Devoted Reefer 250

Kyl · May 28, 2018

What about lowering the daily photo period of your ATS to help keep some detectable NO3/PO4?

AcanthurusRex · May 28, 2018

I respectfully disagree; I've never seen anyone attribute success to randomly changing additives.
I have 6 anthias in QT. These are the dirtiest fish I've QT'd so I hope they help.
I have Ap700s on an RSR525. The lights are good but they can only be controlled using a phone app which Kessil does not properly maintain. There was a recent build that used Radions oriented front to back with the diffusers; I did not see any of the disco effects and the light fill looked good but they used a bunch of them. I do not have any personal experience with Radions but as long as they can be controlled by their own controller and Apex I think they are a better choice than an AP700. Ecotech actually has done some work on coral growth and provides the settings with the Coral Labs project. I would not spend any significant cash on something IoT dependent.
I feed more than that. My fish literally waddle around the tank they are so fat. I kept marine aquariums in the '90s and I couldn't get rid of nitrates. Now I can't maintain any nitrates. I started out with a 4" marine pure in the sump and two-inch marine pure in the bubble trap. I removed the 4-inch block, added some aquaforest Life Bio Fil to compensate; no issues and no nitrates. A few months later I removed the marine pure from the bubble trap and this threw the tank out of balance and I had bouts of cloudy water for a while; still no nitrates. I've been pulling the aquaforest media out for the QT. Hopefully, I can find the balance. I used Marco rock which I don't think provides great filtration which should make it easier to manage with media in the sump, in theory.

siggy · May 28, 2018

AcanthurusRex said:
My fish literally waddle around the tank they are so fat.

Nice!
@pelphrey great videos, I am running 2 360's with the t5's ( same bulb combo) on a 48x18x20 tall and I have to be careful not to toast the chalices on the sand bed and my hybrid is about 9-10" above the water and I generally just run two bulbs (1 front & 1 back ) ap700 or 2 360's would punch threw. I also have 2 xr15's I have been meaning to try out.....You first!

RedneckReefer68 · May 28, 2018

I've had Kessil 160s and i hated them. Went to mh for a while but the heat in the summer wasn't cutting it. Went to ati fixture for a while but couldn't stand the blah look with no shimmer. I tried the g4xr30 but at the time, led only didn't appeal to me with sps only. So I went back to ati t5 for a while. The led bug bit me again and I found blueacro pucks. Built my own fixture with 4 of his half star 20k pros and control them with a reef angel. Total cost to cover a 36" track was about a third of what the xr30 cost and I couldn't be happier with them. With the Makers heat sink and hanging kit it doesn't look DIY as some builds I've kept up with and my sps color up and grow just as good with all the other lighting I've used.

This is from the whitlyns like you got the other day

Another from there

Some name corals I've ordered

GB full spectrum and Bali shortcake

pelphrey · May 28, 2018

Kyl said:
What about lowering the daily photo period of your ATS to help keep some detectable NO3/PO4?

AcanthurusRex said:
I respectfully disagree; I've never seen anyone attribute success to randomly changing additives.
I have 6 anthias in QT. These are the dirtiest fish I've QT'd so I hope they help.
I have Ap700s on an RSR525. The lights are good but they can only be controlled using a phone app which Kessil does not properly maintain. There was a recent build that used Radions oriented front to back with the diffusers; I did not see any of the disco effects and the light fill looked good but they used a bunch of them. I do not have any personal experience with Radions but as long as they can be controlled by their own controller and Apex I think they are a better choice than an AP700. Ecotech actually has done some work on coral growth and provides the settings with the Coral Labs project. I would not spend any significant cash on something IoT dependent.
I feed more than that. My fish literally waddle around the tank they are so fat. I kept marine aquariums in the '90s and I couldn't get rid of nitrates. Now I can't maintain any nitrates. I started out with a 4" marine pure in the sump and two-inch marine pure in the bubble trap. I removed the 4-inch block, added some aquaforest Life Bio Fil to compensate; no issues and no nitrates. A few months later I removed the marine pure from the bubble trap and this threw the tank out of balance and I had bouts of cloudy water for a while; still no nitrates. I've been pulling the aquaforest media out for the QT. Hopefully, I can find the balance. I used Marco rock which I don't think provides great filtration which should make it easier to manage with media in the sump, in theory.

I’ve tried anthias multiple times with no success, couldn’t ever get them to eat. My auto feeder feeds twice a day while I’m gone, I don’t think they took to it. I pulled out some of my pond matrix awhile back, I can relate to having too much filtration. I used reef cleaners Florida rock, which is pretty similar to Marco rock. Next tank I’d probably spend the extra money and get the Tampa bay salt water package!

siggy said:
Nice!
@pelphrey great videos, I am running 2 360's with the t5's ( same bulb combo) on a 48x18x20 tall and I have to be careful not to toast the chalices on the sand bed and my hybrid is about 9-10" above the water and I generally just run two bulbs (1 front & 1 back ) ap700 or 2 360's would punch threw. I also have 2 xr15's I have been meaning to try out.....You first!

