a couple shots of my 400 gal sps tank,

toothman

Premium Member
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Oregon tort from Upscales.

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Tenius, I think, from Dr's

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Pearl berry


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30k lokani

The tank is 2.5 yrs old.
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Ora or cali tortuosa. It has grown a quite a bit since that picture 6 months ago.


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One of the nice lower branches just broke off, unfortunate. Look how much taller it is compared to the birdnest to the left, compared to the first picture.
 
The entire tank has been up and running since March 2006, I added quite a bit of coral in June 2006 including the ora tort. I like to order from Dr's, reef science, atlantis, upscales, most of the frags came from a local store Allquatics in Trenton NJ. Most of the corals are 2 years old. I originally purchased fast growers, monti caps, milli, bird nest. They really filled in nicely and quickly.

It seems as the corals begin to fill in I want less and less rock in the main tank. I would eventually like to remove quite a bit or rock and let the corals become massive. They grow quicker than I thought.

I feel my corals do well for several reasons:

1. There is 6 400 watt halide lights and 4 160wattt vho. I have moved colorful corals to lower levels and they fade in color quickly. I run them with dependable m59 magnetic ballasts. They would compare to the brightness of a 250 watt on ice cap ballast with reflectors, probably slightly brighter. I have a mix of bulbs 20k, 14k, 10k and 6.5k. I like the look of 20 k the best but I think 10k really grows and brings out pigments the best. Halides for 7 hrs and actinic for 14 hrs.

1b. A lot of water flow, 50 x , visible water movement in tank and surface.

2. The ever controversial refugium, for me I added it about 1 yr into the tank and it really started to flourish at this point. The refugium is a simple 55 gal tank with home depot florescent light day light bulbs on 24/7. Two bags of sand one play sand and one crushed coral super fine on bottom a power head to move water and a power head to feed the refug.

3. Change 30 gals a week with pure ro/di 00.00 water, Kalk auto top off.

4. A filter sock on a dart intake changed 2x a week and a lot of live rock in tank and sump with noticeable sponge growth on them.

5. Have good carbon aquarium pharmaceuticals brand and bulk reef supply brand phos remover, I place it in a bag and run it for about a week a month, in between I throw it in the new water tank.

I do have a excellent bubble king skimmer but it is turned off quite a bit more than on. I think this really is a big factor, clean water is a must but there is a lot of good food being removed with a skimmer. I try to have nitrates with salifert, looking sideways on the test vial, very slightly pink. Phosphate super low, really do not test much but have deltec kit.

I do add a carbon source like azno3, zeo food or vodka 2 to 3 times a week. Keeps nitrates low.

Finally ( there hope for reefers on a budget) I use 2 part, with my size tank I just add 1/2 cup of baking soda a day, 1/2 cup of mag flakes and check ca on weekend and add about 2 cups.

SUM UP: GOOD LIGHT, REFUGIUM, 2 PART PLUS MG, SKIMMER NOT ON A LOT, SOME CARBON SOURCE, WEEKLY WATER CHANGE. WORKS FOR ME.

FYI I DO HAVE A 2 CHAMBER CA REACTOR I DECIDED TO REMOVE FROM THE SYSTEM. My ph is better now 8.3 vs 7.9 and I had to add 2 part anyway, I also have a kalk stirrer off line and opted to go with 30 gal Rubbermaid with kalk water on a auto top switch ATO brand. I also have a chiller still in its shrink wrap, the filter is in the basement where the ac is in the summer and heater in the winter.

Sounds like the kiss principle.
 
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