Leonardo's Lagoon
- Thread starter Leonardo_
- Start date
paulthomas; I know exactly what you mean 
To answer your previous question; I don't have a Refugium, only a small RDSB in the sump.
IPT, thanks for the input about the camera's
I have to do some more research...
Sonny, Grazie!
It is about time for an update... Will make some new pictures this week. I will also install my balling system this week!
Leonardo
To answer your previous question; I don't have a Refugium, only a small RDSB in the sump.
IPT, thanks for the input about the camera's
I have to do some more research...Sonny, Grazie!
It is about time for an update... Will make some new pictures this week. I will also install my balling system this week!
Leonardo
Have fun!!!tonyespinoza
Premium Member
hey leonardo - like most folks, i'm really enjoying your inspiring thread!
couple of questions:
1) you've obviously decided against running a refugium. forgive me if this is covered previously -- but do you mind sharing the reasons? obviously they burn a lot of energy if large enough to be sufficient. if you had no space limits, would you run one? i was thinking of running one below my tank since my skimmer and sump are separate. (the tank is 60" x 40" x 20" and the fuge would nearly the same surface area, just 12" deep.) would love your opinion on whether this would be worth while.
2) exactly how much live rock are you running? i'm also planning to minimize rock in the display and am considering a dark sump for rock only...
Thanks for any insights and thanks for sharing your creation with us all over the world.
couple of questions:
1) you've obviously decided against running a refugium. forgive me if this is covered previously -- but do you mind sharing the reasons? obviously they burn a lot of energy if large enough to be sufficient. if you had no space limits, would you run one? i was thinking of running one below my tank since my skimmer and sump are separate. (the tank is 60" x 40" x 20" and the fuge would nearly the same surface area, just 12" deep.) would love your opinion on whether this would be worth while.
2) exactly how much live rock are you running? i'm also planning to minimize rock in the display and am considering a dark sump for rock only...
Thanks for any insights and thanks for sharing your creation with us all over the world.
Thank you king4345!
Gig 'em, Thanks! I also don't have the space... I just sleep next to it now
tonyespinoza, You're welcome! I don't use a refugium because I think I can manage my nutrients in an more easy way; mechanically and chemically. With a lot of flow and heavy skimming (and some GFO) I can exactly manage my nutrients to have a low nutrient system without starving the corals.
I have about 10 pound of liverock in the sump. Not very much, but I think it is enough in a system without a heavy bioload and strong skimming and flow.
-----------------------
I made some improvements to benefit the system (at least I hope so)
I made an extention on the skimmer intake so it draws air from outside. I noticed a small increase in pH, but not very drastically because my whole room is vented very well. But all the small bits help.
Another (bigger) change I made is removing my Ca reactor and replacing it with a full Balling dosing system, using a Grotech TEC III.
I will give some more expanation when I made some photo's, but first I have to go to sleep (it's 01:00 a.m. here in Holland right now) So that will follow tomorrow! I also found an old video of the Formosa Forest on a backup-CD. I will try to upload that also tomorrow.
Leonardo
Gig 'em, Thanks! I also don't have the space... I just sleep next to it now
tonyespinoza, You're welcome! I don't use a refugium because I think I can manage my nutrients in an more easy way; mechanically and chemically. With a lot of flow and heavy skimming (and some GFO) I can exactly manage my nutrients to have a low nutrient system without starving the corals.
I have about 10 pound of liverock in the sump. Not very much, but I think it is enough in a system without a heavy bioload and strong skimming and flow.
-----------------------
I made some improvements to benefit the system (at least I hope so)
I made an extention on the skimmer intake so it draws air from outside. I noticed a small increase in pH, but not very drastically because my whole room is vented very well. But all the small bits help.
Another (bigger) change I made is removing my Ca reactor and replacing it with a full Balling dosing system, using a Grotech TEC III.
I will give some more expanation when I made some photo's, but first I have to go to sleep (it's 01:00 a.m. here in Holland right now
) So that will follow tomorrow! I also found an old video of the Formosa Forest on a backup-CD. I will try to upload that also tomorrow. Leonardo
tonyespinoza
Premium Member
cool! i thought maybe your load was at least moderate since you are into feeding -- but it's great that you're able to manage it without a fuge. i'm going to try and have room planned to add a fuge if needed. no point in adding the complexity if it isn't needed!
tonyespinoza; You're correct about the heavy feeding. My BK Supermarine is able to take out the food that isn't consumed by the system. That way nutrients won't build up.
Like I said yesterday, I changed to the Full-Balling system instead of my Schuran Jetstream II Ca-Reactor.
I did this to remain a higher pH in the tank, and lower the output of phosphate caused by the reactor media. Overall I try to maximize calcification of the corals.
I have three 8 Gallon Jerrycans filled with:
1) CaCl solution + Sr/Ba complex and Heavy metal Complex (trace elements)
2) NaCO3 solution + I/F/K Complex (trace elements)
3) NaCl free Salt from Tropic Marin
I dose 200 ml a day now of each solution, but I still have to find the correct dosage. I think it will take me another week, testing every day, to find out.
Magnesium dosage is done by hand every week during the Water Change, but that will be automated too.
My Grotech TEC III can be upgraded to 9 individual controlled dosingpumps. Magnesium, AminoAcids, CarbonSource will all be automated in the future (If I will use that extra additives)
The pH controller from the Ca-Reactor is now used to monitor the pH in the tank. That way I managed to keep the pH on a steady 8.2, day and night, by using Kalkwasser from my Schuran Kalkwasser Reactor.
I tried to take some top down shots today, but is is very difficult without having a underwater box. I'll post the ones that came out the best.
As you can see, I only have baby-tables now, but I hope within a few years I have the whole bottom covered with tables. Of course I'll have to add some more species.
