225g "Reef in the Basement"

SABOB · Apr 5, 2016

Matze said:
Thank you
Heidelberg is so beautiful, my Ex girlfriend lived there and I loved visiting. So much history around
Funny, didn't know that Mathias is also a last name. Is this a common name with you guys over the pond?

Not sure how common it is........Everyone in my family has it as a last name,Haha

Matze · Apr 6, 2016

Soo that's making it pretty common I guess xD
I mean if everybody in your family shares the last name.. It got to be common

SABOB · Apr 6, 2016

Matze said:
Soo that's making it pretty common I guess xD
I mean if everybody in your family shares the last name.. It got to be common

You're right......I have5 kids,1 Granddaughter and 1 Grandson due in August.Thats a lot of Mathias in San Antonio

SABOB · Apr 6, 2016

SABOB said:
You're right......I have5 kids,1 Granddaughter and 1 Grandson due in August.Thats a lot of Mathias in San Antonio

SABOB · Apr 6, 2016

SABOB said:
You're right......I have5 kids,1 Granddaughter and 1 Grandson due in August.Thats a lot of Mathias in San Antonio

Matze · Apr 16, 2016

A little update:

Today I got back my second Triton analyses.
I got rid of all the unwanted stuff I had in the tank the last time. Also my PO4 is down to 0.01.
So far the system is running incredible stabil.
I measure KH every 3 days and never see a change. Also Ca stays at 430

I got noticeable growth on my acros and my montis took off like a rocket

I raised the amount of Elementz I put in the tank from 0.5ml/1l to 0.7ml/l with a tendency
to 0.8-1.0

Also noticed my blue acros color got really pushed. Before it was brownish with a light blue tint.

I'll post some pics tomorrow

Matze · Apr 17, 2016

So as promised some growth shots =)

This is my Raspberry and Cream acropora
I built a nice epoxy ring around it to get a nice shaped growth pattern.
It colored up nicely, when I got it, it was quite pale. Now it has a nice pinkish tone.
Just a week ago, it started to spread its base onto the epoxy.

Next one is my yellow millepora. This thing has insane growth tips and grew nearly a full cm
since the last photo update.

Now this think did grow the most. This monti cap grew nearly 2cm in 3 weeks.
When looking under the cap one can see a greenish color. Never seen this with a monti
cap. Most of the time they are white.

My blue acro. It started to develop a base which is still small, but
noticeable. Also when I got this piece it was like a brownish blue tone.
Now it´s of a nice deep blue. Also it developed some nice growth tips, but they are still small =)

The little blue acro

The Strawberry Shortcake didn´t show any signs of growth, but it has colored
up nicely. Hope to see some growth in the near future =)

This piece of Milka stylo is a true growth monster.
It did cover a nice ring around it with it´s base and grows thicker and thicker.
Just a few days ago it got some nice growth tips

Last picture for today is the Dragons Soul goniastrea.
This piece didn´t show any signs of growth... well that´s what I thought.
When you take a look of the bottom part, you see how the tissue did start
to spread around the epoxy =)

All in all I´m really happy how the Triton stuff works out. My water parameters settled in onto
a good level and have been staying there rock solid for over a month =)

Hope you like it =)

Greetings
Matze

Matze · Aug 13, 2016

Hello

After quite some time a new update.

the right side of my tank. Slowly more and more corals find a place.

The middle section. Growth here is stunning

This part will be the acro tower. Getting some new pieces of plating acro in the near future.

Monti island. Not to many pieces on there as of yet. But everything grows nicely. Got those pieces early on as really small frags, now they trippled in size

Closer shots

My favorite candy cane. Got it from my buddy half dead and now it looks nice and healthy

Second head starts to part from the first one.
3 weeks in the tank so far.

The strawberry shortcake is a slow grower for me. But it starts to develope a nice base and shows a lovely coloration.

My duncan coral. I got it with on head, now I got 5

little ones are growing fast.

My ocean blue acro. This thing grows like a champ. Bases are already connected and new branches grow. Color got really intense.

