45 Gallon Shallow Reef Build

[JoJosReef]

OK, so I mentioned that I don't care for the visual color of the Straton (even though it's the ticket) compared to my kessils and how I want light hitting everything from both directions if at all possible. And this is true.

So I got to thinking and came up with what I have below which I think is amazing!

I have 500 PAR over my pink millepora and green millepora which are the highest up and everyone else is getting 400+ at mid depth and 250 on the bottom. And it's like an even blanket of light. And only the kessils are at 100 percent power and 100 percent blue. Because I like it. According to my Apex I am using 175 watts of light total for all its worth. Not bad.
There is a LOT of headroom left in the ATI. I just don't need it at this point. But it's there. Like another 50 percent. I just think the measured PAR is great though it could be more than I'm aware of. I guess the kessils are hard to measure at least with my parwise, but whatever. I'm an advocate of strong lighting.

The tank is a very crisp blue white now like a radium and the shimmer is back. I am very happy with it and I am overlapping the kessil spectrum and the ATI spectrum which are both winners. So we can stop thinking about lighting anymore. The only thing I want to do is figure out how to make these kessils ramp up and down with the spectral controller. I'm too stupid right now and I got annoyed with it, so I'll get back to that.

Looks pretty slick huh? It's actually very solid and all the wiring is nice and neat so it doesnt look like cobbled junk...even though it is. ahaha...

Oh that's nice. Bravo! Now you've got good spectrum and a clean aesthetic!

 

[CBonito]

Oh that's nice. Bravo! Now you've got good spectrum and a clean aesthetic!

The visual appearance in the tank is so much better now. I love the ATI, but the Kessil Thing to me is much more visually appealing. Both together look excellent. The overlap of the kessils into the ATI spread is smooth too. There arent any intense hot spots because the kessils are angled. I'm really happy with it. Best of all, I can still work freely in the tank without hitting all this "stuff'. It's all out of the way still.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

OK, so I mentioned that I don't care for the visual color of the Straton (even though it's the ticket) compared to my kessils and how I want light hitting everything from both directions if at all possible. And this is true.

So I got to thinking and came up with what I have below which I think is amazing!

I have 500 PAR over my pink millepora and green millepora which are the highest up and everyone else is getting 400+ at mid depth and 250 on the bottom. And it's like an even blanket of light. And only the kessils are at 100 percent power and 100 percent blue. Because I like it. According to my Apex I am using 175 watts of light total for all its worth. Not bad.
There is a LOT of headroom left in the ATI. I just don't need it at this point. But it's there. Like another 50 percent. I just think the measured PAR is great though it could be more than I'm aware of. I guess the kessils are hard to measure at least with my parwise, but whatever. I'm an advocate of strong lighting.

The tank is a very crisp blue white now like a radium and the shimmer is back. I am very happy with it and I am overlapping the kessil spectrum and the ATI spectrum which are both winners. So we can stop thinking about lighting anymore. The only thing I want to do is figure out how to make these kessils ramp up and down with the spectral controller. I'm too stupid right now and I got annoyed with it, so I'll get back to that.

Looks pretty slick huh? It's actually very solid and all the wiring is nice and neat so it doesnt look like cobbled junk...even though it is. ahaha...

That setup looks sharp! Glad you are happier with the coloration now!

The Florida Keys Live Mud has a LOT of life forms in it. I'm happy and kind of scared at the same time about that.
In my refugium right now, I have all kinds of tube worms that just like appeared out of nowhere. I think this mud is what is really going to make my refugium. And I take some solace knowing that anything potentially bad that comes out of the refugium to the tank...has to make it through the varios 6 impeller first.

So far, all my corals are looking excellent and the tank overall looks great. I have some decisions to make about how to rid myself of some turf algae. Growing pains of a new tank...whether I want to scrub off the rocks and move forward, or pull my macroalgae from my refugium and treat the tank. We'll see. One way or another it will be gone.

I have added 2 DI stages with TDS meter to my ro system and I am replacing all the filters/backwashing my membrane tomorrow because I have to do my weekly water change, and up until now I have been assuming that my current ro/di is adequate and not really knowing for sure...so now we'll know. I plan to add the water saver too, but that's another day. I dont care right now about that.

