My reef is one year old this weekend

[Shooter7]

Well, I made it to a year with my 120g. It's been an involved course, to be sure. Spent over a year trying to scrape up the equipment I needed to just simply be able to start things up and get it running. Then, in the 6 - 9 months before my eventual startup date, my wife had medical conditions that seemed to continue to get worse. Towards the end of '05 I was ready to simply say it wasn't going to happen and, as many of you know, I tried to sell my big tank before it ever even had water in it. My wife assured me she would be fine and to go ahead with the project. On New Year's weekend the beginning of '06 I started up the pumps and lights and loaded the live and base rock into the tank. The contents of my 26g went in as well. On Jan 15, 2006, my wife was admitted to the hospital for what turned out to be two back to back weeks of hospitalization....never to return to work. Things took a complicated turn then as I couldn't simply just ignore a living, breathing thing like a reef. I decided to try and hang on, and my reef has continued on thanks to many of you nice people buying frags from me. Every penny of what I make from frags goes back into my tank, so thank those of you who have helped make this possible. Here are some pics from exactly one year ago - and before I learned how to use the white balance on my camera:

First filling of the tank with RO/DI:

Some live and base rock goes in:

And then it begins to somewhat resemble the makings of a reef tank:

More to come................

 

[Shooter7]

Flash forward to today. The tank has undergone many changes and many battles in its first year. Many corals have been moved around or moved out completely. The tank is currently taking more of a lean towards SPS, but remains a "mixed" reef to this day. I, like many, faced a power outage over the summer after which I developed a strange grayish/brown color of algae that covered much of my rock and substrate. After a couple of months, though, that finally cleared. I have come to find that whenever my alk takes a dive, nuisance algae pops up. Sure enough, a couple of weeks ago I started noting some green algae forming on the lower part of my rock structure. There was no increase in nitrates or phosphates noted, so I checked my alk and it had dropped. All these SPS frags I'm getting are starting to make a dent in my Ca and alk levels and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and either get a Ca reactor or a dosing pump to do 2-part. I have also decided to shut down my refugium as my chaeto is no longer thriving in the lower nutrient water and I believe the breaking down of the chaeto was feeding bad nutrients back into my display. I believe this is also evidenced in my skimmer not filling up nearly as fast now without that refugium draining into the sump. So, please excuse the green algae showing up in the following pics. I am working on getting rid of it. Besides doing that, my goals are to try and get some growth and coloration out of my SPS frags as most everything has been a little drab for a few months. Along with trying to stabilize and improve my water chemistry, I also changed out my lighting for new reflectors, MH bulbs, and added VHO actinics. The following pics are from today:

Actinic morning on the reef:

The 10k's come on a little later:

Fungia, green stars, and candy canes in the background:

The RBTA twins:

More to come.........

 

[kentrob11]

Looking good- Get you a couple of pillar style rock formations going up another 10" or so...it'll look sweet!

 

[Shooter7]

And a few more:

Cali tort and unknown acro:

Peach mille showing many new branches starting from its base:

Another mille finally starting to show a color other than brown:

And of course, the new guy:

Thanks for looking, and for all the help I've received from many of you here.

 

[Shooter7]

Thanks Kent...I've been debating how I might redo some of my rock to create a better foundation and more room for my frags. Are you talking about basically going right up the overflow towers with rock?

btw, that orange monti is from the frag I got from you.

 

[kentrob11]

Glad to see the frag is doing well...Here's a pic of what I was talking about- It's not the greatest pic but you get the idea....looks really good if you can get it out and away from the overflow box a little as a free standing structure...

 

[inwall75]

Happy Birthday!!!

Looking great.....Congrats!!!

 

[trottman]

what do you feed your plate coral to get it so orange?

 

[Shooter7]

He just picks up whatever he can out of the water at feeding time. So long as the stupid clown doesn't steal it out of his mouth.

 

[Shooter7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8863711#post8863711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inwall75
Happy Birthday!!!

Looking great.....Congrats!!!

Thanks very much!

 

[Hobbes8017]

I think he uses 1 part Orange Juice and 2 parts Carrot Juice

 

[kentrob11]

And a little Sweet potato mash on Fridays....

 

[Shooter7]

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! Hang this upside down above the tank with a little IV line going to the coral's mouth once a week. :rollface:

 

[drummereef]

I've seen Dave's tank in person and it's awesome! Cool fish and great corals. What more could you ask for.... And he's a super nice guy.

 

[kipher]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8868896#post8868896 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
I've seen Dave's tank in person and it's awesome! Cool fish and great corals. What more could you ask for.... And he's a super nice guy.

I'll second that Drummer! I actually got to see Dave's tank just yesterday. The tank looks awsome. I could have sat there for hours! Can't wait to see those SPS frags grow out.

Dave has been quite helpful in my attempt to get a reef going. Yesterday he had me over to inspect his lighting, because I'm in the market for metal halides to get my tank off on the right foot. This is the last piece I need to make this thing a reef....other than corals!!! Thanks for all the help Dave!

 

[Shooter7]

Wow, thanks a lot for the great compliments guys. Very much appreciated. :rollface: I enjoy having folks over and talking reefs and fish.

My SPS would probably do a whole lot better if whoever the heck keeps knocking them down at night would stop it! I've got two lying on the sand this morning.


I've seen Kipher's setup too and it's an up and comer. Looks like he's taking his time and getting the needed pieces put together, and it's a clean looking setup. Look forward to seeing it grow. :thumbsup: