Jackson's 115 Gallon Custom Cube 32x32x26

[jackson6745]

how you do the top off?

Tunze osmolator.

 

[terri_ann]

Amazing growth in a year Rich! It's just lovely!! It looks like you get about a 1/2" growth on the SPS's a month, at least?! The Stylo just pops in there!!! Of course I have another question. lol Why do you dose two different bacteria's? So really you dose bacteria weekly? Good thing that I don't live close by!...I'd be there every week looking at it and would just become a pan in your backside! lol

 

[jackson6745]

Amazing growth in a year Rich! It's just lovely!! It looks like you get about a 1/2" growth on the SPS's a month, at least?! The Stylo just pops in there!!! Of course I have another question. lol Why do you dose two different bacteria's? So really you dose bacteria weekly? Good thing that I don't live close by!...I'd be there every week looking at it and would just become a pan in your backside! lol

Thank you terri_ann, I appreciate you following my thread so closely. If we were local, it would never be a bother I will be in your neck of the woods soon. I have to visit a friend in Ames. Anyway, some of the SPS grow close to 1/2" per month, some hardly grow lol. Millis, which are traditionally fast growers, hardly grow in my system. Notoriously slow growers such as the purple monster and oregon tort grow very fast. The slowest grower in my tank is a frag that I got from Copps over at RC. It's his famous 'King tut' Acropora tutielensis. This coral has hardly grown in a year. Just some minor encrusting.
The fastest grower is probably that rainbow tenuis. This coral was fragged about 15 times and is still around a 6" multi-btanched colony, grown from a 2" non branched frag last year.

 

[s2nhle]

congratulation on your first anniversary. It is amazing for a tank that is just a year old.

 

[terri_ann]

Thank you terri_ann, I appreciate you following my thread so closely. If we were local, it would never be a bother I will be in your neck of the woods soon. I have to visit a friend in Ames. Anyway, some of the SPS grow close to 1/2" per month, some hardly grow lol. Millis, which are traditionally fast growers, hardly grow in my system. Notoriously slow growers such as the purple monster and oregon tort grow very fast. The slowest grower in my tank is a frag that I got from Copps over at RC. It's his famous 'King tut' Acropora tutielensis. This coral has hardly grown in a year. Just some minor encrusting.
The fastest grower is probably that rainbow tenuis. This coral was fragged about 15 times and is still around a 6" multi-btanched colony, grown from a 2" non branched frag last year.

I am only 30 minutes from Ames Rich! :0) Bring your tank and I will gladly keep it for you during your visit!! If that doesn't work, you can bring me a frag of the stylo! Heck, just every SPS that you have!! Lol I just upgraded to a 180 (Sept 27th) and I don't have any SPS's in it yet!! If your schedule permits, you can always visit! I love to talk tanks!

Yes, Copp's has an awesome large tank! I absolutely love his dwarf angels!! I'm sure the King Tut will grow for you. You have the "touch"!!

So, do you dose the 2 different bacterias so you have a diversity? Is there a reason why you chose the Special and P'Bio? Anyway, congrats on such a fine reef in just one year! I absolutely love it!!! If mine will look half as good as yours, I will be happy! Satisfied, probably not but it's always a work in progress for me. Lol

 

[jackson6745]

congratulation on your first anniversary. It is amazing for a tank that is just a year old.

Thank you

I am only 30 minutes from Ames Rich! :0) Bring your tank and I will gladly keep it for you during your visit!! If that doesn't work, you can bring me a frag of the stylo! Heck, just every SPS that you have!! Lol I just upgraded to a 180 (Sept 27th) and I don't have any SPS's in it yet!! If your schedule permits, you can always visit! I love to talk tanks!

Yes, Copp's has an awesome large tank! I absolutely love his dwarf angels!! I'm sure the King Tut will grow for you. You have the "touch"!!

