BPB'S 90 GALLON SPS DOMINANT

[FarmerTy]

I have the MTC Procal and yes, it self siphons. Irregardless of the feature, I found more consistent results feeding it off my return pump manifold.

If you are getting back into SPS, Hanna alk should be in your toolbelt. Super easy to use and gives you no excuse to not test more.

FTS looks great bud.

[Bpb]

Wow this tank is bare! I've never quite had my hands in the water for so long. Despite its extreme simplicity, this aquascape took me about 3 hours to get in place. On the surface it appears very simple. But the inside is largely hollow with space for the fish to retreat inside, and I really took my time trying to get the rock work as flat and gently sloping as possible based on what I had at my disposal. I would say I've probably removed roughly 20-25% of the rocks in the tank, and the ones left were addressed individually? Many were modified with bone cutters and a masonry chisel one at a time. I achieved a fairly flat low lying aquascape. The downside is there is less sandbed to use and look at, but the up side is despite having less rock, I have easily doubled my coral mounting real estate. It was kind of difficult getting rid of some pieces that have been with me since the beginning.

Here's the result. Bear in mind also, at the conclusion of this I was at about the 36 hour mark of being awake. The joys of being on-call in the healthcare industry

It's still a LITTLE hazy after a few hours. So what's a good time line to wait before trying out some tester acros? I did just really stir the tank up and shuffled around the rock. 2-3 weeks? A month? More?

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[Bpb]

And from the other end. Yes it's bare but my goal was to create as much real estate as possible and leave as much room as I could for vertical growth. I want some tall stags.

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[Dan H]

I like the optimism. That'll be some amazing SPS when it's filled in.

[Bpb]

Had to move my anemone rock to the opposite end of the tank. As my lighting and flow is perfectly symmetrical I don't expect it will react at all. And so far it hasn't. My clarkii clown is remarkably strong and can pick up and throw rocks that are bigger than my fist. She has decided no other rocks are allowed near her anemone and has been sending rocks flying. So...I moved the anemone and it's now surrounded by much larger rocks so she is dealing with it fine. I actually like it better. It's in a spot where it shouldn't cause trouble.

Water is also clearing up a bit and I was able to mount some Lps down to more permanent locations. Had to get some off the sand because my sleeper goby was burying them.

Overall I'm loving the whiter look, and may even swap out some coral+ bulbs with some 6500k bulbs to get even whiter. The fish colors are so much bolder. I'm still maintaining a ton of fluorescence as well so all in all I'm pretty happy. The color now is nearly identical to when I was running radiums (which on m80 ballasts, to me, are NOT a 20k color like they're assumed to be)

Here's a couple pics after things have settled some

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[Bluemoon]

Oh my... that color is insane! I really like spectrum it's at right now. Quite jealous sir. The ATI was a good pick up for sure.

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[Bpb]

Thank you sir! So far I've been real happy with it. I'd lie if I didn't say I was nervous about adding acros again

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[ShawnM]

What are those Zoas in picture 5

[Bpb]

I have no clue what they're called. Traded some photosynthetic gorgs for them. They're really nice looking though I hope they grow well. Zoas have been hit/miss for me. Some grow out of control and others don't make it

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[Bpb]

One problem I've also seen come up is since rescaping, I hadn't realized how much rainbow montipora I had, and I see bits of it growing everywhere. I may have to go kalk paste crazy to control it. I'm ok with it growing on the overflow but not everywhere in the tank

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[FarmerTy]

Pictures look great sir! I'm a fan of getting that 6500k bulb in there to warm things up a bit.

Remember, friends don't let friends do montis. Just kidding. But seriously, put them on their own rock or they'll take over eventually. I've had to systematically remove each monti as it started overgrowing other corals. You got the right idea though... kalk paste is your friend.

[ShawnKoto]

The new aquascape looks nice. i completely understand your point that it is really hard to see what takes the most work, which is the network of hollow spaces on the inside of the scape. I am working through that right now and it takes a long time to get something that you are happy with. That is why I am doing one 2-foot section at a time or I would be there for 36 hours too. .

