Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

[mcrist]

I use my APC 1000 for my main return pump which is is an Iwaki MD100 and I have no issues.

[Dudester]

Wow, glad to have started such an interesting topic for discussion. Lots of opinions out there, and clearly plenty of options. I'll give it some more thought. Thanks for everyone's input. Bruce, I'll be calling you eventually, still got your number .

I did some maintenance today, it felt good. This included a small water change with sand siphoning, scraped algae off of the back glass and overflow, changed carbon, cleaned filter socks (I really need more of these), cleaned salt splash off the Powermodule, and ran some tests.

pH ~8.2
S.G. 1.026
alk 7.85 dKH
Ca 415
Mg 1260
nitrates 0

I had my calcium reactor off for a couple of days as the alkalinity actually climbed to over 10. Now that it's more reasonable I'm going to gradually tweak it up. I'm also starting to supplement potassium. My level was 275 and I need to get it up to around 380. I'm dosing K-Balance Strong, a K-Z product.

[Dudester]

Just finished hooking up the dosing pump for the Aquatronica. I'll use this to dose one of my ZEOvit components, ZEOstart2, twice daily. I've been doing it pretty faithfully, and when I'm not home my wife has been doing it for me (most of the time), but this will certainly simplify things. The dosing pump is really slick, and it's able to dose at volumes of only 1 ml at a time. It's actually a 3-pump unit, and as I get more into ZEOvit and increase the coral load in the tank, I'll have other supplements to add so that eventually I'll be using all 3 pumps. I need to get some flexible tubing, as for now I'm using the rigid 1/4" polyethylene which is a little cumbersome. What tubing do people use for dosing pumps?

[melev]

I think they use the green kind that you can buy at your LFS. I'd imagine you'd be able to score some at work, Mike.

[Dudester]

you think?

[Dudester]

I received the RedDragon 4.5m3 pump to replace the one that was sent damaged in the mail. I'm also happy to report that I was able to score one of the new models with imperial plumbing! I was quite surprised to see that this pump is actually a bit taller than the one with metric plumbing. Check out what I mean. The one with the red metric intake/outlet is my RD6.5m3, which is rated for higher flows than the all gray RD4.5m3. They both have the same size impeller housing and base, but the pump itself is raised higher off of the base on the newer model. I wonder why they did that?



The intake is set up with a 1-1/4" union, while the output has a 3/4" union.





Hopefully I'll get a chance this week to plumb it in and replace the Mag12. The RD4.5m3 is rated for about 900gph at 4-1/2 feet of head height, which is just under what the Mag12 is rated for. This should slow down the flow through my sump a little, which will be good.

While I'm discussing equipment, here's what the sump looks like at this point. You can now see the addition of the calcium reactor and some other things. The sump is actually too full for me to fit the kalk stirrer, but there's room for that in the pan along side the topoff reservoir. Sorry the skimmer wasn't bubbling, I had the cup off for cleaning.



This is what I'm skimming out on a regular basis. This is 3 days worth of nog. It reeks! Pretty good, I think, considering there's not much in the tank.

[mcrist]

What pump do you use to feed your skimmer?

[erics3000]

that is some dark poop...Cool..

[reef / aholic]

Looking good!!!!

Red Dragon 4.5 m3
Base Plate - 3 1/2 x 4 3/4
Width from pump end to union fitting: 9"
Height from pump end to union fitting: 10"
In: 2" Union to 1 1/4" Slip
Out: 1 1/4" Union to 3/4" Slip
1188gph - 48 watts

These pump have the new USA Motorblocks and Plugs

[Dudester]

mcrist - I'm using the Hydor L35 to feed the skimmer. The pump has variable output but I run it wide open and control the water level in the skimmer with the skimmer's ball valve outlet. That reminds me, I need to clean out that pump as it hasn't been done since it was installed.

erics3000 - dark poop ... mmmmm

RoBolton - There you are with all the specs on the Red Dragon. I need to thank you for first introducing me to the 'Americanized' model. Do you use these pumps on your system?

[Dudester]

I haven't posted any tank pics in a while so here are a few.

full tank


left side - check out the red gorgonian, it has white polyps


right side


side view


duncan


you wanna piece of me?


The ricordea above are the ones in my avatar. They were one of the first corals I ever purchased in this hobby back in October 2005 and they've survived through almost every tank destroyer imaginable. I am really happy to have them in this tank.

[melev]

It looks really good, but I have to say my favorite part of that setup are those gorgeous clownfish. Way to go spending $8000 on a box of water for those beauties.

[Dudester]

Those two fish are worth every penny of it too, Marc. Notice how they're right next to each other in every photo? I sense some fry in record time.

[Bax]

Looks great Dude!

[jnarowe]

Are you feeding the duncans?

[reef / aholic]

Dudester, I'm Klas spokesperson for USA!!! Right now all my equipment is sitting on the floor in my study. What do you think of the ZEOvit method so far?

[invincible569]

Top of the line equipment!

By the way.. I was on Marc's website yesterday going through your guys Tank Tour. It's very nice to see everyone all at once. Let me know when you guys have the next one.

[ycnibrc]

Look awesome Mike. Top notch plumbing and equipment. Can't wait for your update after ypur corals shopping. My tank is almost finish I will update tomorrow.

