KidReefers 40 breeder sps build

[karsseboom]

something to consider is a wave maker/controller. I know these things get expensive but with sps you really want random flow, not a powerhead blowing straight at it. I would use kalk as well its a very easy way to keep alk and ph spot on, when you get a full load of sps then maybe you can get a reactor. RODI is a must..lol

 

[KidReefer]

i was thinking about a wavemaker, in the future I hope to get the RKL basic , and setup my koralias on that.

I am doing kalk and I do use ro/di, but I dont think ill get the kalk until a couple weeks

Keep the comments coming please

 

[allsps40]

You dont need a wave maker. My Reef Keeper has a wave maker mode and I dont use it. I get random flow by pointing 2 power heads at one another.

 

[KidReefer]

ok, do you think that having my 2 koralias in the back right and left corners pointed towards the middle would be sufficient, also the return is pointing directly in the center at the glass??

 

[KidReefer]

Also do you think later I would be able to keep a clam? I have always wanted derasa clam but never have been able to because of the bc14s PC lighting.

 

[allsps40]

Your power head placement should be fine. I have mine on each side point toward each other, makes good random flow. Yes you should be able to keep clams, their required lighting and conditions are near the same as sps. Just wait until your tank is a little more mature 4-6 months old should be good IMO. Keep your no3 and po4 low, undetectable is best. Ca 460 alk 8-9 mag 1350 for best growth and color. You have a good skimmer, so that is a good thing. Keep up on weekly water changes and keep the water parameters stable.

 

[KidReefer]

Ok thanks for the input, I think I am going to wait until I see coralline algae growing on the dry rock as a sign that its okay for a clam, that way I know it can support high calcium creatures, does that sound good? And I just tested no3 and po4, nitrate is less than 5ppm and phosphate reads 0 on the kit. Also the GHA that I had is dying off, the bases of the GHA turns white then it just completely turns white and dies. Reminds me of STN. Hopefully I never get that though.Once again thanks, you guys have been awesome answering my questions!!

 

[Johnny C]

Hey Joe...

Man, it's about time you started a build thread here on RC! Now if I can just get one started myself... soon! :lol2:

The 40BR setup is coming along really well and it sounds like you have spent a lot of time researching the right ways to setup and maintain an SPS-Dominated tank. Your thoughts on keeping a mixed reef are correct; it can be very challenging, especially with a smaller water volume. Doing regular water changes and using activated carbon will make a noticeable impact and help to eliminate the effects chemical warfare.

I commend you on your dedication to the hobby at your age, and I'm really looking forward to watching this tank mature. Feel free to shoot me a message if you need any help or have questions. Subscribed!

 

[KidReefer]

Thanks Jon!!, and I cant wait to see your new nano build , updates will be coming soon, and probably more questions, so I will probably send you a PM in the next couple weeks. Hope your doing well in the PA!

 

[fanandy8]

For your kalk go to your local Wal Mart and go into the canning section. Find some Mrs Wage's pickling lime. It's sold in one pound packages and is a whole lot cheaper than buying the kalk through BRS or your LFS. I have been using it for the last several years in my kalk reactor and top off.

 

[KidReefer]

I already bought the kalk online, and in my local walmart they dont have it, I checked

 

[KidReefer]

Update on tank 2 months

Update on tank 2 months

Ok so i finally have got to a point where i think it is time to update this thread!!

The GHA that i had has completely died of, my cycle is complete, and I am in the process of stocking my tank. Over the last month or so I got a lot of stuff for my birthday!! Here is basically what it is

I bought a jbj top off system and a aqualifter pump, and I run it on option 1 on mode A so their is only one float switch. The reservoir is a 9 gallon container that I fill up with 7 gallons of 1 and a half tsp per gallon kalk water and I replace it every wednesday after I do my water change. I managed to hide the reservoir by buying a basket that the reservoir fit into and having the tube come out through the back of the basket, I think it looks nice, but I want your opinions on this. For the return line on the ATO i used to have it in the sump but it started syphoning :uhoh2: to solve this I fed the line into the overflow cotainer at the top of the tank, this way it has time to mix in with the water before it goes into the display.

I also bought another koralia 750 evo for extra flow and I think when the smartwave comes out I might buy it for increased random flow.

 

[KidReefer]

Ok so now about the live stuff!

I was able to transfer everything over from the biocube that I wanted so currently for corals I just have the brain coral, the duncan, the GSP, and the euphyllia coral which all are doing great after the switch. I am currently waiting for a frag swap close to erie pa that i can buy a few small frags of sps like montipora, birdsnest, pocilipora, stylophora, etc because no one in erie has sps corals for sale. But until i can find somewhere to get them, I have no SPS

For the star polyps I placed them so that eventually they will grow up the overflow. Also the reason that it is kind of bare in the middle is it originally was covered with gsp but it fell off during the move so I just sold it to the LFS.

If your wondering why all of the corals are toward the back of the tank its because I did not want to light shock them under the T5HOs.

For fish, I sold the 2 clowns and bangaii cardinal that I had in the bc14 and bought 3 green chromis. I plan to add a midas blenny and another fish. This is where you guys come in! I want your suggestions on a high flow fish that will do okay by itself with these other fish that i have and plan to keep. Also I bought a bunch of astrea snails.

Heres a pic of the astrea snail without the lights on

Oh and I found a hitchhiker on one of the rocks from the old tank, I think its some sort of bivalve

 

[KidReefer]

As for the dry rock that I put in the tank, I am getting coralline growth already, right now it is mainly red, green and purple, and is coming in small but fast, I think by next month I will probably have a ton of coralline. These pics are with the light of to show the coralline the best.

