Taco's 65G LPS Fiesta

tacosricos · Sep 30, 2018

I raised up my LED pucks and increased intensity, trying to get better diffusion/coverage. I wasn't keeping a close eye on Alk, because it''s been very stable. Of course I should have realized changing the lighting would impact consumption. When I tested today it was down to 6.8 dKH, from 7.5 about 9 days ago.

Phosphates were also on the high side, so I did a 10 gallon water change with Tropic Marin @ 1.025 SG, and refreshed the GFO in the canister. I really don't feed all that heavily, so I need to increase filtration. I don't like leaning on GFO as my primary exporter.

I assume that I'm going to start seeing an alk drop between water changes if the Core7 dosing isn't keeping up, so I will need to adjust to find the right dose, I don't want to depend on the water changes to solve big problems like Alk, but to correct for the trace elements going out of balance (because I'm not doing ICP tests).

tacosricos · Oct 12, 2018

The tank went through a bit of a crisis last week. The power went out at around 2pm and didn't come back on until 4am. The power company told us all day at every hour, that in another hour it would be back on. I really didn't know it would be over 12 hours or I would have taken some more proactive steps. As it was, everything in the tank survived with just a single battery-powered aerator.

The photocycle of the fuge got out of wack, and rather than just reset the timer, I decided to pull the fuge out of the tank altogether. Though I don't doubt the usefulness of a properly implemented fuge, in the context of my aquarium it wasn't working well. The new filtration plan is to go with a skimmer and some form of carbon dosing, with activated carbon and GFO used as needed, and small occasional water changes.

I've kind of left the Triton method behind in a lot of ways. I don't do ICP tests, I'm not growing a refugium anymore and I'm doing preventative water changes instead of purely corrective ones. I will call it, the Taco Method.

Janci · Oct 13, 2018

As long as the method works for you, it will be fine.
Luckily each tank is different and can be maintained according to the book.

I am happy the power shortage did not make any serious trouble.

tacosricos · Oct 28, 2018

I've decided not to run a t5 on the system, and to make do with the current LED's for the foreseeable future. A few of the corals didn't respond well to the light change and perished or were given to other reefers. There is some tissue loss on certain corals where they are now shaded, so I've been repositioning some of the coral.

I had initially wanted to go heavy on the LPS, and then later lean into a mixed LPS/SPS tank. I think I am going to head back into the direction of softies for the rock work (ricordea, gorgonia, discocoma etc.) and pick up some meat corals for the sand bed.

Janci · Nov 2, 2018

I will be adding T5 to the radions soon.
I hope all will go well.

tacosricos · Nov 18, 2018

Janci said:
I will be adding T5 to the radions soon.
I hope all will go well.

How did it go? Sorry I haven't been around for a while, the tank is doing well. I have some updates coming! I picked up a Skimz skimmer at the BRS black friday sale and I'm considering getting an aquatic life t5 hybrid fixture to supplement my primes.

tacosricos · Nov 18, 2018

Looking through my parts box(es) I realize I have like 80% of the fittings I need to add a second return pump. Mosto f these parts are scavenged from my old frag tray build. I've been tossing the idea of a second return around for a while, but now I'm going to do it for sure. I will plumb the media reactor to this return pump. My only point of uncertainty is going from the flexible tubing to the push fittings for the media reactor.

Big changes coming!

count krunk · Nov 18, 2018

Hello!

just read thru your build and i like it. love the lion fish, i have always wanted one.

You added t5 to the primes and experienced some issues?

still running those t5s over your fuge? But i guess that doesn't matter since you are deleting the fuge to add in the skimmer?

Janci · Nov 18, 2018

tacosricos said:
How did it go? Sorry I haven't been around for a while, the tank is doing well. I have some updates coming! I picked up a Skimz skimmer at the BRS black friday sale and I'm considering getting an aquatic life t5 hybrid fixture to supplement my primes.

Check out my thread. I posted some pictures there recently.

tacosricos · Nov 19, 2018

yungreefer2410 said:
Hello!

just read thru your build and i like it. love the lion fish, i have always wanted one.

You added t5 to the primes and experienced some issues?

still running those t5s over your fuge? But i guess that doesn't matter since you are deleting the fuge to add in the skimmer?

