Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

6 hours ago, jedimaster1138 said:

Mark, apologies if this has been asked already, or is just back there 789 pages, lol, but what's your flow plan / position like in this tank? We have the same layout, although your tank is slightly bigger, we have the same big ugly overflow towers. Curious how you have your flow arranged.

 

Hi Jedi,  thanks for the nice words above.

 

The flow is strong and I've had issues with it stressing or ripping the flesh off acros in the return flow to the sides of the tank.  I have two MP40's on either side near the top and two Tunze's on the back near the overflows.  If I turn the Tunze's up too high there is a channel of flow into both the MP40 and the Tunze that races near the setosa / slimer that nearly killed the setosa and damaged flesh on the teal acro.  I finally figured it out and turned them down.  These narrow tanks are tough.  Imagine worrying about return flow rather than direct flow!

[jedimaster1138]

3 hours ago, markalot said:

 

Hi Jedi,  thanks for the nice words above.

 

The flow is strong and I've had issues with it stressing or ripping the flesh off acros in the return flow to the sides of the tank.  I have two MP40's on either side near the top and two Tunze's on the back near the overflows.  If I turn the Tunze's up too high there is a channel of flow into both the MP40 and the Tunze that races near the setosa / slimer that nearly killed the setosa and damaged flesh on the teal acro.  I finally figured it out and turned them down.  These narrow tanks are tough.  Imagine worrying about return flow rather than direct flow!

 

Yeah, I hate the narrow-ness of these Marineland Corner Flows or whatever they are called. (We won't talk about the broken plastic brace) #1 on the list of things to do over differently is no big internal overflows. (or Marineland made tank, see previous parenthetical) The external overflow boxes/scuppers are the way to go. Even the Synergy thing looks like an upgrade and it appears to be and incredibly overpriced plastic box.

 

It just makes for a lot of hard decisions regarding rock/coral placement and how to arrange the  flow to please everyone. I think i have my powerheads in the same arrangement as yours. Two in the corners, on the back, right up against the towers, firing straight at each other along the back wall, then 2 more on the side panels towards the front, doing something similar. I have a lot of issues trying to point them slightly off the glass so they don't move sand everywhere. What's funny though is that there are two dead spots in the front corners, essentially under the front power heads that drive me crazy. The stuff builds up there, cyano etc. I've taken to just stirring those spots once a week. I think it has to do with how the rock kinda wraps in front of the overflow towers and i assume, blocks some of the undertow. When I had mp40's there back 18 months ago the problem was similar.

 

My Tunze's are lowered dramatically too. I think around 40 or 50%. 

 

Do you do anything crazy in terms of programming? I just have both my same side props run high speed, the opposite side low, then vice versa it every 40 seconds or some such. I made up this scheme after very lazy research.

[markalot]

27 minutes ago, jedimaster1138 said:

 

Yeah, I hate the narrow-ness of these Marineland Corner Flows or whatever they are called. (We won't talk about the broken plastic brace) #1 on the list of things to do over differently is no big internal overflows. (or Marineland made tank, see previous parenthetical) The external overflow boxes/scuppers are the way to go. Even the Synergy thing looks like an upgrade and it appears to be and incredibly overpriced plastic box.

 

It just makes for a lot of hard decisions regarding rock/coral placement and how to arrange the  flow to please everyone. I think i have my powerheads in the same arrangement as yours. Two in the corners, on the back, right up against the towers, firing straight at each other along the back wall, then 2 more on the side panels towards the front, doing something similar. I have a lot of issues trying to point them slightly off the glass so they don't move sand everywhere. What's funny though is that there are two dead spots in the front corners, essentially under the front power heads that drive me crazy. The stuff builds up there, cyano etc. I've taken to just stirring those spots once a week. I think it has to do with how the rock kinda wraps in front of the overflow towers and i assume, blocks some of the undertow. When I had mp40's there back 18 months ago the problem was similar.

 

My Tunze's are lowered dramatically too. I think around 40 or 50%. 

 

Do you do anything crazy in terms of programming? I just have both my same side props run high speed, the opposite side low, then vice versa it every 40 seconds or some such. I made up this scheme after very lazy research.

 

No crazy programming, I have them set with their controllers to alternate every few seconds, 40%/off seems to be working well right now.  MP40's are in reef crest mode, opposite, 100%.

[Veng]

2 hours ago, jedimaster1138 said:

 

Yeah, I hate the narrow-ness of these Marineland Corner Flows or whatever they are called. (We won't talk about the broken plastic brace) #1 on the list of things to do over differently is no big internal overflows. (or Marineland made tank, see previous parenthetical) The external overflow boxes/scuppers are the way to go. Even the Synergy thing looks like an upgrade and it appears to be and incredibly overpriced plastic box.

