The Ultimate Eight Foot Softie Reef

[InsaneClownFish]

Thanks so much for all the compliments! My wife tells me all the time how amazing the tank looks. Pictures and videos don't do it justice. Marc was dead on, because the number one comment that I get from guests is that the tank is peaceful and relaxing.

"I'd never leave this room," is another one I get.

As this is officially my third reef, I've taken alot of pride in "getting it right" this time around. Thankfully, I've learned from my mistakes, and moreover, I've tried to the best of my ability to implement better practices.

I'm doing a bit of underwater gardening this time around so as to keep the tank looking balanced. My first order with Sealife Inc. was incredible. I added some nice neon blue zoas and some really sharp green/teal and teal/green ricordia. I have to say my softie garden is really starting to come along. Just as a quick aside, I'm constantly removing this fuzzy algae from around one of my zoa frags. I have no idea what it is....brown and wavy...looks just like fuzzy soft stalks. Any clues?

In the show refugium there is now Ulva, Caulerpa(leafy), Halimeda, Toadstool, Brush, and Cheato. There's the cutest lil lettuce Neudie(I think he's in the central sump), and I've also added a few astrea snails. A nice piece of red ball sponge and a feather duster round out the tank. I've finally added a male and female Seahorse pair(H. Erectus). They are doing stellar and are keeping my family mesmerized. One actively eats live brine and seems to be ignoring the frozen mysis I've mixed in, and the other seems content with hunting pods. I did see one flat worm in there but after doing some reading it's actually a harmless Acoel Worm.

reeferoo- One of my degrees is in English Lit

The flow in my tank is an optical illusion. Those Duncans get little direct flow. Most of the flow you are seeing is from the giant Koralia Magnum forcing water from the right side of the tank across the length to the left side and pushing the water around the rock work to the front of the tank. It's a big oval of flow around the rocks. The duncans are actually moving via flow from the opposite side, the left side, of where the powerheads are! Confused yet? In my experience with Duncans, they are most happy with moderate to lower flow. If they receive too much direct flow they will close up....or look "stumped." Keep in mind too that there are different varieties of Duncans. I know the ORA version have much longer "tendrils" than the ones I have. At different times mine will look more compact- this is completely normal.

My Duncans are by far my favorite coral. Hearty, beautiful, and unique. It's the only coral I will feed like it's really my pet. I'm very proud of that colony- not so much for the spectacular pedigree, but more so for the fact I've had it well over 3 years, in 3 different tanks, and it's grown from 6-7 heads(been fragged once) to over 50 heads today.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I just read your entire post and i love the size of the tank. I was wondering if you have enough flow in the tank? I am in the process of doing an 8' long tank, probably a little taller than yours and was wondering if you had the chance to do it again, would you put an overflow on the left hand side too? or is one overflow enough for the tank?

Sorry I completely missed this question. I do have a recent issue of some surface slick and what looks like a combination of dust/microbubbles on the surface that is mainly on the left side of the tank. This probably has more to do with feedings and surface agitation than it does with the size of the overflow.

James was the one who suggested the peninsula style with the side overflow. I honestly wouldn't do it any other way because of the look. Would an extra overflow be better? To be honest, not really.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Here's the show fuge in my living room. This tank feeds into the main reef:

Here's the female hiding behind the shaving brush:

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Here's some top down pics from tonight under 4 Aquamedic Ocean Blue 80w T5s(pretty much identical to ATI Blue +):

Teal Ricordia:

Here's one of my mini carpets hiding behind my violet tipped acro:

Anthelia standing still:

 

[melev]

You've been holding out! That refugium is really pretty, but you need a better light fixture I see.

The shots from your 8' tank are beautiful. Those were all under the "ocean blue" bulbs, correct? Is that better than 'actinics'?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

You don't like my Walmart special?

Actinic T5 bulbs are quite dim compared with Blue + bulbs. From what I understand, most of the T5 actinic bulbs are not in any way comparable to the best VHO actinics.

Blue + (I'm using this ATI term as a catch all for all the brands that have this high powered/spectrum blue bulb) are and actual rich blue color, very similar to the best 20k halides(although imo nothing compares to a true 20k halide for look) but with a high par. They act just like an actinic bulb, but they are not actual actinics.

In comparison, the Giesemann pure actinic 80w T5 bulb I have is quite dim.

I basically hung these to see if I would like the color spectrum of a true 20k halide on the tank. I played with quite a few bulb combinations. My initial thought was to supplement the phoenix 14ks, but to be honest, the T5s are almost completely drowned out by the halides. I don't have the room to add more, nor do I want to add extra electrical cost. To run these properly I'd have to rewire or run extension cords through the walls.

