SDReef's 330G CDA Acropora Dominant Mixed Reef

sdreef · Feb 14, 2021

I transferred 12 frags over.

RRC rainbow splice, lost its pink sitting on the frag rack in the other tank, but in a high PAR, high flow spot now.

TGC Acrolandia

TGC / CG's Cherry Bomb

SC Orange Passion

Vivid's Confetti

Walt Disney Tenuis

sdreef · Feb 17, 2021

This is my last main acro colony in the 60 gallon system. I love this colony. Some species of tabling acro. Highlighter yellow tips and a pale blue green base. I would like to transfer this over. I just have to figure out how I'm going to get it off the rock it has fully encrusted onto. Possibly chisel with a piece of the rock or alternatively a wire saw around the base and then putty it in place in the new system?

As a frag four years ago, just in front of the purple stylophora: 2/10/2017

Rhoads238 · Feb 17, 2021

This is an absolutely epic build! How do you like the bk 200? I was thinking about getting one too but I'm torn between the 200 and 250. My tank will be running triton so no mechanical filtration. What do you think?

I had a laugh reading through your thread, I can't believe how similar our builds are, although you're a few months ahead of me. My tank is 84x32x24, is also eurobraced and will have the sump underneath. I went with marco rocks and hav a sandbed, am using an apex, mp40 pumps, and a triton. I also previously had a 60 gallon cube. I really think the thing thats the kicker for me is the salifert test for nitrate, milwakee for sg and the hanna for phosphate.

Good luck looks like the build is going great!

sdreef · Feb 18, 2021

Rhoads238 said:
This is an absolutely epic build! How do you like the bk 200? I was thinking about getting one too but I'm torn between the 200 and 250. My tank will be running triton so no mechanical filtration. What do you think?

I had a laugh reading through your thread, I can't believe how similar our builds are, although you're a few months ahead of me. My tank is 84x32x24, is also eurobraced and will have the sump underneath. I went with marco rocks and hav a sandbed, am using an apex, mp40 pumps, and a triton. I also previously had a 60 gallon cube. I really think the thing thats the kicker for me is the salifert test for nitrate, milwakee for sg and the hanna for phosphate.

Good luck looks like the build is going great!

Thanks! I love the skimmer. It is much more effective and tuneable than any prior skimmer I've used.

I emailed royal exclusiv when I was debating the size and they conveyed the skimmers are conservatively rated in terms of their ability, and after some use I agree. They also recommended sizing the skimmer based on display volume and not the total system volume. It's amazing what the skimmer pulls out of the water.

I undersized mine based on recommendations and because the fleece rollers reduce the ability of organics to dissolve. For my filtration set up, this was the right size skimmer, and I've been very happy with it. I also find the skimmer very quiet, which is a plus.

sdreef · Feb 19, 2021

The freeze dried food results in some smaller particulates in the water column that are too small for the fish. Many of the particulates are taken out by the filtration system, but I think the frequency and quantity are likely sufficient to support some filter feeding organisms.

This blueberry gorgonian has only been in the tank for a day, but it arrived in good condition and the polyps are opening. I'll feed some phyto at night a few times this week in addition to feeding the tank 6-9 times / day. I may also hatch some baby brine shrimp. It's in an area of high flow and moderate light, I am contemplating moving it to an area that is shaded and plan to if I see any type of algae growth.

sdreef · Feb 20, 2021

Using the apex oscillate function, the first filter fleece lasted 12 weeks. There is a bypass between the chambers that allows water to equalize between the two chambers but the second filter roller is not advancing as quickly. I'm going to adjust the programming to even out the rate of the fleece advancement and see how long I can make the rolls last.

sdreef · Feb 23, 2021

The macro algae in the refugium appears to be growing well now. Hope this will help with my phosphates.

Everything in the tank appears to be healthy, and all of the parameters have remained stable and in a good range except for the phosphates which have been stable but high.

There are some patches of cyano on the sand bed. I've increased the clean up crew with some more nassarius snails, hermits, and cerith snails. One of the MP60 wetsides was defective and I just received the replacement allowing me to increase the flow. I've increased the daily continuous waterchange to 3 gallons / day. Waiting for ICP results to see if there are other adjustment I should be considering.

sdreef · Feb 24, 2021

I decided to check my phosphates first thing this morning before any feeding, and my phosphates are at .04. I double checked to confirm.

