Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[tas5tas]

Ok...so I'll leave my temp alone since it seems to be in line. It looks like my LE ORA Toadstool may have to go....it seems to be the only culprit left that could be stunting growth. I'll give the tank another month and see what happens since growth has started to speed up a little since the switch to T5's.

 

[newsalt]

I seem to have to clean the glass of my tank everyday or ever other day. Is that due to my tank being new? Will it get better after I start dosing Vodka?

 

[Taqpol]

Hey Sonny!

After running across your rimless reef website I had to come and read the thread. Now that thats done, I had a question about T5 bulb combos.

I have 8x54w bulbs with icecap reflectors retrofitted into my canopy over a standard 120g reef (4'x2'x2'). The consensus on the T5 thread was to use 4xATI Blue+, 2xATI Aquablues, and 2xUVL Actinic Whites for a crisp white, ~14k look. After awhile I decided I didn't like that look as it was too much of a bright white/pink look and my corals didn't pop out at all. In fact, they appeared to be washed out into the background.

When I told them that they immediately thought it was the ATI Aquablue Specials because they were "known to cause the T5 washout effect" some people complain about. I took the advice and replaced the bulbs so now I'm running 6xBlue+, 1xActinic White, and 1xFiji Purple. Its a nice blue color with just a hint of white, but I was thinking I want my tank to have slightly more of a white presence like your tank.

Have you heard anything about Aquablue's washing colors out? Given that I have 6 Blue+, 2 Aquablues, 2 Actinic Whites, a GE 6500K Daylight, and a Fiji Purple to play around with, what kind of combination would you use?

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15399638#post15399638 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newsalt
I seem to have to clean the glass of my tank everyday or ever other day. Is that due to my tank being new? Will it get better after I start dosing Vodka?

In a new tank the glass will need to be cleaned more often. As time progresses and things settle in you probably will only have to clean the glass once a week.

The vodka and MB7 with lower your nutrients allowing you to go longer before having to clean the glass.

 

[moo0o]

Sunny,

Not sure if someone asked this already, but since you are dosing by hand, how much of the 110mL are you dosing at a time?

 

[SWINGRRRR]

Hey Sunny, what you think of my set-up? The pump is a Masterflex 7543-06 with a 7014 head and is run off my AcJr.

 

[fernandokng]

Sunny, just wondering, for your size tank, how many liters of 2 part Cal/Alk do you use a day?

 

[trueblackpercula]

Sonny Hello again
do i have to continue to dose MB7 with vodka or can I just dose the vodka and my AA? I ordered my test kits and once they get here I will start the vodka dosing maybe on Monday. I need to get a daily calander to keep track of results and how much and when I have dosed. I think it's going to be fun and see if this works or not.
P.S. I see
some brown cyno starting to grow in the tank since I started the MB7 why did this happen? I did go slow and followed the directions. I was looking at some of your pictures and please forgive me if I am seeing things do to my computer but your sand looks like mine, has what looks like. Brown film that looks like cyno on it is this the case?
Thanks
your loyal reef buddy
Michael Anthony

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15399501#post15399501 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tas5tas
Ok...so I'll leave my temp alone since it seems to be in line. It looks like my LE ORA Toadstool may have to go....it seems to be the only culprit left that could be stunting growth. I'll give the tank another month and see what happens since growth has started to speed up a little since the switch to T5's.

Usually if you run enough carbon you should be able to hold off any warfare between soft corals and SPS. Although, it the toadstool is large you may have to remove it.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15399798#post15399798 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Taqpol
Hey Sonny!

After running across your rimless reef website I had to come and read the thread. Now that thats done, I had a question about T5 bulb combos.

I have 8x54w bulbs with icecap reflectors retrofitted into my canopy over a standard 120g reef (4'x2'x2'). The consensus on the T5 thread was to use 4xATI Blue+, 2xATI Aquablues, and 2xUVL Actinic Whites for a crisp white, ~14k look. After awhile I decided I didn't like that look as it was too much of a bright white/pink look and my corals didn't pop out at all. In fact, they appeared to be washed out into the background.

When I told them that they immediately thought it was the ATI Aquablue Specials because they were "known to cause the T5 washout effect" some people complain about. I took the advice and replaced the bulbs so now I'm running 6xBlue+, 1xActinic White, and 1xFiji Purple. Its a nice blue color with just a hint of white, but I was thinking I want my tank to have slightly more of a white presence like your tank.

Have you heard anything about Aquablue's washing colors out? Given that I have 6 Blue+, 2 Aquablues, 2 Actinic Whites, a GE 6500K Daylight, and a Fiji Purple to play around with, what kind of combination would you use?

Hello

I ran 4x AB's with 3x B+ when I first setup the tank and the color was good for a while. Over time my corals began to fade and the tank just looked too white. So, I replaced one of the AB's with a B+ and the colors have darkened up since then.

