FarmerTy's 215 build

[FarmerTy]

Haha, I'll take any version of the truth you give me. I'm not picky!

I kept thinking you thought I had a name like T.Y. Hilton or something like that.

I'll start calling you Paris from now on

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Do it and I'll go sneak into your tank room and make the Eiffel Tower out of your aquascaping.

Wuh? I'll actually get an add to someone's phone dictionary! I feel so special!

[FarmerTy]

Strangely enough, I did my last experiment last week and shot the nitrates and phosphates down ridiculously fast in two days... great experimental results... poor execution as my SPS suffered a bit from me sucking the water dry of nutrients so quickly.

I've left everything alone and have been running only biopellets and a small refugium and let the rest just go "au naturel". Here are my results after a week, bear in mind the biopellets are still ramping up:

PO4 - 1.1 ppm

NO3 - <10ppm

Alk - 6.8 dKh (totally unrelated to this experiment but wanted to document that I let my alk drift a bit and have recalibrated my CaRX)

My PO4 definitely jumped up and my nitrates marginally went up so I can assume at least the biopellets are having a marginal effect on the PO4 but it kept the nitrates from soaring to >50ppm as it did the last time over the same span of time. I am curious to the results as the biopellets continue to ramp up to full strength.

In the desire to stop battering my SPS population, I have put a small amount of GFO online to lower the phosphate level until my biopellets are fully ramped up. I have also corrected the alk level back to ~8.0 dKh and recalibrated the CaRX to hold it there.

Interesting thing to note, the 6,8 dKh was a surprise because the CaRX held the alk steady for the better part of 2-3 weeks at where I had it dialed in. What I can conclude happened is my SPS are happier now (queue the overplayed Pharell song now please... "like a tank without a canopy?" <--- for those that got that joke, I apologize fully for it!) and are back into growing mode. It's odd, it's like someone flipped a light switch. My SPS went from nothing is good enough, to polyps waving everywhere, color coming back very quickly (like a day), and noticeable encrusting at the base... almost seeing daily growth. I'll try to document some of the base growth on my tricolor valida as it amazes me how much it has encrusted in the last 24hrs alone... not to mention turned crazy purple and the polyps turned neon green... all over the span of 24-48hrs. It was literally brown with brown polyps this past Tuesday and no sign of encrusting!

So, now I understand why my alk dipped so quickly... and honestly, over the last 6 months of the upgrade, it's the first problem I have actually enjoyed in my tank... because it means my SPS babies are finally happy! I don't want to talk too prematurely, but I think the good times are going to roll again soon!

[Bluemoon]

Paris, you shouldn't try to sing pharrel, or anything for that matter. it doesn't suit you well.

haha seriously though. so good to hear, can't wait to see Ty's Magic sticks back in business.

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[Planeden]

Paris, you shouldn't try to sing pharrel, or anything for that matter. it doesn't suit you well.

haha seriously though. so good to hear, can't wait to see Ty's Magic sticks back in business.

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he has more than one?!?

[FarmerTy]

I felt like this convo may turn south. Keep it PG planeden!

My singing, in the tradition of my people, is amazing by karoake standards. So is my driving and my love of smelly food, as my wife calls it.

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[Planeden]

sorry, but come on, magic? that's like sending me to an intersection that only turns south. but clearly, i am not mature enough for SPS builds.

[Bluemoon]

sorry, but come on, magic? that's like sending me to an intersection that only turns south. but clearly, i am not mature enough for SPS builds.

the first thing you think of is a 50 cent song?

thug fo life.

Now Ty, when the time comes to celebrate, use your inherited skills and upload a karaoke video of magic stick. Then Dennis will finally understand what it's like to live in mature, stick dominated world.

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[Planeden]

sorry, but come on, magic? that's like sending me to an intersection that only turns south. but clearly, i am not mature enough for SPS builds.

the first thing you think of is a 50 cent song?

thug fo life.

Now Ty, when the time comes to celebrate, use your inherited skills and upload a karaoke video of magic stick. Then Dennis will finally understand what it's like to live in mature, stick dominated world.

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i don't know what you heard about me, but... not that one, but i'd pay good coral for jeeper to kareoke some luda.

[Manny]

Ty (added to dictionary) it must be the season of the tricolor valida. Mine recently went from being brown to a deep purple with super neon green polyps visible from across the room. This seemed to happen overnight. Interesting coincidence.

