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07/21/2014, 07:10 PM | #1 |
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nps maintenance costs??
im in the process of planning an nps/filter feeder tank, and the part im currently stuck on is choosing display tank size. the "bigger is better" rule may not be entirely true in a nps system, so id like to figure out what the general feeding and maintenance costs are so i can choose the largest tank i can afford to maintain. interested in what experienced nps keepers went through on food, water changes, gfo or other filter media, etc.
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07/21/2014, 09:10 PM | #2 |
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Non-photosynthetic gorgonians and "soft" corals (Dendronepthya spp., Scleronepthya spp., etc.) can become pricey to feed over time. I wouldn't consider maintenance costs much higher, if at all, than other well-kept reef aquariums.
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07/21/2014, 10:22 PM | #3 |
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yea the food and possibly gfo are my only real concerns. but it all adds up! read about one guy who spends $10 a day on food for his 185g nps reef. would like an idea of how much other people go through
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07/22/2014, 06:50 PM | #4 |
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I have 2 tanks
A mixed reef - that is fairly easy from the NPS side- there are thing I add because I have sps in there. The 60 gallon cube is mostly gorgonians and Rhizos I would estimate in a given week I would use 1. close to 2/3 bottle of oyster feast ($25 per bottle) 2. About 15 percent of a small container of dry coral foods 3. 4 cubes of Mysis for the Rhizo's 4. 1/2 pack of frozen rotifers ($7 per pack) 5. 14 cubes of frozen plankton ($7 per pack of about 40) 6. 28 "squirts" of phyto - whatever that adds up to be I also hatch brine and rotifers - these don't add much to the cost - although I'm expanding the rotifer operation a bit. I add coral snow and this other Zeovit cyano additive to prevent cyano growth. I'm not sure if this actually does anything (I have no cyano though). I dose iodine - one capful of the seachem stuff a week. I probably use between 100mL to 200 mL of Rowaphos a week - this is an estimate. Working on a LaCL reactor/sump to reduce eliminate Rowaphos use - but I just have too many projects on the go. Bigger is not better. If you don't target feed you need to build up a concentration of foods to make sure the polyp capture feeders actually get food. This is hard to do in a larger tank. |
07/22/2014, 11:17 PM | #5 |
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im thinking of going with 75 gal with 40 gal sump. i really cant justify buying any smaller of a tank after 5 years of being stuck with a tiny 25g. i will be culturing my own phyto, rotifers and bbs to help with feeding costs
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07/23/2014, 06:36 AM | #6 |
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could maybe even get away with a 25g sump. its only for holding equipment and small automated water changes
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07/24/2014, 01:22 PM | #7 |
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Noy... Just curious, on the 65 gallon, do you use a continuous feeding system or are you target feeding?
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07/24/2014, 01:57 PM | #8 |
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75g automated feeding
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07/24/2014, 01:58 PM | #9 |
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nvm that wasnt for me..
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07/25/2014, 03:02 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
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07/25/2014, 03:07 PM | #11 | |
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Quote:
For the frozen stuff i dump it all in 2x a day - that way the tank has a nice concentration of foods and i can be assure the foods are actually hitting the polyps of the corals. Live BBS/Rotifers - once a day. |
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07/25/2014, 06:11 PM | #12 |
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seems like theres 2 approaches to feeding; 1) heavy concentration of food followed by aggressive filtration. and 2) maintaining a constant food supply in aquarium. i wonder which is better? with 1 it could be beneficial for me to have a large sump and turn off return pump while feeding the back on after for diluting the food concentration
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07/25/2014, 06:52 PM | #13 |
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I'm not nearly as experienced as some of these guys, but have been doing a lot of research as my interest in NPS has been gaining. There are some NPS that you can get away with a concentrated feeding while others will need that continuous supply of food. I have purple menella gorgonian that I target feed a cocktail of frozen cylop-eeze, reef roids, and fauna marin to 1x or 2x a day... turn off return and all circulation pumps. After 10 min, I turn the circulation pumps back on but leave the return off for at least 30 mins... usually more.
So far, so good. I've had him for 3 months and he grown probably an inch and is open 90% of the time. Of course, 6 months and a year are better marks for judgement of how it's fairs. I do want to try some other NPS gorgs such as Diodogorgia as it seems they'll do ok with the concentrated target feedings. I wouldn't dare try a blueberry gorgonian or something like a carnation coral. My sun corals have been relatively easy to care for as well... just have to make sure the fish don't steal the mysis away, but I have figured out a routine for myself that works. So, my personal opinion is that it depends what you are wanting to keep. |
07/25/2014, 09:38 PM | #14 |
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i dont plan on keeping gorgs. my original attraction was carnation but after alot of reading i decided i may let that one go. instead ill go for chili coral, kinda look similar. but aside from that im mostly keeping sponges seasquirts scalops maybe a sun coral and if any other soft nps come on my radar id likely go for it
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07/25/2014, 09:40 PM | #15 |
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im trying to mimic a mangrove biotope focusing more on the nps and filter feeders
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07/26/2014, 09:14 PM | #16 | |
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Quote:
Might be a good place to start - they feed quite readily. May sure you get a healthy specimen from the LFS. Here is mine feeding on cyclopeez. |
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07/26/2014, 09:47 PM | #17 | |
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Quote:
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07/27/2014, 08:44 PM | #18 |
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07/27/2014, 08:45 PM | #19 |
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yea theres nothing there just txt
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07/28/2014, 06:33 PM | #20 |
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07/30/2014, 06:06 PM | #21 |
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oh strange.. cool vid
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