Novillac's 40B Mixed Reef

[Novillac]

Hey guys, I've been watching the forums for months now since I really started getting back into my tank. I've been in the hobby for over 8 years now and this is the largest tank I've been able to afford.
I picked up my tank at my place of work for $40, the stand at the competitor, and two Eheim canister filters in February of 2012. I set the tank up and let it cycle for 3 months with 40lbs of live sand and about 40lbs of rock (all rock I had previously saved from the previous tank 2 years earlier). A couple months later, I got an Eshopps Skimmer that hangs on the back and rated for my tank, no problems with it and it skims excellent. I purchased a Marineland Reef Ready LED fixture for the tank (turned out to be junk and didn't grow any of my corals) but it finally died last month, so I've ordered a new LED fixture from one of my many LFS, the Reef Breeder Proton 24", and now just waiting for it to arrive.
I started with a couple Green/Blue Chromis to start my tank and they all unfortunately found the toilet as their last abode. After I went through 4 I just dove in and bought a pair of Ocellaris Clowns, they have thrived in my tank, but I never notice if they have spawned or not. I don't think they do because not long after I got them I purchased a Tomini Tang, very strong personality that one, so I paid my LFS asking price of $65, turns out got swindled, whatever, I like him. Anyways, I take him home, long drive home, about 30 minutes, mind you, most expensive fish I've EVER bought in the years of killing fish as I learned the hobby. I'm walking up my stairs to my condo at the time and wouldn't you know it, I TRIPPED up the stairs and slammed the Tang into them, sloshed him real bad, bubbles and swirls all in the bag, him upside and spinning in it. I about died there on my stairs before I even got into my house to put the Tang into the tank. I took a photo of him today, he is doing very well with everyone in the tank.
I moved after the tank was about a year old and everyone survived the trip, luckily was able to move the tank and inhabitants within 2 hours from one side of my town to the other, 30 minute drive in the middle.
After the move I let everyone settle about a month and added a Springer's Dottyback, that guy unfortunately killed my Orange Spot Goby.
This leaves my tank with a Tomini Tang, two Clowns, and Springer's Dottyback, along with various corals I've attached photos of to this post.

I now regularly test my tank, parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
PH: 8.0 (can't get that to rise for some reason, suggestions accepted)
Calcium: 320 (too low?)
Salinity: 1.023

I use R/O water to top off my tank and buy saltwater from my closest LFS.

 

[Novillac]

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to R2R and looking good! The 40G Breeder is a great tank!

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Novillac]

So my PH is constantly testing 8.0-8.1, how can I get it into the 8.3 range it needs to be for better coral growth? What do I need to does with to keep it there but not dump money into just a PH product, something that does more than just PH would be much appreciated in the wallet. Thank you guys for your help

 

[Pete polyp]

So my PH is constantly testing 8.0-8.1, how can I get it into the 8.3 range it needs to be for better coral growth? What do I need to does with to keep it there but not dump money into just a PH product, something that does more than just PH would be much appreciated in the wallet. Thank you guys for your help

8.0-8.1 is not bad. Low ph is usually caused from excess carbon dioxide in the tank. If you want something that will do more than raise the Ph then I suggest kalk dosing. It will raise the Ph and replenish calcium and alkalinity in perfect balance to one another. Do some reading up on the subject to find out exactly how to dose it. Using kalk does not fix the issue that's causing low ph though.

Other things you can try is to run fresh air from outside into your skimmer, increase surface movement with your flow or add a refugium with macro algae.

Another thing that will effect Ph stability is alkalinity. You didn't list that in your tank parameters, so I'm guessing you don't check it. Getting some good test kits for alkalinity, calcium and magnesium will be a good idea. Once you dial those in (the big 3) you will probably notice more growth and more stable Ph. You can use a 2 part system and magnesium to dial everything in.

Personally I see no issue with your Ph being 8.0 at all. I wouldn't try to increase the Ph if it were me. However, everything I have suggested will have an impact on raising Ph.

 

[jason g]

Welcome nice setup. You should also test for phosphate's it might help you to keep unwanted algae in your system. A phosban reactor is the best way to help fight unwanted algae, along with light feeding and a good flow of water movement.

 

[markalot]

So my PH is constantly testing 8.0-8.1, how can I get it into the 8.3 range it needs to be for better coral growth? What do I need to does with to keep it there but not dump money into just a PH product, something that does more than just PH would be much appreciated in the wallet. Thank you guys for your help

Howdy,

adding my opinion ...

don't worry about PH, in fact I would stop testing it because chasing PH can cause all kinds of issues. Instead start testing KH, Calcium, and Magnesium and try to keep those levels as stable as possible for the best coral growth. Lots of acceptable values but generally a KH of 8 to 9, Calcium 400 - 450, Magnesium 1300+ is a good starting point.

I like the Salifert test kits for KH, and Calcium. I've never tried their Magnesium test, I use a Red Sea Coral Pro for that and it's ok but tedious.

