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kdrof's IM20 Reef Tank (Shutdown)


Kdrof

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Hello, I have been working on my latest build over the last 8 months. It started slow as I wanted to cycle the tank much longer than I had in the past. I actually stopped coming to the site often when I first got the tank going, reason being I get too excited seeing others tanks and it makes me want to rush. So, I told myself I would get the cycle going and separate myself for a bit. So far, it worked out very well. :)

 

I wrote up a bunch of details below.

 

Goals/Inspiration:

My main goal for this system is to simulate a blend of a natural reef crest, upper reef slope, and back-reef slope. The system will be mainly SPS dominant with zoanthid, yuma/ricordea, and acan gardens in lower flow areas of the tank on the sand bed.

 

My inspiration for this tank came from many builds on this site that I have been reading over the years. Also, from the ocean itself. I want this tank to look as natural possible.

 

Aquascape:

I wanted the aquascape to be two islands. When snorkeling in the Caribbean, I saw many islands with sand in between and thought it was quite beautiful. I also like the natural negative space in tanks that I have seen, so I wanted a lot of sand and swimming space for fish. Lastly, since I was into art growing up, I wanted to take eyes all over the tank and not focus on one spot. To do this, I created highs and lows between the rock formations. Also, I wanted one formation to disappear behind the other formation. In the future, I would love to add a magnetic rock on the back wall of the tank with coral to add more depth.

 

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Left side:

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Right side:

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Tank Specifications:

Tank: Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion 20 gallon
Sump: All-in-one system in rear of tank
Skimmer: ESHOPPS Nano Skimmer

Filtration: 2x InTank media baskets running Poly Bio Marine filter floss, with Purigen and Chemi-pure.

Rock: Live Real Reef Rock

Sand: Arag Alive Fiji Pink live sand
Return Pump: Tunze Silence 1073.008 with two Innovative Marine AUQA Gadget Spin Stream
Display Light: Ecotech Marine Radion XR30w Pro on an Ecotech RMS single Radion tank mount.
Controller:
Neptune Systems Apex Controller (Temp & pH)
Flow: 1x VorTech MP10wQD
Dosing: Utilize a Neptune DOS for a constant water change. Use another DOS to dose the minimal amount of Calk and Alk needed that water changes cannot keep up with.
Top Off: Tunze Osmolator 3155

Heaters: 2x Eheim Jager TruTemp 50 Watt

 

Maintenance:

Test Water Parameters - Daily/Weekly (Daily after new additions)
Change Filter Pad - Alternate Every 2-3 days
Check Continuous Water Change New SW and Old SW bins - Weekly
Check B-ionic Two-part Alk and Calc containers - Weekly
Clean Glass – Bi-weekly
Siphon Sand – Bi-weekly
Blow Detritus off rocks – Bi-weekly
Change Phosguard – Monthly
Change Chemipure Elite – Monthly
Water Change – Continuously
Clean Sump – Bi-monthly

 

Water Movement:

Vortech - Currently run one Vortech MP10 on Reef Crest mode at about 50%.

 

Feeding:

I feed very minimal. Only what is needed. I feed only what will be consumed and not sit in the tank and cause unwanted nutrients. I feed each fish a few pellets or Mysis each day.

 

I do not use any special products other than constant water changes with my Apex DOS. I had thought of running an ULNS system but have been having success thus far. If I run into nutrient issues in the future, I may look into that. Also, I may look into some coral additives from the Zeo-vit line in the future.

 

Lighting Schedule:

Photoperiod - 1pm-10pm

  • 1p-2p ramp up lights to 35% intensity
  • 2p-7p 35% intensity
  • 7p-10p ramp down lights from 35%-0%
  • I only run the red and green LEDs at 5% as I read this can cause algae growth.
  • Also, the tank does get some natural daylight from the windows in my office.

Parameters:

Specific gravity: 1.025

pH – 7.9-8.0

Calcium – 440-450 ppm

Alkalinity – 8-9 dKH

Magnesium: 1350 ppm

Temp: 78

 

Inhabitants:

Fish/Invertebrates:

 

Ocellaris Clownfish

Amphiprion ocellaris

Helfrichi Firefish

Nemateleotris helfrichi

Orange Sea Star

Echinaster sp.

Sunburst Rose Bubble Tip (Bulb) Anenome

Entacmaea quadricolor

Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab

Paguristes cadenati

Bumble Bee Snail

Engina sp.

