My humble SPS journey - Shallow 80g

[joshky]

It's only a competition once I get my future lennardi past a year :frog:
There's always more fish and coral to add, don't act like you'll be able to refrain

I REALLY hope that you do, that would be fantastic. I don't deny anything you've wrote.

Freaking awesome wrasse collection Josh, I am so jealous! Man o man this tank is off the chain right now, your sump is cleaner than my display man Great job Josh!

Thanks Perry! I don't know about that but I appreciate it. haha

Joshky, what an awesome build and tank. I am currently in the process of setting up a 110 gallon that is going to be a reef. What has helped you establish the reef you have now and the growth (which is amazing). Trying to learn the most I can before I start adding corals in the future. It seems that you have the science down and could lead me in the right direction on creating a healthy, growing reef.

Will now be tagging along the thread as well as this is one of my favorite tanks.

I'm really flattered, honestly, but I don't know if I'm the right person in this scenario? I consider myself still in the learning stage for caring and growing of acropora, I've had my ups and downs and I'm still kind of trying to figure things out for myself and my reef. Right now I'm having a decent cyano outbreak which means I'm having a nutrient problem in my tank, the cyano is being kind to me and binding up those nutrients but nevertheless it's apparent based on the cyano growth. I don't know if the way my tank is setup right now is good for the long haul or if I need to make some changes, I'm considering adding Seachem Matrix or Sera Siporax to my sump to aid in bringing some of the nutrients in the system down; I already have a marinepure 8x8x4 block, but I'd really like to phase it out.

I'd love to help you, really, I just don't know if I can confidently say any one thing in my system is working well for me. Long term results and success are paramount when considering setting up a reef based on someone else and I don't have those yet. Also every system is different and what works for me may not work for you, so finding your own success is the unfortunate truth. You can base your system off a tank that you believe to be running well, but more than likely your tank will have numerous changes to it 12 months after being started.

With all of that being said, the one major factor in keeping SPS happy is parameter stability. Give your acros stable parameters and you can get away with some smaller issues like slightly elevated nutrients

 

[Wrangy]

I REALLY hope that you do, that would be fantastic. I don't deny anything you've wrote.

It's going to be a bit of work to get it to that stage but I'm hoping with the peaceful inhabitants that I've got on my list and the variety of colour to not have anyone picking on each other that it should help. The lennardi will be coming in late in the list to allow for the tank to be as mature as possible too
The carpenters and longfin have settled like champs and eat everything! lol Another week and I reckon the carpenters will be eating from my hand too! He nearly is already haha

 

[glaukos]

That's a really organised sump bud and i really love your wrasse gang!!!
How often do you change/clean the sock?

 

[joshky]

It's going to be a bit of work to get it to that stage but I'm hoping with the peaceful inhabitants that I've got on my list and the variety of colour to not have anyone picking on each other that it should help. The lennardi will be coming in late in the list to allow for the tank to be as mature as possible too
The carpenters and longfin have settled like champs and eat everything! lol Another week and I reckon the carpenters will be eating from my hand too! He nearly is already haha

Sounds good to me, how much do lennardi usually go for there?

That's pretty awesome, I don't train my fish to eat from my hands but I've considering trying with a net, you never know when you'll need to remove someone.

That's a really organised sump bud and i really love your wrasse gang!!!
How often do you change/clean the sock?

Thanks!

To be perfectly honest with you, this sump has one major fault to it and that's the filter sock area. It doesn't work very well. Apparently when I was contacting Trigger Systems about this sump they neglected to mention all of the upgrades they had done to their emerald and ruby sumps compared to this one basically being a prototype. I was told that this sump was a special brick and mortar store sump so that LFS's had something different to offer customers than what they could purchase online. What a crock of %$^ LOL.

As it is right now, the water goes underneath the filter sock rings and runs down the sock/sometimes drips and making an annoying noise. I mean some water does make it into the first sock, but the second sock is absolutely useless. The only way you could physically fix this is by modifying the plumbing to go directly into the sock, which to me negates the whole purpose of buying this sump to begin with... needless to say I'm a little ticked off about this purchase and I wish they would have kindly mentioned these issues before I spent the money.

