Diving The World's 80g Acro Wonderland!

[DivingTheWorld]

TGC Orange Creamsicle

 

[JCOLE]

BC Aquatic-Man

Looks awesome! How far down is it from the surface and do you know how much PAR it is getting?

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Looks awesome! How far down is it from the surface and do you know how much PAR it is getting?

It's 11" below the surface and is getting 375-400 PAR.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Top view of trimmed down RRU Pink Floyd

 

[Maxx]

Must be nice to have acro's that grow like weeds in your tank.

#firstworldproblems

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Must be nice to have acro's that grow like weeds in your tank.

#firstworldproblems

I know, it's tough. My first couple years with this tank I was an acro serial killer. This is my first acro tank and I think I made all the mistakes. I even managed to kill off some montis and birdsnest. That takes serious skill! ;Woot Luckily I finally found my tank groove and it's been solid the past few years.

I think that's really what it comes down to is time, patience and consistency till you hit that groove.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

SC Orange Passion

 

[DivingTheWorld]

One of the trickier corals I've been trying to grow. I even bought another frag and now they're encrusted together, but still not going anywhere...

RRA Ultimate Orange Passion

 

[Maxx]

I know, it's tough. My first couple years with this tank I was an acro serial killer. This is my first acro tank and I think I made all the mistakes. I even managed to kill off some montis and birdsnest. That takes serious skill! ;Woot Luckily I finally found my tank groove and it's been solid the past few years.

I think that's really what it comes down to is time, patience and consistency till you hit that groove.

I've just re-entered the hobby after a few years off. I never had long term success with acros as I wasnt paying attention to parameters like I am now. I'd have some success, but I hadnt gotten everything dialed in properly and consistently. Having three kids in 2.5 years will tend to disrupt your schedule a bit.

My little system has only been running since March, (rocks were in tubs with bacteria since early Jan). A friend hooked me with some starter frags at beginning of June and I havent lost any yet and am seeing some modest growth signs, so I'm optimistic. But I'm along way away from your "Acro Weed" status.

Some day....

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I've just re-entered the hobby after a few years off. I never had long term success with acros as I wasnt paying attention to parameters like I am now. I'd have some success, but I hadnt gotten everything dialed in properly and consistently. Having three kids in 2.5 years will tend to disrupt your schedule a bit.

My little system has only been running since March, (rocks were in tubs with bacteria since early Jan). A friend hooked me with some starter frags at beginning of June and I havent lost any yet and am seeing some modest growth signs, so I'm optimistic. But I'm along way away from your "Acro Weed" status.

Some day....

Keeping acros alive in a 3 month old tank is nothing to scoff at. That takes some skills. You'll hit your groove, it will just take some time.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

For something a little different today, here's a video. Some people have asked what our flow looks like, so I did a quick video of my frozen morning feeding. You can also see all our fish, some of which are hiding most of the time like our Black Cap Gramma.

 

[Maxx]

You fed so much the acro in the front fell over!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

You fed so much the acro in the front fell over!

Ha, I know! Darn flow keeps knocking it over.

 

[Michael Gray]

Top view of trimmed down RRU Pink Floyd

ahh always wanted one of these!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

ahh always wanted one of these!

You know where to find them Mike. ;Woot

 

[DivingTheWorld]

WT Tierra Del Fuego

 

[Michael Gray]

Gotta put together a package. The 3 still look great!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Walt Disney

 

[Michael Gray]

Walt Disney

Another must have. Always wanted WD,Oregon tort, Orange passion

 

[kaweesha562]

Today I posted in the "How to successfully keep SPS Corals!" thread. I was thinking some of that info may not have been shared here in my build thread, so figured I'd share it here as well. Feel free to ask any questions:

What makes our tank started October 2014 successful with SPS?

A few things that may contribute:

Clean Start - We started with 100% dry rock and have been as careful as possible with all coral additions. Over the years we've got a few algae pests like Bryopsis and Bubble Algae but were able to take care of them successfully. Starting with 100% dry rock has allowed us to keep out (IMO) pests like bristleworms and other creepy crawly's. I use nitrile gloves anytime I put my hands in the tank. Who knows what I get on my hands throughout the day so I think this helps prevent poisoning the tank. We also never use any harmful aerosol chemicals in the house.

Lighting - We started with 2 Radion XR15 Pros. After a couple years I concluded that it was not enough light. Options were $1500 for a pair of XR30's or sell the XR15's and move completely to T5. We chose the later which was essentially a wash sale. Current lighting is an ATI Dimmable T5 with Reefbrite XHO Blue. Bulbs are 4 B+, 2 C+, 1 P+, 1 Actinic (all ATI). We switch the bulbs out every 6 months. Lighting schedule is 12 hours per day. Reefbrite comes on for 1 hour, then 2 T5 bulbs for 1 hour, then all bulbs for 8 hours, then back to 2 T5 bulbs for 1 hour, Reefbrite for the last hour.

