d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

[aggie13reef]

No QT.
I don't believe in QT unless you QT every single fish, coral, snail, crab, star, rock, grain of sand, etc that goes into the tank.
If you skip anything, all the rest is pointless.

I honestly like this take on QT and agree.

Also somehow I missed this thread until the other day and just got caught up. Already looks awesome just like your previous tanks. Are you going to bring anything in to this tank from your office tank? Photography on point as always!

 

[d2mini]

You rebel! I bet you struggle with every problem in the hobby. Oh wait, you're one of the most successful reefers I know. Maybe the Internet isn't the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge. Who knew? Lol. Wish my 18 year old learned that lesson. He likes to challenge me with something a YouTuber said.

lol, it's not that I have anything against QT. I think that's great if you can do it.
I don't have the space for it now, and even when I did, I just knew that there was no way I was going to be able to QT every single thing that went into my tank.

Also somehow I missed this thread until the other day and just got caught up. Already looks awesome just like your previous tanks. Are you going to bring anything in to this tank from your office tank? Photography on point as always!

Thanks!
Unfortunately, I've had a really hard time with stability on the nano so a lot of what I was trying to save from the last tank SPS wise hasn't made it. I do still have a few though. So I'd like to get those out and into this tank as soon as I can. Will still be a little while though. Also have my big blue plate coral and my open brain which have both been with me since the old cube tank. And a buddy has my big yellow cup coral, also from the old cube. So those three I might bring back into this tank.
I'm going to convert the nano mainly to LPS so those I'll leave the Acans, chalices, etc in there.
And the weird thing is I have yet to see a Mantis in this tank!
But if I do find one, he's going into the nano too.
My big red/blue pistol shrimp is still in the nano so that should be interesting.

 

[heathlindner25]

I also never qt,glad I'm not alone.

 

[maxxII]

No QT.
I don't believe in QT unless you QT every single fish, coral, snail, crab, star, rock, grain of sand, etc that goes into the tank.
If you skip anything, all the rest is pointless.

This is the part I disagree with you on....

I completely understand what you are saying, and where you are coming from since the ich tomonts will hitchhike in on snail shells, frag bases etc.
Cutting frags off of bases, inspecting, and remounting them will reduce the possibility of bringing ich into the tank, and also help prevent introducing AEFW's to the tank.

However, a good QT'ing protocol does not just prevent ich. Ich is actually the one of the least worrisome fish diseases IMO. Velvet scares the crap out of me. I had several wrasses in QT, (two Labouti and two hooded wrasses) which I got from Live Aquaria. One Labouti came down with velvet on day 2. All four were gone by day 3.

Additionally, QT is not just to prevent disease, I've used very successfully to acclimate difficult and delicate fish to captivity and gotten them eating in a safe non competitive environment.

If you truly know what you're doing, (and you obviously do), and you're willing to absorb the risks....QT is not necessary.

Personally, I'm not willing to absorb the risks, so I'm QT'ing my fish.

 

[d2mini]

This is the part I disagree with you on....

I completely understand what you are saying, and where you are coming from since the ich tomonts will hitchhike in on snail shells, frag bases etc.
Cutting frags off of bases, inspecting, and remounting them will reduce the possibility of bringing ich into the tank, and also help prevent introducing AEFW's to the tank.

However, a good QT'ing protocol does not just prevent ich. Ich is actually the one of the least worrisome fish diseases IMO. Velvet scares the crap out of me. I had several wrasses in QT, (two Labouti and two hooded wrasses) which I got from Live Aquaria. One Labouti came down with velvet on day 2. All four were gone by day 3.

Additionally, QT is not just to prevent disease, I've used very successfully to acclimate difficult and delicate fish to captivity and gotten them eating in a safe non competitive environment.

If you truly know what you're doing, (and you obviously do), and you're willing to absorb the risks....QT is not necessary.

Personally, I'm not willing to absorb the risks, so I'm QT'ing my fish.

Actually, I completely agree with you.
I'm not worried about Ich at all. I've seen it on newly introduced tangs from stress but it goes away.
There's just so much that can come into the tank be it disease or pest, on just about anything, not just fish. I know someone that got Brook after introducing some hermit crabs from LA.
And fish I only buy locally. We have several good LFS.

So yes, if you can set up a QT and QT everything, that's awesome.

 

[d2mini]

Updated pics of the inner workings.

 

[Kurt03]

Looks awesome! Your attention to detail is something to strive for. Thanks for setting the bar so high lol
Any light bleed from that monster fuge light?

 

[d2mini]

Looks awesome! Your attention to detail is something to strive for. Thanks for setting the bar so high lol
Any light bleed from that monster fuge light?

Thanks!

As you can see, the whole stand is lit up pink. lol
But I guess the skimmer does get a little bit of direct light.
I'm sure I'll need to clean that periodically. Same as the previous tank with the HPS light. :thumbsup:

 

[jason2459]

That looks like you could have fit the 30" LR in there. Great looking setup

 

[d2mini]

That looks like you could have fit the 30" LR in there. Great looking setup

Thanks!
The skimmer was going to be a tight fit under that cross brace.
Probably could have squeezed it but the 24" is a good size for this tank.

