Who Doesn't Love Peninsulas? 40BR BB Mixed Reef - LED/T5 Hybrid

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by rostercp

What is the bright red coral in your tank? I would like to do a little research on it. Thanks

If you mean the one with lots of tentacles, that would be the Rose Bubble Tip Anemone. You can learn a lot about them here:

http://www.karensroseanemones.net/

You want a well established tank and you need to be okay with them moving around constantly until they find where they're happy. They absolutely have a mind of their own and will completely detach and float around if they choose so any uncovered powerheads can essentially be deadly. They will also sting any coral they come in contact with or land on, although I've personally seen mine wimp out against frogspawns, hammers and torches so those might hold their own.


Parameters Update
After dosing 8g of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) over two days, I tested my parameters on Sunday (4/20/2014) at 10:30AM and obtained the following readings. These readings are about 60 hours from my last water test on (04/17/2014) at 11:30PM. Oh ya the tank is 1 day shy of turning 6 months old today! Still a lot of maturing to do but glad it's made it this far without too many catastrophies.

pH: 8.3 (+0.2)
Ca: 395 ppm (-40)
Mg: 1340 ppm (-120)
Alk: 9.4 dKh (+4.1)

My alkalinity is finally up to a good range, the calcium drop was expected with a combination of coral uptake and the raising of the alkalinity. I'm also very happy that my pH is finally in a good range as well, no doubt also due to the rise in alkalinity and my window I leave cracked open now.

Tomorrow I plan to do a 5g water change, after which I will test my parameters and plan to start dosing Kalkwasser to raise or maintain my Ca/Alk. Hopefully I can maintain levels with just Kalk until my SPS start to really take off at which point I may need to move over to a 2-3 part dosing method.

[dkeller_nc]

Originally Posted by ChouDawg

Do you prefer to keep Sodium Bicarbonate (Alk), Calcium Chloride (Calc) and Magnesium Chloride (Mg) on hand to adjust / dose levels individually? I was planning to probably go with a 2-part solution (B-Ionic) once I get my levels in check and allow my Mg to be replenished by my weekly water changes.

Yes, I use individual bulk chemicals because they're much, much cheaper. All you need to correctly make the solutions is a kitchen scale and way to measure volume (a glass measuring pitcher is accurate enough for this). You can also skip the scale and measure the powders volumetrically with a measuring spoon. If one or the other solution is a bit "off" in concentration, that will show up in your tests for alkalinity and calcium, so you just adjust the amount you're adding to compensate.

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by dkeller_nc

Yes, I use individual bulk chemicals because they're much, much cheaper. All you need to correctly make the solutions is a kitchen scale and way to measure volume (a glass measuring pitcher is accurate enough for this). You can also skip the scale and measure the powders volumetrically with a measuring spoon. If one or the other solution is a bit "off" in concentration, that will show up in your tests for alkalinity and calcium, so you just adjust the amount you're adding to compensate.

Found a local guy selling some gallon jugs of BRS Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride...he also has Magnesium Sulfate. BRS recommends using the Sulfate and the Chloride together for Mag. From my research it seems that adding one or the other individually will result in a elevated level of Sulfate or Chloride respectively. Even more so when doubling up with the Calcium Chloride but it seems that the levels are negligible with regular water changes; however, more of an issue with elevated Sulfate levels. What are your thoughts on this? Also do these products have a shelf life?

I'm planning to start with Kalkwasser fed by my ATO with a Avast Kalk reactor unless that can't help maintain my Alk/Calc levels then I'd start dosing individual parts. Of course my magnesium levels wont be replenished by Kalk only with water changes but I won't know my Mag consumption till I monitor it for a week or so.

[rostercp]

Originally Posted by rostercp

What is the bright red coral in your tank? I would like to do a little research on it. Thanks

Rose Bubble Tip Anemone.. Guess I need to pay more attention. Thanks for the link! Tank looks great by the way. Def. inspiring me to start a tank up again!

[ChouDawg]

Parameters Update
Did a 5 gallon water change yesterday and cleaned my return line / check valve, boy was that dirty! My flow was slowing down too causing my overflow box to start running low, churning along nicely now. I let the water change circulate for about an hour and then took the following readings.

pH: 8.3 (+0)
Ca: 415 ppm (+20)
Mg: 1340 ppm (+0)
Alk: 8.1 dKh (-0.7)

Using the reef calculator it looks like at 415 ppm Calcium, I should have a balanced Alkalinity of 7.8 dKh. And at 8.1 dKh Alkalinity, I should have a balanced Calcium level of 418 ppm. With the inherent human error of test kits I would say my Ca/Alk levels are balanced, which makes sense.

