Well I guess I have an SPS tank...

[.Chris.]

So when I originally started composing the opening post for this thread, it was very rambly, with my aquarium history and all that, but I said screw it, and instead I'll just post some pictures. I'll field questions as they come up, if they do.

Excuse my poor photography skills, as they were all done with my Galaxy Note 4, from the front. If you can suggest some tips on taking better photos with my phone, then by all means.

I will just give a couple of notes about my system before the reef porn.

• 75g rimless, with a 30g sump.
• 160w 10000k MaxSpect R420R on it, with 2x39w Giesemann Aquablue+, 2x54w Giesemann Lagoon Blue, and 2x54w Giesemann Actinic+.
• Eshopps S-150 Skimmer
• 3L Media Reactor with Seachem Matrix
• XF130 Gyre, Jebao RW-4, Jebao RW-8, Jebao DC12000 Return
• Jebao DP-4 Doser, for Alk, Ca and Acropower.
• Alk sitting around 6.2 right now, but going up after a crash down to 5.3. Ca at around 480. N is 10-15, P is 0.1ish.

I guess that's it. Some other notes on what will come in the near to middle future.

I will be changing my sump for a 75g in the next month or so, which will have a refugium and deep sand bed to try to help bring down N and P. I will also be adding a 30g frag tank onto the system, as some of the corals I have are large enough that they'll need fragging in a few months time. I will also be changing the T5s out in January for a mix of Pure Actinic, Actinic+ and Aquablue Azure if I can find them, and if not, Coral+ or something similar. I'm not satisfied with the colours on the corals, and the overall colour of my tank.

Also, I don't think there are any named corals in there, as most of them are wild specimens from fiji and indo. I know generally what they are, i.e. Acropora, Montipora, Echinophyllia.

Anyway, pictures:

FTS:

Left:

Right:

Some close up shots of various:

My first chalice, it's going through a rough patch right now, but it's recovering slowly. It used to have brilliant green patches on the vibrant orange.

This is a fiji I picked up. The body seems to be going towards a pastel green, with bluey tips. The colour is a lot better than when I picked it up, and I think with the change of lights in the new year, it'll be something very nice.

This is a terrible picture of a lovely coral. It has very nice purple tips with a pastel blue body.

I think that's it for now.

 

[scumbag_gli]

Very nice! Glad to see someone else keeps more than one tang in a small tank successfully.

 

[.Chris.]

Don't tell anyone, but I actually have a Hippo and a Yellow in the softie tank next door.

My Kole and Goldrim are totally happy in my 75g. There's abundant flow. And aside from the Kole scrapping with the female clown constantly, they're fine. The clown actually has a huge gash in her head right now from the Kole's scalpel.

The Goldrim and Sargassum occasionally wiggle at each other.

 

[.Chris.]

Another picture of my apartment. It's small, but you can see where the priorities are.

75g SPS is on the right, 60g softy is in the middle, 20g planted fire belly newt tank is on the left on my desk.

 

[reefsahoy]

You're definitely sick! Lol. You got reefers sickness!

 

[M007]

Nicely done :thumbsup:

 

[.Chris.]

The current inhabitants of my tank are:

Sargassum Trigger (Smiley)
Goldrim Tang (Arthur)
Kole Tang (Squibbly)
Ocellaris pair (DeeDee and Frankie)
One lonely Bicolour anthias (Tangerine)
Bluefin watchman goby (Galaxy/Gally) + tiger pistol shrimp
Bangaii pair (Spike and Drusilla)
Mystery Wrasse (Angel Eyes / Rollypoly)
Pair of Fire shrimp
Various snails and hermits

The names come from my girlfriend... It helps keep her from complaining too much when I buy stuff for the tank. "But it's to keep DeeDee alive!"

I'll probably add about 10-20 nano fish eventually. I was thinking geometric Hawks, coral gobies, maybe a Mandarin pair, some hover gobies, etc. I find that while the big fish are active there is nothing small to draw the eye.

 

[reefmutt]

Looking good Chris!
I like your dedication.. That's code for I enjoy seeing people who are as sick as I am..
Now, just because you got a couple sps in there doesn't mean you can just leave the tank like that..
You better add a couple more or the sps bullies will run you out of town.
Curious, what's the t5/led configuration under the hood?

 

[.Chris.]

160w 10000k maxspect razor
2x 39w giesemann aquablue+
2x 54w giesemann lagoon blue
2x 54w gisemann actinic+

I'm not satisfied with the colour though. I'll be switching to 2x 39w pure Actinic, 3x 54w aquablue+, and maybe 1 coral+ or something. I'd like the Aquablue azure but I can't find them locally.

The plan is to leave the tank more or less alone as far as stocking is concerned. I only have room for maybe 3-4 frags and I'd like to see what kind of colour and growth I get on these first before going bananas. But who knows maybe I'll take some stuff out.

