Asureef's Red Sea Reefer + *Frag Tank*

[Christopher Marks]

10 minutes ago, Asureef said:

The Red Sea 350 has been up and running since last Monday.  The swap took longer than I expected.  I think, starting fresh would've been a lot easier.  I ended up losing some SPS, the pieces that did make it lost a lot of color.  I broke my scape into 3 parts for transfer, the left side holding the large monti caps and digi. broke in my arms and fell to the floor.. 

All the corals on it broke into a million pieces lol.  I think, those caps needed a refresh anyway.  Even though I had about 40-50lbs of live rock curing in a bin for months, I ended up not using any.  After, putting everything in the new tank, I really liked it.  The scape is really open with a lot of room for fish and corals to grow.  You really can't see from the FTS shot but top view it looks great!  

 

 WOW! Man am I glad I inquired!

 

It turned out amazing, I love the open aquascape. I can't believe the monti-caps busted apart, how tragic!  Next time you want to frag something there are more delicate options...  You have the right perspective on it though, all the monti-pieces will have lots of room now to grow anew and get tangled up all over  

 

So I guess you'll have to use all that freshly cured liverock to start the 40G back up again, right?

 

[Asureef]

1 minute ago, Christopher Marks said:

 WOW! Man am I glad I inquired!

 

It turned out amazing, I love the open aquascape. I can't believe the monti-caps busted apart, how tragic!  Next time you want to frag something there are more delicate options...  You have the right perspective on it though, all the monti-pieces will have lots of room now to grow anew and get tangled up all over  

 

So I guess you'll have to use all that freshly cured liverock to start the 40G back up again, right?

 

 

I wish, it would've made a nice frag tank. I put it up on CL and it was sold within a day.  

[Rehype]

27 minutes ago, Asureef said:

 

It was.  The Red Sea 350 has been up and running since last Monday.  The swap took longer than I expected.  I think, starting fresh would've been a lot easier.  I ended up losing some SPS, the pieces that did make it lost a lot of color.  I broke my scape into 3 parts for transfer, the left side holding the large monti caps and digi. broke in my arms and fell to the floor.. 

All the corals on it broke into a million pieces lol.  I think, those caps needed a refresh anyway.  Even though I had about 40-50lbs of live rock curing in a bin for months, I ended up not using any.  After, putting everything in the new tank, I really liked it.  The scape is really open with a lot of room for fish and corals to grow.  You really can't see from the FTS shot but top view it looks great!  

 

 

Wow looks awesome really love the scape....Im sure your frags will recover in no time at all.  What are you using for nutrient export?

[Asureef]

Here's the currently situation underneath, it's a bit of a mess.  Also, there's like a ton of wires/power cords on the floor that's becoming an eye sore.  I really need to get cabinet for all these reefing equipment.  My little refrigium needs a new light, Kessil h80 maybe?  I'm also looking at a new doser, possibly a Apex DOS or GHL doser 2.1.  I have a MP40wqd on the way, because I'm not really liking what I'm getting with the two gyre's.  

 

[Asureef]

5 minutes ago, Rehype said:

 

Wow looks awesome really love the scape....Im sure your frags will recover in no time at all.  What are you using for nutrient export?

 

I have a marine pure block in the sump with some live rock, thinking about adding another block after I remove those liverock.  I thought about getting a refrigium reactor like you, but I figure I'd save a little money by utilizing the stock ATO reservoir since I'm not using it anyway.   

[moosubi]

15 hours ago, Asureef said:

Here's the currently situation underneath, it's a bit of a mess.  Also, there's like a ton of wires/power cords on the floor that's becoming an eye sore.  I really need to get cabinet for all these reefing equipment.  My little refrigium needs a new light, Kessil h80 maybe?  I'm also looking at a new doser, possibly a Apex DOS or GHL doser 2.1.  I have a MP40wqd on the way, because I'm not really liking what I'm getting with the two gyre's.  

 

What fittings did you use to hard plumb the return line?  Red Sea said they would sell me a threaded fitting w 3/4" barb (reefer nano uses 5/8 barb) for $22 + like 8-15 shipping, which is frankly a little ridiculous...  Beautiful tank, btw!

[Asureef]

3 hours ago, moosubi said:

What fittings did you use to hard plumb the return line?  Red Sea said they would sell me a threaded fitting w 3/4" barb (reefer nano uses 5/8 barb) for $22 + like 8-15 shipping, which is frankly a little ridiculous...  Beautiful tank, btw!

 

3/4" thread to slip i think? 

I purchased all the fittings from Lowes for like 40 cents each.  

[moosubi]

6 minutes ago, Asureef said:

 

3/4" thread to slip i think? 

I purchases all the fittings from Lowes for like 40 cents each.  

Did you have to teflon tape the thread or did it just fit nice and snug?  Hate having 2 different ID's on my return tube, and got a nice piece of 3/4" silicon tubing lying around...  Thanks a bunch!

