ReefWreak's 29g SPS Biocube Adventure!

[ReefWreak]

They're insanely soft. I wouldn't put anything on or near it.

From reading the main marinepure thread here on ReefCentral, it sounds like they pulled the block because it is "conflicting with zeo"

I think they just reduce nutrients in similar ways, so they step on each others toes, so BRS pulled the blocks. It sounds like lots of people are running them, most with success (though who knows what their tanks would have been like had they not been running them).

Man, if you're setting up a tank, or you want to learn more about reefing, or want to learn anything about the hobby, there are SO many good resources in Tally for that. Scott at High Tide Aquarium Service is awesome and knowledgable, and knows everyone in the area. There are some great tanks from the area here on ReefCentral, particularly ReefLover62's tank, and DogBoyDave's tank (which I've seen in person before his last rebuild). Just to be able to get in and talk with these folks would teach you so much about the hobby, and their tanks are excellent examples of what can be done to make amazing corals grow and be super colorful.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Rotorocious]

They're insanely soft. I wouldn't put anything on or near it.

From reading the main marinepure thread here on ReefCentral, it sounds like they pulled the block because it is "conflicting with zeo"

I think they just reduce nutrients in similar ways, so they step on each others toes, so BRS pulled the blocks. It sounds like lots of people are running them, most with success (though who knows what their tanks would have been like had they not been running them).

Man, if you're setting up a tank, or you want to learn more about reefing, or want to learn anything about the hobby, there are SO many good resources in Tally for that. Scott at High Tide Aquarium Service is awesome and knowledgable, and knows everyone in the area. There are some great tanks from the area here on ReefCentral, particularly ReefLover62's tank, and DogBoyDave's tank (which I've seen in person before his last rebuild). Just to be able to get in and talk with these folks would teach you so much about the hobby, and their tanks are excellent examples of what can be done to make amazing corals grow and be super colorful.

Thanks for stopping by!

I think one of them must be in the local tallahassee facebook group.
Yes, Scott is awesome. He sold me my biocube almost 2 years ago and it's been great ever since. Saw him yesterday and going back there again today to trade some things. He helped me plan out my 90 gallon used tank I just got.
How'd you end up in NY?

 

[ReefWreak]

NY for jobs. My wife got a job here, and I followed. We were in MI for a few years too. Scott babysat my 24g biocube (and loaded it with corals) when I was at FSU before MI, and set it up as a display in the store (old location).

He's definitely the man. I haven't stopped by the store (or been in Tallahassee) in a number of years now. I miss some of it, and had some great times there

 

[Rotorocious]

NY for jobs. My wife got a job here, and I followed. We were in MI for a few years too. Scott babysat my 24g biocube (and loaded it with corals) when I was at FSU before MI, and set it up as a display in the store (old location).

He's definitely the man. I haven't stopped by the store (or been in Tallahassee) in a number of years now. I miss some of it, and had some great times there

ah gotcha, I kinda remember that cube being there maybe. I stopped by there a few times before I bought anything just to check it out.

Your lucky you got out of here, this place has a habit of keeping you here for a long time. :fun2:

 

[ReefWreak]

It wasn't so bad there. Except for the pollen. I've never seen so many yellow cars before.

During my lunch break today, I figured I'd run some quick tests.

ALK: 9.6 (too high, reducing alk+cal dosing to 24ml/day from 28ml/day)
pH: 8.2 (fine)
Salinity: 1.027 (little high, removed some SW, ATO will lower, still not a big deal)
Nitrate: 0 (tested with salifert on medium range and low range, and nothing, not a shade to notice)
Phosphate: 0.037 (low, as expected. using low-range phosphorous, measured 12ppm, so (12*3.066)/1000 = 0.037).

I'm working my way through reefmutt's excellent thread. If you wanted to learn the ins and outs of nutrients (nitrate/phosphate, organic/inorganic) there are some great discussions around page 30-38 that really get into the nitty gritty. Smart folks in that thread.

 

[ReefWreak]

Still working my way through reefmutt's thread. Great stuff, learning a lot. Took a few pictures this weekend in spite of my stupid phone having battery problems and not wanting to take pics. Figured what is a build thread without pictures, right?

They're not great, but they'll show some growth since last time I took pictures. Coral colors are still down from the brownout I had when the calcium and alkalinity ran out in my dosers, but it's finally on the right track again. Nutrients also spiked at the same time, since the corals weren't growing much. So now with the marinepure, skimming, and moderate vodka dosing, the corals are lightening up and the colors are coming back. I know those two things should be independent, but I'm going for light colors/washed out from low nutrients first, then I'll work on coloration after.

FTS:

Top-down (kinda):

And finally, acros on acros on acros. Got nowhere to go when they grow

 

[BarryV]

Beautiful ReefWreak...
Barry

 

[homer1475]

Man that tank is packed tight!

I think its high time you join soul and I in the upgrade dept.

 

[soulpatch]

I think rap is around the corner and you need to bring me since frags...

