Viewpoints - A Photographic Journal of my Reef Tank

January 22, 2013

Viewpoints - January 22, 2013 Response to Feedback

Really sharp shots!!

As always, thanks for your views and replies to the journal.

January 23, 2013

Great tank! love the Iphone video with all the fish. Can you share the stock list?

January 23, 2013

Viewpoints - January 22, 2013 - Additional Changes to the Aquarium

Along with the changes to the aquascape, there was one additional change made in the last 5 weeks, which was the addition of Bio Pellets. I contemplated pellets many times over the past year or so but kept shying away due to the horror stories that many people have experienced. After reading a review on recirculating pellet reactors and being able to control the pellet tumble and flow rate separately, I thought I would give them a try. I feel like the recirculating reactors resolve the primary issue with other reactors which is having to run such a strong flow through the reactor that it ends up over dosing the tank. Here is a brief summary of my first 5 weeks with BPs.

Bio Pellet Summary

I'm using the BRS Bio Pellets which are running in a Reef Dynamics Bio Pellet Reactor(BPR135). I'm currently using 3/4 the recommend amount of pellets. I ran 1/2 the recommended amount for the first 2 weeks.

My nitrates have been reduced to .5ppm from 2.0ppm and continue to inch down with each weekly test. My phosphates have remained undetectable during the introduction of BP while running 1/2 the amount of GFO that was running before pellets.

I did not see a bacterial bloom or pH drop as many people experience. I had a small cyano issue prior to the start of BPs that continued over the first month of BP. If there is a downfall to the BPs, I would say it was more difficult to kick the cyano than I've seen in the past. Just in the last week I was able to rid the tank of the cyano with extra MB7 and Coral Snow, it just took longer than I've seen in the past.

Growth rate is the same as pre pellets and most corals are the same coloration with a couple of exceptions. My green Monti Cap has went from bright green to nuclear, my Acropora Plana is getting dark purple tips which it did not have before and another acro went from a pale blue base to a darker rich blue. Overall polyp extension has improved which to me is a sign that the corals do get some food source from the biofilm.

The jury is still out on the BP's as I believe the longer they are online the more benefit they have to the tank. Up to this point, I don't regret adding them and I'm optimistic on their impact to the tank.

This acro has seen a nice color change since the introduction of Bio Pellets. It had a pale blue base which is now much darker and richer than before.

Just in the last week, this Plana's tips have began to turn purple. Prior to the introduction of BP, the tips were a creamy white color.

This Monti Cap has always had decent coloration but since the introduction of BP, it's almost too green. When you look in the tank, it pulls your eyes from everything else.

Overall polyp extension has improved since the introduction of BPs, I believe the biofilm that is not skimmed provides a food source for the corals.

My journal notes on BPs

For those of you wanting more details on my first 5 weeks of BPs, Here are the notes that I have taken along the way.

December 20th - Bio pellets added today inside Reef Dynamics Reactor. Nitrates at 1.5 and Phosphates at .01 for the start of the pellets. The reactor is setup for a slight tumble and the output is open about 50%.

January 23, 2013

I didn't notice any changes on the aqua scape....lolol

January 23, 2013

Viewpoints - January 23rd, 2013 Response to Feedback

Great tank! love the Iphone video with all the fish. Can you share the stock list?

Thanks for your comments. See below for my stocking list.

Stocking List

- Blue Tang

- Chevron Tang

- Melanarus Wrasse

- Black Cap Basslett

- Blue Chromis (5)

- LeMark Angelfish (2)

- Bartletts Anthias (2)

- Percula Clownfish (2)

- Yellow Watchman Goby paired with Pistol Shrimp

I didn't notice any changes on the aqua scape....lolol

The change was subtle, the overall look of the aquarium remains the same.

January 25, 2013

Viewpoints - January 24th, 2013 - Photo Update

Here are a couple new photos of the aquarium. This first one is taken from the back right corner of my aquarium. The Gorgonian is not the prettiest of corals but I do like the height it provides in the back corner. Also shown in the photo is one of my two Bartlett's Anthias and a Clownfish.

This photo is taken from the far back corner of my tank, you really have to go out of your way to get this view.

This second photo is not my favorite shot of the tank. Because I had to shoot it at an angle through the glass, it's not a very sharp picture. I do however really like how it shows the size of some of my corals. The blue coral is a Cali Tort, the red coral is my Red Planet and the green coral in the foreground is an ORA Spongades.

Not the greatest of photos but I do like how it shows the size of a few of the corals

The latest fish addition to my tank is a female Mandarin Dragonette. She is doing extremely well and loves eating Nutramar Ova. These have always been one of my favorite reef fish. I would love to have a tank full of them.

Female Mandarin added back in November

January 25, 2013

i'm in love with this thread. i think i've said this before but this is an extremely inspirational tank.

January 25, 2013

i'm in love with this thread. i think i've said this before but this is an extremely inspirational tank.

What he said is authentic speaking.

Anyways, I love the gorg you have ahah.

January 25, 2013

Just read your whole thread.... Awesome awesome stuff in here! Very detailed which is fantastic and lots of good information. Totm!!!!!