 

Coral:

 

Aussie Bushy Green Acropora tenuis

Acropora tenuis

Indonesian Branching Acropora gomezi

Acropora gomezi

Fiji Bushy Acropora valida

Acropora valida

Indonesian Bushy Acropora tenuis

Acropora Tenuis

Aussie Cultured Acropora

Acropora sp.

Tabling Acropora Jakarta

Acropora caroliniana

ORA Aquacultured Hawkin's Blue echinata

Acropora echinata

ORA Aquacultured Joe the Coral Acropora

Acropora sp.

ORA Aquacultured Red Planet Tabling Acropora

Acropora sp.

ORA Orange Capricornis Montipora

Montipora capricornis

ReefGen Legacy Burger's Birdnest Seriatopora

Seriatopora sp.

 

Background:

I started this tank and let it sit with live rock and live sand for 3 months. I only added RODI water every few days due to evaporation.

 

I then added a clownfish and waited one month. I then added a Helfrichi firefish and let the tank sit another 3 months. I also added some crabs and snails around this time as well.

 

Next, I added the orange sea star.

 

Then… I started adding coral several weeks later.

 

I hope to add a shrimp and some schooling fish in the future. I also would like my clownfish to host my anenome. :D

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and thank you all for inspiring me in this wonderful hobby. I appreciate any feedback and help. Thanks for looking.

 

A lot has changed since the pictures of the aquascape above. I will post some updated full tank shots below.

 

I got a chance to take some current pictures of the tank this evening... A little bit different from when it was live rock only. :)

 

The lighting is at its highest intensity simulating daylight:

 

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Here are a few as the lighting ramps down:

 

 

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  • Like 5
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Are you using the radion xr15 or xr30 and what mode? I'm currently using radiant. Your tank looks amazing!!

 

Hi Dirk, I am using the XR30w radion pro. I apologize, I accidentally put 15 in my original post. Was a lot to type up at once and made a mistake.

 

As for Radion mode, I created a custom program.

 

Here is the program map:

Radion%20Map.png

 

I have blues and purples as it ramps up in the morning. Here is the first point on the map:

Ramp%20Up.png

 

As for the 5 hour daylight period, here is the map at its highest points:

Daylight.png

 

Here is the ramp down point in the evening:

Ramp%20Down.png

 

 

Thanks for asking. Also, thank you for the kind words :) I am trying!

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awesome thanks! so your greens and reds never go passed 5% through the whole schedule? i might have to try that

Correct. I have read a couple times that reds and greens can cause algae. Most bulbs ran on other lighting technologies do not have these, so it sounded legitimate. Also, when I added red and green to the tank, it didn't really give me the halide or T5 look that I enjoy.

 

If anyone else has experience on this topic I would be interested to hear your feedback as well.

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How are you continuously changing water? What automatically removes salt water from the display?

Hi there uwdanno,

 

I have a Neptune DOS unit. It has the two dosing motors. The first motor (Left) is connected to a bin of new salt water (NSW) that is constantly mixed with a powerhead. This goes through the DOS unit into the tank on the left side.

 

The second motor (Right) is pulling water out of the tank from the right side of sump into an empty bin of old salt water (OSW)

 

See below:

DOS.jpg

 

Here are the dosing lines of NSW running to the tank and OSW running from the tank.

Left side:

Left%20Sump.jpg

 

Right side:

Right%20Sump.jpg

 

I then have them programmed to pull out or add 19 mL every 11 minutes over 24 hours which equates to 3785.4 mL (1 Gallon) per day.

 

OSW Program:

OSW%204_2%20Summary.png

 

NSW Program (Notice is starts five minutes after OSW):

NSW%204_1%20Summary.png

 

 

I have the OSW start 5 minutes before the NSW. I did this so the OSW is pulled out first, and NSW is put in second, just like a standard water change. I did not want to chance removing any of the brand new water before it is mixed with the tank water.

 

Apex Dashboard view of DOS unit:

DOS%20Dashboard%20Apex.png

 

This has allowed me to keep water parameters at target numbers and never change. I only test weekly to bi-weekly unless I add new coral. I then test daily to see if the new pieces take the levels down. If they end up doing so, I will just change a little bit more water out on a daily basis. Thus far, 1 gallon per day has been fine with all the Acropora I have in the tank.

