ormet's 60g DSPS "Lazy Reef"

[ormet]

Bigger pic: http://orm.nu/upload/aqua/forum/fts_140418.jpg

Hello! Allow me to show you my SPS dominated 60g reef. I call it the lazy reef since i am a bit lazy and also i like lazy fish. I don't like my YT ... hysterical

Also i have very little time for it since i have two small kids, so maybe "Time Restricted Reef" would be a better name. But it does not sound as good!

This reef is inspired first and foremost by Denadai, but there are several fantastic reefs here at RC and other places that has inspired me since i begun with reefing, almost 2.5 years ago. My first coral, a green birdsnest, i put in my nano tank in December 2011. It died. I am better with corals today but it has been a bumpy ride with algae, kH swings & forced moves due to new flooring. And AEFW, twice.

This current scape has been up since mid March this year after i finally beat AEFW again. Fingers crossed!

I want to share my reef so i can get input regarding maintenance and husbandry as well as share my thoughts, philosophy, failures and success.

I currently skim and run Fauna Marin Balling Light with half dose trace elements. Also i feed my corals once or twice a week. I broadcast feed Reef Pearls, Red Plankton, Reef Roids and some clam food. I also have 3L siporax passive in sump as well as a bag with 0.5 dl GAC exchanged when i remember.

Some tech specs:
Light: ATI Power Module LED 2x75w + 4x39w T5
Water movement: 2x Tunze 6095
ATO: Tunze 3155
Return: Tunze Silence Electronic Recirculation Pump 1073.05
Skimmer: Vertex Omega 150

Water params:
Alkalinity: around 8
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1450
Potassium: 380
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: ? (i seldom check, but 0.00 last time, will check again monday)
Salinity: 34.8

Enough talk, time for some pics. You will notice some flubber in the form of Acanthastrea. I love them

 

[ormet]

 

[ormet]

 

[ormet]

 

[ormet]

Also one thing that might be of interest is that there is zero live rock in this tank.

For the future, I will let the corals grow and fill in. There is really only place for one more coral, the SSC that I covet more then any other coral!

Hope you enjoy!

 

[chopper320]

Beautiful! I love the scape and coral placement. I envy people that can create nice scapes like that.

 

[Bello]

Clean and gorgeous :thumbsup:. Love it!!!

Be careful though, that 8-line wrasse(?) looks like he's up to no good

 

[cugly]

Beautiful love the clean look

 

[kaserpick]

Thanks for sharing! Everything looks great, including the flubber!

 

[alessandro]

Fantastic Tank, Ormet!

 

[STsONpERs]

Beautiful tank!

 

[Jstn]

Looks really good man, with such little rock too! Can you comment on your experience with Siporax? I wanted to add some more live rock to my sump but see this an interesting alternative.

 

[ormet]

Beautiful! I love the scape and coral placement. I envy people that can create nice scapes like that.

Thank you! i'm lucky to have at least one talent

Clean and gorgeous :thumbsup:. Love it!!!

Be careful though, that 8-line wrasse(?) looks like he's up to no good

Much appreciated! Its harmless little fellow, Pink-Streaked Wrasse (Pseudocheilinops ataenia). He lives a hard life, my YT (the devil) hates him

Beautiful love the clean look

Thanks! Wish i could score corals like yours, then it would be truly amazing!

Thanks for sharing! Everything looks great, including the flubber!

Thank you! 60g club I am honestly a little surprised that flubber thrive in my 0 nutrient tank. I guess they like the SPS food.

Fantastic Tank, Ormet!

Thank you! One day i hope to have a huge and wonderful tank like yours

Beautiful tank!

Thanks, i look forward to see your pico up and running!

Looks really good man, with such little rock too! Can you comment on your experience with Siporax? I wanted to add some more live rock to my sump but see this an interesting alternative.

Thanks! Less is more you know? Siporax is just a place for the bacteria to populate. It will not add biodiversity as LR do. My philosophy tho, is that biodiversity is not needed, all the reef needs is bacteria, food, flow, light and stable parameters. And some tweaking for colours. I just follow Denadai's recommendations, 1L siporax per 100L water.

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

Subscribed. OMG man your tank is just amazing...WOW
I have been debating the siporax thing now for a while. After seeing so many tanks nowadays with it and all look stunning, I might as well jump in the bandwagon. More pics please sump and equipment , gfo ,gac what else..Oh and how much do you charge to make my tank look like that.lmao.