[Bpb]

Thanks for the comments. This aquascape did take me longer than I usually spend stacking rocks. I admire your patience in creating yours. I tend to get rolling and finish. I don't have the patience to break out the acrylic rods, masonry drill bits, and mortar to create ultra fancy rock stacks. Theyll be covered and completely hidden if you're doing it right! My thoughts anyway. I favor function over form 100% of the time. I want my rock work to best facilitate coral placement, and secondly fish health. How the rock looks bare is of little concern. I see these amazingly clean, almost futuristic builds and pictures, of display sumps and plumbing that looks like it cost more than my whole tank, and rock work that looks like it took weeks to sculpt...With no corals at all. To each their own. Anyhow

I tested the waters tonight. It's been months since doing a test it feels like. The big 3 were all in line with where I wanted/hoped for/expected. 7.0 dKH, 400 ppm Ca, and 1420 ppm Mg. I am not surprised. I don't have much of a stony load at all right now and have just done about 75% water change in the last week. What was alarming was the PO4. Using the Hanna PPB phosphorus meter and conversion, I got 0.21 ppm, which is higher than I've ever had. Ever. Yet...Virtually zero nuisance algae, and zero cyano. Odd. Even with a decent herbivore load I'd expect SOME algae, but I've got none. Nitrate came in at around 10 ppm. Still a little high but not enough to kick up a fuss. The PO4 is concerning though because I know that sometimes acropora can struggle at such high PO4 numbers. I think it may be time to bring the GFO and Biopellets back online. I never expected to have to use them, but I always like to have it in my tool belt, so I have kept a couple gallons of GFO, some fresh pellets, and some spare reactors in storage in case I need them one day. I think I'll try to get that running at some point in the next week to get those numbers in a little more acceptable range. I'm back to number chasing.

A new toy is on it's way as well, but I will wait until its in my hands before I post a pic. I know the suspense will kill some of you lol, and you'll probably roll your eyes when you see it, but I'm fired up. It's one of my favorite pieces of gear in the aquarium hobby, and it commits me to another purchase.

While I love my BML strip, and I know you can't get them anymore, I have big plans for this tank, and The Warden runs a tight financial ship here at this house, so I have to let something go to afford something new rather than break into our family money/savings. Ive decided to let the LED's go in order to help facilitate other upgrades. I love the way they look for an hour a day when they're the only things running, and they supplement the actinic T5 period well, but they're not essential enough to hold onto. I'm going to try to unload them this week to help fund my calcium reactor purchase. I'll miss them, but in the grand scheme of things, they're not doing enough for my tank to warrant keeping them, knowing what I can get for them. I couldn't sell them on any local forums or craigslist (not for lack of effort, theyve been posted for quite a while, zero interest), and I got an LFS offer for store credit/trade in so Im going to jump on it tomorrow. That's it for tonight. No pics because I've not done anything but feed the fish since the last update

[FarmerTy]

I'd for sure run GFO as I've seen negative effects with acros at 0.18 ppm. I'm sure you can acclimate them to higher phosphate levels but then you'll lose out on good growth as it starts to inhibit calcification.

Biopellets on the other hand, at 10 ppm nitrates, I don't feel like you really need to kick them up. I prefer to keep nitrates around 5-10 ppm and if you are getting that naturally, I say leave the carbon dosing out of the equation.

What are you getting for a CaRX? Those are always fun purchases!

I'd for sure take that credit for the BML. For as little function as it serves on your system, cash that baby out and get some other much needed item on your system.

Where's my pic of you feeding fish? [emoji13]

[Bpb]

Well. I don't own a calcium reactor yet. That's coming soon. But...I did get this in the mail. Against Ty's good advice of course, but the stability due to them is too well documented for me to ignore. Though...it is a little noise. I'm brainstorming on ways to quiet it down some. It's just the usual 60hz hum that many older AC devices make. The wooden cabinet it sits in seems to amplify it some. I can live with it. Not sure if my wife can lol

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[Bpb]

Also. I lost count a while back. But I've been acro fallow now for a while. 3-4 months at least. Lots of carbon use followed by lots of water changes. No addition of anything other than mysis and pellets. No dosing aminos or any other products going into the water. Just fish food, flow, skimmer, and t5ho. Gfo has knocked my PO4 down to 0.06 ppm and nitrates hanging out around 10.

Everything else in the tank looks happier than ever and I'm definitely past any issues I've had last year. Wanting to pick up a few acros to try tomorrow. Nervous as all get out. Should I go for it?!?!?!?!

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Edited May 10, 2016 by Bpb

[FarmerTy]

Also. I lost count a while back. But I've been acro fallow now for a while. 3-4 months at least. Lots of carbon use followed by lots of water changes. No addition of anything other than mysis and pellets. No dosing aminos or any other products going into the water. Just fish food, flow, skimmer, and t5ho. Gfo has knocked my PO4 down to 0.06 ppm and nitrates hanging out around 10.