I have been addressing some issues with my RO unit myself lately getting ready to make the new water for my 60 Cube build. One of the best things I did was change my water supply to the unit to soft water. When I moved into my house, it was initially plumbed on the hard water side with my exterior hose bibs. After doing a bit of research, I found that most membrane rejection ratings were based off a soft water supply. After I moved mine to soft water, my membrane performance and filter life drastically improved. My sediment filter was disgusting with the hard water, but now, I have to change it on an interval because I don't even get discoloration on it anymore. The second best thing I did was install a Aquatic Life Smart Buddie RO Booster pump, which took my (what I thought was decent) pressure of 55 psi. to between 90-100 psi. This has really been a game changer. I now get 0-1 TDS out of my Spectrapure 90 gpd membrane (down from 3-4 TDS pre pump install), with a lot less waste water. (2:1 instead of 4:1) and given the drop in TDS, I know my DI resin will last at least twice as long as it was previously. I also now have the benefit of the unit auto flushing every 24 hrs (Booster is on 24/7 as I also use the RO unit to supply my fridge/icemaker and a spout on the kitchen sink for cooking), which should increase my membrane life and prevent TDS creep. The last thing I did (and you already have too) is add the inline TDS meter pre and post DI to more adequately monitor water output quality.

 

[CBonito]

That setup looks sharp! Glad you are happier with the coloration now!

I have been addressing some issues with my RO unit myself lately getting ready to make the new water for my 60 Cube build. One of the best things I did was change my water supply to the unit to soft water. When I moved into my house, it was initially plumbed on the hard water side with my exterior hose bibs. After doing a bit of research, I found that most membrane rejection ratings were based off a soft water supply. After I moved mine to soft water, my membrane performance and filter life drastically improved. My sediment filter was disgusting with the hard water, but now, I have to change it on an interval because I don't even get discoloration on it anymore. The second best thing I did was install a Aquatic Life Smart Buddie RO Booster pump, which took my (what I thought was decent) pressure of 55 psi. to between 90-100 psi. This has really been a game changer. I now get 0-1 TDS out of my Spectrapure 90 gpd membrane (down from 3-4 TDS pre pump install), with a lot less waste water. (2:1 instead of 4:1) and given the drop in TDS, I know my DI resin will last at least twice as long as it was previously. I also now have the benefit of the unit auto flushing every 24 hrs (Booster is on 24/7 as I also use the RO unit to supply my fridge/icemaker and a spout on the kitchen sink for cooking), which should increase my membrane life and prevent TDS creep. The last thing I did (and you already have too) is add the inline TDS meter pre and post DI to more adequately monitor water output quality.

I have city water, but like most of the other institutions in this country, I don't trust their publications, nor does it even matter since water quality on any given day can change, so I wanted to let there be no doubt as to the removal of chloramines. My sediment filter is already a tan or pinkish color from new and that's over 4 months of use now, so I'm about due to just replace everything. But I added the 2 DI stages with the TDS meter too just so I have a reading at the end to be confident. That'll come online tonight. Gonna flush the membrane too in case anything needs to be washed out of there. Then I'm going to change some water tonight.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

I have city water, but like most of the other institutions in this country, I don't trust their publications, nor does it even matter since water quality on any given day can change, so I wanted to let there be no doubt as to the removal of chloramines. My sediment filter is already a tan or pinkish color from new and that's over 4 months of use now, so I'm about due to just replace everything. But I added the 2 DI stages with the TDS meter too just so I have a reading at the end to be confident. That'll come online tonight. Gonna flush the membrane too in case anything needs to be washed out of there. Then I'm going to change some water tonight.

A sure fire way to ensure the highest water quality is to just change the filters on an interval...most recommend six months. This garauntees they never get fouled to the point it compromises water quality. Monitoring water pressure post sediment/carbon and pre membrane is also a good way to monitor the condition of your filters if you don't want to waste money changing them too early.

 

[CBonito]

A sure fire way to ensure the highest water quality is to just change the filters on an interval...most recommend six months. This garauntees they never get fouled to the point it compromises water quality. Monitoring water pressure post sediment/carbon and pre membrane is also a good way to monitor the condition of your filters.

Exactly, I'm not even going near there. How pathetic to spend the money on water purification, then let it slide. LOL

I'm actually waiting for the system to backsiphon so I can take it all apart without making a mess. I flushed the membrane for a few minutes too. My water here is high in minerals. Not where I get water stains, but to the point where I replace my shower heads every year and the sprayers in my kitchen sink too. Then there's the questionable treatment...Like I said earlier, I don't trust the city, the state or anyone...with good reason. And I don't drink the water anyway.

