Mike and Terry's 300g Reef

Mike&Terry · Jul 28, 2014

Vw reef said:
It has been awhile since I checked in on this thread and I have to saw wow this tank has come a long way. Great work guys. Truly inspirational. Can't wait for my new tank to come in.

Thanks so much for the kind words! Have you started a build thread for your new tank?

Winschuc · Aug 4, 2014

Tank looks amazing! How are the 52's working out, any issues so far with spread/intensity? I'm looking at putting a 300dd together soon and was hoping the 52's would cover it.

Eienna · Aug 5, 2014

What sort of fish was this flavissima?

DogueDeBordeaux · Aug 6, 2014

Have you noticed any water parameter changes with the addition of the surf4 scrubber?
Did you change to leds, and surf4 at the same time? Just wanting to know if you seen any changes in acro coloration using the surf4.

Mike&Terry · Aug 7, 2014

Winschuc said:
Tank looks amazing! How are the 52's working out, any issues so far with spread/intensity? I'm looking at putting a 300dd together soon and was hoping the 52's would cover it.

Thank You! We finally settled on (3) AI Hydra 52's and (3) Kessil A360WE's. Keep in mind, our 300dd is customized with a center overflow box, rather than the standard corner overflows which definitely has an impact on lighting spread. :bigsmile:

Mike&Terry · Aug 7, 2014

Eienna said:
What sort of fish was this flavissima?

Centropyge flavissima Angelfish. Common name Lemonpeel :bigsmile:

Reefpharmer · Aug 7, 2014

Hey I am building a 300 as well and I am looking at radions and kessils. My problem is kessil a360we don't out out enough light on the par meter at 24 inches (maybe 100). Did you get this as well? Radions put out 200ish at 24

Mike&Terry · Aug 7, 2014

DogueDeBordeaux said:
Have you noticed any water parameter changes with the addition of the surf4 scrubber?
Did you change to leds, and surf4 at the same time? Just wanting to know if you seen any changes in acro coloration using the surf4.

We did have a few Acropora corals brown-out during the lighting transition which probably could have been avoided had we added the Kessils sooner, but who knows for sure.

The SURF4 addition did overlap the LED transition, but it took a few weeks for the scrubber to operate at it's true capacity. The one notable change we've seen is that the growth rate of the chaeto in our refugium had been steadily decreasing over the past six weeks or so. Yesterday, it became obvious that the chaeto had started to melt/die-off and needed to be removed from the system. Now that the competing macro algae is gone, it should be easier for us to see what impact the ATS is having on Po4.

prsnlty · Aug 7, 2014

So the algae scrubber is taking the nutrients away from your macros therefore a fuge wouldn't be needed or actually grow well? I am wondering which is best overall then. Fuge or algae scrubber? What about pods?

Reefpharmer · Aug 7, 2014

If the scrubber is outcompeting the chaeto then the scrubber is better suited to remove nutrients (by being better suited to grow algae )

joekool · Aug 7, 2014

Mike&Terry said:
Centropyge flavissima Angelfish. Common name Lemonpeel :bigsmile:

That's a nice fishy

wowkingjames · Aug 7, 2014

You have a amazing set up! Beautiful fish and the coral is WOW! You reef club rocks getting can good for the needy.

prsnlty · Aug 7, 2014

I love the lemon peel, handsom fish indeed

Eienna · Aug 8, 2014

Mike&Terry said:
Centropyge flavissima Angelfish. Common name Lemonpeel :bigsmile:

Ah. OK, thanks

Mike&Terry · Aug 22, 2014

wowkingjames said:
You have a amazing set up! Beautiful fish and the coral is WOW! You reef club rocks getting can good for the needy.

Thank you so much!

Reefpharmer said:
If the scrubber is outcompeting the chaeto then the scrubber is better suited to remove nutrients (by being better suited to grow algae )

prsnlty said:
So the algae scrubber is taking the nutrients away from your macros therefore a fuge wouldn't be needed or actually grow well? I am wondering which is best overall then. Fuge or algae scrubber? What about pods?

In our situation, the ATS is definitely better designed to grow algae. As far as which option is the better option, that's really a personal choice. Either will grow algae and support a pod population, but if you want a "safe" place to house say a sick or weak fish or other delicate livestock, then there is no question that a refugium would be the better choice.

prsnlty said:
I love the lemon peel, handsom fish indeed

Thank you! It's too bad she couldn't stay in our reef, but she seems to be doing just fine hanging out in our clownfish/anemone tank.

Mike&Terry · Aug 22, 2014

It's been a couple of weeks since our last update. We weren't real happy with the way the rock scape looked after we removed the lemonpeel so we decided to take another stab at it. Here's a pic of the finished rock structure after adding most of the corals back in:

The change opened up a bit more swimming room and a larger cave area which our Desjardini tang (Big Daddy) LOVES!

And a few more random pics:

M. chaoti (aka Cheetah Girl) - she is soooo tiny!

G. semifasciatus - Swallowtail Angelfish (aka Mac) with one of his females. He's a beauty and his streamers seem to be growing by the day, LOL.

And of course, no pic update would be complete without our Regal: