16ANA 240G starfire mixed reef (1 Viewer)

[David Grigor]

update on the ATS, has been doing pretty well, the algae is growing faster and thicker. however its also started establishing itself inside the spray bar... which means now there is lower water flowing. I may have a way to resolve this, still in the experimental stage

For me, it seems to work just fine to scrub the top 1" with a stiff brush ( like a toilet brush ) and then just scrape the rest. By the time the next harvest, the part that was scubbed doesn't ever have enough time to catch up to the rest. It's works just fine in my situation. If you haven't been doing that way, I'd try that first.

My feeding regiment is about the same as yours, in the morning flake, follwed by some pellet 30 minutes later. Leave a 1/2 sheet of nori out right before leaving for work for mid snack, 1-2" block square of frozen in the evening and coral food at night.

When I started I did have some pesky algae amongst zoanthids that I wouldn't have been able to manual extract without destroying the corals. 3-4 months later nothing left.

 

[Taklu]

I'm still in the setup phase of my 162 gallon (72x20x26) reef tank (I have almost everything I need to start the build) and love to see your tanks progression! Do you want to stop by and do my aquascaping once I get to that point! LOL, I swear it takes me hours to just figure it out and the next day I end up hating it! I like the bridges and overhangs you setup especially.

How do you like your drain setup? Would you change anything about it if you did it all over again? Would you put an overflow cover over the drains themselves? This is actually the one thing I have been debating over on my tank build due to I need to drill it. Would you rather have the two drains split at each end of the tank instead?
The GHA actually looks to be a part of your design layout for the tank too!

For sure.. be glad to help, let me know when you are ready. I dont know if you will like the result but I will sure try. its not my tank so I wont have to worry about the WAF lol

The drain setup has been working nicely.. just need to implement a herbie drain.. dont plan on working on it until its colder outside. but as I see it the main goals, surface skimming, preventing the clogging of the overflow in case of livestock mortality.. etc of an overflow are served...if you look closely there is an overflow type setup.. I cut teeth into the pvc to ensure it doesnt jammed. Addiitonaly in my case I can run upwards of 3000gph through the drains and still not break a sweat

IME/O an overflow box makes sense only if the glass is drilled through the bottom. if drilled through the back and an overflow box is still needed I'd recommend Glassholes.com or something sleek profile along those lines

Dont even get me started about the HA... if there wasnt so much into SPS already I would shut down my planted tank and ....macro algae dedicated tank, ... oh the possibilities :look:

 

[Taklu]

For me, it seems to work just fine to scrub the top 1" with a stiff brush ( like a toilet brush ) and then just scrape the rest. By the time the next harvest, the part that was scubbed doesn't ever have enough time to catch up to the rest. It's works just fine in my situation. If you haven't been doing that way, I'd try that first.

My feeding regiment is about the same as yours, in the morning flake, follwed by some pellet 30 minutes later. Leave a 1/2 sheet of nori out right before leaving for work for mid snack, 1-2" block square of frozen in the evening and coral food at night.

When I started I did have some pesky algae amongst zoanthids that I wouldn't have been able to manual extract without destroying the corals. 3-4 months later nothing left.

I have been using a Kohls card.. not expired :shocked: to scrape the algae, however the algae has started to grow on the spraybar itself... too much light spilling that way, Since the skimmer hasnt been put back into service I'm switching my habits to clean the ATS every week instead and take a tooth brush to the spray bar for every cleaning.. however by day 3-4 the alage is back and I notice the water level is higher in the fuge. so need something better to cut the light at a certain line

 

[Taklu]

One month update: Its a nice summer..:kackle:

 

[Taklu]

And the Russians paid a visit.. I'm sure they had too much vodka coz this one only spinds round and round lol still cant figure whats wrong.


safely tucked away out harms (kids) reach

 

[Taklu]

is this a flower anemone?

 

[Taklu]

Few Misc updates - Havent lost any livestock... the fish are as healthy as ever and since they have a wall between them and the flower patch they dont know whos getting more attention

The ATS hasnt made a big enough dent yet, so I put the skimmer back on... the skimmer started skimming gunk from the word go.. I continue to be impressed with this skimmer

The ATS does not remove suspended particles like a skimmer does, for the duration the skimmer was offline a lot of gunk accumulated... letting the skimmer take care of whatever it can.

