Life w/o my skimmer but there has been a temporary change! Week 5 Update.

druluv

druluv

Member
Hi Everyone:I Have embarked on a journey few will take. I'm going to attempt to start a full scale reef tank with just a refugium system.Yes that's right no protein stripper! However, this week for kicks I added a skimmer to document its worth. I'll update you guys once a week with pics and a status of how the tank is doing:I'm also highlighting the growth, maintenance, and ups and downs of a reef aquarium. Let me Know What you think.
Experiment Details Started 4/16/04:
Tank Specs:
180 Gal - Custom Design w/ two overflows
45 Gal refugium- Live Sand & Miracle Mud & Fuge Creatures (Dual Returns)
24 X 18 X 14W - It houses the Kent Protein Skimmer
fuge creatures: (These Creatures Keep the fuge clean from algae, and detritus)
I add photoPlankton to help with the critters offspring.
sand bed clams
Baby Bristle Worms
MicroHermits
Nerite Grazers
trocus grazers
turbo grazers
Strombus Grazers
Nassarius Snails
Bubble Bee Snails
Amphipods
spaghetti Worms
mini-Hawaiian Reef Brittle Stars
Fuge Plants
Grape Caulerpa
Feather Caulerpa
Shaving Brush
Gold Tang Heaven
Red Tang Heaven
Ulva Blade
Fuge Lights:
Coral Life 130 watt power compact (65watt 10K & 65watt actinic)
Regular 18 watt atinic buld (coral life)
Filtration:
One custom built Fuge System
One custom built Sump
Live Rock (display & Fuge - Fully Cured for a year (Tonga Branch, Fuji, Marshall)
Pumps: water circilation
return : mag 2400 Pump - 2200 Gph
powerheads: via aqua 3600 - 1000 gph, sen 500 - 474 gph
3 - maxi-jet 1200 on a wave master power strip - 295 gph
1 - turbelle stream pump 6060- 1600 gph
Salt:
Tropic Marin
Calcium Supp:
B-ionic Calcium Buffer System - ESV - every day - 30ML of both to help Coralline production
Neilisen Reactor -PM -using EVS KALK -
Ultra life Top-off hook-up to a float switch -
dosed by aqua-medic dosing pump - Should Help precipate PO4
Phosphate Reactor - tlf - rowaphos - maxi-jet 500 pump
Calcium Reactor - PM - coming soon
Water Supply - Kent Max deluxe ro/di filter
Weekly water changes - Tropic Marin
Additives
1.Ecosystem Reef Solution
Food
Frozen - tlf mixed veggies,cytopleeze, Mysis, Brine, water fleas, soaked in ecosystem garlic elixir, vita-chem, selcon
Flake - Ocean Nutrition - Formula Two Flake & Pellet
inverts - squid is added to the above mixure.
Lighting
4 160 watt uri bulbs - ice cap ballast(2) (3 Actinic and 1 10K)
2 400 watt pulse start ballast - 10k bulbs
1 coral vue led nite light -
2 HQI MH 400 Watts - 2 Radiums - coming today.
1 coral vue 4in fan - In hood
Lighting Duration
Morning Sun-light approx. - 4hrs -
2 vho actinics - 12hrs
1 vho actinics & 1 - 10 K bulbs - 11hrs
br />400 watt MH 10Ks - 5 hrsTemperature Control -1 50 watt heater1/2hp chiller Pacific coast
Water Parms
NO2- undetectable - sea chem
NO3- 1 ml/g - sea chem
PO4- undetectable - sea chem
PH- 8.0 sea chem
Notes:
Live Stock: Date status
Fish:
Yellow tang med - 4/07/04
Blue Regal tang med - 4/15/04
maroon clown tiny - 4/15/04
Engineer goby - med - 4/15/04
Kole Tang - med - 4/20/04
yellow pymgy angel med - 4/20/04
Neon Blue Goby - 4/22/04 - Some got lost in the overflow box
Blue Devil Damsel - 4/26/04
Bagg. Cardinal - 4/26/04
Coral:
Soft
Sarcophyton sp- - 4/15/04
Green finger - 4/17/04
ToadStool Leather - 4/22/04
encrusting soft Coral- 5/12/04
LPS
Fox Coral(Jasmine) - 4/20/04
Bubble Coral - White - 4/22/04
Candy Cane - - 4/22/04
Button Coral - 4/22/04
Plate Coral - Orange - 4/22/04
Hammer Coral - green tips - 5/05/04
neon green Candy Cane - 5/12/04
Branch Hammer - 5/14/04
Polps
Pumping Xenia - 4/22/04
Green umbrella Mushroom - 4/20/04
Green ricordea Mushroom - 4/20/04
Polyp on a rock - 4/20/04
Mushroom rocks - 4/20/04
Zoo-Pink Finger - 5/06/04
Zoo-Pink Eye - 5/06/04
Zoo-Intense Pink Splotch - 5/06/04
Zoo-mixed - 5/06/04
Zoo-mixed - 5/06/04
Clav sp. - 5/12/04
zoo-mixed - 5/12/04
Clams
Dersa Clam - 4/22/04
Tonga Clam Red - 4/27/04
SPS
Montipora Encrusting Orange - 4/22/04
Leaf Plate Montipora - 4/22/04
Montipora digita w/ blue tips - 4/22/04
INVERTS:
clump ball sponge - 3/15/04
sand sifter star - 4/15/04
blood red cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
hermit crabs -
Sand sifting cucumbers - 4/19/04
various Snails -
Sally Light Foot - deceased - will not buy again
sand sifting crabs -
Cleaner Clams - Should Help with cleaning the water
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone - 4/22/04
Green Carpet Anemone -5/14/04
Future wish List:
More rare inhabitants- reef safe eel, reef safe angel, interesting Sps Corals and rare zoo's.
 