Good luck with your 40 breeder, great tank!

 

[Novillac]

Another thing that will effect Ph stability is alkalinity. You didn't list that in your tank parameters, so I'm guessing you don't check it. Getting some good test kits for alkalinity, calcium and magnesium will be a good idea. Once you dial those in (the big 3) you will probably notice more growth and more stable Ph. You can use a 2 part system and magnesium to dial everything in.

I don't check it, I don't sell one at my place of work so I haven't bought one yet. What two part system do you use? Is one brand better than another? Magnesium brands better than others?

Welcome nice setup. You should also test for phosphate's it might help you to keep unwanted algae in your system. A phosban reactor is the best way to help fight unwanted algae, along with light feeding and a good flow of water movement.

I don't run any reactors on my tank as I don't have the room. Everything has to be HOB as I do not have a sump and the wife doesn't like the look of the skimmer as it is. I do however have an API phosban pouch in one of my canister filters. Is that as effective?

Lots of acceptable values but generally a KH of 8 to 9, Calcium 400 - 450, Magnesium 1300+ is a good starting point.

Thank you for the numbers, now I have something to start with.

If I'm going to start dosing Kalk and Magnesium, would I stop dosing with Essential Elements? I do a small (5 gallons) water change about once every two weeks. I test often enough to make sure I don't have any negative chemicals in my tank, but sometimes I go three weeks without a water change (then I change 10).

 

[markalot]

I would not start dosing anything and focus on getting a good water source and mixing your own salt. Small water changes and two part dosing is all you need to start with, but then you need to research about coral health, feeding, nutrient export, flow, etc. Salinity target should be 1.025.

I would not trust anything from a LFS. RO water, salt water, nothing. Don't hate them, but do NOT trust them.

You should test no more than once a day and try to test at the same time every day. Once you get an idea of what is changing then you can either dose to keep things stable or do more frequent smaller water changes and see how that works.

 

[Novillac]

Nutrient export, that would just be the ecological balance within the tank breaking down ammonia all the way through nitrogen?

Flow, I have two water movers in the tank along with my two returns from the canister filters, is that enough? The koralias are close to the set up like markalot's placement. Both pointing across the tank, one closer to the front, one closer to the back and the returns are pointed in a X across the top of the tank.

 

[markalot]

You feed the tank with food. Various things eat the food and poop, from fish all the way down to pods. The smaller the poop the more likely it stays in the water column and can get skimmed out. In the end it ends up as detritus either in the sandbed, the rocks, or water column. You have to make sure your exports equal imports, otherwise at some point it will be an issue. Lots of variables to this. Deep sandbeds, shallow, small grain size, large grain size, etc. I gravel vac my 40 on a regular basis because the large grain size traps a lot of muck. This, skimming, and chaeto algae are my main means of export. I don't think I am exporting 100% of imports but perhaps it's good enough that my tank will last a few years before a re-build is required.

You'll get all kinds of input about this, but the better you do the better the tank will be and the longer it will last. Take PaulB's 40+ year old tank that rarely gets a water change, and then look at his maintenance practices. He's found multiple ways to export what he imports. There is no cheating here. If you don't export the same amount that you import you will eventually have issues.

As far as flow, this depends on what you want to grow. I am mainly SPS in my 40 and currently run about 2400gph turnover. This is 60X tank size and i want to achieve 75X tank size but around 65X my sand starts blowing around. I suggest at least 50X, but that's just me.

The jaebo pumps have been a huge boon for the hobby, allowing more flow for less $$$ BUT they need to be cleaned monthly, if not more often, to maintain performance. Look into these if you need a cheap way to add flow.

 

[Davesgt]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[nova65ss]

Nice tank! Looks great! Out of curiosity how did you come up with your screen name?

 

[Novillac]

Markalot: thank you for all the advice, I'm definitely going to utilize all of it.

Nova65ss: before I moved out of my parent's house to get married, I was building a 72 Nova with my dad and we were putting a bored out 70's Cadillac 500 engine into it. Now that I live 4 hours away, it's been hard to finish it though. So we smashed the names together and came up with Novillac, even had custom valve covers with the project name on it waiting to finish off the calculated over 500hp engine we have.

 

[Novillac]

would this be too much flow for these leathers? I'm using a hydor koralia 425, but these leathers haven't opened in the last 2 days, and then I moved the koralia to try and eliminate a dead spot in the back of my tank.

 

[nova65ss]

I had a feeling it had something to do with Novas and or Caddies! Good luck on finishing it up sounds awesome!

I don't think leathers can have necessarily too much flow. They can be funny at times especially when shedding. I have a very large yellow learher it will close up for a week or so and then open one day like nothing ever happened. How long have you had them?

 

[Novillac]

I've had them for more than 3 months but they haven't been closed for more than a day before

 

[aquanerd5150]

welcome to the forum

tank looks good btw

 

[spspirate]

Welcome to REEF2REEF!!!