SPS domination underway

[AugustWest]

Thanks for the comments. I have seen more growth in the last few months than I've seen in a year prior. I attribute it mostly to adding kalk to supplement my 2 part. Its like sps on crack.

Very nice. Did you have to adjust how much 2 part you were dosing when you started topping off with kalkwasser ?

Been wanting to start using kalkwasser also but don't want to throw off my 2 part dosing.

 

[biggles]

Lovely looking display mate, keep doing what you're doing :thumbsup:

 

[trueblackpercula]

Your tank is outstanding and can you talk more about you set up?

 

[dowtish]

Very nice. Did you have to adjust how much 2 part you were dosing when you started topping off with kalkwasser ?

Been wanting to start using kalkwasser also but don't want to throw off my 2 part dosing.

Adding kalk to my ATO tank has helped with the amount I dose 2 part, but I dont really keep a super saturated amount of kalk in the ATO. The acrylic lid on the tank is not air tight, so the c02 exposure makes it less potent. I have considered adding vinegar, but just havent. Only because I have everything dialed in so well right now, and dont feel like testing everday for 2 weeks right now. I started slowly, probably out of fear of wanting to be on the safe side and not changing my parameters too fast.

Before i started using kalk, I was dosing 100ml of ALK and 95ml of CAL a day. Now I am down to about 80ml of each. I am planning on adding an Avast Kalk stirrer soon, and I'm sure I will be able to dose less 2 part after that as all the kalk will be super saturated.

 

[dowtish]

Your tank is outstanding and can you talk more about you set up?

What exactly do you want to know?


Here is a pic of my DIY 40B sump

 

[88rxna]

Where do you keep your alk and cal? The sps colors are outstanding!
What bulbs are you usingfor light?

 

[dowtish]

Where do you keep your alk and cal? The sps colors are outstanding!
What bulbs are you usingfor light?

Thanks!

I keep my ALK at 8.2-8.5dkh and my CAL at 420-430.

Bulbs front to back:
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
ATI Coral +
Geismenn Actinic +
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue +

I run a truelumen blue LED strip as well.

I attribute the colors to the fact that I have run ecoBak pellets since the tank cycled. I have never had to fight high levels of Phos or Nitrates, and with that I am able to feed very heavily. Good color means not starving your tank!

This is my daily feeding schedule:

Fish: 3 pinches of Pellets and flakes around noon from my wife. At 5pm I feed some nori on the clip. At 6-7pm I feed a mixture of frozen cyclopeze, 2 various cubes of frozen, mysis, and rods fish eggs.

Coral: 10pm when the lights have gone out. I broadcast feed a mixture of oyster feast, cyclopeze, warner marine amino, and reef chili.

 

[88rxna]

I have never heard of ecobak pellets.
I do like the color output of the lights though..

 

[trueblackpercula]

Your tank is very inspirational to me. Do you feed your sps? Also how do you control the algae growth as I don't see anything. Your rocks are spot less. What ever you are doing please don't stop as it is a work of art.

 

[dowtish]

Your tank is very inspirational to me. Do you feed your sps? Also how do you control the algae growth as I don't see anything. Your rocks are spot less. What ever you are doing please don't stop as it is a work of art.

Thanks for the comments.

Read post 28 again.

I have not had a single sprig of hair algae in this tank since day 1. I also used a lot of base rock and not dry rock which seems to leach P04 and cause GHA issues. I went through the normal weird diatoms, cyanos, and slimes in the beginning while cycling and the next few months. But by running ecoBak bio pellets since the beginning I have not had to deal with turf or GHA algaes ever. I would dose good bacteria when cyano would pop up as I was constantly stocking the tank. And it would put things back in balance fairly quickly. I cant say enough about running bio pellets and dosing microbacter 7 or microbe lift's special blend. It is a sure fire way to handle the algaes and slimes, and at the same time keep my phos and trates undetectable.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Wow I may consider this approach over vodka dosing. Let me do a google search and see what I can learn.

 

[AugustWest]

What kind of photoperiod are you running?

 

[Quintis]

Very nice tank dowtish! Your corals and colors looks great! I know you love and stand by the biopellets but do you feel the fug with chaeto adds anything to the tank? I'm in the process of setting up a custom 112g sps system and I can't decide if I want to run a fug or not, but I am pretty set on running biopellets.

 

[ptreef]

definitly have some great colors going on! It will be super sweet in about another 6-9 mos and getting thick.

Time for a bigger tank! ;-)

 

[dowtish]

What kind of photoperiod are you running?

Blue LED strip runs from 10am to 10pm
2 blue+ run from 11am to 9pm
2 coral+,blue+,geismenn actinic+ run from 12noon to 8pm

Very nice tank dowtish! Your corals and colors looks great! I know you love and stand by the biopellets but do you feel the fug with chaeto adds anything to the tank? I'm in the process of setting up a custom 112g sps system and I can't decide if I want to run a fug or not, but I am pretty set on running biopellets.

The only reason I run my little fuge is for pod population and to stabalize ph as I run the light cycle opposite of my DT. I honestly dont think it is big enough to help with nutrient reduction. I feed so heavily though that the chaeto grows like mad, and not at any time has it not been healthy because of the low parameters that I'm running.

definitly have some great colors going on! It will be super sweet in about another 6-9 mos and getting thick.

Time for a bigger tank! ;-)

Thanks for the comments! I am planning a 4x2x2 upgrade in the near future. I got a Oceanic tech Tank from a buddy. It's paid for, just need to build the stand. My plan is actually to tie in a 57 gallon frag tank to the main system.

 

[dowtish]

A few more pics of other corals

 

[dowtish]

 

[ct_vol]

Great looking tank! It looks like you have everything dialed in really well. :thumbsup:

Super easy SPS for sure. It has handled my early mistakes without flinching.

Mind sharing some of your "early mistakes"? I think there is as much to learn in past failures as present success. May help some people avoid such mistakes in the future.

 

[ptreef]

Very great looking corals and photo skills!

 

[dowtish]

Very great looking corals and photo skills!

Thanks!

Great looking tank! It looks like you have everything dialed in really well. :thumbsup:



Mind sharing some of your "early mistakes"? I think there is as much to learn in past failures as present success. May help some people avoid such mistakes in the future.

Really my only mistakes early on was trying to keep demanding SPS without having real stability with my parameters, and not doing enough research on where my levels should be while running bio-pellets.
I admittedly rushed into adding livestock without having the proper equipment. I had kept SW tanks as a teenager, and came back into the hobby with a lot of the same mind set I had back then. I started my tank without a sump, and had a very inefficient HOB skimmer. When you are running bio pellets, you need a very effective and capable skimmer to handle the bacteria that you are cultivating. I also did not have the proper amount of flow that is necessary either. I remember coming to the realization one day, that I would not add another coral to the tank until I had the correct equipment to house them, and allow them to thrive.
After adding a sump, a large efficient skimmer, 2 MP40's, and dosing pumps I believe is when everything began to thrive.
After spending all the time researching and learning as much as I can, I began to spend some real money on corals, and I didnt want to lose all of that by something malfunctioning, or a power outtage. So I then made the investment on an APEX controller. I'm not saying you have to have one to be successful, but it sure makes me sleep better at night.