Imisky's custom 30g sps tank

[Paleoreef103]

Awesome tank! How are you liking the Biopellets? Your SPS is absolutely amazing.

[Clavius85]

Awesomeness.

[imisky]

Awesome tank! How are you liking the Biopellets? Your SPS is absolutely amazing.

 

Thanks! Initially i was skeptical about how well the biopellets would work. But after a month of using it i have nothing bad to say about it, it allows me to overfeed my tank without issues and keeps the water clean enough that the SPS are reacting in a positive way, and the fact that my SPS are getting fed by the mulm is also a positive aspect about the pellets. I cant complain about a product thats maintenance free and works well

 

Awesomeness.

 

Thanks

[mew]

wow. your sticks are hawt.

 

i'd gladly give my firstborn for this!

 

do you ever regret not sumping the tank?

[Arkayology]

That lighting is killer. Great pics.

[imisky]

wow. your sticks are hawt.

 

i'd gladly give my firstborn for this!

 

do you ever regret not sumping the tank?

 

haha @ the comment for the first born

 

as for the sump, once in a while i do regret it as i know that'd make the system look more clean but everytime i think about switching over to a sump i end up going against it again as the old saying goes "dont fix whats not broken". But i think if i was to do it again, i'd definitely go with a sump the next time around.

 

That lighting is killer. Great pics.

 

Thanks!

[imisky]

and up goes the thread,

 

so im not sure where to start as i have changed quite a bit of the system, so just to break it down fast, changed the following:

 

removed 2 tunze 6055s for a vortech mp40w es (running 90% reefcrest)

removed calcium reactor (noise issues) for auto dosers (alk,ca,mg)

removed sand...i think you guys can guess, sand storm

 

now with the condensed version out of the way. i did all the changes for 1 thing, to reduce the noise level in the my room where my tank is, although the way it was before wasnt very loud during the day, the silence at night amplifies the noise to the level where i couldnt sleep...so with all the changes (aside from the sand) i have increased flow, quieter way of supplementing alk/ca and a better night sleep .

 

now i have a question i would like to ask those that run automated 2 part dosing a question, the question is

 

" do you let your doser run at night time as well, as in break your dosage up into 24 hours or just 12 hours. "

 

The reason i ask this is because i had set the doser to run at night time yesterday thinking itd be best to break up the dosage into 24 hour period, but instead i found my alk at 13dkh this morning from 9.5 the previous night.

 

some updated photos of the tank...its starting to become really full..might need to trim it back now. what do you guys think, let it grow? or start hacking. enjoy guys.

 

FTS:

[got2envy]

:o

 

Beautiful!!

 

sorry can't help with the question...I still manually dose

[Amphiprion1]

and up goes the thread,

 

so im not sure where to start as i have changed quite a bit of the system, so just to break it down fast, changed the following:

 

removed 2 tunze 6055s for a vortech mp40w es (running 90% reefcrest)

removed calcium reactor (noise issues) for auto dosers (alk,ca,mg)

removed sand...i think you guys can guess, sand storm

 

now with the condensed version out of the way. i did all the changes for 1 thing, to reduce the noise level in the my room where my tank is, although the way it was before wasnt very loud during the day, the silence at night amplifies the noise to the level where i couldnt sleep...so with all the changes (aside from the sand) i have increased flow, quieter way of supplementing alk/ca and a better night sleep .

 

now i have a question i would like to ask those that run automated 2 part dosing a question, the question is

 

" do you let your doser run at night time as well, as in break your dosage up into 24 hours or just 12 hours. "

 

The reason i ask this is because i had set the doser to run at night time yesterday thinking itd be best to break up the dosage into 24 hour period, but instead i found my alk at 13dkh this morning from 9.5 the previous night.

 

some updated photos of the tank...its starting to become really full..might need to trim it back now. what do you guys think, let it grow? or start hacking. enjoy guys.