 

[sahin]

Beautiful tank and corals!

I think Denadai would be proud.

You mentioned that you didnt use any liverock. What did you use to start the filtration? Did you add any bacteria? Also, more details on filtration like GFO/GAC etc?

Do you have pic of sump?

 

[ormet]

Subscribed. OMG man your tank is just amazing...WOW
I have been debating the siporax thing now for a while. After seeing so many tanks nowadays with it and all look stunning, I might as well jump in the bandwagon. More pics please sump and equipment , gfo ,gac what else..Oh and how much do you charge to make my tank look like that.lmao.

Many thanks! I will do it for free as long as you provide travel, housing and food for me and the family for .. lets say 8 months? :lmao:

Below i show the sump and will talk a bit more about maintenance.

Beautiful tank and corals!

I think Denadai would be proud.

You mentioned that you didnt use any liverock. What did you use to start the filtration? Did you add any bacteria? Also, more details on filtration like GFO/GAC etc?

Do you have pic of sump?

Thanks sahin! Who knows, he might pop in some day and give me his verdict I don't think he will be proud of my messy sump tho ...

I have transfered filter material (siporax) from tank to tank so i have always had my bacteria since i started. I also sometimes dose bacteria. Fauna Marin Ultra Bio and since a few week i use Dr Tims Eco-Balance bacteria blend. But for long periods of time i have not bothered with bacteria dosing at all. But i do have a few spots of red slime and the guys at the LFS swore by Dr Tims and i got a good price so why not!

For filtration i use low bio load, big skimmer, lots of flow, bare bottom. Some bacteria now and then. A bag of GAC. 3L Siporax in mesh bags. This is all i do for nutrient control/filtration.

No GFO, no carbon dosing, no biopellets, no ATS, no refugium, no hidden DSB.

I just measured Po4 with my hanna HI713. 0.00. No3 is always 0.

Still, i am starting to get some algae ... it worries me since i have had huge problems with macro algae and red turf in the past. Getting out of the hobby-problems almost. I have always had undetectable nutrients since i carbon dosed, this time around i figured carbon dosing makes "ULNS" if you will a bit shaky, unsteady with pH and the fact that i dosed carbon only once a day. I don't subscribe to nutrients in the water causing algae. Since i never could measure any but still always got lots of macro. I subscribe to what Tom Barr says: "Algae love instability" and i kinda hoped that no carbon dosing would get me more stability. And it worked for almost 5 months, then i went on vacation for two weeks and my skimmer overflowed after my tank-keeper cleaned the cup one week in. This, to me, was the moment when the first algae appeared. I don't have much now but they are spreading, not declining. Time will tell. I will try to provide stability and make a blood sacrifice to the reef gods.

Sump pics:

 

[sahin]

Thanks sahin! Who knows, he might pop in some day and give me his verdict I don't think he will be proud of my messy sump tho ...

I have transfered filter material (siporax) from tank to tank so i have always had my bacteria since i started. I also sometimes dose bacteria. Fauna Marin Ultra Bio and since a few week i use Dr Tims Eco-Balance bacteria blend. But for long periods of time i have not bothered with bacteria dosing at all. But i do have a few spots of red slime and the guys at the LFS swore by Dr Tims and i got a good price so why not!

For filtration i use low bio load, big skimmer, lots of flow, bare bottom. Some bacteria now and then. A bag of GAC. 3L Siporax in mesh bags. This is all i do for nutrient control/filtration.

No GFO, no carbon dosing, no biopellets, no ATS, no refugium, no hidden DSB.

I just measured Po4 with my hanna HI713. 0.00. No3 is always 0.

Still, i am starting to get some algae ... it worries me since i have had huge problems with macro algae and red turf in the past. Getting out of the hobby-problems almost. I have always had undetectable nutrients since i carbon dosed, this time around i figured carbon dosing makes "ULNS" if you will a bit shaky, unsteady with pH and the fact that i dosed carbon only once a day. I don't subscribe to nutrients in the water causing algae. Since i never could measure any but still always got lots of macro. I subscribe to what Tom Barr says: "Algae love instability" and i kinda hoped that no carbon dosing would get me more stability. And it worked for almost 5 months, then i went on vacation for two weeks and my skimmer overflowed after my tank-keeper cleaned the cup one week in. This, to me, was the moment when the first algae appeared. I don't have much now but they are spreading, not declining. Time will tell. I will try to provide stability and make a blood sacrifice to the reef gods.