[Dudester]

Bax - I'm happy you like it, thanks.

jnarowe - I'm sure the duncan isn't starving, but I don't target feed it. Should I? I put my frozen grool into the wavebox, where it thaws before being propelled out into the tank. I do this with the sump return pump(s) off but the closed loop on, and the food is scattered throughout the tank for all to consume. Within 4-5 minutes the water is clear. I think the duncan gets a few morsels every now and then.

RoBolton - Well how do you like that? You must be good at poker . Why didn't you help me out when I was having problems with my 6.5? I'm sending that pump back to the distributor where they will test it and either send me a new one or send mine back. I'm hoping it won't pass their test so they can send me one with imperial plumbing, if that can be arranged. I won't need it for this tank, but I'll need it for my next one for sure.

I am quite pleased with ZEOvit thus far. Of course the real test will occur once I stock the tank with SPS but so far, so good. The only negative thing I've noticed is that my favites has paled in color. I'm not sure if it's being bleached by the more intense lighting in this tank, or if it is rebelling against the low-nutrient environment. I will say that at night it has resumed extending its feeding tentacles, something I hadn't seen in my previous tank for the past year or so, so I think this is a positive sign.

Please let me know when your equipment is no longer sitting idle on the floor, as I'm sure your system will be spectacular!

invincible569 - Thanks, I need good equipment to supplement my shoddy husbandry. The Austin tank tour was fun, and I'm sure we'll do it again in the near future. By then my home tank will hopefully be something to look at. We'll be sure to invite you, and I'd certainly like to know when the Houston tank tour takes place. I have very close friends in Houston that I see regularly, and that would be a great place to dump, I mean, let my family hang out while I check out Houston's finest.

ycnibrc - Thanks, and I look forward to your tank update.

Thanks, everyone, for your interest!

[jnarowe]

I was just curious. So far, I have found that they bud new polyps faster when you hand feed them. They will eat just about anything as well. Mine will eat any kind of meaty food, as well as Spectrum pellets. One polyp will eat 8 - 10 pellets at a time. Sherman feeds his a different kind of pellet. They are very aggressive eaters so it is fun to watch. They gulp it down and then get all fat, like an "outie" for a while. Total pigs.

[melev]

Originally posted by Dudester
.... I'm not sure if it's being bleached by the more intense lighting in this tank, or if it is rebelling against the low-nutrient environment. I will say that at night it has resumed extending its feeding tentacles, something I hadn't seen in my previous tank for the past year or so, so I think this is a positive sign.

I would try feeding this coral at night since it looks faded. Might as well give it food when it is wanting it, to give it a little extra help.

[Dudester]

Jonathan, I'll keep an eye on the duncan during the next few feedings and if it doesn't capture anything, I'll throw it a bone.

Great idea, Marc, to feed the coral when it's hungry. So practical, so obvious, so intuitive, so reasonable, why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah, because I'm so complicated.

[chris wright]

I'm with Jonathon on the feeding. Mine is helathy, and well feed I feed mine once a week and its growing like mad.

Tanks looking real good, and good luck with the gorgonian.

Cheers

Chris

[Dudester]

chris wright - I'll be sure that the duncan is fed. I bought the gorgonian from Reeftopia along with the cleanup crew a few weeks ago. Initially it was getting pounded with flow from the 4-way, but since I redirected the returns it's settled down a bit. The polyps aren't extended as much as they used to be, and there's a thin algae film covering most of the branches but no tissue loss. I'm not sure if this is a photosynthetic gorgonian or not (probably not), but I figured the high bacterial populations and carbon source addition in my ZEOvit system would provide enough food to sustain it. I guess the jury is still out on whether or not it will make it, and I'm told that once algae grows on it, the prognosis is poor. I'm hoping that a tang might eat the algae off of it to clean it up a bit, and hopefully it will survive until then.

[Dudester]

OK everyone, I need some help with salinity. Here's the beef. I've been keeping my tank at a specific gravity of 1.026, measured with a refractometer. When I got the Aquatronica controller I used the density (salinity) probe and calibrated it with a 1.023 solution. The probe was then entered into the sump where it read nearly 1.029, while my refractometer read 1.026. I have always trusted refractometers more than probes, and felt that the probe was reading falsely high. Afterall, the refractometer tested RO/DI water at 1.00. John (thedude) suggested I test the refractometer with the calibration fluid, and when I did it recorded 1.020. That means the refractometer had been testing falsely low by nearly 0.003, which meant my reef was actually at 1.029 and the AQ probe was correct . Could a poorly calibrated refractometer be the cause of some of the former new fish deaths in my old tank, and possibly the demise of (now) 2 emerald crabs in the current tank? At any rate, I removed 5 gal of water from the tank and replaced it with RO/DI. Both the controller and refractometer now read 1.027. My plan was to perform the same procedure tomorrow to get the S.G. down to 1.026. In the meantime I re-tested the refractometer with RO/DI water and it reads 1.003 instead of 1.000. Now I'm really confused and don't know what to believe. I think I need someone else with a refractometer to come over and test my water. I would feel better if others out there test their refractometers with RO/DI and tell me what you come up with. If it's OK to have 1.003 (since this is a lower range and possibly not as important) then I'd also feel better and consider the calibration good. Any input would be appreciated!