 

[jason2459]

Thanks!
The skimmer was going to be a tight fit under that cross brace.
Probably could have squeezed it but the 24" is a good size for this tank.

True, its not like you have another 300 gallons shoved in a garage or anything. [emoji1]


I'm extremely impressed with these venturi skimmers.

 

[Kurt03]

Sorry, I meant light bleed out of the stand when the doors are shut.

 

[d2mini]

Sorry, I meant light bleed out of the stand when the doors are shut.

Nah. You can see the pink light through the cracks of the doors but it doesn't spill out onto the floor or anything like that.

 

[CJBuckeyes]

Amazing build. I've only read through it about 3 times so far.. haha.

I was running a Cebu fixture on my new 70g for the first 8 months. I just switched to two radion g3 pros yesterday, so I'll be following along closely on how they work out for you.

 

[vitodog]

Good morning Dennis, I love the the way you organized everything (components, wires and plumbing etc) something we have all come to expect from a d2mini build. Just one question if you don't mind, is your doser a SA or a slave and was it difficult to program together with the Profilux3?

 

[d2mini]

Amazing build. I've only read through it about 3 times so far.. haha.

I was running a Cebu fixture on my new 70g for the first 8 months. I just switched to two radion g3 pros yesterday, so I'll be following along closely on how they work out for you.

haha, thanks!
The Cebu is an awesome light. It may be a tough road to compete with that.
Definitely get those radions up high. I'm at 14" off the water now and spread looks ok. I will probably end up raising them further as I get coral in the tank.
But I need to borrow our club's PAR meter before I mess with them any further.

Good morning Dennis, I love the the way you organized everything (components, wires and plumbing etc) something we have all come to expect from a d2mini build. Just one question if you don't mind, is your doser a SA or a slave and was it difficult to program together with the Profilux3?

Thanks.
I went with the SA version because the extra cost was minimal and I'd have the extra features if I needed them.
I'm not dosing yet so I haven't programmed it. Haven't even tested alk or anything.
So all i've done is add it to my MyGHL profile.
But it looks like I'll just be programming it through MyGHL.

 

[tommyboynj]

Actually, I completely agree with you.
I'm not worried about Ich at all. I've seen it on newly introduced tangs from stress but it goes away.
There's just so much that can come into the tank be it disease or pest, on just about anything, not just fish. I know someone that got Brook after introducing some hermit crabs from LA.
And fish I only buy locally. We have several good LFS.

So yes, if you can set up a QT and QT everything, that's awesome.

All our fish have diseases any way. If your keep them well feed and in a stable environment they'll fight it off for the most part. I'm with Dennis. If you buy your fish from a reputable source with good qt practices I don't see the need for it. The two LFS I use have good qt practices. Yes, it flies in the face of conventional wisdom to not qt but I know plenty of Reefers that have years of experience that don't qt because they beleive it stresses the fish more and unless you qt everything it's not going to be effective. No massive ich or velvet melt downs either.

Now I have the room with my new build iv taken a hybrid approach. I "qt" picky fish in my mangrove fuge. This way I can keep and eye on them, get them used to food etc before they get released into gen pop. Right now I have a swallowtail angel in there who's refusing to eat argggg.

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

 

[BrklynArch]

Hey Dennis everything looks amazing as usual!
two quick questions.....in a couple of parts...lol
1. a)how do you like the avast carbon reactor?

b)what was the reasoning for abandoning the BRS style reactors?

2. When testing the Gen3pro's will you be using a regular PAR meter or a LUX meter?
I forget exactly if its LUX but one of them is supposed to be more accurate with LEDS.

 

[d2mini]

Hey Dennis everything looks amazing as usual!
two quick questions.....in a couple of parts...lol
1. a)how do you like the avast carbon reactor?

b)what was the reasoning for abandoning the BRS style reactors?

2. When testing the Gen3pro's will you be using a regular PAR meter or a LUX meter?
I forget exactly if its LUX but one of them is supposed to be more accurate with LEDS.

1a) Just started using it but like it so far. I like the way it gently fluidizes the Rox Carbon. My only nit pick is that I think they or someone else could take the overall concept and maybe engineer it a little better? Just has a slightly "home-buit" feel to it. That's the best I can explain it.

1b) Never liked them and got rid of them years ago. I always made a mess when unscrewing them from the caps, water spilling everywhere.

2) I'll be using the new Apogee MQ-500 which is the one meant for LEDs.

 

[BrklynArch]

yeah Avast has that underground pirated feel to some of their stuff but the couple of things I have from them have been great for the last 3 years or so (swabbie, skimmer locker, and the K1 Kalk stirrer).
From the looks of it the way it flows resembles the new Reef Octopus biopellet reactors.
Ive been using the BRS reactors since Ive started reefing 4-5 years ago and have been having some problems lately with clogging, they are the only reactors I have ever used so I was just curious if there are better options out there.

good to know about the MQ-500......now just need a functioning reef club lol