 

It just makes for a lot of hard decisions regarding rock/coral placement and how to arrange the  flow to please everyone. I think i have my powerheads in the same arrangement as yours. Two in the corners, on the back, right up against the towers, firing straight at each other along the back wall, then 2 more on the side panels towards the front, doing something similar. I have a lot of issues trying to point them slightly off the glass so they don't move sand everywhere. What's funny though is that there are two dead spots in the front corners, essentially under the front power heads that drive me crazy. The stuff builds up there, cyano etc. I've taken to just stirring those spots once a week. I think it has to do with how the rock kinda wraps in front of the overflow towers and i assume, blocks some of the undertow. When I had mp40's there back 18 months ago the problem was similar.

 

My Tunze's are lowered dramatically too. I think around 40 or 50%. 

 

Do you do anything crazy in terms of programming? I just have both my same side props run high speed, the opposite side low, then vice versa it every 40 seconds or some such. I made up this scheme after very lazy research.

I've got a knock-off Ghost overflow on my 65 rimless, and I have to say, it looks so much friggen better than the center internal box that is standard.  

[jedimaster1138]

4 hours ago, markalot said:

 

No crazy programming, I have them set with their controllers to alternate every few seconds, 40%/off seems to be working well right now.  MP40's are in reef crest mode, opposite, 100%.

 

Sounds about right to me. Random is good.

 

Do you turn the Tunze's off completely, or just low speed?

 

 

[markalot]

41 minutes ago, jedimaster1138 said:

 

Sounds about right to me. Random is good.

 

Do you turn the Tunze's off completely, or just low speed?

 

 

 

Off, so flow stops for a few seconds.

[jedimaster1138]

1 hour ago, markalot said:

 

Off, so flow stops for a few seconds.

Maybe I'll try that. It must cause more turbulence/chaos, that might be what i need to agitate those dead spots. Hmmm.

 

I just spent 2 hours cleaning out my chiller and re-installing it, and i'm not done, though I'm a sweaty mess. Mmmmmmm humidly.

 

 

 

[markalot]

I'm alive but it's been a bad month.  My son was bit by an otherwise friendly dog leaving a gash on the lower lip and bite marks on the cheek.  It was horrible looking but in the end he should heal up with a slight scar on the lower right lip.  Labradoodle was the breed, one of those ... hey let's see what happens if we let a Labrador #### a poodle.  *sigh*  My son was unfamiliar with the dog and invaded it's space ... all dogs bite.  

 

So anyway the tanks are looking good neglected ... I spent 2 hours yesterday trimming the xenia and ended up with about a gallon of water mixed with xenia slime.  The Acros always look fantastic a day after Xenia pruning ... they release something magical in the water, so a couple of quick pics with a good lens.  I really need to scrape the glass.

 

 

 

[RollaJase]

Finally caught up on this thread. The tank looks sensational Mark. I can see you have had some ups and downs with a few pieces but everything is really looking great. How are you liking the NanoBox Retro so far?

[teenyreef]

Jeez Mark, I'm so sorry to hear about your son, that must have been really scary. Sending prayers your way for quick and complete healing. The tank looks absolutely fantastic, though, in spite of the neglect. Interesting that trimming xenia seems to help the sps! 

[markalot]

On 7/24/2017 at 10:25 PM, RollaJase said:

Finally caught up on this thread. The tank looks sensational Mark. I can see you have had some ups and downs with a few pieces but everything is really looking great. How are you liking the NanoBox Retro so far?

 

On 7/25/2017 at 1:17 AM, teenyreef said:

Jeez Mark, I'm so sorry to hear about your son, that must have been really scary. Sending prayers your way for quick and complete healing. The tank looks absolutely fantastic, though, in spite of the neglect. Interesting that trimming xenia seems to help the sps! 

 

Thanks guys.  

 

It's been a busy summer and I've not been around much.   My son is doing great, the scar should be minimal but will take months and months to fully heal.

 

As far as how do I like the light, I'll just post a couple of FTS and leave it at that.   I'm starting to have shading issues that will have to be dealt with ... a good problem to have.

 

 

 

 

The Flame angel never got sick but he was picking really bad until one day I got him to eat some algae flake.  Now he's a very active eater at feeding time and I'm not seeing any reduced polyp extension on any coral, including the green digi.

[DaveFason]

I would say things are looking ok.

[vlangel]

Unbelievable!  This tank looks better every time I look at it.

[markalot]

On 8/15/2017 at 9:05 PM, vlangel said:

Unbelievable!  This tank looks better every time I look at it.