When i lived in florida, the water SUCKED. I had to have a softener there.
My sprinklers would get stains all over the sides of the house. That was maddening. Bag after bag of salt in that stupid thing.

 

[CBonito]

I powered my return pump down for the first time since starting my tank, so I took some pictures.

Corals look pretty good. A couple are trying to find their way, but they'll be fine too.
Some of them look like they might not be doing so good, then you look close up and the polyps are out. I understand a few of the more recent ones will still take some time to adapt, but I got time! Still havent lost a single coral yet since the beginning. That alone is amazing to me since I would normally lose 1 out of 5 before upping my game. Seems like the more light they get, the better the colors. A couple of these are a lot happier today since adding the kessils so they probably werent getting what they wanted on the ends of the tank before.

This one is on the end of the tank and looking good. Tenuis is weird. It all starts with that greenish hue at the base, then the colors it will carry start to form. Just waiting each day to see what I notice with this one. I have a few tenuis colonies and they are all a little different.

This one is really nice. The color just keeps getting more saturated on this one and it's growing. Obviously happy where it is.

This one is a close favorite tie with my red one. It's changing fast and the growth is really good.

I'm not sure about this one. It's a really nice red color, but doesnt come out in the pic. The polyps extend, but it doesn't look like it since even extended they sit sheltered in the corallites. I assume this one likes high current so that's where it is. It gets hit good with a blast from my nero 5 every 10 seconds or so and also gets sand all over it because of the diamond goby. It looks like it will be a tabler.

I dont know what this one is going to do. There is some green and red, but it's not a lot. Just gotta give it some time I guess. I am going to place it higher too. It's got sand all over it from the diamond goby. He does a good job cleaning the tank, but is a moron with getting sand on everything. This one is supposed to be a rainbow. In time we'll find out.

 

[CBonito]

Holy crap. I STILL had a TDS coming out of my ro/di of 7 and now comes out of the 2 additional di stages as 0.
The more you know...LOL!

I read that chloramine is really hard to get rid of. Guess this is true. I'll be doing a bigger water change than I thought tomorrow. But my water system is running for a while before I start storing.

I can't even say it's chloramine because I dont know, but whatever it is, it's no more. Very good!
Carry on!

 

[CBonito]

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

I powered my return pump down for the first time since starting my tank, so I took some pictures.

Corals look pretty good. A couple are trying to find their way, but they'll be fine too.
Some of them look like they might not be doing so good, then you look close up and the polyps are out. I understand a few of the more recent ones will still take some time to adapt, but I got time! Still havent lost a single coral yet since the beginning. That alone is amazing to me since I would normally lose 1 out of 5 before upping my game. Seems like the more light they get, the better the colors. A couple of these are a lot happier today since adding the kessils so they probably werent getting what they wanted on the ends of the tank before.

This one is on the end of the tank and looking good. Tenuis is weird. It all starts with that greenish hue at the base, then the colors it will carry start to form. Just waiting each day to see what I notice with this one. I have a few tenuis colonies and they are all a little different.

This one is really nice. The color just keeps getting more saturated on this one and it's growing. Obviously happy where it is.

This one is a close favorite tie with my red one. It's changing fast and the growth is really good.

I'm not sure about this one. It's a really nice red color, but doesnt come out in the pic. The polyps extend, but it doesn't look like it since even extended they sit sheltered in the corallites. I assume this one likes high current so that's where it is. It gets hit good with a blast from my nero 5 every 10 seconds or so and also gets sand all over it because of the diamond goby. It looks like it will be a tabler.

I dont know what this one is going to do. There is some green and red, but it's not a lot. Just gotta give it some time I guess. I am going to place it higher too. It's got sand all over it from the diamond goby. He does a good job cleaning the tank, but is a moron with getting sand on everything. This one is supposed to be a rainbow. In time we'll find out.

Holy crap. I STILL had a TDS coming out of my ro/di of 7 and now comes out of the 2 additional di stages as 0.
The more you know...LOL!

I read that chloramine is really hard to get rid of. Guess this is true. I'll be doing a bigger water change than I thought tomorrow. But my water system is running for a while before I start storing.

I can't even say it's chloramine because I dont know, but whatever it is, it's no more. Very good!
Carry on!

Sounds like you got the water situation whooped! Very nice!