Dosing - I have considered a calcium reactor, but I feel our tank is just too small to justify. Our stand is absolutely stuffed as well so I'd have to put it next to the stand which would be ugly. So we use 2 BRS 1.1ml dosers run by our Apex. We have a dosing program split into two periods, 10pm-10am and 10am-10pm. I know from experience that corals suck Alk/Cal more during lights on than lights off, so this helps us dial in a more even level throughout the day. We dose every 30 minutes 24/7.

Return Pump - We've been through a couple Reef Octopus RODC-5500's, but they didn't last. Currently we're using a Vertex V6. Great pump and I wish I had snapped up another before they were discontinued! Return water flows through a manifold which diverts to two reactors, then splits into two 3/4" returns, each split into two 1/2" loclines in the tank. This allows us to aim each of the 4 outlets towards particular areas of the tank.

Flow Pumps - We run two MP40QD's. They are each on the back wall, lower corners running at 90% Reef Crest, Anti-Sync 24/7. This allows for tremendous random flow throughout the tank without any flow directly hitting any corals. It also gets them out of view which I love.

Skimmer - We run a Reef Octopus POV-DC1. It was a very expensive skimmer, but after a warranty upgrade to a new pump and adapter after the first year, it's run like a pro for the last 5 years. With the upgrade, it's now essentially an Elite 150SSS. It sits on a Reef Octopus adjustable skimmer stand which allowed us to dial in the height.

Supplement Filtration - The only other filtration we run is 2 BRS deluxe reactors plumbed off the return pump. One has 4 Tbsp Rox 0.8 Carbon and one has 8 Tbsp HC GFO, each switched out once per month. We offset these changes by at least one week.

No Socks - I firmly believe removing socks has allowed our tank to have more complete biodiversity and helped maintain a good pod population. We have never added pods to the tank.

Bare Bottom - We sucked out the sand at about the 1.5 year mark and never looked back. Water changes are now a breeze, we can run as much flow as we want and just suck out any detritus during the water change. IMO it also allows us to maintain Nitrate/Phosphate more easily.

Water Changes - We do 10g 1x per week. I mix up 40g at a time using regular IO to 1.0264 and adjust the parameters to what I want. Alk 7.5. Cal 400, Mag 1450-1500. If Cal or Mag mixes higher due to a random batch of IO, I don't sweat it. But Alk is always adjusted to exactly 7.5. Water is adjusted to match the tank just prior to each change. The rest of the month it just fluctuates with the garage temp.

Fish Food - We only feed the fish. We feed a mix of frozen in the morning and NLS Pellets in the evening. Frozen is a mix of Hikari: Bio-Pure Brine Shrimp, Bio-Pure Spirulina, Bio-Pure Mysis, Bio-Pure Ocean Plankton. We do not feed any other food, period!

No Additives - We do not add any other chemicals to the tank, no coral supplements, no nitrate, no phosphate, no aminos, nothing! Any elements (Iodine, Strontium, Iron, Potassium) are replenished through weekly water changes.

Fish - One of our biggest keys to acro success is A LOT of fish. Our tank is 80g, 89g system est. volume. For fish we have in adult sizes:

1 Blue Tang
1 Banggai Cardinal
2 Picasso Clowns
1 Black Cap Gramma
4 Lyretail Anthias
2 Green Chromis
1 One Spot Foxface
1 Spotted Mandarin

Cleanup Crew - We have a limited, yet specialized crew:

6-8 Giant Turbo Snails - These are the workhorses!
Colony of Banded Trochus Snails - These bread in the aquarium so always keep healthy numbers.
2 Fire Shrimp - Mostly for the kids, but help grab big stuff.

Parameters -

Salinity 1.0264
Alkalinity 7.5
Calcium 400
Magnesium 1395-1425
Nitrate 4-6
Phosphate 0.03-0.05
pH 7.8-8.2
Iodine 0.05-0.06

Testing - I think another key to our acro success is lots of testing. In my research of highly successful acro tanks and dealers, they test often, especially Alk. So here's what I test:

Salinity - Once a week, 24 hours after my water change with a Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer. I also monitor with my Apex Salinity Probe, but IMO that sucks.
Alkalinity - Once a day with a Hanna checker, plus 4x a day with an Alkatronic. The Alkatronic is mostly for my vacation piece of mind, but sometimes I get lazy and don't use my Hanna for a few days.
Calcium - Once every 1-2 days with Salifert
Magnesium - Once a month with Salifert
Nitrate - Once a month with Salifert
Phosphate - Once a month with a Hanna ULR Phosphorous checker
pH - Once a month with Red Sea, plus throughout the day with my Apex. My Alkatronic also checks pH.
Iodine - Once a month with Red Sea

This helped me a lot I got tons of info from this thank you