some of my z's and p's
- Thread starter MikeandNicole
- Start date
MikeandNicole
New member
So it has been a while since I updated this and I figured it is time. I upgraded tanks and moved some things around. Some made the move very well, some were lost, such is the nature of the beast.
These are out of my new 45g:
These are out of my new 45g:
MikeandNicole
New member
Now for the 57g, bit more fraggy but I have to start somewhere.
MikeandNicole
New member
57g:
MP40 for flow
Ecotech medium sump
Bubble Magus Nac6a
Marineland return pump (don't remember the model)
Marine magic dosing pumps (dosing Brightwell Calcion and Brightwell Alk 8.3)
Passive carbon and phosban (this will change this weekend,)
Soon will be 2 MR1 shorties running Rox carbon and BRS phosban
AI Sol Blue x2 for light (everything at %60 right now, ramped up from %30 when I moved in the beginning of august)
10g a week water change with Aquavitro
I think the biggest success in this tank is flow. The frag rack where they all start is on the wall opposite the mp40 directly, also on of the nozzles from the return pump is also aimed directly at the frag rack. I have avoided the dreaded brown algae film that destroys zoas in this tank. Even the zoas on the ground are getting very good flow and look very good. The AI fixture is offset from the zoas, not directly over so they get good light but are not getting burned. The rack is maybe 2 inches above the dead middle of the glass. I just started feeding reef pearls to the tank twice a week at a very low dosage. I have only been doing this for about a week or so so I cannot say they help. I do know that if overdosed they will raise your phosphates and nitrates tremendously so be careful with them. I dose on wenesdays and saturdays followed by the water changed on sunday. I really don't have what my tank params are, I rarely test and when I do test I generally only test Alk. I know my salinity is about 1.026 and my temp is about 80 if that helps at all.
45g:
If you remember back to the beginning of this thread I had a 45g, this is not the same one. That one was not drilled and everything was HOB. When we moved we bought another one had it drilled with the gl*******s 700gph overflow kit and essentially started over:
45g marineland cube
small ecotech sump
Vortech mp40 (turned way down)
SWC 120 skimmer
marineland return pump (again don't remember which one)
TX5 5 bulb T5 fixture (2 aquablues 2 blue + one purple all ATI bulbs)
5g weekly water change (sometimes more) a week with aquavitro
This tank I run a little more bare bones, I have no reactors, no fuge, no dosing pumps and don't add any other foods/supplements. This tank has much less SPS and is pretty much all zoas and acans with a MASSIVE RBTA that takes up the whole top half of the tank. Outside of the water changes I really don't fiddle with this tank too much, I do the weekly water changes and add some of my dosing solution from the 57g when I need to refill those. Originally I had an mp10 on here and I don't think I was getting enough flow. I had my little mini colony of Jason Fox Pirates bloods get the vicious brown algae and lost those along with a few others that were on the corner frag rack. I was racking my brain with what was different from their last tank, and I remembered they were right next to the mp10 (in a 30g) and where getting plenty of flow. In the back corner they were not, that is the reason there is an mp40 on there now. The zoa colonies in the front of the tank were getting plenty of flow and you can see how they are doing.
Also I feed both tanks with Rods Reef if that helps anyone. Feel free to ask questions.
MP40 for flow
Ecotech medium sump
Bubble Magus Nac6a
Marineland return pump (don't remember the model)
Marine magic dosing pumps (dosing Brightwell Calcion and Brightwell Alk 8.3)
Passive carbon and phosban (this will change this weekend,)
Soon will be 2 MR1 shorties running Rox carbon and BRS phosban
AI Sol Blue x2 for light (everything at %60 right now, ramped up from %30 when I moved in the beginning of august)
10g a week water change with Aquavitro
I think the biggest success in this tank is flow. The frag rack where they all start is on the wall opposite the mp40 directly, also on of the nozzles from the return pump is also aimed directly at the frag rack. I have avoided the dreaded brown algae film that destroys zoas in this tank. Even the zoas on the ground are getting very good flow and look very good. The AI fixture is offset from the zoas, not directly over so they get good light but are not getting burned. The rack is maybe 2 inches above the dead middle of the glass. I just started feeding reef pearls to the tank twice a week at a very low dosage. I have only been doing this for about a week or so so I cannot say they help. I do know that if overdosed they will raise your phosphates and nitrates tremendously so be careful with them. I dose on wenesdays and saturdays followed by the water changed on sunday. I really don't have what my tank params are, I rarely test and when I do test I generally only test Alk. I know my salinity is about 1.026 and my temp is about 80 if that helps at all.
45g:
If you remember back to the beginning of this thread I had a 45g, this is not the same one. That one was not drilled and everything was HOB. When we moved we bought another one had it drilled with the gl*******s 700gph overflow kit and essentially started over:
45g marineland cube
small ecotech sump
Vortech mp40 (turned way down)
SWC 120 skimmer
marineland return pump (again don't remember which one)
TX5 5 bulb T5 fixture (2 aquablues 2 blue + one purple all ATI bulbs)
5g weekly water change (sometimes more) a week with aquavitro
This tank I run a little more bare bones, I have no reactors, no fuge, no dosing pumps and don't add any other foods/supplements. This tank has much less SPS and is pretty much all zoas and acans with a MASSIVE RBTA that takes up the whole top half of the tank. Outside of the water changes I really don't fiddle with this tank too much, I do the weekly water changes and add some of my dosing solution from the 57g when I need to refill those. Originally I had an mp10 on here and I don't think I was getting enough flow. I had my little mini colony of Jason Fox Pirates bloods get the vicious brown algae and lost those along with a few others that were on the corner frag rack. I was racking my brain with what was different from their last tank, and I remembered they were right next to the mp10 (in a 30g) and where getting plenty of flow. In the back corner they were not, that is the reason there is an mp40 on there now. The zoa colonies in the front of the tank were getting plenty of flow and you can see how they are doing.
Also I feed both tanks with Rods Reef if that helps anyone. Feel free to ask questions.
buddythelion
New member
I run two koralia nanos on my 12 gallon, but you mention the importance of flow... Should I upgrade to the mp10?
MikeandNicole
New member
I love vortech pumps and have been running them on my tanks since I bought my first one at MACNA in 2009. That being said for a 12g, it might be overkill. I have a 12g and only have the return pump on there and the corals in there are doing great, granted no zoas. What you might like the best about the mp10 is the tiny footprint in your tank vs the 2 koralias. I did run a single koralia in my 12g back in the day, but I took it off.
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