Jackson's 115 Gallon Custom Cube 32x32x26

[biggles]

I am making tough decisions now, removing certain pieces. I'm trying to keep the looked balanced, but I have to make room for growth. The shading and touching between corals is taking its toll on a few pieces. This tank is stressing me out lately :hmm5::crazy1:

You might be stressed Richard but we're all jealous mate...........

I bought 8 more fish today as a direct result of following your journal - thanks for the wonderful inspiration you provide my friend :beer:

 

[jackson6745]

You might be stressed Richard but we're all jealous mate...........

I bought 8 more fish today as a direct result of following your journal - thanks for the wonderful inspiration you provide my friend :beer:

I got rid of 2 fish after seeing your tank thread and the awesome colors that you're getting:hmm5::lolspin:

Little by little I'm starting to believe that it's the feeding and not the maintained nitrate level that gives the deeper colors, yet heathy looking corals. My nitrates have been creeping up at times to 25ppm. I saw a little green algae on the glass and noticed a little slower growth, so I tested po4 and got an average of .08 using using a hanna colorimeter. I notice a little green and some shaggy brown polyps on pieces that have displayed much better color in the past for me, in lower nutrient system. At this point, I feel that I crossed the line and now have a "dirty" SPS reef

Over the past week I did a few water changes and started running Rowa again. Po4 was down to .03 yesterday, didn't test nitrates yet, but I'm hoping that they're around 10 I see a positive response from a few pieces already. I also ordered ATI T5 balasts for the T5's in my Giesemann Spectra. I'll probably shorten T5 bulb life, but I am hoping that the higher output T5's will eliminate some of the shadowing happening in the reef.

 

[sahin]

I also ordered ATI T5 balasts for the T5's in my Giesemann Spectra. I'll probably shorten T5 bulb life, but I am hoping that the higher output T5's will eliminate some of the shadowing happening in the reef.

When I modified my ATI Sunpower, I bought a standard Ballast from ebay; it worked and output the same level of light as the ATI ballast (measured on my PAR meter).

So, unless the ballasts inside the Giesemann unit are underdriving, I think you will be fine, as the ATI ballasts will drive them to spec. If they were underdriven due to lack of active cooling...that may affected things.

I also think a lot has to do with the REFLECTORS. ATI's reflectors are some of the best. Also, I'm not sure if the T5 tubes are doubled up inside a "single" reflector on your Giesemann unit. Furthermore, the active cooling makes a difference.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[jackson6745]

When I modified my ATI Sunpower, I bought a standard Ballast from ebay; it worked and output the same level of light as the ATI ballast (measured on my PAR meter).

So, unless the ballasts inside the Giesemann unit are underdriving, I think you will be fine, as the ATI ballasts will drive them to spec. If they were underdriven due to lack of active cooling...that may affected things.

I also think a lot has to do with the REFLECTORS. ATI's reflectors are some of the best. Also, I'm not sure if the T5 tubes are doubled up inside a "single" reflector on your Giesemann unit. Furthermore, the active cooling makes a difference.

Let us know how it goes.

It was an impulse purchase and I don't think it will help much now that I look at the specs. The Giesemann reflector is 2 bulbs in a reflector. The Phillips advance ballasts ICN-2S24 in the giesemann run the bulbs to spec according to the power factor rating of 1.02. Probably going to retrofit a whole new lighting system with larger MH reflector and more T5's with individual reflectors, so I'll utilize all the ballasts I really need better coverage in this tank. The shadowing is becoming an issue for a few pieces.

 

[biggles]

Lol that's funny about our fish swapping Richard :lol:

As i said to Matt in my journal, when i saw phos near .1 i did a couple of 20% water changes and dropped phos media back in the sump to get it down to near zero. I have never believed in the importance being placed on nitrates and phos in the water, it is all about the manner in which you attain those levels. There's a reason so many guys run the exact same parameters and lighting as successful reefers yet never see good results and then get into the whole try dosing this and then that etc - frustration.
The 'richer' your water is in coral nutrition 24/7 (food) the better your acros will look and grow. I want to put more food into the new tank so i'll increase the bio filtration to handle the nitrate fallout and run phos media more efficiently in higher amounts to handle the phos fallout. I'd much rather feed lots more pretty fish and see them among my acros than squirt coral food on acros in the dark - it's a no brainer and watching your vids sealed the deal for me Richard.

My T5's aren't just supplements to the radium, they provide a large amount of the required spectrum/PAR to the acros not bathed in full radium glory lol. If i ran actinic T5's i couldn't keep my acros near the sand from end to end like i do now, they'd look good but stop growing.
I think you'll see a real benefit from upgrading your T5 ballasts - who cares about bulb life when we're talking acro health !

