Tank of the Month - June 2012

[trampa4]

very nice this your tank and your coral

[abdhalim]

Congratulations bro...

i should learn from you more...anyway, nice tank....u well deserve it....

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

This is like a 150 gal. tank and I think he has a normal bioload with the # of fish. Looks like 15 or so fish. Most inverts don't add a lot to the bioload. I thought for a second maybe that explains how he's getting away with the lack of water changes.. but no. I'm still trying to figure this out.

Originally Posted by acanthurus4lyfe

Its gotta be that mountain spring water

im not a fan of water changes as well. but its effectiveness is purley based on your bioload and since your fish and non-sessile inverts are lacking, the nutrient export can be maintained by the chaeto, skimmer, and bioballs.

i like your diy led next to the radiums, we hear so much about how the lack of full spectrum from LEDs effects coral color.... but not in your tank.

simple is very effective and ive heard lots of success stories with no water changes, the largest nutrient import is feeding... if you have little to feed youll be fine.

well done

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I don't see why anybody couldn't duplicate your setup with same results. We just need to understand exactly what you're doing. It would be interesting to test mountain water of yours. Is there where some of the trace elements are coming from? We're told so often how important these are. You seem to have thumbed your nose at a lot of established principles. Turned it upside-down. It's blastphemy.

Originally Posted by letter2no

"It's not for everyone" ..in my country only my tank that could run like this... and there is more debate with my system for every person who run with ultra low nutrient.

i only dose Ca with CaCl2 , Mg with MgCl2 / MgSO4 and alkalinity with NaHCO3... for replacing the element. i do not dose strontium because in my country SrCl2 expensive for me. i think if we could maintain the main minerals it would ok... (this is my opinion) i try dose KCl (potassium ion) for replace this element... need extra attention because over dose potassium could cause burn tip and STN on SPS.

i run with bio-ball reactor... in my opinion.. detritus or something else would filtered for the fist step in this reactor... before exported by protein skimmer.

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Gromax/Siporax ... this stuff is not widely available here in the USA. MarineDepot even has Siporax as "discontinued". Bio-Balls are an old form of filtration too. I got rid of mine like... 10 years ago. You.. just out of cost savings and what is available there in Indonesia... are you old styles of filtration and doing wha I didn't think was possible. Impressive... and encouraging.

[QUOTE=letter2no;20334610Gromax or ceramic rings are the place for bacteria. in Carlinhos thread, he use SERA SIPORAX. it is just similar with Siporax. Siporax in my country more expensive than gromax. So, i decide to apply Gromax in my filtration system. This is the site that inform GROMAX, but looks like i found in bahasa indonesia not in English language. [/QUOTE]

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

So this is not a functioning skimmer? It's just the housing used to hold bio-balls? If not then throwing bio-balls didn't affect the skimmer operation? So many questions. In my setup water dripped over the bio-balls. I still have to read a lot and look at pics to understand it all.

[QUOTE=letter2no;20336732] ehmmm this is my DIY 4" PVC protein skimmer. i just add bio-ball in to skimmer.

[Orlandomedic]

Wow. That is just amazing. GREAT JOB!

[letter2no]

Originally Posted by SCIFI_3D_zoo

I don't see why anybody couldn't duplicate your setup with same results. We just need to understand exactly what you're doing. It would be interesting to test mountain water of yours. Is there where some of the trace elements are coming from? We're told so often how important these are. You seem to have thumbed your nose at a lot of established principles. Turned it upside-down. It's blastphemy.

@SCIFI_3D_zoo..... i don't understand why any body could not duplicate my set up with the same result.... may be they have their own way (should 20% water changed every 2 weeks.. or should apply phosphate remover or top up water should have TDS 0 ppm or another. I never think like that. i just think, why we should do water change if coral just need stable water parameter. coral consume ion such as Ca, Mg, K, carbonate (CO3) sulphate (SO4) to build their schelethal body.*in my opinion.