druluv

druluv

Member
Tank Status:Week five of the experiment:
I was very anxious this week, After being rip a new one last week, I felt that my tank would crash.
However, that didn't happen and I was able to drop 1 ml/g NO3 this week. This is in lew of being
warned that my tank was stocked too fast. I did add a skimmer this week; the Kent nautilus te. So far
I'm not impress with this skimmer. I guess whatever the caulerpa misses the skimmer can catch.
I also don't like the fact it takes up space. I could of use the space to put 10 pounds of miracle mud
and more flora and fauna instead of the skimmer, but I will see how this skimmer ties into the whole plan.
Fish
My fish are eating pellet food, isn't that precious. The blue regal tang is slowly getting better.
He has been eating everything put in the tank and is swimming about like he is not sick. He has been fed garlic and
spirulina enriched foods to help his immune system out. He has also been using the services of the
cleaner shrimp and cleaner gobies; awesome site.
Coral
The corals have been doing fine so far. Nothing notable to add yet. I'm still watching my monti digita. I finally found a spot on
the gravel for
him. His polyps do come out, but only in the night. I'm also hoping he will color up. I'm also trying to create a zoo &
mushroom
part of the tank; hope this works out.
Problems To OverCome:
1. Need To Add More Flow - corrected by adding the maxi & stream pump
2. Need To Add More Light - corrected by adding 4 400 watt ballast
3. Need To Add More Sand bed Critters
4. Soft and Hard Corals Living Together
5. Blue Regal Tangs and Parasites
6. Properly placing corals in a good area.
7. Sand shifting cucumbers, stars, and large turbo snails keep bumping my corals and clams.
8. Getting the skimmer to work(This not last though).
Things I Like Best about the Tank
1. Good Coralline Growth
2. New organisms popping up in the Fuge.
3. Fish Are Eating
4. Crappy Hood I built but saved over $200 dollars - But Used it buy a HQI ballast
5. Using small frags to get a natural growin
6. The New powerheads added brings more flow into the tank
Newbie Tips do's:
1. Patience - Give Tank time to grow
2. Research - Everybody is a master reefer, take everyting with a grain of salt, and do your own home work.
3. Acclimate properly - when fish come in those overnight bags the ph is about 7.8.
4. Generate enough flow around the tank.
Newbie Tips dont's:
1.Buy too much live stock for delivery - Take too much time to properly acclimate everything.
2.Placing Newly bought Live rock in your display tank without curing in a separate container.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Very interesting set of pics....thanks for the update and I wish you continued success.
Patience is hard to maintain in this hobby but most folks I've come across seem to believe patience/ information/experience all combined are vital to long term success in this hobby.
 
druluv

druluv

Member
thanks nm_reef for the kind words.
I do too believe in patience, but I did my research and knew when stuff can be added. To some, they may feel that I overstocked my tank, but the water parms have been solid for the past five weeks. Everything is far from perfect, and with time I hope the corals, fish, and I become better at this balancing game.
 
footbag

footbag

Active Member
I think that you will want to raise that montipora digitata up closer to the lights. You can superglue him into a hole of a rock or see if he'll stay without the glue.
 
druluv

druluv

Member
I had the monti higher before, and it was starting to turn white. When I move it lower, it started to get a little darker and polyps started to come out a little. I have 400 watts of light over it. Wouldn't that be enough light even if it is placed on the bottom.
 
footbag

footbag

Active Member
400w should be enough light. I think that montis prefer to be mounted on a rock though. Thats only because I've never seen one in the sand before. If it does improve when its placed there, maybe leave it. Where did it come from(what kind of lighting)? Maybe it needs to acclimate to the 400w.
 
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