Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[Tony Romano]

peach fuzz ??

 

[PittsburghReef]

your tank looks awesome.
I see you vac your sandbed? I have always read all over that you shouldnt do that cause people always say it can cause a mini cycle? I guess they were wrong. I might have to start doing that to mine

 

[stunreefer]

I see you vac your sandbed? I have always read all over that you shouldnt do that cause people always say it can cause a mini cycle? I guess they were wrong. I might have to start doing that to mine

You should gravel vac shallow sand beds, about 15% at a time during water changes.

You should not gravel vac deep sand beds.

 

[PittsburghReef]

gotcha..I run a shallow bed so I will start doing that

 

[Reefer08]

Come on Ali, how about some new pictures bro? Hows the tank doing?

 

[Dave's Reef]

Some newer pics would be cool!~ I second Ramzy's request for new pics Sunny... :thumbsup:

 

[Tony Romano]

gotcha..I run a shallow bed so I will start doing that

I screwed my tank up bad by not keeping sand clean, for years I never touched it! I've now removed 90% of it and 75% of rock. Very open tank now.

Howerver I am still fighting cyno, to point of dosing the dreaded "Red Slime Remover". I am thinking 1/4 dose and leave skimmer on. Any guiden here?

 

[docwells]

I am looking for a little help. I decided to switch over from the Fauna Marin low nutrient system to a bacterial driven system with vodka dosing. My total water volume is estimated at 65 gallons so I dosed by the 50 gallon chart. Things were going well and my colors were even better than with Fauna Marin. I also had a small amount of nuisance algae while using the FM system and was told it was because I had a bare bottom tank.

Well, now I have hit a problem. I now have an outbreak of brown stringy algae. There is also some green film like algae on the rocks that started the last few days. I tested my phosphate and nitrate and both were zero. Alk and calcium are stable. I check my RO/DI unit to make sure it was not the problem. So I stopped the vodka dosing and kept the lights off the tank for 2 days. When I turned the lights on the brown algae had decreased. That was 3 days ago. Now the algae is back worse. My corals are losing their great color and turning brown. I have even seen some regression on a couple of frags. I had restarted dosing MB7 after turning the lights back on at the low nutrient dose. I also restarted vodka doing at the beginning dose. I am feeding a little more as I do not have a lot of fish and some regression could be due to lack of food. Am I doing this right or have a I missed something. Just looking for help.

 

[SunnyX]

Sonny - You have a beautiful tank!:beer: I have been tagging along for the ride.

I have been running Powermodules myself the past couple of years. Your thread has inspired me to swap out my bulbs. I'm also contemplating swapping out my fixtures, and seeking your advice (McCliffy and other T5-only SPS tanks, please chime in too!)

Currently running (2) 8x39w (624w)ATI Powermodules over my 72" x 24" x 24" tank

The fixtures basically span the entire 72", and run 17.5" deep.

I'm considering swapping those for a single Powermodule. Either

8x80w (640w) (58" wide, 17.5" deep) - I'd lose 7" of light coverage on each end.
or
10x80w (800w) ( 58" wide, 21" deep) - I gain a bit of front-to-back light coverage.

Thoughts?

Hello and thank you. I would go with the 8x80w. This way you will have less bulbs to replace and it will likely look better over the tank.

Incredible looking tank. Very inspiring tank. Keep up the good work.

Thanks!

Sonny:

How are the scratches on the starphire glass? I've heard it scratch real easy.

I have a few small scratches but they were mainly due to fault of my own. I think starphire scratches any differently then regular glass.

Noticing a little cyano in one spot. What can it be? Too much MB7, too much Biofuel?

Here's my dosing schedule:
Phol's Xtra: 8ml/day
MB7: 10 drops/day
Coral Vitalizer: 8 drops/day
Biofuel: 8ml/day
Zeo Amino Acids: 3 drops/day
Sponge Power: 8 drops/day
Lugol's: 1 drop/day
Brightwell's Potassion: 2ml/day
B-Balance: 4ml/day

First thing I do when I start noticing cyano is cut back on vodka and other energy additives such as AA. Check out this link for more info:

http://www.rimlessreef.com/1/post/2...7-and-vodka-dosing-instructions-and-tips.html

Sonny Your tank is looking more amazing everyday.
What do you use for cal/alk?
Do you use GFO?

Hello and thank you! I use two part from Bulreefsupply.com. I occasionally run GFO, maybe 5 days out of the month.

Is that the slimer from me on the left you were talking about man?

That thing has had a little growth

Yeah, that's the one! I have fragged it up a bunch of times and it just keeps growing and growing!

 

[SunnyX]

Hey Sonny I think we need a fresh update since it's been about a month now.

Soon. I have a new Photobox coming in today so I should be able to take some cool shots. Congrats on the TOTM! :celeb3::celeb3::celeb3::beer:

Hey sonny, I switched from vodka to vinegar because I was getting brown what looked to be cyanobacteria or diatomes. So I switched to vineger and did it slowly. I am now getting a small dime sized patch of red cyano. I know I should stop dosing the vineger until it is gone. Do you think the switch is what caused the red cyano?

I would stop all carbon dosing(vodka,vinegar) until the red slime has subsided. You could also add a bit of GFO to the system to speed up the process. Are you running and carbon?