Sump pics:

Hey Ormet. Many thanks for your post; really appreciate all the info. I am sure Denadai will give his approval of your tank.

Its good to see the sump and filtration area. You have a top class setup mate. :thumbsup:

As for the algae: is it green hair algae? If it is starting to spread, I would take action now before it gets worse.

If you want to try without resorting to chemicals filtration (ie GFO), I would add many more snails and hermits. I have a self reproducing population of Trochus snails in my tank. They do a brilliant job of keeping the tank clear of algae. I also have Red Legged and Blue Legged hermits.

If you can, show us a photo of the algae.

I know your test kits show 0 PO4 and NO3...but if the algae is starting to spread it means they are making use of any PO4 as soon as its produced.

Anyway, enough of my rant. The tank looks brilliant regardless, and the corals look colourful. The rockscape is amazing. This is definitely a tank to keep an eye on. :thumbsup:

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

Orment.
LOve the tank wow. The sump is nice and simple. nothing crazy and high tech, like some of us in the hobby. Who have more things than we can even name lol. Im really going to try that siporax. I just ordered some for my 62 gallon, and im going to run it similar to you in a mesh bag. Keep it up , and more updates when possible

 

[ormet]

Its good to see the sump and filtration area. You have a top class setup mate. :thumbsup:

:beer:

As for the algae: is it green hair algae? If it is starting to spread, I would take action now before it gets worse.

With a good macro, even shooting algae can be fun!

This is the first patch of algae i discovered in my tank when i got home from vacation. I have hit it with hydrogen peroxide 3 times to no avail. It has doubled its size in a month. Red Turf i think?

Somewhat later i discovered a few more on the other island. This patch is slightly receding with no treatment:

A few of these, maybe 3 "clusters" halv an inch in size. Don't know what they are:

To the naked eye this just looks lke green fuzz: Only on the left island in depressions or where the flow is low:

Finally ... some red slime. When i just set up the tank and put the "cured" dead rock in i had a massive outbreak. Now i have 2 patches. Only on the left island.

There is really not a lot of algae at the moment. And i hope to keep it that way. Hopefully the coralline algae will cover my rocks faster.

If you want to try without resorting to chemicals filtration (ie GFO), I would add many more snails and hermits. I have a self reproducing population of Trochus snails in my tank. They do a brilliant job of keeping the tank clear of algae. I also have Red Legged and Blue Legged hermits.

I also have a reproducing population of trochus. Bloody useless, only eats bacteria film Also a handful of red legged hermits, 3 astrea snails and my YT. Combined they poop a lot.

I know your test kits show 0 PO4 and NO3...but if the algae is starting to spread it means they are making use of any PO4 as soon as its produced.

I don't subscribe to the notion that one can nutrient limit algae. I think they thrive on instability. Stability and patience is the key, chasing numbers only make matters worse. Look at Thales tank as an example. Lots of nutrients, no nuisance algae.

I have decided, if no one can sway me to another solution, to just do nothing. And i mean nothing... No SPS food, no aminos. Feed the fish, skim, observe for a month from today. Will report back on results .. good or bad!

Anyway, enough of my rant. The tank looks brilliant regardless, and the corals look colourful. The rockscape is amazing. This is definitely a tank to keep an eye on. :thumbsup:

I value your input. This is why i started this thread And i really appreciate your kind words!

Orment.
LOve the tank wow. The sump is nice and simple. nothing crazy and high tech, like some of us in the hobby. Who have more things than we can even name lol. Im really going to try that siporax. I just ordered some for my 62 gallon, and im going to run it similar to you in a mesh bag. Keep it up , and more updates when possible

Lazy and simple Go ahead with the siporax, its denitrification capabilities are really a god send for us who have no sand and very little rock. Best of luck!

 

[ormet]

I don't subscribe to the notion that one can nutrient limit algae.

After i hit Post i felt i needed to expand and clarify this statement.

Yes, one can nutrient limit algae.
No, i don't think its possible in a reef tank without also harming other organisms.