Back to Basics SPS 40B

[notenoughtanks]

Hey all, figured I would post something here for my fellow sps nuts. Been into sps for years. Had a thriving 75 mixed reef for ~5 years that I tore down a while back for a move. Pictured here shortly after a stretch of removed acropora when AEFW first hit the hobby.

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A few years with no tank gave me the itch so I set up a Fluval M60 24 gallon and foolishly focused on a choice few SPS corals. Had ATO, ATS, automated 2 part, temp control, etched weekly 5g water changes. Ran a Razor for lighting that was ok but always wondered about how well it did. Switched to a 4 bulb Sunpower but didn't really give noticeable change. After 2 years of ups and downs of corals thriving at times and receding at others I decided to set up a better tank with proper equipment for better stability. Here it is before the switchover. Maybe I would have better results with hardier, less colorful SPS. This tank prompted me to get back to what gave me success with previous systems. T5 lighting, live rock, skimmer, stability.

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[notenoughtanks]

So, on to the current setup.

Equipment:
Standard 40 Breeder
Synergy Shadow Overflow
6x24 Dimmable Sunpower
Deltec SCA1351
2x Jebao PP4 w/ JBWave
Maybe a Turbo L2 scrubber

A lot of stuff I kept from the 75 will be reused. Rock I acid washed and stored, 20 long sump, tried and true AC Jr.

Built a stand from Rocket's DIY design and elaborated with a pic from Reefbum's.

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[notenoughtanks]

And a couple happy corals. APC_0021.jpg

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Up and running. Shot taken with 2 lamps on.

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[SeaMatt Nematocyt]

Nice! I've been out of the sps hobby for a long long time. Thankfully I remembered my account...I also have a 40b. At first I was going to do a freshwater planted tank and I currently have a 20g that does well.
But then I thought...Naw. I'll start a new sps with a 40b to help get me back up to snuff with all that lost knowledge.
I used to run a 90g back in the day and started collecting gear to run a massive 300 that I eventually sold before getting married and having kids.

Anyway. I dig the stand and your corals are throwing some nice color.

[HuskerBioProf]

I love that stand. And those colonies are looking great. All hail the ATI Sunpower. It looks like you have a pretty sweet 40 breeder setup. I wish I would have gone with a ghost overflow on my 40 breeder.

How do you like the Deltec? Is it quiet? I am considering one for my next setup, but my cheap SCA skimmer works really well (it is just a little noisy).

[notenoughtanks]

Originally Posted by SeaMatt Nematocyt

Anyway. I dig the stand and your corals are throwing some nice color.

Thanks!

[notenoughtanks]

Originally Posted by HuskerBioProf

I love that stand. And those colonies are looking great. All hail the ATI Sunpower. It looks like you have a pretty sweet 40 breeder setup. I wish I would have gone with a ghost overflow on my 40 breeder.

How do you like the Deltec? Is it quiet? I am considering one for my next setup, but my cheap SCA skimmer works really well (it is just a little noisy).

Thanks! Liking it so far. The whole tank is so quiet all I can hear is the skimmer's air intake, which isn't much. Fridge running is louder.

[notenoughtanks]

FTS for today. Everything is very happy and throwing out lots of new growth tips. Especially unknown turquoise stag from Tyree that struggled through 2 years in my 24g and grew explosively once.



Can anyone school me on why the recent trend is to keep alk so much lower than years past? Goal used to be 8-11 dkh but now everyone says 7. I've stabilized at 7.15 and would typically run 8.5ish. Should I stay or should I go now?!

[btb72]

With a lot of people running unls they want the lower alk. Otherwise people still stay 8-9

[notenoughtanks]

Everything chugging along nicely! Got my 2 part do sets dialed in and steady at 430 and 7.3. Mag tested at 1300, PO4 at .03, NO3 at 10ppm. Very happy with those numbers!
Been using a mix of Red Sea blue bucket and Coralife 60/40 to get numbers right where I want them and liking results but we'll see how I feel in a year.

2 weeks growth on this guy-
IMG_2681.jpg

[notenoughtanks]

Seeing some small patches of a few different kinds of algae but tang and snails keeping them in check. Still waiting on my ATS. Everybody growing and colored nicely.

[Joe Kelley]

Very nice! I'm on a return also and simple is the major principal. Love the colors!

[reefmutt]

Very nice colours. Looking very nice..
Great restart!

[notenoughtanks]

Thanks guys!

Some growth shots of this random turquoise stag from Tyree.

3/26/17



4/24/17

[codydemmel4]

very nice!

Are you dosing anyadditivies besides two part? How often do you do water changes and what salt? What is your lighting schedule and what are you aiming to keep your alk, calc and phosphates at?

[notenoughtanks]

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

very nice!

Are you dosing anyadditivies besides two part? How often do you do water changes and what salt? What is your lighting schedule and what are you aiming to keep your alk, calc and phosphates at?

Only 2 part. I was sparingly using acro power but haven't seen any negative effects since I stopped.

I do weekly 5g water changes with half Red Sea blue bucket and half Coralife. Red Sea is expensive and Coralife is cheap. Red Sea is a bit low on some params and Coralife is a bit high so it works out perfect.

Lighting is 6x24 sunpower. 3 Coral Plus 3 Blue Plus. 12 hours on 1x each and 8 on the other 4 bulbs.

I keep Cal at 450, Alk at 7.3 dKh, mag at 1350ish. I never can get any phosphate to show up on Hanna or salifert, but I also do not have the ultra low Hanna.

I feed NLS small pellets about 2 small pinches a day out of an ehiem auto feeder and 1/2 cube of rods food in the evening.

