Max’s 30 gal
- Thread starter max_nano
- Start date
Coral reefer
Past President
Looking good max!
max_nano
Supporting Member
Thanks!
Your bizzaro is still alive but growing slowly, I think I’m going to try it in a spot with less flow, what do you think?
That mummy eye is definitely my favorite. Looking sweet with the purples and blues! Is that a pink eye too?
max_nano
Supporting Member
It’s one of my favorites. I like how some of the eyes are multi colored and I think there’s a pink one but hard to tell
max_nano
Supporting Member
Here are a few more pictures under white and blue light plus some exaggerated colors with an orange lens filter
the streaks remind me of the cool chalice @Chromis grew out from @Yippee
Post in thread 'OMG. Part 1'
https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/omg-part-1.25748/post-385811
Blue light no filter
white light no filter
all blue with orange filter
daytime schedule/ full spectrum and orange filter
the streaks remind me of the cool chalice @Chromis grew out from @Yippee
Post in thread 'OMG. Part 1'
https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/omg-part-1.25748/post-385811
Blue light no filter
white light no filter
all blue with orange filter
daytime schedule/ full spectrum and orange filter
Lemme know when you wanna send a little frag this way
Coral reefer
Past President
Where’d it come to you from?
Looking nice!
Looking nice!
max_nano
Supporting Member
A bar member that I’m not able to tag anymore but it was @bee something
Coral reefer
Past President
max_nano
Supporting Member
Unfortunately I had to shut this tank down. I‘m the lowest apartment in my plumbing “stack” and had water flood out of my bathtub drain and toilet after the stack clogged. Really poopy situation…
here was the tank before it was shut down
Insurance paid to replace the floors in the entire apartment so it made sense to shut down while they did that work. I probably could have kept the tank going but I had to be out of town while the landlord got the floors replaced so I shut down and gave away most of the coral. I setup a temporary tank on my kitchen counter
I also left my rocks in a bucket with a return pump so I was able to get restarted relatively quickly
The tank started to have growth issues like shading and corals touching so I just have tried to be happy to have the opportunity to restart with the new knowledge I have since the last start. I am trying to not to get bummed about losing the 3 yr old tank.
I got some cool branch rock at High Tide Aquatics and am looking forward to adding some different corals for this new iteration of my tank. This time I’ll be more focused on LPS and corals that are “wavy”. Euphylia and Gonis will be the focus. Keeping sps in a smaller tank was a great learning experience but I think stability will be easier with LPS/less demanding coral
here was the tank before it was shut down
Insurance paid to replace the floors in the entire apartment so it made sense to shut down while they did that work. I probably could have kept the tank going but I had to be out of town while the landlord got the floors replaced so I shut down and gave away most of the coral. I setup a temporary tank on my kitchen counter
I also left my rocks in a bucket with a return pump so I was able to get restarted relatively quickly
The tank started to have growth issues like shading and corals touching so I just have tried to be happy to have the opportunity to restart with the new knowledge I have since the last start. I am trying to not to get bummed about losing the 3 yr old tank.
I got some cool branch rock at High Tide Aquatics and am looking forward to adding some different corals for this new iteration of my tank. This time I’ll be more focused on LPS and corals that are “wavy”. Euphylia and Gonis will be the focus. Keeping sps in a smaller tank was a great learning experience but I think stability will be easier with LPS/less demanding coral
max_nano
Supporting Member
Front and center is the hot spot to be
Now it’s down to frag racks on the front and egg crate on the rock
max_nano
Supporting Member
prior to shutting the tank down I had been using 2 part from ati and was happy with the results, but found it somewhat finicky for a small water volume. I was dosing between 2-10mL/day while I was using it and that made it difficult to adjust dosing since going from 2mL to 3mL was a big % increase. ATI recommended diluting but then I had concerns about my consistency. Long story short, it worked well but was somewhat annoying to manage.
In this new setup I want to have a focus on LPS instead of SPS so my plan is to use kalk. I have some concerns about replenishing trace since the ATI 2 part had included trace and my plan for that is to just do regular water changes. Likely 30% every 2 weeks to start. I’m choosing the volume based on what’s easy to mix up with my setup and cadence based on what I think I’ll actually do after not doing regular water changes.
I got the kalk setup on a doser with a schedule to dose regularly, but I’m using my controller to turn the doser off whenever the pH is above a certain value. My intention is to catch the falling pH at night and prevent it from getting below a certain value before the lights come back on and it goes back up.