 

Thanks Dawn.

 

We were busy Monday and it was worth it, one of the coolest things I've ever seen, just spectacular.

 

 

 

It's the last 10 seconds that make it so much different from a partial eclipse.  The sun is so bright that even when a sliver is showing it's bright and then, in the last 10 seconds, the lights go out and your heart skips a beat when you look up and see this black dot and the corona.  Simply fantastic.

 

I've been looking for videos that capture the experience and while not the best quality I think this one captures the moment and the loss of light the best.  THis is a 360 video so click and drag to move camera around.  I need one of these cameras!  

 

 

We debated how much horizon we wanted to see but ended up in a park with trees on three sides and I think this really helped us experience it better.  

 

Crescent shadows  below a tree just before totality.

 

and after

 

The next eclipse is relatively soon in 2024 so if you missed this one make plans to travel to the next one.

 

 

[Felicia]

Wow, Mark!  Those most recent photos are amazing!  This tank has really filled in!  I am amazed by the size of those SPS corals and the color on them!  That green slimer (Its a slimer right?) especially is just insane!  Shading is definitely a good problem to have!

 

Very cool eclipse photos too!  That's awesome that you got to see the totality.  It was only about 75% where I live, which was cool, but not nearly as cool as the total eclipse.  I bet that was amazing to see in person.

[markalot]

On 8/23/2017 at 1:41 AM, Felicia said:

Wow, Mark!  Those most recent photos are amazing!  This tank has really filled in!  I am amazed by the size of those SPS corals and the color on them!  That green slimer (Its a slimer right?) especially is just insane!  Shading is definitely a good problem to have!

 

Very cool eclipse photos too!  That's awesome that you got to see the totality.  It was only about 75% where I live, which was cool, but not nearly as cool as the total eclipse.  I bet that was amazing to see in person.

 

Nice to see you back Felicia!  I am following your new thread, hope things go smooth, as usual.

 

---

 

It's been a very busy summer with the son getting bit, the recovery (he's doing quite well) and son also starting college.   

 

I put the tank on auto pilot with minimal maintenance, deciding to stick to what I knew worked and was needed and doing everything else as I had time.

 

- I kept the skimmer cleaned and made sure it was skimming at a regular rate.

- Made sure Alk stayed as close to 7.0 as possible.

 

- Made sure I dosed the following every morning.

 

2 drops PhosphateRx
2 drops AF Vitality
2 drops MicroE

 

Everything else was done in the afternoon when I had time and sometimes skipped for a few days.

1 drop ProBioS
2 drops Pohls extra special
2 drops CaNO3

 

If I thought things looked off I would do a small 2 or 3 gallon water change but so far I've only done two of these.

 

I've tried to feed the tank coral food twice a week but there have been a few weeks where only a single feeding was done.

So far the only negative thing I've noticed is recession in deeply shaded areas. The big Valida base has receded and 2 branches of the Katropora RTN'ed back to branch crotches and stopped (this was weeks ago). 

 

You would think things might not look so hot but these are some of the best top down's this tank has produced.

 

Lokani

 

Katropora

 

 

The only new acro frag added in the last year.  Boring green, and then it started to grow,

 

 

Not getting enough light to be a deep purple IMO, but still looks great under blues.

 

The Other Katropora colony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[teenyreef]

Wow Mark, those are the best yet! The Katropora is spectacular. I'm glad you're summer has been going well after that tough start.

 

I can't remember, what salt are you using? 

[markalot]

54 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Wow Mark, those are the best yet! The Katropora is spectacular. I'm glad you're summer has been going well after that tough start.

 

I can't remember, what salt are you using? 

 

Thanks Teeny,

 

AquaForest Reef Salt in the medium size container (that my back can still manage).

[markalot]

FTS

 

[RollaJase]

Seriously, one of my favourite tanks of all time. Looks like you are doing everything right Mark .

[markalot]

On 9/1/2017 at 2:20 AM, RollaJase said:

Seriously, one of my favourite tanks of all time. Looks like you are doing everything right Mark .

 

Thanks Jase.

 

So for a few months my alk container had been emptying before the calcium container.  I think most intelligent people would have quickly realized that the calcium doser was off but not me, nope.  Long story short, calcium was at 320, possibly a little bit lower.  I've been raising it back up and I've adjusted the doser so that it empties at the same rate (I could measure, but what's the fun in that?).    This helps explain why small water changes seemed to perk up the tank for a while.  

 

About the only  significant damage I see is with the cyphastrea which has started to die back significantly.  A few monties had odd coloration, the small frags of pocillopora I keep around were unhappy, and the lepastrea has poor polyp extension.  Acros and birds seemed unharmed though I had had dieback in deeply shaded areas.

