Reef Diaries: 56G Reef Savvy

ReeferEric · Oct 14, 2014

Algae scrubber update, I believe they work.

Just removed the HOG.5 last night.

I recent removed bio-pellets, GFO, and trimmed off a lot of macro algae. Oh yeah, overfeeding now to try and bring up my phosphates.

jourdy · Oct 14, 2014

Those are very nice photos and even more awesome videos!
Are you using macro lens?

ReeferEric · Oct 19, 2014

jourdy said:
Those are very nice photos and even more awesome videos!
Are you using macro lens?

I have a few different cameras and bodies I use. D700 or D300s with the following lenses: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 or Nikon 105mm f/2.8.

ReeferEric · Nov 20, 2014

Holy smokes! It's been a while since I've updated, mostly due to problems with water chemistry. Changes with the system including redoing the main tank put the system into ultra low nutrient. Both Hanna phosphate and phosphorus read zero, had some SPS with slow tissue recession, etc. It just was that bad that I stopped taking pictures. To fix that issue I stopped all water changes, got more fish and am now feeding 2-3 times a day. Colors are coming back but it's too soon to tell.

I did come across a good deal on a tank but decided to pass on it. I've decided to go another route of adding an additional frag tank. This one will be smaller and powered by LED only. The possibility of a Radion fixture and sea sweep comes into play. I've already got an acrylic tank that's brand new and sitting around. Just need to build a stand for it, will probably be going with an aluminum stand as well. Just need to figure the logistics and cost of it overall. This will probably be a grow out tank for my chalice collection.

Another project I will be doing is removing the trays in the frag tank and add eggcrete. The trays tank up too much real estate.

Hopefully this weekend I can clean the tanks and snap a few photos.

ReeferEric · Nov 30, 2014

Ever since my clowns jumped the frag tank (screen now) I've been itching to get a couple more. Pulled the trigger while visiting a LFS today. Picked up these awesome Snowflake clowns today from Reef Addicition. I'll be taking better pictures later. Took some update photos of the tank today but that will have to be worked on tomorrow.

ReeferEric · Dec 1, 2014

What a difference in grow out time... or not:

August 6, 2014 (Jack-O-Lantern and Sunset Monti to the right)

November 30, 2014

Few more of my grow outs coming along very nicely.

OG Oregon Mummy Eye Chalice:

Incredible Hulk Acro:

Pink ******* Chalice:

Classics mixed (Utter Chaos & Rastas):

spspirate · Dec 2, 2014

Great shots!!!

Joe G · Dec 2, 2014

Pics look good bro

Wiz · Dec 2, 2014

Wow! Really awsome pics.

joshporksandwich · Dec 2, 2014

Looking awesome!

ReeferEric · Dec 3, 2014

spspirate said:
Great shots!!!

Joe G said:
Pics look good bro

Wiz said:
Wow! Really awsome pics.

joshporksandwic said:
Looking awesome!

Aqq shucks, thank you guise.

Some more!

joshporksandwich · Dec 3, 2014

I'm glad I showed you how to take pics lol.

ReeferEric · Dec 8, 2014

joshporksandwic said:
I'm glad I showed you how to take pics lol.

More like how to take pictures of the dark! LOL

ReeferEric · Dec 11, 2014

ReeferEric · Dec 14, 2014

System update! Finally spent the day cleaning up and organizing wires. Feels great but there are a few other things I would like to see gone. Some misc wires that need to be bundled up.

Installed another EB8 so a few plugs were relocated and I've got more outlets. Also installed the Apex AFS, neat little thing but it's fairly expensive for a fish feeder. I'll probably add another one for the main tank, right now my old Eheim auto feeder does the job.

Just for kicks I organized all my bottles since I had so much more space now.

ReeferEric · Dec 14, 2014

A few other changes I had done was removed the skimmer. For a while now I've been dealing with an ultra low nutrient system. I believe this was due to the additional frag tank and shortly after starting fresh with the main tank. The algae scrubber was moved in placed of the skimmer as the skimmer has been off for a few weeks now and the scrubber has picked up ten folds. Weekly harvesting is crazy, I see more results then ever. In fact, I've had to cut down on the time the LEDs are on to try and keep more nutrients back into the system.

12/3/14

12/7/14

12/13/14

I'm a true believer now with the algae scrubbers, never thought I would be skimmerless till now.

gettaReef · Dec 14, 2014

Very nice! Electrics look great and that's really good cord management. I really need to do that do my electric area.....it's a huge stringy mess and I've neglected it so long the cords are covered it webs, dust, and some salt creep somehow. With how nice yours turned out, it's giving me some motivation. a few months ago I purchased a use ATS for no particular reason other than it was a good deal. I also recently purchased a new skimmer (Vertex 180i). I just set the new skimmer up last night but now you have me pondering if I should give the scrubber a try and compare the two...

ReeferEric · Dec 18, 2014

gettaReef said:
Very nice! Electrics look great and that's really good cord management. I really need to do that do my electric area.....it's a huge stringy mess and I've neglected it so long the cords are covered it webs, dust, and some salt creep somehow. With how nice yours turned out, it's giving me some motivation. a few months ago I purchased a use ATS for no particular reason other than it was a good deal. I also recently purchased a new skimmer (Vertex 180i). I just set the new skimmer up last night but now you have me pondering if I should give the scrubber a try and compare the two...

I only made time and got to it because of my girlfriend returning from med school and a sump contest. LOL, it was organized when I had a calcium reactor but broke that down and went back to two-part.

Give that ATS a try, I love it.

This is what I pulled out a few nights ago. Instant results with little to no power or heat added to the tank.