Gonna need help with this build.

[surfnsalt]

Can't ever sit still. I started making a custom stand for the tank. Gonna do something cool with the shells my kids collected at Myrtle Beach.

 

[surfnsalt]

New sps and crappy cell phone pics. The stand is coming along, just have to put clear coat on and design the door.

 

[surfnsalt]

This custom stand is really coming together.

 

[Dtackett]

looing great bud. if I was you, I would flush the tank about once a year. its something we do with micro tanks to flush any buildup of detritus or nutrients out of the rock. its easy on micro tanks, a bit more difficult on bigger tanks like yours. but if you have a way to mix up and hold 40-50 gallons of water and a hose long enough to reach a drain all you would do is use a powerful pump in the clean saltwater (match temp and salinity) and force the clean water through all the rocks and let it drain through your overflows to the hose and down the drain. on micro tanks we flush 10-20x the water volume, that wouldn't really be worth it for you. but once a year of kicking all the detritus up with a powerhead then flushing it all out will help prevent any issues and prevent any buildup. not a needed step, but something to think about.

 

[surfnsalt]

looing great bud. if I was you, I would flush the tank about once a year. its something we do with micro tanks to flush any buildup of detritus or nutrients out of the rock. its easy on micro tanks, a bit more difficult on bigger tanks like yours. but if you have a way to mix up and hold 40-50 gallons of water and a hose long enough to reach a drain all you would do is use a powerful pump in the clean saltwater (match temp and salinity) and force the clean water through all the rocks and let it drain through your overflows to the hose and down the drain. on micro tanks we flush 10-20x the water volume, that wouldn't really be worth it for you. but once a year of kicking all the detritus up with a powerhead then flushing it all out will help prevent any issues and prevent any buildup. not a needed step, but something to think about.

My plan was this
15% water change weekly
Blast rocks clean out back chambers every two months.
80% water change once a year matching parameters as best as possible with all water changes.

 

[surfnsalt]

@Dtackett. I also was wondering if an ato is necessary . I've heard it is, but I top off everyday myself to all my tanks and never see swings in my salinity. I appreciate your info cause I know you know your stuff. Thanks

 

[Dtackett]

@Dtackett. I also was wondering if an ato is necessary . I've heard it is, but I top off everyday myself to all my tanks and never see swings in my salinity. I appreciate your info cause I know you know your stuff. Thanks

no. its not necessary. it just makes life easier. and means you fill the buckets once a week instead of topping off every day. less work, easier life. really helps if youre going out of town for a few days or even weeks. even with my 1 gallon tank, ive got an ato ready. its not on it as I only top off every 5 days and am trying to be as simple as possible with this tank. but ive got an ato with an extra 10 gallon tank that I can setup and fill as my ATO if I go on vacation or out of town for more than a week and never have to worry about salinity. its one of those things, even if youre not using it, its great to have on hand in case of unforeseen circumstances

 

[Dtackett]

My plan was this
15% water change weekly
Blast rocks clean out back chambers every two months.
80% water change once a year matching parameters as best as possible with all water changes.

that's a good plan.

 

[surfnsalt]

New light and stand are in! I love the color and shimmer of the kessil 160we. Here's to hoping with the kessil but I have back-ups

 

[surfnsalt]

Lovin this. Now I just need a good camera and macro lens.

 

[Whatnow]

Looking great

 

[surfnsalt]

All new goodies here and on the way! Got a reefkeeper controller, micro smart ato, and a reef octopus ns80. Don't really need the skimmer with 20% weekly WCs. But I'll run it at night only anyway. I wanted to go apex but with lots of research and cost factors the reefkeeper does all I need and more. Tank is doing great so far.. Knock knock on wood.

 

[surfnsalt]

Making a switch to metal halide 14k Phoenix and I'm glad I did so far. No temp issues so far, and the color is great. Also started dosing spectracide stump as well. Took some pics with my phone. What does everyone think?

 

[surfnsalt]

I've had a bit of a setback:mad: I want away on vacation and set my heat for my house to low and I guess my heaters couldn't keep up. When the person feeding my fish came by they didnt notice the first day and told me the next day that the tank was 75 and the alarm was going off.(not sure how low it got) Fixed the issue thanks to face time but I guess the damage was done. I lost two sps so far. Things seem to be turning around for the good again, but I still have poor p.e. and color. Got a doser and have it doing my 2 part alk/cal and doing 6 small water changes a day to total a gallon a week. I'm also culturing rodifers to feed my tanks which is a pretty cool easy thing to do. Got a nice frag of Hollywood stunner and really love my starburst.

 

[surfnsalt]

Everything seems to be recovering so far. The automatic water changes are going as planned. Got some new frags today. Don't know these wacky sps names so chime in if you know.

 

[surfnsalt]

Temp swings were killing me and I know it would only get worse with summer coming, so I'm now going with a hydra 26 hd. Dialed in real low for now about 10 inches from surface of water.

 

[surfnsalt]

Colors are coming back and the nano sps tank is really doing well! Knock on wood!

 

[surfnsalt]

Everything still growing and doing well and got this awesome colony for 40 dollars. Don't know if it has a name?

 

[Tateopotatoe]

Awesome! I'm following!

 

[surfnsalt]

Water leaked through my ceiling! Haven't been on r2r lately due to lots of work and family stuff. My fault of course, My overflow didn't start up after a power outage for some reason and my ato didn't shut down like it's supposed to. Good thing I know how to sheet rock and spackle. So I'm upgrading and moving my tank to the finished basement. 55 gallon with all the same stuff and some new goodies. And new safety precautions as well.