So, do you dose the 2 different bacterias so you have a diversity? Is there a reason why you chose the Special and P'Bio? Anyway, congrats on such a fine reef in just one year! I absolutely love it!!! If mine will look half as good as yours, I will be happy! Satisfied, probably not but it's always a work in progress for me. Lol

I didn't realize that you replied, I apologize for the delay. I started dosing the special blend to deal with cyano in the beginning, and prodibio to deal with an increasing nutrient level. I then started dosing nite out II for the heck of it, and I started dosing tim's bacteria as well but not sure why lol. I notice increased water quality with each bacteria dose, and sometimes better polyp extension on the SPS. Things are doing very well so i'm afraid to change anything. The tank is super stable.


Here's a quick iPhone video that I took this evening
[video=youtube_share;xrAdpPDKt7I]http://youtu.be/xrAdpPDKt7I[/video]

 

[Sahin]

Man, that was an amazing few minutes of footage. This tank deserves TOTM recognition. Longer video next time please.

 

[neuwave]

Fantastic. Keep it up.

 

[jackson6745]

Man, that was an amazing few minutes of footage. This tank deserves TOTM recognition. Longer video next time please.

Thanks Sahin This tank has much growing out to do, I still have small frags in there. Longer video for sure next time

Fantastic. Keep it up.

Thanks!

 

[terri_ann]

No problem Rich. The first bacteria I tried was prodibio and then I went to Dr. Tim's. Thought I'd try the Special Blend. It definitely has an odor to it. lol I've just not had very consistent results growing SPS's which drives me nuts!! I'm hoping this new tank will be different. My last tank I couldn't get coralline to grow and this tank has taken off :0) Hopefully I can get the NO3 ad PO4 to not swing like it did in the last one. I tried everything and ended up starvng the corals:9( No matter what, I will 'never' do that again!! I feel a bacteria-driven tank is the way to go and your tank sure appears to support that:0) I have been dosing vinegar as my last tank was carbon limited. I hope to ween the tank(well, maybe me) off it once I get it fully stocked with fish but time will tell.

I'm going to go back through your thread here and take some notes:0) I can't recall if you have taken any Par readings? I need to do that soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my fixture will be good enough to support SPS's. As the others said, the next video needs to be longer. A nice pause on your chosen corals would be great for us to see the detail (Polyp extension, color and growth, etc). Thanks for sharing your reef, knowledge and experience!! Merry Christmas!!

 

[Zuska]

holly crap! that tank is out of this world Everything looks so spotless! How many wrasses you have in there now?

 

[SunnyX]

Hello,

I really enjoyed reading this thread. I must say, I've always enjoyed your setups, and this one is no different. You've done a stellar job with this cube, and I look forward to another great year of progress and success with this setup.

Great job.

 

[terri_ann]

I needed a breather so I watched the video again:0) Did you thin some things out on the sandbed? Looks good!! Question: What is the coral bottom, front right corner...looks orange? I thought it was a cap but I haven't seen one with growth like that. Request: Next video(s) would you tell us what the coral is that you are videoing? Thank you Rich!

 

[s2nhle]

Wow, it is so amazing. Thank you very much for sharing.

 

[jackson6745]

No problem Rich. The first bacteria I tried was prodibio and then I went to Dr. Tim's. Thought I'd try the Special Blend. It definitely has an odor to it. lol I've just not had very consistent results growing SPS's which drives me nuts!! I'm hoping this new tank will be different. My last tank I couldn't get coralline to grow and this tank has taken off :0) Hopefully I can get the NO3 ad PO4 to not swing like it did in the last one. I tried everything and ended up starvng the corals:9( No matter what, I will 'never' do that again!! I feel a bacteria-driven tank is the way to go and your tank sure appears to support that:0) I have been dosing vinegar as my last tank was carbon limited. I hope to ween the tank(well, maybe me) off it once I get it fully stocked with fish but time will tell.

I'm going to go back through your thread here and take some notes:0) I can't recall if you have taken any Par readings? I need to do that soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my fixture will be good enough to support SPS's. As the others said, the next video needs to be longer. A nice pause on your chosen corals would be great for us to see the detail (Polyp extension, color and growth, etc). Thanks for sharing your reef, knowledge and experience!! Merry Christmas!!

