How I'm not going to lose interest....

[justahobby]

Inspired by Firewater's thread I decided to start my own. Hopefully you will get something out of my thread.

Warning, have a comfortable chair, reading glasses, beer, or whatever it is you need because this is one of my very few long winded threads.

Today reminded me of when I had a FOWLR full of GHA. I was happy w/ it back then.

I thought my tank was beautiful and loved how it was a breeding ground for pods. Then, I discovered MAAST and saw how gorgeous reef tanks could be without GHA and lots of brightly colored corals. So I switched to RODI H2O, picked up dosing, switched to a 250W Metal Halides (from 2X96 PC) and began keeping up with the Joneses. I was happy for a while and then it happened......

A 10K bulb and heavy coral feeding has caused an algae bloom in my tank. Vodka dosing is helping, but at the expense of some prize corals. I noticed pale coloring on couple sps so I cut back. Today I discovered STN on the paling corals. Luckily, no cyano besides in the refugium.

I want to break down my tank and cook the rock while I slowly work on getting my 75g set up. The other part of me says that I have beaten algae before, I can do it again. I have some coral and fish that are dear to me that I don't think I could let go of.

Now that you are up to date w/ my tank, I'm going to list plans for my new tank and ways I am going to make it less stressful for me.

1) Bigger Fuge. As big as I can manage. I may have to go w/ a custom sump to meet my needs.

2) Bigger overflow. I have an HOB overflow right now and it's not cutting it. I am considering a Calfo style but they seem cumbersome.

4) Stop dosing. I don't dose a lot now per se but my coral still grew and I didn't see any explosion in growth or coral after I started dosing. I will keep some homemade 2 part for Ca and Alk on hand in case its needed, but no more kalk dripping and hopefully no more magnesium dosing.

3) Getting away from SPS. I love them, but I am finally admitting I don't have the time right now to monitor their needs. Some of the prettiest tanks I have ever seen don't have a single stick in them. I'll keep my prized ones like the Red Planet and Troy V's green Mille, but the harder to keeps (like the purples) are leaving my tank.

4) Cheaper lights. Buying bulbs hurts. I just can't drop a couple hundred bucks at a time on 2 metal halide and 2-4 PC or T5 bulbs. I have seen odyssea bulbs work well and seen the PAR results. They are good enough for me and my tank. I can get two MH bulbs and four 54w T5 bulbs shipped for around $60. Albeit the actinics won't be 420 nm, but w/ money saved I will splurge for a single 420nm T5 to boost coloring.

6) External Pump!! Not only will I save room, but cut down on heat which will allow me more room to leave the doors and windows open on a warm sunny day.

7) No more frags for me. I accumulated too many frags and i ended up with a mix n match tank. I lose frags and don't pay close enough attention when I have 50 smallish frags as compared to when i had 10 or 15 larger corals.


Things I am considering:

Foam background for coral placement and tunneling.

Converting the PC's in my 48" hood for 4 T5's. I may go with 2, but I like the idea of having 420nm, 460nm, and a pink bulb for better coloring. I love what a pink bulb does to coloring on fish! And getting a pack of 4 T5's for $30 is still cheaper to buy a couple times than paying for name brand bulbs at $20 a bulb.




If you actually read the whole thing, I commend you for your patience!!! and look forward to your feedback, questions, comments, etc.

[Ping]

I am with you all the way on this. When I get settled in Florida, I plan to do a 300g with a 100g fuge that drains into the display. I am thinking Xenia, GSP, Colt, and Anemone tank. I really like the movement and less maint will be a bonus.

I will also see how much I can procure from the ocean myself.

[justahobby]

Thanks for chiming in Pete. I'm sure your tank will look great. I have thought about adding more anemones once I have more real-estate available too. It's funny how we get so spoiled and think we need a hundred dollar - half inch - blue or purple calcium carbonate.
Honestly, I think its about dollar signs. And I don't think it's just me. I was talking to someone (can't rem. who) that talked about seeing the people selling $75 for 0.5" chalices on RC, and if you look at the "mother colony" its only 3-4" big...... dollar signs.