 

[JB NY]

I just wanted to chime in on what biggles wrote. IME reef tanks can withstand a tremendous amount of extra nutrients being dumped in the system for the first few years of having a tank set up. It is one of the reasons I think so many people are most successful with their SPS tanks in the 2nd year. But if you put too much into your tank without the proper means of getting it out, it can lead to some serious nutrient problems later on down the road.

I'm not at all saying that you don't have it covered already. I am just pointing it out/reminding you about it. I know that I tend to hit that bullet proof sweet spot where it seems I can do no wrong and keeping even the most difficult acros is simple, then one day the hammer falls and everything is suddenly a challenge, and it always comes back to putting more in my tank than and can removed. One day the tank falls out of balance and it takes a long time to get things back on track.

BTW I put two Reefbrites on the tank based on this thread. Your right, they look awesome with the radiums.

 

[jackson6745]

Biggles, "not bathed in full radium glory" LMAO. Since the ballast both drive the bulbs to spec I won't see a benefit….. So , I decided to add 4 more t5's I can't deal with coral shading, and I don't want to frag all the time

Joe, I know what you're saying, and that's exactly why there is no where for waste to acclimate in my system except for the water column. In DSB tanks this was a major issue. I'm going to keep things a little cleaner now. This is the 14th month since I started the tank. Don't want to have a filthy reef and kill things just yet I'll definitely keep this in mind because I know you have much more long term experience with reef. I seem to take them down every 2 years
I'm glad you like the spectrum of the reefbrites and radium. It looks perfect IMO. I actually ruin the spectrum running the t5's but I need the coverage. Oh well

Nitrates are 10ppm (tested today). I'm going to try to maintain between 5-10ppm for a while and see how corals respond.

 

[mhucasey]

Richard, you're good people, and you treat those Acros pretty darn nice! I have had to deal with the fish density issue too....I have more fish than I should and trying to keep the colors good at the same time is always a challenge. Keep up the awesome work!

 

[biggles]

Good point you raised Joe and it is a very real problem in systems that are not geared towards managing all the issues associated with attempting to 'mimic' the food soup our corals live in on ocean reefs. :beer:

What's this new idea for a light rig you're contemplating Richard :reading:

 

[jackson6745]

Richard, you're good people, and you treat those Acros pretty darn nice! I have had to deal with the fish density issue too....I have more fish than I should and trying to keep the colors good at the same time is always a challenge. Keep up the awesome work!

Thank you I was never a fish guy but I got carried away with this tank. I feel like ace ventura in pet detective when I put my hand in the tank and they all eat from it lol. Hard to part with friendly fish

Good point you raised Joe and it is a very real problem in systems that are not geared towards managing all the issues associated with attempting to 'mimic' the food soup our corals live in on ocean reefs. :beer:

What's this new idea for a light rig you're contemplating Richard :reading:

Joe's reef was an inspiration for me when I was just getting my ears wet in the hobby To this day I still look back at his old 180. Certain tanks just have a uniqueness about them that you can recognize them anywhere. The point of nutrient build up is something to think about. I have a shallow sandbed, and most of my rock is branch, nevertheless, I am seeing a build up at the 14 month mark. I have kind of already corrected the issue, bringing water parms where I want them with a few water changes, and some rowaphos Definitely going to keep a closer eye now.

Biggles, as for the lighting, I think I'm just going to mount 2 t5 + reflectors to the front, and 2 to the back of the giesemann. Should be easy enough using an attachable bracket, just like I have my reefbrites mounted now. I think the camber of the giesemann with angle the t5's in such a way that all my shadowing will be eliminated. We'll see. Hopefully it doesn't look too messy when I'm done. Seeing your t5's mounted on an angle gave me the idea.


Just for the heck of it, here is a current FTS. I removed a lot of stuff on the sandbed.
jan 23 2015 by rich.colombo, on Flickr

 

[Jstn]

I like the clean sand bed, lol your frags are bigger than my colonies

 

[jackson6745]

I like the clean sand bed, lol your frags are bigger than my colonies

Thanks! That's what happens when you leave them in the rack for months and have no where to put them lol

 

[markalot]

Looks great (understatement) Rich.

I'm still fairly new at reefing, going on 3 years, but when I upgraded from my 40 to the 150 I noticed the 40 at 2 years old was just about as stable as it could get. I was gravel vaccing a shallow sandbed every water change and pulling out smelly dark muck every time. No matter what i did coral growth and color was good. Even moderate Alk fluctuations didn't seem to bother the acros.

