whats your setup

[prosper]

I am new to the hobby and I'm not sure exactly how I want to proceed setting up my tank with equipment, lighting schedule etc...
my tank specs
38 gallon bare bottom, 40lbs of rock
light- black box set to 40 percent blue 30 percent white.
skimmer rated to 65 gallons
150 watt heater
2 850 gph powerbeads on the sides and 1 600 gph on the back on an 8 hour timer.
I'm planning on adding on to the nutrient export system by adding gfo and a sump with a block of marine pure and like 20 lbs of rubble
weekly 10 percent water changes and I'm going to start dosing brs 3 part when the water changes can't keep up.

if anybody is in the process of setting up an mixed reef/sps dominated tank or has an established one thats thriving please post it here with specs/ and pictures too!

 

[Bpb]

whats your setup

My tank is fairly busy but not overly high tech. I've done it super simple with just lights, flow, and kalkwasser. With how heavily stocked I am it's just difficult to get the kind of growth and health I wanted when nutrients climb as high as they do. I know I've seen tons of tanks that let N & P climb high and they still get great growth but that was just not my experience. What tends to work best for me is a tank with very low N & P, but very high in actual nutrients (stuff we really can't test for). So super aggressive export with heavy import. Carbon dosing with a big skimmer and heavy feeding tends to be what works best for my tanks. Everyone else's results may vary.

I've also tried metal halides, LEDs, t5ho, and combinations of the three. While it's not my favorite look, I find I get the best results from an all t5ho setup as well.

Acros just seem to do best for me under those particular parameters. I like to automate as much as I can, but I could get by without it too. There are times when my topoff bucket runs empty, and I'll just top off manually twice a day until I get around to changing the bucket. Light timers and temperature control are really the two most important form of automation for me personally

90 gallon display, 36 gallon sump (86 gallons net total water volume, yes I calculated that amount specifically, not an estimation)

Mixture of Fiji, Walt smith, and pukani rock

0.5"-1" shallow sandbed with special grade aragonite

Ati 8x54 watt sunpower 11" off the water

2 Tunze 6105 powerheads

Eheim 1262 return pump

Lifereef SVS2-24" skimmer

Soda lime co2 scrubber reactor to help elevate ph

GEO 618 calcium reactor with custom dual stage regulator, and masterflex feed pump

Jbj auto top off

300 watt eheim jager heater and two 6" clip on fans to keep temps between 78-79 degrees

Gfo reactor used as needed

No refugium. But I have a Fiji mud with Tampa bay saltwater rock filling my center chamber of the sump. Kept dark.

I don't dose any products except for a couple zeovit foods (sponge power, coral vitalizer)

Feed the fish 2-3 times a day a mixture of NLS pellets, hikari seaweed extreme pellets, reef chili, and PE mysis.

10 gallon water change weekly with Rodi/instant ocean

1.026 salinity
78-79 degrees F
8.0 dKH (Hanna checker, 2-3 times a week)
450 ppm Ca (Red Sea pro, tested monthly)
1450 ppm Mg (Red Sea pro tested monthly)
0.5 ppm NO3 (Red Sea pro, tested weekly)
0.03 ppm PO4 (Hanna, tested weekly)

Vodka dose at 4.4 mL per day to keep NO3 and PO4 under control.

I think that's it


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[prosper]

My tank is fairly busy but not overly high tech. I've done it super simple with just lights, flow, and kalkwasser. With how heavily stocked I am it's just difficult to get the kind of growth and health I wanted when nutrients climb as high as they do. I know I've seen tons of tanks that let N & P climb high and they still get great growth but that was just not my experience. What tends to work best for me is a tank with very low N & P, but very high in actual nutrients (stuff we really can't test for). So super aggressive export with heavy import. Carbon dosing with a big skimmer and heavy feeding tends to be what works best for my tanks. Everyone else's results may vary.

I've also tried metal halides, LEDs, t5ho, and combinations of the three. While it's not my favorite look, I find I get the best results from an all t5ho setup as well.

Acros just seem to do best for me under those particular parameters. I like to automate as much as I can, but I could get by without it too. There are times when my topoff bucket runs empty, and I'll just top off manually twice a day until I get around to changing the bucket. Light timers and temperature control are really the two most important form of automation for me personally

90 gallon display, 36 gallon sump (86 gallons net total water volume, yes I calculated that amount specifically, not an estimation)

Mixture of Fiji, Walt smith, and pukani rock

0.5"-1" shallow sandbed with special grade aragonite

Ati 8x54 watt sunpower 11" off the water

2 Tunze 6105 powerheads

Eheim 1262 return pump

Lifereef SVS2-24" skimmer

Soda lime co2 scrubber reactor to help elevate ph

GEO 618 calcium reactor with custom dual stage regulator, and masterflex feed pump

Jbj auto top off

300 watt eheim jager heater and two 6" clip on fans to keep temps between 78-79 degrees

Gfo reactor used as needed

No refugium. But I have a Fiji mud with Tampa bay saltwater rock filling my center chamber of the sump. Kept dark.

I don't dose any products except for a couple zeovit foods (sponge power, coral vitalizer)

Feed the fish 2-3 times a day a mixture of NLS pellets, hikari seaweed extreme pellets, reef chili, and PE mysis.