 

What doser do you have? My LMIII automatically divides the doses. Otherwise, I would keep it divided over the 24 hour time period. As far as your alk reading, assuming it is accurate (may want to check it against another kit or test), your doser may be making more imprecise doses at smaller volumes. You can check this by measuring it over a 24hr period to see if it is doing what it is supposed to. You may or may not need to adjust things accordingly.

[imisky]

What doser do you have? My LMIII automatically divides the doses. Otherwise, I would keep it divided over the 24 hour time period. As far as your alk reading, assuming it is accurate (may want to check it against another kit or test), your doser may be making more imprecise doses at smaller volumes. You can check this by measuring it over a 24hr period to see if it is doing what it is supposed to. You may or may not need to adjust things accordingly.

 

I am using the BRS 2 part dosers that does 1.1ml/min. I'll go back to breaking the dosage through 24 hours and see what happens. At the moment im breaking up 28ml dosage up into 20 doses. When the light turns on the kh is stable but once the light turns off im not sure what will happen. I always thought corals do most of there growing during the night.

[Amphiprion1]

I am using the BRS 2 part dosers that does 1.1ml/min. I'll go back to breaking the dosage through 24 hours and see what happens. At the moment im breaking up 28ml dosage up into 20 doses. When the light turns on the kh is stable but once the light turns off im not sure what will happen. I always thought corals do most of there growing during the night.

 

They do, sort of. Think of it as laying the scaffolding at night and then laying the mortar and bricks during the day.

[imisky]

They do, sort of. Think of it as laying the scaffolding at night and then laying the mortar and bricks during the day.

 

ya i thought so, well i think i found out why the alk jumped up..i found bubbles building up in the ca doser, so it was probably not dosing as much as the alk one was.

[Paleoreef103]

Those SPS pictures are amazing! Maybe I'll convert my TLF phosban reactor to a Biopellet reactor after seeing the results here. Still impressed by the solid vodka dosing?

[imisky]

Those SPS pictures are amazing! Maybe I'll convert my TLF phosban reactor to a Biopellet reactor after seeing the results here. Still impressed by the solid vodka dosing?

 

Still very impressed by the solid carbon dosing trend thats currently out there. It is a little different than dosing liquid carbon such as vodka as i find it consumes NP at a much slower rate but still able to uptake fast enough to keep algae at bay.

 

**sorry about the late reply..im bad at keeping this thread alive as you all probably figured.

[imisky]

heres an update guys not sure if i should keep my updates all in 1 website or multiple as im assuming everyone here uses RC as well? What you guys think, should i keep you guys updated as well or just assume everyone will see it on RC when that might not be the case. LMK as i simple copy and paste from 1 to the other to save time in typing

 

so.....its been a while, having the tank in my room at home is where i prefer it to be so that i can relax once i get off work or from school..but its not all that fun when the tank creates more noise then a truck driving by (exaggerated) Originally having the BM C120 calcium reactor running in my system was great, i loved it all except for hearing the bubbles get churned up while i sleep...and thats the only thing i hear..the constant *tss tss tss sound sure wasnt very good for trying to get a good nights sleep. So i started to source out dosing pumps to use over my system as i heard they run nearly silent.

 

So the switch over began around June when i finally got my auto dosers (ACCU-Doser). Like i was expecting they ran silent, no rattling noises during operation, except for the intial *click that you would hear on startup. Tried testing the dosage rate they were almost always dead on 1ml with excess in the container which would probably equate to the .1ml remaining. The unit was paired up with just regular bottles however i had a company do Vinyl Stickers for Alk, Ca, and Mg for me for a reasonable cost and it makes it easy to read. After the switch to 2 part dosers i had the initial learning curve which wasnt fun, gave me spikes in alk to 12 then down to 6 then 4 and now its steady at 8.5 where i want it the corals did go through quite a bit of shock and it can be seen in some of the corals as they have browned out a little but should come back in no time. The hot pink birdsnets seems to have liked the change and decided that it wants to spawn in my system, never occurred before but its sure cool to see.

