Leonardo's Apogon Reef
- Thread starter Leonardo_
- Start date
chgoblknazn
New member
As would I!! :lol2:
Chipie
Active member
Just beautiful Leonardo. I'm wondering about your apogon. If i remember well, you had some red spot apogon in your formosa tank. Is there a reason you switched to the blue streak apogon? I'm tempted to ge wt some red spots but i'm afraid of what i read about their survival rate. 
mike nickerson
New member
Very impressive tank. I like your coral selection, along with your fish. You don't see many convict tangs.
Last edited:
2013 UPDATE
Sorry for being away for so long, and not updating this thread. I can give many excuses; corals not doing well therefore losing my joy in the hobby, turbulence in my personal life etc. But that's not what you want to hear I think, you're more interested in a reef update
Apogon reef "crashed" in the end of 2012. The corals, mostly deepwater species, developed brown patches, became "dry" in appearance, and RTN/STN'd. You can see the first signs of the patches in the photo's of the last update. I also had a reoccurring unexplainable green hair algae explosion.
It's still guessing what caused it, but I can come up with a few possibilities. Impure water, Impure Sea salt or Impure Balling salts.
Because I didn't want to experience this again, I targeted all thee, and completely started over. New rock, new water and, unfortunately, new corals.
LIVE ROCK
I "cooked" the new live rock in a large bin for two months, with heavy flow and a canister with Phosguard. The water was changed completely every week. The amount of gunk that came out of the rocks EVERY WEEK was an eye opener for me.
(sorry for the crappy photo's, they're all Iphone. Next time I will use the Canon again )
To my pleasant surprise, the live rock developed a lot of coralline algae, in complete darkness!
The photo below was after two months "cooking". Super clean, phosphate free Live Rock
Sorry for being away for so long, and not updating this thread. I can give many excuses; corals not doing well therefore losing my joy in the hobby, turbulence in my personal life etc. But that's not what you want to hear I think, you're more interested in a reef update
Apogon reef "crashed" in the end of 2012. The corals, mostly deepwater species, developed brown patches, became "dry" in appearance, and RTN/STN'd. You can see the first signs of the patches in the photo's of the last update. I also had a reoccurring unexplainable green hair algae explosion.
It's still guessing what caused it, but I can come up with a few possibilities. Impure water, Impure Sea salt or Impure Balling salts.
Because I didn't want to experience this again, I targeted all thee, and completely started over. New rock, new water and, unfortunately, new corals.
LIVE ROCK
I "cooked" the new live rock in a large bin for two months, with heavy flow and a canister with Phosguard. The water was changed completely every week. The amount of gunk that came out of the rocks EVERY WEEK was an eye opener for me.
(sorry for the crappy photo's, they're all Iphone. Next time I will use the Canon again
)
To my pleasant surprise, the live rock developed a lot of coralline algae, in complete darkness!
The photo below was after two months "cooking". Super clean, phosphate free Live Rock
EQUIPMENT
Because I wanted to get rid of Balling, with the chance of impure salts, I chose for a Calcium Reactor. After the reactor is an "afterburner", that prevents unreacted Co2 to enter the tank.
All Co2 is used up now, cranking up the Ca and ALK in the effluent even more.
I changed out all the filters in the RO unit, bought a new membrane and placed a jumbo canister with Mixed bed Resin after. The result is ultra pure RO water.
CABINET AND AQUARIUM/SUMP
I used the same aquarium, but I decided to ditch the old wooden stand, and order a Stainless Steel frame, that I will finish myself with panels.
The frame was coated with a few coatings of Hammerite, just for peace of mind and the ecstatics.
Layers of waterproof Multiplex is the basis for Aquarium and Sump.
A large sump provides extra water volume and enough space for all the equipment, extra Liverock and RDSB's
RDSB
In the sump are two RDSB's. 1,5 Gallon buckets with oolite sand. They lower NO3 and PO4, allowing me to provide more food to the fish and corals.
Because I wanted to get rid of Balling, with the chance of impure salts, I chose for a Calcium Reactor. After the reactor is an "afterburner", that prevents unreacted Co2 to enter the tank.
All Co2 is used up now, cranking up the Ca and ALK in the effluent even more.
