Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[Aqua Keepers]

Hi Sonny!

I have worked my way through your whole thread!! :wildone:
Not reading all posts, more picture looking! :bum:

I really like your tank and what u made of it!
Corals are looking great!

looking forward to new pictures!

Have a nice day

Flo

Now you have to check out his site
http://www.rimlessreef.com/

 

[SunnyX]

just have RC create a new forum. Pro biotic systems?

When is the best time to dose. I'm just starting my 2nd week of MB7 and dose in the morning. my lights don't come on until 2pm. I dose at 9am. Skimmer goes back on around 1pm.
I will be dosing bio fuel next week too. do I dose all at the same time?


Does it matter when you dose?

My thought was to dose in the dark to give the cultures more time to grow, maybe I should be dosing at night just after lights out.

Hello,

A probiotic forum would be fantastic! I dont think it matter when you dose but I would suspect that dosing when the lights are on is best as this is when the tank has the highest PH and O2 content.

I dose vodka and MB7 at the same time so dosing Biofuel at the same time would be ideal.

Thank you. What is a good amount to dose?

One drop per 25 gallons.

Okay I've been dosing MB7 and vodka. Did the two week thing with the MB and started dosing the vodka last saturday. My vodka dose is @ 1ml right now. I am sure I read this somewhere but don't recall. My Monti. caps are bleaching as of this week. Should I up the dose on the MB7, lower the vodka dose or both? This started after I started the vodka. Using 80 proof. 140g tank, 75g sump, approx. 100+lbs of rock. Skimmer area approx. 16 gal. of water, refugium approx. 20g. return 10-12.
Thanks

Hello,

Cut the vodka dosage in half and stay there until the cap starts to color up again. The coral may have been shocked by the increased clarity of the water. Be sure to feed the fish well and keep an eye on the coral. If this problem persists then you may need to lower the lighting photoperiod for the time being. A day of "lights out" also will go a long way in aiding a corals recovery.

awesome awesome tank!!! inspiration for sure!!!

some quick questions on vodka and mb7, if you dont mind. i have a 200g net system, when nitrates are at target levels, how do you determine dosing amounts? im at 4ml with vodka (going on 4th week) and just finished dosing 40ml of mb7 for the first 2 weeks (started 2 weeks after vodka). do i keep vodka at 4ml and mb7 at 20ml maintenance levels, and check nitrates a week later? my nitrates have went from dark orange/red on api test, to a dark yellow. ive been on vodka for about 4 weeks total. BUT i have been doing lots of water changes. also, cyano is minimum, with some patches on rocks here and there, but it was alot worse before i added the mb7.

any advice is appreciated, thanks buddy!

Hello and thank you.

Once you have reached 0 nitrates and PO4 cut the dosage of vodka in half but continue dosing the same amount of MB7. Test the water weekly. If you see nutrients rising increase the dosage of vodka once more, following the chart in ReefKeeping Magazine Online.


Sonny

 

[SunnyX]

We need a FTS,
It has been almost 10 pages. It would be great if you would do a write up on vodka, and mb7 etc.

I should have a new picture soon. I just finished up the rescaping of the tank yesterday. I was planning on a radiacal change but I decided only to redo the right island and remove some SPS. I picked up some nice acans, chalices, and other LPS. I will be picking up a few favias this Friday and possible a couple "Expert" corals.

I went to town on the SPS, none were spared from the fraging shears. I went through 130 frag plugs! :eeks: Plus, I still have some large colones in the frag tank that need to go as well.

Didnt mean to make the statement with 100% accuracy. I believe I quoted Grim on that statement (I follow his t5 thread also) I dont remember exactly though, sorry.

The statement which is more P.C. is that the bulb looks pretty much the same.

Its hard on this website to make any statements since things constantly evolve.

The internet is a fickle medium.

Hi Sonny, you're even creating a fan base in the UK!! :fun2:

This is going back a while now, before the Vortechs arrived. My question is: can you please describe how many Tunze's you had in the tank and where they were placed/hidden in relation to your two rockscape islands? I've modded mine to get the best out of them as I can't afford Vortechs yet and would like to know how you set yours up.

