Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[Oldude]

Ok wow thanks for that link genetics
After reading about the Randy 2 part its pretty clear although some questions did come to mind and so if anyone can help me that would be great

1. He suggests u mix with a gallon of water..although he didnt mention it.... de-chlorinate the water first right? Then when he talks about mixing the magnesium he says to mix with purified freshwater?...does he mean like RO water?

====>I dont own a RO unit yet..iam gonna be new to coral keeping so iam starting out small

2. For the Magnesium recipe he says to mix with epsom salts?...sorry iam not familiar with these......can anyone please point me in the right direction?.....where to buy epsome salts?....what brand?

and thats about it....everything else was very clear to me..thanks guys

RO/DI water is what I'd suggest if possible abd is what I use for all parts of the recipe. I buy my epsom salts at Costco and I have only seen one brand there. Just make sure the epsom salts are not scented or anything like that.

 

[Oldude]

Sonny in the 2nd last picture is that a hawkins blue? Great stuff as always.

 

[SunnyX]

I was wondering if the powerbrite LED provide better irredescent effect any any T-5 tube you have seen? I am thinking to add one also but my ceiling is much further than yours.

Yeah, it makes the corals "POP" much more so than T5's.

Sonny,

Hope all is well. Quick question, are you using Zeo/Neo stones in your tank, or just MB7 and Reef Bio Fuel?

Cheers,
L3

Just MB7 and vodka.

Hey sunny, your thread has been an inspiration to my new build. I am going to doing both vodka and MB7. Just thought I would share my build thread with you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16447095#post16447095

Looking good! :thumbsup:

Sunny,
Wow, ok so I just found this thread. Or that is to say I found the thread awhile back actually but I just finished reading all 148 pages! My goodness what a wealth of info on here. Your tank is stunning, and the help you've provided all on here is to truly be commended. I have come up with a few questions that I either didn't see addressed or clarified maybe. So here goes.

1. As far as the powerhead in the sump. Great idea, I did it myself, seems to keep detritus out of the sump but puts more into the DT. I noticed your sump doesn't really look like it has all these partitions and whatnot and your skimmer is external so I understand how the powerhead helps you with detritus. But I was wondering about others that have partitions, how does the powerhead get detritus to the skimmer or does it get routed back to the tank and eventually to the skimmer via the overflow? My sump is just a rubbermaid DIY and I have the skimmer on a small stand inside another little container to keep a constant water level for the skimmer. I was wondering, should I maybe just have the skimmer on the stand but not in the container to keep the water level? I have an ATI BM skimmer, and that way the powerhead could blow the detritus and get skimmed out quickly?

2. I like the results you've had with the MB7/vodka and read all the articles. I'm wondering if that would help me. I usually have about 5-10nitrate and my phos shows undetectable usually but I do have algae issues so guessing my phos is being used by the algae. So could MB7/vodka help me out. I don't have a refuge or anything like that, I'm very limited on sump space with my 92g corner tank. I've read that recently you've been using vinegar. Do you combine them? 1 day vodka, next day vinegar? How does that work, does your MB7 dosage stay the same weather you use vodka or vinegar? I run carbon and GFO but GFO is freaking expensive and hasn't eradicated the algae altogether.

3. Next question, I have read about a biopellet product, think it's called a sort of solid vodka that can be run in a reactor. I'm guessing you haven't run this stuff but was wondering if you have any opinions on it or know anyone that has tried it with any level of success or failure.

I'm sure I have other questions but don't want to bombard you with too many at once. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much, I'm glad I am through the 148 pages and can now keep up with the thread.

Hello

1. I wouldn't move the skimmer around. In sump skimmers can be tricky and the water level in the sump is very important when skimming. Perhaps you could move the intake of the skimmer?

2. Your levels are pretty low so I wouldn't mess with vodka. Maybe you could use a little MB7 along with some GFO and carbon

3. I know a couple guys using the vodka pellats with poor results thus far. Its a decent idea but the price is much too high.

I'm diggin' the tank Sonny! Great looking reef!!!!

Thanks!

what brand of mb7 are you using cause u say your dosing 8 drops a day . im using the microbacter7 from brightwell and i am dosing 50ml . i just started it 3 days ago so im going by the instructions on the bottle i have 250 gallons total volume . i dont like dosing that much liquid and want to see if another brand would let me dose less

I am using the same stuff. The first two weeks you will be dosing the :Heavy dosing" schedule. After the two week seeding period you will then cut back on the dosing and start dripping it in.

