:biggthumpup:
Grigor's 75g Soft Coral Dominate Tank Build (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter David Grigor
- Start date
:biggthumpup:
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
Lifetime Member
Event Committee
Meeting Host 2020
Meeting Host 2021
Meeting Host 2022
OP
OP
Noticed the blue clove polyps are spawning as well. Swap must has triggered love in both corals and fish.
Looks great David. I'm thinking I may need to hit u up for your light program
OP
OP
The best I can figure we are at day 16-17 and bangaii still holding the eggs. So might carry to full term after all. Luckily I have de-capped brine shrimp eggs and plenty of selco on hand. I'll start hatching some in preparation on Sunday.
Tank itself is doing spectacular. Looks great, no algae issues of anykind. Two leather had been looking not so hot prior to the move, One of them looks to be a complete loss. The other that I think I can save. Bummer both of them I've had for 8+ years.
Got to get off my lazy rear and start attacking the aptasia, really getting out of control and making a mess of some zoanthid colonies.
Tank itself is doing spectacular. Looks great, no algae issues of anykind. Two leather had been looking not so hot prior to the move, One of them looks to be a complete loss. The other that I think I can save. Bummer both of them I've had for 8+ years.
Got to get off my lazy rear and start attacking the aptasia, really getting out of control and making a mess of some zoanthid colonies.
Last edited:
I've never been a huge fan of soft dominate tanks, but this is done very well! Great job! I'm eager to see how the Bangaii do. I'm still very intimidated by the thought of breeding anything but hope to eventually see some spawning in my tank. I'll look forward to seeing how it goes.
OP
OP
I'll get some new pics up as soon as I do a round of aptasia killing.
While never truly done, I think I have things rearranged and placed where I like it. No immediate plans to add any new corals unless something comes up that I just can't resist. I'm done collecting zoanthids for now ( never say never but likely new would just come from trades ). If anything, it would be leather of two if unique enough to what I don't already have.
I have also given up on mushrooms ( this time I really mean it ), I just can't get to thrive. Most of the orange ricordia from patent ( had like 25 of them ) have disappearred. There are a few mushrooms that settled, most just wither and detach never to be seen after a few weeks. Instead of mushrooms maybe another mini carpet as the maroon one I had does very well and looks like a mushroom.
With the larger swimming area I do want to add 1 larger sized fish just haven't quite figured out what. A copperband would be very functional fit but I've killed so many it would have to be one that comes from a tank tear down or something that I don't have to trade/acclimate to tank and that doesn't come around very often. So really have no clue just yet what that fish will be.
I haven't needed to expand the ATS yet, still just 1 sided and weekly harvest have been really good. It is something though I will keep a close eye on and add LEDs to the other side if needed. I have all the supplies except the heatsink if/when the time comes.
I do still have to get screening on the tank, The light fixtures themselves cover 75+% but need to cover the remaining before a fish decided to take the plunge.
While never truly done, I think I have things rearranged and placed where I like it. No immediate plans to add any new corals unless something comes up that I just can't resist. I'm done collecting zoanthids for now ( never say never but likely new would just come from trades ). If anything, it would be leather of two if unique enough to what I don't already have.
I have also given up on mushrooms ( this time I really mean it ), I just can't get to thrive. Most of the orange ricordia from patent ( had like 25 of them ) have disappearred. There are a few mushrooms that settled, most just wither and detach never to be seen after a few weeks. Instead of mushrooms maybe another mini carpet as the maroon one I had does very well and looks like a mushroom.
With the larger swimming area I do want to add 1 larger sized fish just haven't quite figured out what. A copperband would be very functional fit but I've killed so many it would have to be one that comes from a tank tear down or something that I don't have to trade/acclimate to tank and that doesn't come around very often. So really have no clue just yet what that fish will be.
I haven't needed to expand the ATS yet, still just 1 sided and weekly harvest have been really good. It is something though I will keep a close eye on and add LEDs to the other side if needed. I have all the supplies except the heatsink if/when the time comes.
I do still have to get screening on the tank, The light fixtures themselves cover 75+% but need to cover the remaining before a fish decided to take the plunge.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Tanks is doing very well. Finally got off my lazy butt and kalked some aptasia.
In the meantime, my favorite leather the yellow devils hand has polyps fully out and looking great !