Many thanks... Barry

p.s. the tank is an inspiration and I'll be ordering my rimless after Christmas after stumbling on your site. ::lolspin:

Hello and thank you! I have been to London have have family living out there in the UK, great place! :thumbsup:

I had the Tunzes positioned facing each other, 2 on each side. Here is an old shot of the tank, around the time it was setup, that shows the positioning of the Tunzes:

Hope this helps,

Sonny

Sonny, I am thinking that certain brands of vodka are causing more harm than good to reefers, I personally had a negative expirience with dosing vodka/MB7 and it seems lately there are alot more complaints that successes. What exact brand of vodka are you using? I know the theory of all vodka is the same except % but something still isnt right. Whats your opinion?

I dose cheap Mohawk brand 80 proof vodka. I feel that for people that are having issues with vodka should try out either vinegar or the store brand carbon source, such as Brightwell Biofuel. I was speaking to a reefer who had tried vodka, but had little to no success with it. He ended up switching to vinegar and has had great results. The only reason I think of for this scenario is that some systems have bacteria in them that are not as favorable to vodka and may need another carbon source.

This is not an exact science and we are learning new things everyday. Hopefully soon the probiotic method will be perfected.

Yeah Sonny can you please tell us what Brand of Vodka your using and what time of the day or night you do your dosing and also if you turn your skimmer off when you dose? Thanks

Hello,

I dose cheap Mohawk Brand 80 proof. I dose it midday along with MB7 at the SAME time. The skimmer is on 24/7.

 

[SunnyX]

sunny if you decide to get a larger tank it will be a t5 or mh/t5

Hello,

When I go to a larger tank I will be using T5 and possible a couple of LED spotlights. MH's were good to me in the past but I feel that there time is soon at an end. With LED's becoming more and more affordable, and plasma lighting coming out its only a matter of time before MH's will be the least preferred method of lighting. Reefers will still be running them, just not as many.

Hey sonny i got a question about the doser's pump; are they really quiet or kind loud?

Hello,

the "Drew's Dosing Pump" I seen didnt really make much noise. I really couldnt hear them.

Hello Sonny,
I am very admired by your aquarium
Has read almost all theme
On what distance from a water surface the fixture is hung up?
How often you change lamps in the fixture?

Hello,

The fixture is 3" from the rim of the tank. The Bulbs are changed every 10-12 months.

Anything you care to share today sunny? (Fellow MR here)

Shhhhh, you will spoil the surprise!

Everything is pretty much done now, just need some time fore the corals to heal up. I have a few more corals to pick up and then I should be good to go. I wanted the change to be much bigger then what I had done, but that will have to wait until I get a larger tank. For now, the small changes shall suffice.

 

[mpoletti]

Tank looks great Sonny. Have a great Thanksgiving :thumbsup:

 

[SunnyX]

i have read this whole thread so I thought it would be ok....just backing it up

Just stick to what the bottle says and observe your system. If you get an outbreak of brown on your rocks and/or sand then decrease the MB7 dosage. Also, seeing clear snot on pumps or rockwork is another sign of too much bacteria.

Hi sunny,

How you finding your Fiji purple. Still happy?

Snaz

So far, so good. I am enjoying the color of it and my corals seem to be very happy with it. I am now tempted to try out the other KZ bulbs. How is your reef doing? Still looking stellar I hope?

 

[SunnyX]

Tank looks great Sonny. Have a great Thanksgiving :thumbsup:

:lol: that picture above is from when I first setup the tank. Have a great Thanksgiving as well! :thumbsup:

 

[JCR's Reef]

LMAO...Happy Thanksgiving. Maybe afterwards you can put a pic of the new progress up?

 

[tmantaylor18]

lol are you guys playing xbox live? if so add me too BonziBuddi

 

[snaza]

So far, so good. I am enjoying the color of it and my corals seem to be very happy with it. I am now tempted to try out the other KZ bulbs. How is your reef doing? Still looking stellar I hope?