I've just ordered 4 250w DE XM bulbs to replace the phoenix 14ks from Aquarium Specialty(they had and awesome price). These are pretty mediocre on par, but the pictures of reefs with these running are second to none; and for my needs, par is of little concern. Even if par was a concern, it's negated by the shallow tank, number of halides, and size and quality of the reflectors I'm using. Remember SunnyX's beautiful reef?

It's probably time to replace the bulbs. All four were second hand and have AT LEAST 10 months on them....probably more. I'm very suspicious that the brown dusty/rust diatoms I get on the rock work are a result of the color shift in the phoenix.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

A bit more...

The T5 units are nice for now because I can plug them in to enjoy the tank when the halides go off.

The fuge hasn't been much to look at till recently. The only thing I had in there for the longest time was some halimeda and cheato. I really wanted that tank to do it's thing and to get the level of quality macros in there to make it a happy home for the seahorses. The week before last I finally grabbed some cheato from the LFS. I finally decided the tank was ready for the seahorses and I found a good price on not only the seahorses, but also the macros. I highly recommend Sealife Inc. Fantastic.

I'm running the lights on a reverse cycle, and I'm not too picky about it. When I'm home at night I throw the lights on. I admittedly wasn't running the light much at all before. I see some growth on the shaving brush, but to be honest growth seems slow. This was interesting to me, because of the brown algae I've been getting in the main tank. The cheato, while it had grown some when I had it in the main overflow, has seemingly stopped growing. Certainly it never grew as fast as in other people's systems I know. They pull it out by the handful.

Guess what? No brown algae in the fuge. This is what makes me lean towards old bulbs as the cause. What's more...I had some interesting readings from the tank....more to come...

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I broke out my tripod and started playing with the telefoto setting on my camcorder. Here are some of the better shots:

 

[InsaneClownFish]

 

[InsaneClownFish]

 

[GSMguy]

your tank looks great, I wish mine did. How's the bowing?

 

[melev]

Lots of nice macros. Did you turn off the flow for those? They are all just-a-tad blurry.

We need to come up with a nifty light fixture that doesn't cost you a lot for the refugium. I'm sure your wife would agree.

 

[GSMguy]

What about those LEDs that ryanbrucks and noonietanker put on there elos mini? Is that fuge an envisions also?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I wish mine did. How's the bowing?

Why, what's been going on with your tank? The last pics I saw it looked good. I've got a bow alright. It's probably 1" 8/10" at the centerpoint. I've talked with James about this. He knew it was going to bow a little, but he wasn't sure how much. Quite frankly, he was a little surprised himself. The tank had a very subtle bow in it to begin with, because acrylic sheets are never 100% planar. I think the sheets were placed like that purposely so that the initial bow would be the direction the water would be pushing.

Acrylic will take on water for the first 3 months and usually becomes 100% saturated in that time. I've measured off and on, and to my knowledge the bow hasn't increased since the 3-4 month mark. I'm at work right now, so I'll get an exact measurement when I get home.

From what James explained, there is no danger from the seems. Most likely, if there was going to be an issue it would have shown up already. If there is an issue, James told me I would notice a craze or small crack start to form diagonally across the top corners, and at that point, we'd drain the tank.

It's nothing that concerns me at this point although it did trip me out prior to the 3 month point. :worried: Ironically, it's not noticeable at all when you view the tank or walk into the room. You really have to walk to the far end of the tank to spot it, and the fact the tank is so long really exaggerates the effect.

The fuge tank was my old nano reef. It was built by Scott over at Aquatic Systems Design.
Those Elos lights are around $800. Way outta my league for my little fuge.

Marc, I think I was a touch too close with some of those shots. There was a touch of noise. Some of those shots were with a tripod, and others were not. Ironically, some of the non-tripod shots were actually a bit cleaner. I'll continue to work with it and see if I can get better pics. All and all not too bad for camcorder pics. All of the previous top down shots were taken with the same camera.

My wife and I saw a nice victorian looking, stained glass lamp at Lowes that would be perfect. She was really pushing me to get it, but I was in my "I'm not spending any more money on me mode." I spent quite a bit this month on odds and ends for the tank, so it's absolutely on the calendar for the future.

One important lesson I've learned in reefing, albeit one I have a hard time following-


Focus on the necessities before you go for the niceties.

 

[GSMguy]

My tanks ok, just dealing with Cyano... good to hear on the Bow, mine bows a lil bit but like you said, you have to look lengthways to see it.

not Elos lights, screw bulb self ballasted LED spotlights purchased for 50 bucks a piece and placed in a regular home depot track light system.
check out page3
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1596729

 

[RTMA]

ygpm

 

[fasteddie99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14434292#post14434292 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amoore311

Lol! Talk about good timing.


Tom Tucker likes the looks of the tank too apparently.

