My Oceanic 58

[longhorn_20m]

At the end of the month my tank will reach six months and I wanted to give a little information on the tank, what I'm currently doing and want to get feedback on what I should undertake next.

The tank is an Oceanic 58 RR. It was first setup with all DIY live rock then half was removed and replaced with live rock as seen on the left side. For the first 5 months I ran smaller sump/refugium with Prism skimmer. I recently built new sump and upgraded skimmer to ASM G3. My return pump is a Mag 5 and I also have an over the top closed loop ran by a Blueline 800 pump. My lighting is SLS retro fit kit 4x39watt T5 with triad ballasts. My current stock is 2 clowns, 1 scooter blenny, 1 royal gramma, cleaner shrimp, and misc other hermits/snails. As for corals, I have mixture of different zoos, some rics, blasto, and other misc. I have seen growth, but not unbelievable growth. I use a Kent 5 gallon dripper for top off. Once a week I check PH, KH, and calcium and drip kalk or buffer mixed with topoff water.

What else should I be doing to ensure perfect mixture to promote growth? Majority of the stuff I have are frags but want to encourage them to spread and fill out the tank. What would be my next move to improve my system?

Pictures of my system can be seen in my gallery.

Thanks,

Justin

[JeffCo]

Only thing I can recommend are water changes. Get on a regular schedule where you are doing them every 2-4 weeks, and you will see a big difference in your tank. HTH

[longhorn_20m]

Yea I currently change around 10-15 gallons every two weeks, or at least try too.

[gjuarez]

If you have parameters around 400-500 calcium and 8-10 DKH, then you are doing the right thing. It really doesnt matter what and how you dose as long as you can keep your parameters some what close to that. I am not saying those are the perfect parameters, its just what most experts reccomend. If you have the proper parameters of calcium and alkalinity and you are still not getting growth, you might want to look into adding another set of t5s. THese are just my opinions. Also, maybe you can describe the corals you have. Some are way slower growers than others. That may be the case.

[GaryP]

From what you have said, it doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. None of the corals you mentioned are extremely fast growing corals like some of the SPS. I wouldn't make any big changes, it sounds like you have a very well thought out system. If there is one area I might consider upgrading it might be the lighting. 156 watts of T5 doesn't sound like a lot to me for a reef tank.