Dos Ocho
Community Member
Thought I'd share an experiment I've been wanting to do for a while.
First, the backstory. I had a 40 long / 33 long sump setup going for about a year and a half. Macros, Softies, and Rock Anemones. It got overwhelmed by bubble algae so i got serious about removal and pulled a ton of it out over the course of a week. After that, a slime appeared that i must have incorrectly assumed was cyanobacteria. I thought all the detritus stiring up during the algae removal caused it. I had just treated my 50 gallon system successfully with chemiclean and decided to treat the 40. I swear i dosed accordingly, removed carbon, and ran airstones like instructed. Well something went horribly wrong and over the next day and a half, 90% of my livestock died. I was changing water as fast as i could, running a lot of carbon, but nothing i did stopped it. I was able to finally save all my fish, and a couple corals. Everything else turned to mush.
So, time to reload. I was wanting to try seagrass next, but pushed the system to fast and had an explosion of cyano, dinos, diatoms, you name it. Completely my fault (the seagrass all died too, of course). So, lights out for a long time to clear out the main display. I really didn't want to have to break everything down again, so i pondered my next options.
So i came up with this idea, a dedicated NPS system. Now I know NPS are some of the hardest corals to keep and there are few long term success stories, but i wanted to give it a go.
The display has around 30 lbs or so of various rock. 2 pieces of KP Aquatics Live Rock, a few pieces of dry Marco rock, and 2 large pieces of Caribsea Life Rock. I kept the deeper sand bed i created for the seagrass for ease of transition. Hope it dos not come back to haunt me. The sand is a mix of mineral mud, oolite sand, and Fiji pink. 4" deep at the deepest point, tapering to about 1.5" - 2" on the other side. I have an MP-10 and a Hydor wavemaker for circulation and a Reef Octopus Varios 2 return pump.
The sump has a display fuge of around 10 lbs of rock (mostly KP Aquatics Live Rock) and a sandbed. I have a clump of Xenia, lots of grape caulerpa, and a small army of crabs and snails to keep it clean. I just added a Reef Octopus Essence 130 skimmer. Overpowered for sure but i really liked it's construction and reviews. I am still dialing it in but so far it is working well. I also run carbon and have sprinkled in Marinepure balls where i have room.
The tank is still lightly stocked right now. I have 3 dendro frags, a feather duster, a tube anemone, and some kind of orange encrusting sponge on one of the KP rocks. I have 3 pajama cardinals and a blue chromis from the previous setup. My rainford goby was initially placed in the sump and did well for a while, but disappeared a week and a half ago so unfortunately i lost him. Never found a body but the crabs are very efficient cleaners of carcasses, so that is not surprising.
Lighting of the display is minimal. I had a Nanobox Tide Mini lying around so i have that mounted high up and run low intensity blues for 4 hours at night. Any other light during the day is ambient from other stuff in the room. The fuge has a Nanobox Duo running high whites for 12 hours 6pm - 6am.
So far, everything is doing well and has been running NPS since the end of August. The dendros get target fed about twice a week and they often catch stuff floating around when i feed the fish. 2 have their polyps out 24/7 and the third is a bit bashful sometimes, but i have been able to always coax him out for target feedings. His polyps still stay mostly out though. The tube anemone is fascinating and grabs food from the water column during feedings. I did a bit of target feeding when i first got him, but that does not seem needed anymore. He has put on some growth too in the short time i have had him.
The feather duster is a new addition, and often expands and retracts during the day but is looking good none the less.
In the future, I am planning on adding a couple Carribean NPS gorgonians, a couple more feather dusters, perhaps another tube anemone (but I doubt it), and then down the road a sponge or three. I don't think i will get to the point of trying the NPS soft corals, and will most likely avoid sun corals due to their daily feeding requirements.
This tank is running the way it is because i didn't have it in me to do another major tear down and rebuild and i wanted to still get my $ out of the equipment i initially purchased. So if i can get a few more items in there and keep them all alive, I'll consider it a success. If it fails, i can't justify another reload so i'll save what i can and transfer it to my other systems and try and sell what i don't need.
The biggest challenge will obviously be nutrient export to keep the water from becoming lifeless sludge, but enough food to keep the corals fed. I have been adding more powdered food to see if it can handle ramping up feeding for the addition of the gorgonians. I am hopeful that between the skimmer, the caulerpa, the thousands of pods i already have, and water changes that i can find a good balance and keep the system functioning. Time will tell, of course...