Hello! Thanks for joining. I removed the fuge a while back. Right now it's just a media reactor and return pumps in the sump. I have a skimmer and a T5 hybrid fixture coming in the mail. I have no plans to go back to a fuge at the moment. I think I will be able to handle nutrients easily with my new configuration.

I got a wild hair yesterday and went ahead with the secondary return pump install. It's not running the media reactor, because I decided I really like the increased flow it offers in the display.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bCrmB6]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/PfVNna]

[/url][/url]

tacosricos · Nov 19, 2018

Well... The second return pump lasted for less than 24hrs before it burnt out on me... I can hardly blame it, it had been run for years without maintenance. I've settled on some new tunze powerheads instead of replacing the secondary return. If you've read this far, you will have noticed I tend to change my mind about things.

I did manage to sneak my apex jr. under the stand this evening:

I've recently learned about a single-part additive made by tropic marin meant to handle cal, alk and trace elements, all in a single bottle. I will do more research first, as I know very little about it, but I must admit I love the idea of freeing up a couple outlets on my controller!

Janci · Nov 20, 2018

I read about the Tropic Marine additives as well. The concept is nice and is similar to what other companies are bringing to the market.
Knowing Tropic Marine as a company with long term seat in the reefer play room, their product will not harm the tank if used properly.

I believe most of the trace element from other suppliers can be mixed in the Ca/Alk container for dosing.

tacosricos · Nov 20, 2018

Janci said:
I read about the Tropic Marine additives as well. The concept is nice and is similar to what other companies are bringing to the market.
Knowing Tropic Marine as a company with long term seat in the reefer play room, their product will not harm the tank if used properly.

I believe most of the trace element from other suppliers can be mixed in the Ca/Alk container for dosing.

Thanks for the input! I really like the idea of simplifying my dosing. In a sense it's a similar concept to the triton 4-part. Triton recommends you test Alk regularly and adjust all 4 parts in conjunction (plus all the ICP stuff). With a single part it's the same approach, I will adjust to fit Alk consumption, and so long as Cal isn't waaay out of line I should be good. I have been a fan of Tropic Marin products for years ever since I used their pharma salt on my old nano tank and everything looked amazing.

tacosricos · Nov 22, 2018

Got this setup last night:

This morning:

I'm running the skimmer pump at a 3 or a 4 out of 9 power levels.

Janci · Nov 23, 2018

Reefbuds · Nov 23, 2018

What skimmer do you have? Is it a HOB? I currently use the coralife skimmer. Which is the one you said created a lot I'd micro bubbles.

tacosricos · Nov 25, 2018

Exciting times! I've never had a setup anywhere near this nice before... And I love it!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2d9FMKc]

[/url]

tacosricos · Nov 25, 2018

wallace said:
What skimmer do you have? Is it a HOB? I currently use the coralife skimmer. Which is the one you said created a lot I'd micro bubbles.

The skimmer (pictured above) is a Skimz SN127 with a dc pump, it is an internal skimmer. The coral life skimmer that came with the tank died on me over a year ago if I remember right. I did a deep clean with vinegar and replaced all the tubing, but the pump was finished and I think there was also a crack in the skimmer body.

tacosricos · Nov 25, 2018

So I've decided on my next project for the tank. I will have 1 doser for the all-for-reef supplement, 1 for my vinegar dosing, 1 outlet for the heater and the 4th will have my return pump. I'm going to buy the Avast marine break out box kit, solder it together and run a mechanical float switch in my overflow box.

The tank is plumbed with a durso, which is very loud unless I run it full-siphon. There is no emergency overflow, and even though I could plumb one, I liek this solution better. If the siphon gets clogged, the water level will start to rise in the overflow box until it hits the float switch. The apex then kills the return pump and sends me an alarm to my devices. I'm not sure how much a float switch costs but I'm hoping to put this together for less than $40.

tacosricos · Dec 1, 2018

The tank is responding well to the upgrades. The tide has switched directions, and instead of watching my corals slowly lose tissue, things seem to be growing again. I'll snap some photos this evening after the sun goes down.

I have added t5's for more spread/diffusion (the rock tower throws a lot of shade). I increased flow with a pair of Tunze turbelles and added a skimmer. I still have a lot of core7 solution, but I will be switching over to the "All-for" supplement in the next month or two. I'm not rushing it because it seems like I just got the triton supplements dialed for the light/flow imcrease (it's now consuming a massive 5.5ml of diluted core7 solution).