10 gallon water change weekly with Rodi/instant ocean

1.026 salinity
78-79 degrees F
8.0 dKH (Hanna checker, 2-3 times a week)
450 ppm Ca (Red Sea pro, tested monthly)
1450 ppm Mg (Red Sea pro tested monthly)
0.5 ppm NO3 (Red Sea pro, tested weekly)
0.03 ppm PO4 (Hanna, tested weekly)

Vodka dose at 4.4 mL per day to keep NO3 and PO4 under control.

I think that's it


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awesome! this is exactly what I meant

 

[Arnallop3]

Check out my tank build here. I was lucky enough to find a nice sump and skimmer . Some pictures aren't working but I have a 55g, ruby elite 30 sump, 1 koralia powrhead 1400 gph, 1 jebao sw 8 2100 got wavemaker, and reef octupus skimmer rated at 160g.
There are so many ways to make a reef tank. From the simplest to the most complex systems. Just gotta dial in what's best for your system

 

[jda]

Metal Halides, big skimmer, real pacific live rock (do not under estimate this), 3 inches of sand (do not under estimate this either), Ehiem heaters on Ranco, Tunze powerheads, Laguna or Iwaki/PanWorld return pumps and Korallin Calcium Reactor. I change water 20-25% a month. ...no controller, ATO, organic carbon or fuge (although I would use one in a heartbeat if I needed one).

Acropora only tank. I have a no monti, birdsnest or poci policy, except for Leng Sy Cap.

If you are going to go bare bottom, then you will likely fight nitrate your whole career - consider a fuge to help. If you are starting with dry/dead rock, then you will likely battle phosphates early on, so consider a nice GFO reactor and buy a lot of it.

Params are 7.X Alk (I don't care where in this range), 425-440 calcium, .05 to .1 N and .005P. Temp about 78 or 79.

 

[abhishek@1985]

30 in x30 inx18 in sps only tank with 90% acropora frags .
Radium run on m80 in a Hamilton comuzel reflector .
2x6095 ,1 6105 ,1 gyre 130,1 sea swirl connected to laguna for immense flow .
Front is bare bottom and back has 2-3 inch of love sand .
Deltec skimmer .
2 part dosing .
DIY arduino controller for basic lights ,heater andfans and tunze ATO .
10% waterchange weekly .

If anything I would wanna change ,it's getting real live rocks instead of dry rocks as jda mentioned .

Alk - 7.3-7.5 ,ca -420-430,mg - 1400,nitrates -10-15 ,po4 - 0.03-0.08

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Bpb]

If Tampa bay saltwater actually air freighted their rocks to my airport locally I'd definitely save up for that. But...they do not. And I don't have the time for the trip it would take to get them. I agree. Don't underestimate the power of real live rock


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[abhishek@1985]

In fact am thinking of either getting a small shipment from Tampa bay or search locally for real live rocks .

Jda and Bpb - question for you guys is whether it's prudent to get real live rocks and have them cure in a bin for a month or so and then introduce in existing tank ?

What issues might arise ?

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Bpb]

Only if you get dry shipped live rock. Covered in damp paper. Don't cure Tampa bay rock. It's ready for use immediately out of the bag. It's shipped submerged so there should be zero die off


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[prosper]

Metal Halides, big skimmer, real pacific live rock (do not under estimate this), 3 inches of sand (do not under estimate this either), Ehiem heaters on Ranco, Tunze powerheads, Laguna or Iwaki/PanWorld return pumps and Korallin Calcium Reactor. I change water 20-25% a month. ...no controller, ATO, organic carbon or fuge (although I would use one in a heartbeat if I needed one).

Acropora only tank. I have a no monti, birdsnest or poci policy, except for Leng Sy Cap.

If you are going to go bare bottom, then you will likely fight nitrate your whole career - consider a fuge to help. If you are starting with dry/dead rock, then you will likely battle phosphates early on, so consider a nice GFO reactor and buy a lot of it.

Params are 7.X Alk (I don't care where in this range), 425-440 calcium, .05 to .1 N and .005P. Temp about 78 or 79.

I'm going to the lfs to get some gfo today. and I'm going to throw a block of marine pure in the sump. I'm going bare bottom to negate detritus build up in turn keeping nitrate down... but it will also. be VERY lightly stocked... it has 2 clowns and I might get one more fish

 

[jda]

If your end goal is to keep nitrate down, then you need a sand bed. BB tanks don't handle N like tanks with sand do. They whole idea of keeping stuff from settling and keeping nutrients down works better on the internet than in real life. This is partly because the idea that keeping stuff suspended and the skimmer will get it all is not all that good in practice. It is also because most of the stuff that impact N and P come from the urine - Dr Holmes Farley has some nice posts and articles on this that he figured out not only for reefing but also for a drug (I think) in his real job.

Detritus can clog up sand and does need to be removed, but as long as it actually happens and is systematic they it is nearly harmless as it sits there.

 

[prosper]

If your end goal is to keep nitrate down, then you need a sand bed. BB tanks don't handle N like tanks with sand do. They whole idea of keeping stuff from settling and keeping nutrients down works better on the internet than in real life. This is partly because the idea that keeping stuff suspended and the skimmer will get it all is not all that good in practice. It is also because most of the stuff that impact N and P come from the urine - Dr Holmes Farley has some nice posts and articles on this that he figured out not only for reefing but also for a drug (I think) in his real job.

Detritus can clog up sand and does need to be removed, but as long as it actually happens and is systematic they it is nearly harmless as it sits there.

also I started out with way too little sand and it was getting blown around so I had to get it out of there reguardless