Modern Reef.

[naimasreef]

a bit of a shot in the dark; but just returning to the hobby after a few years of hiatus. I am happy to see the product game has improved in not only number of choices of equipment available but also in the range of potential quality. v cool. In an effort to spend some money up front and have an enjoyable reefing ride for the foreseeable future . . . this post been drummed up.

a few new items are out that I am unfamiliar with - have been created (algae scrubbers and reactors), and improvements on designs in general have also taken place while away (LEDS, controllers/dosing, continuous water change, skimmers seems much improved, and rimless tanks have gained popularity).

further, more methods and systems are available to manage reef chemistry like triton, aqua forest, britewell, etc. as well as mud products and big light refugiums (which I plan to do) . . .

Question: what are some the modern methods and equipment that the advanced reefing community presently deems valuable?

What is upcoming?

thanks.
:fun4:

 

[LQT]

The big upcoming innovation seems to be Alkalinity monitoring and control. Coralvue has the KH Guardian available presently. GHL, Pac Sun, Focustronic and Neptune are all working on their units presently and look to be released over the next 12 months.

 

[naimasreef]

thanks LQT.

watched the videos on the product and looks pretty cool.

pretty curious about the GHL version, as I am debating going with their suite for control.

please share ideas on the top reefing equipment and methods that you have enjoyed success with.:hb2:

 

[bif24701]

LEDs can do anything you need.

Skimmers, refugiums, and other export methods have become so efficient that many including myself need to actually add Nitrates.

The New APEX is really nice.

DC pumps are where it's at.

Refugiums have made a huge come back. Now there are also chaeto reactors and scrubbers, all work well.

Lots of new potions.

I keep it simple. IO salt, Kalk in top off, large water changes, lots of flow and big refugium.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[naimasreef]

thanks Bif.

loving your response and perspective.

I never liked testing . . . never did it and had nice tank of of mostly chalices and montis.


my goal for the new system is a mixed reef with a high bioload and not water changes.

here is what I got going thus far.
- elos 70
- mitras 6200hv
- vertex 150
- kessil h350 magenta fuge light
- mp40w
- tune ato


- will probably clean and fix my old aqua medic talk stirrer.
- also have an aqua media bioball reactor and thinking about filling with Xport or similar product.
- thinking about adding the vertex calium reactor.
- 40b sump
- eheim 1260 return

- shelf pukani and a branches
- debating 1" layer of black sand . . . always ran BB. Please advise?
- also debating miracle mud . . .???

have an old liter meter 3 . . . what could/should I use that for??

appreciate the participation, fun to the reefing itch again :debi:

 

[LQT]

Adding a calcium reactor can get quite expensive because not only will you need the reactor, but you'll need a CO2 tank, a quality CO2 regulator (like a Carbondoser), a pH controller (can use standalone or an Apex) and a stable and reliable feed pump like a Masterflex. For your tank volume, you'll be fine to start with the kalk stirrer. Then as Alk and Ca demand increases, you could use your Litermeter to dose 2 part.

That said, I'm a gear head and will be setting up a calcium reactor on my 57 gallon build.

 

[naimasreef]

thanks LQT that sounds right . . . never ran cr previously and seems like a lot, but the cool factor is up there an a lot of nice tanks appear to run them.

will keep my eye open for a good used set up.

 

[reefgeezer]

Hey naiamareef, you didn't mention what sort or reef you are building, Softie, LPS, SPS, Non-photosynthetic, mixed reef, or etc..

I believe the biggest change in the hobby is the trend for allowing higher nutrient levels. 5 ppm of nitrate and .03 ppm of phosphate are the low end of the range for SPS reefs. Those numbers are even higher for Softie, LPS, and mixed reefs. Generally, a decent skimmer, adequate rock, and some sort of algae fuge/reactor (or GFO Reactor) can maintain those levels quite handily. Personally, I like bare bottom so a lot of flow can be used, but I have an SPS reef. I would use your reactor for Cheato or GFO reactor rather than using MarinePure or similar products.

Another recent trend in the hobby is treating dry rock for phosphates prior to putting it in the display tank. This removes bound phosphate that is common in most commercially available dry rock before it can leach into the tank. The process reduces the need for excessive phosphate export provisions in the future. It can take weeks to do this but it is very beneficial.

If I were buying new, I would use DC powered components.

 

[naimasreef]

thanks Reefgeezer. gonna choose thru my old rock and play with some aquascape ideas, then cure them...will address the phosphates.

Planning to keep chalice, monti, acro, and lots of fish.

Any drawbacks of running the GFO?

 

[reefgeezer]

thanks Reefgeezer. gonna choose thru my old rock and play with some aquascape ideas, then cure them...will address the phosphates.

Planning to keep chalice, monti, acro, and lots of fish.

Any drawbacks of running the GFO?

GFO is a fine option but can be expensive, particularly with lots of fish. The only caution is dropping the phosphates too fast when you change the GFO. SPS corals seem to hate that!