I realized I've been making a mistake while testing my phosphates. I've been sampling the water at different times of day, and nearly always after I've started feeding the tank for the day. To me this demonstrates that the food is the source of the phosphates, and I shouldn't be testing soon after I feed the tank. It also appears that the system is effectively maintaining the phosphates in an acceptable range.

I've been uncomfortable with phosphates approaching 0.2, but I didn't want to chase a number when everything appeared to be healthy. I plan to continue testing in the morning before the first feeding to confirm and maybe a few hours after the last feeding, but this is making more sense with what I am seeing now.

yman182 · Feb 24, 2021

I cant believe I just found your build. I have almost an exact build like yours in the works. 84x30x25" tank with a 72" Geo Dual AFR Sump.

A few questions for you.

Why did you decided to use the Apex to control the Clarisea units vs having the float switch control them when they get full? Just to save on roller paper?

2. What setting and percentage are you using on the MP60s? I have two in my tank, but since it is bare bottom, I cannot really tell how much flow is in there since I do not have any corals yet.

sdreef · Feb 24, 2021

yman182 said:
I cant believe I just found your build. I have almost an exact build like yours in the works. 84x30x25" tank with a 72" Geo Dual AFR Sump.

A few questions for you.

Why did you decided to use the Apex to control the Clarisea units vs having the float switch control them when they get full? Just to save on roller paper?

2. What setting and percentage are you using on the MP60s? I have two in my tank, but since it is bare bottom, I cannot really tell how much flow is in there since I do not have any corals yet.

Nice dimensions!

Regarding the Clarisea, I put them on a timer purely in an attempt to make the fleece last longer. I like using mechanical filtration, but I don't like changing it. After 12 weeks, I replaced one roll and am a little more than half way through the second. I don't have a real baseline, but my impression was that rolls typically last about 6 weeks. I'm still undecided on what's best.

Regarding my flow, I'm still adjusting it. I think I'm happy with the current location of the pumps. The MP60s are on the side panels and currently are on reef crest maxing at 70% during the day. My MP40's are lower on the side panel toward the back and are reef crest at 75% mid day. I have two Reefwave 45s on the top on the back panel on either end of my overflow box and they are on Red Seas version of reefcrest maxing out at 40% right now.

The water moves well throughout the tank currently. I have special grade "live sand" and I get some sand piles, but no sand storms. I had the MP60s down to 50% more related to the location of some of my LPS than sand. I observed the acanthophylias levitating across the front of the tank a couple times. It looked cool, but I didn't want them to accidentally end up on a torch. So based on my rockscape, I've been working to adjust the location of some of the corals to more sheltered locations and increasing the flow.

CoralDanimal · Feb 24, 2021

sdreef said:
Regarding the Clarisea, I put them on a timer purely in an attempt to make the fleece last longer. I like using mechanical filtration, but I don't like changing it. After 12 weeks, I replaced one roll and am a little more than half way through the second. I don't have a real baseline, but my impression was that rolls typically last about 6 weeks. I'm still undecided on what's best.

Love your setup and your Geo sump is basically my dream sump (dual Clariseas + dedicated post-return refugium) so I may have drooled when saw that.

In regards to Clarisea longevity, with the XL rolls I'm able to get about ~4 months (and I feed a lot), but I think the key is how much you're leveraging gravity, which I'm not sure is something you can tune with your setup. The majority of my Clarisea is raised above the water level, which means gravity is pulling harder and harder as the water level within the Clarisea rises. My dirty rolls are very brown (super satisfying) as a result. I also mounted the float switch as high up as possible to get the water level as high as possible as well.

sdreef · Feb 24, 2021

CoralDanimal said:
Love your setup and your Geo sump is basically my dream sump (dual Clariseas + dedicated post-return refugium) so I may have drooled when saw that.

In regards to Clarisea longevity, with the XL rolls I'm able to get about ~4 months (and I feed a lot), but I think the key is how much you're leveraging gravity, which I'm not sure is something you can tune with your setup. The majority of my Clarisea is raised above the water level, which means gravity is pulling harder and harder as the water level within the Clarisea rises. My dirty rolls are very brown (super satisfying) as a result. I also mounted the float switch as high up as possible to get the water level as high as possible as well.

Thank you, that's great to know your roll is lasting four months! I may be overcomplicating this, and it would be nice to simplify. My goal is to get the rolls to last as long as possible.