 

Calcuim at 380 now and I plan to finish raising it today or tomorrow.   I'm always worried when I have to make a change because too fast can lead to all kinds of problems.  We shall see.

 

So I was in the tank to clean the weeds (Xenia) and remove under performing acros to make room for ones I can enjoy.  The brown for a year acro is in the sump, soon to go back to the store.  I got rid of the frag rack on the left but I can't go totally rackless so I broke a piece off one of my rock frag shelf thingies so it fit on the left and crammed the monties in around it.  

 

Pictures do a better job explaining.

 

Hawkins now has a spot up front.

 

Frag/monti mess

 

Here's the odd discoloration of the green monti cap that may be related to low calcium.  

 

The Red Robin got lost behind and below Katropora #2 and shaded by some Xenia.  It's now out in front where it can recover and maybe get some red on it.  Maybe?  

 

 

I need more of this little guy, whatever kind of acro it is.  

 

The giant super healthy Frogspawn.

 

FTS.  Color is noticeably off after maintenance.  Hopefully it was just me disturbing just about everything while I moved and trimmed.  Now to wait a month for it to color back up.

 

[RollaJase]

Even with the low Alk the tank still looks amazing Mark. Discoloration on montis (graying towards the center, not on growth edges) has been attributed to low potassium or nitrate spikes. My green monti started going patchy as if it were dying off but I found it to just be colour loss. After some research I found the ULNS guys attribute this to low potassium. I picked up a test kit and mine was indeed low (310-320ppm), after raising the potassium to about 380-390ppm the monti bounced back in a matter of weeks with no other changes.

[markalot]

40 minutes ago, RollaJase said:

Even with the low Alk the tank still looks amazing Mark. Discoloration on montis (graying towards the center, not on growth edges) has been attributed to low potassium or nitrate spikes. My green monti started going patchy as if it were dying off but I found it to just be colour loss. After some research I found the ULNS guys attribute this to low potassium. I picked up a test kit and mine was indeed low (310-320ppm), after raising the potassium to about 380-390ppm the monti bounced back in a matter of weeks with no other changes.

 

Interesting.  Low calcium this time, not Alk, but I think your point is still valid.

 

I dose potassium nearly every day, I despise that damn test kit though.  If it doesn't color back up I will increase to 2 drops daily.   Red cap looks fantastic, but hidden in the back.  I need to break a chunk off and move it somewhere where it will shade the Xenia. 

[mitten_reef]

On 8/27/2017 at 6:02 PM, markalot said:

 

Nice to see you back Felicia!  I am following your new thread, hope things go smooth, as usual.

 

---

 

It's been a very busy summer with the son getting bit, the recovery (he's doing quite well) and son also starting college.   

 

I put the tank on auto pilot with minimal maintenance, deciding to stick to what I knew worked and was needed and doing everything else as I had time.

 

- I kept the skimmer cleaned and made sure it was skimming at a regular rate.

- Made sure Alk stayed as close to 7.0 as possible.

 

- Made sure I dosed the following every morning.

 

2 drops PhosphateRx
2 drops AF Vitality
2 drops MicroE

 

Everything else was done in the afternoon when I had time and sometimes skipped for a few days.

1 drop ProBioS
2 drops Pohls extra special
2 drops CaNO3

 

If I thought things looked off I would do a small 2 or 3 gallon water change but so far I've only done two of these.

 

I've tried to feed the tank coral food twice a week but there have been a few weeks where only a single feeding was done.

So far the only negative thing I've noticed is recession in deeply shaded areas. The big Valida base has receded and 2 branches of the Katropora RTN'ed back to branch crotches and stopped (this was weeks ago). 

 

You would think things might not look so hot but these are some of the best top down's this tank has produced.

 

Lokani

 

Katropora

 

 

The only new acro frag added in the last year.  Boring green, and then it started to grow,

 

 

Not getting enough light to be a deep purple IMO, but still looks great under blues.

 

The Other Katropora colony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any other names you could to this post, especially the pink/yellow one next to Kat #2?

[RollaJase]

9 hours ago, markalot said:

 

Interesting.  Low calcium this time, not Alk, but I think your point is still valid.

 

I dose potassium nearly every day, I despise that damn test kit though.  If it doesn't color back up I will increase to 2 drops daily.   Red cap looks fantastic, but hidden in the back.  I need to break a chunk off and move it somewhere where it will shade the Xenia. 

Oops, sorry, I meant Calcium. I'm using the Salifert kit. It's a pain to clean but it works well enough.