I just miss the basics. Getting excited over what critters were crawling around in the dark :D

I am looking for a simliar ratio of Fuge : Display. I really took it for granted in this tank setup. Do you have an idea of what you will do with your fuge?

[Troy Valentine]

Great topic,

Spoken like a seasoned pro Justin... Anyone can go spend thousands of dollars on a system and have an instant reef with all the primo corals on the market. The true love of this hobby comes after you loose all of those "primo corals"- you take a step back, reevaluate the situation, and start using your brain, and not just your wallet. It doesn't take a genius to be successful at this hobby just a person who is mentally tough. A person who can evolve with their aquarium. After all I think most of us view our aquarium as extensions of our personalities. The big things others see, and the little things that shaped us. Way to go Justin.... I look forward to seeing your giant OLD corals in the future.

[Europhyllia]

Great topic,

Spoken like a seasoned pro Justin... Anyone can go spend thousands of dollars on a system and have an instant reef with all the primo corals on the market. The true love of this hobby comes after you loose all of those "primo corals"- you take a step back, reevaluate the situation, and start using your brain, and not just your wallet. It doesn't take a genius to be successful at this hobby just a person who is mentally tough. A person who can evolve with their aquarium. After all I think most of us view our aquarium as extensions of our personalities. The big things others see, and the little things that shaped us. Way to go Justin.... I look forward to seeing your giant OLD corals in the future.
Very introspective and inspiring, Troy!

[Ping]

I am thinking the fuge will contain: One inch of sugar fine sandbed, a small pile of coral rubble stacked up against the rear corners, and Cheatomorpha alga.

[Kristy]

My favorite presenter at DFWMas was Joe Yaiullo, who set up a 20,000g reef tank in NY and has been maintaining it for years. One of his big messages in the end was that he had to work through so many issues with this system because it was in the public and he did not have the option of just tearing it all down and starting over. He talked about how beneficial the process of working through these issues is and how we are too quick as hobbyists to start over when things go wrong. Really good stuff.

Found a link to his 20k g reef in case you want to see it:
http://www.atlantismarineworld.com/exhibit-indoor-coralreef.html

[Europhyllia]

My favorite presenter at DFWMas was Joe Yaiullo, who set up a 20,000g reef tank in NY and has been maintaining it for years. One of his big messages in the end was that he had to work through so many issues with this system because it was in the public and he did not have the option of just tearing it all down and starting over. He talked about how beneficial the process of working through these issues is and how we are too quick as hobbyists to start over when things go wrong. Really good stuff.
:)
I think living through the big diatom disaster really made me appreciate my tank so much more (when most things are thriving even if they aren't the most stunning or special corals out there)

[justahobby]

I am thinking the fuge will contain: One inch of sugar fine sandbed, a small pile of coral rubble stacked up against the rear corners, and Cheatomorpha alga.

No DSB? Again, that sounds like what I will be aiming for... LOTS of Chaeto. The more the merrier.



My favorite presenter at DFWMas was Joe Yaiullo, who set up a 20,000g reef tank in NY and has been maintaining it for years. One of his big messages in the end was that he had to work through so many issues with this system because it was in the public and he did not have the option of just tearing it all down and starting over. He talked about how beneficial the process of working through these issues is and how we are too quick as hobbyists to start over when things go wrong. Really good stuff.

Agreed. In John's (Firewater) case it was different in that he had to made changes that required emptying out the tank to remove the foam background. My case is recognizing my limitations and working around them. When my tank was FOWLRGHA (that's fish only w/ liverock and green hair algae) I dedicated time every single day with pruning, WC's, and reduced feedings. It was a bonding time that I enjoyed. I didn't stress back then the tank would be overtaken (it already was :bigsmile: ). But I made it through it and ended up with a gorgeous tank.

[justahobby]

Great topic,

Spoken like a seasoned pro Justin... Anyone can go spend thousands of dollars on a system and have an instant reef with all the primo corals on the market. The true love of this hobby comes after you loose all of those "primo corals"- you take a step back, reevaluate the situation, and start using your brain, and not just your wallet. It doesn't take a genius to be successful at this hobby just a person who is mentally tough. A person who can evolve with their aquarium. After all I think most of us view our aquarium as extensions of our personalities. The big things others see, and the little things that shaped us. Way to go Justin.... I look forward to seeing your giant OLD corals in the future.