You inspired me to experiment. It's possible there's no or minimal advantage to keeping the rolls on a timer. I'm going to take the timers off and see how long the roll lasts using the float switch. I can't leverage gravity, but I can adjust the float switch higher in the chamber. I'll try that and see how it goes.

sdreef · Mar 3, 2021

Transferred my hawkfish finally and added a red tree sponge. The sponge was packaged really well for shipping from Alyssa's Seahorse Savvy and arrived in excellent condition. I'm going to start dosing live phyto twice / week.

I received results from my Triton ICP. I collected water for Triton ICP and the N-DOC at the same time. For the ICP the phosphates were 0.08 and for the N-DOC the phosphates were 0.037. Not sure the reason for the discrepancy, but in either case phosphates were <0.1 which is ok for me. The other parameters all looked good. My iodine and bromine were a little low, but not terrible.

I have used the ATI ICP in the past, and intend to use the ATI for any future tests. I was disappointed that salinity and alkalinity weren't included with the basic Triton ICP.

I also sent a sample to assess the aquariums microbiome and that sample is being processed now. Looking forward to those results hopefully in the next month.

sdreef · Mar 3, 2021

In addition to the red tree sponge, I added a photosynthestic purple sword gorgonian. Started shedding its outer layer during shipping, but now with excellent polyp extension and looking happy.

Also added a photosynthetic purple frilly gorgonian and nonphotosynthetic orange and red sea whips.

sdreef · Mar 3, 2021

One more wrasse with the roseafascia. He spent three days in the acclimation box and has been pretty shy since I released him for the past few days. Now he's swimming out in the open more and is the largest fairy wrasse in the tank now. There was a little chasing between him and the flame, the flame was the primary instigator, but they were both going at it. I was concerned briefly, but that seems to have settled now.

I also added a bluestripe pipefish a few weeks ago. I have a healthy pod population and he's eating well. swims under some the rock underhangs. He's become progressively more comfortable and has been able to navigate around the areas of the most intense flow surprisingly well.

I'm dealing with a little cyano primarily on the sand bed and bolstered the cleanup crew with 25 more nassarius snails and a single sand sifting star.

sdreef · Mar 4, 2021

I just received an order today from battlecorals. I was very happy with the experience from the communication to the quality of the packaging. Each coral came in heat sealed double bag with the coral's name, years in captivity, the type of lighting it was grown under, lighting intensity recs, flow recs, growth rate, and hardiness ratings.

All of the frags were over 1" and appeared healed, healthy, and well encrusted. All are demonstrating good polyp extension considering the stress of shipping. The photos on the website are representative with how they appear in my tank under my daylights. This was a very positive experience.

I've placed the frags in my quarantine system for observation. The parameters in the quarantine system are similar to my main display. Salinity 35 ppt, alk 7.8, calcium 430, mag 1320. I plan to dip the frags and remount them in a couple days once they've settled a bit from the journey.

sdreef · Mar 5, 2021

My ATO reservoir has a continuous water supply which carries the inherent danger of flooding in the house. I have an optical sensor and a float sensor controlling the top off via the tunze osomolator. I haven't read about the tunze failing in the on position, but it's a risk I suppose. I wanted to put additional safeguards in place as I start thinking about travelling and potentially being away for periods of time.

I'm adding mechanical float valve. I'm using a magnetic float valve from icecap. I think it's very unlikely that I would ever need it, but the 30 dollar investment for a little added insurance is worth it.

sdreef · Mar 7, 2021

Reluctantly, I decided to dose the tank with chemiclean. Despite multiple attempts to change the conditions and improve the cyano, it started making its way onto the rocks. Despite my effort sto push things toward a mature system, the tank is young.

I really would like the tank to achieve a balanced microbiome and wanted to take a microbiologic approach to this problem, but that would take months and the cyano would injure some of the other tanks inhabitants in the meantime. 48 hours into the treatment, most of the cyano is gone. I'm hoping that the tank maturing will help avoid this more in the future. I'm going to start rinsing my frozen food. Also going to try KZ cyanoclean which apparently has a bacterial strain that can outcompete cyano.

On the upside, this is another reason I really like this skimmer. I was able to drop the outlet tube down, and dial down the DC pump and have not been dealing with an overflowing skimmer due to the chemiclean while the skimmer continues to run.