310 GALLON BUILD

[thewalkingdad]

The tank is going along nicely! I'm in the middle of my first build, a 175 gallon tank, also from Planet. It should arrive within the next week or two. My complaint with Planet is I can't interact with them directly. I have to work through a retailer and that retailer isn't always super responsive...

Two questions for you:
1) What are you dosing for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium?
2) How do you like your zebra barred? I have one arriving tomorrow that will be going through the QT process.

Great work!

 

[Jrod381]

Thanks for they reply. Thats exactly why I was asking to see how far it went in a large tank. I have not heard of reefpro I will have to look them up.

Yea I barely have any corals in the tank and just a little bit of coralline so there was no justification for me to be dosing almost 100ml of AF. This is what I’m currently dosing with reefpro trident controlled and it my numbers have been very stable. Once I get the nitrates down and consistent I will start adding corals again.

 

[Jrod381]

The tank is going along nicely! I'm in the middle of my first build, a 175 gallon tank, also from Planet. It should arrive within the next week or two. My complaint with Planet is I can't interact with them directly. I have to work through a retailer and that retailer isn't always super responsive...

Two questions for you:
1) What are you dosing for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium?
2) How do you like your zebra barred? I have one arriving tomorrow that will be going through the QT process.

Great work!

yea it’s tough to connect with Planet. To answer your questions

1. currently dosing Reefpro A&B it handles all 3 components. A tank won’t use up much magnesium compared to alk and cal. I don’t remember the exact ratio. As mentioned Aquaforet component is a good product but my tank was to large and I was going through it rather quickly.

2.love My zebra gobies they have personality the female stays near the cave and the male is always out and about. Once they get acclimated and start eating well the colors really start to show off definitely an underrated goby. Mine are about 4-5” in length.

 

[Jrod381]

I did something I don’t normally do I got a CUC lol... ordered me a nice package from @reeftopia very happy with all I received all have been scampering around quickly. Now hoping that my wrasses and BT trigger don’t decide to make them snacks.

 

[Jrod381]

Received my ICP results back and nothing stands out for the tank sample. For the RO sample it says there is silicone?
Thoughts

 

[thewalkingdad]

yea it’s tough to connect with Planet. To answer your questions

1. currently dosing Reefpro A&B it handles all 3 components. A tank won’t use up much magnesium compared to alk and cal. I don’t remember the exact ratio. As mentioned Aquaforet component is a good product but my tank was to large and I was going through it rather quickly.

2.love My zebra gobies they have personality the female stays near the cave and the male is always out and about. Once they get acclimated and start eating well the colors really start to show off definitely an underrated goby. Mine are about 4-5” in length.

How long did it take for your zebras to be more comfortable?

I got my single zebra from liveaquaria yesterday. He is in QT right now,. When I put him in, he immediately hid under one of the PVC pipes and has hardly moved. I don't think he's eaten any of the baby brine shrimp swimming around. Other than hiding and not moving around much, he seems otherwise OK. I've heard this is similar to many people's experiences with zebras. What was your experience with them in QT?

 

[Jrod381]

How long did it take for your zebras to be more comfortable?

I got my single zebra from liveaquaria yesterday. He is in QT right now,. When I put him in, he immediately hid under one of the PVC pipes and has hardly moved. I don't think he's eaten any of the baby brine shrimp swimming around. Other than hiding and not moving around much, he seems otherwise OK. I've heard this is similar to many people's experiences with zebras. What was your experience with them in QT?

In qt I had several other fish mainly gobies I believe they were fire fish. The first couple of days I had to feed the qt tank because they were still scared and shy. Once I got them to eat is when I dosed copper. In the display the first few months it was the same very afraid to any movement near the tank they would hide. Now they know when it’s feeding time and come out right away. Just give them some time.

