A Reef in the Desert - 120 Gallon Build

[Hentz]

looks really good!

Where are you keeping your params now and are you still dosing coral snow? If so, why are you doing that?

I had some local reefers say they love it for the water clarity the next day after dosing and their skimmer and filter socks seem to pull more once they started dosing

Parameters are:
Salinity: 1.026
Calcium: 420
Alkalinity: 7.5-8
Magnesium: 1350
Nitrates/Phosphates: ?? Not sure, haven't measured in a while.

I've used Coral Snow for quite some time now and I do really enjoy it. However I haven't used it in the past month or so, felt no need for it. Tank has been completely clear for a while now.

 

[Hentz]

Picked up some goodies from my favorite LFS here in town. They had a buy one, get one deal.... Why would I pass that up?!

Not sure what this is, but gosh dang I couldn't keep my eyes off of it since it came in a few weeks ago. Was a larger colony but the shop couldn't sell it so they cut it in a few chunky frags.

This is a random Tenuis. Looks like it has some potential nice colors in the mix. Noticing slight purple tips in there, excited to see how this one cooks up.

 

[reefmutt]

Nice Hentz, we might need a before the explosion fts!
Nice new frags.

 

[Hentz]

Picked myself up a LumiLite Actinic Blue LED bar today. Blown away at the colors under the LED when its on by itself.. Didn't know these colors existed in my tank!

Working on getting a little tripod for my camera that will work IN my tank. Until then, you'll get fuzzy-ish pics because I can't keep still enough for a high quality shot

This is my Walt Disney frag. Been trying to get it to color up nicely, and it is... Slowly.. Though under the Blue LED's its a freaking beaut!! This was taken with the Orange Filter in front of my lens.

 

[reefmutt]

Nice pe and its base is spreading well. Very sexy!

 

[Hentz]

I've been MIA for a little while, sorry for that! Work and everything else has been busy. My tank is just running itself with little water changes. I even let my Alk get a little too low and corals looked pretty pale from that and the intense lighting.
Finally got my tank on a stable dosing schedule. Just had to up it this morning as I don't think my 20ml Alk/Cal per day is keeping up.
Went to a local frag swap here in town that was located at the ATM shop where "Tanked" is filmed. Really cool to see it there! Picked up some sexy new pieces including one I've always wanted, an Orange Passion Acropora!! Also got two frags from a shipment that Reef Raft also gets, also a classic PC Rainbow mini colony. And I got a very nice and chunky Red Planet as you can see it glowing on the far right of my FTS below.

My parents also surprised me with the new iPhone X... Wow does it take some nice shots! In fact, much much better than my 6+ or even my Fuijifilm XP120 for FTS's!!
So down below is a much updated FTS with only Blue LED's on and an orange filter in front of the lens!

And a picture of my Orange Passion

 

[reefmutt]

Nice! That red planet is screaming.
you'll love the op when it gets bigger.
Very jelly about the X!

 

[Mike de Leon]

I really like your scape!

 

[Hentz]

Reef is filling in nicely! I’m officially full Trition and still trying to figure out my tanks uptake. I was dosing way more than I thought I needed and raised my Alk from 7-10 in 3 days. Killed one acro that was a random, so not too upset. But everything else just got upset and paled out a little. However everything is back on track!

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all and post a little FTS update.

 

[Hentz]

Broke out the camera tonight to get some close ups. Posting some pics from above to show some solid before/after. The before pics were taken about 3 months ago.


Walt Disney Acropora

Pink Lemonade Acropora

Strawberry Shortcake Acropora

Random Millepora.

PC Rainbow Acropora - New addition a month or so ago. Haven't had any before pictures.

Random Tenuis Acropora. New addition a month or so ago. Haven't had any before pictures. This had yellow coralites before. Not sure whats going on with it, but the more it cooks, the better it looks. Developing some pink in the tips.

 

[Hentz]

Random Millepora. This was a completely random purchase at my LFS. It sat for weeks and weeks until I finally just swooped it up for $10 as a tiny frag. Now its looking thick and starting to sprout!

 

[reefmutt]

Hey Hentz, Corals are looking really good. Nice growth too.
That wd is just crazy!

 

[Hentz]

Hey Hentz, Corals are looking really good. Nice growth too.
That wd is just crazy!

Thanks man!
Yeah it’s really looking pretty!! I just lowered my ATI a week and a half ago. It’s already starting to gain more color finally! It’s definitely the brightest Acro in my tank right now.

 

[Ucantwin]

How high are your lights from the water before and after?

 

[Hentz]

@Ucantwin they were about 10” off before. I lowered them to about 6”. Always been so careful since I ran ULNS and Alk around 7. Couldn’t Blast them like I could right now with my T5’s.


Here’s a little progress snapshot with daylights on. Quite a big difference! Can’t wait to see it in another 5 months.

 

[Ucantwin]

That is pretty great progress! There is a video that BRS did for your exact tank size and light. I believe they recommend 9" off the water to hit the sweet spot for sps, which I believe they said was 200- 350 par.

 

[xiaoxiy]

@Ucantwin they were about 10" off before. I lowered them to about 6". Always been so careful since I ran ULNS and Alk around 7. Couldn't Blast them like I could right now with my T5's.


Here's a little progress snapshot with daylights on. Quite a big difference! Can't wait to see it in another 5 months.

Sweet growth Hentz. Glad to see that you're no longer dealing with the STN that you were dealing with in your cube.

 

[reefmutt]

Love the updated pic, Hentz!
Looking forward to the 5 month progress as well!

 

[Hentz]

Wondering if this is an actual Homewrecker Acro.... Purchased it as a random frag a few months back. Though every other week it seems to look more and more like Homewrecker. What do you guys think?

 

[Ucantwin]

I'm not sure but it sure looks nice! Jason did say he went and collected the homewrecker himself, so its probably not the same as the mariculture stuff that everybody brings in, but you never know.