kinetic RSR 170

[Janci]

Yes, the black screw right? I've been slowly tightening that to try to reduce the bubbles, but maybe I don't have it screwed down enough. I'll keep tinkering.

Yeah I don't think it goes for polyps, just chomps on the tissue. It's strange because it hasn't touched my other SPS at all, only the new ones I added in. It could be that the new ones are stressed and giving off some kind of slime? Or the new ones have something else that's attractive?

They do take interest in newly added frags, that is true. But in now way did mine take it down to the bone.
Even my tangs now and then do the same, but always without hurting the flesh of the sps.
Would he have enough algae to eat?

 

[kinetic]

They do take interest in newly added frags, that is true. But in now way did mine take it down to the bone.
Even my tangs now and then do the same, but always without hurting the flesh of the sps.
Would he have enough algae to eat?

Yeah I was watching him. He perched right on the new frag and stared at it for a minute. Then chomped down. Not too bad. Later came back, chomped again. Throughout the day he kept chomping on it and I started seeing the skeleton. I relocated a few, but left two of them, those two are now relocated to my dottyback's cave entrance. Hope they make it.

I watched him looking at my Walt Disney frag that's been in there for awhile. He just stared at it but didn't chomp at it. So strange.

My tank is small, so maybe he's just really really hungry. He eats more TDO Pellets than any other fish (probably at least 10 pellets, twice a day). He isn't even very big, but he has a crazy appetite.

My system does run with almost no algae, but plenty of bacteria growing on the walls (lots of NoPox to keep dinoflagellates away). But his stomach is always fat and full.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Yeah I was watching him. He perched right on the new frag and stared at it for a minute. Then chomped down. Not too bad. Later came back, chomped again. Throughout the day he kept chomping on it and I started seeing the skeleton. I relocated a few, but left two of them, those two are now relocated to my dottyback's cave entrance. Hope they make it.

I watched him looking at my Walt Disney frag that's been in there for awhile. He just stared at it but didn't chomp at it. So strange.

My tank is small, so maybe he's just really really hungry. He eats more TDO Pellets than any other fish (probably at least 10 pellets, twice a day). He isn't even very big, but he has a crazy appetite.

My system does run with almost no algae, but plenty of bacteria growing on the walls (lots of NoPox to keep dinoflagellates away). But his stomach is always fat and full.

If you have taken the black sump sponge out, I would watch your NoPoX dosing. I have the same tank as you with 5 fish and 20+ corals. I don't use a filter sock or sponge in my sump. I have to keep my NoPoX dosing to 0.6 ml per day or else I strip all of my nutrients. My current nutrients are 0.2 ppm NO3 and 0.02 PO4. I wouldn't say I feed lightly. Half a cube of frozen food every day, 3 ml Reef Energy every day, and coral food 3X a week.

 

[kinetic]

If you have taken the black sump sponge out, I would watch your NoPoX dosing. I have the same tank as you with 5 fish and 20+ corals. I don't use a filter sock or sponge in my sump. I have to keep my NoPoX dosing to 0.6 ml per day or else I strip all of my nutrients. My current nutrients are 0.2 ppm NO3 and 0.02 PO4. I wouldn't say I feed lightly. Half a cube of frozen food every day, 3 ml Reef Energy every day, and coral food 3X a week.

What do I need to watch out for exactly without the sponge? I'm pretty sure I'm stripping out all of my nutrients (which is keeping dinoflagellates away, by design). There's still bacteria film and sometimes a tiny bit of algae. Would a sponge change this?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

What do I need to watch out for exactly without the sponge? I'm pretty sure I'm stripping out all of my nutrients (which is keeping dinoflagellates away, by design). There's still bacteria film and sometimes a tiny bit of algae. Would a sponge change this?

The sponge will trap food and other detritus that will decompose into nitrates and release phosphates in the food into your tank. Without the sponge (i.e. nitrate factory), you really will strip all nutrients from your system possibly causing other problems in your tank. If you have algae in your tank, you have nutrients.

 

[kinetic]

The sponge will trap food and other detritus that will decompose into nitrates and release phosphates in the food into your tank. Without the sponge (i.e. nitrate factory), you really will strip all nutrients from your system possibly causing other problems in your tank. If you have algae in your tank, you have nutrients.

That makes sense. I think there could also be a lot of junk stuck in the sand and rocks as well. Do you think the sponge is that big of a source of nitrates/phosphates?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

That makes sense. I think there could also be a lot of junk stuck in the sand and rocks as well. Do you think the sponge is that big of a source of nitrates/phosphates?

According to my LFS it is. He explained it to me by stating that the sponge traps food and detritus that could be recirculated to the tank to be consumed by fish, corals, and CUC. He told me if I was going to keep the sponge in the tank, I should clean it every 3-4 days. After taking my sponge out, my NoPoX dosage went from 1.5 ml per day to the current 0.6 ml.

I would just be aware that you may need to reduce the amount of NoPoX you are dosing. I found that 0.6 ml was a great maintenance dose for me after weekly water test showed that my nitrates and phosphates didn't increase or decrease at that level.

 

[Janci]

According to my LFS it is. He explained it to me by stating that the sponge traps food and detritus that could be recirculated to the tank to be consumed by fish, corals, and CUC. He told me if I was going to keep the sponge in the tank, I should clean it every 3-4 days. After taking my sponge out, my NoPoX dosage went from 1.5 ml per day to the current 0.6 ml.

