A Golden Reef Tank (v2)

I very much like the rock scape, all the irregular bits. It should look very cool once grown in. Thanks for the update.
 
McPuff said:
Wow, that looks terrific!



I need to get another yellow porites...
Click to expand...


Thanks Puff

It was a beautiful coral at first. It's more of a mustard porites these days but still growing out. Probably some trace element it's missing. Or lighting. Who knows.
 
tripdad said:
I very much like the rock scape, all the irregular bits. It should look very cool once grown in. Thanks for the update.
Click to expand...



Thank you. Rockscaping was a family project. My wife and I built them dry outside the tank mostly. It was fun working together on that. When we placed them, I really had to stand my ground refusing to allow them to be placed too close to the glass. She kept bumping them out.

I tried to model them off of ChingChai's (spelling?) DSPS tank from Thailand. Loved his build. I don't think I ended up with nearly the same rockwork but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm finding it hard to dial in lights on a 36" deep tank and the rockwork we ended up with. I still get a lot of shading and haven't had much luck with LPS where I intended keeping them down lower. Everything in the top half is baking at 400+ PAR. 600 at the highest points.
 
Looks like it has progressed nicely! Well done!

I wonder if running Ozone would help with water clarity. Maybe get you that little bump in par on the sandbed for your LPS.
 
tkeracer619 said:
Looks like it has progressed nicely! Well done!

I wonder if running Ozone would help with water clarity. Maybe get you that little bump in par on the sandbed for your LPS.
Click to expand...



Thank you!

I've never used Ozone but I have a general understanding of how it helps with water clarity. I remember asking about it when I originally ordered the skimmer. I can't remember now whether I have to make any modifications to the slimmer to add in the ozone other than some sort of input line.

I assume that clearer water would allow for a more uniform penetration of PAR vs water depth? It's definitely something to look into some time in the future.
 
halmus said:
Thank you!

I've never used Ozone but I have a general understanding of how it helps with water clarity. I remember asking about it when I originally ordered the skimmer. I can't remember now whether I have to make any modifications to the slimmer to add in the ozone other than some sort of input line.

I assume that clearer water would allow for a more uniform penetration of PAR vs water depth? It's definitely something to look into some time in the future.
Click to expand...


You'd need ORP on the tank. Max you want is around 450. If you don't have a UV you could try that, it will bring ORP and clarity up first. I'm not really so keen on running ozone on a skimmer even though most of them are compatible. You really should run the effluent and air out of the reactor through carbon. While ozone breaks down almost immediately in saltwater it leaves behind toxic oxidants so you want to take them out before discharge. Air leaving the mixing chamber will contain ozone and that's harmful to you and your wife...

Interestingly enough... IIRC running ozone alone doesn't really do much to DOCs but running ozone treated water through carbon effectively doubles the efficiency of the carbon.

Here is a great read on ozone. I've used it on several tanks in the past and have thought about running on my current system.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php

I once accidentally overdosed an aquarium with ozone and it nuked my plague of anthellia :lol: as far as I could tell nothing else was impacted,
 
Sisterlimonpot said:
Anything new happening with the tank?
Click to expand...



Thanks for asking. There have been a lot of ups and downs. My new business has really picked up which is good and bad. Bad because I have less time to dink around with the tank. Working 6-7 days a week now.

I'll be heading to Australia in Oct. Diving on the GBR! That's part of the reason I'm working nonstop to make some commitments to clients.

I'm doing a little maintenance today. 10 mile run this morning to keep my wife happy. Doesn't help with my energy levels! Slam some more coffee and drive on...

Some of the recent challenges:
-SPS are hanging in there but not happy. I watch chemistry closely and have tried adjusting the Radions for intensity and duration. Couldn't hit that magic solution.

-based on other hobbyists input, I was chasing nitrate and phosphate levels. They were undetectable since I started the tank. I've had zero problems with nuisance algae in the display.

-I started trying boosting nitrate to levels recommended by some local "œexperts". Guess what followed? Algae explosion I'm battling now.