In the meantime, my favorite leather the yellow devils hand has polyps fully out and looking great !
seanahmad78
Senior Member
Very interesting thread, David. I am a hug fan of Mini Maxi carpets. I have 7 good sized ones in my 29g. I've never really had a problem with aiptasia. I have either used Aiptasia-X or I nudge it gently a few times with a stick until it's fully in the rock and then cover it with rock putty. I've only had a few aiptasia pop up in the many years of saltwater and luckily the putty hasn't squished them to push spores out. Set it and forget it. After a few weeks, come back and remove the putty. I'm very leery about Aiptasia-X. I've used it a few times in my brother in-laws tank but only once in mine and it was a very small amount for one tiny Aip. I was really hoping to see an image of the ATS while it's running. You've got me reluctantly rethinking my decision on sump setup. The stand I have is very tall, so I could fit a reasonably long screen or two in there. I would love to see a video of the ATS running.
seanahmad78
Senior Member
Lol, hug fan
OP
OP
No need for a video IMO, it's water falling down a screen. When LED is on all that shows up is a big red blob with no details. Just follow the 35gph per inch as a good starting point. DC pump is nice to have to tweak the flow as it's tough to calculate the headloss and back pressure from the slot. But can always oversize and use a gate valve only trouble is your wasting electricity if more than you need or buying another pump if not enough. Both of mine, I believe I run a bit higher than the recommended.
Closeup, it's an all in one sump w/ ATS. The ATS is feed directly from the show tank. The show tank is a herbie overflow so there is no air in the line. Notice the union is above the sump. When I take it off to harvest, any drips from the line just fall straight into the sump. No mess. On the 180g show ATS is external and I can't do this feature so I always get drips and sometimes if union isn't put back tightly and it drips onto my floor and may take a day or two to notice. So I learned from that and made sure any drips just fall to the sump.
I used all clear acrylic scrap from A1 ( $1 a pound ), they didn't have any black available as scrap so I just used black duct tape to block the excess light. Right now only using single sided, the other side is built identifcal and could add another LED panel. The ATS has plenty of room to grow if I need it. Haven't had to and single sided appears to be sized just fine. The cost of the pvc parts was more than the acrylic I found all the sizes I needed in scrap from the acrylic shop.
Water exits to the sump through a mouse hole. No plumbing, no salt creep.
Pic showing the LED config. 8 120degree Red Leds. I have tried on my 180g tank Leds with Blue but are more trouble than they are worth. I skip the blues from now on just too hard to keep from burning the algae:
My LED stand is a puzzle box. Just happened to be the right size. Never bothered to build something out of acryclic, adds some addional ghetto style points to the black duct tape:
Sump has no baffles becuase no skimmer, just us float valve for topoff and gravity container is on the other side of the wall under the staircase.
This stand have much more height than the 75g so I could rebuild taller and that would allow me to run a higher water level in the sump. But don't need any additoinal performance, topoff etc. works fine with current config so can't really justify the time and effort.
The floating air driven ones are intriguing. I can't justify the retail cost from SantaMonica for one and my DIY skills I don't trust to make water proof. The other thing I don't like it using an air pump. In winter one of the nice benefits of no skimmer is I'm not pumping ambient air into the water and water heaters have to work harder to compensate for the constant lower temps of the air. If you keep your room temps the same as your tank temps that would be a non-issue but that is usually not the case in MN. Waterfall styles are proven and better fit for me and don't really have size constraints to require something different.
Closeup, it's an all in one sump w/ ATS. The ATS is feed directly from the show tank. The show tank is a herbie overflow so there is no air in the line. Notice the union is above the sump. When I take it off to harvest, any drips from the line just fall straight into the sump. No mess. On the 180g show ATS is external and I can't do this feature so I always get drips and sometimes if union isn't put back tightly and it drips onto my floor and may take a day or two to notice. So I learned from that and made sure any drips just fall to the sump.
I used all clear acrylic scrap from A1 ( $1 a pound ), they didn't have any black available as scrap so I just used black duct tape to block the excess light. Right now only using single sided, the other side is built identifcal and could add another LED panel. The ATS has plenty of room to grow if I need it. Haven't had to and single sided appears to be sized just fine. The cost of the pvc parts was more than the acrylic I found all the sizes I needed in scrap from the acrylic shop.
Water exits to the sump through a mouse hole. No plumbing, no salt creep.
Pic showing the LED config. 8 120degree Red Leds. I have tried on my 180g tank Leds with Blue but are more trouble than they are worth. I skip the blues from now on just too hard to keep from burning the algae:
My LED stand is a puzzle box. Just happened to be the right size. Never bothered to build something out of acryclic, adds some addional ghetto style points to the black duct tape:
Sump has no baffles becuase no skimmer, just us float valve for topoff and gravity container is on the other side of the wall under the staircase.
This stand have much more height than the 75g so I could rebuild taller and that would allow me to run a higher water level in the sump. But don't need any additoinal performance, topoff etc. works fine with current config so can't really justify the time and effort.
The floating air driven ones are intriguing. I can't justify the retail cost from SantaMonica for one and my DIY skills I don't trust to make water proof. The other thing I don't like it using an air pump. In winter one of the nice benefits of no skimmer is I'm not pumping ambient air into the water and water heaters have to work harder to compensate for the constant lower temps of the air. If you keep your room temps the same as your tank temps that would be a non-issue but that is usually not the case in MN. Waterfall styles are proven and better fit for me and don't really have size constraints to require something different.