If you have the xr15’s try them and let me know. I’m completely besides myself. I may leave it alone for now, unless I find a xr15 for a good price to test out!

RedneckReefer68 said:
I've had Kessil 160s and i hated them. Went to mh for a while but the heat in the summer wasn't cutting it. Went to ati fixture for a while but couldn't stand the blah look with no shimmer. I tried the g4xr30 but at the time, led only didn't appeal to me with sps only. So I went back to ati t5 for a while. The led bug bit me again and I found blueacro pucks. Built my own fixture with 4 of his half star 20k pros and control them with a reef angel. Total cost to cover a 36" track was about a third of what the xr30 cost and I couldn't be happier with them. With the Makers heat sink and hanging kit it doesn't look DIY as some builds I've kept up with and my sps color up and grow just as good with all the other lighting I've used.

This is from the whitlyns like you got the other day

Another from there

Some name corals I've ordered

GB full spectrum and Bali shortcake

I’m like you where the t5 only isn’t anything spectacular to look at. With the kessils I like it, the t5’s actually reduce the shimmer. I feel like the kessils alone produce to much shimmer alone now. I’ve never heard of the leds you are using now. Where can I learn more?

RedneckReefer68 · May 28, 2018

https://blueacro.com/acrostar/products

pelphrey · May 28, 2018

RedneckReefer68 said:
https://blueacro.com/acrostar/products

Thanks!

This coral look familiar, I bought it from you I. Henderson a couple years ago. I still have a few corals, they’ve gone through a lot of downs with me!

pelphrey · May 28, 2018

I have two royal gramma’s. Need to look for some more fish, wouldn’t mine to have a few more of these!

RedneckReefer68 · May 28, 2018

I was wondering if that was the same one [emoji3]

Scurvy · May 28, 2018

ill give you my thoughts having been in a similar if not exact scenario with T5/Kessil on my 250 as you know. replacing and going a totally different route was the best decision I think I could have made with mine at the time. I don’t have any regrets. That said, I know you were thinking of cranking the 160’s up to 100% at one point. I never did do that and do think it may have made a difference. so before you decide to ditch what you already have maybe give it a shot combined with keeping nutrients at detectable levels. I now believe that was a bigger issue for me than my lights ever were. It’s so very important and often overlooked. I know because i looked right past it. The best lights in the business wont make a difference if the chemistry isnt right. That may mean killing the light on the ATS for a stretch then ramping it back up to 4/6/8 hours until you find a balance. I really was in the same boat only doing it with a chaeto reactor. Round and round I went.... growing it out, stripping water, having die off, nutrients spiking, losing coral then trying it all again. I finally gave up on it. It was just too fine a tight rope for me to walk at my experience level. Nowadays i let the sump get dirty (theres all kinds of crap growing down there), the skimmer does its thing, i run some Phosguard in a bag and dose NoPox a couple times a week when I happen to remember. Yes my nitrates jump around between 10-25 but phosphates stay relatively in check and I’ve found some success. Eventually ill try macro algae’s again, maybe ill see better results... Maybe i wont but ill adapt and work around it with other methods that work for me and my routines/free time.

Radions are an obvious choice and a great light. I’d also consider the Orphek. I know I’m biased in that opinion but the one fixture over our 3 foot tanks has worked out really well for me. Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing with the Radions but at least I know now that i have enough horsepower to grow whatever I want and light should never really be my problem unless its too much. Shimmer isnt anywhere near what it was with the Kessils but comparable to Kessil/T5 id say.

Anyway that wasnt meant to be a rant in any way. Just a story to show that sometimes blowing up poplular convention can leed to good things. Keep the phosphates down but detectable. Nitrates arent that big a deal unless you’re shooting purposely for an ULNS system. Personally ill leave that to the real pro’s until Ive got more years/tools in my reefing tool box.
Whatever you decide im rooting for you!

Kyl · May 28, 2018

I definitely noticed my frag tank SPS being negatively affected with the chaeto going crazy (with NO3 undetectable) and alk around 8.4. It got to the point I heavily backed off the photo period to two hours a night, NO3 is now around 4ppm now and PO4 has always been a steady .02. It's either that or now you have to start dosing nitrates, which seems counter-productive if you're just going to be exporting a lot of it back out of the tank with macro, unless you're selling it somehow (chaeto).

All the ups and downs though, I think you're doing not so bad @pelphrey. The tank looks great.

siggy · May 29, 2018

In another thread, the turtle has the same lighting combo only he added a third 160 and I believe he hit over 300 par.

