Sherita
Tue, 10th Apr 2012, 06:03 PM
Ok, I have had a couple of private requests to tell more about my tanks and how I keep them, so here goes. My philosophy of tank management is "old school", I like things simple and easy. So, without further ado, lets get started. Let's take a look at my 72g custom reef, with its' 25g sump. This particular tank is 36" long and 22" high. This tank is reef ready, and does not use a weir. An ACjr controls the lights, fans, and heater. There is no chiller on this tank.
Average stats:
Temp 77.0-79.0
Salinity - 1.025
Alk 170 (Hanna Checker)
Ca - 430-450
Mg - 1400 (give or take 50)
phosphates - normally below 20
ammonia - never
nitrites - never
nitrates - 5 or so
Lighting - Captive Sun fixture in canopy. 2 x 175w mh 14k plusrite bulbs, 2 x 110w T12 vho super actinics. LED moonlights. Fuge is lit with a cheapo depot fluorescent 5100k floodlight x 2. The only LEDs allowed on my reef are the moonlights, switching to LED main lighting is something I would never consider.
Water movement - mag 7 return pump, split into two locline nozzles, one on either side of the tank, two mj900 powerheads, one on either side of the tank.
Reactors - only one, a carbon reactor
Skimmer - Sealife Seastorm
Total water volume on this system is about 85g, give or take a little. I use cheato in the fuge, on a reverse lighting cycle, with a dsb in the fuge as well.
My "old school" philosophy extends to saving money, hence the plusrite bulbs. I also do not buy expensive carbon for my tanks, I use pelletized carbon that is designed for use in koi ponds. It works well, the crap I am filtering out doesn't seem to know the difference, and my tanks love it. I change carbon once a month, and thin the fuge as necessary.
Now for the real shocker. I don't "do" daily dosing. It's a hassle and an aggravation, and for me at least, caused way more problems than it solved. I rely on kalkwasser in my ato to keep my alk where it needs to be, and to add calcium. Routine water changes keep my magnesium levels where they should be, and takes care of trace minerals that the tank might need. I do not run kalk reactors, calcium reactors, phosban reactors, gfo reactors, or nuclear reactors.
I use Instant Ocean salt. My tanks love it, so I see no reason to spend major money on some other brand, particularly since some have borate, high calcium levels, or low mg levels. IO has always treated me right, and 400 gallons of salt mix for less than $100 delivered to my door makes my wallet happy.
You are probably wondering how well this cheapo method works. Well, for me it works quite well. The tank in question has these corals in it (some, but not all, are listed):
purple tip acro, red planet, Tyree pink and blue acro, purple stylo, green stylo, green milli, purple formosa, hot pink birdsnest, unknown deepwater acro, sunset monti, purple haze monti, setosa monti, montipora hispida, cactus pavona, green cactus, rose hammers, blasto merletti, welso, lobo, fungia, chalices (5 different ones, three different species)mini maxi nems, pocillopora, maze brain, favia, gsp, anthellia, fairy dust palys.
This tank is very lightly stocked with fish: copperband butterfly, Janss' pipefish, mandarin, royal gramma, scooter blenny. CUC is snails and a tuxedo urchin. I do not allow crabs of any kind in my beautiful reef, they just tear stuff up or eat corals. I also do not allow destructive fish in my reef, which is why there are no clowns on my livestock list. There is one peppermint shrimp in my tank, but only because I cannot get him OUT. If I could, he would be in the fuge, instead of tearing up my corals and stealing food. I do not like this creature.
As for growth on corals, my old school method seems to work pretty darn well. I frag from this tank routinely, and I am about to have a major pruning session. The purple tip acro started life as a 3/8" frag just over 7 months ago, it is now the size of a softball. The Purple Haze was a 3/4" square frag, it's now larger than a saucer and I have fragged from it several times. The Fairy dusts went from four polyps to well over 400 in six months (how do I kill them??!). The Red Planet has put on over an inch of growth in the last month, as has the Tyree pink and blue. The stylos and birdsnest are overgrown weeds. Even the chalices are growing like mad. The slowest growing thing in my tank is the metallic cactus, and it is quietly staging a takeover of my back wall. The cactus pavona went from a tiny little "flake" to more than six inches across and four inches tall with lots of cactus pads everywhere in about six months.
I do not use pellet or flake food for my animals. Pellets or flakes are not found in the ocean. The tank is fed a mix of frozen.....pacific krill, enriched brine, baby brine, cyclopeeze, mysis, bloodworms (for the copperband). My corals are fed Coral Frenzy and Reef Roids. Occasionally I will offer Oyster Feast. I feed the fish every other day, the corals once a week. I spot feed the nems and lps once a week.
This tank, like all of my tanks, is run "dirty". I do not strive for pristine water conditions. Corals in the oceans thrive in shallow locations, where by nature there is an accumulation of impurities and nutrients in the water. It does not stand to reason (for me) that we should expect them to thrive in low/zero nutrient water in our tanks. If I have an algae issue, I up the number of snails on duty. If the water quality worries me, I increase water changes and swap out the old carbon for new, and turn the skimmer up a notch or two. My tanks are not filthy, nor do they stink, but they do emulate the conditions I have seen on many dive trips throughout the years. Sometimes I think we make this hobby much more difficult than it needs to be.
