Tanglovers 60g Rimless NPS Build

[tanglovers]

Well time for an update.

Tank is doing well. I just stocked a bunch of non-photo gorgonians and minebea.

I have the minifridge auto feeding setup running, just need to program the autofeeder. I am going to be feedin Shellfish Diet 1800, Roti-Feast and Oyster Feast. How often do you think I should start? Once an hour, or every 2-3 hours?

Couple shots:

 

[freetareef]

very nice!!

 

[coltrref]

Well time for an update.

Tank is doing well. I just stocked a bunch of non-photo gorgonians and minebea.

I have the minifridge auto feeding setup running, just need to program the autofeeder. I am going to be feedin Shellfish Diet 1800, Roti-Feast and Oyster Feast. How often do you think I should start? Once an hour, or every 2-3 hours?

hello Tanglovers

I was waiting update, and I am amazed by NPS corals.

I believe that for the quantity of NPS, every 2-3 hours, but it is necessary to observe if it is necessary to reduce the time an hour.

in my experience, I like more the food for slow dripping.

a question:

to what capacity does it have his vortech mp40?

 

[michael_cb_125]

The tank looks great!

I love the Bandits!

~Michael

 

[Moort82]

Thats going to be an awesome tank very soon. Love the bandits too.

 

[tanglovers]

Here are a couple shots of the auto feeding, mini fridge. The design has been copied from the big NPS experts. It utilizes an Avanti fridge (most energy efficent - under 60 watts), bubble magus triple head doser, kent venturi. I then hooked in a 25 watt UV sterilizer because I prefer to run UV on all my systems. The water leaves the sump via the return pump, flows through the UV, then into the fridge where the venturi is and then into the display tank. This way the foods being dosed are going straight into the tank.

I am automatically feeding Reed Mariculture / Reef Nutrition products - Shellfish Diet 1800 (phyto mix), Roti-Feast and Oyster Feast.

 

[tanglovers]

to what capacity does it have his vortech mp40?

I have the two MP40s turned about 40% of the way up, this gives tons of flow and does not stir up the sand. Since they are on the back wall they are only shooting to the front.

 

[Aquabacs]

Project is looking great!

For feeding with the frig:
Start with 4 feedings a day to see how your system handles it. Skimmer functioning/foam recovery time, PO4 levels, and most important how the corals are responding

Mike

 

[uhuru]

Very clean. The avanti fridge that Mike found is perfect for these systems in terms of size, quietness and wattage used.

 

[tanglovers]

Thanks guys!

Any rough idea for how much (volume wise) to start my feedings at? I know you need to adjust I am just looking for a starting point. I know these diets are very concentrated.

 

[uhuru]

1) For the first feeding, do a "surge dose" of about 5 mL of OF. Wait about 10-20 min. See if that gets you a feeding response. If not, increase the dosage. Don't move on to step 2 until you get step 1 figured out.

2) Follow step 1 about 20 min. later with second feeding that includes everything (including the OF again). For this second feeding a little goes a long way. Its a good idea to have a mesoscope or some magnification to see if the polyps are catching the food and what percentage of them are catching it. You'd be surprised how much you miss with the naked eye. The percentage depends on how often you feed. If you feed every hour, if only 25% of the polyps feed at a time it should be fine, although I shoot for more.

The early stages are all about observation and patience. This is an important skill that a lot of people forget about and end up failing with NPS systems. Wait and observe, wait and observe, etc...

 

[uhuru]

If it turns out you are feeding too much, tank is looking dirty, cloudy, corals looking unhappy, etc., your best tool is water changes. I say this because you may want to push your tanks limits to see how much feeding you can get away with. Thats part of the learning process too, but you have to be ready for a crash and prepared to act fast.

 

[tanglovers]

Thanks for the info.

I always have water on hand, so if a 'crash' occurs we should be able to handle it. Should I be concerned about doing 50-75% water changes with NPS corals (water would be temp and pH matched)? I assume if a water change like this is needed it is better then leaving them in a higher percentage of tank water.

 

[matt12]

beautiful!! any updates?

 

[oldss72]

Great tank,

In the center of one of the pics, it looks like a blueberry gorgonian, how long have you had it? Have you been able to keep it alive long?

Thanks,

 

[9thwonder]

Awesome tank. Any updates?

 

[straightjiggy10]

any updates? just got a 36x24x17

 

[mattGgator]

That looks great!

 

[ninjazx777]

what are the dimensions of your fridge? I plan on doing a NPS tank in the future and wanted to know if i can get a fridge to fit under a stand

 

[drgnl8i]

Can you come set up mine?! very nice. I like the feeding set up you have too. That's awesome.