Neptune Aquatics

Ghost's 20 Gallon Cube

G

Ghost

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Hey everyone, this tank has been up since late February 2021, still not totally where I want it but getting better. The goal is a mixed reef packed with life including fish, corals, and inverts.

The base rock is 23lbs of live rock from KP aquatics, sand is Carib-Sea Special Grade

Equipment:
Waterbox 20 Cube
AI Prime 16HD
Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
Aquamaxx NF-1 skimmer
Ecotech MP10QD

Fish:
Springer's Damsel
Clownfish
Purple Firefish
Yellow Clown Goby
Bangaii Cardinal
Tailspot Blenny
Blue Neon Goby
Yellow Neon Goby
Orchid Dottyback

Currently only dosing is kalkwasser in the ATO. I primarily feed LRS Nano Reef Frenzy, occasionally Reef Roids, New Life Spectrum pellets, mysis, and Reef Energy AB+.

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For most of the time this tank was setup foolishly I was not testing nitrates or phosphates. Eventually I became dismayed that my SPS were growing at a glacial pace. I bought a Hanna ULR phosphate checker and found my phosphate was 1.2+ppm. I also realized my tanks pH was probably too low because the tank is in my room and I had been closing the windows because it was winter.

I ran the intake from my skimmer out through my window and began trying to reduce phosphate. RowaPhos wasn't working very well it and it was hard to know when to replace it. I bought some lanthanum chloride solution. Specifically Pool Time Phosphate Remover from Home Depot, only $15 for a quart. My initial impressions are that I like it much more than RowaPhos or GFO, it binds phosphate instantly, easy to measure precisely and I have not yet seen any toxic effects.

Many people seem to insist you need to dilute it massively and drip it very slowly into a 5 micron sock etc. I'm not that concerned. I dilute it in about 150mL of tank water and add it to the sump over about 30 seconds and I run my skimmer and a filter pad. The capacity of aragonite to bind phosphate is incredible. It takes about 12-24 hours after adding the lanthanum chloride to reach equilibrium and I am amazed by how much phosphate my rocks/sand seem to have absorbed. Hopefully when I get to the <1ppm range I will see more coral growth. Here's a table showing lanthanum chloride additions and phosphate. I call the lanthanum chloride PTPR for Pool Time Phosphate Remover. Some of the measurements are taken soon after the addition and therefore do not represent the equilibrium phosphate.

DateAdditionPhosphate (ppm)
1/210.74
1/21100uL PTPR
1/210.62
1/21100uL PTPR
1/220.69
1/22500uL PTPR
1/220.52
1/221000uL PTPR
1/220.31
1/221000uL PTPR
1/220.23
1/221000uL PTPR
1/230.23
1/232000uL PTPR
1/240.21
1/242000uL PTPR
1/250.22
1/252000uL PTPR
1/260.15
1/261000uL PTPR
1/270.19
1/273000ul PTPR

 
Awesome tank! I'm new to the hobby, what is that bulbous pinkish coral? It's in the background of the pic with the cardinal.
 
Got several DBTC frags from @dochou very grateful. They're a bit packed in at the moment but I may rearrange them later.

BC Rainbow in Spain, closed up Scrambled Eggs Zoa to the right.

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Sunset Millie

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Miyagi Tort, with Green Slimer in the background.

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Sadly the Green Slimer is toast. Went away for a week and it all the tissue had sloughed off. Weirdly the tort less than an inch away is totally fine.

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The tank has been doing really well the last couple months. Finally starting to see some solid SPS growth. I've been using All For Reef and I've been very happy with it. I had an outbreak of Acropora eating flatworms, but I believe I cured it with a series of potassium chloride dips. Currently undergoing Fluconazole treatment to clean up some Bryopsis. I had a couple fish that I had had for a while mysteriously disappear, and had several attempts at new additions fail. Right now just four fish: the clownfish, Bangaii Cardinal, tailspot blenny, Springer's damsel. All are fat and healthy.

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Ghost said:
The tank has been doing really well the last couple months. Finally starting to see some solid SPS growth. I've been using All For Reef and I've been very happy with it. I had an outbreak of Acropora eating flatworms, but I believe I cured it with a series of potassium chloride dips. Currently undergoing Fluconazole treatment to clean up some Bryopsis. I had a couple fish that I had had for a while mysteriously disappear, and had several attempts at new additions fail. Right now just four fish: the clownfish, Bangaii Cardinal, tailspot blenny, Springer's damsel. All are fat and healthy.

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Very nice looking tank!
 
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