Deep Blue 57 Edge ATI Acro Garden

[LQT]

I put two bags of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes in the tank when the tank was dry and I just wasn’t feeling it. I carefully scooped it all out, taking great pains to avoid any scratches to the tank and put the sand into storage a 5 gallon bucket. This will be my first bare bottom tank and I’m exited to be able to really crank up the flow.

I pulled my 40 pounds of Pukani which has been curing in a 20 gallon Brute container since October of 2017 and carefully placed the pieces into the tank. I set up the rock work so that there will be minimal self shading from rock overhangs. I also made sure to have nice flat ledges on which grow acropora. Although I plan on growing predominantly acros in this tank, I think I may turn that little isolated rock in the front of the tank into a colorful mini zoa garden.

Whaddaya guys think?

 

[LQT]

Still cycling... though I haven’t even done any tests yet. I’m not really worried about it either as I’m taking my time and letting nature take its course.

A quick note about my skimmer. I’m running a prior generation SCA 1351 in this tank. I had to downsize from my beloved Lifereef due to space constraints of the Trigger 26 sump. I must say... this skimmer is a breeze to adjust and literally broke in in less than an hour. With no livestock yet, just some cured Pukani and the occasional ghost feeding, I’m getting a nice dry foam head and it’s already pulling out skimmate! While I do miss my old Lifereef, I do love the fact that this SCA 1351 is only pulling a paltry 9 watts! Quite impressed with my Deltec thus far. Not bad for a used $100 purchase!

 

[E.intheC]

Looks good! That’s a great deal on the Deltec skimmer also

I’ll be following along as I am starting a similar sized tank.

 

[LQT]

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[LQT]

So a few things...

I hate painting. It's one of the reasons why it took me so long to finish building my stand. Hence the long delay in getting this build up and running. Well I finally got around to painting the door for my stand. Just waiting for the stainless steel bar pull to arrive to aid in removing the door off of the French cleats for ease maintenance access. It took quite some time, but I'm definitely pleased with how the tank stand turned out.

I also got my Turbo's Aquatics L2 Rev 4 ATS installed. I gotta say, this thing is a fantastic piece of gear, well thought out and designed. Kudos to Bud! My original plan of running it with a Skimz Quiet Pro 2.0 DC pump didn't work out as the flow was too strong, even at the lowest setting. It's now running with the recommenced Taam Rio 1100. Been running for the last couple of days with the intensity potentiometer at the 6 o'clock position which is at 25% intensity for 16 hours a day. My hope is to minimize the effects of the new tank ugly stages by getting the ATS going, then dialing it in as the tank matures.

 

[LQT]

It was a bit warm and humid today. Temperature of the tank shot up to 82 degrees. Hooked up the chiller after work and temps are settling down nicely! Definitely happy I bit the bullet and got a chiller for this tank.

 

[LQT]

First two inhabitants are in the tank. After several weeks of observational QT, I have added a Midas Blenny and Royal Gramma to the tank. They are swimming around and feeding with no issues. The Royal Gramma seems to have staked out and laid claim to one of the many rock crevices in the tank. I’d like to get this tank fully stocked with fish and stable before adding my first coral, so I’ve got plenty of time to go nice and slow.

 

[LQT]

My latest inhabitants... a couple of ORA Black Ice Snowflake Ocellaris clowns. They are settling in and without too much fuss, have paired up nicely!

 

[E.intheC]

The clowns look good!

 

[ReefWreak]

I like the early additions, and the setup is just so nice and organized. Thanks for sharing!

 

[LQT]

Thanks Eric! I’m just putting the tank on cruise control right now. I am overfeeding a bit and the skimmer and ATS are doing a fine job of nutrient control. I do intend to add a few more fish in the coming weeks before adding any sticks.

Now my next big decision is whether to go with my CaRx setup or 2 part dosing with ATI Essentials Pro using my DOS and DDR set up. The Trident along with its ability to aid with dosing corrections to maintain more stable Alk and Ca definitely has me intrigued. I will be following your your Trident experience very closely!

 

[ReefWreak]

I should really update my build thread, but it's embarrassing how little my tank has grown in 2 years. I think starting with dry rock and jumping right into a CaRx without much demand really set me back dramatically. And I spent an embarrassing amount of money on coral that died because of lack of stability. Oh well, live and learn.

