Neal's Barebottom SPS & ZOA System...

[BowieReefer84]

i definately appreciate the advice... this is the one and only reason i would consider using a calcium reactor or dosing pumps... however, i did get some BRS dosing pumps earlier in the year, and decided to no longer use them as i was worried about a malfunciton with the timer and over dose something, especially alkalinity... my one and only concern with my system now, is the 1 point to 1.5 point alk swing when i do dose... i normally try to dose half in the morning and the other half in the evening, as i believe this helps the sudden swing issue...

but again, your idea with keeping the resorvior at a minimum, is a great idea that would alleviate my worries in that respect... however, it would also "un-simplify" things a little bit more... this calcium and alk thing, is the ONLY thing that i am at a cross roads with in my system...and i will admit, as i go along and my corals get bogger and more populated, this is one aspect i am going to have to address...

Yea, I understand. Here is a little information from a chemist/reefer friend (NOT me).

"Alkalinity levels drop quickly in a tank that's actively growing. Nominally, 1 meq/l (or 2.8 dKH) is consumed for every 20 ppm calcium consumed in the formation of calcium carbonate skeletons."

Here's a quick chart balancing calcium and alkalinity:

Ca (ppm) Alk (dkH)
400 6
410 7
417 8
425 9
432 10

My point is a 1-1.1/2 swing in ALK is a pretty big swing. You want to minimize this as much as possible. Calc is slow to change but Alk swings are very bad for sps tanks ime.

I may have missed it reading through, but what do you dose for magnesium and what level do you try to maintain?

Looking forward to follow your thread.

 

[Pallobi]

I dose BRS two part recipe Magnesium, i keep it at a minimum of 1350...

and i absolutely agree, these alk swings are not good...

and thank you so much for sharing that detailed info, its very good to see the usages and whatnot laid out like that... i didnt realize that the 1 meq/L to 20ppm calcium was the case... very interesting... of course i will cross reference that info, but i learned something new today... and that is always a good thing...

 

[BowieReefer84]

I dose BRS two part recipe Magnesium, i keep it at a minimum of 1350...

and i absolutely agree, these alk swings are not good...

and thank you so much for sharing that detailed info, its very good to see the usages and whatnot laid out like that... i didnt realize that the 1 meq/L to 20ppm calcium was the case... very interesting... of course i will cross reference that info, but i learned something new today... and that is always a good thing...

YES, double check it. Lots of incorrect info passed around by mistake sometimes. Research is key. I figured you did something to keep that Mag up with all that coraline.

 

[Pallobi]

dude, the corraline grows like friggen mad!!! honestly, i hate the stuff lol...

 

[jmccoya]

Hey Neal..........just curious how many MLs of Alk/Cal do you dose daily. When you say dose manually do you just pour it in or do you drip somehow? By the way got most of my rock moved to my sump and all my corals on 2x2 tiles. Gonna be modeled after yours. Ill have to post some pics soon.

 

[Pallobi]

At this moment in time, i dose 3 ounces of both BRS calcium and alkalinity each and every day... at this moment, i am awaiting a new alkalinity test to arrive, and i have not been able to test my alk in a little less than two weeks... so those numbers may change a little in the coming days...

 

[Dog boy Dave]

Still looking good Neal. However, dont close you mind to a calcium reactor after your corals grow out in the 180. You cannot even imagine the demand for alk when your corals get big. Unless you use dosing pumps or dose manually several times per day a large load of corals will cause a drastic alk drop between dosing events. It would be hard to consistently keep up with that manually. The 180 will demand a lot more as I am sure your load and mass will increase.
I like your constant 4 gallon water changes. Often I see systems set up like yours (Basicly old school Berlin) that have issues at the 18 month to 24 month period. Your system doesnt seem to be having those issues. It will be interesting if the water changes keep that from happening long term. I for one believe it will. Keep up the good work.

 

[Pallobi]

Great News!!!

Great News!!!

Got some good news

My 180g upgrade will be taking place in the next 3 or 4 weeks to 6 weeks... It will definately be done by thanksgiving!!!

So needless to say, I am stoked, lol...

I will be utilizing the same lighting system as i have now, for the time being, as it should be fine until i can get a 5 foot, t5 fixture to replace it... also, as i plan on using 3 mp40's on this 180g, however at the moment i only have 2, so i will use the 2 i have, and also use the Koralia Magnum 6 i have to help make up for it...