Thank you very much Troy. I look forward to being in the hobby for as long as you have and still having the same passion for it. :thumbs_up:

Man this thread is really helping.

[kkiel02]

I understand this completely. I have recently become pretty overwhelmed at work and have had little time to maintain my tank. Fortunately this has helped me to appreciate the natural clean up crew I have aquired. Now I enjow my tank more than ever. I have went away from buying acros to buying montis and have enjoyed the growth/colors they have. I also still enjoy lps but would say my tank is monti/anemone dominant. Less maintance had equaled much more enjoyment. Now my maintance consist of weekly topoffs, skimmer cup cleaning and a 10 gallon water change. So for almost a year now this has kept my tank nuisance algae free but recently given me much more enjoyment with my new coral selections.


Inspired by Firewater's thread I decided to start my own. Hopefully you will get something out of my thread.

Warning, have a comfortable chair, reading glasses, beer, or whatever it is you need because this is one of my very few long winded threads.

Today reminded me of when I had a FOWLR full of GHA. I was happy w/ it back then.

I thought my tank was beautiful and loved how it was a breeding ground for pods. Then, I discovered MAAST and saw how gorgeous reef tanks could be without GHA and lots of brightly colored corals. So I switched to RODI H2O, picked up dosing, switched to a 250W Metal Halides (from 2X96 PC) and began keeping up with the Joneses. I was happy for a while and then it happened......

A 10K bulb and heavy coral feeding has caused an algae bloom in my tank. Vodka dosing is helping, but at the expense of some prize corals. I noticed pale coloring on couple sps so I cut back. Today I discovered STN on the paling corals. Luckily, no cyano besides in the refugium.

I want to break down my tank and cook the rock while I slowly work on getting my 75g set up. The other part of me says that I have beaten algae before, I can do it again. I have some coral and fish that are dear to me that I don't think I could let go of.

Now that you are up to date w/ my tank, I'm going to list plans for my new tank and ways I am going to make it less stressful for me.

1) Bigger Fuge. As big as I can manage. I may have to go w/ a custom sump to meet my needs.

2) Bigger overflow. I have an HOB overflow right now and it's not cutting it. I am considering a Calfo style but they seem cumbersome.

4) Stop dosing. I don't dose a lot now per se but my coral still grew and I didn't see any explosion in growth or coral after I started dosing. I will keep some homemade 2 part for Ca and Alk on hand in case its needed, but no more kalk dripping and hopefully no more magnesium dosing.

3) Getting away from SPS. I love them, but I am finally admitting I don't have the time right now to monitor their needs. Some of the prettiest tanks I have ever seen don't have a single stick in them. I'll keep my prized ones like the Red Planet and Troy V's green Mille, but the harder to keeps (like the purples) are leaving my tank.

4) Cheaper lights. Buying bulbs hurts. I just can't drop a couple hundred bucks at a time on 2 metal halide and 2-4 PC or T5 bulbs. I have seen odyssea bulbs work well and seen the PAR results. They are good enough for me and my tank. I can get two MH bulbs and four 54w T5 bulbs shipped for around $60. Albeit the actinics won't be 420 nm, but w/ money saved I will splurge for a single 420nm T5 to boost coloring.

6) External Pump!! Not only will I save room, but cut down on heat which will allow me more room to leave the doors and windows open on a warm sunny day.

7) No more frags for me. I accumulated too many frags and i ended up with a mix n match tank. I lose frags and don't pay close enough attention when I have 50 smallish frags as compared to when i had 10 or 15 larger corals.


Things I am considering:

Foam background for coral placement and tunneling.

Converting the PC's in my 48" hood for 4 T5's. I may go with 2, but I like the idea of having 420nm, 460nm, and a pink bulb for better coloring. I love what a pink bulb does to coloring on fish! And getting a pack of 4 T5's for $30 is still cheaper to buy a couple times than paying for name brand bulbs at $20 a bulb.




If you actually read the whole thing, I commend you for your patience!!! and look forward to your feedback, questions, comments, etc.