I never test my mountain water, but someday i hope i could test my freshwater.

Gromax/Siporax ... this stuff is not widely available here in the USA. MarineDepot even has Siporax as "discontinued". Bio-Balls are an old form of filtration too. I got rid of mine like... 10 years ago. You.. just out of cost savings and what is available there in Indonesia... are you old styles of filtration and doing what I didn't think was possible. Impressive... and encouraging.

ehmmm my inspiration come from Carlinhos thread. he use Sera Siporax in his filtration. I search the information about this product. after compare a lot of information, my decision is to use "alternative product" that support all the function of siporax, example... house of bacteria. I found ceramic rings and gromax that could support my idea. In my opinion, system with biological filtration give more stability to water parameter. this is my opinion.

in my opinion, why should we spend a lot of money to buy product (or "brand") if we could use alternative product that have same function? Bio-balls, ceramic rings, gromax/siporax or another materials could support biological filtration

So this is not a functioning skimmer? It's just the housing used to hold bio-balls? If not then throwing bio-balls didn't affect the skimmer operation? So many questions. In my setup water dripped over the bio-balls. I still have to read a lot and look at pics to understand it all.

yups. that is not a functional skimmer. i think my bio-balls reactor have the same function as wet/dry filtration.

*I am sorry for my English, i hope you could get the point of my explanation.

[Guttungen]

Wow. Out of words. Congrats and well deserved.

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I looked at all the threads you started and didn't see this. The link to this would help explain a lot. Anybody else find it?

Originally Posted by letter2no

@maxiusg.... thank you .... yups that pipe is the feed from my display tank. I don't have a tank build thread in RC but in local forum i have...

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Most if not all of us use RO water so I'm sure that's not an issue. I think your experiment definitely has more to do with your fitration setup. I googled Carlinhos Moreno? and it looks like he has buckets of ceramic under his tank... and nothing else. I think he talked about 'syphoning" off waste from it once a month. After analyzing TOTM's I was starting to conclude that a high-end skimmer was all you needed. Eveh LFS here has setup's like that and beautiful tanks... but regular water changes. I was starting to see refuguiums and other types of filtration disappear. Now I'm not sure. And here you go with NO SKIMMER.

You don't use a PHOSPHATE reactor either? You have a Rowaphos reactor with bio-balls only right? Your TOTM page say 2 half cone skimmers but you don't have skimmers... those are filled with bio-balls too. What I want to do is re-word all of this. Exactly what equipment you have... what you do to maintain it,... etc.

Originally Posted by letter2no

ehmmm my inspiration come from Carlinhos thread. he use Sera Siporax in his filtration. In my opinion, system with biological filtration give more stability to water parameter. this is my opinion.
yups. that is not a functional skimmer. i think my bio-balls reactor have the same function as wet/dry filtration.

[aquamanco]

It's amazing! Keep up the good work.

[letter2no]

Originally Posted by SCIFI_3D_zoo

Most if not all of us use RO water so I'm sure that's not an issue. I think your experiment definitely has more to do with your fitration setup. I googled Carlinhos Moreno? and it looks like he has buckets of ceramic under his tank... and nothing else. I think he talked about 'syphoning" off waste from it once a month. After analyzing TOTM's I was starting to conclude that a high-end skimmer was all you needed. Eveh LFS here has setup's like that and beautiful tanks... but regular water changes. I was starting to see refuguiums and other types of filtration disappear. Now I'm not sure. And here you go with NO SKIMMER.

You don't use a PHOSPHATE reactor either? You have a Rowaphos reactor with bio-balls only right? Your TOTM page say 2 half cone skimmers but you don't have skimmers... those are filled with bio-balls too. What I want to do is re-word all of this. Exactly what equipment you have... what you do to maintain it,... etc.