Anywho, enjoy the pix.
First, the backstory. I had a 40 long / 33 long sump setup going for about a year and a half. Macros, Softies, and Rock Anemones. It got overwhelmed by bubble algae so i got serious about removal and pulled a ton of it out over the course of a week. After that, a slime appeared that i must have incorrectly assumed was cyanobacteria. I thought all the detritus stiring up during the algae removal caused it. I had just treated my 50 gallon system successfully with chemiclean and decided to treat the 40. I swear i dosed accordingly, removed carbon, and ran airstones like instructed. Well something went horribly wrong and over the next day and a half, 90% of my livestock died. I was changing water as fast as i could, running a lot of carbon, but nothing i did stopped it. I was able to finally save all my fish, and a couple corals. Everything else turned to mush.
So, time to reload. I was wanting to try seagrass next, but pushed the system to fast and had an explosion of cyano, dinos, diatoms, you name it. Completely my fault (the seagrass all died too, of course). So, lights out for a long time to clear out the main display. I really didn't want to have to break everything down again, so i pondered my next options.
So i came up with this idea, a dedicated NPS system. Now I know NPS are some of the hardest corals to keep and there are few long term success stories, but i wanted to give it a go.
The display has around 30 lbs or so of various rock. 2 pieces of KP Aquatics Live Rock, a few pieces of dry Marco rock, and 2 large pieces of Caribsea Life Rock. I kept the deeper sand bed i created for the seagrass for ease of transition. Hope it dos not come back to haunt me. The sand is a mix of mineral mud, oolite sand, and Fiji pink. 4" deep at the deepest point, tapering to about 1.5" - 2" on the other side. I have an MP-10 and a Hydor wavemaker for circulation and a Reef Octopus Varios 2 return pump.
The sump has a display fuge of around 10 lbs of rock (mostly KP Aquatics Live Rock) and a sandbed. I have a clump of Xenia, lots of grape caulerpa, and a small army of crabs and snails to keep it clean. I just added a Reef Octopus Essence 130 skimmer. Overpowered for sure but i really liked it's construction and reviews. I am still dialing it in but so far it is working well. I also run carbon and have sprinkled in Marinepure balls where i have room.
The tank is still lightly stocked right now. I have 3 dendro frags, a feather duster, a tube anemone, and some kind of orange encrusting sponge on one of the KP rocks. I have 3 pajama cardinals and a blue chromis from the previous setup. My rainford goby was initially placed in the sump and did well for a while, but disappeared a week and a half ago so unfortunately i lost him. Never found a body but the crabs are very efficient cleaners of carcasses, so that is not surprising.
Lighting of the display is minimal. I had a Nanobox Tide Mini lying around so i have that mounted high up and run low intensity blues for 4 hours at night. Any other light during the day is ambient from other stuff in the room. The fuge has a Nanobox Duo running high whites for 12 hours 6pm - 6am.
So far, everything is doing well and has been running NPS since the end of August. The dendros get target fed about twice a week and they often catch stuff floating around when i feed the fish. 2 have their polyps out 24/7 and the third is a bit bashful sometimes, but i have been able to always coax him out for target feedings. His polyps still stay mostly out though. The tube anemone is fascinating and grabs food from the water column during feedings. I did a bit of target feeding when i first got him, but that does not seem needed anymore. He has put on some growth too in the short time i have had him.
The feather duster is a new addition, and often expands and retracts during the day but is looking good none the less.
In the future, I am planning on adding a couple Carribean NPS gorgonians, a couple more feather dusters, perhaps another tube anemone (but I doubt it), and then down the road a sponge or three. I don't think i will get to the point of trying the NPS soft corals, and will most likely avoid sun corals due to their daily feeding requirements.
This tank is running the way it is because i didn't have it in me to do another major tear down and rebuild and i wanted to still get my $ out of the equipment i initially purchased. So if i can get a few more items in there and keep them all alive, I'll consider it a success. If it fails, i can't justify another reload so i'll save what i can and transfer it to my other systems and try and sell what i don't need.
The biggest challenge will obviously be nutrient export to keep the water from becoming lifeless sludge, but enough food to keep the corals fed. I have been adding more powdered food to see if it can handle ramping up feeding for the addition of the gorgonians. I am hopeful that between the skimmer, the caulerpa, the thousands of pods i already have, and water changes that i can find a good balance and keep the system functioning. Time will tell, of course...
Anywho, enjoy the pix.