 

[reefmutt]

that's a serious amount of light.
Are you running 3 tubes, then the maxspect and then 3 more tubes?
Don't worry, I'll be nice, you don't have to change your corals..
Anyways, once you start to see your acros grow, you'll want to try a couple more and then it'll all be over.. You'll be hooked.

 

[.Chris.]

That's right. I'll post a few pictures of my setup and my mess of wires. It was NOT fun to run them all through a tiny hole I drilled through my wall. I'm looking forward to cutting out some gyprock to run my pipes through when I upgrade my sump in a few weeks!

In the next picture, you can see where I'll be putting my sump. it'll be on the floor against the wall on the left. That shelf will be coming out, and either put elsewhere, or junked. I'll have to sacrifice one of my waterchange bins (containers with the yellow tops) to do it, but it's worth it to increase the system volume by 70g and add a refugium/frag tank.

A question I have is whether or not it's worthwhile or necessary to upgrade my skimmer. The one I have now performs flawlessly, and seems to handle the bioload well. With the increase in system volume, but no increase in bioload (and probably a decrease in nutrient levels with the added refugium), is it worth looking into a skimmer upgrade?

 

[.Chris.]

Another question I have.

Currently I'm dosing alk, ca and acropower. I have another dosing head available. Should I dose magnesium? Or some kind of coral food? And if coral food what do you guys recommend?

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Nice clean display. As for dosing mag is your system consuming it enough to warrant dosing. What alk n ca are you dosing now 2-part?

 

[.Chris.]

Well from what I understand mag level isn't very important except to "lock in" ca and alk. Higher mag means you can keep ca and alk higher.

So I just don't know if it's worth it, maybe I should just add it in bulk periodically?

I'm using Red Sea Foundation.

 

[reefmutt]

I don't see the point in changing your skimmer if your system is doing fine.. No problem algea or anything like that. Still pretty early in your system's development..
What is your mag level?
Not sure constant dosing of mag is necessary..
Testing and adding the required amount is usually sufficient. It's usually not something that swings dramatically..

 

[.Chris.]

I don't see the point in changing your skimmer if your system is doing fine.. No problem algea or anything like that. Still pretty early in your system's development..
What is your mag level?
Not sure constant dosing of mag is necessary..
Testing and adding the required amount is usually sufficient. It's usually not something that swings dramatically..

Well I'll be adding a significant volume of water. I realise the size of the skimmer is dependent on bioload and not the system volume but still.

Mag is 1200.

 

[reefmutt]

I'd certainly boost that mag.. Not sure it needs to be dosed, though..

 

[Icefire]

Nice to see a local!
keep the mag there, found some article that bumping mag 100ppm can decrease growth

I run 6 head Alk Ca Acropower and Redsea B C D

How the tank love the hi light? currently building a 36x36x24 cube with 1 Radion G2 pro, 2 Radion G2 and 2 Hydra 52 (~680 W or 66W/sq feet)

 

[.Chris.]

So I decided to dose mag. Unfortunately it seems I miscalculated somewhere and my mag is now off the charts of the red Sea test kit. I hope it doesn't affect anything but for now I've stopped dosing it.

My phosphate and nitrate remain stubbornly high. I have a media reactor with 3L of seachem matrix with the hope that it would reduce nitrate but it's been quite a while now with no changes noticed in the nitrate level. Still riding about 15ppm.

I'm also experiencing some minor cyano though it's definitely spreading. After asking mhucasey and reefvet over in mhucasey's topic, it seems as though the acropower is the cause. I've reduced my dosing of it slightly and am considering vodka or vinegar dosing to compensate for the added nitrogen source in acropower.

I cannot find any reliable information about which is better (vodka or vinegar) so I might just do vinegar for cost reasons.

This brings about another question. I'm concerned that if any of this actually brings down my nitrate, will phosphate go up? Should I be trying to solve that phosphate problem first? I wanted to change out my sump for a larger one with a fuge but that seems to be cost prohibitive at the moment. Do I try GFO? I have a reactor and GFO waiting for me to use just not sure if I want to go down that route. Very expensive long term.

I also feel like I'm chasing numbers right now too given that things are going well enough in the tank. Just not seeing the colours I'd like and expect. And is that lack of colours due to the elevated nutrients or my current set of bulbs which runs pretty white (2x lagoon blue, 2x Aquablue+, 2x Actinic+ all giesemann).

 

[.Chris.]

Nice to see a local!
keep the mag there, found some article that bumping mag 100ppm can decrease growth

I run 6 head Alk Ca Acropower and Redsea B C D

How the tank love the hi light? currently building a 36x36x24 cube with 1 Radion G2 pro, 2 Radion G2 and 2 Hydra 52 (~680 W or 66W/sq feet)

Tank loves the high light. I'm not personally satisfied with the colour of the tank so will be switching to a bluer set of bulbs in January when it's time for a bulb swap.