Just checking in :-)

DAPG8GT · Feb 11, 2013

Hey there everyone new to reef2reef but not the hobby.. I've been reefing for about 13 years..Before that was freshwater for almost 20 years. I am semi active on different forums and am coming here for a change from the usual bickering and my way or your a moron mode of info..

I have two tanks currently running and one under construction. A 45 gal mixed reef sumpless that's about 11 years old. It's a really simple system consisting of a reef octopus BH90 skimmer and a aquaclear 70 hob filter, three wireless MP10's , a seio powerhead behing the rocks and a tunze ozmolator with calcium dispenser. For lights a gone thru odysea MH/T5 combo with a coralife ballast running a Phoenix 14k 250 and ATI 3x blue plus &1x purple plus

. Pair of clowns are about 13 years old and so are the green zoas and palys. Just within the last year started getting into SPS and am tailoring my 150 gal peninsula build for mostly SPS. Sorry for the crappy picsLOL( iPhone ) . Having a little bout of cyano at the moment after switching from nopox to vodka as a carbon source.. Tried to save some money on going with vodka but got some serious cyano so now back to nopox and it's slowly going away..

Also have a 24 gal nano cube modded with a approx 35 gal sump frag tank.. This is my cheapo tank. Got the tank and sump shell for free and added baffles and an overflow and bought a bubble magus knock off eBay skimmer and am running an evergrow 120 watt D120 LED that I added a custom spectrum to. 1 MP10es and a 600 GPH return pump with also the stock cube filtration modded to a maxijet 900 I have multiple frags and kinda use it as a holding tank for corals I either don't want or don't have room for. There is a pair of percula and a damsel in it and another damsel banished to the fuge from my DT that is getting donated next weekend to another tank(fowler) that is just about done with his cycle. Dont have any recent pics Older pic here (July of 12)

.

Birdsnest frag on right is the colony in my DT on the right top Ora orange bodied birdsnest.

Have a 150 gal 60"x24"x24"truvue peninsula tank with a 75 gal sump in the works. Slowly stockpiling equipment.. It will be lit by evergrow/reefbreeders controllable LEDs.. It's a slow one but the tank stand an canopy are my inspiration in all it's piano black laquer glory LOL..
Well that's about it. Look forward to learning here as Well as helping anyone out that I can with the lessons and mistakes I've made

over my 13 year obsession.

Thanks Daniel..

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tupes · Feb 11, 2013

Your tank looks great. Welcome to the club.

revsgirl · Feb 11, 2013

Hi there!! Welcome to R2R!! Your reef is stunning!

revhtree · Feb 11, 2013

Welcome to R2R and glad to have you! You're tank is beautiful! Great job!

mgdmirage · Feb 11, 2013

Welcome to the greatest reef forum with the friendliest community, your tank is gorgeous

AsphaltPays · Feb 11, 2013

Hello and Welcome to R2R! Great looking tank!

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SeahorseKeeper · Feb 11, 2013

Welcome to R2R!! Your tank looks great!!!

skinz78 · Feb 11, 2013

Hello and Welcome to Reef2Reef, your tank looks awesome!

If you haven't already done so you should enter in this months Membership Drive contest sponsored by Alpha Aquaculture! There will be two winners this month and each will receive an awesome Chalice frag shipped for free to your door! Just follow the directions here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/me...-february-2013-membership-drive-give-way.html

Fishinwall · Feb 11, 2013

What is the bare minimum needed for an sps tank? Can it be done without additives? If not, what are the absolute essential additives and how do you go about dosing in a consistent manner?

DAPG8GT · Feb 11, 2013

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. Great forum You guys got here.

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DAPG8GT · Feb 12, 2013

Fishinwall said:
What is the bare minimum needed for an sps tank? Can it be done without additives? If not, what are the absolute essential additives and how do you go about dosing in a consistent manner?

"In my opinion"stability is key to SPS( stability promotes success).. It was a sharp learning curve and I am by far not an expert in SPS as I only have about 5 different types so far. But they are all thriving in my off the norm sumpless tank.. Granted they are of the easier ones to keep minus the two acros I have. I have no doubt that I could at this time go 100% SPS and make it work.. I just have attachments to some of my coral for some odd reason and while I think of going 100% into SPS I just can't bring myself to do it LOL..

I would have to say don't cheap out on the basics for equipment..flow,skimmer, lighting and an auto top off is a must.. My tank doesn't have a sump but I have top tier equipment on it for what it is.. Tunze ATO best thing I've ever added to the tank stability wise IMO with the tunze kalk dispenser hooked in line that pretty much keeps up with my demands (so far), reef octopus BH90 skimmer rated for double my gallons of water, and 3 MP10's wirelessly anti synced of reef crest mode running at about 90% with a larger seio prop pump blowing constant behind the rocks.

Strong lighting and proper acclimation of new additions is key also in my experience..