MB7 questions. Bottle reads daily dosing or once a week. Have you tried both ways? Or possibly making your own dosing schedule like twice a week?

I read on another thread about no longer turning off the skimmer while dosing mb7. Is this true?
Thanks

I have tried both ways and found that dosing daily is the best method. By dosing daily you lessen the risk of issues by dosing larger amounts 2x a week. Please leave your skimmer on when dosing MB7/vodka.

dont turn your skimmer off. you need it to keep oxygen levels stable. there have been fish losses etc. when the skimmer is turned off.

+1

You should gravel vac shallow sand beds, about 15% at a time during water changes.

You should not gravel vac deep sand beds.

+1

 

[SunnyX]

Come on Ali, how about some new pictures bro? Hows the tank doing?

Some newer pics would be cool!~ I second Ramzy's request for new pics Sunny... :thumbsup:

Ill have them up soon. I have a new underwater photobox coming in which should give me some great pics.

I screwed my tank up bad by not keeping sand clean, for years I never touched it! I've now removed 90% of it and 75% of rock. Very open tank now.

Howerver I am still fighting cyno, to point of dosing the dreaded "Red Slime Remover". I am thinking 1/4 dose and leave skimmer on. Any guiden here?

With red slime remover you will need to turn your skimmer off. If you leave the skimmer on it will overflow for days on end. You will want to remove all carbon, GFO, and any other chemical filtration. I suggest you also use an aquarium air pump and drop the line into your sump for proper O2 levels. I would dose the full amount recommended on the bottle as you can run the risk of making the red slime immune to the remover by running a small dose.

How much red slime are we talking about?

I am looking for a little help. I decided to switch over from the Fauna Marin low nutrient system to a bacterial driven system with vodka dosing. My total water volume is estimated at 65 gallons so I dosed by the 50 gallon chart. Things were going well and my colors were even better than with Fauna Marin. I also had a small amount of nuisance algae while using the FM system and was told it was because I had a bare bottom tank.

Well, now I have hit a problem. I now have an outbreak of brown stringy algae. There is also some green film like algae on the rocks that started the last few days. I tested my phosphate and nitrate and both were zero. Alk and calcium are stable. I check my RO/DI unit to make sure it was not the problem. So I stopped the vodka dosing and kept the lights off the tank for 2 days. When I turned the lights on the brown algae had decreased. That was 3 days ago. Now the algae is back worse. My corals are losing their great color and turning brown. I have even seen some regression on a couple of frags. I had restarted dosing MB7 after turning the lights back on at the low nutrient dose. I also restarted vodka doing at the beginning dose. I am feeding a little more as I do not have a lot of fish and some regression could be due to lack of food. Am I doing this right or have a I missed something. Just looking for help.

Hello, first off I wouldn't recommend dosing of MB7/vodka in a BB system. The bacteria needs all the surface area it can get.

The brown stringy stuff is likely Dino's. You will need to stop dosing vodka and cut back on the nutrients. Here is a handy guide I have used to fight them in the past:

http://www.rimlessreef.com/1/post/2009/04/dinoflagellates-and-the-treament-of.html

 

[SunnyX]

Just wanted to update you guys on what I have been doing lately. I have been getting tons of requests for frags so I decided to setup a frag tank to house them. I have a small tank connected to the system that was supposed to be a frag tank but it ended up being a clown fish/pistol shrimp tank.

The tank comes in on Friday and the light today. Here is what the tank will consist of:

Tank: 36x24x18
Lighting: ATI Sunpower 6x39W
Flow: 2x Tunze 6045
Return: Ehiem 1250

Bulbs:

Front
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquable Special
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquable Special
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquable Special

The tank will be connected to the main system and filtered by my Deltec AP851. I should have it all up and running by Sunday. :thumbsup:

I also have a Hanna Photometer, Underwater Photo box, and a bunch of other toys coming in this week.

 

[tbone28]

Hello and thank you. I would go with the 8x80w. This way you will have less bulbs to replace and it will likely look better over the tank.

Thanks for your response, but since I thought you had fallen off the face of this earth since I asked, I went ahead with the 8x80 :lol: glad to know you're still alive and kicking

 

[SunnyX]

Thanks for your response, but since I thought you had fallen off the face of this earth since I asked, I went ahead with the 8x80 :lol: glad to know you're still alive and kicking

Awesome! I am glad you made the right choice! :thumbsup:

 

[grabthereef]

whatsup sonny? i was having a time with dinos and cyano as well as algae last month, i made some progress with water changes and physical removal, as well as shortening photoperiod. i ordered some phosban as well as special blend. i put in the first dose of special blend today and holy cow this bac is STRONG! the dosing instructions require heavy doses around every two weeks. Do you have any experience with this product? Should i discontinue the use of MB7 or should i add small amounts here and there? i am going to keep my vodka dose at .5 ml a day and continue to do weekly-biweekly waterchanges. any thoughts?

 

[rs1831]

Sonny,

Which Hanna Photometer did you order?

Thanks.

 

[solitude127]

If you have a ULNS, will your skimmer still produce the same amount of skimmate before it was ULNS?

 

[SunnyX]

New frag tank toys:

More stuff coming later this week....

Took some photos with the new photobox:

 

[SunnyX]

 

[SunnyX]

Got a new Hanna PO3 meter today: