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printthread.php?t=1717&pp=40Yup already have, filled the 'crash chamber' with a few pieces of LR and added some more to the refuge... all mature agrocrete rocks, the oyster shell base really helps boost the calcium....
Just noticed yesterday, there are already a few dozen spots of coraline growing on the starboard!
thats fantastic,if you got coralline growing,your ready for SPS then,great job
Thanks, The coraline was a quite a pleasant surprise, didn't expect to see it make an appearance for at least another month or better.
This was my first tank to run just IO salt mix in..... so far I'm not terrribley impressed, alk and calcium still mix up pretty low..... slowly working up the a dosing formula to add to the top off. Might go back to Oceanic mix.
Evaporation is pretty high with the open top tank, around 1/2 gal per day, but that gives me a little more working room for dosing.
Dave, that is gonna be a great tank if your allready getting growth like that. cannot wait to see how this little baby grows!!!!
Dave,i know that IO mixes up at 1.026 w/lower calcium levels than NSW.However,calcium is not the limiting factor in calcification of stoney corals.Alkalinity in the form of carbonate/bicarbonate is the limiting factor,that is why it is often suggested to keep alk levels above NSW level(8dKH).IMO/IME,I feel that 9dKH is perfect for an SPS tank.With higher alk levels(10+),I have found that Acropora spp. are more susceptible to "tissue sloughing/base up recession".This is purely anecdotal evidence on my part,just my personal experiences.
David, thanks for your observations on the alkalinity, otherwise I
would have been trying to push and maintain my usual 10-11dKH as I do
for the softy/mixed tank.
Just a couple of update pics to close out the month.
The Monipora Capricornus (the pic does it littel justice as half of the bottom plate is hidden)
http://www.captivereefing.com/riched...c30396dabc.jpg
A little proof possitive that airstone driven skimmers can be VERY
effective, this was taken less than 12 hours after dumping and
cleaning, not much of a bioload in the system at all yet. Why
they have fallen into disfavor of many I think has to be out of
laziness not wanting to replace the airstone, the performance and the
consistancy of bubbles is superior to most venturi's I've seen.
The first stone ran for about 6 weeks...replaced it with a new one and
see no difference, so it was changed earlier than needed.
http://www.captivereefing.com/riched...3ad0213981.jpg
Of course what kind of update would it be without a gratuitous full
tank shot? Another week and she'll be ready for more critters :)
http://www.captivereefing.com/riched...7fe81352f9.jpg
Stock;
Green Slimer Acro
Monti Cap.
Tiny frags of pulsing and pumping xenia (for nutrient uptake)
of course can't forget the 4 orange zoanthid polyps.
6 nass. snails.
Microbubbles are still driving me crazy, time for either a prefilter on the Mag7 return pump or build it a chamber to live in... the bubbles are actually being created by the water falling from the bubble trap picking up air bubbles which are then being chopped up by the return pump to keep a constant supply to the display :(
Pushing so much water through such a little system is actually proving
to be a challenge, opening the doors for some more thinking and
tinkering, may end building another refuge and sump to replace the
current one with some more modifications, to 1) address the
microbuble/falling water issue, 2) split the sump into two chambers
dedicated to the skimmer and the other to be drilled to run a slightly
larger return pump external from the sump (increase the turnover rate
to the display will be around +80gph), 3) sump needs to be drilled for
a float valve for a gravity fed auto top off (for limewater), 4) the
return manifold has got to be moved up higher in the tank, going to see
if I can get it above the water level with zipties to the top frame.
Aside from these minor issues she's doing well... maturing faster than
I would have expected. Though the need for a few herbavoire only
critters are in order for the display as some algae is getting a start
in there, a hermit or two should be able to manage it.
New batches of agrocrete have been FW curing for over 3 months and are
more than ready for a home, think a few select rubble sized pieces will
do well in the refuge along with a few handfuls of Puka shell that has
been the substrate in another tank for a while to liven things up a
little more and help give a a little boost to the calcium as well as
tons more surface area for denitrify bacteria.
So far no need for anything but the sandbed and rock in the fuge as
nitrates are staying below 5ppm, though I am considering adding some
6.5K lighting and xenia to the refuge to give me some extra nitrate
export (instead of the typical macro fuge...a field of xenia would be
cool).
So much for a quick update.......... if you've made it this far, thanks for following along.
Great looking tank
Great Looking tank. Thanks for the share
Dave, awesome as usual!!! that little tank is taking off like a rocket! thank you for the update.
Looks great Dave,make sure you let us know when those SPS frags start encrusting and forming there base.I think a seperate fuge is a great idea,it'll help with your microbubble prob as well as give you more system water which will help with stability.IME,BB tanks have a much less alk demand(something about bacteria in the SB and there carbonate uptake) than SB systems.When useing an auto-top-off with kalk,dont make the same mistake i did and assume they will have similiar alk uptake.Currently,my 40BB system is maintained with 1tlbsp of Kalk per 5 gallons of top-off.My 40DSB uses 3.5x that much per the same 5 gal of top-off.