The Rebirth/Rebuild of my 180g sps thread

[jsdancer]

Latest additions

Latest additions

Well its been a few weeks since my last post.
Things in the tank are coming along. I am finally getting some coralline algae! There must of been some hair algae spores in the water I had used from the old setup because I have patches of hair algae in the tank.
I certainly do not want to add any chemicals that get rid of this algae so for now I am keeping an eye on it and being extremely hands on with water quality. Planning to purchase a Hanna meter to really check my phosphate levels. For now the salifert kit is showing around 0.003 to 0.005. Not sure if this is too high.
You guys can let me know.

I also am noticing where the build up of detrius is accumilating. These areas are showing signs of less flow so I am planning on adding another 2 korelia pumps then this summer will add two more mp40's ES models.

I bit the nerves and bought some SPS acros. They have now been in the tank for 1 week and show very good signs, PE great! These are the first acro's in the tank besides the monti's.
So far none of the angels are touching the monti's or the acro's.


Tri-color wwc acro

Green birds nest

Green tenuous acro

This is next one is a nice one! Except I can not remember its name! Will have to call the guys at WWC.

 

[jsdancer]

Update:
Been very busy traveling for work and trying to get hair algae under control with extra water changes and siphoning out as much with each water change as I can. I am not adding anything that would produce extra phosphates so its gotta be coming from somewhere. It was time for me to look at my RO unit at possibly not doing its job throughly.
After looking at what I would be spending on a new Membrane filter, plus three other cartigdes the cost would be over $100.00. My unit is more than 20 years old. I never purchased it brand new and I know I have had it for at least 15 years.
I ordered from Filter Direct, after winning a bid on Ebay, for a 7 stage RO/DI unit. I can not believe that I will be getting a 5 gallon tank, plus a host of other items for $150.00. It will be here early next week and I will post details as soon as possible.

A couple of weeks ago I added a few more corals.
Here are the latest pieces:

Purple tip tabling Efflo

One of the fastest growers Tyree Setosa

Deepwater acro bluish tips

Gorgeous blue tip tenous

 

[bikeboss11]

Aquascaping looks great....

 

[jsdancer]

Aquascaping looks great....

Thanks bikeboss!!

 

[jsdancer]

Update ......May 29th, 2012

Well finally I was able to attack my hair algae problem first hand! I made several slow changes so that I did not shock my system which at this point is only 7 months old.

Change 1
Three weeks ago I bought a 7 stage RO/DI because I knew that the one I had was faulty and was not doing its job due to the fact that I continued to grow hair algea at a fantastic rate! Whether this was the only contributing factor? Most likely not!

After installing the RO unit I prepared my water to make a 25% water change.

Change 2
Because of the current corals I had I did not want to do less than 3 hrs of light so in this department I only gave 3 hrs. less than the normal 6 I was giving them.

Change 3
I am making a point of changing my filter socks every three days as opposed to every 2 weeks. I realized that as the socks became clogged and they overflowed, I got a lot of detritus build up in my middle part of my sump. This I am sure was like a buffet all you can eat for the hair algae!

Changes 3 and 4
Changed and added carbon and a Brightwell's Phosphate remover pellets. I saw almost an immediate change and the green algae started to turn grey. This allowed me to siphon the dead out.
Back on my road trips and I could not make any other changes. As the initial water change lost its effect so did the carbon and the phos remover. I noticed the algae come back as I thought it would.

I knew that a bigger effort was needed so I planned on this past weekend to do major stuff!

Scrapping the rocks, glass was a MUST!!! The whole process started at 9am and I did not finish until about 7pm that evening!!
WOAH!!!
Major lesson here DO NOT SKIMP ON HUSBANDRY and YOUR WATER CHANGES!!!
Here is a short video taken with my iPad of the before.



As I started to remove water I scrapped my rocks

 

[jsdancer]

Here are a few shots of the process as I continued that last weekend in the quest of hair algae removal. The back glass you can see I scraped the right side and the left still at the time of the pic had algae.

On the left and right corner overflows what once was covered in coralline algae became a nesting ground for the hair algae. Had to use a strong brush for removing the algae.

After rearranging the scape a little for better flow so that we get no dead zone I am on my way to filling the tank back up! A lot of hours guys and I never want to go thru that again!