 

I dont update for so long that i usually have a million things to say but ill shush up and let you guys enjoy the rest of the thread via photos and let them do the talking! enjoy guys.

 

Edit: forgot to mention that i had gotten some new fish, Chrysiptera Talboti, awesome little damsels with stunning color, so far they havent shown too much aggression towards each other but time will tell.

 

Dosing Units:

 

FTS:

 

New fish: 8x Chrysiptera Talboti (Tracys Damsels)

 

Macros:

Spawning Birdsnest

literally white tenius, but look at the PE

Can anyone guess what this is?

my weird orgeon tort turned baby blue...but i like the change!

[Paleoreef103]

I for one don't keep up on Reef Central but I love the tank. Seems like the tank is running really well and I can't wait to see them re-color up from the ordeal. Did you get any alk burn when your dosers pushed the alk to 12?

[Nick's Reef]

Absoulutely stunning reef, you're making me rethink my plans for a mixed reef, really like the look you got with and all SPS tank.

[imisky]

I for one don't keep up on Reef Central but I love the tank. Seems like the tank is running really well and I can't wait to see them re-color up from the ordeal. Did you get any alk burn when your dosers pushed the alk to 12?

 

Thanks for the input regarding RC, chances are I'll still post them everywhere just so everyone gets a chance to see it. As for the alk burn, yup Im still dealing with some at the moment even though its been roughly 2 weeks now. Most of the alk burn however only occured on a few corals...all 3 of the Validas i had got listers and the Austrea got the burnt tips, everything else was fine.

 

 

Absoulutely stunning reef, you're making me rethink my plans for a mixed reef, really like the look you got with and all SPS tank.

 

Thanks i say go for a mixed reef as thats how most tanks start, and then choice your interest afterwards whether SPS or LPS or softies they are all good!.

[UnderWaterWorld]

This is a really beautiful tank, nice choice of SPS corals. Where did you purchase your corals, if you don’t mind me asking? When you had your CA reactor running did you use a ph controller and have you noticed a difference in coral growth, PE and overall condition of your corals after switching to the dosing pumps?

[imisky]

This is a really beautiful tank, nice choice of SPS corals. Where did you purchase your corals, if you don’t mind me asking? When you had your CA reactor running did you use a ph controller and have you noticed a difference in coral growth, PE and overall condition of your corals after switching to the dosing pumps?

 

thanks, most of my ORA,tyree,etc SPS are bought through Oceanic Corals in Canada, while all the other none "branded" corals were selective picked through local stores here when they first get a shipment in (J&L, Ocean Aquatics, Big Als*when they had a store front). When i used my CA RX i did run it with a ph controller, however i soon found out that my solenoid was leaking so i took that offline and mainly just used the ph controller as a ph monitor for my tank.

 

The biggest difference i see after switching from CA RX to dosing pumps is the increase in the PE of the corals. The lower parts of some of my biggest corals (my bali tri color is one of them) stopped STNing as well and i suspect that it was the low pH + low light that caused it to happen. But overall there wasnt a drastic change in my corals. Im sure if i had properly measured my alk and ca consumption rate of my tank and didnt guess that on my part..the colors will have stayed pretty good in the tank.

[imisky]

update!

 

PAR38 XPE spotlights replaced the light system over my tank. These are 4 cool white, 5 royal blue spotlights being driving at 750ma with 60degree optics over it. So far im really liking the change going from 400W of lighting to 150W and producing more intensity than before is always a plus. The following pictures was when set them up yesterday, i didnt get a chance to adjust the white balance on the camera as it was set for the MH setup i had before but i'll get better photos in a few days. Enjoy guys

 

[adam87]

What was the price for the PAR38 XPE spotlights?

[Dasani]

What was the price for the PAR38 XPE spotlights?

Evil's are $120 each but there are new Par30's that are $60 each I think.

[Arkayology]

Wow, great looking tank. Let us know how those LED's work out with your SPS.

[nebthet]

Imisky, where did you get those Par38, and am I reading this right. are they a 9 bulb light?