Dpoltsdsu's 120 Gallon (Not Just Acros) SPS Reef

[dpoltsdsu]

Hello All

I've been on this forum on the sidelines for many years and I figured it was time to sign up and start a thread. This is my latest project!

This reef was "born" when we moved into our first house in June 2021. I transferred some of what was in my old nano reef into this 120. This is my first "large" reef tank after keeping smaller tanks for many years so this will be a great learning experience for me. Hopefully this thread can provide myself and others with my trials and tribulations as well as give a timeline of this reef's story as I hope to have this setup for many years.

Tank Theme/Goals

My goal for the reef is to have a lively, colorful, SPS dominate reef tank that reminds me of diving in the Pacific. Because of this, I don't want the tank to be super Acropora dominant. I'd like for the reef to have a multitude of different reef building corals, similar to what I'd see out on a wild reef. I will be collecting different species of Pocillopora, Stylophora, Montipora, and of course some Acros as well. I will also be including some Porites and other less common SPS as well. Emphasis will be put in diversity, unique growth patterns, and biodiversity rather than solely color and "collector corals".

The reef will feature a high light, high flow reef crest type of environment. I will be feeding heavy but will have plenty of nutrient export as well to keep a low nutrient environment that still has enough "nutrition" for coral feeding to try and mimic a natural reef.

Equipment

Tank - Custom LeeMar 120 glass tank and stand (standard dimensions).
Rock - Mix of Caribsea and Salty Bottom Live Rock
Sand - Mix of Caribsea and Salty Bottom Live Sand
Return Pump - Ecotech L2 (run externally)
Flow - 2 Ecotech MP40's and 2 ReefBreeder's RPM's.
Lighting - 2 Ecotech Gen 5 XR30 Pro's set to AB+
Skimmer - Buuble Magus Curve 5
Refugium - Cheato Refugium grown by a Hydroponics Light
Dosing - Dosing will be solely handled by Tropic Marin's All For Reef. I've used this for a couple of years and had solid success thus far.

Livestock

Poccilopora -
- Verrucosa
- Pistillata
- Eydouxi
- Damicornis
- Hystrix

Montipora -
- Digitata
- Capricornis
- Nodosa
- Undata
- Tubercolusa
- Setosa

Acropora -
- Tenuis
- Hyacinthus
- Millepora
- Valida
- Yongei
- Tortuosa

Pavona -

- Decussata

Soft Coral -
- Helipora Coerula
- Sarcophytum
- Briarium sp

Here are some pictures as of 2/9/22. I've had a lot of these corals for a couple of years which is why some of them look more like colonies already.

 

[KYnewbee42103]

Buddy this is absolutely beautiful. I am envious. love the rockscaping and colors they look healthy. I can't wait to see the progress with more room for growth!

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Buddy this is absolutely beautiful. I am envious. love the rockscaping and colors they look healthy. I can't wait to see the progress with more room for growth!

Appreciate the kind words! Cant wait to see where it goes

 

[dpoltsdsu]

My goal for the top part of the reef is to have a lot of staghorn type of growth with tall intersecting species of coral. This will allow for some interesting growth patterns and also allow more light to pass through to the bottom of the reef.

I want the “focus” of this top part to be a large patch of interconnecting Montipora Digitata. I’ve always had a soft spot for this coral and love it’s growth pattern. I plan to have numerous color morphs to create an interesting and beautiful middle-top section that will immediately draw one’s eye.

So far I have collected the following Digitata color morphs:
- Forest Fire Montipora Digiatata
- Purple/brown Montipora Digitata (scientific I know)
- Magenta Montipora Digitata
- Green Montipora Digitata

These will be featured in the middle top. I also have some Green Slimer that’s been encrusting on the top left that I hope can fill in that area.


Digitata Section

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Despite the point of the tank, I do have a couple "designer Acros" that I got from a friend a while back. One of these is a Walt Disney Acro. Admittedly, mine doesn't have the very best color out there but I do get a pretty nice growth rate out of it as well as some solid polyp extension for a Tenuis.



Coral on 1/10/2021 in my old nano reef -










Coral as of 2/15/22

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Here is one of my “not super common in the hobby SPS” - Pocillopora Verrucosa

Ive had it for a couple of years now and it’s one of my favorite corals. It has a pretty cool “knobby” growth pattern and has been pretty hardy although it’s a pretty slow grower.

This coral has a pretty cool color pattern with green polyps along the base and purple polyps on the top of each “knob”.

I have it on a little ledge that gets pretty high flow and it seems to like the spot. It has definitely increased its growth rate over the last couple months for whatever reason.

 

[Reeferjunkie]

Gorgeous tank

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Appreciate it! Hopefully it can continue to do well

 

[vlangel]

I always loved your nano tanks and this larger tank is just as beautiful! I can't wait to see it as it grows out as that was when your nanos really shined!

 

[dpoltsdsu]

I always loved your nano tanks and this larger tank is just as beautiful! I can't wait to see it as it grows out as that was when your nanos really shined!

Really appreciate that! I have spent countless hours reading your threads on different forums over the years! Can't wait to see this grown out as well. You know my style haha

 

[vlangel]

Really appreciate that! I have spent countless hours reading your threads on different forums over the years! Can't wait to see this grown out as well. You know my style haha

It's fun to see those of us who have had aquariums for more than just a few years and watch each other change and mature in the hobby.

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Have had a couple busy months (got married) but the reef is going strong! Will post a better update in the next couple of weeks after the honeymoon!

 

[vlangel]

Congratulations, and the tank looks wonderful.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Have had a couple busy months (got married) but the reef is going strong! Will post a better update in the next couple of weeks after the honeymoon!

Congrats on the wedding!!!

Beautiful reef!!

 

[dpoltsdsu]

Getting back into the reef a bit after all the craziness of planning a wedding.

Here’s a FTS of the reef as of 5/16. The coral growth has been pretty extensive. The tank is filled with fast growing corals regardless but i am still pruning every 2 weeks or so. I haven’t added anything new in a while but am always on the lookout for less common SPS. There’s some hair algaegrowing but that is just the flow of having a reef tank.

Note: a bunch of frags have been knocked off by myself cleaning or my tangs so the sandbed is a mess of coral. Hoping to remove some so I can get a bit more of a “natural” looking reef.

 

[V A R I A N T]

This thread needs moooooooore updates

 

[BranchingHammer]

Getting back into the reef a bit after all the craziness of planning a wedding.

Here’s a FTS of the reef as of 5/16. The coral growth has been pretty extensive. The tank is filled with fast growing corals regardless but i am still pruning every 2 weeks or so. I haven’t added anything new in a while but am always on the lookout for less common SPS. There’s some hair algaegrowing but that is just the flow of having a reef tank.

Note: a bunch of frags have been knocked off by myself cleaning or my tangs so the sandbed is a mess of coral. Hoping to remove some so I can get a bit more of a “natural” looking reef.

Beautiful reef! Love the focus on recreating a more natural SPS landscape that you would see in the wild!