 

[SunnyX]

Sonny can you please remind me how thick is your sand bed?
Is there any risk of having anoxic areas form if you leave a 2-3 inch sand bed without syphoning for 1-2 months? If these form and you vacuum do you think it'll be bad for the tank? I'm considering the sand bed options for my next tank (well in advance) and I'm leaning towards having a RDSB if any and then a 2-3 inch sand bed in the tank ( I do like the look of a deeper sand bed as well as not seing the bottom glass each fish stir it a bit, also good for wrasses... ). was wondering if it would be ok to vaccum it once every 1-2 months as due to my travel schedule I can't commit to vacuming every 2-3 weeks... is it necessary then to go with a very shallow sand bed (1-2) inch or would it be fine to have a 3-4 inch sand bed and vacuum it. last option would be great if in the end I realize that my tank was more stable with a DSB then i would just stop vacuming and let it become a DSB... I know you don't really like DSBs however those made my tank very stable for the last 10 years so going out of it is kind of difficult...
Thanks for your help.

Hello

In your case I would stick to a DSB. With you schedule you may not be able to clean out the sand bed enough. If you wanted to you could siphon it out every 4-6 weeks if possible. With the right siphon it only takes 15 minutes. My sand is about an inch thick. I used one 40lb bag of sand.

I like DSB's and may go back to one on the next tank build.

Sunny where do you get your frag from?
thank you

Hello,

All of my frags come from local fish stores and hobbyists.

Hey Sunny, great thread. Getting a little long though. lol. Love your tank. I've been dosing vodka for over a year now, and just got a calcium reactor about 2 months ago and since then have brown wafer algae all over. After reading through some of this thread, was wanting to start MB7 to reduce nutrients. I have a 205gal system and have been adding 3mL vodka. Nitrates and phosphates are always zero. Also have a refuge with a deep sand bed, as well as a deep sand bed in my main display. I run a BRS dual chamber carbon and GFO system as well. I also dose zeo amino acid, potassium, sponge power and coral vitalizer every second day. Would it be a good idea to start with the MB7, or try bumping up the vodka? Do I need to still keep up with the zeo additives if I get my nutrients low with the MB7? I have a heavy bioload and feed pellets and frozen food daily. Any input would be great. Thanks.

Scott

I should add that I have an ETSS 800 skimmer.

Hello,

It sounds like your system is doing fine. I would look into a bacterial additive such as MB7 or ZEObak before looking into vodka. If your nutrients are as low as you say then the vodka may do more harm then good.

Sonny

Hi Sonny & all,
I hope this isn't a hijack since I don't have a shallow reef........
I'm looking for some advice on 48" t-5's. I'm totally out of the loop what's the latest on T-5's. Any help would be appreciated.

I need to replace my bulbs for my t-5 fixture & currently have 2 Geisman Blue plus & 2 Geismans Antinc plus.........ballast is an ice cap 660. I like this combo but haven't tried to grow sps. So far I've had anenomes, LPS & caps do fine under them with a 20" 75g.

I see ATI mainly mentioned a lot.......... Are the Geismann's Antinic+ & ATI blue + basically the same?

How about Geismann Blue+ compared to the ATI Blue specaial?

I'm interested in performance compared not price. I can get the Geismanns locally.

I"m going to go with a 24" high tank after these bulbs are changed out. Any input is appreciated.

Hello,

The ATI bulbs preform better than the Geisman, but if your bulbs are not old I wouldn't bother replacing them with ATI bulbs just yet. The ATI Blue+ is a completely blue bulb, while the Aquablue Special is a crisp white. I have been very happy with ATI bulbs. You may want to look into the KZ Fiji Purple bulb as well, it awesome! :thumbsup:

Sonny thanks for sharing your beautiful tank with us, this tank continues to be an inspiration to many Reef Central members (myself included) and your tank looks great as usual, I really like how everything is growing in since your last (pic update)

:beer: Thanks!

Still looking good sonney, Actually just sent a email of to miracles to go with a little bit larger rimless tank.

Keep up the good work..
Mojo~

Thanks! Miracles rocks!

 

[SunnyX]

Hey Sunny,

Its time for new bulbs. What would you recommend for a good colouring with 8bulbs. I am thinking

ATI Blue + x 3
ATI Aqua Blue x 5

Throw me some options.

Thanks.

