Blog Comments

Thank you for bringing up that point. It's actually quite irresponsible of me to post my dosing schedule without posting my other tank maintenance.

In order to keep parameters in balance I do two small water changes of 3 gallons weekly. So two 10% water changes a week... plus a monthly 10g water change. This way I'm keeping all of my numbers high to increase coloration and growth, while also keeping things in balance. I do not test for potassium, strontium or iodine, but I have researched the effects of too much or two little of each on corals. I also modeled this plan after others who did test and have noted the drops in these parameters compared to drops in cal and alk. My two part (Brightwells) does not include other trace elements, so it's important in a system as small as mine that's using as much two part as mine that I keep the other essential elements up also. For someone not willing to put in the hours of research I'd simply suggest a two part that does include essential elements. :-)

Not saying that I subscribe to this thought process but what would you say to those that suggest not to dose what you can't test for? Or do you test for all these trace elements?

It was just a commit about how addicted I am to this. I placed corals in literally every spot that I could find open and literally walked away thinking to myself... I have no idea where anymore of these will go. But... 24 hours later I'm looking at the tank thinking... one could go there... another there. So obviously... I need some form of psychological help! Lol. :-)

Your tank looks very nice, I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like in an other year when everything grows out. What exactly did you need help with?

Thank you very much for the suggestions blennyman. I really considered drilling the sump. It would be better for the pumps, but would cause my tanks to either move right in front of a door or a window! Lol... I still considered it! I decided to put the pumps up a few inches and install a sensor on the floor of the tank to detect any water through the reef angel.

The fragging and pics will be done in a separate 2'x2'x10" cube off to the side in the same room. That tanks lighting will be dimmable LEDs, so I can change the color temp as needed over each coral for pics.

Thank you very much for the input! :-)

I might suggest removing the "dry area" from the sump and drilling the end of the tank instead. Gives you more sump area and you're less likely to submerge your external pump in the event of a leaky seal / bad joint. I have a frag tank in a stacked system like you describe above and it's a pain in the rear to work in because I'm always bumping my head and have a hard time taking pictures because of space and lighting issues. Maybe you've already calculated for such things, but I thought I'd throw my 2c in...

Looks like a nice plan though!

I'll find out at Christmas. My dad ordered one for me for Christmas this year. Although... if it's not one I like I may be able to order a new one for myself and have him keep that one. I'm taking a 29g Biocube up with me this year for his tank. It's going to be Niiiice! Back filtering removed, drilled with a glass holes kit, in stand sump, overskimmed, 24 Cree Dimmable LED Retrofitted into the canopy (that's my gift to him this year)... he's going with nothing but SPS. I'm researching to see if a Next Reef shorty reactor can be a nano biopellet reactor for him. I'm going to set his rockwork up shallow with plenty of room for fish to swim and corals to grow. I'm excited about his setup! lol.

Very nice, Matt. What RO unit did you order?

Tank is really looking beautiful, Matt!

I love lawnmower blennies. They have the best personalities.

It will and yes it is a beautiful piece. lol, Monticello, these smart phones think they are smarter then us. Hahah

Originally Posted by Hat39406

Very nice Matt! My Monticello Cap was almost white and now it's a richer red. :-)

That's good to hear! I hope it comes back strong. It's a beautiful piece. :-)

Very nice Matt! My Monticello Cap was almost white and now it's a richer red. :-)

Yeah... I've got to hook a pipe up to my return so I can lower the water level in my filtering area. Right now basically the whole 10g is filled up... so the water is moving through the filtering area, but the overflow isn't really surface skimming. It'll be Friday before I get to it, but it'll get filtered out quickly after that. :-)

Looks good, Matt. Make sure the surface area stays clean, or adjust flow to keep it rippling so that stuff stays in suspension and can be filtered out.

Added some frags to the tank today.

Got 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10 nitrates. I'd love to keep 5 nitrates in this tank. :-)

I started curing the live rock with brand new water 2 & 1/2 months ago. I did some water changes in that tank with the rock curing over the last few weeks getting it ready. The nitrates were at 20 on my API test kit several weeks ago. I've been doing water changes since then and it was down to 5, so I used that water to start up the tank. I actually want this water to be a little bit dirtier than my other tank (my other tank is too clean to grow zoas well) so I'm using the "dirty" water (0 nitrates all the time) from my 29g for this tank's water changes. I'll keep a close eye on test results, but with no clams or SPS in this tank I won't have an issue with calcium and it's 0 nitrates so I don't believe I'll have a problem. Maybe I'll do a monthly water change with brand new... I dunno... I'll keep an eye on tests and decide. :-)

Oh, I also did a 4g water change today. That's right big tank owners... you read that correctly... I did a 40% water change!!! ;-)

Thanks for all the insights Matt! I was wondering if the tank would cycle as new despite the seasoned LR... but yer way ahead of me! LOL Did you fill with all new saltwater, use some of water from the LR container, etc?

Thanks Slappy.

I would hate to describe how much time I spent aquascaping the tank. Haha... and only a hand full of rocks in a 10g too! That rock was the first in the tank and through most of my attempts I had it out towards the short end (furthest from the filtering). I tried everything and wasn't happy. Finally I took all of the other rocks out and decided where I wanted that one. Center looked best and the rest of the rocks were too big... so I took a hammer to one of them and split it in half. Haha.

Today I tested some ammonia, so the live sand is causing another mini cycle. Will wait until everything tests 0 and then another weekish before adding my clowns. :-)

Beautiful! Very nicely done - great Zen quality to it. The center rock has a natural upward spiral climb to it that is nothing short of spectacular. Congratulations!