Tony Vargas 300-Gallon Build

[joshporksandwich]

Did you faint and hit the floor, lol.

No I was in bed. So I was in fallen position already.

 

[Maximus]

What's your take on Amino Acids? I just started using TLF's Acropower and would love your thoughts on AA's. Thanks.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Great Tank, I would like to ask, the led lamp can be sunrise and sunset? Or only on/off ?

These LED Cannons operate with dimmable drives, which simulate sun up, sun down affect.

 

[FishDooD65]

Beautiful setup you have there Tony. I was wondering what you were doing as far as nutrient export? Is that skimmer sufficient enough to keep nitrate and phosphate levels down? Do you rely on water changes? How much water do you change and how often?

 

[dallasg]

great tank!! looking forward to seeing it progress

ps. great book, i read it often for inspiration

 

[Tony Vargas]

Beautiful setup you have there Tony. I was wondering what you were doing as far as nutrient export? Is that skimmer sufficient enough to keep nitrate and phosphate levels down? Do you rely on water changes? How much water do you change and how often?

In order to keep nutrient levels at bay, I watch what I feed and perform 55-gallon water changes every two weeks. In addition, the RLSS DB10i is the best investment I made on a skimmer to date. It is by far the best skimmer for nutrient removal I have owned, and I have installed the same skimmer in three of my clients large systems.

 

[Tony Vargas]

great tank!! looking forward to seeing it progress

ps. great book, i read it often for inspiration

Thank you for the kind words. Don't tell anyone but I started working on Vol 2, lol.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I hope you have a Merry Christmas Tony!

I did have a great Christmas, thank you. Hope you had a great one as well.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Hey Tony, do you feed your ORA red goni at all? Does it prefer high lighting? Thanks and very nice tank!

I realized I did not answer your question fully, the red goni prefers high to medium light. I've seen them at ORA in shallow water under strong sunlight.

 

[Tony Vargas]

So. I read that the amount of cannons and colors is what you were striving for. How much growth over the cource of how long with the new LEDs?

The growth and color of my corals are comparable to growth found under traditional metal halide systems. But, one must take into account that conditions in the aquarium play a very important role in growth of corals. I've seen many tanks in my travels that have MH systems and can't grow corals. You will see photos soon of colorful corals and incredible growth under this hybrid light system.

 

[Mike J.]

Thank you for the kind words. Don't tell anyone but I started working on Vol 2, lol.

Looking forward to getting it.

 

[dallasg]

me too!

 

[jeffthomas]

me three :smile:

 

[cryptics]

Following along. Amazing setup

 

[Tony Vargas]

Here are some photos of frags in the early stages.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Here are some more photos.

 

[joshporksandwich]

About time. Great photos

 

[Sahin]

Very nice update Tony. Corals appear to be doing just fine under this lighting.

I have a question regarding the brown stuff growing on the rock and frag plug here: What is that stuff? I ask because I had this stuff take over my rocks a few years ago...it didnt damage corals or anything like that...just that it was unsightly and didnt allow Coralline algae to grow...my rocks used to look like large brown rocks...I couldnt blow it away with a turkey bastor...it was kind of really sticky. I also had Dinos at the time and I treated my rocks heavily with H202 and this stuff died along with the Dinos. I see this stuff on some of my buddies tanks as well...

 

[Tony Vargas]

Very nice update Tony. Corals appear to be doing just fine under this lighting.

I have a question regarding the brown stuff growing on the rock and frag plug here: What is that stuff? I ask because I had this stuff take over my rocks a few years ago...it didnt damage corals or anything like that...just that it was unsightly and didnt allow Coralline algae to grow...my rocks used to look like large brown rocks...I couldnt blow it away with a turkey bastor...it was kind of really sticky. I also had Dinos at the time and I treated my rocks heavily with H202 and this stuff died along with the Dinos. I see this stuff on some of my buddies tanks as well...

Interesting enough, I had this on a few rocks not many and it started to develop around month two of the new system. Since I had to rush this system build, which was not my intention I knew when it came to algae I had to expect some. My system was attacked with the brown spotted algae in the photo call Lobophora and fuzzy light brown algae call a Diatom Bloom, again not all my rocks were affected with this stuff. Blue Leg Hermit crabs and two small Diadema Sea Urchin made a meal of these algaes and now coralline algae lives in its place. [FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[dallasg]

this is an awesome coral, do you have its name?