January 25, 2013

I just wanted to drop a line for you. I am very new to this hobby and I have just started a 29 Fowlr. I absolutely love your setup. When I buy my first house I will be doing a big tank and can only hope to get it this beautiful. You have inspired me to go all out and be as creative as possible. I hope you don't mind but I really love how you setup your cabinet doors to have the paper towel holder as well as the shelves for test kits and chemicals. I am going to be trying something of that nature as well with my setup. I hope you have a continued success with this tank and will be watching you every step of the way. Thanks again for your inspiration.

January 25, 2013

Thanks for sharing as always. Strange about the Bps changing the color of things. I'm assuming you added them to reduce Nitrates? How is all of your equipment holding up? Any issues?

January 25, 2013

Viewpoints - January 25, 2013 - Response to Feedback

i'm in love with this thread. i think i've said this before but this is an extremely inspirational tank.

Wow! That is a very nice compliment. Thank you so much for your kind words.

What he said is authentic speaking.

Anyways, I love the gorg you have ahah.

It's funny how a plain brown coral can add so much to the tank. When my brother last visited he was trying to talk me into getting rid of it.

Just read your whole thread.... Awesome awesome stuff in here! Very detailed which is fantastic and lots of good information. Totm!!!!!

Thank you! I'm glad that you found time to read through the journal. I appreciate your nod for TOTM.

I just wanted to drop a line for you. I am very new to this hobby and I have just started a 29 Fowlr. I absolutely love your setup. When I buy my first house I will be doing a big tank and can only hope to get it this beautiful. You have inspired me to go all out and be as creative as possible. I hope you don't mind but I really love how you setup your cabinet doors to have the paper towel holder as well as the shelves for test kits and chemicals. I am going to be trying something of that nature as well with my setup. I hope you have a continued success with this tank and will be watching you every step of the way. Thanks again for your inspiration.

Thank you for your kind words. I don't mind one bit that you plan to incorporate some of these ideas into your next tank. This is what the forums are all about. Many of the ideas you see in my tank were copied from others.

Thanks for sharing as always. Strange about the Bps changing the color of things. I'm assuming you added them to reduce Nitrates? How is all of your equipment holding up? Any issues?

I do think it's odd that I've seen color changes from the BPs at this point in the life of the BP. I did add them to reduce nitrates with increased feedings. My nitrates were only at 2 ppm when I added them which I realize is not that high. The nitrates have dropped to .5 ppm at the last reading. I does not seem like this small of a change would provide the color change. It is however very obvious that my color has shifted. In my post about the BP's I ,mentioned that I had kicked the Cyano but in fact it has resurfaced. It's an odd strain of cyano in that it's only on the sand bed and it's brown. It disappeared for a few days and came back with last feeding of Reef Roids. I'm going to hold off on feeding this for a few weeks to see if it was the common thread.

As for my equipment, the only issue that I've had was with my skimmer pump. The motor block to my Bubble King went out. I bought it used from a guy that used the skimmer for 2 years, then I had it for almost a year. I guess 3 years on a motor block is not all that bad. $200 later, I am back in business.

January 26, 2013

Viewpoints - January 25, 2013 - Tank of the Week at Aquaticlog.com

I was very excited to get an email from the developer of Aquaticlog.com asking me if they could feature my tank on their website's blog. Of course I said yes! The tank feature went live today, you can check it out at the link provided below.

Check it out at this link.

January 26, 2013

I just read this thread from end to end... Wow! Ive learned a ton from this thread alone. If they sticky anyones thread this should be it! I just got a 300 gal corner tank and i will definitely be using your build as a guideline and your tank as the golden standard. Amazing.... Simply amazing.

January 26, 2013

Lolol older or younger? How old are you? Around.

January 27, 2013

Viewpoints - January 26th, 2013 - Response to Feedback

I just read this thread from end to end... Wow! Ive learned a ton from this thread alone. If they sticky anyones thread this should be it! I just got a 300 gal corner tank and i will definitely be using your build as a guideline and your tank as the golden standard. Amazing.... Simply amazing.

Thank you so much for taking time to comment. Good luck with your build, 300g is a huge tank especially a corner tank. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions on my build.

Lolol older or younger? How old are you? Around.

I believe you are referring to my brother, if so, he's older, I'm the baby in the family. As for age, we will leave that a mystery.

January 27, 2013

Viewpoints - January 27, 2013 - Photo Update

Here are a few more photos that I took last week. Your views and comments are appreciated.

Setosa - You just can't get that color from any other coral. One of my favorites

Birds Nest - This coral was my first ever SPS, given to me by a LFS that is no longer in business. This started as a 1" frag in my old Nano Cube. Many of my newer corals have come by trade ins at a LFS, he says this stuff is one of his best sellers.

Purple Stuff - I bought this from a local reefer

Unknown Acro - I do love the blue in this coral

Unknown - This is one of my newest corals, it has a white base and then the pink tips. I have a feeling this coral is going to become something very special

Blue Chromis - Simple shot of a simple fish, but these guys are great. I have 5 of them and wish I had 10. These are the best fish you can buy for under $6.