My reef looks like Sh!T at the moment. Since the house move i havent re-aquascaped. I'm in the process of setting up my new 62x33x20. once that is ready i'll just move everything over. got my ATB pumps, vortechs, tunze, 10 bulb ATI PM and ATB skimmer all sitting there gathering dust :lol2:

Still cant decide if I get all new Rock and start a the new tank from scratch or just move all the rock over to the new one. the only problem is I get a few apstasia which is easy enough to keep under control. If i went all new rock i still have the chance of it coming from coral or new rock. mmmmmm. cant decide.

Im going to try the sonny vodka/mb7 method.:thumbsup: I manged to smuggle some Mb7 illegally into australia:lmao:

keep up the good work

snaz

 

[FloformAustria]

Now you have to check out his site
http://www.rimlessreef.com/

ok i missed that!!

The Photos are so awesome!!!!!


Happy Thanksgiving to all of u guys!

Flo

 

[Genetics]

Hey congrats on the R2R TOTM! I'm excited to see the new layout!

 

[sarajo]

I'm thinking of starting the MB7, vodka dosing and was wondering if I have a big enough skimmer to do the job. I have 75 gallon tank about 60 gallons net and I have no sump, I have an Atb multi hang on sikmmer, will this be alright to start dosing vodka? If not what would be a good skimmer I could use since I do not have sump? thanks

 

[jbanks]

My reef looks like Sh!T at the moment. Since the house move i havent re-aquascaped. I'm in the process of setting up my new 62x33x20. once that is ready i'll just move everything over. got my ATB pumps, vortechs, tunze, 10 bulb ATI PM and ATB skimmer all sitting there gathering dust :lol2:

Still cant decide if I get all new Rock and start a the new tank from scratch or just move all the rock over to the new one. the only problem is I get a few apstasia which is easy enough to keep under control. If i went all new rock i still have the chance of it coming from coral or new rock. mmmmmm. cant decide.

Im going to try the sonny vodka/mb7 method.:thumbsup: I manged to smuggle some Mb7 illegally into australia:lmao:

keep up the good work

snaz

Hey Snaz,

We're expecting you to come with the thunder when you get ready. You're definitely another RC heavy hittter! Looking forward to seeing both of your new Setups once complete..

 

[nanonemo]

Very beautiful aquarium

 

[nanonemo]

:thumbsup:

 

[Vlan]

Hello,
The fixture is 3" from the rim of the tank. The Bulbs are changed every 10-12 months.

Thanks for the answer.
And you together change all lamps in 10-12 months,
Because lamps burn different time, 2 lamps - 2 hours, 3 - 7 hours and 2 more - 10 hours

I wish to make tank 54 "x 26" x 24 "light 8x54W T5 will suffice

 

[reefguy222]

what if your nitrates are on the high side say around 60 can you run mb7 & purigan together?

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

sonny hi, im on week 1 and day 3 of MB7 load, and my alk is kinda high its at 11.5 DKH , all my other params are stable.calcium 400, ph is 7.9 with lights out 8.1 on, salt 1.025 temp around 80F, 0 ammonia, everything else is stable and at low levs. Is this raise in Alk normal??, if so what can i do to lower it. I noticed the alk was bad because around the six day of dosing i noticed my red monty cap , and rainbow to start having what looked like alk burns, then i went and bought salifert alk test kit, and sure enough. This same thing happened about 4 months ago when i first tried this mb7 method and it but i stopped it asap. and everything went back to norm, but now same thing. I dose Brightwell a and b daily, but i think im going to stop until i get this back t norm levels. i dose a capfull of both and have for a while and never had any issues with. My tank is a RSM 250, and like i said, haven't changed anything from what im used to other than mb7 so i doubt anything else had to do it it. thank you sonny your advice will be truly appreciated. ohh yea and checked for aefw , monty nudys all that stuff and nothing. ty sir

 

[luther1200]

Hello,


One drop per 25 gallons.


Sonny

Thank you for taking the time to answer Your tank really is amazing.