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[FarmerTy]

Videos won't cut it... as you won't be able to fully appreciate my vocal talent unless it's in person. We'll have karaoke hour at the next club meeting.

Huzzah, I've been added to the phone dictionary! It's cause all is right in the world again Manny now that my SPS are happy again.

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[Manny]

Videos won't cut it... as you won't be able to fully appreciate my vocal talent unless it's in person. We'll have karaoke hour at the next club meeting.

Huzzah, I've been added to the phone dictionary! It's cause all is right in the world again Manny now that my SPS are happy again.

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If you have a karaoke night at the next meeting I will make it a point to go for sure. . .

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[+brian.srock]

I know I have a couple karaoke games on the old Wii that I may have to dust off.

[FarmerTy]

Well, since everything is looking better this week, I may start gluing some frags up on the rocks again and work on getting my beach back.

Still undecided about the giant purple stylo colony. May hack that thing up and sell a bunch of mini colonies or just leave it be.

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[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

If you hack up the purple stylo, you better call me ASAP! I've been wanting a piece of that for over a year now

[FarmerTy]

Don't you have some referral frags to pick up sir?

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[FarmerTy]

Guess one last pair in the tank thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of Spring before it ended. We had the mandarins, the mini-brittle stars, now the clownfish! You can see the amber colored eggs just left of the anemone.

Here's a video to enjoy too. About half way through the video, it switches to me catching the backend of a fight between the clowns and an emerald crab that got just a little too close. Enjoy the late night viewing.

[Planeden]

Wow, you should go into breeding. You have the knack.

[Manny]

Wow, you should go into breeding. You have the knack.

Are you saying Ty should breed other fish or Ty should breed little Ty's?

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[FarmerTy]

All I do is dose 2 mls of Axe body spray in my tank twice a week. The rest is just great product marketing... I mean nature taking its course.

Really, I think its just because I feed the tank a ridiculous amount of food. There are definitely no starving animals in my tank. That's why my nitrate can jump 40 ppm in a week and a half if I don't have biopellets going.

[+KimP]

That's amazing Ty! So what do you think are the reasons you can feed so much and not have a tank full of nuisance algae? Big skimmer, biopellets, gfo, healthy cycled rock, etc?

[victoly]

yes

[Robb in Austin]

That and a crap ton of SPS pulling and using the excess nutrients.

[FarmerTy]

I think Victoly summed it up best... yes, all of the above.

I never really thought about it in my last tank because I didn't have a lot of fish. I just did my best to keep them fed and to keep my phosphates below 0.05 ppm with GFO. The same husbandry methods were intact in the new system, feed generously, have an overrated skimmer (rated 250g on a 125g on my last tank... have a 500g rated on my 215g tank currently), GFO, carbon, and biopellets (before I was vodka dosing).

I honestly wasn't even running a fuge or had macro in the old tank. I didn't even have a nitrate test kit... but with biopellets, I lucked out and never needed it.

So long story short, I have a bigger tank and a larger fish bioload. The only reason I'm even worrying about nitrates right now is because I feed even more than before and my biopellets had been offline and are currently still ramping up to full capacity. Once things hit a stride, I highly doubt I'll even test for nitrates anymore, unless something just doesn't look right in the tank. I will still test for phosphate, because I need to know when to replace the GFO media. The hope is balance out the system so that the biopellets might be able to take care of my phosphate as well but for now.. I am doubting that from what I've seen so far. Maybe if I fed less it would be possible.

So to get back to your question Kim. There are several reasons why I believe I have been able to avoid an algae farm with all the overly generous feedings I do and the fish population I have. I will list them in order of importance to me at least:

1) Giant, overrated skimmer - I know there are systems out there that are skimmerless, sumpless, and whatever else. I just prefer to help mother nature out a bit and swing it more in my favor. It also helps oxygenate the water which my tangs do appreciate and allows me to overfeed with less repercussions.