Hello,

For a nice and pleasing looking setup I would go with:

ATI Blue+
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue+

Sonny, I'm doing my own version of a Bacteria system. I have a 180g SPS reef and I'm dosing:

Phol's Xtra: 4ml/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

My green SPS are ok, but I can't get the blues to pop. For instance I have a green cap that supposed to have a blue edge, and you can hardly see the blue. I thought the Lugol's would help, but it hasn't. Any ideas?

Blue's can be tricky, how many blue bulbs are you running?

Lovin' the pics Sonny! :thumbsup: Everything is looking amazing; those acan's look incredible as well. Thanks!

Thanks! Took those Acan shots just for you buddy.

Sonny,

Your tank is looking amazing as always! I had to look real hard to see the cyano you said you were dealing with... looks like you've gotta it pretty well under wraps to me.

Thanks! The cyano has been a pain but I am slowly winning the battle.

Stunning tank!! :fun5:
Your T5s take the most out of your corals.
Maybe my upcoming project will be lit by T5s...



Which lamps do you mean boodlefish?

Thanks! I love your tank! :thumbsup: You should give T5;'s a shot, you wont be disappointed.

Hi Sunny
Wonderfully tank, been my inspiration for my new rimless zeo tank o am just setting up, quick question.. Did you rinse your special grade reef sand before using, I have the same sand and it is giving me cloudy silt/dust problems.

I rinsed it in 5bucket loads of ro water but it is still covered in silt.

Thanks

Mike

Uk

Hello Mike,

I rinse my sand out in ro water and place it in a tub with tank water along with a heater and power head for at least 24 hours. This will stop the sand from causing ALK and PH swings when adding it to your setup.

Sonny in the 2nd last picture is that a hawkins blue? Great stuff as always.

Yep, that's the one. It was much larger a few months ago, that is before I took the frag sheer to ever single SPS. I wasn't ready to get into a larger system so I had to do a massive trimming of corals.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

Love the fish pic of everybody headed left!

 

[willan]

Hello Sonny,I know you are using 1260 pump for return but why your return pipe looks like a 1-1/2" any reason may you can tell me?
sorry if you posted it and I missed it...THANK YOU!!!

 

[jbanks]

Hey Sonny, Have you considered running Ozone in your tank. I've noticed a significant organic breakdown in my tank since starting it last week. Although my 851 is still foaming like a beast, the skimmate has gotten a bit lighter, which is expected as Ozone starts breaking down organics. I always had an ozonizer on the tank, but was unaware that it was not funtioning properly until last week so I replaced the unit.. Like you, I have been battling Cyano for the last month or so.. After starting the Ozone... EVERYTHING in the tank improved. Now I did try a few different things at the same time inlcuding changing over to vinegar and changing the bacterial source, but whatever has happened is short of amazing in my tank over the last week. MUCH clearer water and I thought it was clear already, The sand is looking like it was physically scrubbed and even my fish look amazingly healthy. I had been having an issues with ich coming and going. Everything looks like new money. My assumption, is that whatever the cyano was feeding on is becoming very limited due to all of the above.. I can't find any anywhere in the Tank.. I'm hoping this will last.. I just wanted to pass my observations to you and get your thoughts.. I'll let you know over the next few weeks if things stay stable with the current condition. Oh, I have noticed a considerable increase in ORP, which I'm really happy about because with my tank being in the basement with windows closed and not too far from my boiler and Hot water heater, my PH is always low normal and ORP is usually betweem 280 and 320.. Now, it's up in the high 3s and I can notice my fish breathing easier...

 

[DML08]

BLING BLING!!! on them pics there Sunny..

 

[Kamisxy]

RO/DI water is what I'd suggest if possible abd is what I use for all parts of the recipe. I buy my epsom salts at Costco and I have only seen one brand there. Just make sure the epsom salts are not scented or anything like that.

hey thanks bud....whats abd?so the epsome salt should just be plain?they have different kinds?

 

[SunnyX]

Love the fish pic of everybody headed left!

Thanks!

Hello Sonny,I know you are using 1260 pump for return but why your return pipe looks like a 1-1/2" any reason may you can tell me?
sorry if you posted it and I missed it...THANK YOU!!!

The return line is actually 1". It has been a while so I will double check the size just in case.

