Isn't that a lot more work?

[Dustin07]

I met a guy who's running a micro reef, like 4g. He uses one of these to do some phyto, and water changes. I'm thinking about buying it for my 4g AIO tank. I can see how one pump can pull out a half gallon or gallon of water, and another pump could auto fill with a matching amount of fresh salt water.

I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts before I pull the trigger. I've never used any kind of auto doser myself and in my 40g have been dosing a lot less since I started doing more frequent water changes...

Amazon.com

Those zoa pics look amazing.

thank you!
I can't wait to tear this tank down and start over from scratch, I'll be even pickier about my zoa garden

 

[griss]

My wife bought me a Jebao doser for Christmas but my procrastination has kept me from setting it up

ETA @kharmaguru uses one I believe.

 

[Dustin07]

My wife and I added a little more rock, some small red mushrooms (bottom left), a metallic white mushroom, and a small ricordea this weekend.

My LFS has a red sea max 260 for sale for $1799 complete with two 90s, skimmer, reef tape, sump, etc

Trying really hard to not want it. Lol

 

[Dustin07]

I just realized that's my before pic, lol. I''ll get an update tonight...

My gold torch on the right though is growing, pretty sure it only had one head when I bought it and we moved it to a little more fun location and I could very clearly see two heads doing very well now. my frogspawn on the left is OK but I haven't been super impressed by it's growth lately. the LFS had one the size of a basketball, actually like a basketball and a half with over 60 heads on it. (there's a long story). I think I must be missing something in the nutrients that my frogspawn wants. it's "happy" but it's the only coral that doesnt' seem to be growing.

My wife bought me a Jebao doser for Christmas but my procrastination has kept me from setting it up

ETA @kharmaguru uses one I believe.

how many channels? I have my little 4g AIO doing pretty well now and I'm at this point using it as my experiemental frag tank. I have moved some more paly cuttings etc in there and they're pretty much instantly opening up. I really love the idea of using the doser to do automatic water changes so I can get experiemental with the chemistry and "over" feeding safely....

 

[Dustin07]

also, my wife says my new phone is a big priority to her, so maybe I'll have a better camera soon

 

[Dustin07]

That Redsea Max 260 is like 69gallons+.
My current tank is 36" wide, about 12"+ deep, and I can't remember the height.

But the Max 260 is the same width, twice as deep and like 6" taller and has the addtional sump. so a ton of extra water capacity. if we kept our same rock and refigured everything I wouldn't have any new width to work with but I'd have a lot of depth and height so we could build more foreground/background texture and stack a little higher.

it was my goal to upgrade tanks this year but when it comes time to do it, it's tough to just drop $2k sorta on a whim. plus redsea has developed a little bit of a reputation for leaks so I'm somewhat nervous about that.

 

[griss]

I just realized that's my before pic, lol. I''ll get an update tonight...

My gold torch on the right though is growing, pretty sure it only had one head when I bought it and we moved it to a little more fun location and I could very clearly see two heads doing very well now. my frogspawn on the left is OK but I haven't been super impressed by it's growth lately. the LFS had one the size of a basketball, actually like a basketball and a half with over 60 heads on it. (there's a long story). I think I must be missing something in the nutrients that my frogspawn wants. it's "happy" but it's the only coral that doesnt' seem to be growing.



how many channels? I have my little 4g AIO doing pretty well now and I'm at this point using it as my experiemental frag tank. I have moved some more paly cuttings etc in there and they're pretty much instantly opening up. I really love the idea of using the doser to do automatic water changes so I can get experiemental with the chemistry and "over" feeding safely....

4 channels,

 

[Dustin07]

from an artistic visual point, we definitely have an issue with the GSP being a front and center focal point but oh well, it's very happy and growing well, lol. funny thing is, the tank is fresh cleaned but I'm struggling to grab a picture without that glare on the left from natural outdoor lighting that comes on that side a bit.

I pruned a few of my palys to sprinkle some green around the tank. this is what they look like after removing 2 polyps, there were 3 more baby polyps growing under them, and those eagle eye zoas (yellow and orange) opened up much better immediately after I removed their shadow casting neighbor:

new 'shrooms

new ric:

 

[Dustin07]

another frag I made and moved around to sprinkle some green around the tank:

I'm really happy with this torches new location:

my wife has named it medusa, lol.

 

[Dustin07]

These utterchaos frags a year or so ago were just 2 polyps I bought off a guy in a parking lot, took home, and they seemed to be immediately pissed off. I can't remember how long it took, weeks or months, for them to open up. but look at them spreading like weeds now. same with the blow pops (the blue and peachy sorta ones). Started with a normal small colony of 5 or 6 polyps from the LFS, now I have like 4-5 colonies like this here:

 

[Dustin07]

And then there is this guy... my little 4g AIO. I think I have this thing dialed.

for some reason, I decided to turn the light down a little bit. Immediately everything opened up. I was shocked to need weaker lights, I really thought all my previous issues were from having too poor of lighting, not too strong. So I'm using this tank as an experiemental frag tank now. I find that frequent water changes and soft lighting appears to be all it needs to maintain a pretty simple little nano/pico as I start to fill it up.

