my 240 gallon reef tank

[JRocha]

well I finally filmed my tank properly. its a 240 gallon tank and its had so many ups and downs. finally it is back up to par. I don't really need to tell you whats in it just watch the video and tell me what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pxWd1DGMMM

 

[JRocha]

I believe that I have posted my tank specs before but if I did sorry for reposting. the lights are 2 x ATI Powermodules which are 8 x 39 watt T5's so 16 total bulbs. My sump/ refugium is 125 gallon which starts off with a chamber for 4 filter socks then to a 60 gallon refugium chamber then into another chamber where my euroreef skimmer and uv sterilizer then to the last chamber where there are bubble traps and 2 chemi pure elite carbons the biggest ones they make. then my return pumps. I have 2 vortech MP40s on each side of the tank and 2 koralia 8s on the bottom in the back of the tank for powerheads. I am slowly getting into SPS and its quite addicting. I recently added 6 clams in a matter of 2 to 3 weeks. Since then I turned off my skimmer and so far so good. I plan on having enough clams where I do not need the skimmer anymore.

 

[tonggao]

I have a question that is probably stupid about using clams to replace skimmer. While skimmer pulls things out of water, aren't clams putting most things back into the water? I guess parts of nutrients become clam flesh/shells, but I assume this is a small proportion of what are filtered through them.

 

[JRocha]

In my life I've been told by teachers no question is a stupid question. To answer your question truthfully I do not know. One thing I do know is my tank has been up and running for about 5 to 6 years maybe more can't remember. I know I will get some negative responses for this, but my tank ran extremely well without a skimmer, carbon, and my UV sterilizer for over 3 years in the beginning. I figured I would add the extra equipment as the tank got older and it really didn't make much of a difference to tell you the truth. I still to this day do not dose any chemicals like mag, iron, iodine, etc. I may dose B-ionic alk and calcium every other day sometimes when I remember to, but I noticed my tank doesn't really respond to it. All my corals don't seem to mind it and they grow relatively fast. I do make water changes every other week of about 40 gallons though. I don't acclimate fish or anything in my tank no dipping corals which I probably should, but in the 10 years I've been keeping reef tanks I haven't had too many problems. Lucky I guess. Not to say I haven't killed some fish and corals in the past, but who hasn't. On top of the things I do not do often is test my water. I only test my water if something is acting weird, like corals receding or fish dying. So basically what I am saying is every tank and person are different. some people dose and have lots of equipment and some do not. either way to me it's not wrong to do it either way. if it works for you than that's all that matters. I do want to get a calcium reactor for the hell of it to see how my tank will respond to it, but I hope it will be a good thing. Sorry for the novel, but I figured I would give you some details on why I don't worry about having my skimmer on and letting the clams enjoy the nutrients without me worrying too much about it. oh yeah the comment I said about me using clams instead of the skimmer is just me thinking that if I have enough of them because they are a natural filter maybe I can turn off the skimmer and see what happens. I'm just testing to see if this will work and it will have any ill effects to my tank. if it does I can always turn on the skimmer and change some water.

 

[orientalexpress]

sweet tank ,5-6 years no upgrade?wow ,good discipline.


lapsan

 

[tonggao]

Thanks a lot for the explanation. You tank looks great, and I am sure whatever you are doing is working great. Arnold also has a skimless tank and a lot of clams, and his tank is clean and stable. I am just curious where all the fish poops go . If I turn off the skimmer in my setup (120G main tank+70G frag tank+ 20G fuge + 30G sump all connected together), I think the water will go bad fast seeing how much stuff was pulled out by the skimmer. I have a lot of fish (18) in my relatively small setup though.

 

[JRocha]

sweet tank ,5-6 years no upgrade?wow ,good discipline.


lapsan

if i could afford it and had a place for it believe me I would. i just need to hit a mega million jackpot and I would have a tank I can scuba dive into. Now its just about keeping everything healthy.

 

[JRocha]

Thanks a lot for the explanation. You tank looks great, and I am sure whatever you are doing is working great. Arnold also has a skimless tank and a lot of clams, and his tank is clean and stable. I am just curious where all the fish poops go . If I turn off the skimmer in my setup (120G main tank+70G frag tank+ 20G fuge + 30G sump all connected together), I think the water will go bad fast seeing how much stuff was pulled out by the skimmer. I have a lot of fish (18) in my relatively small setup though.

thanks and I have been talking to arnold at OT about it too and he didn't seem to have a problem with that either. just trying to conserve energy whenever I can. our electric bill is at 330 a month. I need to help stop that madness. The poop and other waste IMO gets removed by biological filtration(live rock, sand, macroalgaes, etc.). I have over 5 pounds of different kinds of caulerpas, chaeto, and other macro algae in my refugium on top of 7 clams, a couple 100 pounds of live rock and a 1 1/2 inch sand bed. I am a strong believer in water changes every 2 weeks. I believe that is the reason I do not have to dose and have a skimmer.