I'm worried with my 150 that I can't get to a lot of the sandbed, so my time might be limited (2 years?) before I have to do a major overhaul.

It's always great to read information from those who have succeeded in making something awesome!

 

[jackson6745]

Looks great (understatement) Rich.

I'm still fairly new at reefing, going on 3 years, but when I upgraded from my 40 to the 150 I noticed the 40 at 2 years old was just about as stable as it could get. I was gravel vaccing a shallow sandbed every water change and pulling out smelly dark muck every time. No matter what i did coral growth and color was good. Even moderate Alk fluctuations didn't seem to bother the acros.

I'm worried with my 150 that I can't get to a lot of the sandbed, so my time might be limited (2 years?) before I have to do a major overhaul.

It's always great to read information from those who have succeeded in making something awesome!

Thanks

I never actually vacuumed my sandbed. I have a coarser mix of sand with 1/2 being crushed coral, and half is reef grade 2mm. Larger particles of food that get trapped are eaten right away between serpent stars, nassarius snails, and cleaner shrimp (usually first on the scene). Also, a few of the wrasses and constantly digging. This sanded doesn't seem to trap much waste.
I'm curious what depth sandbed, and what kind of sand you used in the old 40?

 

[markalot]

Thanks

I never actually vacuumed my sandbed. I have a coarser mix of sand with 1/2 being crushed coral, and half is reef grade 2mm. Larger particles of food that get trapped are eaten right away between serpent stars, nassarius snails, and cleaner shrimp (usually first on the scene). Also, a few of the wrasses and constantly digging. This sanded doesn't seem to trap much waste.
I'm curious what depth sandbed, and what kind of sand you used in the old 40?

CaribSea Special Grade, same I used in the 150. Seems to be a good mix between too fine and too course. It can blow around a bit, I created a big pile in back when I installed my RW-15 pumps for extra flow, but generally it seems to work well. I moved 5 full cups over to the 150 when I set it up and that did a good job moving numerous worms and other critters. My sandbed is alive with all kinds of motion.

When I say I had good colors in my 40 that means good colors for ME, not anything outstanding.

 

[echopiece]

Rich, do you have a few pieces that you are unable to color up or they just look drab? I have several pieces in my system that l can't color up for the life of me. Looking at your videos, I couldn't spot one coral that didn't look good lol. I am battling 0 nitrates and 0.1 PO4 at the moment, so maybe if I can start reversing these numbers I'll be on the right track!

 

[Jstn]

Thanks! That's what happens when you leave them in the rack for months and have no where to put them lol

I would be interested in providing a solution that problem.

 

[Led reef]

Nice tank rich lol

 

[jackson6745]

Rich, do you have a few pieces that you are unable to color up or they just look drab? I have several pieces in my system that l can't color up for the life of me. Looking at your videos, I couldn't spot one coral that didn't look good lol. I am battling 0 nitrates and 0.1 PO4 at the moment, so maybe if I can start reversing these numbers I'll be on the right track!

Marty, of course I have/had pieces that wouldn't get great color. In most cases these were more difficult mariculture corals that come on those big rock plugs. Some other corals that didn't please me color wise were removed. Not every coral looks great under my lighting and nutrient level i.e. my snow cone milli became purple covered in brown polyps. IME this coral holds color best under T5 lit ULN tanks. THere are many example like this.
Point is, If I don't like the way a coral looks in my tank after several months, it's sold or traded off for something that will do better.
Marty just be careful dosing a carbon source if your tanks is ULN, that's where all the negative issues occur.

I would be interested in providing a solution that problem.

HAHA. Funny thing is that I'm not actually fragging I have been removing colonies, or shifting things around to prevent shading and fighting. Unfortunately, I had to part with most of my red table in the middle. It was shadowing too many corals, and parts of it getting shadowed as well. I now have a 3 1/2" piece left to grow from.

Nice tank rich lol

Thanks T5 Reef

 

[jackson6745]

Some upgrades coming to the tank. With all the issues everyone is having with Skimz skimmers, I decided to swap mine out for a BK mini 200 Speedy. I don't want to rush having a cheap pump kill my tank so I am biting the bullet

Also changing the lighting. I am adding 4 more t5's over driven by a vue 660 ballast. Going to fabricate a bracket and attach them to the existing Giesemann Spectra hood. So i'll have 8 t5's, 2 blue LED reef brites, and a 400w radium. I think that will solve my shadowing issues

I'll take some new pics when I get everything together. For now here's a quick feeding video. The fish enjoy reef frenzy herbivore blend here. Note to self: Don't hold iPhone vertical while taking a video or you get a tiny image
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