Yeah, I beleive thats the episode were Tom dives for his mustache when he gets it back from being fired from his job.??

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Oh and yes, the flow was off for all the pictures.

GSMguy- Yeah I've looked into every form of LED available. The upfront cost still doesn't seem to catch up with the output/savings.

fasteddie99- You got it. I've even gotten the wife into family guy. :smokin:

So here's where I've been completely confused about the readings I've been taking over the last week.

I was convinced by this point, and because of the periodic dusty brown algae, that I had small levels of Nitrates and Phosphates. Both are still zero. Now I'm leaning toward a combination of old bulbs, silicates in the sand, and my heavy feedings(phtyo frozen in).

My wife is convinced the surface film/dust I have is a direct result of the Tangs having a constant field day moving sand around.

Here's how the readings panned out:

Last Tues or Weds Night-
Temp-79
Salinity-1.026
PH- 8.0
Alk- 3meg/l (8.4 Alk)
Calcium- 300 This reading was wrong actual was 480
Phosphates- 0
Nitrates- 0

The PH and Alk were lower than I like to see. I did a small water change and buffered appropriately.
Friday Morning
Temp- 79
Salinity- 1.026
PH- 8.3
Alk- 4.5meg/l (12.8 Alk)
Calcium- 300 Another false reading- actual 480
Phosphates- 0
Nitrates- 0

Sunday Afternoon
PH- 8.2-8.3
Alk- 4 meg/l (11.2 Alk)
Calcium - 260 Actually 460

So the Alk and PH are closer to what they should be. Honestly, these differences could be due to time of day. I had backed way off my buffering because when I was using Reef Crystals, or a 50/50 mix, I was getting pretty high Alk readings.

More on this in a minute.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Last week I installed two small, in sump, Mangavore reactors. These things are great, but to be honest, after those readings I'm not entirely sure they were needed.

One reactor runs Elos Carbon, and the other runs RowaPhos. After cleaning out both sumps of sand and detritus, I've also added a small filter sock running some generic carbon. This one I change weekly, and the reactors will probably go monthly.

While maybe not needed, the water does look crystal clear.

One thing I've noticed, and been complimented on, is the health of my livestock. I'm not as impressed with the growth. Obviously, some things grow faster than others. Another thing I noticed was the extended length of time it took my chalice to overgrow the wounded area. Also, the monit caps and multi-colored acro, while they look good, haven't seemed to grow much. I know the tank they came from had either a calc reactor or dosed Kalkwasser.

So last week I started dosing Kent Kalkwasser in VERY small amounts. Melev's article this month was a great read and probably saved me some real headaches. I've already seen new growth on my caps within a matter of days. What I'm confused about is my assumption, now that I understand the calcium readings, is that my calcium was already high. So what I'm guessing, and maybe some of the more experienced Kalk users can chime in, is that even though a system my have high levels of calcium, that it may not have high enough usueable levels of Calcium Hydroxide?

I'm glad I realized my error in reading my Calcium before upping my Kalkwasser dosing. As it is now, I'm only dosing 3 teaspoons in the top off every 2-3 days. I really shouldn't read the test kit instructions when I'm overtired. Ginko anyone? :lol:

Someone recently talked on RC about how they hardly test their tank because they can look at the tank and just know if something is slightly off. I do have to agree that sometimes having a "feel" for the tank is better than constantly worrying about testing. One false reading can push one to overcorrect a problem that was never really there.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Ooops! The bow is 1 1/4" at the centerpoint.

So the clowns are in the BTA already, but this just precipitated them rejecting the 3rd clown. Where there was harmony before, suddenly, and with the introduction of the anemone, they decided to beat him overnight.

I found them picking at him the other morning, and I realized this was making the other fish see him as a target. I quickly removed him and put him in the seahorse tank. He didn't make the night. :sad1: I'm thankful that the mated pair of wild clowns I have now are doing so well, but this time around, my luck with clowns has been woeful.

I started moving the right side of the tank around. I didn't really like the Acro where it was, and it didn't look as happy as it was in the more direct flow. I moved the Crocea clam/rock over to the right in order to clear out some real estate. The Maxima? clam is up on the rock work. I originally thought this was a Squamosa, but I'm starting to think it's a Maxima, or some type of hybrid.

Man did I abuse that poor Acro moving it around. Trying to get a large colony to sit right, with putty, is a pita. Sufficed to say I have some new frags. I even whacked the colony really hard on the overhang. :mad2:

The montipora colony that was previously ravaged my monti eating nudis in a friend's tank, and after STNing quite a bit in mine, is finally showing signs of recovery. There is new growth and, while the polyps are still kinda brownish, they are always all out and the base color is returning from brown to it's original, rich orange/red.