Green plating monti.
Got this piece as a 2 inch frag. Now it covers a fourth of the middle pillar

My raspberry and cream acro.
The complete right side is new growth. Color got intense and a slight green shimmer on the base appeared.

Yellow millepora.
Grows like weeds, already cut it twice

Love this thing!

My newest addition. Bicolor acro with orange tips

Excited to see how that piece develops.

Milka stylo.
By far the best growing coral in my tank.
This thing was so small one could barely make it out

the base covered the complete epoxy and new branches seem to grow every day.

Lastly my skyblue echinata.
Got it for 5 weeks now and the frag plug is already covered

My parameters are rock stabile since going with Triton. But every now and then I have to battle some cyanos, no big deal though

I also decided to get 2 Hydra 26 HD in autumn to supplement my ATI hybrid.
Honestly I wasn't sure in the beginning if one could run such a large tank on a student budget. But with patience it realöy works out well

Hope you like it!
Greetings

Matze

ksfulk · Aug 13, 2016

Gorgeous tank, even with the lightning limitations you have right now. I ran 3 Hydra 26s over my 125 and I really liked the power and punch of such a little fixture. I ended up selling them for a ATI sunpower 8x80w fixture and ended up really happy with the result from that as well. I dont think you can go wrong with those types of fixtures!

I ran triton with my last tank, but could never get the nitrates down far enough to have success with SPS. I think it was because there was too much detritus hidden in my sump that outpaced the algae growth - Not sure if I'll go that way again on the new system, but it sure is an easy method, once you get the dosing set.

Do you have any further fish stocking plans?

Matze · Aug 13, 2016

ksfulk said:
Gorgeous tank, even with the lightning limitations you have right now. I ran 3 Hydra 26s over my 125 and I really liked the power and punch of such a little fixture. I ended up selling them for a ATI sunpower 8x80w fixture and ended up really happy with the result from that as well. I dont think you can go wrong with those types of fixtures!

I ran triton with my last tank, but could never get the nitrates down far enough to have success with SPS. I think it was because there was too much detritus hidden in my sump that outpaced the algae growth - Not sure if I'll go that way again on the new system, but it sure is an easy method, once you get the dosing set.

Do you have any further fish stocking plans?

Thank you sir! =)
When it comes to T5 nothing beats ATI, a very good choice. I was to go with the Kessil A360we as a supplemental light at first,
but did then see the AI hydras over a tank in one of the LFS around my place. They were just incredible well made, don´t need
a controller and have a small footprint. Also the spread was much nicer than the Kessils. I really hope they turn out well for me =)
May I ask why you sold them?

I never had a problem with nitrates building up, phosphates were always my problem. But since using Rowaphos that was no longer an
issue. I have a Tunze 6060 in my fuge, to blast off all detritus. Maybe that would be an option?

As for stocking more fish, yes I got plans =)

I´d like to add 10 chromis to the 3 in the tank
5 Gramma loretos
2 Yellow tangs
1 powder brown tang
5 dispar anthias
2 mandarins
2bodianus bimaculatus wrasses

Cheers
Matze

Matze · Aug 13, 2016

As for fish currently in the tank:

1 blue hippo tang
1 fox face
3 green chromis
1 melanurus wrasse
1 salarias blenny
1 file fish
1 dispar anthias (2 other got killed by a mantis shrimp

)
1 longnose hawkfish

jamie callard · Aug 13, 2016

I am looking to start a tank this size do you mind letting me know where you got this one so I can start shopping

Matze · Aug 14, 2016

Good morning Jamie,

the size is a great comprosmise between real estate and ease of taking care.
I bought this tank from the german company Diamantaquarien.

Cheers
Matze

ksfulk · Aug 15, 2016

Matze said:
Thank you sir! =)
When it comes to T5 nothing beats ATI, a very good choice. I was to go with the Kessil A360we as a supplemental light at first,
but did then see the AI hydras over a tank in one of the LFS around my place. They were just incredible well made, don´t need
a controller and have a small footprint. Also the spread was much nicer than the Kessils. I really hope they turn out well for me =)
May I ask why you sold them?