Leonardo
Like I said yesterday, I changed to the Full-Balling system instead of my Schuran Jetstream II Ca-Reactor.
I did this to remain a higher pH in the tank, and lower the output of phosphate caused by the reactor media. Overall I try to maximize calcification of the corals.
I have three 8 Gallon Jerrycans filled with:
1) CaCl solution + Sr/Ba complex and Heavy metal Complex (trace elements)
2) NaCO3 solution + I/F/K Complex (trace elements)
3) NaCl free Salt from Tropic Marin
I dose 200 ml a day now of each solution, but I still have to find the correct dosage. I think it will take me another week, testing every day, to find out.
Magnesium dosage is done by hand every week during the Water Change, but that will be automated too.
My Grotech TEC III can be upgraded to 9 individual controlled dosingpumps. Magnesium, AminoAcids, CarbonSource will all be automated in the future (If I will use that extra additives)
The pH controller from the Ca-Reactor is now used to monitor the pH in the tank. That way I managed to keep the pH on a steady 8.2, day and night, by using Kalkwasser from my Schuran Kalkwasser Reactor.
I tried to take some top down shots today, but is is very difficult without having a underwater box. I'll post the ones that came out the best.
As you can see, I only have baby-tables now, but I hope within a few years I have the whole bottom covered with tables. Of course I'll have to add some more species.
Leonardo
Last edited:
Green Thumb
New member
Just out of curriosity what media did you have in your Schuran calcium reactor?
Ive heard that reef bones can add phosphate to water, but have you tried other large size media which is said to contain less or no phosphate?
Looking good BTW!
Ive heard that reef bones can add phosphate to water, but have you tried other large size media which is said to contain less or no phosphate?
Looking good BTW!
jnarowe
New member
Looking great Leonardo, and I am keenly interested in your superset of Balling method. This is something I am researching for exactly the same reasons as you point out.
Green Thumb: You can soak out the PO4, at least most of it, by soaking the media in RO/DI water. I use the Gen-X Coral Bones with 2 x 3.65l containers in the reactor at a time. Before I put new media in, I soak it in RO/DI for 24 hours, then test the water for PO4. Then I swap the water with fresh RO/DI and soak for another day. I repeat this for as many days as it takes to get a zero PO4 test result (using Merk/D-D) which is usually 3 - 4 days.
This lowers the amount of PO4 coming off the media and greatly extends the life of my GFO.
Green Thumb: You can soak out the PO4, at least most of it, by soaking the media in RO/DI water. I use the Gen-X Coral Bones with 2 x 3.65l containers in the reactor at a time. Before I put new media in, I soak it in RO/DI for 24 hours, then test the water for PO4. Then I swap the water with fresh RO/DI and soak for another day. I repeat this for as many days as it takes to get a zero PO4 test result (using Merk/D-D) which is usually 3 - 4 days.
This lowers the amount of PO4 coming off the media and greatly extends the life of my GFO.
Thanks Felix!
Green Thumb; I used large Schuran Ca-Reactor media which I soaked for several months in RO?DI (while replacing the water regulary) It didn't prevent some traces of PO4 in the eflluent of the reactor.
Thanks Nick! There isn't a real right aquascape now. I hope to find a way to avoid the corals standing next to each other look and create an exiting aquascape. But in my tank the corals have to do that, not the LiveRock. It takes a while to collect enough corals to create that and corals do have to grow out a lot before you can see an aquascape develop.
Boggs tank looks great but I will aim for tabling, flat Acropora that grow in high surge areas.
Some examples in nature that I posted a while ago:
Jonathan, I will keep posting my experiences and changes I observe. If you have any questions in the future please ask.
Leonardo
Green Thumb; I used large Schuran Ca-Reactor media which I soaked for several months in RO?DI (while replacing the water regulary) It didn't prevent some traces of PO4 in the eflluent of the reactor.
Thanks Nick! There isn't a real right aquascape now. I hope to find a way to avoid the corals standing next to each other look and create an exiting aquascape. But in my tank the corals have to do that, not the LiveRock. It takes a while to collect enough corals to create that and corals do have to grow out a lot before you can see an aquascape develop.
Boggs tank looks great but I will aim for tabling, flat Acropora that grow in high surge areas.
Some examples in nature that I posted a while ago:
Jonathan, I will keep posting my experiences and changes I observe. If you have any questions in the future please ask.
Leonardo
Mark, most of the corals are attached to small LiveRock or without attaching the the glass. Some are glued down because of the high flow.
This way I am able to move corals when they grow, of when I add new tables. In a while I hope to create a pattern of corals as shown above in the pictures.
Leonardo
This way I am able to move corals when they grow, of when I add new tables. In a while I hope to create a pattern of corals as shown above in the pictures.
Leonardo
Mark, I designed this tank to prevent that problems, I hope. I made a very shallow, high light - high flow tank without any substrate with the purpose to grow large, tabling wildcap Acropora to a large size.
I have a 110x turnover in the tank right now. Thats 15850 Gallon/hour of flow. (when all pumps were on maximum flow, because of the waveaction the turnover will be a bit smaller overall)
Light won't be a problem also because I have a very good spead of light and strong lighting in all of the areas of the tank because of it's shallowness, and the lightsetup overall.
I still can lose corals, but with this setup and stable parameters I hope to be succesfull.
Leonardo
I have a 110x turnover in the tank right now. Thats 15850 Gallon/hour of flow. (when all pumps were on maximum flow, because of the waveaction the turnover will be a bit smaller overall)
Light won't be a problem also because I have a very good spead of light and strong lighting in all of the areas of the tank because of it's shallowness, and the lightsetup overall.
I still can lose corals, but with this setup and stable parameters I hope to be succesfull.
Leonardo
