50b Sumpless Mixed Reef Build!

[BigJohnny]

Everything is going well. Just recently dialed in my kalkwasser dosing after a big increase in growth. Been dealing with some green slime cyano which is annoying because I have perfectly clean water, just one of those things in reefing, this cyano doesn't care. I've just been blowing it off daily and sucking it out during water changes, it should be gone soon. Some of these pics have hair algae as well (auto feeder malfunctioned while I was out of town) but that's long gone now.

Here are some coral shots, a few new ones mixed in there with some old Excuse my terrible cell phone pics with crappy color representation. I'll take an updated FTS tomorrow as most of these pics are atleast a few weeks old.

[BigJohnny]

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[Swope2bc]

Corals look sweet man!!

[Miguelh1302]

Looks nice Johnny, now we talking bro lol

[BigJohnny]

So not only is my SC Dynamite Chalice an epic rainbow chalice, it's also a beeeeast. I watched it catch and consume a whole amphipod today. I was worried it was going to burst but nah, digested it no prob

[BigJohnny]

Got some sick new frags from cornbred today:


CB's Banana Hammer (looks green but it's neon yellow)


CB's Orange Blossom Hammer (orange middle+purple outer rim= epic)


CB's Jawbreaker Rainbow Echinata (the centers are randomly either orange with green rim, green with orange rim, or both with random swirls of rainbow in the middle)



Here's his colony:


CB's Rainbow Anaconda Acan (the most ridiculously awesome rainbow acan I have ever seen, priced accordingly )






Here's his colony:

[BigJohnny]

Here's an updated crappy FTS. As you can see I've been battling stupid green slime cyano the last few weeks, I believe it is either caused by Brightwell Phytogreen-s or Red Sea Reef Energy A & B, both of which I recently tried dosing occassionally since i have such low nutrients. Contrary to most people's understanding, cyano does not only flourish in systems with excess nitrate and phosphate.

The good news is that I can easily blow it all off the rocks, unfortunately it just comes back. I'm planning on siphoning it out daily and I believe that combined with stopping those supplements will kick it to the curb. My tank is still only 5 months old so all part of the game!

This tank has become way overstocked and basically just a frag tank for my upgrade in april. I've only mounted some acros and montis that needed more PAR and flow. Still only have 1 clownfish and 2 cleaner shrimp with the move in mind, however I would like more measurable nitrates so I'm going to add another 1 or 2 here shortly (and i just want more fish haha). I'm planning on getting a Reef Savvy 100g with an 80g sump. It's going to be epic, just waiting to buy a house in april

[BigJohnny]

Check out this line up:



From left to right: WWC Inferno Monti, WWC Lucky Charms Monti, SC Dynamite Chalice (3 eyes now), WWC All-in Monti

Just got the inferno and lucky charms today:




Updated SC Dynamite:



All-In:

[BigJohnny]

Well I'm pumped about it haha

[Swope2bc]

Lol, I've been so busy I missed when you put it up! Super cool BigJ

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by Swope2bc

Lol, I've been so busy I missed when you put it up! Super cool BigJ

Haha no problem swope, I appreciate the love.

[pete620]

Awesome tank, and great documentation on your build!
I'm in the planning stages of a 40b after an 8 or 9 year break and it's a great help to see what you've done.
How do you like the Aquatic Fundamentals stand? If you had a sump do you think the door would provide enough access?
Any LFS's you'd recommend? I'm in Williamsburg, but drive to Richmond fairly often.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by pete620

Awesome tank, and great documentation on your build!
I'm in the planning stages of a 40b after an 8 or 9 year break and it's a great help to see what you've done.
How do you like the Aquatic Fundamentals stand? If you had a sump do you think the door would provide enough access?
Any LFS's you'd recommend? I'm in Williamsburg, but drive to Richmond fairly often.

Thanks, I think the tank is pretty mediocre right now due to the green slime and the fact that it's all basically still frags, but I have some EPIC frags, so in a few months the tank will be rockin.

Sounds exciting, getting back into the hobby after so long. A lot has changed as you know. The aquatic fundamentals stand is better than I expected, especially the coating which really gives you ample time to wipe up any spills/splashes, which is critical on a stand made out of composite material (if it was uncoated any water would penetrate quickly and compromise structural integrity). It looks sleek as well.

I do not recommend it for several reasons:

1. The one center door will drive you nuts if you have a sump. I don't and it still bothers me from time to time.

2. You can build a much stronger and nicer stand out of framing stock and plywood. It's so easy, and after building one for my qt tank I swore I would never buy one again (unless it was really high end). My next build is going to have a stand framed with extruded aluminum.

3. I still worry about the water/structural integrity thing. If I have a big spill I would probably have problems.

Having said that, I did a bunch of research and IMO it is the nicest 40-50b stand available for retail purchase (I got mine at petsmart.com or petco.com), so if you don't want to build one, then I do recommend it.

As far as the LFS, I have strong informed opinions about them all haha, but it depends what your going there for. I personally bought/buy 90% of my coral online or from local reefers. Most LFS are overpriced or can't compete with selection or quality. Send me a PM and I'll give you my opinion on each.