-I finally got fed up trying to force the Radions to work with my SPS. I tried them for over two years. I know they work for some people, but I just can't get things set right. No matter what I tried, I couldn't keep anything blue? Cali and Oregon Torts are probably my favorite and I just couldn't get them to survive under LED. Reds loved it! I'm sure there's user error there, but I've lost the mental energy to fight spectrum settings any longer. So, ordered x4 250watt MH. Radion 14k bulbs. Had to rework my T5-HO a little to fit in the new fixtures. I now have x10 48" T5-HO bulbs over the display along with the MH. Most coral did well with the transition. I did loose a Red Dragon and Ice and Fire Echinata. Otherwise, the SPS seems to be happier. I'm still slowly increasing the duration for MH. At about 4.5 hrs a day now. Probably won't go much more.

-had to supplement air flow to compensate for the heat from the MH. So far, that has worked well during the local heat wave. No chiller, which was my biggest concern. Bunch of fans controlled by the Apex and triggered by temp settings.

-Alk / Ca consumption went up drastically after MH which is a clear sign that something likes the new lights.

-The MH transition probably made the algae problem worse. I have a ton of growth on the substrate. That's my focus on cleaning up now. It's growing on the rock some which scares me more. I want to get it off the substrate so that the clowns can focus on where it matters.

-I have the following tangs in QT: Powder Blue, Clown, Naso, Orange Shoulder, Scopas. They're all pigs and I can't wait to get them in the display. The Blue is a jerk. He's in his own tank. The others are all getting along well. I introduce them mid September.

-Also working on boosting my CUC population.

-have a growing Anthia population with groups of Bimaculatus, Lyretail, and Bartletts


So, with all of the ups and downs, I'm returning to what worked for me in the past. I'm going to ignore all of the advise I have gotten from local "œexperts". I have the lighting combination I know works. Nothing much to adjust. I'll stay on top of the algae and make small adjustments as needed.
 
Thanks for posting the update. This hobby certainly has its ups and downs. Please keep posting when you can - your set up is awesome and inspiring.

What is the flooring in the fish room and where did you get it? How is it working out? Many thanks. Ed
 
vanburen said:
Thanks for posting the update. This hobby certainly has its ups and downs. Please keep posting when you can - your set up is awesome and inspiring.



What is the flooring in the fish room and where did you get it? How is it working out? Many thanks. Ed
Click to expand...



Thanks for the encouragement.

Clown tang didn't survive the transfer. Was supper happy in QT with others. Big bummer.

The flooring is G-Floor garage flooring. I would guess it's impervious to moisture except on seems and edges. It's designed to drive on so it's resilient. I've been happy with it and it's not too slippery when wet. I did silicone the edges to the baseboard in the room but hard to tell if it really bonded without tearing things apart to check.

Ordered it through Home Depot.

I've flooded the room a few times and I just use a broom to push all of the water to the floor drain.
 
aikenreefkeeper said:
I just found your thread. Please keep posting.



Thanks



Dean
Click to expand...



Thanks Dean. Hopefully things will slow down with my business soon (should I be hoping for that?). So that I can post some photo updates. Not too much change so not a lot to see. But maybe I can capture some of the growing colonies and fish chaos.
 
Nice, recognize this incredible build from the Mr.Saltwater vid from a few weeks back. Glad to have found this thread will be following.
 
Narzyzz12 said:
Nice, recognize this incredible build from the Mr.Saltwater vid from a few weeks back. Glad to have found this thread will be following.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the compliments.

Haven't kept things updated here well. Lots of work has happened on the tank. Lots of ups and downs. Coral has really colored up over the last two months.

I need to post up some updated photos of the display side or a video. I'm no "œinfluencer" or have the time to put together flashy videos but I can hack something together. I've got a lot of coral in QT that can move in on May 25. I'll put something together after that.

Mark and his camera man did a great job on the video series. I wish the final video had better conveyed the coral population in the display. Maybe I'm biased. Some days all I can see are the bare spots in the tank where I wish coral was growing. Then I get a new frag or mini colony and I have a hard time finding a home for it.
 
Found it:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uikWYt1wgwU?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oMiF00b7Fbs?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Last edited:
Wow 3 parts???

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V81VbLGztRg?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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