Hope that helps!

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by notenoughtanks

Only 2 part. I was sparingly using acro power but haven't seen any negative effects since I stopped.

I do weekly 5g water changes with half Red Sea blue bucket and half Coralife. Red Sea is expensive and Coralife is cheap. Red Sea is a bit low on some params and Coralife is a bit high so it works out perfect.

Lighting is 6x24 sunpower. 3 Coral Plus 3 Blue Plus. 12 hours on 1x each and 8 on the other 4 bulbs.

I keep Cal at 450, Alk at 7.3 dKh, mag at 1350ish. I never can get any phosphate to show up on Hanna or salifert, but I also do not have the ultra low Hanna.

I feed NLS small pellets about 2 small pinches a day out of an ehiem auto feeder and 1/2 cube of rods food in the evening.

Hope that helps!

Thanks, it definitely does!

[notenoughtanks]

Really been trying to dial in my RO filter changes. I have been comparing what carbon config holds up best to Chloramines.

Tested today after first carbon 0.68mg/l and 0 after the second which I can maintain as long as I'm on the ball with replacement of the first.

I have found the first one gives bleed through in under 2 months with catalytic carbon, I believe a bit more with the BRS universal carbon block and suspect based on memory the Pentek Chlorplus to give the best longevity. I need to confirm with more frequent testing that.

Really an eye opener to what causes premature failure of membranes and DI and mystery issues with corals.

Note: this is with regular replacement of 1 micron sediment filter and 75psi input to unit, so pretty ideal conditions.

[notenoughtanks]

Update: everything plugging along nicely. I added a co2 scrubber a few days ago for fun to see results. Observing .2-.3 increase in pH throughout the day. 8.2 at night and 8.3-8.4 during the day.

[reefmutt]

Looking great!
Love that pink lemonade

[notenoughtanks]

A few updates here.

Got rid of the purple stylo and blue tenuis as they were about to hit the glass and water surface. Kept frags of course.

Colors have gotten a bit pale. Haven’t changed lighting, feeding, water change method/frequency so I’m not sure why. I continue to incrementally swap out small portions of the sand bed, 5 g weekly water changes etc. obviously corals growing and I keep up on maintaining all parameters I can test for (Ca,Alk,mag,N03,P04,potassium). Red Goniopora wasted away and my 1 favia has not grown a bit which I’d guess are related. Nitrates around 7-10ppm and I get a bit of turf algae do it’s not like it’s a lack of nutrients. I tried Red Sea colors for about a month and observed no difference.

I recently (some time after stuff got pale) switched to just Red Sea Blue
Bucket salt bs the 50/50 mix with Coralife but I can’t see that as the culprit.

Now the fun part: UPGRADE

Being I was smart enough to build a stand that could accommodate a larger tank, what the heck! Corals and fish are growing and another leap in stability would be nice.

I have gotten a quote from Reef Savvy and Custom Aquariums for a rimless 36x24x18 with 1/2” glass.

Reef savvy was $1600 with external overflow, which is a REALLY nice feature or $1100 with ghost, and 2 return holds drilled. At nearly double the price and a 6 month wait I’m not sure I can justify it being I’ve seen Custom’s work and it’s great. But nice things are nice

Custom Aquariums is ~$600 with no overflow or holes drilled (I would still and install my Synergy Shadow)

Both come with black backs at those pric points. I’m not 100% ready to pull the trigger but close.


Oh, some pics.


Hawkins


Halloween? Millie from Flounder



RRC Pink Caddy and Walt Disney


UC SSC

[plyle02]

Nice setup, corals looking colorful and happy

[notenoughtanks]

Originally Posted by plyle02

Nice setup, corals looking colorful and happy

Thank you!

[Jay Ellul]

love the large colorful colonies!

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by notenoughtanks

A few updates here.

Got rid of the purple stylo and blue tenuis as they were about to hit the glass and water surface. Kept frags of course.

Colors have gotten a bit pale. Haven’t changed lighting, feeding, water change method/frequency so I’m not sure why. I continue to incrementally swap out small portions of the sand bed, 5 g weekly water changes etc. obviously corals growing and I keep up on maintaining all parameters I can test for (Ca,Alk,mag,N03,P04,potassium). Red Goniopora wasted away and my 1 favia has not grown a bit which I’d guess are related. Nitrates around 7-10ppm and I get a bit of turf algae do it’s not like it’s a lack of nutrients. I tried Red Sea colors for about a month and observed no difference.

I recently (some time after stuff got pale) switched to just Red Sea Blue
Bucket salt bs the 50/50 mix with Coralife but I can’t see that as the culprit.

Now the fun part: UPGRADE

Being I was smart enough to build a stand that could accommodate a larger tank, what the heck! Corals and fish are growing and another leap in stability would be nice.

I have gotten a quote from Reef Savvy and Custom Aquariums for a rimless 36x24x18 with 1/2” glass.

Reef savvy was $1600 with external overflow, which is a REALLY nice feature or $1100 with ghost, and 2 return holds drilled. At nearly double the price and a 6 month wait I’m not sure I can justify it being I’ve seen Custom’s work and it’s great. But nice things are nice

Custom Aquariums is ~$600 with no overflow or holes drilled (I would still and install my Synergy Shadow)

Both come with black backs at those pric points. I’m not 100% ready to pull the trigger but close.


Oh, some pics.


Hawkins


Halloween? Millie from Flounder



RRC Pink Caddy and Walt Disney


UC SSC

Nice!! Love the Hawkins and I really like the spaced out large colonies. Really allows you to appreciate the growth patterns.