Back to your question, I don't change them as often as I should, but their main purpose for me is to keep the sump quiet because without them it's like a waterfall. I've thought about ripping out that acrylic tray etc. and just opening that area up permanently since the socks are useless to me.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Sounds good to me, how much do lennardi usually go for there?



That's pretty awesome, I don't train my fish to eat from my hands but I've considering trying with a net, you never know when you'll need to remove someone.







Thanks!



To be perfectly honest with you, this sump has one major fault to it and that's the filter sock area. It doesn't work very well. Apparently when I was contacting Trigger Systems about this sump they neglected to mention all of the upgrades they had done to their emerald and ruby sumps compared to this one basically being a prototype. I was told that this sump was a special brick and mortar store sump so that LFS's had something different to offer customers than what they could purchase online. What a crock of %$^ LOL.



As it is right now, the water goes underneath the filter sock rings and runs down the sock/sometimes drips and making an annoying noise. I mean some water does make it into the first sock, but the second sock is absolutely useless. The only way you could physically fix this is by modifying the plumbing to go directly into the sock, which to me negates the whole purpose of buying this sump to begin with... needless to say I'm a little ticked off about this purchase and I wish they would have kindly mentioned these issues before I spent the money.



Back to your question, I don't change them as often as I should, but their main purpose for me is to keep the sump quiet because without them it's like a waterfall. I've thought about ripping out that acrylic tray etc. and just opening that area up permanently since the socks are useless to me.

Problem solved on noisy sump with no socks. Just ditch the socks all together.

 

[joshky]

Problem solved on noisy sump with no socks. Just ditch the socks all together.

Aren't those meant to sit inside of filter socks though? Not sure how that would work for me I guess?

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Aren't those meant to sit inside of filter socks though? Not sure how that would work for me I guess?

These go in place of filter socks when your not running them. Prevents the water from water falling into the sump. A friend of mine uses them, he said there is still some noise, but he said it's much quieter.

They make them in 4" or 7"

 

[joshky]

These go in place of filter socks when your not running them. Prevents the water from water falling into the sump. A friend of mine uses them, he said there is still some noise, but he said it's much quieter.

They make them in 4" or 7"

Hm I'll have to test it out, thank you for the idea.

 

[joshky]

Mandatory acro update, not enough pics on this page. :blown:

BC Ultimate Table

Oregon Tort

Pink Lemonade

 

[glaukos]

Thanks for the reply josh,regarding socks:thumbsup:
All three are awesome but pink lemonade is crazy:inlove:
One of my favorite corals which i still haven't even seen in person!
Thanks for sharing

 

[Wrangy]

Those three are stunning Josh! But the Oregon tort is WOW! :inlove: the saturation of colour on that thing is impressive!!

Sounds good to me, how much do lennardi usually go for there?

That's pretty awesome, I don't train my fish to eat from my hands but I've considering trying with a net, you never know when you'll need to remove someone.

Lennardi are usually around $200 mark and usually only 3" in length or so which is good given they grow a bit haha

I always hold pellets in my fingers under the water for a bit before releasing to soften and dissolve them a bit and of course the more that happens the more they realise the closer to the fingers the quicker they get food :lol:
Eventually they get brave enough to come up so we'll see how long he takes lol

 

[joshky]

Thanks for the reply josh,regarding socks:thumbsup:
All three are awesome but pink lemonade is crazy:inlove:
One of my favorite corals which i still haven't even seen in person!
Thanks for sharing

No problem, very happy to share.

Really? Wish I could share a piece of mine with you, I'd totally hook you up. Thank you.

Those three are stunning Josh! But the Oregon tort is WOW! :inlove: the saturation of colour on that thing is impressive!!


Lennardi are usually around $200 mark and usually only 3" in length or so which is good given they grow a bit haha

I always hold pellets in my fingers under the water for a bit before releasing to soften and dissolve them a bit and of course the more that happens the more they realise the closer to the fingers the quicker they get food :lol:
Eventually they get brave enough to come up so we'll see how long he takes lol

I love my oregon tort, but wish it grew faster... soooo slow, but then again I had a nub of a frag. Maybe it'll grow a bit quicker as it continues to add on mass, hopefully.

Pricing on your lennardi is definitely better than we can get in the states, I can see why you're willing to take the gamble. Smaller is probably better, I would consider some sort of acclimation box when you do get it since you'll have other wrasses, not sure how Anampses respond to aggression but it could hurt your chances if it does occur.