Hey Sonny, Have you considered running Ozone in your tank. I've noticed a significant organic breakdown in my tank since starting it last week. Although my 851 is still foaming like a beast, the skimmate has gotten a bit lighter, which is expected as Ozone starts breaking down organics. I always had an ozonizer on the tank, but was unaware that it was not funtioning properly until last week so I replaced the unit.. Like you, I have been battling Cyano for the last month or so.. After starting the Ozone... EVERYTHING in the tank improved. Now I did try a few different things at the same time inlcuding changing over to vinegar and changing the bacterial source, but whatever has happened is short of amazing in my tank over the last week. MUCH clearer water and I thought it was clear already, The sand is looking like it was physically scrubbed and even my fish look amazingly healthy. I had been having an issues with ich coming and going. Everything looks like new money. My assumption, is that whatever the cyano was feeding on is becoming very limited due to all of the above.. I can't find any anywhere in the Tank.. I'm hoping this will last.. I just wanted to pass my observations to you and get your thoughts.. I'll let you know over the next few weeks if things stay stable with the current condition. Oh, I have noticed a considerable increase in ORP, which I'm really happy about because with my tank being in the basement with windows closed and not too far from my boiler and Hot water heater, my PH is always low normal and ORP is usually betweem 280 and 320.. Now, it's up in the high 3s and I can notice my fish breathing easier...

Wow, that sounds VERY interesting!
What unit are you running?

I have always thought about running ozone but was worried about the effects of it on humans and plastics in the tank.

If I could learn a bit more about it I may give it a shot.

 

[DML08]

on your pic of your sump a while back I didn't see a float valve or ATO floats.. do you top off manually or do you run a ATO?..

 

[jbanks]

I switched from a Red Sea (POS!) to an Ozotech Poseidon 200mg/hr. What's nice about them are that they are very well made and you do not have to run an air dryer with the Ozotech and it runs beautifully. Just switch your air valve on your skimmer to a 1/4 inch john guest fitting. connect that to a Lees 1/4" Tee that can be found at Petland and connect that to the output line of your ozonizer. The open end will allow your skimmer to suck in O3 and fresh air unrestricted. Your Deltec will hold up fine at 50+ mg/hr, that original air valve will not. The JG will do the trick for you along with the tee and some ozone safe tubing. I run a small air pump connected to the inlet of the ozonizer to get the 03 to the Tee, where it is sucked into the skimmer. Just allow your skimmer output to flow over some GAC and place a GAC pad or sack of GAC over your skimmer cup and you are now environment safe. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

 

[newsalt]

Blue's can be tricky, how many blue bulbs are you running?

I'm running:

FRONT
ATI Blue+
KZ Figi Purple
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue+

 

[ECFENCING]

I am getting issues with Diatoms, cant seem to get rid of them...even AFTER a 90% water change, they are just as invasive as they were before. However, i do notice that at the start of my lighting period, there aren't noticeable, but towards the end, they are everywhere. Overnight they die off but when my lights go on they come back.

I tried reducing the amount i feed but that didn't work. I stopped the vodka dosing, only dosing MB7 and that might have helped but in a very little way. TDS on top off water is 0 and my sump has recently been clean so im running out of ideas -_-. However, even with this happening my corals are still able to grow and have been growing so im pretty happy

I have the same issue.......have you had any luck getting rid of it?

It's driving me nuts....lights off it's gone..early on when the lights are one not noticeable but toward the end it's all over the rocks...

So I'm stopping MB7...hopefully it gets better

Sonny: Tank looks great as always!

 

[boodlefish]

Which lamps do you mean boodlefish?

I was kind of assuming that the 6500K bulbs listed were the GE: 6500K often recommended to help with green and yellow colors by The Grim Reefer.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/GE/54W_6500K_Daylight_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_General_Electric

 

[kaserpick]

Thanks! Took those Acan shots just for you buddy.

Thanks! Much appreciated!

 

[ganjero]

I have a 36" long oceanic tank with a 6 bulbs powermodule and I feel like changing to MH but everytime I see this thread I feel like keeping the PM. I always had big tank with MH and feel like the growth and color is better but lately my frags are starting to take off.

Really nice tank and pics sunny.

 

[Kamisxy]

Hey Sonny I was wondering what do you use to feed your coral?.....thanks
Also I remember u said u used Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure to dip corals before u put them into ure tank...is that dip for just hard corals?...or for all?hard and soft?

 

[Kamisxy]

And I remember u running a reactor...what kinda media are u running in there?....lol..sorry dude if i ask too many questions...just tryin to learn from all u master reefers out there