[Asureef]

2 minutes ago, moosubi said:

Did you have to teflon tape the thread or did it just fit nice and snug?  Hate having 2 different ID's on my return tube, and got a nice piece of 3/4" silicon tubing lying around...  Thanks a bunch!

 

Not needed, the fitting was pretty tight.  But I didn't want to deal with any small leakage. This is my first time hard plumping a tank and nothing is leaking so far.. 

[ninjamyst]

WOW, this is one of the best 350s I have seen.  Awesome.  What's your fish stock list?

[Asureef]

4 minutes ago, ninjamyst said:

WOW, this is one of the best 350s I have seen.  Awesome.  What's your fish stock list?

 

Not there yet, but thanks for the compliment. 

 

Right now I have 12 

2x clownfish 

1x sunburst anthias 

4x bartletts anthias 

1x blue star leopard wrasse

1x yellow coris wrasse 

3x green Chromis 

 

I have a purple, yellow, and sailfin tang in QT.  

My initial plan was to put in the purple tang but now I'm not sure.  He's a bit aggressive, killed off 3 lyretails I had in QT with him.  

[ninjamyst]

1 minute ago, Asureef said:

 

Not there yet, but thanks for the compliment. 

 

Right now I have 12 

2x clownfish 

1x sunburst anthias 

4x bartletts anthias 

1x blue star leopard wrasse

1x yellow coris wrasse 

3x green Chromis 

 

I have a purple, yellow, and sailfin tang in QT.  

My initial plan was to put in the purple tang but now I'm not sure.  He's a bit aggressive, killed off 3 lyretails I had in QT with him.  

I am surprised the 3 tangs are getting along in QT =P.  My yellow coris wrasse got huge really fast and is aggressive, but love his color.  

 

What don't you like about the dual gyre?  I am only running one in my 350 at 50%.  Not in love with it but like the amount of water it moves.  Just too constant, wish there are more control.  I have the older XF130.

[Asureef]

Yeah, I got the yellow when he was super tiny.  He was the smallest wrasse I've ever seen.  I devided the QT in half, it's a 20g long.  Purple is by himself, sailfin and yellow are together.  They were together in my 40g and got along fine.  

 

I have the gyre's on each side and both set to random 80%.  I have dead spots on the ends and I really don't like the way it ramps up and down it's pretty loud.  It's not as good or smooth as vortechs in reef crest mode.  So, my plan is to try a mp40 on one side and mp10 on the other end with gyre's in the back.

[Asureef]

So, I spent most of today messing around with my tank.  

I hope you guys are enjoying Memorial Day.  

 

Added a MP40, man this thing can move some water! 

 

 

 

Kessil H80 for my mini refrigium 

 

 

Added a second cabinet and organized my equipment a little bit.  It's looking really clean.  

[Asureef]

A little test shot from my new set of extension tubes, it's been a while since I did some macros and I really miss it.  I don't think the image quality can match a dedicated macro lens, but it's gonna have to do for now.   And, I'm really limited on what I can shoot, as I need to be within a narrow focusing distance which I'm sure has something to do with the extension tubes being mounted with a 35mm prime.  

 

 

 

This ORA Hawkins is the only SPS in the tank that's actually doing pretty good since the move (surprisingly).

 

[mitten_reef]

On 5/22/2017 at 10:06 PM, Asureef said:

Here's the currently situation underneath, it's a bit of a mess.  Also, there's like a ton of wires/power cords on the floor that's becoming an eye sore.  I really need to get cabinet for all these reefing equipment.  My little refrigium needs a new light, Kessil h80 maybe?  I'm also looking at a new doser, possibly a Apex DOS or GHL doser 2.1.  I have a MP40wqd on the way, because I'm not really liking what I'm getting with the two gyre's.  

 

 

On 5/29/2017 at 7:06 PM, Asureef said:

So, I spent most of today messing around with my tank.  

I hope you guys are enjoying Memorial Day.  

 

Added a MP40, man this thing can move some water! 

 

 

 

Kessil H80 for my mini refrigium 

 

 

Added a second cabinet and organized my equipment a little bit.  It's looking really clean.  

Just noticed that u had plumbed in a chaeto fuge, kinda like @Berlibee's Reefer tank. This is definitely something I might have to remember for future build. 

[Asureef]

 

So, I borrowed a par meter from my LFS.  I've always been curious about the par this ATI fixture is throwing out.  Everyone say they're par monster and all that...

It did a fantastic job over my 40g, but it's only 36" with only 4 t5s and 2x75w leds.  Honestly, I was a bit skeptical when I first hung it over my new tank.  The fixture being only 36" and the new tank is 4ft long..   

 

 

I mean the number's aren't crazy, but I was surprised how much this thing is pushing.  The tank is 21" deep and the fixture is 5" above the rim and 6-7" above the water line.  T5 at 100% and leds at 45%.

