Longhorn SPS Reef

msderganc · Dec 1, 2016

Ok, so this is really early as I'm at least six months out from even getting the tank (I am in the queue!), but I figured I could get some advice at least.

This will be my fourth reef tank, the last one being a 190g SPS tank that crashed a little more than a year ago after a power surge caused one of my dosers to over dose my frag tank. I moved a lot of the SPS to my display to try to save them, but it didn't help. The deaths of the corals spiked the nutrients and I lost all of the colonies in my display as well.

I had moderate success with the SPS up until that point, but I think I was held back by impatience. I changed equipment too much (lighting, flow, filtration, everything), and I chased numbers in the name of stability, even though the corals were doing fine.

I'm learning from that on this build and focusing on simplicity with the best possible equipment from the start. I'm also going smaller so that the tank is easier to manage. I travel a lot (usually gone four or more days per week), so another design tenet is that I can only do maintenance once per week. Lastly, when I am home, I work from home, so I want it to be as close to silent as possible.

Here's the current equipment list:

Reef Savvy Rimless 36x24x20 (LWH) with 18" Ghost Overflow, Armored Seams, blacked out back, and Phantom Bottom
Synergy CL34 Sump - possibly shortened to fit in the stand
Custom Mission-style maple stand from Benner's Woodworking - lined with formica, equipment drawer, and fully removable doors on front and sides
Bubble King Double Cone 150 Skimmer
2x Ecotech Radion XR30w Gen4
2x Ecotech MP40Wqd
New Neptune Apex Full
3x Neptune DoS (vodka/vinegar, auto water change, ATO, alkalinity, calcium)
Ecotech Vectra L1 (or possibly the M1)

It will be 100% SPS, and only 4-5 fish. I'm currently looking at a Melanurus wrasse and Tanaka's Pygmy wrasse currently, but I'm not positive. Goal parameters are 8-9 dKh, 400-440 ppm calcium, and 1320 ppm magnesium. I'm not as concerned about nutrients this time around, but I think I want less than .1 phosphates and less than 20 ppm nitrates. I'll be running Purigen passively, and lightly dosing Vodka/Vinegar.

A couple of items I'm on the fence about:
1. LED vs T5+LED - I am thinking about a Giesemann Aurora (I had the ATI PowerModule, but I wasn't impressed with its reliability.) I'm concerned about the noise level of the fans. Any reports? My PowerModule was pretty loud.
2. Return Pump - I've seen some reports of the Vectra being loud. I have been considering a Red Dragon Speedy 80W instead, but the price difference is huge. It's got to be 100% silent for that price.
3. Salt - I always used IO with good results, but I've been considering something like the AquaForest Reef Salt. Opinions?
4. Calcium / Magnesium - any suggestions on a good brand? I used BRS in the past, but I wasn't happy with it. I was hoping for something premixed or in concentrate form.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

helen ann · Dec 2, 2016

Hi!
Following along!

Hoping to get my 56G Reef Savvy (36x20x18) wet this weekend.

G8trBait16 · Dec 2, 2016

msderganc said:
Ok, so this is really early as I'm at least six months out from even getting the tank (I am in the queue!), but I figured I could get some advice at least.

This will be my fourth reef tank, the last one being a 190g SPS tank that crashed a little more than a year ago after a power surge caused one of my dosers to over dose my frag tank. I moved a lot of the SPS to my display to try to save them, but it didn't help. The deaths of the corals spiked the nutrients and I lost all of the colonies in my display as well.

I had moderate success with the SPS up until that point, but I think I was held back by impatience. I changed equipment too much (lighting, flow, filtration, everything), and I chased numbers in the name of stability, even though the corals were doing fine.

I'm learning from that on this build and focusing on simplicity with the best possible equipment from the start. I'm also going smaller so that the tank is easier to manage. I travel a lot (usually gone four or more days per week), so another design tenet is that I can only do maintenance once per week. Lastly, when I am home, I work from home, so I want it to be as close to silent as possible.

Here's the current equipment list:

Reef Savvy Rimless 36x24x20 (LWH) with 18" Ghost Overflow, Armored Seams, blacked out back, and Phantom Bottom

Synergy CL34 Sump - possibly shortened to fit in the stand

Custom Mission-style maple stand from Benner's Woodworking - lined with formica, equipment drawer, and fully removable doors on front and sides

Bubble King Double Cone 150 Skimmer

2x Ecotech Radion XR30w Gen4

2x Ecotech MP40Wqd

New Neptune Apex Full

3x Neptune DoS (vodka/vinegar, auto water change, ATO, alkalinity, calcium)

Ecotech Vectra L1 (or possibly the M1)

It will be 100% SPS, and only 4-5 fish. I'm currently looking at a Melanurus wrasse and Tanaka's Pygmy wrasse currently, but I'm not positive. Goal parameters are 8-9 dKh, 400-440 ppm calcium, and 1320 ppm magnesium. I'm not as concerned about nutrients this time around, but I think I want less than .1 phosphates and less than 20 ppm nitrates. I'll be running Purigen passively, and lightly dosing Vodka/Vinegar.