Aiming for a target 425 ppm Calcium / 9.2 dKh Alkalinity, I would need 0.61 gallons of saturated Kalk to reach the target Calcium and 0.5 gallon to reach the target Alkalinity. From previous test with the baking soda dosing I found out my tank goes through roughly 0.25 gallon of RO/DI in an 8 hour period. Using this I will make 1 gallon of saturated Kalk and have my ATO feed from it. This should last about 32 hours. I will test my parameters again tonight before hooking up the Kalk solution to get a baseline, then multiple times through the gallon process to make sure my levels don't get too high. If I can maintain my Ca/Alk using Kalk I plan to purcahse a Kalk reactor which will be fed with my ATO to prevent clogging up my Aqualifter with Kalk solution.

Corals are all reacting very well to the now proper nutrient levels and gaining back a lot of color and growth. I am so glad I finally decided to start testing. I never had this issue in my past tank because my regular 2 gallon water changes were enough to keep up with the coral demand in the pico tank.

If anyone else is following along and notices anything off with my regiment plan/calculations please feel free to chime in...I'm going based off of the various knowledge I've been gathering these past few weeks.

Possible photodump update coming tomorrow night...

[ChouDawg]

I'm bacccccccccckkkkkkkkk

The tank is 246 days or just over 8 months old now!

The tank has gone through some big changes since my last update. After the termite fumigation my rock work on the far end was kind of just "thrown together." I told myself I'd fix it later on...well now I think I'm going to leave it. After my move back I also just started placing corals/frags in random places, getting over a bit of my OCD and making more of a "mixed" reef once it all grows out.

Equipment wise nothing has changed, I moved the far end MP10 to the overflow wall so both are facing the far end...so far I haven't noticed any pockets of detritus and it helps me really enjoy the peninsula setup.

Livestock wise I lost the McCosker Wrasse as previously mentioned but will be adding a Cosmetus Wrasse in the next week or so. I plan to make a "sandbox" by epoxying in strips of acrylic to make a pen under my rock arch and then filling in the void with sand. This should allow me to keep the majority of my tank barebottom and still have a proper environment for the wrasse to thrive.

Added and removed a few corals, multi-colored coraline is finally starting to grow on the rock and patches of pink coraline are showing up on the bare bottom...and now the pictures!

MySpace Angles


Left FTS


View From The End


Right FTS


Best Buds


Shroom Garden


Green Slimey Thing


Toxic/Grape Hammers


Tank Mascot "Ali"


Thanks for visiting!

[whiteshark]

Beautiful!

[Tweaked]

Love a peninsula. Inspiring, thanks for sharing

[Ludwigia73]

Love that black blenny, any idea what it's called?

[mandarin_goby]

Looks like a starry blenny...they're such characters. I love mine.

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by whiteshark

Beautiful!

Originally Posted by Tweaked

Love a peninsula. Inspiring, thanks for sharing

Thanks for visiting and posting

Originally Posted by Ludwigia73

Love that black blenny, any idea what it's called?

Originally Posted by mandarin_goby

Looks like a starry blenny...they're such characters. I love mine.

Bingo, Starry Blenny! Still a bit skittish if I move too quickly but much better than when I first got it. Picks at the rocks all day long, grabs pellets from time to time and the nori in my frozen foods.

[hogfanreefer]

Looks outstanding! Your photography skills are as nice as your tank!

What happened to those big birdsnest?

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by hogfanreefer

Looks outstanding! Your photography skills are as nice as your tank!

What happened to those big birdsnest?

Thanks! I try to improve my photos with each set...sadly the big birdsnest colony I grew out for the past 2 years started RTN'ing and became a pale white skeleton so I tossed it. Freed up a bunch of space on the arch though that is now the SPS bridge. I'm going to start dosing ESV 3-part so that should help keep my parameters stable and hopefully improve SPS growth. The tricolor either got wacked by the anemone when it moved or also fell victim to whatever caused the other BN to RTN. It's funny those two BN were the only ones to RTN besides an encrusting monti...all the more "difficult" acros and millis are doing well so that's a plus I guess.

[hogfanreefer]

Sorry for the loss, I recently lost most of my Bird of Paradise despite all the acros around it doing fine. Weird.