When I first set that up I set the scheduled doses too high and despite the pH limit the tank got too much kalk and the pH shot up over 8.5. The limit worked but the pH just continued to rise and then stayed elevated for a few days. But now I’ve lowered the scheduled doses and the pH limit and the dosing seems to be leveling out around 80-100mL per day. I’ve been testing alk and it’s been between 7.5-8.5. I will continue to check the alk and if it reaches 9 I’ll adjust the scheduled doses back a bit. I want to see if I can find a good balance with the dosing adjusting itself slightly, based on the pH.
I understand this probably sounds crazy but it is interesting for me to try out. I had seen the tank did better when the pH was over 8 in the summer due to the windows being open so I believe the positive anecdotes about high pH. I’ve tried something similar before but my alk demand was more than saturated alk could replenish and adding 2 part was complicated.
Besides the kalk the tank is doing alright. There are some film algae issues that I think are related to the small CUC and the water has been cloudy. I have snails coming tomorrow and am expecting that should help address the film algae. I think the cloudy water will go away with some time as the tank gets dirty again.
here’s the pH over the past few days vs the dosing. Green line is pH and blue bars are 5mL doses of kalk
and here’s a pic of the display
In this new setup I want to have a focus on LPS instead of SPS so my plan is to use kalk. I have some concerns about replenishing trace since the ATI 2 part had included trace and my plan for that is to just do regular water changes. Likely 30% every 2 weeks to start. I’m choosing the volume based on what’s easy to mix up with my setup and cadence based on what I think I’ll actually do after not doing regular water changes.
I got the kalk setup on a doser with a schedule to dose regularly, but I’m using my controller to turn the doser off whenever the pH is above a certain value. My intention is to catch the falling pH at night and prevent it from getting below a certain value before the lights come back on and it goes back up.
When I first set that up I set the scheduled doses too high and despite the pH limit the tank got too much kalk and the pH shot up over 8.5. The limit worked but the pH just continued to rise and then stayed elevated for a few days. But now I’ve lowered the scheduled doses and the pH limit and the dosing seems to be leveling out around 80-100mL per day. I’ve been testing alk and it’s been between 7.5-8.5. I will continue to check the alk and if it reaches 9 I’ll adjust the scheduled doses back a bit. I want to see if I can find a good balance with the dosing adjusting itself slightly, based on the pH.
I understand this probably sounds crazy but it is interesting for me to try out. I had seen the tank did better when the pH was over 8 in the summer due to the windows being open so I believe the positive anecdotes about high pH. I’ve tried something similar before but my alk demand was more than saturated alk could replenish and adding 2 part was complicated.
Besides the kalk the tank is doing alright. There are some film algae issues that I think are related to the small CUC and the water has been cloudy. I have snails coming tomorrow and am expecting that should help address the film algae. I think the cloudy water will go away with some time as the tank gets dirty again.
here’s the pH over the past few days vs the dosing. Green line is pH and blue bars are 5mL doses of kalk
and here’s a pic of the display
max_nano
Supporting Member
Im currently using 2 return pumps and 2 power heads for flow in the tank. I like the redundancy that having pairs provides, but now that I’ve switched the goal of the tank from sps/mixed to LPS/mixed I would like to lower the flow in the tank.
I’ve lowered the settings for the power heads but I think I need to decrease the return pumps as well. So far Ive adjusted the pump intakes to restrict water flow, but it is still providing a lot of constant flow.
I am considering using the original Y plumbing and returning to a single return pump, but then I have concerns about the pump failing. Last night I lost power and one of the pumps didn’t turn on when the power came back. Easy enough to fix when I’m home, but I travel and it would not be good if the tank was alone for a few days.
I think I may need to get 2 smaller pumps, but I also have a somewhat crazy idea of splitting the output and having some of the return pump flow coming out in the return chamber to prevent detritus from settling back there. I would still have a slow flow area with my ceramic media in another chamber and I think that getting the detritus in the water column will make it easier to remove with mechanical filtration.
Any thoughts? I have a T that I could put in one of the lines to see how it performs, but I’m also open to other ideas
And returning to something besides return pumps… the tank is looking nice! Water has been clearing up and I have pretty decent viewing distance down the 3’ side. I am seeing a lot of pods on the glass and think that the population may have declined while in the smaller temporary tank and that may have been part of the film algae problem. Now that the population seems to be increasing the glass only needs to be cleaned about once a day vs the thick film after an hour…
Here are some pics
This toadstool never extends cause my coral beauty likes to eat its “polyps” like spaghetti. I probably need to rehome it but it’s my first coral and I grew it from a small frag. I’m trying to feed the CB more and hopefully it’ll stop snacking.