January 28, 2013

Hmmm pictures get better and better

Love the new sig too.

I'm starting to wonder myself if you're really young or not ahahha.

January 28, 2013

Things are looking great. I really love what you have done with the center valley. It really adds depth. I've always wanted to do that but I don't have the tank width and unfortunately have a giant overflow preventing me from doing so.

January 28, 2013

Hmmm pictures get better and better

Love the new sig too.

I'm starting to wonder myself if you're really young or not ahahha.

IIX - I'm glad you approve of the new signature. I was playing around with Photoshop and figured out how to animate a GIF. Pretty easy to do. As for my age, I'm 16 years old... in reef years.

Things are looking great. I really love what you have done with the center valley. It really adds depth. I've always wanted to do that but I don't have the tank width and unfortunately have a giant overflow preventing me from doing so.

steely - Thanks for the view and comment. I'm a huge fan of tanks that are deep from front to back. My current tank is 30" and I wish it were 48" or even 60" deep. Having that extra room to aquascape really opens up the possibilities.

January 28, 2013

I see, thanks for sharing that with me, I am a bit surprised that someone else on this forum likes to keep the back clean just like me as I do the same for my nanocube.

This build looks so amazing

I am going to start keeping my back of my tank clean, just set it up last sunday after breaking it down, my whole back of my tank was pink from coraline. I think it looks way better when you keep it off as well just a cleaner look

January 28, 2013

Viewpoints - January 28th, 2013 - Blue and Green

Yesterday was water change day so I was inspired to bust the camera out. I got several shots, here are a few that follow the blue/green theme.

This is my Cali Tort with the Green Monti Cap behind it. I took this picture to send to my brother who was just here for the holidays. While he was in town I had him watching the the two spikes sticking up from the tip of the Cali Tort. The day after Christmas these were about 1/8th of an inch, they are currently about 3/4 of an inch. In terms of SPS, not to bad.

Green Monti Cap - Since the Bio Pellets went in the tank, this coral has went nuclear. The color is actually getting kind of ridiculous and it is starting to look unnatural compared to the rest of the color in the tank. When I look at the tank, this is about all I'm seeing these days.

Rosaria Acropora - I believe that is the right name on this coral. Because of the location of this coral in my tank, I struggle getting a good picture of this piece. The coral is more beautiful in person with a light blue cast within the green.

Unknown Acro - This coral gets a lot of time with the camera. The subtle blue tones keep me coming back. The only downfall to this coral, is that it's most colorful from the side, when viewing from the front of the tank, it's not as nice.

January 29, 2013

I find your thread fascinating. I keep going back over and over it again . The only time I have been able to get the green to come out on a leng sy cap is when I had a higher nutrient level (all my sps were darker colors). When my tank was most colorful and low nutrient, that type of cap would have a tan/olive color with purple rim. Is there anything in particular that you can attribute the color to? I know you had a color boost from the BP's but I mean even before their introduction.

Thanks and keep up the exceptional job!

January 29, 2013

Viewpoints - January 28th, 2013 - Response to Feedback

I find your thread fascinating. I keep going back over and over it again . The only time I have been able to get the green to come out on a leng sy cap is when I had a higher nutrient level (all my sps were darker colors). When my tank was most colorful and low nutrient, that type of cap would have a tan/olive color with purple rim. Is there anything in particular that you can attribute the color to? I know you had a color boost from the BP's but I mean even before their introduction.

Thanks and keep up the exceptional job!

First of all, thanks for your views and comments. I appreciate the time you took to post a quick note. I also appreciate the question. In regards to your question on the color shift there are a couple of other things that could be contributing to the change in color.

The first one is the feeding of Reef Roids. I've had this food for a long time but wasn't feeding it because it drives my nitrates up. Prior to starting BPs I started feeding it again. As before, Nitrates went up which is why I finally went with the BPs. The color change came after the BPs but could be associated with the Reef Roids.

The second thing I changed prior to adding the BPs was to lower my alk from the 9 to 10 dKH range to the 7-8 range. I did this in preparation for the BPs as I did not want to have burnt tips which I had read about as an issue with BPs and higher alk ranges. Again, the color change came in after the BPs but the Alk change was made just prior.

Hope this helps.

January 29, 2013

IIX - I'm glad you approve of the new signature. I was playing around with Photoshop and figured out how to animate a GIF. Pretty easy to do. As for my age, I'm 16 years old... in reef years.

steely - Thanks for the view and comment. I'm a huge fan of tanks that are deep from front to back. My current tank is 30" and I wish it were 48" or even 60" deep. Having that extra room to aquascape really opens up the possibilities.

Lolol ok then I'm assuming you're not as young ahhaha. It's cool.

I am going to start keeping my back of my tank clean, just set it up last sunday after breaking it down, my whole back of my tank was pink from coraline. I think it looks way better when you keep it off as well just a cleaner look

Yuppp, unfortunately I wasn't able to keep the back clean of coraline for the manta ray 18 tank....Really displeasing to look at.

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