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[ReefWreak]

I'll bring frags, we'll just have to figure out how many of the nano regulars will be in attendance. Hope you like the ORA Stuber Stag

Thanks for the feedback friends. I'd love to join the upgrayedd club, but since I live in a small NYC apartment, I can't have a larger tank or more tanks. My friend with a condo has an RSM 260, but he owns the place. Believe me, once I move out of the city, a 6'x3'x2' is towards the top of my list.

 

[ReefWreak]

Also wanted to mention, I finally bought a single-socket extension plug for the skimmer, so I have it hooked up to the Reefkeeper lite. I'm going to run it 4AM to 4PM every day. The rationale behind this is that I'm already seeing that the tank has plenty of low nutrients, hence the corals turning lighter shades recently. Reducing the time the skimmer is on is part of the deal. The other half is that the pH shouldn't start dropping until 2-3AM since lights are off at 11PM or so, so it'll keep pH up during lights out.

Then I'm also reading through reefmutt's thread and there is an interesting discussion about how algae feeds during the day, while corals feed more at night. It's not that simple, there is a lot of complexity to the discussion when thinking about who is feeding (zooxanthelle vs. coral polyp), the impact and value of light in the equation (helps for creating primary nutrition, but what part does secondary nutrition, i.e. inorganic ammonia/nitrogen/phosphate have to do with light in that equation).

So I think I'm going to start dosing more amino acids, use up the zeo supplements I have, and add a little goniopower every now and then at night right before lights out, so that the corals can eat it without algae consuming it, since they're active during the daytime.

It's an interesting theory, but I'm hoping that it will help get more nutrients to my SPS for them to color up. Growth is already fine, I don't need or want much growth, because there is nowhere for the corals to grow. So I'm aiming for nice color, which I have had a tough time with in this tank. Which means that anyone who gets corals from me will end up getting a brown turdcake looking coral or two, but once its in your tank, it'll probably end up looking amazing. They did before entering my tank. Some of the corals kept their colors, but the majority didn't. Keeping nice SPS colors is hard in a nano!

 

[soulpatch]

I dose phyto and such at night about an hour or 2 after lights out. You can see the polyps out especially on LPS. I also feed some mysis at night too when I feel like it with my feeder into the corals. THey go crazy for it

 

[homer1475]

On the 2 days I feed my corals. I specifically have my lights go off earlier then normal so I can feed my corals after lights out, and before I go to bed. I typically wait an hour or 2 after lights out, then turn on my moonlights so I can see what I'm feeding. I get a way better feeding response at night then I used to at the same time of day with the lights on.

Anecdotal evidence, but it supports the theory.

 

[ReefWreak]

Anecdotal evidence, but it supports the theory.

All evidence helps.

I think that it's not really theory, but that generally speaking "corals eat at night" is a fact.

The question is how do dissolved organic or inorganic molecules play into that. At night they tend to eat macro food (I've dove at night and seen corals all open eating the free swimming mysis shrimp and stuff), but are they like plants where they're photosynthesizing during the day, producing the glucose for the plant itself to grow (though in this case it is the zooxanthelle producing multiple energy sources I believe) and the photosynthesis-driven nutrients feed the coral as well as the the dissolved nutrients in the water column, for growth during the day? I'm not sure.

I think the rationale for dosing aminos/chemicals at night for coral health was something I picked up in reefmutt's thread, that it's more about that there isn't competition for them at night, only during the day. The algae are awake and working during the day, so they'll uptake the nutrients competitively during the day, but at night, the algae aren't working, so the corals can stay up and use those nutrients disproportionately. I think that's the discussion. Complex stuff.

Anyway, I'm glad I figured out why I wanted to work on feeding at night, and got it down on (digital) paper.

 

[sixpackgarage]

the day/night discussion is very interesting. It makes sense.

 

[ReefWreak]

Thought I'd look back at 9 months of progress. A recent discussion of Mike Paletta and Sanji Joshi both having issues with Acropora Millepora under LEDs made me wonder how mine have been doing. One (Purple Mille?) has been , one (Sunset Mille) has been meh, and one (Tubbs Hulk) has actually done quite well. Who knows why!?

Generally most corals have been doing well. Some look like hell from the alkalinity swing I had a few weeks ago, and are still STN at their bases. Hopefully they grow back. Some continue to grow up and outwards while their bases are still white and/or receding. Sometimes I just don't get corals. I do think my corals would grow better if I had a single 250w radium and ran my chiller all the time. But since I'm not doing that, I feel like my LEDs are doing well. They're currently up to 60% on the RBs (approximately 780ma) and 45% or 50% on the blue channel (~350ma). I'm skimming nightly, running a broken up MarinePure block, and trying to move from feeding mostly pellets to mixing up a few times a week some Rods food, as well as dosing aminos and some zeo products at night.

September 2015, right after introducing the Tubbs (middle left, middle height, purple color, small):

Shot taken this weekend. Same position:

 

[strummerfan]

Thought I'd look back at 9 months of progress. A recent discussion of Mike Paletta and Sanji Joshi both having issues with Acropora Millepora under LEDs made me wonder how mine have been doing. One (Purple Mille?) has been , one (Sunset Mille) has been meh, and one (Tubbs Hulk) has actually done quite well. Who knows why!?

