Adventures in keeping a SPS reef

[Llorgon]

Hello everyone. Welcome to my tank journal! Heads up this might be a bit of a slow build, but hopefully it will be worth it!

 

So here's what I am working with:
75 gallon tank with ghost overflow
trigger systems amethyst sump
Bubble Magnus doser
reef octopus int 110 skimmer
2x pulse 2
varioS-4 return pump
wave engine
apex controller
SB reef lights
ATK auto top off

 

I still need to pick up dosing containers, heaters and ATO container.

 

This will be reset number 3 with this tank. Only the lights and skimmer are going to be used from the previous builds. Everything else is brand new! I'm going to admit the previous iterations of this tank have all ended in failure so a SPS tank is going to be quite the task. All the previous iterations of the tank ended with corals slowly dying after a few months of growth as gha took over. Honestly this might be the last attempt at corals. Fish I can keep alive no problem, corals and snails not so much.

 

Hopefully you guys can help me have a successful tank.

 

 

[Llorgon]

It looks like I'll have to do some changes to the plumbing. I had a question about connecting the planing to the sump. The sump came with 2 tube connectors. The pipe from the tank fits snugly into the connector. Do I need to glue them together? The top of the connector does unscrew.

Probably going to have some issues with my equipment cabinet being on one side and cables not reaching far enough. Right now if I have the skimmer in the first compartment of the sump it won't reach to the cabinet. Same issue with the pulse 2 on the far side.

[Llorgon]

I completely overlooked the fact that I needed the connector cables for the wave engine. I tried to order 3, but they only had 1 in stock and won't be getting more until mid Jan. So I am going to have to look for another place to order them.

 

I did order some dosing containers to go with the doser. Would it be better to keep the doser and the containers in the stand or have them in the equipment cabinet?

 

I still need to pickup some heaters, a power bar, refugium light(any recommendations there?) and a ATO container.

 

I currently have glass lids. Would there be any benefit to switching to the mesh lid?

[mitten_reef]

2 hours ago, Llorgon said:

I completely overlooked the fact that I needed the connector cables for the wave engine. I tried to order 3, but they only had 1 in stock and won't be getting more until mid Jan. So I am going to have to look for another place to order them.

 

I did order some dosing containers to go with the doser. Would it be better to keep the doser and the containers in the stand or have them in the equipment cabinet?

 

I still need to pickup some heaters, a power bar, refugium light(any recommendations there?) and a ATO container.

 

I currently have glass lids. Would there be any benefit to switching to the mesh lid?

dosing pumps and containers can be in the cabinet, as long as you have enough line length to reach the sump chamber that you’re dosing into. I think placement of these are rather aesthetic than functional, but I also don’t have a sump system yet. 
 

mesh lid = better light penetration/less reflection. Light in the tank with mesh, or a lot of it could be on your ceiling from reflection. Glass does offer less evaporation.  

[Llorgon]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:48 PM, mitten_reef said:

dosing pumps and containers can be in the cabinet, as long as you have enough line length to reach the sump chamber that you’re dosing into. I think placement of these are rather aesthetic than functional, but I also don’t have a sump system yet. 
 

mesh lid = better light penetration/less reflection. Light in the tank with mesh, or a lot of it could be on your ceiling from reflection. Glass does offer less evaporation.  

Once the dosing containers come I will have to see where I can fit them and if I have enough line.

 

I was thinking the mesh lid would be better as well. Now to try and find a couple that will fit.

[Llorgon]

Next up for the tank is the plumbing. I can reuse some parts of the old setup but the main drain and emergency drain will have to be redone. Any tips on plumbing those? I've never done plumbing before.

 

Here is what I am working with.

[Llorgon]

Been a long time since I updated this. There have been a few setbacks.

Took a long time to finish the stand due to covid and not being able to go to my grandparents place to finish it.

Stand is finally done and had plumbing issues. Had to pretty much redo all the plumbing. Had to order some of the pieces online since there was nothing in town.

Once the stand and plumbing was done I then had issues with the varios 4 pump and the wave engine. The pump would shut off randomly. The issue ended up being I had to create triggers and presets for the pump in order for it to run 24/7.

I'm now at a point where the tank is filled, wave engine is controlling the octo pulse 2's and the varios4 return pump. Apex is up and running. I need to adjust the salinity(added too much salt after filling) then the cycling can begin!

I still need to find a good refugium light. Other than that things are coming along well.

[Llorgon]

Cycle is coming along nicely. Diatoms have begun in a few places. Haven't tested for ammonia yet, but will probably do that tonight.

 

Still having issues with the atk. Can't get the pump to run. Debating on trying to get it fixed or just buying a tunze since they just seem to work and I have had so many problems with the atk.

 

So far, not very impressed with the apex. The salinity probe is crazy off even after calibrating. It's saying 42 and my refractomer and hanna checker both say 35.

 

I also seem to be having issues keeping tank at temp. I have a 200w and 300w heater. 200w on at 77 off at 78. 300w on at 78.2 and off at 79. They are both always on and fail to keep the tank at 77 if only one is on. Have I messed something up in the settings?

 

Still need a refugium light. Any suggestions on a good one?

[Llorgon]

Took my atk pump to the lfs and confirmed the pump is dead
So now I need to decide if I want to get a new pump or a new ato unit and get away from the atk

 

Looking at the tank this morning I see diatoms and a few green spots. Which is kind of odd. I haven't seen anything green at the diatom stage before. Something I should be concerned with?

[Llorgon]

Tank is coming along well so far. Diatoms are starting to fade away. Seeing more and more green on the rocks.

 

Last Tuesday I added 5 cerith snails. So far all are still alive.

I picked up a Tunze ATO to replace the ATK and got that setup this weekend so no more manual top offs!

 

I added the yellow tang from the temporary tank on yesterday. So far it seems to be doing fine.

 

So far not sure on stocking other than the yellow tang and probably a lawn mower blenny since I always seem to end up with lots of gha.

 

Open to suggestions on stocking!

 

Thinking of seeding the tank with pods. When is it too early to do that or should I be fine once the tank is cycled?

[Llorgon]

Tank as it is today.

1 yellow tang

5 ceriths

 

 

[DevilDuck]

How do you like those Reef Octopus wav emakers? I've been looking into the same setup Hydros Wave Engine with 2 wavemakers.

[Llorgon]

15 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

How do you like those Reef Octopus wav emakers? I've been looking into the same setup Hydros Wave Engine with 2 wavemakers.

So far so good. Seem to get good flow with them. I currently have them set to max 70%. Being able to point them in any direction is nice.

 

I don't have any corals yet so ask again in a few months and I should have a better answer!

[Llorgon]

Cats don't care about the fish tank, but our labradoodle puppy is fascinated by it.

 

 

[Llorgon]

Ok. Been awhile since I updated this thread. Summer has been busy!

 

Tank is up and running and we'll into the ugly phase. No gha in the main tank, but the refugium is looking pretty gross. Wondering if I should clean that out or not?

 

Current stock is a yellow Tang and some snails. I tried adding a baby one spot foxface, but it never ate and died shortly after.

 

The corals I have added are seeing a bit of growth, but mostly are stagnant and losing colour. Pretty much anything green is no longer green. Any ideas on what to do there?

[Rehype]

Whats your water parameters and what are you running in your sump for mechanical/Biological Filtration?

[Llorgon]

Alk: 9.3
Cal: 450 - admittedly not 100% sure on this one. I have been having issues with the new salifert test kit. Doesn't seem to change colours when the directions say it should.
Mag: 1350
Nitrate: 1ppm
Phos: 0.02ppm
salinity: 1.025
temp: 78

[gena]

I don't know what the previous iterations of your tank were (coral stock list) but you mentioned they ended in failure.  SPS is tough, in my opinion.  If it doesn't work out for you there's always an all softy tank.  It's much more forgiving and just as beautiful if you ask me.

 

I'm curious what your water source is?  Tap?  Distilled? RODI?   SPS, and their needs, is not my forte.  So I'll leave that to the experts.  Hoping my question about water source might help the experts out.

 

As far as GHA, if it's in the sump, I'd let it be.  It's doing work for you.  Just keep pulling out the clumps :).

[gena]

Oh and your fish-curious pup is adorable!!!!

[Llorgon]

13 minutes ago, gena said:

I don't know what the previous iterations of your tank were (coral stock list) but you mentioned they ended in failure.  SPS is tough, in my opinion.  If it doesn't work out for you there's always an all softy tank.  It's much more forgiving and just as beautiful if you ask me.

 

I'm curious what your water source is?  Tap?  Distilled? RODI?   SPS, and their needs, is not my forte.  So I'll leave that to the experts.  Hoping my question about water source might help the experts out.

 

As far as GHA, if it's in the sump, I'd let it be.  It's doing work for you.  Just keep pulling out the clumps :).

There has been a couple versions of this tank.
Attempt 1: was going strong for 6 months then a powerhead melted and killed everything in the tank
Attempt 2: dinos killed all the coral
Attempt 3: got overrun with gha then I had to take it down to move.

 

In total this tank has never been running for more than 7 months. So doing an all SPS tank is a bit ambitious and will probably end up being some sort of mixed tank in the end.

 

Water source is RODI. 0 tds as of my last water change on Sunday.

12 minutes ago, gena said:

Oh and your fish-curious pup is adorable!!!!

haha thanks! He's finally getting used to it, but I'm sure the fascination with it will come back when I get some more fish in there.

[DevilDuck]

4th time's the charm! I've been following since I wanted to get into SPS also. They don't seem to live in my tank.

 

PS - I just became a new doodle owner last month. He's a 12 week old mini goldendoodle:

 

 

 

 

[Llorgon]

I'm hoping 4th times the charm!

 

Cute dog! Hopefully he's not as much of a handful as ours was at that age. It was at the 7 month mark where ours started to act like a real dog.

[Llorgon]

So it seems like my colouration problem might be from waiting too long between water changes. I did a water change a week and a bit ago and my elkhorn has started to turn green again!

[Llorgon]

Currently working on a fish stocking list for the tank.

 

Right now there is the yellow tang in there. Hopefully he won't be a pain in the ass for adding other fish.

So far what I am thinking is:
Yellow tang
pair of clowns, wife likes clowns, maybe get some fancy ones
coral beauty
lawnmower blenny
 

I'd like to add a one spot fox face as well, but that might be pushing it on stocking?

[Llorgon]

Starting to see some gha in the display tank. Been removing it by hand when I see it. 

 

The cyano in the sand is slowly starting to go away which is nice.

 

Ordered 20 ceriths and one fighting conch to add to the cleanup crew. 

 

The two green corals which were fading are back to being nice and green after a few water changes. Unfortunately I lost the red plating montipora and a green acropora.  Going to try and get the remaining corals happy and growing before adding more. 

 

I have been looking into ordering fish. I setup a qt tank on the weekend and ordered an acclimation chamber just in case the tang ends up being a jerk.