The reason why I have so many fish is so I don't strip my tank. The bacterial additives don't do much to lower nutrients IMO, but the carbon sources strip the tank quickly. I used prodibio bioptim as my main carbon source, and there is some vinegar in my kalk. I was also adding zeovit sponge power everyday (smells like vinegar) but I haven't dosed that in over a month. Since I have been able to dose all of this bacteria/carbon without stripping the water, the SPS have responded with awesome color, growth, and overall better polyp extension. Certainly the most healthy looking SPS that I've had in any of my tanks in the past.
Last time I took par readings I was getting 650 in the center at the highest coral, about 300-400 for corals halfway down, and 200-250 on the sandbed. Lower par readings were towards the parameter of the tank, away from the halide. Regardless of what lighting that you choose, I think it is extremely important to have uniform coverage. When you're playing with carbon sources you're bound to have nutrient balance mishaps, and some of the higher LEDs that overestimate their coverage can be quite damaging to weaker SPS tissue. This is why I am a big fan of t5 lighting, for it's uniform coverage with no damaging hot spots. Once the nutrient balance is dialed in, then it's safe to bake with LED or halide etc. Sorry if I ramble on, just thinking out loud

holly crap! that tank is out of this world Everything looks so spotless! How many wrasses you have in there now?

Thanks Mike! That's a good question

Hooded wrasses pair 2
Flame wrasse pair 2
Yellow flank wrasse 1
lineatius super male 1
labouts super male 1
yellow coris wrasse 2
carpenter wrasse 1
rhomboid wrasse 1
leopard wrasse 1
possum wrasse 1

So that's 13 wrasses. I think there is a total of 23 fish.

Hello,

I really enjoyed reading this thread. I must say, I've always enjoyed your setups, and this one is no different. You've done a stellar job with this cube, and I look forward to another great year of progress and success with this setup.

Great job.

Sunny, thank you. That means a lot

I needed a breather so I watched the video again:0) Did you thin some things out on the sandbed? Looks good!! Question: What is the coral bottom, front right corner...looks orange? I thought it was a cap but I haven't seen one with growth like that. Request: Next video(s) would you tell us what the coral is that you are videoing? Thank you Rich!

I did remove some sandbed corals, and working on removing more. I just needed to find the time to sell some stuff Coral in the right front is an orange monti setosa. It's growing out in a table form, I think because it is getting shaded from above. Looks like it's trying to reach out and get some of that halide
Next video I will say what's what haha

Wow, it is so amazing. Thank you very much for sharing.

Thank you so much. Glad that you enjoyed the video.

 

[terri_ann]

I thought so on the sandbed! lol I agree on the Setosa looking for the MH's :0) I love it's growth pattern though!! Merry Christmas Rich!

 

[terri_ann]

I changed T5's in October so I hope to get Par readings this weekend as the bulbs should be pretty well settled in, for lack of a better word. I just don't think the ATI 6 bulb fixture I'm using is going to cut it on this 180. I'm 12 inches short on the length and a lot more on the width! That's why I was asking about the LED's you added to the fixture. The friend that has been housing my SPS's keeps asking when I want them, so I just keep saying "not yet!" lol I need to get the nutrients balanced/not fluctuating and to make sure that lighting is sufficient. I'm more concerned about the nutrients right now...

Can't wait to see (and hear) your next video!!

 

[jackson6745]

Merry Christmas to you too Terri ann.

I think you would be safe to add the reefbrites to your fixture. They are bright, and add spread, but they are not super powerful like some of the popular LED fixtures out there. They are meant to be supplemental, and I see no hot spots on corals directly beneath them. Only downside is they are a little costly, but so is everything I guess :tongue:

 

[terri_ann]

Thanks Rich! I looked up the reefbrites online. Yes, they are pricey but with your experience with them, I will consider them. Just need to get some money saved or sell some frags. :0)

 

[imarkspeed]

Simply amazing tank! I am always looking a big tanks for good stuff but your tank is a dream in one. I wish I could figure out my sps with growth like yours. Awesome tank my friend. Hands down