As for dosing it's either you manually do it or spend some money on dosing pumps either with a store bought 2 part or Randy's DIY recipie.. Or the more complicated but greater Benifit of a calcium reactor ( in my plans for the 150)

By additives I'm assuming you mean foods I actually pretty much let the fish poop feed the SPS and maybe once every two weeks I do add some coral frenzy and broadcast feed the tank.. Weekly 5 gal water changes help me export what the skimmer and GAC/GFO don't get..

Holy ramble LOL.. Not even sure if I answered your questions ha ha .. Last question was what essential additives? It's got to be Alkalinity and calcium being as stable as possible along with magnesium.. My tank pretty much stays on auto pilot with just kalkwasser dosed thru my ATO and water changes with the occasional additive of bionic 2 part.

My biggest form of advice would have to be read all you can on reefing either on forums like this one or books. I started with books and just a few years ago got into the forums. . I'd like to think I've done I right along the way being how old It is being against the norm for old succesful tanks and having all original sand and rock and still have great numbers a little on the high side ( nitrates sometimes up to 10 mostly 5 and P04 .05-.50 compared to some straight SPS tanks but it's been working for over 11 years so I don't want to screw with it too much..That's what the new 150 is for ha ha ..again sorry for the response that didn't really answer your question..

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Fishinwall · Feb 14, 2013

I would have to say don't cheap out on the basics for equipment..flow,skimmer, lighting and an auto top off is a must.. My tank doesn't have a sump but I have top tier equipment on it for what it is.. Tunze ATO best thing I've ever added to the tank stability wise IMO with the tunze kalk dispenser hooked in line that pretty much keeps up with my demands (so far), reef octopus BH90 skimmer rated for double my gallons of water, and 3 MP10's wirelessly anti synced of reef crest mode running at about 90% with a larger seio prop pump blowing constant behind the

As for dosing it's either you manually do it or spend some money on dosing pumps either with a store bought 2 part or Randy's DIY recipie.. Or the more complicated but greater Benifit of a calcium reactor ( in my plans for the

Holy ramble LOL.. Not even sure if I answered your questions ha ha .. Last question was what essential additives? It's got to be Alkalinity and calcium being as stable as possible along with magnesium.. My tank pretty much stays on auto pilot with just kalkwasser dosed thru my ATO and water changes with the occasional additive of bionic 2 part.

My biggest form of advice would have to be read all you can on reefing either on forums like this one or books. I started with books and just a few years ago got into the forums. . I'd like to think I've done I right along the way being how old It is being against the norm for old succesful tanks and having all original sand and rock and still have great numbers a little on the high side ( nitrates sometimes up to 10 mostly 5 and P04 .05-.50 compared to some straight SPS tanks but it's been working for over 11 years so I don't want to screw with it too much..That's what the new 150 is for ha ha ..again sorry for the response that didn't really answer your question..

Well as far as equipment I think I'm headed in the right direction...here's what I have so far: 65 gal tall display (undrilled with a DIY overflow), Hheim 1260 return pump, 30 gal sump which will be a refugium, reef Octopus 1000int with Bubble Blaster, a blue line Tsunami ATO, right now just one MP10w, but plan to add a second (I hope that is enough) along with a Radion Pro light, Marco Key Largo dead rock... No sand purchased yet. And I have a Tank Level Switch that will automatically turn off my return pump if the display tank should overflow, and it turns itself back on once the level drops again.

Can you tell me more about how you add the Kalkwasser to your ATO water...how do you know how much to add?
Also what book would you recommend?

Thank you for your reply.

DAPG8GT · Feb 15, 2013

Fishinwall said:
I would have to say don't cheap out on the basics for equipment..flow,skimmer, lighting and an auto top off is a must.. My tank doesn't have a sump but I have top tier equipment on it for what it is.. Tunze ATO best thing I've ever added to the tank stability wise IMO with the tunze kalk dispenser hooked in line that pretty much keeps up with my demands (so far), reef octopus BH90 skimmer rated for double my gallons of water, and 3 MP10's wirelessly anti synced of reef crest mode running at about 90% with a larger seio prop pump blowing constant behind the

As for dosing it's either you manually do it or spend some money on dosing pumps either with a store bought 2 part or Randy's DIY recipie.. Or the more complicated but greater Benifit of a calcium reactor ( in my plans for the

Holy ramble LOL.. Not even sure if I answered your questions ha ha .. Last question was what essential additives? It's got to be Alkalinity and calcium being as stable as possible along with magnesium.. My tank pretty much stays on auto pilot with just kalkwasser dosed thru my ATO and water changes with the occasional additive of bionic 2 part.