When I swapped out my bulbs in May I tried doing 5xB+ and 2xAB's and it didn't look good at all. The red and pinks we completely overcome and it looked too blue and florescent.

In your case I would try:

FRONT
Blue+
Fiji Purple
Blue+
Aquablue
Blue+
Blue+
Aquablue
Blue+

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15404704#post15404704 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by moo0o
Sunny,

Not sure if someone asked this already, but since you are dosing by hand, how much of the 110mL are you dosing at a time?

Right now I am doing it all at once but if I could I would rather have had it on a dosing pump. In my next system I plan on using a couple dosing pumps as this will make things easier and I wont shock the system as much.

 

[newsalt]

I noticed on the MB7 bottle that it says "Mix appropriate volume of MicroBacter7 with 8 fl. oz. of aquarium water in a clean container prior to addition to aquarium." I haven't been doing this. I've been adding it directly to my tank. Is that a problem? Is anyone mixing it with the 8oz of water first?

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15405091#post15405091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
Hey Sunny, what you think of my set-up? The pump is a Masterflex 7543-06 with a 7014 head and is run off my AcJr.

Looks good to me, but with such a small amount of vodka needed do you really need a dosing pump for it?

The vodka is pretty potent stuff so just keep an eye on the pump. You dont want to come home to drunk and or dead fish. :smokin:

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15405763#post15405763 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fernandokng
Sunny, just wondering, for your size tank, how many liters of 2 part Cal/Alk do you use a day?

Hello, I use 110ML of CA and 110ML of ALK daily. It works out to about 1 gallon or 3.8 liters of each solution per month.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15406027#post15406027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
Sonny Hello again
do i have to continue to dose MB7 with vodka or can I just dose the vodka and my AA? I ordered my test kits and once they get here I will start the vodka dosing maybe on Monday. I need to get a daily calander to keep track of results and how much and when I have dosed. I think it's going to be fun and see if this works or not.
P.S. I see
some brown cyno starting to grow in the tank since I started the MB7 why did this happen? I did go slow and followed the directions. I was looking at some of your pictures and please forgive me if I am seeing things do to my computer but your sand looks like mine, has what looks like. Brown film that looks like cyno on it is this the case?
Thanks
your loyal reef buddy
Michael Anthony

Hello Michael,

I would continue with the MB7 along with Vodka. Hold off on the AA's for as long as you can. Ideally you will want to start with the AA's once you nutrient levels have bottomed out.

When I first started using MB7 I did have some brown film/slime take over. The red cyano died off and the brown film took its place. After a month of dosing MB7 and Vodka the slime is gone and only shows up if I over feed or overdose on AA's.

With vodka, some will see results sooner then others. You need to run it for at least a month in order to see the start of the results. You nitrate will drop low while you P04 with stay the same for the first 3-4 weeks. After around the 27th day of dosing the PO4 will have a sudden drop.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15407656#post15407656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newsalt
I noticed on the MB7 bottle that it says "Mix appropriate volume of MicroBacter7 with 8 fl. oz. of aquarium water in a clean container prior to addition to aquarium." I haven't been doing this. I've been adding it directly to my tank. Is that a problem? Is anyone mixing it with the 8oz of water first?

I dont premix it before adding it in. I drip the drops directly in front of my Vortech. When I was using Prodibio bacteria it had the same instructions but I always dropped it directly into the tank.

 

[SWINGRRRR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15407664#post15407664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Looks good to me, but with such a small amount of vodka needed do you really need a dosing pump for it?

The vodka is pretty potent stuff so just keep an eye on the pump. You dont want to come home to drunk and or dead fish. :smokin:

Sometimes I get stuck working 20 hours days so I wanted a way to automate it. Its a Masterflex so no part of the vodka touches the pump. Ive heard it say that if a Masterflex is 20 years old, you still have 30 years of use out of it.

I wish I had more time for my tank.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15407723#post15407723 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
Sometimes I get stuck working 20 hours days so I wanted a way to automate it. Its a Masterflex so no part of the vodka touches the pump. Ive heard it say that if a Masterflex is 20 years old, you still have 30 years of use out of it.

I wish I had more time for my tank.

I miss the long days of work. I find that I have too much time on my hands lately, that is until fall semester rolls around and I am back hitting the books.

With you long hours, you probably need everything to be automated.

 

[SWINGRRRR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15407837#post15407837 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
I miss the long days of work. I find that I have too much time on my hands lately, that is until fall semester rolls around and I am back hitting the books.

With you long hours, you probably need everything to be automated.

Whatcha taking? We start back on the 10th but I got an email saying they cant find my registration. Hopefully things will get sorted out.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15408133#post15408133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
Whatcha taking? We start back on the 10th but I got an email saying they cant find my registration. Hopefully things will get sorted out.

Lots of history classes!

I am a big history buff so school is actually fun this time around. Hopefully they get everything sorted out for you. Keep bugging them as they tend to forget things.