 

The reason I set the Continuous Water Change system up was so I did not have to dose. I know that dosing isn't very difficult once dialed in, but has always been something I haven't enjoyed. With that said, the Red Sea Coral Pro salt that I use mixes at 1.025 and the levels of Ca, Alk, and Mg that I want the tank at. So not only does the water change keep the tank fresh with low nutrients, it constantly replenishes the trace minerals and Ca, Alk, and Mg.

 

This has also allowed me to simplify maintenance and only requires me to empty the OSW bin and refill the NSW bin approx every 20 days. I have two 20 gallon bins for the NSW and OSW. Since the tank is only 20 gallons, a standard 5% change each week did make parameters swing more than wanted when doing a standard water change. Also, when performing standard water changes I had to ensure the water was close to temp to not change the temperature of the tank drastically. With the continuous method, that is not required with the little amounts that are constantly replenished, the NSW bin does not have to be heated, just mixed constantly with the powerhead.

 

So all in all, it has simplified maintenance, eliminated dosing requirements, and 35% of water is changed a week allowing for super low nutrients in the tank. Since it is continuous, there is minimal to no parameter change and a constant clean system.

 

Let me know if this helps and if you would like more information.

 

Edit: I recently had to start dosing 2ml of Alkalinity and 4ml of Calcium as my tank grows out. So my dreams of absolutely no dosing is out the window slightly. I still think the water changes are keeping my dosing requirements to a minimum.

 

Thanks!

Kevin

  • Like 1
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Thanks!

 

I been thinking though options for an auto change system and hadn't thought about repurposing my bubble magus doser. This would be just like your dos with apex setup.

 

I'm doing this. I recently moved all my tank maintenance and wires through a wall and into a mini fish room. A nice big water station will be easy

 

Thanks for posting.

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Read through again... Red Sea Coral Pro is listed to mix at +11 dkh. Are you really getting 8-9dkh with it??

I see that it says it mixes as that on the container. It may be what my tank uses and the tank evens out at. I will test my NSW tomorrow and post back. If it indeed is 11, my tank must be balancing out at 8.9-9.2 with the1 gallon of 11 dkh added to it daily. I will let you know. :)

 

As far as your water change station, I just use two 20 gallon brute containers and they work perfect. If you have a dedicated room it sounds like that would work nicely. Also, some cheap breeder tanks would work nicely as well. Let me know what you decide. I would be interested to hear how it works for you. i have absolutely loved mine. Has made the hobby much more enjoyable maintenance wise and the tank seems very happy.

  • Like 1
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I see that it says it mixes as that on the container. It may be what my tank uses and the tank evens out at. I will test my NSW tomorrow and post back. If it indeed is 11, my tank must be balancing out at 8.9-9.2 with the1 gallon of 11 dkh added to it daily. I will let you know. :)

 

As far as your water change station, I just use two 20 gallon brute containers and they work perfect. If you have a dedicated room it sounds like that would work nicely. Also, some cheap breeder tanks would work nicely as well. Let me know what you decide. I would be interested to hear how it works for you. i have absolutely loved mine. Has made the hobby much more enjoyable maintenance wise and the tank seems very happy.

 

Danno,

It does indeed mix up over 11... was about 11.5..

 

So my tank has been sitting around 8.6-9 on the tests ran. So i would think I have found some sort of sweet spot and the tank is balancing out with the 11 dKH new saltwater added.

 

Nice find :) Gives me more of an idea of how much my tank consumes per day.

 

Thanks!

  • Like 1
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That makes sense. Thanks for checking.

 

It looks like if your NSW was the same Alk as the tank it wouldn't keep up. RSCP has all kinds of great elevated elements.

 

I have a bucket that I've avoided using for water changes because in large quantities it would drastically raise parameters. With your method of constant small changes it works great.

 

I've started to map out how to follow your method. My bubble magus doser can do 24 cycles per day so my changes will be larger than yours but still very small.

 

Hoping to implement this week. Thanks for the detailed walk through

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Little update:

 

My tank has been growing nicely. Since it has been growing, I have watched my Alk go down about .3 dKH per day and the Calc going down 2.5-3 ppm per day. With that said, I thought of doing more water changes and upping to 1.5-2 gallon per day (instead of 1 gallon) with the Continuous water change. After trying this for 2 days, I was about .1 dKH short so I backed it back down to 1 gallon per day and configured a DOS for Calk and Alk. I really did not want to get into dosing if at all possible, but thought that it would be best long term as the tank keeps growing out.