[Isaacs55]

Dang Big J! Everything is looking sweet! Have you noticed a lot of growth already since you added everything? I'm still knocking on the Acropora/sps door...not sure if I'm ready to make that jump yet. When I do, it'll be in February most likely. Looking for a dosing system right now. One that's not too expensive but fairly priced and reliable.

Everything is looking sweet though man! Congrats!

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by Isaacs55

Dang Big J! Everything is looking sweet! Have you noticed a lot of growth already since you added everything? I'm still knocking on the Acropora/sps door...not sure if I'm ready to make that jump yet. When I do, it'll be in February most likely. Looking for a dosing system right now. One that's not too expensive but fairly priced and reliable.

Everything is looking sweet though man! Congrats!

Hey boss,

Since you have a controller just go with the brs dosing pumps, mine works fantastic. You can either buy one and drip kalk or buy 2 and go with 2 part. If your going to go with 2 part, get the full kit, sick deal. I got the kit but only use one for kalk right now.

Yes, recently I have seen a surge in growth once I finally got my lights running full schedule (had reduced photoperiod to eliminate the dino/cyano whatever I had) and started dripping kalkwasser with a dosing pump every night. I've had consistent growth from all LPS regardless but my montis and especially acros have taken off.

Based off of my experience and my discussions with local experienced reefers (one especially who has a tank that rivals jason fox's imo), acropora can take 1-4 months on average to adjust to your system and take off/color up. Sure some go right away and others never go/take longer but the average is 1-4 months. Some will flourish immediately and some will never survive in your tank due to a multitude of factors, no matter what you do.

Succesful growth can happen independently of coloration and vice versa. Some acros base out forever and others branch out immediately. Again this depends on a multitude of factors.

Some acros are generally considered hardier than others (but again your system is still a factor) and in general wild acros are considered a crap shoot as far as growth and maintaining/improving coloration. I know a very successful reefer who buys 10 wild acros a month and usually ends up throwing away 6-10 because they either change coloration completely to something less desirable or don't do well in his tank. He does get some beauties though and not always from the ones you'd expect. You'll have better luck with aquacultured or frags from someone's tank.

In general, if you can keep your params solid and stable, provide a location with adequate light (not too much is better than too much) and flow, and monitor your corals closely for any signs of stress (and make adjustments if necessary), you will have at least moderate success.

Give it a go man, even before you get dosing pumps set up. Grab a few cheap hardy acro frags and experiment with them. Then you'll be ready for the big boys. Montis are a lot more forgiving and easier so definitely get a few of those too. If you don't have high demand (not many corals) it's a lot easier to keep everything stable, usually just with water changes.

I'll post some growth pics when I get back home from holiday.

[Isaacs55]

Originally Posted by BigJohnny

Hey boss,

Since you have a controller just go with the brs dosing pumps, mine works fantastic. You can either buy one and drip kalk or buy 2 and go with 2 part. If your going to go with 2 part, get the full kit, sick deal. I got the kit but only use one for kalk right now.

Yes, recently I have seen a surge in growth once I finally got my lights running full schedule (had reduced photoperiod to eliminate the dino/cyano whatever I had) and started dripping kalkwasser with a dosing pump every night. I've had consistent growth from all LPS regardless but my montis and especially acros have taken off.

Based off of my experience and my discussions with local experienced reefers (one especially who has a tank that rivals jason fox's imo), acropora can take 1-4 months on average to adjust to your system and take off/color up. Sure some go right away and others never go/take longer but the average is 1-4 months. Some will flourish immediately and some will never survive in your tank due to a multitude of factors, no matter what you do.

Succesful growth can happen independently of coloration and vice versa. Some acros base out forever and others branch out immediately. Again this depends on a multitude of factors.

Some acros are generally considered hardier than others (but again your system is still a factor) and in general wild acros are considered a crap shoot as far as growth and maintaining/improving coloration. I know a very successful reefer who buys 10 wild acros a month and usually ends up throwing away 6-10 because they either change coloration completely to something less desirable or don't do well in his tank. He does get some beauties though and not always from the ones you'd expect. You'll have better luck with aquacultured or frags from someone's tank.

In general, if you can keep your params solid and stable, provide a location with adequate light (not too much is better than too much) and flow, and monitor your corals closely for any signs of stress (and make adjustments if necessary), you will have at least moderate success.

Give it a go man, even before you get dosing pumps set up. Grab a few cheap hardy acro frags and experiment with them. Then you'll be ready for the big boys. Montis are a lot more forgiving and easier so definitely get a few of those too. If you don't have high demand (not many corals) it's a lot easier to keep everything stable, usually just with water changes.

I'll post some growth pics when I get back home from holiday.

Thanks Big J! You give the best advice man! I'll take everything into consideration! I'm going to jump in and see how it goes.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by Isaacs55

Thanks Big J! You give the best advice man! I'll take everything into consideration! I'm going to jump in and see how it goes.

No problem bud. Nice! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to achieve moderate success with acropora. I recommend you get a couple because you may get discouraged if one dies (even though it may not be your fault). Keep me posted!

[BigJohnny]

Picked up an utter chaos paly and some sort of rasta zoa, pretty sweet!