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12/10/2016, 05:38 PM | #1 |
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Location: New Brunswick Canada
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Simple 55gal setup:
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12/10/2016, 05:51 PM | #2 |
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Very nice. How long has it been running ? Do you frequent water changes to keep up with parameters?
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12/10/2016, 06:07 PM | #3 |
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Hey jonny and thanks....aquarium is 18 months old, Reef Octopus 1000 HOB skimmer, 2 x Kessil a360's, Aquaclear 110 with sponge only, 2 powerheads, water change is 50% every two months with IO basic salt, no dosing or additives.
Rockwork starting out: SPS: Last edited by ComforablyNumb; 12/10/2016 at 06:32 PM. |
12/11/2016, 02:15 PM | #4 |
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Pretty nice. I'm impressed your not dosing. Do you run a ATO with kalk? I'm sure the growth would be even crazier if you dosed alk and CA. What does you alk and calcium levels run at now ?
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12/11/2016, 03:16 PM | #5 |
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Thanks again jonny...I have no idea what my levels are, I stopped testing about a year ago. I have had reef tanks since 1989 (when it was virtually impossible to keep sps going) and can usually tell within seconds, just by looking at the inhabitants, if anything is amiss with the water quality.
My friend here in town keeps a complicated system with all the bells and whistles, and he spends ALOT of time fiddling with things...things that seem to me not to make much difference. I used kalk makeup water for about 2 months when I was starting this tank, but dropped it soon afterwards. It seemed to make little to no difference and made things more complicated than I wanted. No ato either...I just add RODI water to the tank every few days or so. I figured I could keep almost all parameters in check with only water changes...and so far that has proven true, as far as I can tell anyway. Like I said, I don't test anymore...just judging on health and growth of my corals. Its possible I'm sure to speed up my growth rates, but to me its too much investment in time and money to achieve a possible small percentage increase in growth rate. Dosing systems, sumps, ato's...all can be viewed as possible things to go wrong..so I eliminated them. I would definitely have a sump on a larger tank to accommodate a large skimmer, but with anything up to 90 gal, a sump is unnecessary with these good HOB skimmers these days imo. I will add some pics that indicate coral growth, but for now here's a pic of my reef in 1991...note no SPS but otherwise healthy: Coral growth pics of current tank to follow...cheers! -Tim |
12/11/2016, 03:37 PM | #6 |
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Pics of growth of corals over the past year or so:
sps frag I got last March (along with two others not shown here) Same frag last month (along with the other two): Birdsnest when I first got it: Same coral a few months later: SPS frags when I first got them: Same frags last month: As I said jonny, I have no idea if I am maximizing growth or not, but growth/health is acceptable to me...especially since my life is SO much simpler with only doing a 30 gal water change every couple months for my total water maintenance scheme. Any further questions...ask away! Cheers, Tim *edit* I should note I lost two 2 acro's and sps a couple of months ago when one of my rtba's split and one half of it decided to go for a murderous walk. What I did is let it roam (like I had much choice ) until it found a place it (but more importantly, me) liked...I fed it and it stayed in place. I have 5 in the tank and they have all settled into place since. But I did pay a price. Last edited by ComforablyNumb; 12/11/2016 at 04:22 PM. |
02/17/2017, 04:10 PM | #7 |
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Hey guys..just a couple new pics of the reef:
Remember this pic from a couple of months ago when I noticed the new buds starting on my candycane?: [/img] Here they are today, filling out, finally reaching some light: And a happy little frogspawn I picked up in Dec.: Purple stylo (which is rapidly becoming the centerpiece of the tank) Grows very well but doesn't photograph well: Only change lately is I added an Inkbird controller to my heater as an overheat prevent backup. Tim |
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