Side view is getting pretty clear!
I’ve lowered the settings for the power heads but I think I need to decrease the return pumps as well. So far Ive adjusted the pump intakes to restrict water flow, but it is still providing a lot of constant flow.
I am considering using the original Y plumbing and returning to a single return pump, but then I have concerns about the pump failing. Last night I lost power and one of the pumps didn’t turn on when the power came back. Easy enough to fix when I’m home, but I travel and it would not be good if the tank was alone for a few days.
I think I may need to get 2 smaller pumps, but I also have a somewhat crazy idea of splitting the output and having some of the return pump flow coming out in the return chamber to prevent detritus from settling back there. I would still have a slow flow area with my ceramic media in another chamber and I think that getting the detritus in the water column will make it easier to remove with mechanical filtration.
Any thoughts? I have a T that I could put in one of the lines to see how it performs, but I’m also open to other ideas
And returning to something besides return pumps… the tank is looking nice! Water has been clearing up and I have pretty decent viewing distance down the 3’ side. I am seeing a lot of pods on the glass and think that the population may have declined while in the smaller temporary tank and that may have been part of the film algae problem. Now that the population seems to be increasing the glass only needs to be cleaned about once a day vs the thick film after an hour…
Here are some pics
This toadstool never extends cause my coral beauty likes to eat its “polyps” like spaghetti. I probably need to rehome it but it’s my first coral and I grew it from a small frag. I’m trying to feed the CB more and hopefully it’ll stop snacking.
Side view is getting pretty clear!
Love the new rock structure!
What about a DC return pump so that you can adjust the flow? Even create schedules of low flow then ocassional high flow to flush our detritus. My IM tank came with a spin stream. Nifty little gadget that spins flow in a circular pattern so one area isn't constantly getting blasted.
www.innovative-marine.com
What about a DC return pump so that you can adjust the flow? Even create schedules of low flow then ocassional high flow to flush our detritus. My IM tank came with a spin stream. Nifty little gadget that spins flow in a circular pattern so one area isn't constantly getting blasted.
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max_nano
Supporting Member
Thanks! The branch rock was fun to work with and ended up being a nice bridge between my 2 existing rocks. When I shut the tank down I took everything off the rocks and it allowed me to reorient them in this new setupLove the new rock structure!
What about a DC return pump so that you can adjust the flow? Even create schedules of low flow then ocassional high flow to flush our detritus. My IM tank came with a spin stream. Nifty little gadget that spins flow in a circular pattern so one area isn't constantly getting blasted.
Shop | Innovative Marine Products
Shop Now | Innovative Marine's Official Store | Free Shipping on all orders* | NUVO aquariums and saltwater reef supplies.
I don’t think I’ll put that much sps in this tank so I wanted somewhat interesting rock shapes since it’ll mostly be coral that encrusts. But I’m a bit of a liar since I’ve got a slimeball, bubble gum digi, and a birds nest hiding on the backsides of the branch rock. If they grow, they’ll show haha
I like the DC pump idea since I’ve got the IM pump that came with this setup. Having the feed mode will also let me minimize the power cycles and that should reduce the risk of it failing to power back on.
I’ve had those spinners in the past but it was on an IM 10 I had in my bedroom and I couldn’t get past the noise. Do you notice yours? I heard they should be quiet after some time but I wasn’t patient enough since it was a bit of an annoying sound
Yeah that's the risk with an AC return pump. They're super reliable for continuous use, but not so great when using switching outlets, so a DC return like a Sicce would be great. I've been using a Tunze DC return for ~6 years with lots of feed mode activations and it's been pretty solid, whereas my AC pumps always would stall over time.
Those Neros have a ton of power too so you can run them on like alternating modes or try to generate a soft gyre "washing machine" style that Jake Adams always liked.
The way you have it laid out looks great with the motion/flow of the LPS and soft corals so definitely feel like you've got the right idea for a lower energy tank!
Those Neros have a ton of power too so you can run them on like alternating modes or try to generate a soft gyre "washing machine" style that Jake Adams always liked.
The way you have it laid out looks great with the motion/flow of the LPS and soft corals so definitely feel like you've got the right idea for a lower energy tank!