Randy's Tank Description

[AquamanE]

Randy- been reading your articles for years,and followed lots of your advise. Its been an upward struggle explaining to our local club the need for 30% water changes even though you have very meticulously proven the rationale and reasons for them.

That being said, im curious about 2 aspects i was unaware of that i noted here. This from a SPS dominant tank keeper.

1-Why vinegar, silicate, and iron if doing 30% water changes with new salt?
2- Do you think that dosing schedule of the Reef Nutrition foods would be a benefit to SPS dominant tanks?, and do you just cchange out those 2 gallon jugs to keep it cold daily? Isnt that kind of messy?

 

[twotangs]

Hey Randy
Welcome by the way. Funny to only see 85 posts here and 85K plus over there. Better keep posting to catch up

 

[spspirate]

Great looking reef Randy! I really like the classic look. Very healthy looking ecosystem. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Would love to see some pics of your sump set up and how the brutes are connected

I don't have any pics of them at the moment, but in all cases I added bulkheads through the side of the cans very near the bottom, with hard PVC pipe in between. Also usually a union joint to allow disconnection, but I don't recall ever disconnecting one.

To mix the new salt water, I have a powerhead in one that sends water through plastic tubing sent through the pipe into the second. That way, both cans mix evenly with a single powerhead. I add salt to the one with more flow where the water exits the tubing.

 

[pscott99]

Great to see you here Randy. I love your posts. Enjoyed your tank summary very much. tks.

 

[LetItReef]

here's a scene from it pre 2005

Nice! I have seen Flame Angel on standard 29g, what do you think?

 

[revhtree]

Looks great Randy! I love how the "experts" seem to have a reef that look more like something you would actually see in nature as opposed to a bunch of little frags, etc.

 

[kevantheman35]

Looks great Randy! Nice to see such a mature tank

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Love the historical pics. The tank looks great in the 2011 pic too so dont down play it. Sorry to here you lost the green gigantea. Would love to see how it has evolved since Nov 2011 (3 years ago). I like the letting corals fight for space approach to reefing. Have you added any coral recently?

Thanks. I've not added any inverts for quite some time. Not since the 2011 picture, unless it was small things like hermits.

The foxface was the last fish addition that I recall.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't have that kind of self control if I did rearrange my tank every few months Id go nuts. Way to stick with it

Have you ever had another tank?

I did win a filled wave front 90 gallon tank at MACNA in Boston. I set it up, later moved it to the basement after it overflowed in the dining room while I was on vacation, then decided it wasn't worth having it set up since I rarely watched it, so I eventually moved most of the rock to the refugia and sold some of the corals and such in it.

So the 120 is my only display tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy- been reading your articles for years,and followed lots of your advise. Its been an upward struggle explaining to our local club the need for 30% water changes even though you have very meticulously proven the rationale and reasons for them.

That being said, im curious about 2 aspects i was unaware of that i noted here. This from a SPS dominant tank keeper.

1-Why vinegar, silicate, and iron if doing 30% water changes with new salt?
2- Do you think that dosing schedule of the Reef Nutrition foods would be a benefit to SPS dominant tanks?, and do you just cchange out those 2 gallon jugs to keep it cold daily? Isnt that kind of messy?

They don't bring in enough.

Silicate depletes in only a couple of days (I measured that after dosing) and water changes bring in very little as salt makers keep it low and I use RO/DI.

Iron too gets depleted, but I'm not sure how fast. It can't be measured with a kit at the levels I recommend so it is guesswork. But I grow a lot of macroalgae and it takes up significant iron. Many people have seen their macroalgae turn from yellowish to darker green after adding it, or that it grows faster.

I'm not certain if SPS corals will eat the Arctipods or ROE (they may, its just not something I've looked into), but I do think that spreading out feedings is good for many creatures, both in terms of behavior for fish (they keep searching a lot more of the day) and for inverts that get food in a more natural, steady way rather than a burst once a day.

The jugs last a few days or more, depending on the season. It's nto messy at all. I just swap the melted (or almost melted) ones for new frozen ones. The food container has about 100 mL in it (a closed container with a hole drilled in the cap for the tubing to enter), so it lasts about 10 days and then needs a refill.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey Randy
Welcome by the way. Funny to only see 85 posts here and 85K plus over there. Better keep posting to catch up

:lol:

Yes, I expect it will take a while to catch up, especially since the RC number is really some unknown value higher as it capped out for a couple of years when their software could not count high enough. My immediate goal is to gt the 5 red starfish here at R2R.

 

[charliethetuna]

Looks great love the clama on the rocks

 

[h2pvnus]

master of dosing

 

[Chameleon]

:lol:

Yes, I expect it will take a while to catch up, especially since the RC number is really some unknown value higher as it capped out for a couple of years when their software could not count high enough. My immediate goal is to gt the 5 red starfish here at R2R.

I think after you get the 5 red stars you should have to start working on your blue stars, followed by your bronze stars, all the way up to gold...

 

[revhtree]

I think after you get the 5 red stars you should have to start working on your blue stars, followed by your bronze stars, all the way up to gold...

Lol don't tempt me. I could make that happen!!

 

[billwill]

So awesome to see you on this site! I too have enjoyed and acted on many of your articles and comments through the years. You are such a great asset to this community!

 

[Chameleon]

Lol don't tempt me. I could make that happen!!

Oh rev, you'd be quintette platinum by now
Sorry to derail your thread Randy

 

[Chameleon]

Hey Randy, question on silicate dosing. What organisms are taking up the silicates? I know diatoms do, but this is the only one that came to mind. Are you trying to fuel diatoms as a food source for other filter feeders or is their another something I am missing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Diatoms and sponges (and some soft corals with silica spicules) are the main consumers of silicate that we are likely to have in the tank.

Snails need silica, but likely get it from diatoms they consume.