2) Biopellets (carbon source) - nitrification (ammonia/nitrite converting to nitrate) happens pretty readily in a tank once it's cycled, the bigger problem after that is denitrification (nitrate to nitrogen gas). Your main sources of denitrification are anoxic (low oxygen) zones. These could be deep sand beds and the inner core of live rock as oxygen doesn't readily permeate into these areas as well, allowing for an anoxic environment conducive for denitrification. The problem for most systems is that there aren't much of these areas in the tank, so you end up with quick conversion of ammonia/nitrite to nitrate, but not as many areas for denitrification so you end up with excess nitrates. Queue the algae/cyano to uptake the residual nitrate in a system. Biopellets allow bacteria to uptake the nitrate. Bacteria will consume a lot of nitrate, a little phosphate, and some carbon as it multiplies. What our reef systems are most limited on out of the 3 is usually carbon. We have sources of phosphate (food, top off water, etc) and we have sources of nitrates (decaying organic matter adding to ammonia levels --->nitrite levels ---> nitrates), but we are limited on carbon. Well, enter biopellets (other carbon sources include vodka, sugar, and vinegar) as a source of carbon and the bacteria now have all they need to multiply rapidly and use up nitrates (most), carbon, and some phosphates. The bacteria are in turn are ingested by corals, sponges, or pulled out via foam fractionation (i.e. skimmers). Either way, nitrate is readily removed in my system via biopellets and will not add to an algal problem.

3) Tangs/rabbitfish - they eat everything! They are constantly combing the rocks. Contrary to belief, mine won't touch GHA with a 5' pole though... though oddly they will happily munch on chaeto and bryopsis. This helps swing the tide in favor of bacteria uptaking the nitrates, and not the algae. It's hard for the algae to win when fish keep eating any of your growth. Oddly enough, they all munch on that slimey/goey mess that could either be cyano or dinos growing on the sand so they are preventing that growth for me as well.

4) Healthy, good-sized, cycled rock - it performs quite well for nitrification and aids in denitrification as well. My thought is the bigger/deeper the rock is, the more anoxic areas in the rock to aid in denitrification.

5) A sandbed - not wanting to start a controversy here but I generally run a 3-4" sandbed. I feel it aids in denitrification with the anoxic zones as well as gives my critters a place to hide and procreate in the main display. I never vacuum it and generally never try to disturb it. My last one was running strong on 4 years. Maybe I never hit that so called saturation point that leads to failure, who knows, but it works for me and I will continue to use it. I must mention the natural detrivores and my sea cucumbers probably do a good job of turning it over and cleaning it for me.

6) GFO - helps keep my phosphate levels under my control with the additional feedings. For SPS, I feel like phosphate is the most important parameter to monitor besides alk. This is assuming all your other parameters are within appropriate levels and stable.

7) Healthy population of natural sponges and detrivores - pods, mini-brittle stars, spaghetti worms, vermitiid snails, chitons, limpets, etc. I find the best use for my macro is a place for the pods to breed. It may help increase the pH a bit by uptaking CO2 coming out of my CaRX or uptaking some nitrates and phosphates, but the main advantage I see is a giant, natural, pod hotel. I feel like a pod slum lord sometimes...I even on the occasion feed the pods in the macro with pellets. The sponges grow quite readily in my tank on every underside of rock or in the sump. They feast on all the bits of food, fish excrement, and bacteria being released from the biopellets.

The most important thing though that I am skirting around is balance and stability. As with any start of a tank, you'll go through the phases of the cycle and the after-effects. You'll get your diatoms, your cyano, your GHA, and maybe the dreaded dinos (peroxide is your friend) if you haven't been keeping up with your karma. Just kidding. But that's natural and will come and go as your system stabilizes. The biggest thing is to not overreact, make sure your methods of exporting are in place (nitrates, phosphates), and to let it slowly work itself out of the system. Monitor your nitrates, monitor your phosphates, see how impactful your changes are... stem the tide when one starts creeping up more than it should.

The way I look at it, you have to give your tank time to find its balance. If you feed heavily, then start with smaller amounts first and work your way up to that point. It allows for your system to match it. Perhaps denitrification increases in your system, or your detrivores start reproducing more with the additional nutrients, or more sponges grow... etc. You see algae, pull it, run a shorter photo period, increase your export of nitrates or phosphates, feed less... etc. Once you see yourself winning, increase the photo period slowly, start feeding more again, see how much you can take back before it becomes a nuisance again. Then trim it back and let the system adjust. It's a dance at the beginning but once you hit a stride, you won't have to worry about it anymore. You just have to build your system up to it in increments.

That's all my thoughts are on it for now but hopefully that helps illuminate my approach to reefkeeping.

[Planeden]

ty's nature/nurture system for reef sucess ™.

thanks for your explanation.

[FarmerTy]

No problem sir. I'll package this whole thing in pill form so everyone can just dose it into the tank... whatever I'm selling.

Hope it helps at least one person. That's usually my goal.