I would just be aware that you may need to reduce the amount of NoPoX you are dosing. I found that 0.6 ml was a great maintenance dose for me after weekly water test showed that my nitrates and phosphates didn't increase or decrease at that level.

So when you clean the sponge, there is no change in nutrient levels as well? You are taking away the nitrate factory every 3-4 days.
Just asking.
That sponge is like a filter sock. leave it too long, it becomes an obstruction of flow, but is feeding NO3.

I change my filter socks every 10 days only.

 

[kinetic]

So when you clean the sponge, there is no change in nutrient levels as well? You are taking away the nitrate factory every 3-4 days.
Just asking.
That sponge is like a filter sock. leave it too long, it becomes an obstruction of flow, but is feeding NO3.

I change my filter socks every 10 days only.

My big question is how big of a nitrate/phosphate factory the sponge is. Even with it in, I have undetectable amounts of both NO3/PO4 (though that's because NoPox is using it all up). The only problem is if I'm dosing an unneeded amount of NoPox.

I do siphon my sand and blast my rocks every week. But I have some marinepure biospheres in my filter cup, so I'm sure they're built up with a bunch of junk now too.

 

[Janci]

My big question is how big of a nitrate/phosphate factory the sponge is. Even with it in, I have undetectable amounts of both NO3/PO4 (though that's because NoPox is using it all up). The only problem is if I'm dosing an unneeded amount of NoPox.

I do siphon my sand and blast my rocks every week. But I have some marinepure biospheres in my filter cup, so I'm sure they're built up with a bunch of junk now too.

And what happens if you lower the Nopox dosage?
If you overdose Nopox, you get some kind of waze in the water and you would create a carbon source for other bacteria like cyano.

 

[kinetic]

And what happens if you lower the Nopox dosage?
If you overdose Nopox, you get some kind of waze in the water and you would create a carbon source for other bacteria like cyano.

If I lower my NoPox, dinoflagellates grow right back. I think I can probably slightly lower my NoPox right now. There's a tiny bit of cyano that grows on my gyre. I'm out of town this weekend, so I'll keep things as is and wait until I'm back to tinker.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

So when you clean the sponge, there is no change in nutrient levels as well? You are taking away the nitrate factory every 3-4 days.
Just asking.
That sponge is like a filter sock. leave it too long, it becomes an obstruction of flow, but is feeding NO3.

I change my filter socks every 10 days only.

I don't use a sponge or a sock in my sump. I took all of that out. Occasionally, when I do a water change I will blow any detritus off my LR and then put a filter sock in the sump for a couple of hours to catch anything that didn't get taken out during the water change.

When I removed the sponge, my nitrates dropped from 3 ppm to barely detectable. Now I have tuned in my NoPoX dosing so that my nitrates stay about 0.2 ppm. Tank has appeared happy for over 6 months (knock on wood).

 

[Raptor72]

Update?

 

[kinetic]

Update?

Ah, nothing has changed much, which is a really good thing. Everything is so stable that I've been trying to just leave it and not tinker. I still do weekly or bi-weekly water changes (admittedly small ones, at 2.5 gallons). I haven't added any new animals, and have just let things grow. I've lost two SPS from STN, unsure the cause, but I did tinker with my lights and blasted it big time. It never recovered.

So far my SPS is just a small nub of ORA Pearlberry, .75" growing Walt Disney, sunrise monti, and a bubblegum digitata. Lost my pink lemonade and PC rainbow, maybe from the light.

The anemones are all doing well, not growing much because I don't feed them directly.

I'll take another photo at the end of the year, otherwise nobody will notice any differences! hah.

 

[Raptor72]

Thanks for the update. I just received my 170 and was looking at doing something similar. I was thinking of removing the vinyl background for that clean look also. Everything is still in the box. Do you think I should upgrade to the Hydra 52 instead of the 26 it comes with?

 

[kinetic]

Thanks for the update. I just received my 170 and was looking at doing something similar. I was thinking of removing the vinyl background for that clean look also. Everything is still in the box. Do you think I should upgrade to the Hydra 52 instead of the 26 it comes with?

I don't know enough about the capabilities of the Hydra 26 to tell you. Also depends on what you want to keep. If you're going with SPS and anemones, I couldn't imagine anything less than my 52 HD. But maybe the 26 would do just as well, just more concentrated in the middle.

 

[Schweezy]

How did you mount and plumb your UV sterilizer?

 

[Flameback Pair]

@kinetic Have you or do you know anyone who has drilled the Reefer 170 stand with a hole saw for cord management? How did it work?

 

[ramona]

How is the tank doing? Any updates?

 

[kinetic]

@kinetic Have you or do you know anyone who has drilled the Reefer 170 stand with a hole saw for cord management? How did it work?

I didn't drill the stand, I just ran all the chords behind the stand to a regular board I picked up from Home Depot, and mounted everything there. So much easier to manage. The board behind the stand can be slid out so I can mess with it, and slid back in. I just make sure all the chords have enough slack to do so (easier said than done).

How is the tank doing? Any updates?

No updates. Still doing fine. If I took a FTS it would look almost exactly the same (a good thing I guess). The SPS are growing slowly, mostly because my sailfin blenny keeps chomping them. Lots of tissue is being eaten away, but somehow they're surviving. I need to eventually get a fish trap to get that guy out, but I kind of like him otherwise!