Roger's 50G Frag Tank

[1.0reef]

I saw some BA mushies on RC, colored up from brown ones. They were jawbreaker quality!

[TheKleinReef]

I saw some BA mushies on RC, colored up from brown ones. They were jawbreaker quality!

Ewe. Soft corals.... I can't remember the last time I bought a soft coral. Hah

[BadCrab]

Does anyone use educators I their return lines? I saw them on tidal gardens and was wondering if its something I could use to increase flow without adding pumps in the tank.

 

eductors are awesome. Increase your flow for no heat, no electricity, and minimal space requirement? Yes please.

[1.0reef]

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zoa-discussion-club-zoa/98009-lions-zoa-paly-collection.html

#won

No questions asked

[TheKleinReef]

 

eductors are awesome. Increase your flow for no heat, no electricity, and minimal space requirement? Yes please.

They'll be okay with my pump size? Don't they need to be kind of overpressured? (For lack of a better word)

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zoa-discussion-club-zoa/98009-lions-zoa-paly-collection.html

#won

No questions asked

 

Annnnnnnd we're back to "ewe soft coral"

I'll forever be an sps (and a few lps) guy.

[buddythelion]

HAHAHA that's my thread.

 

Why not do mixed? I like sticks too.

[TheKleinReef]

I could. But 2x250w halides on a 12" deep over filtered tank doesn't sound z/p friendly.

 

And For some reason I can't get them to grow ever. Even in my 29 they won't spread....

 

But I can get sticks to grow like crazy.

[jedimasterben]

Haha I'm assuming you think I can color them up?

Yep. Cheap corals + growout = profit. Buying 'designer' corals that more than likely won't be so 'designer' by the time you get them to a respectable size for fragging AND have them survive is possibly the worst idea I've ever heard. IMHO

 

Ewe. Soft corals.... I can't remember the last time I bought a soft coral. Hah

Why?

 

They'll be okay with my pump size? Don't they need to be kind of overpressured? (For lack of a better word)

Yes, they require a pressure-rated pump, not a flow-rated pump.

 

I could. But 2x250w halides on a 12" deep over filtered tank doesn't sound z/p friendly.

 

And For some reason I can't get them to grow ever. Even in my 29 they won't spread....

 

But I can get sticks to grow like crazy.

You'd be surprised how much light softies can tolerate. Xenia is ok up to around 600mmol of PAR in some species.

[TheKleinReef]

Yep. Cheap corals + growout = profit. Buying 'designer' corals that more than likely won't be so 'designer' by the time you get them to a respectable size for fragging AND have them survive is possibly the worst idea I've ever heard. IMHO

 

Why?

 

Yes, they require a pressure-rated pump, not a flow-rated pump.

 

You'd be surprised how much light softies can tolerate. Xenia is ok up to around 600mmol of PAR in some species.

 

I'm just not a fan of soft corals... never have been never will be.

 

is a blue line 40hdx good enough for eductors?

[jedimasterben]

Should be fine. They have high head pressure, which is what you need for an eductor.

 

And soft corals can be very pretty - and very pricey.

 

 

(i've been dying to get my hands on one of those for a while now, and I think I might this week)

[TheKleinReef]

Should be fine. They have high head pressure, which is what you need for an eductor.

 

And soft corals can be very pretty - and very pricey.

 

 

(i've been dying to get my hands on one of those for a while now, and I think I might this week)

Looks sweet! I'd rather look then keep though.

 

And I'm gonna look into some eductors. Or get some mp10wes...... Hm

[jedimasterben]

Looks sweet! I'd rather look then keep though.

Pieces of that sell for pretty pennies, I think they'd sell especially well here. I'm just planting little seeds...

 

And I'm gonna look into some eductors. Or get some mp10wes...... Hm

Do you just have the return pump going right now, no powerheads still? What does the flow look like?

[TheKleinReef]

Pieces of that sell for pretty pennies, I think they'd sell especially well here. I'm just planting little seeds...

 

 

Do you just have the return pump going right now, no powerheads still? What does the flow look like?

 

Pretty random. Just not powerful enough to keep everything suspended long enough. The sps polyps sway nicely and the Lps have a nice flow to them as we'll.

[TheKleinReef]

Equipment Update!

 

Installed the tunze osmolator 3155. and its awesome.

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/roger_090/media/3B82F30B-0622-48B3-83A5-14C5A4C134E6-3319-000000FCD11BCF31.jpg.html'>

 

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/roger_090/media/338BB05C-2E5A-4FE0-8197-D0D22070AAAA-3319-000000FCBC1C2829.jpg.html'>

(ignore mess i acidently dropped the bag of phosban and.... whoops.)

 

and i got an 8 switch DJ bar which makes things so much easier!

1. halide fan

2. skimmer

3. sump light

4. return pump

5. empty

6. empty

7. empty

8. Tunze ATO

 

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/roger_090/media/1183FE21-6E80-4E9B-94C1-B9D06A46BB21-3319-000000FCC8914BFB.jpg.html'>

 

everything in the tank looks good though. i have a small amount of STN on one of the acro colonies but the echinata looks good.

