Fern's 54 Gallon corner reef

[JCTReefer]

I love corner tanks I have a 92 gallon corner tank and love it

I love them too!!! Nice scape. Love that stand and canopy!

 

[Fernthereefer]

Oh yes, dreaded dinos! It’s been a battle for sure!
We are really close with flow! I’ve found most of the dead spots in the far left and right corners. I suppose you could add a couple more powerheads pointed directly in those corners to keep detritus suspended. I tell you what though. I had to look for a long time before finding a sump that would work in this stand! Lol. It’s a little tight down there! And had to build cabinets next to the stand for the ATO reservoir and dosing pumps. And also had to modify how the lights are set up. Most manufactures don’t gear their stuff for corner tanks! You have to be creative. Haha.

Yes, I actually have a whole DIY section for that part. Maybe you will be interested.

A DIY refugium addition to a small sump

Hi, This will be my first thread. I wanted to post the construction of my refugium because I have not seen a similar setup. Although the idea is well out there to have a separate compartment for a refugium. Thus, the uniqueness of this setup is not the idea, but the execution in my view. I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fernthereefer]

For the ATO, its on the left side of the DIY black panels.
Behind these:

 

[Brewers best]

It is great to see setups that share your footprint. I have just finished cycling my 54 corner. It is the size that worked best for the area we had. I am following and cannot wait to see updates. Good luck!

 

[Fernthereefer]

It is great to see setups that share your footprint. I have just finished cycling my 54 corner. It is the size that worked best for the area we had. I am following and cannot wait to see updates. Good luck!

Thanks.

Sorry for the delay, jsut got back from a week vacation... and the tank is great, so first test passed!

Will post pictures soon. Thanks for following.

 

[Fernthereefer]

As promised,

update pictures: July 2020

 

[Fernthereefer]

I need to learn to take better quality pictures. Will take some time.

 

[Brewers best]

Looks good! What lighting are you running?

 

[Fernthereefer]

Looks good! What lighting are you running?

Thanks,

Right now a chinese black box lol. Viparspectra 165W. But I am reaching its limitations. Colors are not optimal, spread is limited and there are "spots" of where the colored LED are placed.

 

[Bgmrc]

Nice tank, im working through cycling my 92 corner right now. Thanx for pics and thoughts!

 

[Fernthereefer]

So it has been a while since I posted.

The tank went through its first major challenge.

It all started 3 months ago, when I decided to use Vibrant.

Using Vibrant in ULNS

I have a turf algae issue that is (slowly but surely) spreading through the tank. Its a 54 gal. tank with 10 gal sump and 1 gal refugium (DIY). I tried manual removal for a month during weekly cleanups, but failed. They are tough to plug out of rocks. I have turbo snails and an emerald crab...

www.reef2reef.com

This was a mistake, not because of the product itself, which worked as stated, but because I did not account for the trace nitrate and phosphate I had. Vibrant bacteria consumed the little nitrate in the tank, leading to a severe Dino (otreopsys) outbreak.

THus I stopped using Vibrant, started the dirty method (and dosing Brightwell's nitrate and PO4).... and after 3 weeks it turned into a cyanobacteria outbreak. Good! But I did lose corals in the process....

So, the cyanobacteria I can treat: Chemiclean, 1 dose. See the next 3 pictures: Day 0, 1 and 2. (And the expected foaming). All that is left in to do a water change. No loses here (so far).

 

[Fernthereefer]

So I realize it has been a little while since I posted.

The ordeal continued this year with the sps dying off gor no apparent reason.... unyil my ICP test came back.

The ICP (fauna marin) showed high levels of aluminium amd antimony.

I removed a rusty refugium light...but then found a thread talking about the UV light green killing machine from AA. So I removed that as well and did a 60% water change. The coral reacted immediately with better extension and no other cpral died. Will keep an eye on this and send another icp in a few months.

For now, i run carbon and cuprisorb in the sump and do regular water changes.

 

[Bgmrc]

Nice find bro...good luck!

 

[Fernthereefer]

Nice find bro...good luck!

Thanks! happy to see that someone actually reads my posts lol.

 

[JCTReefer]

Thanks! happy to see that someone actually reads my posts lol.

Don’t worry man, I read your post also!!! Lol!!
Glad you’re getting things back in check. Dinos are zero fun!!!! Cyano is a cake walk to deal with in comparison. The struggle is real with these dang dinos though. I dealt with Amphidinium and Ostreopsis both. Finally broke down and bought a decent microscope. Been dosing No3 and Po4 for months now. Once I got some green algae growth going to out compete, they disappeared. Well, not disappeared, I know they’re still there. Just waiting for the right conditions again to rear their ugly head again. Lol!!!

 

[Fernthereefer]

Don’t worry man, I read your post also!!! Lol!!
Glad you’re getting things back in check. Dinos are zero fun!!!! Cyano is a cake walk to deal with in comparison. The struggle is real with these dang dinos though. I dealt with Amphidinium and Ostreopsis both. Finally broke down and bought a decent microscope. Been dosing No3 and Po4 for months now. Once I got some green algae growth going to out compete, they disappeared. Well, not disappeared, I know they’re still there. Just waiting for the right conditions again to rear their ugly head again. Lol!!!

Thanks.

I am now realizing the short-coming of my rock design. I understand why you went with an empty center zone. Initially, the initial centerpiece was supposed to be an island, but with time the birdnest growing there just cast shadows on the front. I need to think of a better placement.

 

[Bgmrc]

I hear ya bro! I have a92 corner...so i like to check out anything corner related.

 

[Fernthereefer]

So today I decided it was time to move the center rock piece back. It may seem easy, but it took me an hour and a half. Had two corals detach (and a pain to put back). Almost lost my fire shrimp that was hidden in a rock I temporary placed in a bin for cutting dead sps.

Here are the results.....and two new coral additions...

 

[Fernthereefer]

With whites

 

[Bgmrc]

Nice pics....my 92