A couple of items I'm on the fence about:
1. LED vs T5+LED - I am thinking about a Giesemann Aurora (I had the ATI PowerModule, but I wasn't impressed with its reliability.) I'm concerned about the noise level of the fans. Any reports? My PowerModule was pretty loud.
2. Return Pump - I've seen some reports of the Vectra being loud. I have been considering a Red Dragon Speedy 80W instead, but the price difference is huge. It's got to be 100% silent for that price.
3. Salt - I always used IO with good results, but I've been considering something like the AquaForest Reef Salt. Opinions?
4. Calcium / Magnesium - any suggestions on a good brand? I used BRS in the past, but I wasn't happy with it. I was hoping for something premixed or in concentrate form.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

This is definitely going to be a great build. I have the Vectra M1 on my 75g with a Trigger sapphire 34 and I love it. No noise what so ever, it is the quietest I have ever used. My tank is in my main living area, so I needed it to be quiet. I am using the Aquaforest Reef salt and dosing the component 1+2+3+ with a Bubble magus dosing pump. I really like the AF salts, I have used the probiotic salt also, to be honest I am recovering from a huge alk spike after my daughters friend decided to mess with my doser and put the ML per day to 400 from the 70 it was supposed to be. I was out of town and the fiancé didn't see it either. So I have had 18 SPS frags/Mini colonies parish. But just trying to get everything stabilized now. I will definitely be following along for the ride though.

MRodrigues1991 · Dec 2, 2016

tagging along!

Diesel · Dec 2, 2016

That would be one of the best equipped reef savvy tanks I have seen and where else than only in Houston.
If you can make it to the Brew Frag Fest on Sunday at St Arnolds I can give you some pointers and these are priceless the ppl in Houston say

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brew-frag-fest.276211/#post-3346780

msderganc · Dec 3, 2016

helen ann said:
Hi!
Following along!
Hoping to get my 56G Reef Savvy (36x20x18) wet this weekend.

Awesome, I'll have to follow to see how it goes! How long did it take to get it?

G8trBait16 said:
This is definitely going to be a great build. I have the Vectra M1 on my 75g with a Trigger sapphire 34 and I love it. No noise what so ever, it is the quietest I have ever used. My tank is in my main living area, so I needed it to be quiet. I am using the Aquaforest Reef salt and dosing the component 1+2+3+ with a Bubble magus dosing pump. I really like the AF salts, I have used the probiotic salt also, to be honest I am recovering from a huge alk spike after my daughters friend decided to mess with my doser and put the ML per day to 400 from the 70 it was supposed to be. I was out of town and the fiancé didn't see it either. So I have had 18 SPS frags/Mini colonies parish. But just trying to get everything stabilized now. I will definitely be following along for the ride though.

I can't believe someone would do that! Was it purposely malicious?
Thanks for the info on the M1, I think I'm going to try the L1 and see how it goes.

MRodrigues1991 said:
tagging along!

Great to have you!

Diesel said:
That would be one of the best equipped reef savvy tanks I have seen and where else than only in Houston.
If you can make it to the Brew Frag Fest on Sunday at St Arnolds I can give you some pointers and these are priceless the ppl in Houston say
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brew-frag-fest.276211/#post-3346780

Thanks! I'm going to try to make it but it's looking unlikely.

helen ann · Dec 3, 2016

msderganc said:
Awesome, I'll have to follow to see how it goes! How long did it take to get it?

I can't believe someone would do that! Was it purposely malicious?
Thanks for the info on the M1, I think I'm going to try the L1 and see how it goes.

Great to have you!

Thanks! I'm going to try to make it but it's looking unlikely.

A friend got it for me ... been waiting since about July!
I will be following you too!

I have been making up water all night ...!

sneub · Dec 3, 2016

T5+LED - Giesemann Aurora and super actinic with LED are a great combo.
I'll be following

msderganc · Dec 3, 2016

sneub said:
T5+LED - Giesemann Aurora and super actinic with LED are a great combo.
I'll be following

Thanks, I think I'm going to wait for the Giesemann Genesis before making a decision. I have also been thinking about a floating canopy with two Radions and four T5 bulbs.

msderganc · Dec 3, 2016

msderganc said:
Thanks, I think I'm going to wait for the Giesemann Genesis before making a decision. I have also been thinking about a floating canopy with two Radions and four T5 bulbs.

Ok, after a bit of research, I am pretty set on the floating canopy with two Radion G4 Pros as well as two of the Giesemann Razor T5 retrofits (http://www.coralvue.com/giesemann-razor-t5-retro-strip) to give the tank some more coverage. I'm really paranoid about SPS colonies shadowing themselves. I think the floating canopy will look better in the room anyway.

msderganc · Dec 9, 2016

Working livestock list:
Starry Blenny

Longnose Atlantic Butterflyfish

Dracula Goby

Melanurus Wrasse (male)

Tanaka's Wrasse

Black Cap Basslet

I tried to not only get a mix of color and personality, but also ensure that every level of the tank is populated (sandbed swimmers like the goby to mid tank fish like the basslet to high level guys like the Melanurus). I know I'm taking a bit of a chance with the Butterfly and Melanurus, but general feedback seems like both are a pretty good chance of being good.

msderganc · Dec 20, 2016

Ok, just an equipment update. I think I'm going to go with a Calcium Reactor. It'll be a tight fit, but I talked to Bill Wann (started his company Aquarium Engineering a while ago) and I'll have a custom reactor built to fit inside my sump (I've got about a 10x5 space open, I think).

I'll probably also go with the Aquarium Plants regulator, and feed it from my return pump.

msderganc · Dec 20, 2016

That's a rough mockup of the sump dimensions, I've included the spyglass in case I decide to run media in a reactor in the future (currently planned to just run it passively in that baffle. I might be able to fit a slightly larger sump as well, but I'll know soon once Chris and I finalize the layout of the stand.