Jackson's 115 Gallon Custom Cube 32x32x26

[cugly]

Looking great..nice and clean

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by SApicoreef

Okay cool. Would love to ask you some questions on a whole range of things.

No problem. Send me a pm.

Originally Posted by Acronic

Sweet tank Richard

Thank you

Originally Posted by cugly

Looking great..nice and clean

Thanks. I had cyano for a month but I'm glad that it's gone now.

[Bello]

I also wanted to ask you about your experience with your new skimmer? Any observations?

Are you running it with max air? Or how much? I have a similarly sized (in terms of air draw) skimmer, that's collecting dust at the moment.

[jackson6745]

I run the skimmer on the highest pump setting (DC controllable) but I keep the air valve only about 20% open to get smaller bubbles. My skim is on the wet side, usually green in color from all the spirulina flakes that I feed

[Bello]

Thanks!!

I've spent quite a bit of money on skimmers over the last couple years. I'm currently running a BK Double Cone 250 with an air draw of 1250 ltrs/hr on a 300g system. I've set aside the BK Supermarin 300 with an air draw of 3500-4000 ltrs/hr, since I felt skimming was inefficient due to my lower feedings. Looks like now would be a good time to get it running again.

I really appreciate the tips

[Bello]

Also, how often do you dose the Special Blend? Daily, weekly or as per your observations and needs?

Thanks

[jackson6745]

Bello, I've changed my feeling about skimming over the last couple of years. I've come to realize that you can only skim so much. Most of the better skimmer today can easily skim large systems sufficiently. It's up to the biological process to break down wastes into something that can be skimmed. This is why I'm on the bacteria bandwagon lately. This is more than speculation since my tank is proof of the results. I just copied from other reefs that I admire

I'm dosing the SB according to the bottle directions (adding 25% more for saltwater as suggested). I am currently on the maintenance dose every 2 weeks. I recently started alternating weeks with a 1/2 dosage of prodibio biodigest/bioptim since my nitrates are creeping up a little.

[Bello]

Thanks for your thoughts on the skimmers and bacterial dosing. I'll wait till I'm back from holiday and then gauge if changes are required. I dislike making changes before a holiday anyways ...no time to view results

[jackson6745]

The tank is 5 months old now. I figured it's time for an update.
The tank has ben doing extremely well. Growth is fast, color keeps improving. This tank seem to be incredibly mature for a 5 month old reef.

Here is my current water quality for those chasing numbers




I was messing around with my old Nikon d40 a couple of days ago. I have a little trouble getting the proper white balance with this camera. The fts pics came out a little overly blue from what the actual color is.

[echopiece]

Looking good Rich! That crazy colorful acro is growing nicely (I'm waiting patiently lol). Keep up the good work.

[sahin]

Tank looks great! So envious of your progress with this tank.

Can you think of anything about this setup that makes it more successful at such an early stage compared to your previous tanks?

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by echopiece

Looking good Rich! That crazy colorful acro is growing nicely (I'm waiting patiently lol). Keep up the good work.

It's growing very fast I'm working on it.

Originally Posted by sahin

Tank looks great! So envious of your progress with this tank.

Can you think of anything about this setup that makes it more successful at such an early stage compared to your previous tanks?

It's all about bacteria Sahin. I dose special blend bacteria, nite out II, and biodigest. I have a separate rock rubble section to house bacteria. IMO this has made all the difference. Instead of reducing nutrients to keep the tank clean, I have increase bacteria, allowing the tank to process more nutrients, brining more nutrients to the corals, and improving my colors. I have 20 fish in a 5 month old tank and everything is thriving.

[echopiece]

Do you scrape coralline off the back glass or has it not taken off yet?

[Fail_sh3d]

Originally Posted by jackson6745

It's growing very fast I'm working on it.





It's all about bacteria Sahin. I dose special blend bacteria, nite out II, and biodigest. I have a separate rock rubble section to house bacteria. IMO this has made all the difference. Instead of reducing nutrients to keep the tank clean, I have increase bacteria, allowing the tank to process more nutrients, brining more nutrients to the corals, and improving my colors. I have 20 fish in a 5 month old tank and everything is thriving.

That is awesome. Could you take pics?

It is looking fantastic!

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by echopiece

Do you scrape coralline off the back glass or has it not taken off yet?

Yep, I try to keep it clean. I have one of those piranha magnet scrapers attachments. It works pretty well.

Originally Posted by Fail_sh3d

That is awesome. Could you take pics?

It is looking fantastic!

Sure, I have a pic from last month (excuse the mess )
There is an extra 25lbs of rubble in this section


Thanks for the positive comments guys. I was responding from my phone before, at a restaurant so I was getting look like this from the wife.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by jackson6745

It's all about bacteria Sahin. I dose special blend bacteria, nite out II, and biodigest. I have a separate rock rubble section to house bacteria. IMO this has made all the difference. Instead of reducing nutrients to keep the tank clean, I have increase bacteria, allowing the tank to process more nutrients, brining more nutrients to the corals, and improving my colors. I have 20 fish in a 5 month old tank and everything is thriving.