I changed out all the filters in the RO unit, bought a new membrane and placed a jumbo canister with Mixed bed Resin after. The result is ultra pure RO water.
CABINET AND AQUARIUM/SUMP
I used the same aquarium, but I decided to ditch the old wooden stand, and order a Stainless Steel frame, that I will finish myself with panels.
The frame was coated with a few coatings of Hammerite, just for peace of mind and the ecstatics.
Layers of waterproof Multiplex is the basis for Aquarium and Sump.
A large sump provides extra water volume and enough space for all the equipment, extra Liverock and RDSB's
RDSB
In the sump are two RDSB's. 1,5 Gallon buckets with oolite sand. They lower NO3 and PO4, allowing me to provide more food to the fish and corals.
FIRST WATER
The first water moment is already a few months ago, in the meantime I collected a lot of new corals, mostly frags from hobbyists. I try to stay away from wildcaps and colonize my tank with species that are proven to do well in a captive environment.
As you can see, I still use my Bubble King Super Marin and the ATI T5 pendants. Great equimpment.
NEXT UPDATE
When the coralscape is done I give another update, this time with much better photo's.
Thanks for your patience! :reading:
Leonardo
The first water moment is already a few months ago, in the meantime I collected a lot of new corals, mostly frags from hobbyists. I try to stay away from wildcaps and colonize my tank with species that are proven to do well in a captive environment.
As you can see, I still use my Bubble King Super Marin and the ATI T5 pendants. Great equimpment.
NEXT UPDATE
When the coralscape is done I give another update, this time with much better photo's.
Thanks for your patience! :reading:
Leonardo
Thanks! You're right, I'm only looking forward now. Thank you for the kind words.
Nice update
Sorry to hear about your problems. But i hope things are working out for you.
Looking forward to seeing how this tank will turnout
The crash you had, was it all happening quite fast or did you experience it over several days?
Thank you. It happened over longer period. The RTN happend fast, but the "dryness" and STN'ning of the corals were taking much longer.
Thank you!
Leonardo
yano
New member
Sorry to hear your problems, but when you start a new project we forget everything and just room for expectation! :dance:
Two questions about new project:
-How many live rock you will use? Any other method to down nutrients, zeolite, biopellets, etc?
- I'm surprised at the height of the new sump....you can get the skimmer out to clean it?
I'm looking forward to seeing new updates!
Two questions about new project:
-How many live rock you will use? Any other method to down nutrients, zeolite, biopellets, etc?
- I'm surprised at the height of the new sump....you can get the skimmer out to clean it?
I'm looking forward to seeing new updates!
I used about 40 pounds, mostly in the sump. I don't use any Biopellets, Zeolites etc. Just BareBottom Methodology, VSV dosing and a little bit of GFO/GAC.
Especially with the Pellets I have very bad experience, they are very hard to control. I like automated VSV dosing better.
The sump is this high because I want to prevent salt mist in the room. A sump this high will trap most of it. The skimmer just fits through
Leonardo
chgoblknazn
New member
Sorry for the catastrophe but it's an opportunity to learn more and do things differently and better with that knowledge. I'm excited about this!!
cFloor
New member
I like your low lying rock work. Plenty of room for corals to grow and a good amount of open water for your fish. I too have a bare bottom tank, and I honestly prefer the look of sand, but because of my aquascape you can hardly tell its BB. My rock work is somewhat similar to yours. Can't wait to see the corals you put in there!
You're right, thanks!
The rockwork in the last photo's is not the aquascape. I just random tossed the rocks in there
I will give an update with the aquascape soon!
Leonardo
yano
New member
I used about 40 pounds, mostly in the sump. I don't use any Biopellets, Zeolites etc. Just BareBottom Methodology, VSV dosing and a little bit of GFO/GAC.
Especially with the Pellets I have very bad experience, they are very hard to control. I like automated VSV dosing better.
The sump is this high because I want to prevent salt mist in the room. A sump this high will trap most of it. The skimmer just fits through
Leonardo
I find it very strange that you do not think necessary out skimmer for cleaning or maintenance ...the sump height only allows you to take the cup?
What is source of this salt mist? I use a department covered with foam to prevent salt spray produced by the descent of the overflow...it maintain all my sump and table inside very clean.
What means VSV? (Vodka dosing?)
Thanks you
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