CR's 29 SPS Heavy project--FW's--may be starting over!!

Weeeellllllll

It's not an SPS frag, but the tank's not ready them just yet anyway. Considering it was free...I couldn't resist. Not to mention it's out of season till March-ish. ;D

Beautiful piece of dragon's breath

 

Great rock work, gorgeous macro. This will be fun to see develop.

 

awesome startup. Your tank is almost identical to mine. Im using the Euro style 30 gallon so just a little bigger. I use a mp10wes, and a hydor 1050.
1250+1050 e 2300 gph = almost 80 turnover. Im using a hydor skimmer, one model up from the nano skim. rated for tanks up tyo 65g. Also using two little fishes phosban reactor with biopellets. After reading i chose that over gfo and have had very good results with it.

I like the boost, but went for a more heavy hitting light, a 40 cree led setup. Also went this way becuase i wanted to add UV and turqouise to the color, Ive already got red. UV is looking to be quite important for sps these days after more research and tests are done. Lol i also have b&w clowns 1 misbar black occ, and 1 domino clownfish. I also have a golden domino damsel, 2 dracula gobies, 2 harlequin shrimp, and 2 blood shrimp.

What kind of Salt will you be using? and dosing chems?
Im always looking for ways ti improve my tank so i like similiar peopes tanks.

Almost all my products i use are Koralline Zucht. Their reefers best saltm, and zeo vit products are top notch i find. Im not using total zeovit but usuiong some of them like the food, pohls b balance, and sponge feeder. Since starting these i have seen huge results in color comebacks from my sps. Also i use ESV calcium and alk when i need to add.

 

SUB'd!!! Love the work man. Definitely looks like the LED's will be plenty

 

Man, this is going to be one cool little reef!

 

This is going to be a very low tech build to start. As for now I'm using reef crystals salt and chemi-pure elite for carbon and nothing else. I'm not dosing anything and probably won't need to for a while. When it comes time I will either use Kalk or Kent nano reef two part.

The progression plan is as follows, but is subject to change. (1) BRS reactor for GFO and carbon. (2) ATO--> Tunze Osmolator once I save up the $200 (3) Skimmer... when I find one that is quiet, low profile, and actually works

Other than that there isn't much more planned. I want to keep this basic. I want to see if a simple regiment of water and media changes will get the job done. Let the challenge begin!!!

 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I'm excited to get this little project up and running and hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Funny how you go from oh I just want some fish, to oh I just want some zoas and shrooms, then oh man that looks cool (LPS), to I WANT A STICK GARDEN!

LOL;D;D;D

 

sounds good. I tried something similiar with my sps tank, but i found i the protein skimmer,(my hydor nano, is pretty gentle on the bacteria, no microbubbles leaving. That and bio pellets and weekly water changes. I started out with no dosing of anything but eventually found my colors didnt have that pop i was used to seeing at the stores. Adding the few types of zeo i found just made evrything come out a little better. Not too crazy.

My 2 cents if you want to run a low tech system why not use a high quality salt then to reduce any amount of dosing you'll need. I could never get my alk and calc quite exact using instant ocean.

On a side note. Leds are super powerful. i have them raised about 12 inches off the tank, with 55 degree optics. and had to lower a bunch of stuff down to bleaching. I dont like the effect of a dimmer because i feel it alters the par and shortens the lifespan of the diodes, so irely on raising light and placement of corals.
Great start so far. will be following

 

Trying to start this off right so I tested my levels for a baseline.

NaCl 1.25
Ca 465
dKH 11.2
Mg 1600

Tested twice with repeated results. I'm concerned about my Mg level. I thought the best range should be around 1350-1450. What can I do to lower it, or is it something I shouldn't be overly stressed about.

All thoughts and comments welcome. Directions to educational sources appreciated as well. The goal is to keep this project simple, yet successful.

TIA all

 

Nothing new really. CUC added today. Second round of testing done, just trying to get a routine down.

Logging test results mostly to have easy access to them at all times, but it will help me in detailing the progression of this project as well.

Looking forward to a few frags after the new year.

Ca 440
dKH 8.7
Mg 1440
pH 8.4