Steely's 40 breeder

[steely185]

Gonna have to stop adding coral here, getting pretty crowded in there. This is going to look outstanding as all those sticks grow out. Well done.

 

 

Yeah, I've pretty much stopped adding to the tank for a while now. Only things I've added have been to the sand bed like Acans. It's pretty much stocked with everything I want and I have a 20 I can always move a few things to as well.

 

The tank has really adjusted to the move that happened in september from the 20 to the 40. It's starting to hit that sweet spot where growth takes off. I've seen lots of new growth and branching on most corals so it's getting exciting. Tank still gets not dosing, only weekly water changes.

 

Thanks for the comments.

[steely185]

Christmas was nice to my tank. No more buying water. I picked up a BRS 6 stage RO/DI (75 gpd) and a nice new tunze osmolator. Christmas made life a lot easier for my reef and myself.

[steely185]

I've finally chosen to start dosing my tank. I have decided to use ROWA Kalkwasser since my alk is the only thing running a little low (7-8 kH). I've not lost anything and have continued to have good growth but want to maximize my potential. I will be dosing Kalk in my ATO since this will be a nice slow and dependable way of dosing. I look forward to seeing some results and seeing better coralline algae growth.

[Lalani]

Nice growth.

[steely185]

Nice growth.

 

Thanks Lalani. Things have really started to hit the sweet spot about 4 months after the transfer to the breeder. Lots of new growth from lots of pieces.

[steely185]

 

 

ATL red watermelon chalice

 

purple prostrata above Joe the coral

 

turaki

 

one of my favorites

 

 

purple prostrata exploding with growth vs when I got it in september

 

[steely185]

A bit of an update. I noticed my skimmer was leaking and since it was not located in the sump I decided it was time for an upgrade. The skimmer I currently have is about 15 years old so upgrading was a bit overdue. I ordered a reef octopus NW-110 since it's all that can fit in my sump with its dimensions. Switching from venturi to needle wheel can't hurt either.

[steely185]

I got my skimmer yesterday and have it running now. Just dialing it in over the next day or so to get the best skimming possible.

 

I'm also waiting to hear back from someone on a good deal on a new vortech mp40w. I've wanted one for a while and would love to take my Koralia's out of the tank. The smaller footprint in the tank will be nice and allow all areas of the tank to get light with no shading.

[steely185]

I got confirmation on the brand new in box MP40W and it should ship out from a state away tomorrow morning. I managed to pick it up including shipping for about 55 bucks cheaper than cheapest retail I found. Not bad.

 

My tank is definately getting a nice upgrade of sorts with the new osmolator, RO/DI, and skimmer being added in the last couple of weeks. The Kalk added via ATO has been working at getting my parameters up a bit. This MP40W will be a nice cherry on top.

 

In other news I managed to score another 20H drilled, painted back with a nice stand and baffled 10 gallon sump for the low low price of 4 frags. It's been a pretty good week. This will eventually replace my other 20H tank and give me some flexibility. It will cycle some new rock though over the next couple of weeks.

[timdanger]

I got confirmation on the brand new in box MP40W and it should ship out from a state away tomorrow morning. I managed to pick it up including shipping for about 55 bucks cheaper than cheapest retail I found. Not bad.

 

My tank is definately getting a nice upgrade of sorts with the new osmolator, RO/DI, and skimmer being added in the last couple of weeks. The Kalk added via ATO has been working at getting my parameters up a bit. This MP40W will be a nice cherry on top.

 

In other news I managed to score another 20H drilled, painted back with a nice stand and baffled 10 gallon sump for the low low price of 4 frags. It's been a pretty good week. This will eventually replace my other 20H tank and give me some flexibility. It will cycle some new rock though over the next couple of weeks.

 

those are a lot of nice upgrades all at once! i guess the fund-sucking engagement from a few months back is over?

[steely185]

those are a lot of nice upgrades all at once! i guess the fund-sucking engagement from a few months back is over?

 

Mostly Christmas gifts but also tax return time. Everything was in the long term plans anyway so best to get it out of the way and enjoy the benefits of having them.