Once the 180g goes up, it will not be finished up and perfect right from the get go... I will need time to get a new light, another mp40, and a proper sump... I will most likely have to put the live rock in the display for the time being as well, until i get said sump upgrade... so it will take some time to get all the equipment jus right, as i am very picky, as well as getting to the part where i will setup my new theme of aquascape, which some of you have heard about previously... im actually glad to get it setup before hand, as this will allow me to eyeball it, and feel it out as i go, in setting up my new aquatic vision and its scaping...

However, right from the start, my corals will finally have more space, and not to mention my beloved purple tang, and his new counter part, my new and second purple tang, will also have ALOT more swimming space, which will greatly benefit them both... I will introduce them at the same time, and hopefully all will be well, and they will get along ok...

I am really excited guys n gals... this is gonna be awesome!!!

 

[Falcao]

good luck with the upgrade.

 

[MiamiZach]

Sweet corals

 

[Pallobi]

Thanks guys :beer:

 

[Pallobi]

My PAR readings...

My PAR readings...

I measured my PAR two days ago using an Apogee Par Meter, on my 8 month old, t5 bulbs... the fixture is a 48", 8 bulb Teklight, with (4) ATI aquablue specials, and (4) ATI blue plus'...

the following are my results on my 8 month old bulbs... which i will be changing out in the next month or so...

for the upper level, or third row of corals, at the base of the coral/top of the column, I got a reading of 325 to 350, with around 310 to 320 on the far left and right hand ends of the tank...

for the middle level, or second row of corals, at the base of the coral/top of the column, I got a reading of 280 to 300, with around 260 to 270 on the far left and right hand ends of the tank...

for the lower level, or front row of corals, at the base of the coral top of the column, I got a reading of 235 to 260, with around 190 to 210 on the far left and right hand ends of the tank...

for the bottom glass of the tank, the reading read around 140 to 190, depending where I was taking the measurement exactly and what might have been above it, and perhaps shading the meter a bit...

Overall, im not sure what is good or what is bad, but considering my bulbs are 8 months old, I think I am in pretty good shape... I look forward to rechecking them when i get new bulbs, and again after 3 months with the same new bulbs...

 

[Pallobi]

and here is an updated FTS for reference for the post above concerning PAR locations...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1462.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1462.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Pallobi]

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1478-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1478-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1477-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1477-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1474-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1474-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1483-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1483-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Pallobi]

removed the monti cap tonite, and i am SOOOO happy about it... i really like how much space everything has now... the flow is great! i also needed to mount the orange bam bams and candy apple reds on larger tiles so they could grow out nicer, so i did that today, and as the red hornets and rastas were almost there too, i jus did them all on larger 4x4 tiles made of natural, tumbled rock... i also mounted the large portion of my sunset monti on these too, as well as my miami hurricane chalice...

once the zoas all grow out to the edge of these, they will go one a 6x6 tile... I will not be fragging these zoas ever... my goal is to have the largest colony of rastas around

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1514.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1514.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1521.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1521.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1519.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1519.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1520.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1520.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Pallobi]

also, i have noticed some algae as well as small string like hydroids growing in between alot of my zoas... so today, i went and bought a small pair of tweezers, and a soft tooth brush, and went ahead and literally groomed all the zoas lol... i picked out the hydroids and brushed the brown algae that was growing... and then that is when i mounted all the zoas on the larger tiles... here are a few pics of what they looked like after, all closed up and upset lol, but they will thank me tomorrow, lol...

the bam bams...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1502.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1502.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

rastas...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1504.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1504.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

red hornets...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1503.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1503.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

and the candy apple reds, which are now in the front row as shown in the post above...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1508.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1508.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

who would have ever thought i would be "grooming" my zoas, lol... but i am glad i did...

 

[Pallobi]

and jus to give an idea of the number of rastas and red hornets, the following is a close up of them both closed up, respectively...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1498-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1498-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1499-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1499-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Pallobi]

and since this is the SPS forum

my sunset monti re-mounted on a larger, flat tile... this should make for a nice colony when it grow out...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1523-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1523-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

and 3 more random crappy pics...

my ORA joe the coral...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1526.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1526.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

ORA orange digi...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1529.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1529.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

and my ATL limeade... again, sorry for the crappy pics tonite...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/?action=view&current=IMAG1531.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/System%20October%202011/IMAG1531.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[ziyaadb]

lovely

 

[Pallobi]

lovely

Thank you friend

:beer: