bluebastion's 20g SPS M-Tank (glass)

[Needreefunds]

Some fantastic growth Blue!! Tank looks amazing. Great job Sir, congrats.

 

OK, time for me to go check out your "wifes tank" thread!

 

BTW, do you still run the web cam? I haven't seen it yet.

[SPS20]

WOW!!! 10-15ML Per day. I dont know if Im dosing correctly then be/c I dose about 2 1/2ML of Bionic1-2 every week. I starting to have a bunch of SPS now. Is that too little dosing? Tell you the truth I dont think im dosing correctly then if you are dosing 10-15 per day. I check my calcium level with the calcium is at 450+-. Maybe I dont know what the hell im doing with the dosing and testing part.

 

Any info will be great. I dont want my sps to die. I know when you calcium level is good your will get coraline growth on glass and back but so far nothing yet for me.

 

Im running a Finnex 19" 150Watt and 14K Phoenix buln.

 

Any info/help

 

Thanks BB

 

Thats really not all that crazy for a tank stocked with stonies. Keep in mind in small tanks like that the ratio of coral biomass to water volume is alot higher than it would be in a big reef tank, and thus, you will end up supplementing more calcium per gallon of tank volume than in larger tanks. I dose 15ml of B-Ionic to my 20L every day, and I still have to give it a "bump" every week with seachem reef calcium just to keep up.

 

When some SPS tanks get REALLY packed, you can run a calcium reactor, drip kalkwasser, and STILL have to supplement to keep up. SPSes grow crazy fast (as far as corals go) and the proof is in the demands they place on the dissolved calcium supply.

 

Also, keep in mind that the higher you maintain your Alk and Ca+ concentrations, the faster your corals will likely grow (to a point, of course) and also the faster calcium precipitates out of solution. So, its kind of like a rubber ceiling. The more you put in, the more you need to put in to maintain. (Once again, to a point. Don't blame me if you cause a precipitation event cause you got overzealous lol)

 

The goal is to supplement however much you need to to keep your levels at NSW concentrations. If you don't have a whole lot of stony corals calcifying away, well, you won't need to add much calcium to compensate. Just keep your Alk and Ca+ where they should be, and you should be fine. Make sure you keep testing regularly once you find the "right" dose, because the total calcium demand of your system will likely change over time as your corals grow. If you aren't always adjusting the amounts that you supplement, you might end up slowly pushing your system out of whack. As they say, don't supplement what you can't test for.

 

Oh, and as for coralline, don't take coralline growth as too much of a strong indicator, IMO. There are some critters that eat the stuff that can ride in on your live rock, so you may have rapid coralline growth that isn't apparent. Also, it doesn't grow as well in whiter light, such as 10k bulbs, while most corals grow best under 10k light. Coralline algae grows really well under just actinic light, while most corals wouldn't fare well in such conditions.

 

Edit: Haburt150, I just looked at your tank build thread, and it appears that you don't have anywhere near as heavy a focus on stony corals as this tank. That would easily explain the huge difference in calcium demand. Your rics and other softies use barely any calcium, while the SPSes in this tank's thread are large, multitudinous, and growing fast. (hehe i said multitudinous) Tanks with lots of soft corals are much easier to keep stable than stony tanks, since hard corals are so effective at extracting minerals from the water, which you ultimately have to replace.

[bluebastion]

It's up right now. You'll need to use something other than IE to see it though.

 

http://www.bluebastion.endoftheinternet.org/myreef.html

 

Click on the link.

[InLimbo87]

Tank looks amazing! Keep up the good work

[SPS20]

Tank looks amazing! Keep up the good work

 

Agreed. Its a stunning tank. Keep the photos coming!

[AcroporaLokani]

Not sure. I think it just might be the stability of the tank. I say this because I've read on the *other* forum that the Phoenix bulb has more PAR than the Reefluxes. Which would make me think it's not the bulb. I will say that after I have fragged a branch off my colonies, it only takes about 2 days for it to heal over, color and flesh!

 

 

 

Yea i have noticed that on an orange monti cap i have under 10k 70 watt lighting that when i frag it the flesh grows over the skeleton in under a week.

[Caesar777]

I have to say, I LOVE those filter-feeding crabs! I used to collect guys like that at the beach in San Diego when I was a young'n. Ohh, memories!

[lgreen]

bluebastion,

 

YOUR TANK IS AWESOME!

[Caesar777]

Yeah, for SPS, it's pretty cool.

 

LG...It's a SINUS INFECTION WTF!!