 

Real long term plans: marineland deep dimension 300. Real long term plans

[Hawaii_Bio_Cube]

Wow your tank is amazing. I could only hope to have a tank like this someday. Just need a second job to support it.

[Nemo Niblets]

Real long term plans: marineland deep dimension 300. Real long term plans

 

Those tanks are amazing!! I want a 200/300 deep dimension one day... when I have a job

[steely185]

Wow your tank is amazing. I could only hope to have a tank like this someday. Just need a second job to support it.

 

Thanks. I've kind of maxed out on this one but have some things in store for my 20. Having a good local reef club has helped stocking this thing tremendously. Reef club prices vs store prices can't be beat.

[timdanger]

Thanks. I've kind of maxed out on this one but have some things in store for my 20. Having a good local reef club has helped stocking this thing tremendously. Reef club prices vs store prices can't be beat.

 

I would like to join this club. halp.

 

(because as you said, store prices around here are very, very beatable. you just have to laugh at Fish World.)

[steely185]

Check em out if you haven't already.

 

Richmond reef club:

http://richmondreefers.com

 

or

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=335

[steely185]

MP40 arrived and is now running. I'm still getting used to it but right now it almost seems like less flow than my k3 and k4 I had running. I do like the extra space in the tank though. I'm still playing with the different modes for now. I'm running short pulse at 100% for now. I did have to epoxy some frags on that side of the tank to keep them from getting knocked over. I'll try and add some new pics and a video later.

[steely185]

Here are some updated pics and a new video of the tank. Much of the tank was a little pissed off after some cleaning but still not too bad. Please excuse the bad camera work on the video and the tv in the background.

 

 

full tank shot

 

new video

 

candlelight acro

 

spaced some stuff out on some frag mags

 

new tri color colony from atlantis's show tank

 

 

 

 

 

[adam87]

You have nice looking breeder too.

[steely185]

My current bulb setup in my 40 breeder is as follows:

 

(front)

ATI blue +

KZ fiji purple

ATI blue +

Giesemann Actinic+

UVL super actinic

ATI blue +

(back)

 

I picked up two bulbs tonight to try and mix and match to look for perfection (never achieved)....

 

I picked up a UVL 454 and an actinic white to swap with my super actinic bulb for kicks.

 

I had been reading good reviews on the actinic white bulb and wanted to try one out. I was not very impressed at all with the actinic white. I feel like it washes out a lot of the colors and actually makes them drab. While this bulb is considered in the same kelvin range as an ATI blue special, I do not consider it to be an equal. The color range on the blue special is more brilliant and tends to bring out color versus wash out color. In all fairness I will try the actinic white bulb in some other configuration than I had it to give it a try.

 

The 454 bulb I did like. It is a brighter blue bulb that didn't dim the tank as much as the super actinic and didn't make the tank look too blue. I will try this in my current configuration for a while.

 

 

I also got a tip from someone on my octopus nw-110. I was told if the B tube for return water flow sits far enough below the water line that it can build up back pressure thus reducing the effectiveness of the skimmer. I was told to remove the B tube. I did this and I will update in a few days with any change in effectiveness.

[timdanger]

hey dan - thanks for referring me to the Richmond club! i've been following along with them on their website and on their reef central board.

 

i've gotta get in on the fragging action there. i bought a couple pieces of SPS from atlantis yesterday (6" stick of green slimer and a orange digitata frag). but, man alive, i can't afford to shop there for everything.

 

are you doing any fragging yourself?

[steely185]

Well I ended up giving that extra stand, tank and fuge away to a local reefer. It didn't cost me anything since I gave a few frags for it in the first place. I figured it would just sit in my garage for a while taking up space. I did score a really nice christmas favia for it though. The favia is about the size of a peanut butter jar lid. Nice score considering favias and acans are my newest interest.

[steely185]

I've been building a garden...

 

Just a teaser

 

 

new christmas favia

 

[timdanger]

nice looking acans, dan! where'd you get 'em?

[steely185]

nice looking acans, dan! where'd you get 'em?

 

I picked up 4 off of eBay and came with a freebie. The other three I've had for a while. The new ones haven't been in long. One more to pickbup local tonight. New ones need a little time to inflate since they have only been in the tank for about 40 minutes.

 

More to come.