DGee's Box O sticks V2

spscrackhead · Oct 4, 2016

What is your bulb setup?

nitro · Oct 4, 2016

Your tank is simply fantastic, I m as well drain mine and just look at yours. You have done very well.

DGee · Oct 4, 2016

Luqmaan said:
Wow amazing!!!!

How often do you do water changes?
How often do you change T5 bulbs?
What are you bulb combinations?
Are you dosing DIY chemicals for Alk and Calcium?
How are reducing Phosphates and Nitrates?

I don't really do water changes, I think I've done either three or four of them since the tank was setup. The times that I have done them it was mainly to correct mistakes with over dosing the tank. Things like Seachem Fuel can cause cyano outbreaks when overdosed so there's definitely been some fine tuning over the years as to what the tank can consume without having ill effects.

I'll run my tubes for a total of 12 months I have a pretty big variety of bulbs that I've previously burnt in and rotate a bulb or two every couple of months so the tank never sees a full set of fresh bulbs all at once.

I recently switched up my bulbs to all KZ bulbs and one ATI. I'd say the tank has more of a 20k Radium look to it which has always been my personal preference.

Front to back

KZ Super Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
KZ Super Blue
ATI Actinic
KZ Coral Bulb (original not the New Gen)
KZ Super Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
KZ Super Blue

Previously I ran a combination of ATI and Fauna Marin bulbs amongst other ATI combinations, I'm always toying with the look of the tank a little.

Calcium, Alk and Mag are all handled by the calcium reactor.

N & P are reduced by the corals and via the skimmer and filter socks. No chemical media is used, I will add a bag of carbon once a month or so for a few days just to polish off the look of the water. It's really about finding a balance of what the tank can naturally consume vs the waste being produced.

WDKegge said:
Here I am constantly messing with different types of media to "help" my tank and here comes along yours running just a skimmer. I think I may give your try and go for a bit.

What is your weekly maintenance look like?

Stunning tank!

My advice is to make sure you're starting with a healthy tank without any issues, I've run all of my tanks like this for many years but I've also started each tank out this way and made adjustments as necessary. I personally think keeping the system as simple as possible reduces the potential for failures and things that can turn counter productive over time. You put too many things into the mix and you'll find yourself constantly chasing your tail trying to fix one issue after another.

I wipe the glass down every couple of days, every Friday I feed the corals and swap out the filter socks with a fresh set that have been washed in bleach in the washing machine. The fish get fed daily.

120reefkeeper · Oct 4, 2016

DGee said:
I don't really do water changes, I think I've done either three or four of them since the tank was setup. The times that I have done them it was mainly to correct mistakes with over dosing the tank. Things like Seachem Fuel can cause cyano outbreaks when overdosed so there's definitely been some fine tuning over the years as to what the tank can consume without having ill effects.

I'll run my tubes for a total of 12 months I have a pretty big variety of bulbs that I've previously burnt in and rotate a bulb or two every couple of months so the tank never sees a full set of fresh bulbs all at once.

I recently switched up my bulbs to all KZ bulbs and one ATI. I'd say the tank has more of a 20k Radium look to it which has always been my personal preference.

Front to back

KZ Super Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
KZ Super Blue
ATI Actinic
KZ Coral Bulb (original not the New Gen)
KZ Super Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
KZ Super Blue

Previously I ran a combination of ATI and Fauna Marin bulbs amongst other ATI combinations, I'm always toying with the look of the tank a little.

Calcium, Alk and Mag are all handled by the calcium reactor.

N & P are reduced by the corals and via the skimmer and filter socks. No chemical media is used, I will add a bag of carbon once a month or so for a few days just to polish off the look of the water. It's really about finding a balance of what the tank can naturally consume vs the waste being produced.

My advice is to make sure you're starting with a healthy tank without any issues, I've run all of my tanks like this for many years but I've also started each tank out this way and made adjustments as necessary. I personally think keeping the system as simple as possible reduces the potential for failures and things that can turn counter productive over time. You put too many things into the mix and you'll find yourself constantly chasing your tail trying to fix one issue after another.

I wipe the glass down every couple of days, every Friday I feed the corals and swap out the filter socks with a fresh set that have been washed in bleach in the washing machine. The fish get fed daily.