@SCIFI_3D_zoo: i have half cone skimmer. i bought this skimmer from LFS in Jakarta. This is the link to my friend shop who sell half cone skimmer : http://www.reefsforum.com/forumdispl...aquest-Aquatic
you could contact with Benny or Kevin to check what kind skimmer they have.
i have DSB (10cm depth) in my refugium with macro algae (chaetomorpha). I have ceramic rings and gromax in my sump.
this is my sump pic


maintenance:
Every two weeks I use a calcium chloride additive to supplement calcium depletion. I also add magnesium chloride, magnesium sulphate, and sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda). These additives keep my calcium, alkalinity, and my magnesium at proper levels.

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Whatever it is it does not look like one of the high-end skimmers that TOTM's usually have.. ones that end up being the back-bone of filtration for their system. There is a little bit of a language barrier I guess. Earlier I thought you said you did have a "fake" skimmer... just the housing with bio-balls in it. So it's a skimmer, generic one I guess, and there are bio-balls that are under water in the bottom of the skimmer? My old wet/dry they were suspended in the air with water dripping over them. I think I threw all that stuff away years ago. I have AquaC skimmer and it's not very good. I'd rank it average.

Last time I saw something this colorful was a Zeovit system.. and those are very high maintenance. Add drops of this and that every day, every other day. Ridiculous. I've been messing with Prodibio but it has not made anything great happen on it's own. I have flow and lighting problems though.

SO.. you have 2 half cone skimmers... top right one is the bio-ball one and other bottom one is acting like a real skimmer? Bio-balls only in one?

One thing you don't have are some Refugium pics. WOW.. looks like your ceramic and gromax stuff is just put in a tupperware plastic bowl. It's so simple it's almost insane. Just throw it in there... throw some bio-balls in skimmer... done. Those red plastic bowls... what is below that? Another DSB?

Maybe Randy or somebody could do a full analysis on your "mountain water" but I seriously doubt it has anything to do with it. Discussing it with other people here and they all have crazy ideas like .. some mountain goat must be urinating in the water, some special chemical, etc. NAH. Your water is either 0 TDS or very low TDS... and nothing else special.. but I'd still be interested in a test. BY the way... you have a Rowaphos reactor just to house BIO-BALLs right? You are NOT using GFO or other media like that to remove metals, or phosphates right?

[exodus]

Absolutely stunning tank! Well done!

[jonathan diego]

that tank is very nice i wish i had da money to put a big tank like that in my house that tank is very amazing

[jadendo]

WOW...WOW...WOW!!! I am such a big fan of the no WC. However this is extreme! I could never figure out how such a simple system is so successful.

Letter2No... Would you be so kind and show us your dosing routine, please..

Also for my education, please tell me the generic form of these addictives and where I can find them..

Calcium Cloride (???)
Magnisium Cloride/Sulfate (???)
Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (Baking soda..yes i know this one)

Thank you so much... You are my idol!

[sea witch1]

I went out and purchased new coral after seeing this tank

[Haksar]

Stunning tank,I was there in Jakarta a few days back.Wish I had seen your TOTM thread earlier I would have been lucky to have a glimpse of your tank.

[letter2no]

Originally Posted by mhg

wow, two rule breaking totm's in a row.... Last month we put an end to the "no totm uses stirctly led's" statement and now no water changes.....

@mhg...

hovikloans amazing!!! Congratulations

agam909 congraaaaatzzzz.. Nanosan!!!!!!!! Give us your detail full completed "natural spring water" well deserve!!!!!!!!!!

reefkeepjeweler wow i have tank envy! What an awesome reef!

blueeyedreflect gorgeous tank, something i aspire to have one day. I have a great deal of learning to do still. I've had freshwater for 30 yrs, i now have a 75 gallon salt for about 6 mos and hope to upgrade once i have a better understanding being disabled ( titanium cages in my back ) i would love to figure out how to do less water changes

jeremyml congratulations. Well deserved. Keep up the good work.

gbrendonk beautiful tank

trampa4 very nice this your tank and your coral

abdhalim congratulations bro...

