Started after cycle one month ago Brightwell Microbacter 7 for 2 weeks then to low dose daily. After 2 week Microbacter 7 started Prodibio Bioclean and Brightwell NeoZeo.
Dosing kalk with vinegar
1 month ago

today

No other dosing. Wet skim. No filter media.

So you're dosing...
-Brightwell Microbacter
-Prodibio Bioclean
-Brightwell Neozeo
-and Kalk with vinegar?

I'm not familiar with this stuff, but the growth looks amazing so I might have to give it a try.

I would do all the research I could first. I am still in the 'at the edge' stage with it since it is all new to me. I read all I could on all these things before I started any of these.
So far the results are fantastic. I am still learning daily reading all I can.

Alright, so which ones are helping with growth?

As far as I can tell, and I am no expert but relying on the experts to give the right info., the Microbacter 2 week bacteria that consumes nitrates/phos, the Prodibio bacteria/carbon consume phosphates. Wet skim removes bact that is phos laden.
The Kalk/vin keeps the ph/calcium/alk stable plus the vinegar super saturates the kalk/water ratios and adds carbon for the bacteria.
problem is that the kalk will eventually not supply all the calcium needed for sps so I have Turbo calcium on hand. I test every calcium couple days.
I have a ph controller for the kalk doser. This does not do top-off. Night time salinity raises and day time lowers, but not enough to worry about. This is in the room I keep this tank and will differ in another room/house dependent on temp/humidity.
Alk and mag. is from what I understand very important with kalk dosing, especially by ph dependent as precipitation can occur with imbalance.
Opps. forgot to answer the question. Which helps with growth-all I guess.

I see.. so it's really all about maintaining good water quality then. Thanks for your time. Your tank looks amazing!

Opps again. I forgot to add I feed an assortment of foods. lol

Is the lighting different in the two pics?
The top pic looks bluer.

Why are you dosing carbon when your tank is mainly softies, I see only 8 SPS frags in there....Your bioload seems light, I see only two fish, plus your tank is new.

Same lighting. I had found a better setting on the camera since the first picture.
I was mostly trying to point out the growth and health between the pictures.
If yo not the bottom zoanthids and a few of the others like the red in the middle right the size of the colonies and the acans at the middle left.

You see only 2 fish. I couldn't get them all to come out for a picture at the same time. sorry.
As far as only seeing 8 sps it is difficult to tell them all in the pic. And you have to start somewhere with a tank maintenance regimen don't you?
And again, sorry I could not get all the fish to come out at the same time. Little bastards are not very cooperative.
Oh, and the reason I am dosing carbon is for an ULNS. Can't have one without dosing carbon can you?

Hey, I love your tank! Looks very very promising to me. I too will be going down the ULNS route. I read lots about it a while ago.

Can you post some details on your equipment setup etc. I would particularly would like to know about your lighting.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks.
I got a Finnex 30gl and removed the refugium plus instead of the 1st chamber flowing over I mad eit to flow under so I could make a prefilter. This is where I am keeping the NeoZeo for now.
I did have it in a reactor setup but I had too much and the zoanthids were not liking the stripped ammonia, so this for now till I get some built up. You have to add jsut a few grams a week or so of the NeoZeo. Details on the Brightwell website.

Next there are a few LR in the bottom of back chamber,
Then I have a modified BakPak skimmer with mesh on the Maxijet 1200 prop so it makes finer bubbles and the return goes out and into the display. Saves another pump running and heat.

Also have 2xMP10s for flow set on long pulse wave, one near the top on one side and one on the other side toward the front and down at the middle.
Lighting is the Finnex 150wt MH/2x24wt T5 actinic
Sand bed is an inch front and 3 inches under the rock for the Tiger pistol and yellow watchman.
The topoff I am doing by hand each day right now since the doser I use on a ph controller to dose kalk keeping the ph between 8.3 and 8.45. I add 12ml vinegar per liter of kalk water.
I add a drop or 2 of Microbacter 7 every day but leave the skimmer on.
When I dose the Prodibio Digest and Bioptim I shut the skimmer off for about 1/2 day.
That is about it besides food. I feed the corals with no routine yet and the fish daily.
Most all the info I got about ph.alk/.calcium and such from this site couple great pple like Phixion and burtbollinger. Couple other sites and lots of article reading about these products and how they work, what they do and all.
You can see more detail last couple pages here on the tank build.
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...8867&st=700

Sure you can, by having a bacterial driven system, which takes time. I guess you are going with mainly SPS in the future and that's why you are dosing? I see so many nice soft corals in there, I think if you get your water too clean, they may suffer. Just a warning, keep an eye on your bacterial blooms, your skimmer may not be up for the job...Everyone I know that has tried dosing with inadequet skimmers ended up with dinos and cyano problems.

Problems mostly arise with them with the use of the zeolith stones so you have to add them very slowely to the system over the course of time. I am adding a few grams each week giving the zoanthids time to adjust. The only other corals are acans which take the ULNS well when fed and a few mushrooms which are actually hitchhikers.

I just switched my balling/phosban 13 gallon to full neozeo. The only thing I have been dosing other than the basics is the bacterioplankton (bacter7) and the carbon source. I dont have pics right now but the results have been awesome. I have been reefkeeping for 10 years and have done almost every method. For nano reefs, zeo has been the best. I built my own reactor (easy), you don't have to have a huge sump or refugium. One thing that I have noticed is the exponential growth of sponge that acts as a natural filter. I t seems that everything in the aquarium feeds on the mulm that enters the tank. I have an elegans coral that loves the stuff it takes up a whole corner of my tank. It takes a lot of guts to start a new technique, especially when dealing with very expensive live organisms. I think that with this method the proof is in the outcome. Good luck and Im happy to see another nano zeohead.