Thanks for that. My tank currently isn't producing as good results as it was a few years ago (same equipment). And I recall at that time I used to dose Biodigest, Special Blend and a few drops of KZ Zeobac...I have some vials of Biodigest...think im going to pick up the special blend and try the nite out as well.

Can you please tell us how much and when you dose? Do you turn off skimmer after dosing? -I used to turn my skimmer off for 2 hours after dosing.

Thanks.

Ps, keep the updates coming, your tanks have always been great inspiration.

[Fail_sh3d]

Originally Posted by jackson6745

Yep, I try to keep it clean. I have one of those piranha magnet scrapers attachments. It works pretty well.





Sure, I have a pic from last month (excuse the mess )
There is an extra 25lbs of rubble in this section


Thanks for the positive comments guys. I was responding from my phone before, at a restaurant so I was getting look like this from the wife.

Thanks buddy. I appreciate it.

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by sahin

Thanks for that. My tank currently isn't producing as good results as it was a few years ago (same equipment). And I recall at that time I used to dose Biodigest, Special Blend and a few drops of KZ Zeobac...I have some vials of Biodigest...think im going to pick up the special blend and try the nite out as well.

Can you please tell us how much and when you dose? Do you turn off skimmer after dosing? -I used to turn my skimmer off for 2 hours after dosing.

Thanks.

Ps, keep the updates coming, your tanks have always been great inspiration.

Thanks bud

I dose the the microbe-lift bacterias according to the directions on the bottles.
I dose the the biodigest on the alternating weeks. This won't be possible initially because special blend requires a 6 week initial dose that requires weekly dosing. During this time I dosed biodigest and special blend at the same time with no ill effect. I never turned my skimmer off but it seems like a good idea. Maybe I'll start doing that too

Originally Posted by Fail_sh3d

Thanks buddy. I appreciate it.

No problem Jon. I just wanted to add that the rubble came from premium Aquatics and I couldn't recommend it enough. So many different types of rock rubble from the bottom of their vats with lots of life.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by jackson6745

Thanks bud
I dose the the microbe-lift bacterias according to the directions on the bottles.
I dose the the biodigest on the alternating weeks. This won't be possible initially because special blend requires a 6 week initial dose that requires weekly dosing. During this time I dosed biodigest and special blend at the same time with no ill effect. I never turned my skimmer off but it seems like a good idea. Maybe I'll start doing that too

Just ordered Nite out and Special Blend. Used them in the past with good success...so why not try it out. If it makes a difference I'll get the larger bottles next time.

[reefcoco]

that's one special SPS bro, growing really well for you, there must be a long waiting list for that one, put me in on that list, I am willing to wait no matter how long. Thanks

[kaserpick]

Tank is looking amazing! The colors are looking great!

I'm never disappointed when I check out your tank threads.

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by reefcoco

that's one special SPS bro, growing really well for you, there must be a long waiting list for that one, put me in on that list, I am willing to wait no matter how long. Thanks

Not really a list yet but lots of interest. I'll certainly keep you in mind when the time comes. This coral is growing fast. I can't wait to get a couple frags in buddies tanks to see how it does. Some of my local SPS buddies get insane colors, I want to see if they get even better color that I am getting
This is very exciting since this coral seems to be once of a kind, bought as a common frag. Talk about luck

Originally Posted by kaserpick

Tank is looking amazing! The colors are looking great!

I'm never disappointed when I check out your tank threads.

Kasey thanks for stopping by I appreciate the good words. I'm trying my best to use all the methods that consistently produce the best results, and avoid getting caught up in hyped up methods/equipment. This is a very difficult thing to do lately because the agenda driven opinions are piled high and deep these days

[jdamon]

Hey Richard,

Your tank looks fantastic! I am trying to learn more about the technique of using bacteria to increase nutrient processing. I see you add different kinds of bacteria (with good results), can similar results be achieved by simply dosing a carbon source? Do you dose a carbon source on top of your bacteria dose? Thanks in advance for your help!

[jackson6745]

Originally Posted by jdamon

Hey Richard,

Your tank looks fantastic! I am trying to learn more about the technique of using bacteria to increase nutrient processing. I see you add different kinds of bacteria (with good results), can similar results be achieved by simply dosing a carbon source? Do you dose a carbon source on top of your bacteria dose? Thanks in advance for your help!

Thanks. I did use prodibios carbon source (bioptim) a few months ago and in past tanks but I'm not using in now. It's more powerful than adding bacteria and caused minor color fading. I feel that the bacteria additions is less potent than dosing a carbon source, but still effective at reducing nutrients. Polyp extension has been the best that I ever had as well. I do add a few ml of vinegar to my kalkwasser so I guess I do carbon dose very little

[jdamon]

Sounds very interesting indeed... Was thinking to add a little vinegar to my kalkwasser anyway, but I will have to check out those bacteria additives. One more question, can't tell from your sump pics, do you run a refugium? I am torn on that one. Had one on the last iteration, and really see no downside, but I could use that section of sump for more rock, frags, and or reactors. Hmmmm...