 

Numbers with "sb" were measurements taken from the sandbed.  

 

 

Directly under the leds .. 

[markalot]

I love the fact the Hawkins has PE, mine is growing and looking good but no PE.  

 

PAR looks perfect and the scape continues to amaze me, every single placement looks great.

[RollaJase]

Tank looks amazing. I have always been impressed by your work :).

[Asureef]

 

On 6/10/2017 at 8:01 AM, markalot said:

I love the fact the Hawkins has PE, mine is growing and looking good but no PE.  

 

PAR looks perfect and the scape continues to amaze me, every single placement looks great.

 

Thanks, hopefully I can be at your level some day.  

 

 

On 6/29/2017 at 9:32 AM, RollaJase said:

Tank looks amazing. I have always been impressed by your work :).

 

Thanks.  

 

 

Here's a little update... 

 

As you know, this hobby has its ups and downs.  Unfortunately, I'm going through the down phase at the moment.  I wish I can say everything's coming along well, but my zoas just now started to open up a bit, they've been closed up for weeks since the move.  I lost quite a few of my SPS.  My ORA red planet colony slowly withered away into nothing, SSC mini colony that just recently started to blossom before the move slowly "TN" within 3wks.  Most of my SPS that are hanging on are still browned out, excluding my ora nana which has amazing deep purple blue but is getting tissue lost at the base and my ORA hawkins which I thought was bullet proof started losing tissue as well just a week ago.  I ended up cutting the hawkins up and managed to save 1/3 of it, the rest RTN.  Monti caps barely growing, Digitata's growing new tips daily, rainbow monti browned out no PE, Sunset monti looks amazing.  What gives!!?? 

 

I've been monitoring my parameters daily since the move.  At week 4, I started to dose po4 into the system as for the life of the tank I can't seem to get po4 to move from 0ppm even with 12 fishs fed very heavily and dropping reef roids + oyster feast daily, no3 was holding steady at 1-2ppm.  After getting po4 up to detectable levels (0.01-.02ppm) with Brightwell NeoPhos I was getting diatoms outbreak all over again and making matters worst.  Recent Triton results shed some light on the possible problem.  First, even though I'm getting 0 the Hanna ULR checker, Triton shows .03ppm.  Second, My heavy metal levels is very high, specifically Tin & Lithium.. which prompted me to check all my equipment for rust or exposed metal, but none were found.  Next, I went after my source water.  I changed out all the filters on my ro/di, which was just changed a little over 3 months ago.  I also changed out the membrane, which according to my order history via BRS the last time it was changed was in 2013!! 

 

So, for the last few water changes done, I actually went out to my LFS store and bought water.  I haven't bought RO water in years!!!

My plan is to stay on course for a few weeks with 2x water changes a week and see if things improve.  Next course of action will be running Triton Panta Lith or Detox if things doesn't improve.  

 

[markalot]

Sorry to hear about the rough patch.  I do think dosing PO4 helps after a move, maybe not for color but for health.  

[Asureef]

12 hours ago, markalot said:

Sorry to hear about the rough patch.  I do think dosing PO4 helps after a move, maybe not for color but for health.  

 

Yeah, It's weird I'm getting undetectable with the Hanna ULR.  I've tried reagents from 3 different boxes. 

 

 

On the upside, I finally have a Potter's wrasse that has lasted more than a week.  I ordered 2 from LA, one didn't make it during shipping, the one that did is small and has a what seems a broken bottom jaw, probably damaged during shipping.  It's been in the tank for over a month now and surviving on pods, as I seem to have a lot of those.  I kill at least 20-50 pods every time I clean out my filter socks. 

 

Here's a some quick fish snaps from today.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RollaJase]

Great photos.

[Asureef]

After a series of water changes, other than the ORA hawkins colony being a goner I gave up after 3 attempts trying to save it, things are looking better.  I purchased a few new SPS frags about a week ago and they're coloring up well.  But, just yesterday, I discovered a MAJOR problem.  After inspecting my A. nasuta colony top view, I noticed what looked like bite marks.  I took a turkey baster and blasted it, caught this big AEFW flying off .  Believe me, I know exactly where I got it.  Now, I need to figure out a plan of attack. I have 26 Acroporas in my tank.  I did a little estimate, it's around $2k in acros alone, that's not including some I've lost this year.  I feel like, I'm being punished by the SPS gods...

 

 

At least my zoas are finally perkin up..

 

 

[4x5]

Sorry to hear about the Acro troubles. It sucks when it seems to come out of nowhere (which seems to often be the case) and it really isn't fun losing old corals. Beautiful pictures though, I love your fish selection. How do you like the Bartlett's Anthias? I'm looking to add some more "schooling" fish to my tank but am not interested in the more fragile Anthias, regardless of how beautiful they are - they are just too stressful.