 

[jsdancer]

Well one week has passed and I can report that all is well. Water parimeters are in check:
Ca 450
Alk 9.6
Mg 1350
Ph 8.23
Po 0.00 to 0.03
Nit 0.05

Did not lose ANY corals! So very proud of that! Some like my monti cap's did lose color but all else is good.
Added Brightwell's Phos remover
Cleaned Reef Octopus pump and skimmer.

There is still some algae on corner over flow walls. Will attack those next week. My MH lights are on for 3 hrs. The Super power brights are one for 5 hrs.

Here are some pics of the tank and a short video.
Next time add animals in about two weeks.

 

[jsdancer]

Update 7-01-2012
Well I am into the 8th month and things are going ok. I have been out of town but keeping close care of the reef tank.
As I do my 20% water changes every three weeks the amount of impurity still in the tank form the old RO Unit most likely are still evident in the water.
Unfortunately I am having the old GHA syndrome and have started to use the Red Sea product called NOPOX.
So far I am dosing less than the recommended rate and have seen my phosphates and nitrates drop. Especially my nitrates.
You would think that with star board being bare bottom you would not have accumilation of nitrates and phosphates but that can not be further than from the truth. The rocks to the corals to the fish they all produce waste.
Algae is somewhat under control but I understand that it will take awhile before it is completely gone.
In the meantime I am also using Read Sea's reef care product called, "reef foundation ABC+."
It has kept my Ca at 450, my Mg at 1450 and my Alk at 10.2. Of course some corals are loving it by showing signs of growth and others are slow in growth signs no matter what you put into the tank.

Since my tank has a HUGE amount of available real estate I could not pass up the 4th anniversary at WWC or their online 24 hr super sale.

Here are some the latest additions to the tank :

True Orenji Monti

Fire Echino Lamellosa

Raspberry Mille

WWC Area 51 Chalice

 

[Sensei ClamMan]

Hey, awesome build and really nice collection just wanted to make a reference to the sump pics a few pages back. Are the overflow pipes ( the blue flex stuff) is that blowmold vacuum hose with glued on cuffs used for pools. If it is I'd change that out fast, I've been a pool service guy for close to 20 years and can say that I don't see those glued cuffs lasting too long. The glue is weak and am surprised that it even not dripping. Maybe it's some other type of pipe but I've had reef tanks as long as I've been cleaning pools and never seen anyone plumb with it. Other drawback it's ribbed inside as well, major detritus trap, that why we aren't allowed anything like that on a commercial pool or spa construction as it can be a biofilm hazard. My 2 cents.

 

[jsdancer]

Update 09/2012
Lots has happened since my last update back in July!!!

Well for starters the GHA problem kept persisting. I started to use the new Red Sea products. While the NoPox lowered the phosphates and nitrates the algea continued. Trying to keep patient in order to let the product work. I figured that I would not see the GHA while I was away on my work related trips as they say outta site, outta mind. Anyway, at the end of July I came home and heard the dreaded noise coming from my main GEN-X pump. The noise was LOUD. Unfortunately all I could do was unplug it and wait a minute or two and replug it. This seemed to help. A day or so later the noise would come back so I would unplug and plug.
Unfortunately the GHA was still there and the NoPox was inits 4th week of dosing. As I left for another trip I did a 10% WC. While on the trip my nephew called and said he thought that the pump was dead. We went thru all the steps to figure remotely whether this was true or not. It was DEAD!!! Thank god my vortech pumps kept running!!

I came home a week later and started looking for the same pump gen -x pump. But I did not want the same pump. This pump was an energy hogger!! But knowing I had another trip coming up and I wanted a quick change of old to new pump and off I would go. The gen -x pump was more expensive than I could afford. I was researching other pumps when I realized how much I like the bubble blaster pump on my skimmer.
Bam! Found the bubble blaster HY -10000w.
Problem solved right? Nope! lol
Pump arrived while I was away on business. I went to install and noticed that nothing of the old setup matched the new pump!! Oh man!!!
Had to go on another biz trip so did another 10% WC and off I went. But something interesting had started to happen on the 6th week. Not adding any nopox or anything other feeding every other day pellet food, cutting down on MH's to only two hrs per day I noticed GHA was dieing off!!!!
Had the Red Sea products finally started to work? Possibly, but ALL GHA gone!!!
I thought that at least the one thing that went right was the disappearance of GHA. Could it be possible that around the 8th month the tank had finally matured? I don't know.
What I do know is that I lost most of my sps's with the exception of some monti's. None of my chalice's were harmed or the Atlantic blue ridge coral.