Since I am doing more frequent water changes, I am also back to feeding reefroids so we'll see how that pans out.

 

[Reefing102]

All are looking great

 

[Dustin07]

All are looking great

having fun with it, it's going well so far! I still have a lot to learn and upgrade. I have a feeling things could grow even better if I had better grasp on dosing etc.

 

[Dustin07]

Do you guys have any recommendations on frag holders like these magnetic ones made to look like rock? I'd like to try something natural looking like this for 'prized' zoas. I found a guy on the east coast who will give me the Little Shop of Horrors zoas at a very reasonable price, but also include some other semi-rare specimens which makes the shipping easier for me to swallow. I want to try the LSOH again from a different strain/fragger....

but I'd like to get them off the existing setup to make it harder for critters to reach them, just to eliminate a potential culprit since the high end zoas are the only ones I've ever lost.

 

[griss]

I've never used any of the natural looking ones. In fact, my frag racks are just old magnetic powerhead mounts with black eggcrate zip tied to them

That said, there should be no issue using any of those. I'd say get what you like the look of.

 

[Dustin07]

That said, there should be no issue using any of those. I'd say get what you like the look of.

the prices I come across are in the neighborhood of $70-100 usually for 1-2 position frag racks. I'll probably do it, i just have a hard time stomaching the cost of a single magnet to hold a single frag, lol.

I do have one of these, although I think I paid much less than $42 at the LFS. I actually like it a lot in theory, but my wife isn't a fan for the DT because it doesn't have a natural enough look

Slimline Small Frag Rack [4 + 8 Hole] | Pnwcustom

Dimensions: 6in x 2in OR 1.25in Includes: 2 Swappable Rack Options, 4 Hole or 8 Hole Thumbscrews Strong Magnet Bar The Slimline Small Frag Rack [4 + 8 Hole] is a great set up for any size tank. You can easily convert this rack into a 4 or 8 hole setup by using the included thumbscrews and...

www.pnw-custom.com

 

[griss]

the prices I come across are in the neighborhood of $70-100 usually for 1-2 position frag racks. I'll probably do it, i just have a hard time stomaching the cost of a single magnet to hold a single frag, lol.

I do have one of these, although I think I paid much less than $42 at the LFS. I actually like it a lot in theory, but my wife isn't a fan for the DT because it doesn't have a natural enough look

Slimline Small Frag Rack [4 + 8 Hole] | Pnwcustom

Dimensions: 6in x 2in OR 1.25in Includes: 2 Swappable Rack Options, 4 Hole or 8 Hole Thumbscrews Strong Magnet Bar The Slimline Small Frag Rack [4 + 8 Hole] is a great set up for any size tank. You can easily convert this rack into a 4 or 8 hole setup by using the included thumbscrews and...

www.pnw-custom.com

Sounds like you need a dedicated frag tank

 

[Dustin07]

I know I know... Trying really hard to limit myself to just the two tanks at home lol. I have been using that 4g aio as my frag tank, but they're low risk frags from me pruning back excess growth in the DT. Don't think I trust it enough for prized frags yet!

 

[griss]

I know I know... Trying really hard to limit myself to just the two tanks at home lol. I have been using that 4g aio as my frag tank, but they're low risk frags from me pruning back excess growth in the DT. Don't think I trust it enough for prized frags yet!

I hear you. Right now my tank looks like a mess because I have 4 of those DIY racks on the glass. If I can get my son and his friend to finish the drywall in the basement (I can do it, I just hate doing drywall and I offered to pay them) I can start working on upgrading my system which will include a 50 gallon frag tank in the fish room.

 

[Dustin07]

Saw someone in one of the 3 dozen aquarist groups I follow on facebook post that his larger tank (I can't remember but I think redsea) had burst the seal at the bottom causing $38,000 in damage, so now he's down to a couple smaller tanks (like 30g or smaller) and won't ever go large again.

I'm doing some serious mental gymnastics trying to figure out my tank upgrade. The tank I have is I believe 36" wide on the nose, that redsea max 260 has the exact same dimension width wise... it's just a little taller and a little deeper. My wife who is much more spacially talented than myself, is convinced it will fit very sell in the same corner. The only concern remaining (other than cost) is that it's redsea and never in my life have I seen so many people with tank leaks!

We have even contemplated redecorating the entire living room around a tank, should we pick a different spot. Move the TV, couch, etc. but for right now that Max 260 really looks like the perfect solution for us. Plus adds about 50% water volume and space, gives me a lot of room for growth! (not to mention all the cool new water quality toys, sump, skimmer, tape, doser, etc).