Generally most corals have been doing well. Some look like hell from the alkalinity swing I had a few weeks ago, and are still STN at their bases. Hopefully they grow back. Some continue to grow up and outwards while their bases are still white and/or receding. Sometimes I just don't get corals. I do think my corals would grow better if I had a single 250w radium and ran my chiller all the time. But since I'm not doing that, I feel like my LEDs are doing well. They're currently up to 60% on the RBs (approximately 780ma) and 45% or 50% on the blue channel (~350ma). I'm skimming nightly, running a broken up MarinePure block, and trying to move from feeding mostly pellets to mixing up a few times a week some Rods food, as well as dosing aminos and some zeo products at night.

September 2015, right after introducing the Tubbs (middle left, middle height, purple color, small):

Shot taken this weekend. Same position:

Do you have a link to this discussion? I'm just getting back into the hobby and was toying with the idea of making my current build a Millepora tank lit with LED's.

 

[ReefWreak]

Do you have a link to this discussion? I'm just getting back into the hobby and was toying with the idea of making my current build a Millepora tank lit with LED's.

I can't link it, because it is on a blocked website, but the topic of the site is people who build reefs, the article author is Mike Paletta, and the article is called "Reef aquarium secrets, good or bad, we need to share them" so you can google it. The specific note about millepora is just past 1/2 way down the page.

For what it's worth, I have had both success and failure, as evidenced in my pictures.

I think because of the high directed intensity and quick dropoff of LED PAR (which I think is a thing?), my A. Millepora up top has too much light (and some of the corals up there may be having the same thought), where as the other two A. Milles are lower down and are fine. Apparently my A. Formosa doesn't give a darn and is growing almost to the surface, but most of the other corals have shied away from the surface.

I've had some good discussions with people who I consider knowledgeable about LEDs, and we discussed whether the temperment of corals to LED lighting is based on LED spectrum (or lack thereof), or poorly understood intensity and lack of diffusion. I don't think anyone knows the answer. I'm hoping that these new Philips CoralCare LEDs are going to answer the second part, and then we will see about the spectrum, since I don't think anyone has any new answers on spectrum. A thread I'm watching and participating in on these Philips lights.

 

[strummerfan]

I can't link it, because it is on a blocked website, but the topic of the site is people who build reefs, the article author is Mike Paletta, and the article is called "Reef aquarium secrets, good or bad, we need to share them" so you can google it. The specific note about millepora is just past 1/2 way down the page.

For what it's worth, I have had both success and failure, as evidenced in my pictures.

I think because of the high directed intensity and quick dropoff of LED PAR (which I think is a thing?), my A. Millepora up top has too much light (and some of the corals up there may be having the same thought), where as the other two A. Milles are lower down and are fine. Apparently my A. Formosa doesn't give a darn and is growing almost to the surface, but most of the other corals have shied away from the surface.

I've had some good discussions with people who I consider knowledgeable about LEDs, and we discussed whether the temperment of corals to LED lighting is based on LED spectrum (or lack thereof), or poorly understood intensity and lack of diffusion. I don't think anyone knows the answer. I'm hoping that these new Philips CoralCare LEDs are going to answer the second part, and then we will see about the spectrum, since I don't think anyone has any new answers on spectrum. A thread I'm watching and participating in on these Philips lights.

Thanks! That was easy to find. Are you still running the rapidled kit? This is my first foray into an led tank. I went with the Radion hoping that a full spectrum would help. I was always a radium with UVL super actinic guy.

 

[ReefWreak]

Thanks! That was easy to find. Are you still running the rapidled kit? This is my first foray into an led tank. I went with the Radion hoping that a full spectrum would help. I was always a radium with UVL super actinic guy.

Yep, still running the RapidLED kit, with a few tweaks to the LED selection (which was one of the reasons I went with the DIY kits, simple to replace LEDs to try out new/custom combinations and add new LEDs when the technology updates).

Radium and UVL SAs? That's a lot of 420! I only used my 4x110w UVL SAs when running 10k XMs and 10k Reeflux bulbs on my old 120. They did make the tank glow like nothing I have seen to date. I remember that with just the VHOs, the tank was actually pretty dark blue (even with 4 bulbs on), but all you would see is GLOW from the corals.

With my Royal Blues on (I believe one of the darker blue LEDs) only, it is still pretty bright blue, but with plenty of actinic pop. You can tell it still has wider spectrum than the old SAs because you can see everything in the tank in "medium blue". I've heard some zoanthid-nuts or other actinic-addicts will run their tanks on ONLY Royal Blue LEDs. I don't think you could even do that with the old SuperActinic bulbs, there just wasn't enough non-blue for things to survive, where as with LEDs, Royal Blue are the primary PAR providers (something different than any other lighting source).

Anyway, good luck with the new build, if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to bounce off of me, feel free to start a thread and PM me the address, or just PM, or comment here. Thanks for stopping in!