Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164” x 48” x 56” SPS peninsula build

[jkwick]

Thinking of getting back into the hobby of reefing after 20+ years away. I was told by a few professionals that the technology has improved dramatically since that time, making the maintenance and resource commitment more doable and enjoyable. Reading Paul's thread begs the question whether the myriad of problems he has had is typical or atypical of marine aquariums. This from a guy with a wealth of personal experience and $$. Welcome any feedback

 

[Gig 'em]

Thinking of getting back into the hobby of reefing after 20+ years away. I was told by a few professionals that the technology has improved dramatically since that time, making the maintenance and resource commitment more doable and enjoyable. Reading Paul's thread begs the question whether the myriad of problems he has had is typical or atypical of marine aquariums. This from a guy with a wealth of personal experience and $$. Welcome any feedback

That's a very good question. I can't answer for Paul, but I've toured his tank set up in person and I've researched and talked to an academic researcher about the issues he's facing. We're currently hypothesizing microbial disease causes. Totally a hypothesis at the moment and there are many tests to be run to determine that, but I can personally attest to the tremendous success I have had in the past 5 years with corals compared to what I was dealing with 15 years ago when I first started. So yes, technology has certainly come a far way in the past 20 years and we can more successfully keep corals now than we could before. I think the situation with this tank is unique and we're still working to figure out exactly what is hindering coral health at the moment.

 

[jkwick]

Thanks Gig 'em. I am quite relieved to hear your answer. I had always heard that larger systems were easier i.e. more stable conditions, fewer fires to put out etc., but for Paul quite the opposite. I applaud his herculean effort to turn lemons into lemonade!

 

[iced98lx]

Hey @Lowefx, I will update with pictures next time I'm in Austin in October.

Short update is that not much has changed as I put the system into 'suspend' mode about 3 months ago. I decided to delay retirement and go for one more turn of the crank in startup land. We are still keeping the Austin house and planning to retire there, but now there will be a roughly 4 year delay while I build out the new company in NYC. I'm now living mostly in Manhattan, with only 5 days a month in Austin. My husband very generously agreed to take on most of the system maintenance, but it would be unreasonable to ask him to also deal with growing the system, so all quarantines are shut down except for the Coral QT, and it is not taking any new additions.

Quick update is that the fish are all doing wonderfully well, and chemistry has been very stable on the Alk, Ca, and Nitrates front. Corals still are not thriving in the DT, but have been doing okay. Pics in a few weeks.

Best Regards,

The entrepreneurial drive isn't easy to get rid of. Better to dive back in vs sitting in retirement trying to figure out what to do with yourself. Glad your husband is willing to keep things steady for a few years until you're ready to dive back in.

 

[pmrogers]

October 2017 Update

October 2017 Update

As promised, an update with some pictures. No time to write my usual novella, but also not that much has changed. Highlights:

• Stable Chemistry: Water chemistry has been relatively stable. Salinity between 1.023 and 1.026, Alk between 6.5 and 9 never drifting more than one point in one week; calcium 440 to 500; Nitrates at 4 in the Coral QT, 6 to 8 in the DT; Phosphates 0.0 in both tanks; pH ranging from 7.95 to 8.2;
• Corals continue to struggle for the most part. You can see burnt tips, muted color, erratic bleaching in the pics. On the bright side, a yellow scroll coral that started bleaching in the DT has reversed its trend and started to regain color.
• Coraline algae still not thriving. Calcareous algae has yet to take off. I even introduced a few rocks with 15 years of thriving coraline in thick plates to each tank. Those rocks are maintaining, but nothing has significantly colonized elsewhere in the tanks.
• Fish are mostly thriving except for the yellow tangs. All of the 'delicate' fish are doing wonderfully well, but the school of 9 yellow tangs has dwindled down to 5, with only 2 of the remaining looking healthy. A double shame given the recent Hawaiian law; I wish I'd started with 20 or so and could have stabilized to 7 or 8.
• A beautiful 18" H. Magnifica that I introduced to the coral QT shortly before leaving for New York has not helped matters with the corals as it decided to be itinerate and loop the tank once a week, stinging everything along the way. It did finally settle down about 6 weeks ago and, knock wood, hasn't moved since then.

 

[Mishri]

Hmm.. I wonder if it's the lights? Your PAR might be fine, but the spectrum could be off.... -sps grows best under actinic lighting, high blues.. could be getting burned from too much white light... easy enough to test if someone can loan you an 8x T5 actinic setup for a section of your tank for a few weeks

 

[McPuff]

The vlamingi is incredible! How are the softies doing? Perhaps you just have to go with what you're given. Not a great insight but maybe it'll lead to something pretty great.

 

[kalkwasser]

This is what I call " Go BIG or Go Home.." Impressive! I love the systems layout.

 

[mike810]

Hmm.. I wonder if it's the lights? Your PAR might be fine, but the spectrum could be off.... -sps grows best under actinic lighting, high blues.. could be getting burned from too much white light... easy enough to test if someone can loan you an 8x T5 actinic setup for a section of your tank for a few weeks

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Lowefx]

@pmrogers Happy New Year. Hopefully you got that tank back on the correct path. It's been a few months, so we're curious about the fish, any changes, and see the progress on the coral! Keep us updated! Thank you.

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[locito277]

+1!! Happy New Years btw!


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[UnderWaterworld]

Hello Paul. First I want to say nice home and Aquarium. Where did you purchase the container for your 2 part liquids?

 

[Lowefx]

@pmrogers I think we're due for an update!!!

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[Chasinkev]

That's awesome!

 

[JKR979]

Great to follow your story! This is one magnificent tank build. Hope it is still going strong.

 

[delmo]

I'm beginning the think the Slow S in SSS might be so slow you lose your RC credentials... if you still have your tank, how about an update?

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[FarmerTy]

I'm beginning the think the Slow S in SSS might be so slow you lose your RC credentials... if you still have your tank, how about an update?

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Paul spends most of his days in New York now instead of Austin. I think he mentioned it in his last post. The tank is basically in stasis for now until he resumes his time in Austin again in the next couple of years.

I was over there with a buddy last time he was in town and corals seemed happier and his magnifica anemone is gigantic. His fish looked super healthy and everything is still running like a dream.

I'm sure he'll post again once he resumes his normal life again.

 

[Gig 'em]

Paul spends most of his days in New York now instead of Austin. I think he mentioned it in his last post. The tank is basically in stasis for now until he resumes his time in Austin again in the next couple of years.

I was over there with a buddy last time he was in town and corals seemed happier and his magnifica anemone is gigantic. His fish looked super healthy and everything is still running like a dream.

I'm sure he'll post again once he resumes his normal life again.

Speaking of giant magnifica anemone, probably the biggest in Austin!

 

[Robb in Austin]

Hi guys!

 

[Lowefx]

It would be nice to see how things have progressed with this system.

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