Scurvy · May 29, 2018

siggy said:
In another thread, the turtle has the same lighting combo only he added a third 160 and I believe he hit over 300 par.

Thats a great point @siggy. Turtles tank is also 3 inches deeper at 24” where our 250’s are 21”.

Scurvy · May 29, 2018

Its also the 24” fixture Vs your 36”

pelphrey · May 29, 2018

Scurvy said:
ill give you my thoughts having been in a similar if not exact scenario with T5/Kessil on my 250 as you know. replacing and going a totally different route was the best decision I think I could have made with mine at the time. I don’t have any regrets. That said, I know you were thinking of cranking the 160’s up to 100% at one point. I never did do that and do think it may have made a difference. so before you decide to ditch what you already have maybe give it a shot combined with keeping nutrients at detectable levels. I now believe that was a bigger issue for me than my lights ever were. It’s so very important and often overlooked. I know because i looked right past it. The best lights in the business wont make a difference if the chemistry isnt right. That may mean killing the light on the ATS for a stretch then ramping it back up to 4/6/8 hours until you find a balance. I really was in the same boat only doing it with a chaeto reactor. Round and round I went.... growing it out, stripping water, having die off, nutrients spiking, losing coral then trying it all again. I finally gave up on it. It was just too fine a tight rope for me to walk at my experience level. Nowadays i let the sump get dirty (theres all kinds of crap growing down there), the skimmer does its thing, i run some Phosguard in a bag and dose NoPox a couple times a week when I happen to remember. Yes my nitrates jump around between 10-25 but phosphates stay relatively in check and I’ve found some success. Eventually ill try macro algae’s again, maybe ill see better results... Maybe i wont but ill adapt and work around it with other methods that work for me and my routines/free time.

Radions are an obvious choice and a great light. I’d also consider the Orphek. I know I’m biased in that opinion but the one fixture over our 3 foot tanks has worked out really well for me. Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing with the Radions but at least I know now that i have enough horsepower to grow whatever I want and light should never really be my problem unless its too much. Shimmer isnt anywhere near what it was with the Kessils but comparable to Kessil/T5 id say.

Anyway that wasnt meant to be a rant in any way. Just a story to show that sometimes blowing up poplular convention can leed to good things. Keep the phosphates down but detectable. Nitrates arent that big a deal unless you’re shooting purposely for an ULNS system. Personally ill leave that to the real pro’s until Ive got more years/tools in my reefing tool box.
Whatever you decide im rooting for you!

Not a rant at all! I am learning and listening no doubt! The last time I reduced the photo period on the ATS I went a little wild and thought I created the perfect situation for dino's! This is all one big learning experience for me and I need a new game plan. Luckily with the help of you all I have the best help at my finger tips. I think for now I will stop worrying about a light swap (probably add a third kessil) to get the numbers up some and buy some corals!

Kyl said:
I definitely noticed my frag tank SPS being negatively affected with the chaeto going crazy (with NO3 undetectable) and alk around 8.4. It got to the point I heavily backed off the photo period to two hours a night, NO3 is now around 4ppm now and PO4 has always been a steady .02. It's either that or now you have to start dosing nitrates, which seems counter-productive if you're just going to be exporting a lot of it back out of the tank with macro, unless you're selling it somehow (chaeto).

All the ups and downs though, I think you're doing not so bad @pelphrey. The tank looks great.

Thanks @Kyl the importing and exporting of nutrients has been an ongoing battle for me. I will one day understand this balancing act.

siggy said:
In another thread, the turtle has the same lighting combo only he added a third 160 and I believe he hit over 300 par.

@siggy Thanks, I just checked that out. Looks like I can solve my par issues pretty easily. Thank you very much for sharing!

AcanthurusRex · May 29, 2018

These are ignitus anthias which are easier. LA rates them as easy. Eatbreakfast recommends them.

Kyl · Jun 1, 2018

@pelphrey One other thing, are you still running a lot of matrix in the sump? That may be doing too good a job of removing nitrates, something I didn't think of with my main tank vs frag tank. The frag tank had a lot of matrix in it, most of which was also removed to put into my QT tanks. Might be another area to check to see if you can avoid having to dose NO3 going foward.

pelphrey · Jun 1, 2018

Kyl said:
@pelphrey One other thing, are you still running a lot of matrix in the sump? That may be doing too good a job of removing nitrates, something I didn't think of with my main tank vs frag tank. The frag tank had a lot of matrix in it, most of which was also removed to put into my QT tanks. Might be another area to check to see if you can avoid having to dose NO3 going foward.

I was at one point, even a reactor full of matrix. I removed the reactor and 2 or 3 cups of matrix. Great suggestion!