That's a pretty awesome feeding technique, I'm quite lazy I just throw it in usually haha.

 

[Wrangy]

I love my oregon tort, but wish it grew faster... soooo slow, but then again I had a nub of a frag. Maybe it'll grow a bit quicker as it continues to add on mass, hopefully.

Pricing on your lennardi is definitely better than we can get in the states, I can see why you're willing to take the gamble. Smaller is probably better, I would consider some sort of acclimation box when you do get it since you'll have other wrasses, not sure how Anampses respond to aggression but it could hurt your chances if it does occur.

That's a pretty awesome feeding technique, I'm quite lazy I just throw it in usually haha.

Hopefully once it encrusts some more it starts to shoot off

Yeah makes it a lot more worthy of the risk lol and I've sen half a dozen or some come through my lfs over the last few years and they're always amazing quality as well. By then I'll have the sump so a week or two of special attention down there and then it'll be into a box in the DT for a week and then we'll be set free! lol hopefully that gives me increased odds too

I take a lot of time to inspect while feeding haha handfeed when I can then make sure that everyone is eating and safely too lol

 

[FloformAustria]

Mandatory acro update, not enough pics on this page. :blown:

BC Ultimate Table

Oregon Tort

Pink Lemonade

mind = blown

looking amazing Josh... :bigeyes:

thanks for giving some color to thise page ^^

 

[reefmutt]

Mandatory acro update, not enough pics on this page. :blown:

BC Ultimate Table

Oregon Tort

Pink Lemonade

Josh, what a stunning trio of photos.
The PL is growing like a week and looks absolutely perfect. Tort also has perfect colour.
Even the tabler looking amazing and growing like crazy.
Really nice!

 

[joshky]

Hopefully once it encrusts some more it starts to shoot off

Yeah makes it a lot more worthy of the risk lol and I've sen half a dozen or some come through my lfs over the last few years and they're always amazing quality as well. By then I'll have the sump so a week or two of special attention down there and then it'll be into a box in the DT for a week and then we'll be set free! lol hopefully that gives me increased odds too

I take a lot of time to inspect while feeding haha handfeed when I can then make sure that everyone is eating and safely too lol

Sounds good to me, looking forward to your lennardi! :beer:

mind = blown

looking amazing Josh... :bigeyes:

thanks for giving some color to thise page ^^

Thanks Flo!

Josh, what a stunning trio of photos.
The PL is growing like a week and looks absolutely perfect. Tort also has perfect colour.
Even the tabler looking amazing and growing like crazy.
Really nice!

Thanks Matt. I wish the pink lemonade would table out more-so than it is, I think it looks awkward being so tall haha. The table from BC really is growing like crazy, that thing is putting on mass quickly.

 

[glaukos]

No problem, very happy to share.

Really? Wish I could share a piece of mine with you, I'd totally hook you up. Thank you.

Only from fact that you thought of it,it's like you already shared it josh:beer:
Thanks mate!
Yes i haven't even seen one but the last days i'm trying to get my hands on it.I bet it will be an expensive "adventure" but what the #$@@,we only got one hobby

 

[Reeftanks6]

Do you have any recent sump pictures? Trying to get some ideas for my build.

 

[joshky]

Only from fact that you thought of it,it's like you already shared it josh:beer:
Thanks mate!
Yes i haven't even seen one but the last days i'm trying to get my hands on it.I bet it will be an expensive "adventure" but what the #$@@,we only got one hobby

Hopefully you can find a piece at a decent price, it's a fast growing acro for sure. Isn't it funny how we rationalize purchases? I swear my family thinks I'm crazy, maybe I am.

Do you have any recent sump pictures? Trying to get some ideas for my build.

Yep! Page before this one has an updated picture of it, I gotta admit though I don't have a lot of fancy gadgets in my sump, it's pretty straightforward as far as sumps go.

 

[kevlow]

That is a stunning Pink Lemonade! Can you share your thoughts on this corals preferences? How much light, nutrients, does this coral respond to?
In your experience, what conditions bring out the color and growth we see in your photo?

I have seen many pics of green or brown lemonade. Yours seems to really get a true lemon color. Thanks for the photos!