Everything else in the tank looks happier than ever and I'm definitely past any issues I've had last year. Wanting to pick up a few acros to try tomorrow. Nervous as all get out. Should I go for it?!?!?!?!

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Nice! Good looking unit on the peristaltic pump. I'm sure that made a dent in the wallet. Haha.

No doubts about their stable reliability. I hope you can quiet it down... Probably some insulation in the cabinet may help.

Sounds like you are ready for acros. I'm going to be a nagger and say to QT them or else you might relive the AEFW disaster but that's just me trying to be the annoying voice in your head that keeps you out of trouble. [emoji4]

[Bpb]

I won't lie it did make a dent. I picked up my new regulator yesterday as well. Each of those independently will end up costing more than I hope to pay for the reactor itself. Anyhow.

A coral quarantine is high on my wish list. I have the tank. I have the cycled mature rock. I have the powerheads. I don't have a light. And I don't have the spare funds to pick one up right now. I'm going to pick up a handful from a source in so confident doesn't have bugs or aefw (famous last words), based on the fact that his tank has hands down the best PE I've ever seen on acros anywhere. It might burn me. But I'm confident enough to try. And keeping my eyes out for a small 4 bulb t5ho light I can use as a quarantine light. I have a source for interceptor as well.

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[Bpb]

I forgot to mention. I also cannot find a place to put a quarantine tank. The only place I can think of is either under the fw tank stand, which I'm not crazy about, or in the utility room, which is where the litter box is and everything in there tends to get cat litter dust on it. That can't be good for acros. Sadly our house is so small there's not many other hiding places. Wife not going to approve a coral quarantine setup on the kitchen counter. All my tank stuff is in our living room and we just don't have any more spare wall or surface spaces to put a 20 gallon. So it's sat in its box in the attic for months now

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[Bluemoon]

Also. I lost count a while back. But I've been acro fallow now for a while. 3-4 months at least. Lots of carbon use followed by lots of water changes. No addition of anything other than mysis and pellets. No dosing aminos or any other products going into the water. Just fish food, flow, skimmer, and t5ho. Gfo has knocked my PO4 down to 0.06 ppm and nitrates hanging out around 10.

Everything else in the tank looks happier than ever and I'm definitely past any issues I've had last year. Wanting to pick up a few acros to try tomorrow. Nervous as all get out. Should I go for it?!?!?!?!

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Edited May 10, 2016 by Bluemoon

[FarmerTy]

Famous last words indeed! Remember my old 125-gallon you got to see in person back in its infancy? Polyp extension like nobody's business. Had AEFW... granted a small infestation, but acros that had full polyp extension were doing that while getting munched on by AEFW.

If you aren't in any rush, I'd hold off on the acros until that QT is setup. I always tell folks... it's the one's with the prettiest tanks are the one's you should trust the least. They've got corals from over 50+ sources by that point.

[FarmerTy]

You get the Aquarium Plants Carbon Doser?

[Bpb]

Negative. I wouldn't use the carbon doser honestly. It's nothing more than a Milwaukee regulator, with a clippard mouse solenoid hooked to a timer allowing it to open and close rapidly. I know a lot of reefers like them, but they're criminally overpriced for what they are. Which is a single stage regulator, and a solenoid with a timer that can run in small increments. I went with a custom build Air Products dual stage regulator, with a Fabco NV-55-18 and a Burkert 6011 solenoid. If it doesn't sustain any physical damage like a failed check valve, or being dropped, this regulator should last decades, outliving any other single piece of gear used on the tank, and being dual stage it will keep a rock solid ultra steady output clear until the tank is empty. And the best part, by a little searching and haggling I got it for about half the cost of a carbon doser

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[Bpb]

And believe me I really do want to have a coral quarantine tank I just have no Idea where to put it

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[Bpb]

And my clownfish may have to go. 8 year old clarkii. Mean as a bull. Bit a chunk out of my thumb today when aquascaping. And fearless. Attacks hand and tools relentlessly as soon as they're in the water. Knocked down several rocks I had carefully placed. Broke some corals in the process. I'm beyond fed up. The benefit to her aggression and fearlessness is that she should be easy to net tomorrow. We will see what a couple days in the skimmer chamber does to calm her down a bit. I won't put her in the refugium. There's a good sized mantis shrimp in there. I hate the fish but not THAT much.

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