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matt_longview

29g Tank Update - SPS Freak!

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matt_longview
, 03-27-2012 at 08:49 PM (10592 Views)
My 29g has come a long way! I decided to go crazy with an all SPS tank. I got rid of several really nice corals and cut my rock way back, but I absolutely love the tank now! It hurt most getting rid of my Australian Gold Torch Coral, but I gave it to a friend up the road who I knew would take care of it and I'd still get to watch it grow and look great. :-)

I'm beginning to become a bit of an SPS Freak...

My filtering is currently about 30ml of Biopellets in a NextReef Shorty reactor (love those guys at nextreef, amazing product quality). I also run carbon and GFO... but very little of each. I also grow chaeto algae in a media rack. I have a small cryptic rock rubble section that's FULL of sponges, filter feeders and pods of several different species. I've added in several from reef pods and can absolutely vouch for the product... I now have species of pods in my tank that weren't previously present. Anyone who grabs a ball of chaeto from me is also getting about $60 in pods purchased! Haha.

Here's my dosing schedule also:
2-Part - 7ml per day (I've been increasing this more and more... I'm up to 9ml, I'm going to have to get dosing pumps soon)
Koral Color - 5 drops per day
Potassion - 5 drops per day
Strontium - 2 ml every other day
MB7 - 2 ml every other day
ZeoBak - 1 Drop every other day (opposite MB7)
Lugols - 1 drop twice a week
CoralAmino - 2 drops twice a week

I'll be adding Phols Xtra, Coral Vitalizer & Sponge Power to this soon also. I feed heavy daily and have a large bioload for my size tank (which I DO NOT recommend unless you have LOTS of knowledge, experience and the right equipment to monitor and deal with potential issues).

Here are a few pics... still don't take them as well as I used to. I can't wait until the frags grow out! :-)

On the frag rack not even placed yet are the really nice corals. Strawberry Lemonade, Undata, Red Planet, PearlBerry, Blue Milli and a few more... can't remember them all right now.

On with the show! :-)













I thought I was out of room... today while looking at the tank I think I found two or three more places that I could put frags. Someone help me... please?

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Categories
‎ Tank Entry , ‎ New Additions , ‎ Tank - Full Summary , ‎ Photography/Video

Comments

  1. jlemoine2's Avatar
    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?
  2. matt_longview's Avatar
    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. :-)
  3. saxerphoner's Avatar
    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?
  4. matt_longview's Avatar
    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. :-)