Last biz trip came and went but before I left I made an appointment with the guys over at WWC for a replumbing of my system.
The guys came in last Monday on Labor Day and went to town on my tank's plumbing!

Here are some pics of the plumbing. What a difference this makes!!!!! Very clean looking and much more appealing and workable. I still have to work on cleaning up the wires but its defintiely BETTER!!!
The "A" guys Alec and Ace did a fantastic job!! Very professionally done workmanship IMO and well worth it. Thanks guys!!!


Before

After

Before

After

 

[jsdancer]

Here are some more pics after cleaning up some more wires, lol!!

Ace working

Alec making the connections to the chiller

The WWC guys after a job well done!!

 

[jsdancer]

With the plumbing getting done it was a great opportunity to have the guys install an ATO system. Man can't believe I did not get this done sooner!!!

A 10 gallon tank

An ATO unit

A lift pump

Regular tubing and the sensor valves that come with the unit. One inside the 10g tank, the other inside the sump by the return pump.

Once the sensor in the sump sends a signal that the water level has dropped then the ATO turns on the lift pump and returns the water from the 10g tank to the sump. What a device!!! Keeps the water level for the skimmer and keeps the water in the display tank as constant as possible. This unit will come in handy on my week long trips!!

 

[jsdancer]

Update 09-19-2012

Well its been roughly three weeks since the install of the piping. VERY happy to say that no leaks and the ease of closing valves to remove filter sock is great.
My fav gadget has to be the ATO. I love the way it keeps the skimmer water level constant. This inturn keeps the addition of fresh water to the display tank without any HUGE fluctuations in salinity, another plus!

So far the acclumilation of phos and nitrates was unavoidable.
Water parameters before the piping install:
Ca 350
Alk 11
Mag 1100
Phos 1.00
Nitates 18.0
Salinity was a wopping 1.029
Within 3 weeks, a 20% water change and the addition of Nopox my parameters are:
Ca 430
Alk 8.6
Mag 1400
Phos 0.12
Nitrates 4.0
Salinity 1.25
20% water change this coming Sunday.
This past weekend it was shopping time!!! Yep I got my fix and the need for sticks has started!

Here are the latest additions to the tank and a couple of FTS's!

WWC efflo blue tips white polyps

Beginnings of a like garf bonsai type of sps

Neon green tip birdsnest

Stylophora sps

 

[jsdancer]

Here are some of the other additions


Purple milli

LA Lakers Zoa's

Fire and Ice Zoa's

This one is to replace the one I had lost with all the mess from before.
Superman monti (one of my all time favorites)

 

[jsdancer]

9-23-2012
Update today I will do a 20% WC.
I added these beauties this past week and just got to upload them for record purposes of the thread but for me also to gauge growth as time goes on.

This is a watermelon chalice that needs no photo shopping whatsoever!!!
Key lime mango sherbet chalice

Here is the entire chalice

Some pretty green/blue zoas for bottom color

 

[jsdancer]

A few more additions

Nicely colored pink milli

Great florescent green acro, this one looks great under actinic as well as MH radiums

Well here she is guys. Still need to glue the last few pieces but at least you can see the beginning bones.

 

[jsdancer]

Here is a quick video that I took from my ipad the other night.
Not 100% happy w it. Why? Well video camera does not let me adjust white balance on the ipad. Which causes the pic to show almost w a blue hue to it. If the ipad does have a way to control the white balanace I have not figured out yet how to adjust it.
But it at least shows what is happening today in the tank and also helps me keep a record of what the corals look like and what they will look like 6 months from now.
One thing that you can tell is how the rock work, from being bleached, has started to cover up nicely in purple coraline algae.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ICbBS2nqA&feature=g-upl

 

[jsdancer]

Update 10-14-2012
Things are coming along pretty well. I have started to use the Red Sea Reef Care Program.
While it is too soon to tell of its benefits I have implemented the reef foundation ABC and the NoPox part of the system.
I can say that in the last month of using NoPox in testing my nitrates are hovering around 8ppm to 4ppm and phosphates 0.20ppm to 0.16ppm.
My target levels are nitrates around 2ppm and phosphates around 0.02ppm.
One of the main reasons I think that the levels have not been reached is due to the fact that I am afraid of making any fast uncalculated dosing.
With that being said I am making an effort to use the product according to the recommended dosages. Testing is key until I get to where my target levels will be.
I have not seen any evidence of the hair algae that plagued my tank.
Could it be that the tank has finally matured and there is enough bacteria to take care of the hair algae? Not sure but the No and Phos levels have been steady and no increases on either of those paramters.