The corals are looking fantastic! I am a fuzzy stick amateur, but they all look like pieces I would see gracing the pages of CORAL magazine!

 

[CBonito]

Sounds like you got the water situation whooped! Very nice!

The corals are looking fantastic! I am a fuzzy stick amateur, but they all look like pieces I would see gracing the pages of CORAL magazine!

I still dont believe how good they're doing.

I took this shot tonight.
Colors are getting nice. Everything's still doing good.

I am about to treat the tank with flux rx though because I have contracted the bryopsis. LOL
But that wont harm anything so no big deal. I do have to remove all my macroalgae from my fuge though, so I'll have to buy more of that. It's all good though.

 

[JoJosReef]

I still dont believe how good they're doing.

I took this shot tonight.
Colors are getting nice. Everything's still doing good.

I am about to treat the tank with flux rx though because I have contracted the bryopsis. LOL
But that wont harm anything so no big deal. I do have to remove all my macroalgae from my fuge though, so I'll have to buy more of that. It's all good though.

Yeah, macros are toast when you use Flux. I lost my beautiful Botrycladia and codium to it. I out them in side tanks, but the bubble algae had already grown over their stalks, so it was all tossed.

I'd runan air stone while the flux is going or have the skimmer aerating well. I also dosed PNS Probio and some occasional Fiji Mud (AF Life Source). Only one RFA looked affected with a change in the color of its skirt, and a monti digi faded a bit but came right back after stopping.

 

[CBonito]

Yeah, macros are toast when you use Flux. I lost my beautiful Botrycladia and codium to it. I out them in side tanks, but the bubble algae had already grown over their stalks, so it was all tossed.

I'd runan air stone while the flux is going or have the skimmer aerating well. I also dosed PNS Probio and some occasional Fiji Mud (AF Life Source). Only one RFA looked affected with a change in the color of its skirt, and a monti digi faded a bit but came right back after stopping.

Yeah, I just leave the skimmer on all the time now. If it pulls anything great, if it don't great.
But it's always there for aeration. And it's a reef octopus elite 150, so it's more skimmer than I need at this point.
Eventually it will work harder with twice the amount of corals, but not yet.

 

[CBonito]

Yeah, I just leave the skimmer on all the time now. If it pulls anything great, if it don't great.
But it's always there for aeration. And it's a reef octopus elite 150, so it's more skimmer than I need at this point.
Eventually it will work harder with twice the amount of corals, but not yet.

Also, I just added mud and live sand from floridapets. a good amount of both.

 

[CBonito]

Ok, so last night I finally got the cojones to remove my macroalgae from my refugium, chuck it and dose the flux rx to my tank. I dosed a 60 gallon dose. I turned off my uv, I am running my skimmer and I am not changing any water for at least a week unless I see a problem with corals. I see massive sweeper activity on all my acros right now with the lights off so they're fine. Just leaving it alone and will continue as normal.

I'm going to add some more colonies soon too. Fish are fine.

After this algae is gone, I am going to reward myself for being such a good boy with a reefbot lab and an avast kalk reactor fed with ro through a kamoer doser. And if the reefbot lab tells me I need to add more, I'll dose AFR manually as needed since you can do that without causing any abrupt spikes.

Right now, I am pretty much getting by with AFR alone, which is cool, but that wont be the case when I double the colonies I have now.

 

[JoJosReef]

Ok, so last night I finally got the cojones to remove my macroalgae from my refugium, chuck it and dose the flux rx to my tank. I dosed a 60 gallon dose. I turned off my uv, I am running my skimmer and I am not changing any water for at least a week unless I see a problem with corals. I see massive sweeper activity on all my acros right now with the lights off so they're fine. Just leaving it alone and will continue as normal.

I'm going to add some more colonies soon too. Fish are fine.

After this algae is gone, I am going to reward myself for being such a good boy with a reefbot lab and an avast kalk reactor fed with ro through a kamoer doser. And if the reefbot lab tells me I need to add more, I'll dose AFR manually as needed since you can do that without causing any abrupt spikes.

Right now, I am pretty much getting by with AFR alone, which is cool, but that wont be the case when I double the colonies I have now.

Yeah, when they start really growing the AFar dosing starts going up massively. I think the trick is a combination of AFR and something else like kalwasser.

 

[CBonito]

Yeah, when they start really growing the AFar dosing starts going up massively. I think the trick is a combination of AFR and something else like kalwasser.