 

[JRocha]

so don't know if anyone will read this,but I am having an issue of my LPS' being all deflated and thought it was my Mg. tested all my water and turns out my nitrate is at 50. So last night I cleaned my skimmer and turned it back on, cleaned both my chemi-pure elites and added a TLF's phosbann reactor full of kent's reef carbon. today I am gonna add some purigen to help the cause but we'll see what happens. the weird part of it all is my all my SPS' coral are growing which is very confusing. even the new ones I got from OT are growing. I thought SPS' liked very clean water and LPS' liked dirty water. weird. I nwill see what the outcome is after a few days of purigen and all the carbon does. gonna make another 80 gallons of D&D saltwater and make another big change.

 

[JAR]

I don't think the skimmer will help short term with the nitrates.
WC is your best bet I think.
Long term the skimmer should remove waste that would become nitrates.

 

[tuberider]

IME fluctuations in mag can cause LPS to protest a little too, lately I've been making an effort to keep mine a little more stable and it seems to be helping with my chalice.

 

[Tumbleweed]

I had a problem with my nitrates and it took me doing daily 40gal water changes in my 120 about 1.5-2 weeks to bring it down from 50ppm to 5ppm. But now everything is really starting to look great.

 

[JRocha]

Water changes is where its at. I am in the process of making 100 gallons of water. 50 is done and have to put in jugs then make another 50 and then do it. I am gonna clean the $h!t out of my sump too. I'm gonna pump out the water and crap out of it to see if that makes a difference as well. I will have to start checking the mag as well since I've never really tested before the last time. Other than that the tank is great and all my fish and inverts are happy. My sps' are busting and growing like crazy. Go figure

 

[bookfish]

I have no problem with anyone elses methodology, especially one that has worked long term. Especially when it's almost exactly what I do! Good to meet you.-Jim

 

[GreshamH]

IME fluctuations in mag can cause LPS to protest a little too, lately I've been making an effort to keep mine a little more stable and it seems to be helping with my chalice.

Too much marco in the tank can also cause LPS to protest. They seem more sensitive to the compounds macros cast off.

 

[bee505]

I have a very similar issue as you. A couple months back, I lost my brain, acans, and ricordeas. However, the sps, other LPS, zoas are doing excellent. Especially the sps that is growing quickly. My water checks out perfectly, calcium 380, Alk at 10, salinity 1.026, nitrate 0. I'm trying to trace back to see what I've added that might have cause this to happen. For a long time, I thought it was the 6 peppermint shrimps that I added to the tank. I saw them picking at my acans during the night before it finally died. I've also added a really thick chaeto ball to my sump, which I'm not sure if that could have caused the issue. Please keep us posted on what you find.

 

[JRocha]

I have no problem with anyone elses methodology, especially one that has worked long term. Especially when it's almost exactly what I do! Good to meet you.-Jim

it was nice to meet you too. I have never seen so many sps frags. I didn't know what to do with myself. you will see a lot of me in the near future. I tend to stick to certain LFS'. Your store has been added to my fish store hopping list. Thanks again.

 

[JRocha]

well I just finished cleaning my sump out, and damn did that take forever. It took me about 6 hours or so. removed bioballs, ceramic macaroni, the reefresH20 block, all the detritus, took out the euroreef and cleaned it inside and out, took out the tiny amount of sand that was left, removed all rock and macro algae till it was all clean then put the rocks and macros back in. changed my filter socks as well. did a 40 gallon water change too. making more water tomorrow. I want to change out another 50 to 80 gallons in the next few days.

 

[JRocha]

IME fluctuations in mag can cause LPS to protest a little too, lately I've been making an effort to keep mine a little more stable and it seems to be helping with my chalice.

Too much marco in the tank can also cause LPS to protest. They seem more sensitive to the compounds macros cast off.

marco rocks or macro algae? if its algae I have a couple of pounds worth, but it never had an ill effect on my tank in the past few years. the LPS' just started to act this way about 2 months ago. just lost my favorite open brain. this is what it used to look like. almost shed a tear. had it for over 3 years.