I actually am encouraged to hear you had been growing it for two years.....I thought it was the same age as your tank (5 months in the first photos). I was feeling inadequate! LOL

[ChouDawg]

Appreciate it, ya I definitely don't have the "coral thumb" with this new tank, my old pico with weekly water changes I had to rotate the BN constantly so it'd stop growing into the backwall. Hopefully I'll be able to track down another piece it was a very unique BN for sure. Here it is from when I first got it, and then a few months after. Orange skin, purple polyps and bright green tips, so awesome.

October 2012


May 2013

[ChouDawg]

Tank is 254 days old today! Not much has changed, I finally installed my Bluefish LED controller today and had a bunch of fun playing with all the settings and modes. It's nice to finally be able to sit back and adjust my color channels to my liking from my phone.

ISO FTS


So I bought one of these a few days ago...found a deal I couldn't pass up on CL


Naturally, I went crazy and took a ton of macro shots with my new lens, boy its nice to have a real macro lens finally.

Rainbowlicious Shrooms


Every 12 Days Like Clockwork


Jolly Green Slimer


Those Eyelashes!


Jedi Mindtrick Monti


Hammertime!


Gary The Hermit Janitor


Red Planet Milli


Thanks for visiting!

[E.Rude]

Great images! I really like your set up as well! Keep up the good work

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by E.Rude

Great images! I really like your set up as well! Keep up the good work

Thanks!

[RVANANO]

Beautiful!! You know I love a good peninsula

[ChouDawg]

Haha mine is a mini peninsula compared to yours! Following along in your thread, cant wait to see it chocked full

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by Chromi Cartel

Love your new macro work, don't know how much longer I can hold off on getting one of my own...I could use a second MP40, and an Apex, so hopefully by the end of the year I will get around to that 100mm

Get one, get one! It's SO much easier using a legitimate macro lens instead of reverse mount, macro extender tubes etc. I want an Apex as well but it's so hard to justify the cost as my RKL has been chugging along without any issues on my past tank and this tank for the past 2 years. Check your local Craigslist you might get lucky like me, I scored mine with a "scuff" on the front optic for a little over 80% off new

Lots of people, myself included before, are deathly afraid of any kind of optic damage. But the truth is front lens scuffs and scratches almost never show up in pictures unless you're shooting super high aperture or happen to be at the right angle that the scratch catches light and causes glare. If you're not a professional and you don't depend on your photos to make a living used lenses are a great way to save money.

[ChouDawg]

Tank is 267 days old today! Added a few corals, took a new FTS and some more macros shot. This weekend I will be able to determine how much Calc/Alk/Mg consumption my tank is at and beginning dosing ESV B-Ionic 2-Part, my Mag levels seem to be high with regular water changes. Still trying to get my hands on a healthy Cosmetus Wrasse and now a Sunburst Anthias which should finish off my fish stocking. Been slowly stockpiling parts for my new build and will begin sump/stand build this weekend.

Now onto the pictures!

ISO FTS


Chong Bong Palys


Sunset Millipora (Under Construction)


Some Kind of Digi


Rainbow Trip


Rastas


Tri-Color Birdsnest


Miyagi Tort


Finally Learning The Ways of the Force


I Think I <3 Milliporas


Thanks for visiting!

[tsiklauss]

Looking great! I had to tare down my 40b when I moved and they are one of my favorite tanks

[ChouDawg]

Originally Posted by tsiklauss

Looking great! I had to tare down my 40b when I moved and they are one of my favorite tanks

Thanks! I love the 40B dimensions, not a huge fan of deep tanks..set yours back up!





Tank is 276 days old today! I added a Cosmetus Wrassse and a Sunburst Anthias last week, unfortunately the Sunburst I couldn't get to eat and lost it over the weekend. The Cosmetus is an ADD tank constantly darting around the tank, eats everything, even pellets off the surface. I do plan to get another Sunburst after I get over losing this one, they really are beautiful fish.

After a bit more trial and error I was finally able to shoot under just LEDs to show off the flourescence after the T5s go out...the last two pictures in this set are LED only.

Anyways, the real reason you guys check-in, pictures!

ISO FTS


Left FTS


View From The End


Right FTS


Birds Eye Reef


Cosmetus Wrasse


New Blastos Mini Colony & Bonus PE


LED FTS


Glow-In-The-Dark Shrooms

[ChouDawg]

Hm..how about a macro coral update...

"Fist Punch" Digi


Caps


Return of the Jedi


Millimadness




"Blue Acro" (Survived AEFW)


Bi-Color Hammers


"Color Up Faster"


Random Freebie SPS - Branching Monti of Some Sort?