Oh yeah, I also took out the lamp shield from the tek light, i think it really didnt do anything besides add increased heat and reduced PAR. So now i just wipe down the bulbs and reflectors every few days even though there really isnt any salt spray on it just to be sure. Do you think this is okay?? Also I was looking for some mini clip on fans with plugs that i could put on the back to cool the bulbs on the ends for maximum efficeincy and be timed so they go on when the lights go on. Anyone know where to get these locally??

SO this is basically whats happened since last post, let me know what you think!!

 

[KidReefer]

oops forgot to post this pic that shows the reservoir with the tank so you get a idea what it looks like altogether

 

[Henryreef]

Cool setup :thumbsup: looks like things are progressing nicely! How is the kalk dosing going? Is it maintaining your calcium and alkalinity sufficiently?

 

[allsps40]

Looking good! You dont have a need for that much kalk if any at this point. Test your water every day for a week for ca and alk and record the tests each day. This will tell you how much you loose per day and per week and help you with you kalk concentration. If you dose anything you must test for it. It can be easy to increase ca and alk with kalk top off but it is a great way to dose when done right.

 

[chrishayes]

Man you remind me of myself at your age! I had 15 tanks in my grandmas basement where I lived most of the time(parents also divorced so I shuffled from here to there and back all the time)! I kept just about everything in them from a full grown savahna monitor to locally collected freshwater gobies and crawdads! I even snuck in a garter snake that got me kicked out of the house for awhile! I ordered a SMALL one to put in my 75 gal(saved for years to buy it) terrarium. Well, it came in HUMUNGOUS, like 6' long and as big around as a roll of quarters...needless to say, it didnt exactly blend in and disapeer like I thought it would!

The best thing I did back then was bug the hell outta my local lfs to give me a job. I bugged them from 12 all the way to 15 when I could get my permit. They then had no more excuses!lol So that got me a discount plus the ability to read every single book they stocked. I was so thirsty for knowledge I even read about parakeets...I hate birds. This was a full pet store which was ok since it had retiles and fish(my two passions) but I was way more into fish than anything(unfortunately there was no real way to keep a reef back then on a kids budget, youre lucky) so I did the same bugging trick with the fish only store here. I had a car then so I could drive the extra distance. Man what a dream that was. They had Takashi Amonos Nature Aquarium books along with Julian Sprung and other Reef books. We sold to more upscale hobbyists rather than the pet store crowd so knowledge was paramount. We wouldnt sell to someone if they didnt have a proper setup and made all saltwater purchasers bring water samples in and if they didnt test out well, they could put a down payment on the item and hold it til they remedied the issue. Was the best job a kid could ask for!

Anyhow, your setup looks awesome and like myself you want to truly setup a biotope environment. As you get older that can really get out of hand when you actually have the cash to do it right! Plus youll get a little less rigid with it and realize the glass box isnt a biotope anyhow even though you have the best intentions. So, keep what you like not what a book ALLOWS you to. If others have had success you can bet you will to as long as you keep up with your maintenance which sounds like you do quite well!

As to the kalk, I agree with allsps that you shouldnt be using a 1 1/2 tsp/ gallon at this point. Thats pretty potent for what you have in the tank. Especially since you are doing weekly WC's with reefcrystals. Lay off the kalk totally for a few weeks but continue your water changes and then test your cal and alk. If you are deficient(I doubt it) then use one of the online calculators to get your kalk dose. For reference, I am using only kalk right now on a holding bin that it less than 20 gallons that holds probably 30 sps frags along with quite a few large colonies and I use a full strength 2tsp/gal just with topoff daily and it is holding quite well. I too use reefcrystals and change about 20%/week.

Keep up the awesome work and stay out of trouble!

 

[KidReefer]

Cool setup looks like things are progressing nicely! How is the kalk dosing going? Is it maintaining your calcium and alkalinity sufficiently?

Thanks!! and the kalk dosing is doing great last time I checked calcium and alk were 480 and 11.

Looking good! You dont have a need for that much kalk if any at this point. Test your water every day for a week for ca and alk and record the tests each day. This will tell you how much you loose per day and per week and help you with you kalk concentration. If you dose anything you must test for it. It can be easy to increase ca and alk with kalk top off but it is a great way to dose when done right.

Thanks and I think I will try this in a week or so, I have always been curious to see how much I really do lose over a period of time, maybe I could make like a chart to show it, that would be neat. Thanks for the advice!!

Wow chris hayes thats awesome, I wish I could get a job at the LFS but I think I have to be older. I laughed when I read that you had snakes in your basement, must have been a shocker when your grandma saw it lol. I actually bought a julien sprung book with the IDs on a lot of corals, there so cool. One of my dream corals now is a green millepora with the gold tips. As for me I cant wait till Im older and get a good job, Ill have all the equipment, GFO + carbon reactors, vortechs, reefkeepers etc. I cant wait. Also I am going to take allsps and your advice to take down the kalk concentration and do a test over the week to see how much I lose in a certain time frame.

Thanks for your opinions guys, much appreciacted!!

 

[KidReefer]

hey guys heres a very small update, I got my first sps frags two days ago I got a green birdsnest and a brown( now starting to turn a little green montipora)

Heres a video of the birdsnest, I couldnt get a good shot of the montipora because for some reason the camera wouldnt focus when I went over it, so I just deleted that part of the video.

http://s1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/KidReefer/?action=view&current=IMG_0609.mp4

Also I was watching the star wars marathon so thats the music in the background lol