@Reefering1 David,
Thank you for the kind words brother!
Volusia born and raised, and my both my parents natives too. Long history here in Daytona Beach area, dating back to the 30's, lol... As far as questions, no problem, anytime my friend!
To answer the rock question, I am a huge believer in recycled rock. All the rock from my 90 was transferred into the new system. Most of the rock is in the sump, as the tank is really rock-limited, on purpose. My goal is to create what appears to be a solid bommie, while most corals are individually mounted on rocks and rubble. The rock from the 90, except that of which had corals mounted, is now refreshed, there is nothing but sponge, and all the live stuff you want on it. This is the heart of the filtration. I imagine around 50lbs, 10 lbs of which was added a couple of months ago, it was marco shelf. The sump also has around 5-6 liters of bio media, siporax, life bio fil from Aquaforest, and ceramic rings. This is all quite mature. My goal is to always be sourcing live rock, rock from break downs, another words, always on the hunt.
No, I do not like or want to EVER start a system with dry rock, it is the bane of my existence! The majority of the rock was once dry, and uglies have plagued that rock since it landed in my sump, it dates back to my 60 gallon tank, which was before the 90 gallon, lol
So, its live now. As far as uglies, I am always battling something, unless I go to basic berlin, then things do well, but the corals tend to look drab to me, so I spice things up with bacteria. I now use it occasionally, but have learned that running the system this way, is not optimal for my taste. I am more of a natural kind of guy. I do however find that DIY coral snow, AF Bio S (nitrifying bacteria), FM Rebiotic(Probiotic Bacteria,dry) and FM Bacto Therapy(Probiotic Bacteria, liquid) are weekly, but at minimal dose. I also use KZ FWS and KZ Sponge Power. These too are not dosed with any specific consistency, and dosed well under recommendations.
All acro keepers suffer from RTN or STN, but having a prop tank(50 gallon low boy), and a 75 gallon sump, and the 112 gallon display tied together, it makes it very easy to solve those problems. Any problem corals go to the lowboy to recover under less intense LED. The display is designed for the healthy colorful stuff, lol. The prop tank is also where the goodies are grown as back ups, and with LED it's cool to note differences. I also have a 30 gallon Nuvo as a non-acro tank, but capable of quarantine for new arrivals, if necessary.
My key to clean tanks is simple. Elbow grease... Before problems arise, I scrape, brush, whatever I have to do to keep the clean appearance. These days, I work less, as the tank is becoming mature. Things are cruising along, nitrates and phosphates up, but I don't worry over that stuff. Alk is stable, I shoot for 7.5dkh, its currently 8.3dkh. I use kalkwasser for big 2, mag occasionally to 1350ppm. I dose 10ml of the Red Sea stuff weekly, except IRON, I don't dose that stuff. Other than that, I think corals and the tank, need to eat, so I feed VERY heavy, and skim hard.
I guess that's about it, maybe I missed something, lol. Thanks for checking out the journal and commenting, I love the dialogue!
