Zibba's Reefs

fl2re · Apr 29, 2015

Love this build. Just went through the whole thread and the updates are excellent! The progress pics are my favorite. Great job!

Sahin · Apr 29, 2015

Looking great! Which brand of two part are you dosing? Do you supplement with trace elements? Thanks.

YHSublime · Apr 29, 2015

it looks awesome!

zibba · Apr 29, 2015

fl2re said:
Love this build. Just went through the whole thread and the updates are excellent! The progress pics are my favorite. Great job!

Thanks for taking the time to go through everything! There's some more to update as far as equipment and I should really detail our frag & QT tank. I promise to do so in the near future.

Really enjoy the progress pictures so that's why a lot of the pictures in here are framed they way they were -- I don't get too creative.

Sahin said:
Looking great! Which brand of two part are you dosing? Do you supplement with trace elements? Thanks.

Hey Sahin! Good to hear from you.

I've used BRS "two-part" forever and just mix up the solution from dry chemicals at home. I dose Alk, Calcium and Acropower daily via doser. I manually dose Mg when it's needed, which is very rare. I occasionally dose potassium but it usually runs between 390-420 with regular water changes (Red Sea Coral Pro). I also dose Brightwell Lugol's (maybe 1mL every 2-4 weeks, just depends if I remember to do it). That's it.

I rarely rinse frozen food. I figure that the extra stuff helps keep phosphates and nitrates a little higher and the microparticles can be coral food.

To give you an idea: I tested my water before the last water change (usually I test after WC's) and my Nitrates were at 1.5ppm. The phosphates tested at 0, but I seriously believe that was a bad test and I didn't bother retesting. Usually it's 0.02-0.08 ppm. I haven't retested since Sunday's water change but expect the nitrates will be slightly lower and phosphates will be in the normal range.

zibba · Apr 29, 2015

Acrononomus said:
Just went thru your build thread, wow great build! You have some really nice corals and all of your colors are really on pointe ! Very nice, love the rhomboid wrasse! Nice

Wow, thank you very much for taking the time and for the compliments. The rhomboid has been an awesome fish. Really bummed out that we lost the female and have been looking to replace her. One came up on DD yesterday but I wasn't fast enough and, even if I would have been paying attention, it was a little more than I would have spent for a female.

Mike&Terry said:
Wow! that was a marathon picture update (or two). It is GREAT to see your corals looking so healthy and colorful and we love that you shared pics under both actinic and normal lighting.

Truly one of our favorite reefs and we always look forward to your updates!

Thank you guys! Very nice of you to say. The camera had been collecting dust for awhile so I went a little crazy trying to get updated growth/comparison shots.

And, you know I love seeing your tank. I linked Kris to picture of your masked swallowtail from your flickr feed yesterday as we've been eyeing that pair on NYAquatic.

Haven't pulled the trigger yet as our QT is currently occupied and I have another wrasse coming in tomorrow (I'll reveal soon assuming the shipment comes in according to plan).

Take care everyone!

Lilmatty5dimes · Apr 30, 2015

Awesome pics. Tank is looking great

zibba · Apr 30, 2015

YHSublime said:
it looks awesome!

Lilmatty5dimes said:
Awesome pics. Tank is looking great

Thanks so much guys!

For what it's worth, I tested my Nitrate and Phosphate again last night post water change to see if there was a change in nitrates and phosphates. There wasn't. Nitrates are still 1.5 ppm and Phosphates tested at 0.012 (close enough to 0, like the test pre-WC). Not going to do anything about it since corals are looking good. There's no need to target certain numbers.

prsnlty · May 4, 2015

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pics

I love the granulosa! Never thought about dosing acropower daily... how much do you dose?

zibba · May 5, 2015

You're welcome and thank you for checking them out! I'm currently dosing 25mL/day. I start dosing it around noon and it doses 6x (spread out) for the next 8 hrs.

Wanted to share a few more pictures from tonight:

We just added this beautiful female 8-line wrasse. After seeing Hunter's male (RIP) a long while ago, I definitely wanted to get one for this tank. Hoping it turns male down the road. She was shy and--just as Hunter predicted--she came out and was in the mix within a few days.

8-line by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr

Two candid shots of the fish cruising around tonight:

Group Candid by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr

Another candid by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr

This picture doesn't do this fish any justice but I just can't wait to share. He's doing awesome in QT and will likely go in very soon. C. lineatus:

C. lineatus in QT by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr

prsnlty · May 5, 2015

They're all gorgeous! I like the convicts too... I didn't think I would but seeing them here changed my mind

zibba · May 5, 2015

I was the same way with the convicts: didn't really appreciate them until seeing them in person. They're hard working and have been a great addition ... Even though they aren't "rare."

prsnlty · May 8, 2015

Thanks Zibba, I may put one on my list. I have a 180 with 4 large tangs already and risking the tang police lol but I still want 3 more. Orange shoulder, chevron and now a convict

revhtree · May 8, 2015

My my my! What a beautiful reef!

mrjlopez731 · May 8, 2015

Wow who wouldn't want a tank like this. I'm not even close to it but with time things are getting better and better.

iReef86 · May 22, 2015

Looks great! Love all the pictures!

Aquaph8 · May 22, 2015

Dang it man, your making me like tangs again. Im loving the convicts.

zibba · Jun 2, 2015

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Here are a few shots from last night as the tank was ramping down:

New trachy that we picked up over Memorial Day weekend:

Rainbow trachy by E Z, on Flickr

New monti:

Steroid Sunset monti by E Z, on Flickr

Moved this blasto from the smaller tank to the larger tank to give it some room to grow:

Blasto by E Z, on Flickr

Love this coral:

RR The Phuong by E Z, on Flickr

Hopefully I can grow this one out -- love to watch the progression from corals this size:

RR Pink Floyd by E Z, on Flickr

This piece really shines under the blue leds:

UC Facination Favia / RR Falling Horizon Lepto by E Z, on Flickr