I should learn from you more...anyway, nice tank....u well deserve it....

guttungen wow. Out of words. Congrats and well deserved.

aquamanco it's amazing! Keep up the good work.

exodus absolutely stunning tank! Well done!

jonathan diego that tank is very nice i wish i had da money to put a big tank like that in my house that tank is very amazing

All.... thank you for your comment... thank you

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Do you have to make up some water sometimes... once a year at least?... to account for any evaporation, salt-creep... thus causing a drop in salinity.

[fewponds]

How high is located LED lamp over the water surface?

[letter2no]

Originally Posted by SCIFI_3D_zoo

Whatever it is it does not look like one of the high-end skimmers that TOTM's usually have.. ones that end up being the back-bone of filtration for their system. There is a little bit of a language barrier I guess. Earlier I thought you said you did have a "fake" skimmer... just the housing with bio-balls in it. So it's a skimmer, generic one I guess, and there are bio-balls that are under water in the bottom of the skimmer? My old wet/dry they were suspended in the air with water dripping over them. I think I threw all that stuff away years ago. I have AquaC skimmer and it's not very good. I'd rank it average.

Last time I saw something this colorful was a Zeovit system.. and those are very high maintenance. Add drops of this and that every day, every other day. Ridiculous. I've been messing with Prodibio but it has not made anything great happen on it's own. I have flow and lighting problems though.

SO.. you have 2 half cone skimmers... top right one is the bio-ball one and other bottom one is acting like a real skimmer? Bio-balls only in one?

One thing you don't have are some Refugium pics. WOW.. looks like your ceramic and gromax stuff is just put in a tupperware plastic bowl. It's so simple it's almost insane. Just throw it in there... throw some bio-balls in skimmer... done. Those red plastic bowls... what is below that? Another DSB?

Maybe Randy or somebody could do a full analysis on your "mountain water" but I seriously doubt it has anything to do with it. Discussing it with other people here and they all have crazy ideas like .. some mountain goat must be urinating in the water, some special chemical, etc. NAH. Your water is either 0 TDS or very low TDS... and nothing else special.. but I'd still be interested in a test. BY the way... you have a Rowaphos reactor just to house BIO-BALLs right? You are NOT using GFO or other media like that to remove metals, or phosphates right?

i only have one half cone skimmer.. i do not have any phosphate remover. i think i would say this is not rowaphos reactor but my DIY 4'' PVC skimmer as bio-balls reactor (my wet/dry filtration).
About test my freshwater, i hope i could test at my lab but not promise this year.
my salinity tank never drop from 1.025, i never add saltwater since the first set up



and



*SCIFI_3D_zoo... may i know your tank spec especially about filtration and lighting?

jadendo WOW...WOW...WOW!!! I am such a big fan of the no WC. However this is extreme! I could never figure out how such a simple system is so successful.

Letter2No... Would you be so kind and show us your dosing routine, please..

Also for my education, please tell me the generic form of these addictives and where I can find them..

Calcium Cloride (???)
Magnisium Cloride/Sulfate (???)
Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (Baking soda..yes i know this one)

Thank you so much... You are my idol!

@jadendo... thank you for your compliment...
CaCl2, MgCl2, MgSO4 (epsom salt) i think bulk reef supply have good quality of this product.

Haksar Stunning tank,I was there in Jakarta a few days back.Wish I had seen your TOTM thread earlier I would have been lucky to have a glimpse of your tank.

@haksar... thank you. really? but you should travel to Jogjakarta by plane and by bus to go to Magelang.

fewponds How high is located LED lamp over the water surface?

ehmm +/- 20 cm from the water.

[fewponds]

Originally Posted by letter2no

ehmm +/- 20 cm from the water.

Oh, so it is rather narrow and very concentrated light stream from 60deg lenses, with rather smooth light on the (wide) edges...

[Fernando Chang]

Hey Letter2no !!

By the way do you CREE Leds lights installed ??

Regards
Fernando Chang