An explosive growth of purple and pink coralline algae. Most of the star board is competely covered with red/purple coraline algae. At first some brown diatom algae showed up on the front and back glass. The brown diatom algae was telling me that the tank was in one way or another still adjusting. Now I am getting the familiar green algae that you scrap off with the blades or floating type magnets.

I still feed every other day and mh lights are still at 4 hrs per day, on some days its on more like 5 hrs as I tinker around the tank. Actinics are at 6 hrs per day. As for the corals only some of the recently bought sps have seen some color changes. As I continue to increase the light source I will see the colors come back 100%.
Most of the monti's have kept great coloring. A couple chalice's are showing signs of possibly getting to much light but will continue to monitor them.

Last night I was replacing the two wets sides of my ES mp40's and next thing I know my cleaner shrimp is crawling on my hand pecking the hairs on my hand. Lol !!! He seems to now figure he is big enough and he can.

Calcium is being consumed because I have to dose the reef foundation for 3 days in order to keep a level of about 450.

Alk has been VERY steady at 8.0dkh to 8.2dkh.

Mg at a steady 1450

Salinity continues to stay at 1.024. I owe this to the ATO that doses evaporated water as needed.

As for growth.....most of the chalices are showing their typical green rings.
The acro's and monti's are not showing signs yet of growth yet.
The Atlantic blue ridge coral is showing signs of encrusting a neighboring rock. I will have to get a pic to post.

The following are my latest additions. I am trying to acquire some of the old sps pieces I used to have but they are hard to find these days.
I'll keep looking though!

Hollywood Stunner chalice

Red Stylocinella

ORA's Ponape birdsnest

ORA's Purple Nana

 

[jsdancer]

Update 10/31/2012

Well things in reef - a - palozza are always changing BUT for the better.
My choice to continue the Red Sea's reef care program have allowed me to measure and analyze those results so I can take action.
So far I have gotten the No3 down to 0.0ppm. My Phos are down to 0.08ppm. I am following the manufacture instructions and now adjusting the NoPox additions so that my nitrates are between 1 - 2ppm. Gee never thought I would be wanting nitrates, lol!!

I have started feeding everyday now to make sure my fish stay healthy but foremost to keep my corals fed as well. Once your nitrates drop to 0.0ppm while using the NoPox your corals, at least mine, started to get pale. In other words my corals were being starved!!!

I purchase the Red Sea's Coral Colors additives but have not started to dose yet. Once again need to test to make sure how much to dose. I once read from one reefer, who was a TOTM winner here, who said I will not put anything into my tank that I can not test for. So until I acquire the test kit to test what is in there to begin with I will not dose the product. Fear not I have ordered the Red Sea Colors Pro Test Kit.

I had an opportunity to purchase some corals from a fellow aquarist. For one, I believe that we have so many reef enthuasist out there that have awesome tanks with flipping mouth watering sticks. Two, these corals ultimately need trimming. Then third, here comes the fragging/grow out tanks. These guys need us newbies to acquire/buy these frags to seed our new reefs and make more room in those frag tanks. And finally these corals are now used to growing and thriving in captivity. Don't get me wrong I love those aquacultured and maricultured pieces as well. And lol, fear not LFS's I will continue opening my wallet.

Anyhow here are my latest additions. None are glued anywhere yet as they are aclimating to the new lighting in my tank. I will move them weekly until they reach sweet spot!

I have always wanted a Pink Stylo and finally I got one at WWC!!!

This is another piece that a couple of yrs ago was unattainable to me, Strawberry Shortcake, bad pic but you can still see the colors.

Acropora plana

Acropora Valida

 

[jsdancer]

Acropora Green Blue tip Tenuis

Purple Acropora Rosaria

Red Planet

Tri color Efflo