 

I was comfortable with the DOS since I use it for the water changes and it was very nice to update from APEX Fusion. I setup the Apex with ESV B-Ionic Two-part.

 

I setup the DOS to dose 3ml of Alk per day. I set the DOS to dose 4ml of Calc per day. I used JDieck's Reef Chemistry Calculator to get a rough estimate of daily increase for my size tank. I dosed manually yesterday. I dosed 2ml of Alk and 4ml of Calc. Alk stayed the same. Since I am currently sitting around 8-8.1 dKH Alkalinity, I wanted to raise it slightly so this is why I chose 3ml. I will test again in a day or two and if around 8.5-9 dKH, I will lower it back down to 2ml since I know this will sustain the Alk level and add the .3 dKH back into the tank that is used daily.

 

Hope not to confuse with my babbling :D

 

Oh yeah! Almost forgot, I also upped the lighting to 35% intensity.

  • Like 1
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I think that my Scarlet Reef Hermit thinks that it is an Acropora crab :D

 

I got a shot of him sitting in my ganulosa:

IMG_1075.jpg

 

 

Also, my clownfish swam through the bubble tip anemone the other evening. I hope he will go back and make it permanent.

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Wow, your tank is just beautiful. I have been considering getting the Apex DOS for water changes, and I think you may have just sold me. :-)

 

Thanks a lot, Fishstiks. :)

 

Regarding the DOS for water changes, it has been one of the best investments in the hobby. I check it every 2 weeks or so and add water/remove old water from holding bins. Again, I was hoping to not only ease maintenance and not have big water change parameters swings.. but I was also hoping to get away from dosing. Close, but still a small dosing requirement.

 

I was nervous to add what I needed to the New saltwater tank and essentially dose through water changes but I didn't want any precipitation or occur or to alter the Calc, Alk, and Mg in the NSW. At 1.025 Coral Pro salt is pretty high as it is.

 

Let me know if you have any questions with the setup or need any help :)

  • Like 1
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I wonder if you could keep up with parameters if you just add some ca and alk to your new salt water reservoir when you made a new batch. Crank it up to something like 13dkh.

 

I have more airline tubing on the way. Hopefully I can get my auto change setup this weekend

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Nice Danno, keep me posted. Was looking for a build thread of yours...

 

I thought about upping the new salt water to higher levels, but I know that the Coral pro salt runs high at 1.025 as it is... It also has to be somewhat balanced so I was a little nervous about altering the levels of the mix. I was going to do this and add 2 ml of Alk for instance per gallon so it dosed the 2ml I needed in the gallon water change per day... but then I thought that in my 20 gallon tank that 2ml will raise the dKH .3.... So I figured if I did that x20 (20 gallon new saltwater holding bin) that it would raise the dKH by 6... so since its 11.5ish I had never heard or did not know if anything negative could happen to the other parameters.. or dKH around 17.5.. So I figured it may be safer to just dose a minimal amount and also be able to up it or down it slightly if needed over time.... What do you all think?

 

P.S.... I think my math was correct... :D

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DIRK DIGGLER

Any pics updates? Love your tank. And more pics of your sunburst anemone!! Good find!
Oh what would be your recommendation on the intensity for my radion xr15w pro on my nuvo 20. Currently lps dominated with two rbtas. My rbtas are losing color and starting to turn darker brown/tan. Currently tank is at 55%. I'm thinking about bringing up to 60%

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Any pics updates? Love your tank. And more pics of your sunburst anemone!! Good find!Oh what would be your recommendation on the intensity for my radion xr15w pro on my nuvo 20. Currently lps dominated with two rbtas. My rbtas are losing color and starting to turn darker brown/tank. Currently tank is at 55%. I'm thinking about bringing up to 60%

Dirk,

I am out of town until middle of next week. I have my wife in tank maintenance mode currently. :) Actually, feeding the anemone, fish and changing the poly bio marine filter pads is all she will have to do. So happy all my automation gives me peace of mind during these times. When I get back, I hope that some of my colonies are coloring up since I recently increased my Lighting.. I had to recently adjust my Lighting as some of my colonies I had placed lower seem to have started browning slightly. I will get some pictures up then. Hope to take some macro lens shots. Also, I'll get some pictures of the sunburst at different times of day. It looks really awesome as the lights ramp down in the evening. :)

 