I never had a problem with nitrates building up, phosphates were always my problem. But since using Rowaphos that was no longer an
issue. I have a Tunze 6060 in my fuge, to blast off all detritus. Maybe that would be an option?

As for stocking more fish, yes I got plans =)

I´d like to add 10 chromis to the 3 in the tank
5 Gramma loretos
2 Yellow tangs
1 powder brown tang
5 dispar anthias
2 mandarins
2bodianus bimaculatus wrasses

Cheers
Matze

Sorry I missed the questions in the response!

As to why I sold the AIs, what it really came down to was my reservations with "tinkering" with the lights. I loved the look of the AIs, but I didnt want to invest in the equipment necessary to really dial in the lights so that I was using them to their fullest capacity. Rather, I wanted a lighting solution that I could turn on and off without having to tinker with it to get it right. The lights themselves are outstanding and they did well for me when I used them - but I sold them for about what I paid and was able to purchase the ATI fixture with the cash I recouped. Seems like a win all the way around.

With my latest system packed up and sold, I was shocked to see the "mud" at the bottom of the sump once I pulled everything out. It was obviously the issue, but preventing that sort of thing from happening should be higher on my priority list going forward.

I love the bodianus bimaculatus - I had one for about six years through a few different tanks. I lost him to a bacterial infection that started in his eye (initial wound was from a tang sparring session that it swam through). Dispars will be pretty as well. I think of the anthia body types, I prefer the dispar/barlett/ignitus/carberryi types myself

Matze · Aug 16, 2016

ksfulk said:
Sorry I missed the questions in the response! As to why I sold the AIs, what it really came down to was my reservations with "tinkering" with the lights. I loved the look of the AIs, but I didnt want to invest in the equipment necessary to really dial in the lights so that I was using them to their fullest capacity. Rather, I wanted a lighting solution that I could turn on and off without having to tinker with it to get it right. The lights themselves are outstanding and they did well for me when I used them - but I sold them for about what I paid and was able to purchase the ATI fixture with the cash I recouped. Seems like a win all the way around.

With my latest system packed up and sold, I was shocked to see the "mud" at the bottom of the sump once I pulled everything out. It was obviously the issue, but preventing that sort of thing from happening should be higher on my priority list going forward.

I love the bodianus bimaculatus - I had one for about six years through a few different tanks. I lost him to a bacterial infection that started in his eye (initial wound was from a tang sparring session that it swam through). Dispars will be pretty as well. I think of the anthia body types, I prefer the dispar/barlett/ignitus/carberryi types myself

No problem

Thanks for answering. I see that it takes some fiddling with the Hydras to find the sweetspot for the corals. Good to hear that you haven't had problems with the lights themselve.

Yeah I know what you are talking about.
Sump cleaning is so important, but also so much work.
Since I got the Powerhead in my sump all the gunk goes directly to the skimmer

Wow B. bimaculatus is an awesome fish. Love the coloration and behavior. So cool ypu had long term success with it

But thats an animal far above my price range. Maybe some day! I love anthias, dispars and bartlett are my two most favorit varieties, followed by diadema. So I really like to have a group of them in my system. Especially, now that it is large enough to house more of them

Cheers
Matze

Matze · Dec 8, 2016

Hi there

A little update is long due.
Actually there is not much to talk about, since using Triton, everything just grows and looks really nice. SPS are growing like weeds literally. LPS tend to be a bit slower growing, but are healthy.
I traded in some acro frags and got a few nice pieces for them.
Light wise, I ordered the AI Hydra 26HD.
I hope to get my hands on it monday.
Fish wise I added two blue and red dragonets.

Some pics

Matze · Jan 10, 2017

Good afternoon and happy belated new year

The next update is ready.
Some things changed quite a bit. I added a AI Hydra 26Hd and am super happy. I also added another 20lbs of dead rock, to get some more real estate for corals and places to hide for the fishy faction

I added 2 yellow docs, 1 copperband butterfly, a bunch of acropora (1 rainbow tenuis, 1 rainbow anthoceris, 1 silver millepora), a nice rainbow acan and a beautiful tiny tridacna maxima.

But see for yourself!