The calcium reactor will go online again soon, its prepped and ready to go; to control the PH in the reactor a PM1 module to work with the Apex controller. I also plan to add float switches on the PM1 to monitor water levels. more on this later..

Fashioned a new overflow fitting to replace the current one, this will be put into service and in conjunction with adding a herbie drain, ...............when it finally gets cold out :look:

 

[Taklu]

Really no one knows?

is this a flower anemone?

 

[Taklu]

ATS update - I think its making a dent but time will tell, like I mentioned in a previous post the skimmer is back on and I plan to start carbon dosing again to help the tanks looks. Also the fuge started up again and this weekend I hope to put some more light on it.

Pics of last weeks harvest, cant remember which one is which but the white side had thicker and stringy algae compared to the red side. the red side was more even... but the chink in this whole thing is on the red side more algae grew at the top cutting flow.. which gave me the appearance that the white side had more flow for the last two days; although I'm convinced it does not matter that much as the algae also acts like a sponge so there is water both sides. unless water flow is that important... speed demon algae :biglaugh2:

white side

red side

Next time I will make a note of which side is which :doh:

as for total volume,.. probably 4 cups

 

[Chris Goetz]

ATS? I wanted a FTS.

 

[Flounder]

Whats the name of those Dahlias? I had some really cool dinner plate ones last year.

 

[Taklu]

ATS? I wanted a FTS.

not yet, its ugly and Adam G has given my tank a complex :laugh:

 

[Taklu]

Whats the name of those Dahlias? I had some really cool dinner plate ones last year.

No idea on the names, I randomly picked up a few mixed bags from menards. but I do have a real dinner plate one...will upload a pic later... the first bloom was massive about 16" across

 

[Taklu]

FTS :biggrin:

Any tricks to get a better picture? the only light is from the Vortech LED

 

[mapierce7]

Worst FTS.... ever. :tongue:

 

[Taklu]

Worst FTS.... ever. :tongue:

Its the first of its kind, people like to resist change ..just a matter time this will be in the hall of fame :gay1:

 

[Taklu]

ATS clean day.. I continue to keep my expectations real about this setup... hasnt shown the magic yet... although it is helping export some of the nutrients; this weeks harvest was far from inspiring. I plan to increase photo period by an hour every week to see where it goes.. currently I'm at 13 hours... I'm back to using the skimmer as the main filteration supplemented by the ATS and a reborn fuge.

As a team they make sure the tank looks like this :eek4:

This one is bleached even at the bottom of the tank.. moved it into slight shade and the color is returning

Still a lot of pending work.. but hey it 98F out.. dont expect me to work.. on the fish tank that is lol

 

[Taklu]

Got a chance to make a few mods that were pending for quite sometime... the new overflow is in and is working as expected. I will fabricate two more like this after I've seen this in operation for a few weeks. its a quick remove setup, so the plan is to switch the overflows every few weeks. three overflows will be switched among two bulkheads

Cleaned up the plumbing just a little bit

Wired in the True UV Leds; toook the T5's out. Still running the LEDs at low intentsity as corals are getting bleached even at the low levels. The hope is the lack of T5's will compensate for the new LEDs. The UV's were added for spectrum.. we will see if they do anything significant to coral coloration

next up will be cleaning up the cables/wiring and setting up the LED controller. Rearranging the powerheads. Dont like the Vortechs anymore... the MP40's are not designed for a 6 foot tank.. I think the Tunzes do a better job of keeping debris suspended... others have the freedom to think differently and keep their peace :gay1:

Sometime soon the calcium reactor will go online... esp now that I'm done paying attn to the ATS until its deep freeze outside

 

[Adam G]

not yet, its ugly and Adam G has given my tank a complex :laugh:

Dude, your tank is beautiful, don't let me give you a complex. Wow, looking awesome!

 

[Taklu]

There's been issues in the tank... http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47361 ...nothing that will stop the 16ANA, life is a struggle for the corals but they struggle with flying colors :doh:

Some dirty Iphone pics...