For your tank just starting over (you're not transferring anything, right, this is a whole new setup and new corals?), I'd recommend just doing kalk in the topoff if possible, or make an in-line kalk dispenser similar to the Tunze one, and that should hold you over for the first year or two. Then buy a bomb-diggity calcium reactor or two part setup (or both, as Neptune recommends with the Trident ).

 

[LQT]

I have actually have all three.

- Avast K1 kalkwasser stirrer with an Avast 25 ml/min peristaltic feed pump

- Geo’s Reef CR612 CaRx & SMC415 secondary chamber, Watson Marlow 505u peristaltic feed pump and my custom DIY stainless Victor dual stage CO2 regulator

- Neptune DOS & DDR as well as a pair of BRS 1.1 ml/min dosers

Just trying to decide on which one to go with for this tank. This tank is new from scratch, no transfers. Either way, I’ll be taking my time as I want more fish and a few months of demonstrated stability before adding coral.

 

[LQT]

I did add a stainless steel pull bar to the stand door to aid in easier door removal during routine maintenance. Set up the Neptune AFS as well.

 

[RXCoral]

Such a methodical build! I love it. How do you like the RB XHO? I'm currently using ATI as well, and wonder if it's worth the upgrade for my tank.


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[LQT]

Such a methodical build! I love it. How do you like the RB XHO? I’m currently using ATI as well, and wonder if it’s worth the upgrade for my tank.


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Thank you for the kind words. I actually only use the ReefBrite XHO for 2 hours per day, essentially as a moon light for an hour before the T5s come on and an hour after the T5’s go off. My intention is for the T5s to do all the heavy lifting. With 3 Blue Plus and 3 Coral Plus bulbs in my Sunpower, I’m essentially trying mimic Big E’s (a known Acropora guru on the forums) lights. Hopefully once I add coral, the results will follow as well. For aesthetic reasons, I ordered my XHO strip in the silver housing through Premium Aquatics to match the silver ATI Sunpower fixture. When the T5s are on, the RB housing also serves as a great glare blocker, shielding your eyes from the intensity of the T5s when viewing the tank head on. All in all, I’m quite happy with my ReefBrite purchase and how I’m using it for my tank.

 

[RXCoral]

Thank you for the kind words. I actually only use the ReefBrite XHO for 2 hours per day, essentially as a moon light for an hour before the T5s come on and an hour after the T5's go off. My intention is for the T5s to do all the heavy lifting. With 3 Blue Plus and 3 Coral Plus bulbs in my Sunpower, I'm essentially trying mimic Big E's (a known Acropora guru on the forums) lights. Hopefully once I add coral, the results will follow as well. For aesthetic reasons, I ordered my XHO strip in the silver housing through Premium Aquatics to match the silver ATI Sunpower fixture. When the T5s are on, the RB housing also serves as a great glare blocker, shielding your eyes from the intensity of the T5s when viewing the tank head on. All in all, I'm quite happy with my ReefBrite purchase and how I'm using it for my tank.

Thanks for your reply! I haven't seen Big E's build/tank, but it sounds like a great idea. That would definitely help with some of the glare from the fixture. I have the same exact ATI bulb combo running currently, and have some clip on actinic LEDs just for nighttime viewing aesthetics.

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[LQT]

Just did a quick check on the progress of my Turbo’s Aquatics L2 Rev4 ATS. It has been running for a month now. I have it at about 25% intensity with the potentiometer dimming knob at the 6 o’clock position, running for about 9 hours a day opposite of my DT lights. I was expecting the slime growth stage, common with most ATS screen break in periods. To my surprise, I have a nice and even layer of firmly attached hair algae developing on the screen. I may look into either upping the intensity or increasing the photoperiod to get some faster growth now that the screen seems to have broken in properly. Very impressed with the performance of this ATS thus far!

 

[ReefWreak]

Looks good Leon!

Are you dosing anything to counter the uptake from the algae? When I did a triton after running an algae reactor (and then having some pretty severe coral issues), I found that I had really low potassium and iodine. I started dosing Red Sea Coral Colors, and could see some of the montipora color up within 24 hours of dosing. And if I stopped dosing, the coloration would stop. I don't know why else my water was so stripped of elements, but a few people suggested that it was from the algae reactor. Just something to think about.

 

[LQT]

Yeah, I’m about 2 months away from adding coral to the tank. What’s cool about this scrubber is you can reduce the light intensity which should decrease nutrient uptake. Right now with my overfeeding of 4 fish, I’m still getting .075 phosphates and around 10 or so in nitrates. No other supplentation as yet.