I'm just waiting for this fluconazole to work. I am seeing spots in the filaments of the bryopsis where it appears to be losing its chlorophyll or something or weakening and I also found a few shoots of macroalgae that were in my weir that must have just let go from the rocks. That's a good sign since I think I only dosed it at 11 last night. I either need to see this algae gone or I'm going to order live rock and chuck this crap. I only care about my corals and at this point with my system working well otherwise, I dont even need rock. Go if the algae isnt going to scram the rock can be dumped and the corals can all keep growing happily on the sand until real live rock arrives. I dont care. I will never use fake rock again and I will always dissuade one from doing it. It's just a dumb choice...this is why you have 3 year old systems that never mature and balance out. Yup, I'm bitter about it.

If you want a real reef, then build it like a real reef and don't be a chumpo is my takeaway.

 

[CBonito]

So the fluconazole is working but it's taking time. Macroalgae is dying and the bryopsis is a lot more durable but slowly dying as well. It's been like 8 days now I think. I'm just going to let it keep working and see where we get, if not, I will do another treatment as so far my corals are completely unaffected. No problems. They continue to look better as time rolls on and a lot of them are growing. The ones that are not currently growing are getting better colors and should start taking off soon I would imagine. I was having a little trouble with one tenuis colony, but I think in the end I figured it was getting too much light, so I lowered it and now it has great polyp extension and is growing as well. My tenuis grows slower than my millepora. My blue staghorn is blowing up like an atomic bomb. It's got branches coming out of the base all over and the top is growing out in every direction like a tree so it will be awesome in time. The only one I am disappointed with is my Green Slimer Stag because it hasnt done much. It's grown way thicker and I see the beginnings of branches at the tip, but it's been very slow. I think I need to move that one into the light more and put it on the right side of the tank. The left side of the tank is going to be quickly taken over by the blue stag. My red millepora colony is changing to show a bright orange edge around all the corallites, but the base tissue and polyps remain red. Probably my most interesting acro. It is also growing.

All of my euphyllia are doing awesome. They stay expanded fully the whole day.
My lobophyllia seems to be fine, but I have never seen it feed. Might have something to do with the current in the tank and the fact that my fish are morons and always kick sand all over it. I still give it a shot of reef roids anyway once a week and it looks fine. And my orange tip torch has to be kept away from pretty much everything because that's a stinging SOB.

So the algae is dying, my corals are doing great and I'm just cruising right now until this algae is all gone and then I'll permanently place corals now that I know a lot more about them, figure out my automated dosing and buy more corals.

They are getting the full blue of the kessil a360x lights at 100 percent for the full photoperiod, and the straton ramps up real blue and intensifies to ATI's "shallow reef" preset which the light says delivers 460 par a couple inches from the surface, but in reality with all the lights, I am getting over 300 PAR to the corals sitting on the sand. They are not crying about it. At this point I can honestly say that I am having great success with the acropora. It's just a matter of getting them in the tank, putting them in a place they are comfortable in without anything too close, and then leaving them. Even my micro frags I have out in the front are laying bases and developing really cool colors that are going to make them really nice members of the reef. Excited to see what everything turns into.

I had a mishap where one of my tenuis stung my forest fire monti, but it's already recovered from that and I am seeing polyps again in the sting area growing back. So make a note that at least tenuis will sting the crap out of a monti without any consequence to them. But you can see the forest fire in the pics and it is doing freaking awesome. The color is super saturated and I am going to mount that up a bit and let it eat.
I attribute this algae mess to a fish that disappeared and I couldnt find it, and also the fact that my melanurus wrasse, while a good looking devil is a snail murdering piece of...yeah.

But the tank continues to do good, so we will just keep letting it do that.

 

[CBonito]

You can see closeup, everything is happy. There is good coral health in this tank. I think the Biome is pretty solid.
All I have to do is get past the "new tank" problems and we're in the clear. Look at the colors so far. And while it's hard to see polyp extension from a distance, closeup reveals reality. The orange/red one on the bottom is definitely a weird coral. I don't recall seeing it anywhere before. If you go back through my pictures, it was a brick brown that started turning red and now I have what is below in the last shot. The pink one on top continues to grow into a thick tabling coral. The only injustice is the green polyps blocking all of the beautiful pink.

Alright, I'm out.

 

[JoJosReef]

You came at it hard and gave those corals a cozy diverse environment and plenty of light. Looks like it worked!