drtango
New member
Year three for Reef 4.0. Marineland 200 DD. It's really only year one, as I spent two years fussing with LED lights and a shallow sand bed with very little growth, some losses etc. LED lights simply need to be much higher than my canopy and ceiling would allow, way too pinpoint. Added t-5 which helped a little. A shallow sand bed, which was a request, turned into a Nitrate factory. Could never get a fancy needle wheel skimmer tuned. The idea of infinitely tunable, cool, low wattage lighting did seem too good to be true, at least for me...
So...a year ago went full-on old school, back to 400w Halides, sucked out the sandbed, Lifereef Mazzei Venturi skimmer....and the corals thrived. No basement sump this time, so simple Mag 12 for return, filter socks from a diesel supply company, my own carbon brew of glacial acetic acid and methanol. No GFO. Top off is a 40 gallon Brute in the basement with a tiny 1/4 inch ice maker supply tubing thru floor to a small diaphragm pump (Avast marine)and a redundant float switch. All top off is saturated limewater (right Gary!).
The biggest coral nipper, who grazes on gorgs and sarcophyton, isn't the Pearlscale butterfly, nor the Emperor, not even the blue throat trigger..its the the powder blue tang!
Most everything is the tank started as a tiny frag, captive grown as far as I know.
Best to all, iPhone untouched photos, not the greatest buy you get the idea.
John
So...a year ago went full-on old school, back to 400w Halides, sucked out the sandbed, Lifereef Mazzei Venturi skimmer....and the corals thrived. No basement sump this time, so simple Mag 12 for return, filter socks from a diesel supply company, my own carbon brew of glacial acetic acid and methanol. No GFO. Top off is a 40 gallon Brute in the basement with a tiny 1/4 inch ice maker supply tubing thru floor to a small diaphragm pump (Avast marine)and a redundant float switch. All top off is saturated limewater (right Gary!).
The biggest coral nipper, who grazes on gorgs and sarcophyton, isn't the Pearlscale butterfly, nor the Emperor, not even the blue throat trigger..its the the powder blue tang!
Most everything is the tank started as a tiny frag, captive grown as far as I know.
Best to all, iPhone untouched photos, not the greatest buy you get the idea.
John
