June 2015 Tank of the Month

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by se64

Looks amazing!

Thank you, glad you like it.

Originally Posted by coral102

Congratulations, Greg! Beautiful tank! Well done!!!

Thanks very much!

[Saltwaterwill]

Just wow, very inspiring

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by Saltwaterwill

Just wow, very inspiring

Thank you

[Mikenroe]

Hi there, your tank is beautiful. I have several years experience in reef keeping, however just recently go back into the hobby. I have a 160 gallon with a Eshopps RS300 sump/refugium with a deep sand bed and mud in the refugium. I am also growing chaeto with the light on 24 hours to encourage growth. I have 3 AI hydra lights and two MP 40's for flow. I do weekly water changes of about 35 gal/week using my own RO/Di water mixed with Red Coral Sea salt. However I've been battling some high NO3 which Im not sure where they came from. The only thing I can think of is that I was putting in way to much reef roids and other filter feeding foods. The only food I use for my fish is Larrys Reef Frenzy LRS of which I feed at night and they get about a 1 inch cube that I cut for them and then let sit in tank water in a cub. Once the cube is dethawed, I pour into the tank. I have done a series of large water changes of about 70 gals every 3 to 4 days and now my NO3 are down between 5 and 10, but still want them to get lower, below 5. I have never been able to keep acro's or other sps corals and get them to grow with lots of color as your tank, plus i read that you are keeping fish that would not normally be considered reef safe like some wrasses and buttleflys. Any suggestions or advice to be able to start being able to keep some of those fish, and be able to keep the beautiful spa coral. here is the low down on my system
160 gal
deep sand bed
150 lbs of live rock
Eshopps RS 300 sump with refugium which has a deep sand bed with mud and chaeto
Refugium LED lights on 24 hours
Bubble Magus NAC 9 protein skimmer
2 MP 40's vortech power heads
3 AI Hydra lights
UV sterilizer
Daily
I feed an Inch square cube of Larry's Reef Frenzy LRS food, thawed and poured into tank
make sure top off water is good and doesn't need to be refilled

Weekly
I change 35 gals of water
and add microbacter 7

Monthly
Clean Protein skimmer and trim chaeto

I read that you stir up your refugium at night to feed your coral, do you stir it up a lot, wouldn't this release about of toxins or nitrates in the system. I would love your advice.

I love how almost all your tank is covered and there is not a lot of space. I want mine to look like that. Any suggestion would be great.

Congratulation! and your tank is a real beauty!

[Pcrain]

Originally Posted by Oldude

Yes I inject it at full strength and a possible side affect for a smaller tank is it may cause some ph swings.

Ty

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by Mikenroe

Hi there, your tank is beautiful. I have several years experience in reef keeping, however just recently go back into the hobby. I have a 160 gallon with a Eshopps RS300 sump/refugium with a deep sand bed and mud in the refugium. I am also growing chaeto with the light on 24 hours to encourage growth. I have 3 AI hydra lights and two MP 40's for flow. I do weekly water changes of about 35 gal/week using my own RO/Di water mixed with Red Coral Sea salt. However I've been battling some high NO3 which Im not sure where they came from. The only thing I can think of is that I was putting in way to much reef roids and other filter feeding foods. The only food I use for my fish is Larrys Reef Frenzy LRS of which I feed at night and they get about a 1 inch cube that I cut for them and then let sit in tank water in a cub. Once the cube is dethawed, I pour into the tank. I have done a series of large water changes of about 70 gals every 3 to 4 days and now my NO3 are down between 5 and 10, but still want them to get lower, below 5. I have never been able to keep acro's or other sps corals and get them to grow with lots of color as your tank, plus i read that you are keeping fish that would not normally be considered reef safe like some wrasses and buttleflys. Any suggestions or advice to be able to start being able to keep some of those fish, and be able to keep the beautiful spa coral. here is the low down on my system
160 gal
deep sand bed
150 lbs of live rock
Eshopps RS 300 sump with refugium which has a deep sand bed with mud and chaeto
Refugium LED lights on 24 hours
Bubble Magus NAC 9 protein skimmer
2 MP 40's vortech power heads
3 AI Hydra lights
UV sterilizer
Daily
I feed an Inch square cube of Larry's Reef Frenzy LRS food, thawed and poured into tank
make sure top off water is good and doesn't need to be refilled

Weekly
I change 35 gals of water
and add microbacter 7

Monthly
Clean Protein skimmer and trim chaeto

I read that you stir up your refugium at night to feed your coral, do you stir it up a lot, wouldn't this release about of toxins or nitrates in the system. I would love your advice.

I love how almost all your tank is covered and there is not a lot of space. I want mine to look like that. Any suggestion would be great.

Congratulation! and your tank is a real beauty!

Thank you for your interest & kind remarks.
Regarding my stirring detritus at night, this is from the bare bottom sump so it shouldn't be toxic but essentially loaded with "fish poop" nutrients so the corals can eat it without any adverse affects.
Wrasses are generally reef safe in that they don't eat corals but some varieties will eat shrimp, snail, crabs, etc. I have no butterflies at this time and am not planning to get any. Fish a very hit & miss and in my experience you can sometimes get lucky but often not. Some fish can be fine for a few years and then turn rogue and start nipping polyps so you never know.
Regarding your inability to keep sps, remember to go slow & make sure you keep your parameters stable and phosphates down (refugium should help with that). SPS can still grow well with high phosphates but will likely not color up to their potential. To get a tank that is packed with sps the coral placement is important so set it up with what look you want it to grow in to in mind (coral-scape)
Thanks again, feel free to PM me with any questions and you can also follow my threads in the SPS or large tank forums.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2373184
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2372217

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by Pcrain

Ty

You're welcome (YW)

[Useful_Idiot]

Beautiful tank! When those fish turned into coral nippers was it any event that triggered it? Like you went on vacation and the tank didn't get fed as much?

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by Useful_Idiot

Beautiful tank! When those fish turned into coral nippers was it any event that triggered it? Like you went on vacation and the tank didn't get fed as much?

Thanks, that is a good question. I have had experience with fish just getting an appetite for corals as they mature and also when the power went out and the auto-feeder defaulted to a single feeding per day when the power turned back on. I have also had one fish turn rogue and train (monkey see - monkey do) other fish to eat the same things.

[Oldude]

As this month winds down I just want to give a shout out to Nate and the Reef Keeping Mag/Reef Central staff for allowing me to share my tank and for all their hard work behind the scenes. There is a lot that we as patrons of the site are allowed to take for granted because of the work they do to keep thing running seamlessly.

[Corona007]

Yay!! Nice tank...

[najluni15]

Absolutely amazing tank! Very very nice setup. Thanks got sharing and congrats!

[s2nhle]

congratulation and thank you for sharing your beautiful tank with us.

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by Corona007

Yay!! Nice tank...

Thanks

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by najluni15

Absolutely amazing tank! Very very nice setup. Thanks got sharing and congrats!

Thanks, glad you liked it. Thanks for having a look.

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by s2nhle

congratulation and thank you for sharing your beautiful tank with us.

Thanks very much. Sharing is what this forum & hobby are all about.

[bradleyj]

Well deserved my friend. I have always been a big fan of yours and will continue to be. I strive to follow in your footsteps.

[Oldude]

Originally Posted by bradleyj

Well deserved my friend. I have always been a big fan of yours and will continue to be. I strive to follow in your footsteps.

Thanks Brad. Ditto - I think there's a few of us that should get together and we can start up a mutual admiration club.