 

parameters:

temp: 79.5

pH:

Ca: 425 ppm

Alk: 8.6 dKH

 

not sure on no3 and po4 (test kits are en route), but algae stays on the glass and there's no cyano.

 

 

[TheKleinReef]

The skimmer is skimming pretty wet, should i change that?. i haven't gotten around to installing the air valve, or boosting the whole skimmer up an inch (its supposed to be in 6-7" of water its in 8.5" whoops. i'll for sure fix those two things.

 

general update:

fragged a few of the corals i had, and i found the dosing regimen: 1.5 tsp of seachem's reef builder per day, and 1 tsp of Ca every other day.

 

parameters:

Po4: getting test kit today

No4: getting test kit today

Ca: 435

dKH: 9.2

Mag: bad salifert test kit (always shows 1600ppm no matter what SW i test)

pH: 8.0-8.3

SG: 1.024

Temp: 78.2-79.0 *never over 79.0

 

 

growth rate: since corals were added on April 6, 2013, i have approximately 1" of growth on those corals. everything else has white new tips. even the echinata which is developing a nice purple hue.

[Deckoz2302]

Finally caught up. Looking great Roger

[TheKleinReef]

Finally caught up. Looking great Roger

 

thanks! i'm going to try an get my hands on some cool stuff now that growth* is nice and steady.

[glennr1978]

I could. But 2x250w halides on a 12" deep over filtered tank doesn't sound z/p friendly.

And For some reason I can't get them to grow ever. Even in my 29 they won't spread....

But I can get sticks to grow like crazy.

 

Those lights will grow z's & p's just fine in a 12" tank. I'm growing plenty in my prop tank under similar lighting (more powerful if anything).

[glennr1978]

Looks sweet! I'd rather look then keep though.

And I'm gonna look into some eductors. Or get some mp10wes...... Hm

 

Is a carlson surge device possible? I've got one on my prop tank and LOVE it. It creates something like 4500gph the way I have it set up (maybe more, I really dont remember) . It replicates wave action better than anything else I've seen for a fraction of the cost of any other wave maker. It is pretty loud though, but mine is in a spare bedroom.

[TheKleinReef]

Is a carlson surge device possible? I've got one on my prop tank and LOVE it. It creates something like 4500gph the way I have it set up (maybe more, I really dont remember) . It replicates wave action better than anything else I've seen for a fraction of the cost of any other wave maker. It is pretty loud though, but mine is in a spare bedroom.

I've never really considered it. Flows pretty good now that I moved the rocks out.

 

Can someone check to see if my math is right here:

 

Odds are I'm getting a doser, and I want to be able to punch it in and have it ready to go.

[TheKleinReef]

I'm gonna try to keep track of this tank on Aquatic Log. hopefully i can stay diligent usually i prefer to do everything on paper, but i'll give it a go.

[TheKleinReef]

I'm trying to figure out my dosing for this tank, but i'm having some trouble... It seems that every time i test the drop is inconsistent. I try to dose and test at the same time, and i expect the results to be the same (or close) each time but i get results like this, and i'm like?

 

6-13-2013 8:00pm

Ca: 415 ppm

Alk: 9.75 dkh

 

Dose:

• 1 tsp Seachem Advantage Calcium
• 0 tsp Seachem Reef Builder (trying to get alk to 9.0) @ 8:15pm

 

6-14-2013 8:00pm

Ca: 425 ppm

Alk: 8.5 dkh

 

Dose:

• 1 tsp Seachem Advantage Calcium to maintain the 425
• 0.5 tsp Seachem Reef Builder to raise alk to 9.0

6-15-2013

Ca: 400ppm (under dose?)

Alk: 8.5 dkh (which seems right, it was dosed and consumed in 24hrs)

 

Dose:

• Ca: 2.0 tsp Seachem Advantage Calcium to raise to 425
• Alk: 0.5 tsp Seachem Reef Builder to raise to 9.0

So my 24 hour consumption rate is:

Calcium: 25ppm

Alk: 1.0 dkh

 

 

agh, why can't this be easier to figure out. every day

any input?

[jedimasterben]

Stick with one dosing schedule for a week, test daily, but don't make any changes unless the drops seem higher than they should be (and test twice to make sure).

[TheKleinReef]

Stick with one dosing schedule for a week, test daily, but don't make any changes unless the drops seem higher than they should be (and test twice to make sure).

 

you mean dose the same amount everytime?

 

soooo:

1. test

2. dose

3. wait 1-2 hours

4. test again

5. wait a day

6. test again?

 

that kinda routine?

[Chadf]

I dosed daily for a week, then tested before water change. Adjusted doses as necessary, dosed daily for a week, and tested before water change. That pretty much dialed it in with no math involved. I checked weekly for a while to make sure everything was stabile, now I test every month or two and nothing changes. You'll never get it figured out unless you dose the same amount daily and see what it does over the course of a week.