Best advice I've heard in a long time, and all truth! Glad to see another with the same philosophy.

fewponds · Oct 5, 2016

What can I say? Just stunning

!
What kind of of calcium reactor media are you using, it looks like "ordinary" crushed corals?

DGee · Oct 5, 2016

fewponds said:
What can I say? Just stunning !
What kind of of calcium reactor media are you using, it looks like "ordinary" crushed corals?

Thank you, that's Reborn in the reactor.

olaggie01 · Oct 5, 2016

I've got the same dimensions of my tank. I hope one day it looks half as good as yours. Amazing growth and color.

RamsReef · Oct 5, 2016

It looks like a unicorn barfed in that tank, simply amazing!

I hope to have a reef tank half this nice one day, your hard work shines through.

echopiece · Oct 5, 2016

Would love to see an overall top down shot of this tank

DGee · Oct 6, 2016

Well not exactly the happy update tonight... Tonight I came home from my shop to a few partially dead colonies in the tank one of which the size of a small bowling ball. Come to find out we left the window open by the tank today and the guys who take care of my yard showed up and decided to spray around the outside of the house. Needless to say it's lead me to believe that some of that ended up in the air and found it's way into the tank.

So tonight I did a 50g water change on the tank (I always try to keep at least 50g of water on hand just in case of an emergency) and added a large bag of carbon. The carbon is a double edged sword IMO, it'll help pull any contaminants out of the water but it'll also strip the tank as well which will add to the already shocked animals. The fish are all swimming and appear to be alright, the corals all have polyps out for the most part so we'll see what the morning brings. Tomorrow I'll run by my buddies shop and grab a couple poly pads as well.

Low tide water change...

Janci · Oct 6, 2016

Sorry to hear that.
Our reefs are so fragile. And many factors are difficult to control.
Good luck. Stunning tank!!

RamsReef · Oct 6, 2016

Hope the tank recovers.

A+Aquatics · Oct 6, 2016

Ouch! - Please keep us updated as things progress. *Crossing our fingers*

reeferfoxx · Oct 6, 2016

I'm in love!!! <3<3

DGee · Oct 6, 2016

Just a little update, things seem to be looking decent all things considered, a few corals are definitely hurting but I'll just have to give things a few weeks to see what they'll do.

revhtree · Oct 7, 2016

DGee said:
Just a little update, things seem to be looking decent all things considered, a few corals are definitely hurting but I'll just have to give things a few weeks to see what they'll do.

Man sorry about the loss but glad it seems to be looking ok now! Keep us updated!

Sir Chris · Oct 8, 2016

All I use is T5s so glad 2 see all that color under them I only have 2 and just seaped attinic for coral + and a lot more colors. So I can only imagine 8. I just started dosing brightwell coral tissue And my plate that wasn't healing is 90% since the start 4 days ago dosing. But I know u prolly tied all them b4. I was goin 2 try red seas color pack not 1-4 Just the single. But Ima try what u run now 1st. Thx

BigJohnny · Oct 9, 2016

Beautiful tank, what is your photoperiod? Peak and overall?

Thanks!

DGee · Oct 9, 2016

Lord Chris said:
All I use is T5s so glad 2 see all that color under them I only have 2 and just seaped attinic for coral + and a lot more colors. So I can only imagine 8. I just started dosing brightwell coral tissue And my plate that wasn't healing is 90% since the start 4 days ago dosing. But I know u prolly tied all them b4. I was goin 2 try red seas color pack not 1-4 Just the single. But Ima try what u run now 1st. Thx

What all are you trying to grow? Two single T5's isn't going to give you much light for anything higher demanding. Keep in mind what works for me may not work well for you, it's taken me time to dial in the proper amounts of each supplement I add to the tank.

BigJohnny said:
Beautiful tank, what is your photoperiod? Peak and overall?

Thanks!

First two bulbs come on at 9:00am, 9:30 the led's come on then the mains come on at 10:00 - 8:00pm the mains shut down 8:30pm the led's are shut off then the last two shut off at 9:00pm

DGee · Oct 9, 2016

The tank seems to have stabilized, a definite loss of color but I'm confident things will bounce back... I started chopping out the losses, I'm thinking I should start making my own calcium reactor media lol.

Time for a little re-arranging of a few pieces.