My biggest form of advice would have to be read all you can on reefing either on forums like this one or books. I started with books and just a few years ago got into the forums. . I'd like to think I've done I right along the way being how old It is being against the norm for old succesful tanks and having all original sand and rock and still have great numbers a little on the high side ( nitrates sometimes up to 10 mostly 5 and P04 .05-.50 compared to some straight SPS tanks but it's been working for over 11 years so I don't want to screw with it too much..That's what the new 150 is for ha ha ..again sorry for the response that didn't really answer your question..

Well as far as equipment I think I'm headed in the right direction...here's what I have so far: 65 gal tall display (undrilled with a DIY overflow), Hheim 1260 return pump, 30 gal sump which will be a refugium, reef Octopus 1000int with Bubble Blaster, a blue line Tsunami ATO, right now just one MP10w, but plan to add a second (I hope that is enough) along with a Radion Pro light, Marco Key Largo dead rock... No sand purchased yet. And I have a Tank Level Switch that will automatically turn off my return pump if the display tank should overflow, and it turns itself back on once the level drops again.

Can you tell me more about how you add the Kalkwasser to your ATO water...how do you know how much to add?
Also what book would you recommend?

Thank you for your reply.

No problem hope I can help a little in your journey.

Actually I started at my local library with a few books I just picked up. The names I don't remember but an author that stood out was Julian sprung. Only book I actually purchased (well wife did lol) it's reef invertebrates by anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner.. It's a good all around book about care, husbandry, biological fiter(rocks,sand,refugiums) has some nice pics also. Pretty much I looked for books that were newer so the info was somewhat relevant as the technology, methods and newer studies are constantly evolving so what was relevant 10 years ago is obsolete now. So remember that it's not all relevant but the principles are. Library is a good place to start as moat good reef books are a decent chunk of change, and you can return it LOL..

The Internet is awesome place to learn like this forum.. Read the stickies in the new to the hobby and chemistry forums and ask a lot of questions. But remember to research some of the answers you get to questions for validity. some times people don't know what they are talking about and just spew out what they think they know without experience.. All I can say is read, read and read some more LOL..

As for kalk in my ATO I Have a tunze calcium dispenser that is hooked in line with my ATO.. Pretty much an overpriced bottle LOL that adds Kalk to keep my alk and cal stable so I don't have to dose for it.. Kalk is a great tool that is cheap to use and pretty easy and safe. But when and if your tank is fully stocked with SPS kalk may not be able to keep up and either you will need to dose two part or add a calcium reactor. To know how much depends on a few things. How much coral you have and how much your ALK depletes over a set time. RODI only will hold 2 tsp per gallon o kalk till its fully saturated unless vinegar is added than I believe it's about 3 tsp.. You should start low and test alk and cal daily to see if what you are adding is keeping up with consumption. most likely won't need it at first but it will not raise alk/cal it just maintains it, so you will need to keep that in mind.. There is a few different methods of delivery ,reactors or drip method from a still reservoir or a dosing pump hooked to your ATO..def read up on it thats just a little basic info on it.. see if it's for you of your tank..

You have some nice equipment goin on there and I would suggest some good test kits also. I use salifert and red sea and I trust them. Hanna digital meters are good also. I don't understand why people trust thousands of dollars of coral and fish to cheap test kits like API. My experience with API and other cheap tests is inconsistent values on the same sample repeatedly and when it comes to coral and especially SPS you need reliable test kits.. S tability. P romotes. S uccess..

And remember patience

Nothing comes fast in reefing except failure. It's takes a lot to not go crazy with fish and coral in the beginning. Let the tank build up its bio filter and stock accordingly.. Good luck hope that helped a little..Def read all the stickies you can in all the different forums if you haven't already.

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Mike&Terry · Feb 15, 2013

Welcome to R2R! Thanks for sharing your beautiful tank with us!

-M&T

Fishinwall · Feb 15, 2013

Thank you!

petemichelle · Mar 9, 2014

what size return pumps are you going to be using on the 150 gal? I am in the middle of a 150 gal build right now. I have tap water in the tank to check for leaks and function. the tank has 2 durso overflows on the back (not corners). I called aqueon and they say the overflows are rated at 600 gph. I have 2 mag 9's for the return and it is just noisy. I have tried putting the rigid tubing down the durso's, I have tried making stockman returns and they are just as loud. The only thing I can think of doing is going with smaller pumps. The mags are rated at 680 gph at 5 feet, which is the height of the return line outlet in the display tank. One of the returns run through a UV sterilizer, and I can physically feel the difference between that line and the one that is going straight into the tank, so it's got to be at least a third less. anyway, the question is how much flow do you usually shoot for on the return pumps? I plan on using 3 vortex mp40's for the powerheads, so overall total flow is not really my concern. everybody keeps giving me the same formula of 10 times the capacity of the display, for total flow. Which doesn't help with my question of "what is the minimal and what is the average return pump size one should get for a 150 gal display???? can I cut it to 600 or 700 total? would that hurt or diminish the overall system in anyway if I make up for the overall flow with my power head????

thanks for any light you can shed on this...