FWIW... I run a small reactor with 1/8 cup BRS High Capacity GFO. I run the flow very low to just barely fluidize the GFO. It keeps my phosphates around .02 ppm when brand new. I change it when the phosphate level reaches about .06ppm. That usually takes about 5 weeks. I have low phosphate input right now so control is not difficult. I aggressively treated the dry rock for phosphates during set-up and don't have a heavy bioload yet. I'd guess I'll have to start adding more or changing it more often eventually. I am planning a cheato reactor to someday replace the GFO but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[ca1ore]

I think one of the things I have noted is that things that were in the realm of the cutting edge are now more mainstream. For example, I have been running an algae turf scrubber and calcium reactor for close to 2 decades, but now lots of folks run them. Better ways to run them though. Used to have a dump bucket-based ATS - noisy, large and messy - now I run a waterfall design. Used to wrestle with feed consistency on my CaRx, now I use a masterflex peri pump. Equipment is much better. Vortech pumps are far more technologically sophisticated than anything we might have had access to even 10 years ago. Apex controllers make monitoring and control far more capable than what was possible in the distant past. LED lighting is promising, though not necessarily yet the equal of tired and true MH. On line resources are awesome, though be careful with internet-experts. Has killed off the reef/fish book business though, which is unfortunate.

Be mindful of 'bright, shiny object' syndrome. AC pumps, for example, are proven and long lived; DC pumps are not ..... or don't appear to be. I would never use a DC pump as my main return, though they are excellent as wave makers.

 

[naimasreef]

Superb info cal1ore! its fun to get back into it without seeing what had come out while I was away . . . the ketchup is fun. in my day, the ahem 1260 was the pump. for return and for the best skimmers (until red dragon popped up) and I still have mine and will use it for the the feasible future.

in regards to GFO and nutrient export, planning on running a big fuge of chaeto with a kessil h350 growing it out along with the vertex 150. Should I still add GFO? what else would helpful or is a Gian ball of chaeto sufficient?

thanks again all . . . hope everyone is having a smooth day and your tanks are looking lovely.

 

[laverda]

An ATS is much more efective then a giant ball of cheeto. You should not even need any gfo to keep nutrients under control. You can incorporate one into most overflows. Inexpensive red and blue LEDs work great for this purpose. They do require you to remove algae from them. It takes me less ten 5 minutes weekly on a 300 gallon tank. I had 3 lights originally now I only have 2 running opposite my tank lights. I may have to reduce the time they are running more as my nutrients are getting very low, although I have been feeding more now.

 

[saf1]

Question: what are some the modern methods and equipment that the advanced reefing community presently deems valuable?

Modern? Probably going back to the basics and keeping things simple with less.

On the other hand technology is changing which is helping to reduce the cost of some essential things such has pumps, the number of, and lighting. Personally speaking I wouldn't build a system today that isn't using DC pumps, wave makers, and LED lighting but that is just my opinion. If my tanks location permitted it I would also try and use natural lighting.

I think there is a lot of room to grow with captive breeding and coral propagation. It seems like in this hobby we could almost be self sustaining.

 

[Fredfish]

What's new?

Methods that used to be considered fringe have proven to work. Think sand beds, algae scrubbers, skimmer-less tanks, no water changes...

Corals do need to be fed and sponges are important.

Quiet DC pumps work. LED lights are mainstream. Controllers have gotten quite sophisticated, but they're still damned expensive.

What hasn't changed? Chevy still sucks and my dad can still beat up your dad. That, of course means that all of the above is still hotly debated.

 

[laverda]

The amount of knowledge readily available to you at your finger tips!
External over flows, so you don't have an ugly box taking up real estate in your tank.
Using 3D printers to make custom parts for your tank.

 

[naimasreef]

appreciate your responses laverda...ats seem cool for sure. sounds like they probably can't be beat for nutrient export. though I do like the idea of a big huge for growing microfauna as well. my next tank will probably have coast to coast external overflow . . . someday.

 

[naimasreef]

Modern? Probably going back to the basics and keeping things simple with less.

On the other hand technology is changing which is helping to reduce the cost of some essential things such has pumps, the number of, and lighting. Personally speaking I wouldn't build a system today that isn't using DC pumps, wave makers, and LED lighting but that is just my opinion. If my tanks location permitted it I would also try and use natural lighting.

I think there is a lot of room to grow with captive breeding and coral propagation. It seems like in this hobby we could almost be self sustaining.

thanks . . . just watched some of the world wide corals videos on their set up and it was very very impressive.

also saw a vid on ora and some of the tidal gardens stuff that use have sunlit systems as well. v cool.

 

[naimasreef]

What's new?

Methods that used to be considered fringe have proven to work. Think sand beds, algae scrubbers, skimmer-less tanks, no water changes...

Corals do need to be fed and sponges are important.

Quiet DC pumps work. LED lights are mainstream. Controllers have gotten quite sophisticated, but they're still damned expensive.

What hasn't changed? Chevy still sucks and my dad can still beat up your dad. That, of course means that all of the above is still hotly debated.

yeh, thats what seems interesting now . . . the equipment is better and cheaper generally, and many of the older cutting edge methods are just good practice now.

any suggestions for ramping up sponges on new cured dry rock??

thanks again for the consideration.

 

[Fredfish]

yeh, thats what seems interesting now . . . the equipment is better and cheaper generally, and many of the older cutting edge methods are just good practice now.

any suggestions for ramping up sponges on new cured dry rock??

thanks again for the consideration.

I always found that sponges just showed up on my rocks as the tank matured.

Steve Tyree has a thread on the Reed Discussion sub forum that's worth reading. $16 or so spent on his most recent book is probably money well spent if you are interested in incorporating sponges as part of your tank filter.