As far as your Lighting goes, I would ensure you do any changes slowly over a few weeks. The five percent should be okay. Just watch what happens for a few weeks before altering again. So for example, I recently got a ORA Joe the Coral frag. When I got it, it was slightly brown and not the bright green and blue it usually is. I moved the frag to my frag rack at the top of tank. It started coloring up within two weeks and looks incredible now and is growing like crazy. With that said, since I want to mount it on rock in permanent spot, I know I will have to up my lights to continue to have it remain at that color. When I got the frag it was on the sand and was not coloring up at all. So since some of my other colonies are browning slowly and a few inches down. I think it's safe to up the system 5%. Then watch for a few weeks and see if I need more. So I've learned to be pacient with this. One change will alter something else that could be happy currently. And some of it will be placement changes if everything else is happy and one inhabitant isn't. Hope that makes sense. Let me know your feedback on that. I'll get some pictures of the Joe when I get home as well it's like neon green now with blue corallite ends and green polyps. Also, as always make sure water quality is on point as changes and clean water will allow more light to penetrate to corals/anemone.

 

Thanks again and let me know how it goes for you.

 

Damn! Nice tank!

Lostsol,

Thanks a lot Pal! I'll get some more pics up soon for you all :)

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Hey bud.

 

I set up my auto change system with my bubble magus and its a no go. Flow is only 1.3 ml/min. Way too low.

 

I have a couple 50ml peristaltic pumps ordered. Confident they will provide the flow I need to make this happen.

 

I'm also happy that my doser is free'd up to do.... dosing again :)

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Ah nice. Sorry to hear that. Yeah, I think mine is doing like 12 ml/min speed on the pump and normally runs for just under 3 minutes each change. It does 29 ml each dose.

 

See below:

CWC%20Dosing.png

 

Let me know how the peristaltic pumps work. I think the bubble magus would have to run constantly and that wouldnt be good on the pump health. Keep me posted! :)

  • Like 1
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Hey all,

 

Came back from my business trip. All was perfect before I left. My wife was watching the tank. I had a few losses and I think I found out why....

 

My Acropora granulosa seemed to have limited polyp extension before I left. Everything else looked fine. Since this coral was a light blue/white color, it started to die and my wife didnt notice it as the color did not change much. I came back and the coral had completely RTN'ed and was essentially dead in the tank for several days. I think a nutrient spike occurred and caused 3 other of my colonies to RTN. When I saw this, I pulled the colonies from my tank, tried a dip and superglue trick that had worked for me in previous tanks, but it was very tough because of the colony sizes. I immediately did a two gallon water change and checked my Ca, Alk, and Mg. These all looked fine. I changed out my filter pads which my wife had been doing like normal. She was not overfeeding either. The reason I am thinking it was a nutrient based cause was because I know my temperature did not change, my lighting schedule change was fine for a decent period of time, and on my frag rack and the glass was some longer algae that I had not seen in the tank before. I think the nutrient spike allowed it to grow and the increase in lighting may have assisted the growth as well. I then bumped my water changes up to 2 gallons per day.

 

So with all of that said, I lost 4 pieces. The remaining 12 look happy as can be. :closedeyes:

 

I checked my nitrates and phosphates this morning. They were both minimal (Phosphates undetectable, Nitrates 1-2.5). I don't want to make too many changes at once, so I don't want to alter my light schedule just yet.

 

I have been researching RTN and I see a lot of people attribute it to rapid temp change, Alk/Ca swings, Intense lighting, and nutrient based issues. What do you all think of my scenario and what is your experience with this?

 

Thanks!

 

Btw Dirk... Ill get some more pictures this evening/tonight of the Sunburst RBTA.

 

Thanks again everyone!

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Dirk - Here are a few of the Sunburst. I am going to try and get some with the moonlights. It looks amazing under those.

 

Sunburst.png

 

Sunburst2.png

 

 

Ill try to get the Sunburst RBTA under moonlights soon :)

  • Like 4
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Sorry for your loss on some of your sps. I have zero experience with sps so hopefully others can chime in. Your sunburst bta still looks amazing! Can't wait to see more pics. So kdrof just an update on my btas. Currently approaching two weeks into my 4 week acclimation period. Started at 55% and now it's a 59%. Colors are starting to come back. May stop at 60% for a week or two and see how that goes.

Do you feel like keeping the greens and reds at 5% has helped so far in keeping algae in check?

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