What should I do with my tank(s)

[siropa]

Eric, what happened with your setup?

I've more or less neglected my system for the last month now. I gave it a good cleaning over the weekend and the stuff that is left is looking much better. i've actually got some new growth on some of the few SPS that made it and some of my LPS look better than ever.

I also finally started getting some bad algaes growing again. I know people will think that is strange, but after the zeo fiasco, I think the water was stripped waaaaaaaaaaaay too clean and I wasn't getting any algae growth for months. not even film on the acrylic surface. so I was happy to find some of that stuff again.

 

[Fishcrazy06]

Ever since my tank went into the basement it got neglected. I have too many things going on at once and the tank took the back burner.

I had to redo a bedroom for my step daughter to move into. Then it got nice out and I am working on my landscaping and finishing up my koi pond and stream. Then there is the garden!!!!

My wife is pregnant with our first child now too. I just need to get the tank up on the stand and stain the stand and then plumb it into the basement. I just don't have enough time in one day. Once its up and running the way I have it designed it should be sweet. Just need to do it!!!

Eric

 

[siropa]

That is a familiar sounding story. and it make it worse, my tanks took a hit with each kid we've had. get that sucker up and running smoothly before the baby arrives. I love my kids, but they are a drain on hobby time

 

[stunreefer]

I agree with "re-visit" your roots... so often we can forget how we used to droll over a Volitan lionfish, or those blue-spotted red mushrooms back in the day... it's not about what's "cool" or "expensive," it's about what makes you happy, which includes the amount of work involved. I know when I had several gorgeous tanks up I wasn't as happy as I am now with my single "in lieu" system as I was constantly doing something while running multiple tanks...

One of my dream tanks would be a non-photosynthetic. I have been on the edge of pulling the trigger for about two years now. I am real close to doing it myself. Gonna start looking for a syringe pump. To me there is no more spectacular looking tank.

FWIW a NPS coral system is much harder to care for than SPS... much harder.

 

[gooch]

FWIW a NPS coral system is much harder to care for than SPS... much harder.

You only get what you put into it. Been playing with this slowly but surely. I will do it. Just not yet. My dendros are doing awesomely. Tank is starting to settle in. Biggest struggle I see is the constant feeding and weekly water changes. Most of these animals are hardier than sps. And with everything there is a learning curve. After eleven years of reefkeeping I have seen my fair share of problems and feel I am up to the challenge. I do not just jump into anything anymore either.

 

[condiman]

Dont give up Siropa I feel the same way sometimes. I tried Zeo and I liked the initial results but I couldnt keep up time wise and financially. But just keep your chin up it will get better

 

[PrisonCityReef]

Bill, your basement is probably about 4000 gallons, isn't it???

 

[stunreefer]

You only get what you put into it. Been playing with this slowly but surely. I will do it. Just not yet. My dendros are doing awesomely. Tank is starting to settle in. Biggest struggle I see is the constant feeding and weekly water changes. Most of these animals are hardier than sps. And with everything there is a learning curve. After eleven years of reefkeeping I have seen my fair share of problems and feel I am up to the challenge. I do not just jump into anything anymore either.

Absolutely, and I left that post very open ended... the way that person posted (and many times I see in NPS forums) was seemingly leaning towards the notion that NPS corals are easy, which is not true. Dendrophyllia (and all Dendrophylliidae) are in the "easy" class out of three "classes" I've designated when attempting to help others with NPS coral... here's my usual blurb on the classes:

IMO there are three main "types/kinds/classes" (call it what you will) of "NPS" coral:

1.) Gorgonians/Sea Fans
2.) Soft Corals (Scleronepthya, Dendronepthya, etc.)
3.) Large Polyp Meat Eaters (Dendrophylliidae, Flabellidae, etc.)

At the moment I'm stocking and keeping an eye out for strictly #3. I do love NPS gorgs, but these are a nightmare to care for. They require specific flow rates and current speeds in combination with multiple (very expensive) feedings a day, generally 4-12 feedings!

I want nothing more to have long-term success with NPS soft coral, however that statement is almost an oxy-moron as we've discovered (only in the past couple years) that the majority of these corals only live 2 max years in nature. These corals also require a basically constant food source, but they're much more forgiving in regards to flow.

With any of the above "classes" I've designated, they do require pristine water, not as pristine as SPS, but the difference is negligible. These corals can most definitely handle a parameter swing better than most SPS, but the constant food is a killer - don't feed 'em for a day and you'll wipe your tank. Which leads to the next problem, removing the nutrients that (in certain situations) we are constantly introducing due to feeding - not to mention the food necessary for our fish!

For any of the above coral a stong nutrient export system is an ablsolute must, which is why many NPS keepers run "bacterial driven" systems of some kind... Merriq and Yoka use ZEOvit on their system, and obviously it does one heck of a job! I'm very glad to see this as they have to feed that tank extremely heavily, but that's their main filtration along with a skimmer. Many NPS keepers use Denitrators and/or liquid PO4 removers rather than a bacterial driven system, however most of these people still dose a carbon source at least (vodka). Personally I prefer running a solid bacterial driven system as IMO/IME Denitrators and liquid PO4 removers are a PITA, however there are many ways to skin a cat

Currently I'm utilizing Prodibio and H2O changes and it's working great. I do not have to "broadcast feed" as Merriq does for his gorgonians and NPS softies, so my nutrient load is much more managable.

Another note to mention is regarding Ca/Alk supplementation - not necessary with an NPS tank. Because we HAVE to do weekly water changes (bi-weekly at most) to keep nutrients down, Ca/Alk is kept in line with no additional supplementation. Most NPS are non-hermatypic (non-reef building), so their calcification rates are incredibly low compared to the Acros and other coral we generally keep.

Sorry for the hi-jack

 

[gooch]

Yeah, I am looking more at the corals you would classify as number three.

 

[siropa]

Bill, your basement is probably about 4000 gallons, isn't it???

I had at one time wanted to do a large concrete look down tank for some sharks and stuff, but given my basement space it just wasn't going to happen. it was pretty much build a home theater or do the tank. HT won.

 

[customcolor]

that big frag tank would be a nice shark tank though and its short enough to look down into

 

[condiman]

I agree lol

 

[siropa]

I thought about that, but it really isn't big enough for a shark. plus it came down a few weeks ago along with most of my other frag stuff as I simplified my setup. i'm down to the 2 tanks now.

 

[acronautical]

Here's what I think would be a very cool, different, relatively low-maintenance, and a biotope you don't often see represented (your 275 would be perfect): An Eastern-Pacific, southern Baja-Mexico/Revillagigedo Islands live-rock tank, with one or two Clarion Angels, several blue-spotted jawfish, and an indiginous surgeonfish or two. This tank could be lit with T5s, with an emphasis on a cool blue hue representing cooler, deeper water. The water temp would need to be 72 to 75 F, but the lights wouldn't heat the tank too much, so chilling down to this level wouldn't be too cost-prohibitive, depending on the area you live in.