[lgreen]

LG...It's a SINUS INFECTION WTF!!

 

THANKS FOR THE UPDATE!

[Caesar777]

 

Now I'm going to go stab someone.

[haburt510]

BB.

How often do you do water changes?

[Weetabix7]

Hey blue, wouldja like to jump in on this?

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t=0&start=0

 

I know you gots some good stuff!

Tried to PM you, but your box was full...

[bluebastion]

Wowzas. Didn't know ppl were posting. Thanks for the diggs

BB. How often do you do water changes?

Longest is usually ~2 weeks... I try to be good though and do 10% once a week. Most of the time I'm a bad man.

Hey blue, wouldja like to jump in on this?http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t=0&start=0I know you gots some good stuff!Tried to PM you, but your box was full...

I haven't put much thought into it yet.. I think I might, just need to talk to the wifey about allocating funds. Money is tight right now since she started her clinicals for nursing and had to downgrade from full time work to 15 hours per week if she's lucky. Hope that makes sense.

[Caesar777]

Tank looks awesome, man. 10% every week, or even every two weeks, is great. When I had my 26, I'd do a 5-gal water-cooler-jug every week or two, whenever I didn't hate reefing so much as to avoid it. (I do it full-time, after all--LOL!) Usually, thus, it was every two weeks, but got down to 1/2-2/3 jug every week. Despite having few fish, I'd always get tons of crud every time. DETRITUS, MY MORTAL ENEMY!

 

[bluebastion]

You know I "work" at an LFS store a few hours a week for store credit. I can sympathize that it makes daily/weekly maintenance of a personal tank, feel more like work. I know this might sound really bad, but I actually don't do much gravel siphoning... I siphon most of my tank's "bottom" water, and skim the rest. I really don't want to disturb the substrate.

[Caesar777]

Yeah, and your tank looks awesome despite it. Me, I can't stand nasty substrate. But then, I only kept about a 1/4" sandbed...yet I'd still gravel-vac every time I wc'd.

[bluebastion]

Yeah, and your tank looks awesome despite it.

 

 

Thanks Flo

[bluebastion]

Well since I know some people are still interested in my tank updates (thanks guys ) I decided to do another photo update...

 

Here's a pic of some SPS growth... I still can't believe that Rose Millepora was grown from a one branch 1-2" frag received a little over a year ago... this hobby still amazes me.

 

 

In the pic *above*, also pay attention the the blue tort in the back...

 

Now check out how close the colony is to the top of the water...

 

 

When the return pumps are off, about a centimeter of the tallest branch sticks out of the water. My goal is for all my branching SPS colonies to get that high in the tank before I will have to break it down in 2 years. (yes, unfortunately I have a count down for the break down of this tank.. if, God willing, it makes it that far).

 

 

Here's a random pic which I'll name "The Stare Down"...

 

 

The perc and the six line were actually just looking at each other... no aggression involved.

 

 

Lastly, it's about time for one of these

 

FTS 11.30.2007

[PurpleUP]

quite impressive. hopefully, I can get the same growth rate once my tank gets in gear.

[Weetabix7]

Holy Cow blue, that is one of the most unbelievable tanks I've looked at in a while!

Absolutely gorgeous, I love it!

**DROOL**

[bluebastion]

quite impressive. hopefully, I can get the same growth rate once my tank gets in gear.

Thanks, it's no tank of the month on that other reef forum, but I love it just the same.

Holy Cow blue, that is one of the most unbelievable tanks I've looked at in a while!Absolutely gorgeous, I love it!**DROOL**

Thanks Weetie.. please pm your paypal address so I can contribute to the Christmas shipping relief fund.

[PurpleUP]

Thanks, it's no tank of the month on that other reef forum, but I love it just the same.

 

You're in my Fav Five!

[Caesar777]

Wait, why do you plan to tear it down in two years? (I'm sorry, I haven't read the entire thread. )

[bluebastion]

Wait, why do you plan to tear it down in two years? (I'm sorry, I haven't read the entire thread. )

 

 

My wife will be done w/ nursing clinicals by then... after that we move. I'm a FL boy, originally from Jacksonville, FL. My wife is from Texas. We met here while at college, which by the way we are alum w/ Weetie We both hate it here in South Carolina... it's like living in a time warp in more ways than one.

 

So, that said... we have a count down to moving, and plan to move immediately after she's done with school to J-ville. I really can't wait to get back. My plan is to set up a tank ~3-6 months before we move down there in Jax at my dad's place so that I can keep the colonies for my next *BIG* project.