This is what works for me, your mileage might vary. Or it might not work for you at all.
Average stats:
Temp 77.0-79.0
Salinity - 1.025
Alk 170 (Hanna Checker)
Ca - 430-450
Mg - 1400 (give or take 50)
phosphates - normally below 20
ammonia - never
nitrites - never
nitrates - 5 or so
Lighting - Captive Sun fixture in canopy. 2 x 175w mh 14k plusrite bulbs, 2 x 110w T12 vho super actinics. LED moonlights. Fuge is lit with a cheapo depot fluorescent 5100k floodlight x 2. The only LEDs allowed on my reef are the moonlights, switching to LED main lighting is something I would never consider.
Water movement - mag 7 return pump, split into two locline nozzles, one on either side of the tank, two mj900 powerheads, one on either side of the tank.
Reactors - only one, a carbon reactor
Skimmer - Sealife Seastorm
Total water volume on this system is about 85g, give or take a little. I use cheato in the fuge, on a reverse lighting cycle, with a dsb in the fuge as well.
My "old school" philosophy extends to saving money, hence the plusrite bulbs. I also do not buy expensive carbon for my tanks, I use pelletized carbon that is designed for use in koi ponds. It works well, the crap I am filtering out doesn't seem to know the difference, and my tanks love it. I change carbon once a month, and thin the fuge as necessary.
Now for the real shocker. I don't "do" daily dosing. It's a hassle and an aggravation, and for me at least, caused way more problems than it solved. I rely on kalkwasser in my ato to keep my alk where it needs to be, and to add calcium. Routine water changes keep my magnesium levels where they should be, and takes care of trace minerals that the tank might need. I do not run kalk reactors, calcium reactors, phosban reactors, gfo reactors, or nuclear reactors.
I use Instant Ocean salt. My tanks love it, so I see no reason to spend major money on some other brand, particularly since some have borate, high calcium levels, or low mg levels. IO has always treated me right, and 400 gallons of salt mix for less than $100 delivered to my door makes my wallet happy.
You are probably wondering how well this cheapo method works. Well, for me it works quite well. The tank in question has these corals in it (some, but not all, are listed):
purple tip acro, red planet, Tyree pink and blue acro, purple stylo, green stylo, green milli, purple formosa, hot pink birdsnest, unknown deepwater acro, sunset monti, purple haze monti, setosa monti, montipora hispida, cactus pavona, green cactus, rose hammers, blasto merletti, welso, lobo, fungia, chalices (5 different ones, three different species)mini maxi nems, pocillopora, maze brain, favia, gsp, anthellia, fairy dust palys.
This tank is very lightly stocked with fish: copperband butterfly, Janss' pipefish, mandarin, royal gramma, scooter blenny. CUC is snails and a tuxedo urchin. I do not allow crabs of any kind in my beautiful reef, they just tear stuff up or eat corals. I also do not allow destructive fish in my reef, which is why there are no clowns on my livestock list. There is one peppermint shrimp in my tank, but only because I cannot get him OUT. If I could, he would be in the fuge, instead of tearing up my corals and stealing food. I do not like this creature.
As for growth on corals, my old school method seems to work pretty darn well. I frag from this tank routinely, and I am about to have a major pruning session. The purple tip acro started life as a 3/8" frag just over 7 months ago, it is now the size of a softball. The Purple Haze was a 3/4" square frag, it's now larger than a saucer and I have fragged from it several times. The Fairy dusts went from four polyps to well over 400 in six months (how do I kill them??!). The Red Planet has put on over an inch of growth in the last month, as has the Tyree pink and blue. The stylos and birdsnest are overgrown weeds. Even the chalices are growing like mad. The slowest growing thing in my tank is the metallic cactus, and it is quietly staging a takeover of my back wall. The cactus pavona went from a tiny little "flake" to more than six inches across and four inches tall with lots of cactus pads everywhere in about six months.
I do not use pellet or flake food for my animals. Pellets or flakes are not found in the ocean. The tank is fed a mix of frozen.....pacific krill, enriched brine, baby brine, cyclopeeze, mysis, bloodworms (for the copperband). My corals are fed Coral Frenzy and Reef Roids. Occasionally I will offer Oyster Feast. I feed the fish every other day, the corals once a week. I spot feed the nems and lps once a week.
This tank, like all of my tanks, is run "dirty". I do not strive for pristine water conditions. Corals in the oceans thrive in shallow locations, where by nature there is an accumulation of impurities and nutrients in the water. It does not stand to reason (for me) that we should expect them to thrive in low/zero nutrient water in our tanks. If I have an algae issue, I up the number of snails on duty. If the water quality worries me, I increase water changes and swap out the old carbon for new, and turn the skimmer up a notch or two. My tanks are not filthy, nor do they stink, but they do emulate the conditions I have seen on many dive trips throughout the years. Sometimes I think we make this hobby much more difficult than it needs to be.
This is what works for me, your mileage might vary. Or it might not work for you at all.