP Pro and Pro Bio S. I still have undetectable nitrates but yesterday my phosphates were at .12. I changed out the Rowaphos last night and will test again tomorrow. I expect to see a nice decline back to .05 give or take.
I am now seeing coral growth start to accelerate. I have moved a few of them around to different par settings to see what impact this may have. Some are paler than they should be and it may be they are getting too much light. My light combo gives me 450 par on the top shelves directly under MH. These ratings are at 8" below the water line. It takes a little experimenting, but overall my corals are doing well.
I get them at my local goto LFS. They bring in various clean up crew critters every Friday. They have been around for many years and have a good idea of what is needed locally. I live in a region with about 1 million residents and there are only 2 lfs that are devoted to marine.
Similar threads