 

[Jrod381]

In qt I had several other fish mainly gobies I believe they were fire fish. The first couple of days I had to feed the qt tank because they were still scared and shy. Once I got them to eat is when I dosed copper. In the display the first few months it was the same very afraid to any movement near the tank they would hide. Now they know when it’s feeding time and come out right away. Just give them some time.

Sorry for ****** photos Have to clean the glass but here is the pair

 

[thewalkingdad]

In qt I had several other fish mainly gobies I believe they were fire fish. The first couple of days I had to feed the qt tank because they were still scared and shy. Once I got them to eat is when I dosed copper. In the display the first few months it was the same very afraid to any movement near the tank they would hide. Now they know when it’s feeding time and come out right away. Just give them some time.

Nice to know that there is (should be) light at the end of the tunnel. It's a shame for such a beautiful fish to be so shy.

The tank is coming along!

 

[mattgsa]

Your tank is looking great. I noticed that you an I have exactly the same tank, and I'm also planning on using the XR15s. I'm looking forward to watching your tank come along. I'm a little jealous, I wish I lived so close to WWC.

 

[Jrod381]

Your tank is looking great. I noticed that you an I have exactly the same tank, and I'm also planning on using the XR15s. I'm looking forward to watching your tank come along. I'm a little jealous, I wish I lived so close to WWC.

Thanks brother, no need to be jealous we can share experiences and ideas. I love my xr15 still need to buy a apogee sensor to do a par map of the tank. I’m only running at 40% max because I’m not sure on the light penetration just yet

 

[Jrod381]

I was struggling to keep some coral alive and it was frustrating. I knew my parameters were where I wanted them and maybe could bring no3 just a bit lower. So I bought myself a PAR meter and tested the lights at all channels 100% these were my results. To think I only had them at 40% max I recommend everyone to get a par meter to help dial in the light or light placement. Lights are 20” above the water line and that is 275 PAR. I will be lowering my canopy about 4” as I want the peak of my aquascape to be at 350-400 PAR

 

[txreefer]

what par meter did you use for this? I've been looking to get one myself as im nearing the stage to add coral to my 315.

 

[Jrod381]

what par meter did you use for this? I've been looking to get one myself as im nearing the stage to add coral to my 315.

Apogee s120 par sensor connected to a multimeter, for another $80 you can get the 240 sensor which has a sub cable and connects to laptop or computer but it seems to difficult to do. With the unit I have I had a step still to sit my multimeter on and use to hands two hold the sensor steady to get good accurate numbers.

 

[txreefer]

What is the spacing between fixtures? Im trying to figure out how to light this tank and avoid the end and center braces.

 

[Jrod381]

What is the spacing between fixtures? Im trying to figure out how to light this tank and avoid the end and center braces.

What tank do you have? I know my lights are 7” from each end. I can measure later when I’m home.

 

[txreefer]

If you could measure that would be awesome. I have the Planet 310. Exact same tank as you.

 

[Jrod381]

If you could measure that would be awesome. I have the Planet 310. Exact same tank as you.

here are the measurements I hope it make sense disregard the frame of the canopy I just used it as a reference. I will say if you are going with the same lights definitely have them lower to the tank. These lights spread great and nice even par across however they do not penetrate and need to be lower roughly 9-10” off the water line. With what I know now I would have gone with 4 or 5 xr30 parallel to the width of the tank on center

 

[txreefer]

Thanks for the info. I did notice you mounted them fairly high. I have a 12" canopy from planet so I should be at perfect height.

 

[Jrod381]

Thanks for the info. I did notice you mounted them fairly high. I have a 12" canopy from planet so I should be at perfect height.

Yea your god I mounted mine based on what worked really well for g4 . I have lowered the canopy to 15” off the water line and I getting 225 at the top of my scape at 70% intensity. I just received my two t5 fixtures and will be adding some supplemental lighting to help increase par and colorization. Both t5 strips will be down the center of the canopy I went with blue plus and aqua blue special since they will only be used for the peak lighting period of 5 hours