Last edited:
OP
OP
The syringe that comes with Aptasia X is great. I haven't found the ingredients of AptasiaX to be any better than thick paste of heated kalkwasser. I still use the AptasiaX syringe though.
Big aptasia aren't a problem. Can easily zap or putty. The trick is all the tiny ones that intermix with larger zoanthid colonies. You have to be able to get real close to see them and pretty precise. Good news is that a direct hit takes them out easily but there is always a little collateral damage to polyps. On larger colonies though the polyps tend to grow back quickly.
seanahmad78
Senior Member
Ya, that happened last time. Burned the Crap out of the frag it was next to.
OP
OP
Aptasia is pretty much under control. Only see 5 or 6 of them will do yet another round of kalk paste.
But on to the next problem, bryopsis has set in mostly among the zoanthids which is could becuase all of them can be pulled out and hydrogen peroxide dipped. Only 1 small patch that I see on main rocks. I will smother with kalk paste and see it that contains it.
It's time to start expanding the scrubber, currently I have lights on only 1 side but the other side is easily retrofitted. Just have to cut a heat sink down and mount some leds. Hopefully more capacity will help with the bryopsis.
Here is a full tank shot, just a couple of days after the TCMAS hosted meeting. I did rearrange a few items.
This weeks ATS Harvest is 11 days growth. Rinsed and squeezed produced slightly larger than softball size.
But on to the next problem, bryopsis has set in mostly among the zoanthids which is could becuase all of them can be pulled out and hydrogen peroxide dipped. Only 1 small patch that I see on main rocks. I will smother with kalk paste and see it that contains it.
It's time to start expanding the scrubber, currently I have lights on only 1 side but the other side is easily retrofitted. Just have to cut a heat sink down and mount some leds. Hopefully more capacity will help with the bryopsis.
Here is a full tank shot, just a couple of days after the TCMAS hosted meeting. I did rearrange a few items.
This weeks ATS Harvest is 11 days growth. Rinsed and squeezed produced slightly larger than softball size.
Last edited:
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
Lifetime Member
Event Committee
Meeting Host 2020
Meeting Host 2021
Meeting Host 2022
Tank looks great, David.
Sorry I couldn't attend the meeting, but weeknights are extremely busy around here.
That photo of the ATS screen made me think about how large of an ATS system could you make?
I envisioned using an elevated shower/bath stall with the inlet plumbing being the "shower rod" and the drain returning water to a sump.
The "shower curtain" would be the large algae screen and a couple banks of lights, and "Ta-Da!"
You'd have an ATS about 5ft wide and 6ft tall that could probably keep Marty's tank at zero phosphates and nitrates!
Someday, on some system, I would like to play around with an ATS system.
Great job!
Sorry I couldn't attend the meeting, but weeknights are extremely busy around here.
That photo of the ATS screen made me think about how large of an ATS system could you make?
I envisioned using an elevated shower/bath stall with the inlet plumbing being the "shower rod" and the drain returning water to a sump.
The "shower curtain" would be the large algae screen and a couple banks of lights, and "Ta-Da!"
You'd have an ATS about 5ft wide and 6ft tall that could probably keep Marty's tank at zero phosphates and nitrates!
Someday, on some system, I would like to play around with an ATS system.
Great job!
OP
OP
Bill Capman ( Augsburg Biology teacher ) was at the meeting, told me the name of the algae but I've already forgotten it. He said under microscrope it is tubular. But to me it just looks like curly green hairdo.
Phosphates have been slowly rising. Last test it was up to .2. On the plus side though, while there is some algae, the zoanthids definately grow faster at these higher levels.
Phosphates have been slowly rising. Last test it was up to .2. On the plus side though, while there is some algae, the zoanthids definately grow faster at these higher levels.
Last edited:
It looks to me to probably be some species of Enteromorpha.
In the Inland Aquatics style of ATS like I have (that I used to have in full operation - right now it needs replacement lights) this tended to be the early colonizer when first starting up the ATS. It would generally then get replaced by a red turf algae. My impression was that the Enteromorpha preferred higher nutrient levels, and that the red turf algae could pull nutrients down lower, but I don't have any data on that.
Your algae harvest is HUGE though compared to what I used to get out of my ATS. It is really impressive. And your unit seems to be working overall at least as well as my larger unit, in a much smaller space too - it looks like it must be pulling out huge amounts of nutrients. Your tank(s) look really terrific.
I found that our ATS in the lab controlled most sorts of algae in the tank extremely well, but not all types. I still had some Bryopsis growth, and that Valonia with the small elongated bubbles could be an issue sometimes too.
I'd love to set up a nice compact ATS unit like yours on our system of 4 tanks by the window in the lab. I think it would solve the current cyanobacteria issues that I've been fighting (the cyanobacteria growth is manageable in the 40 breeder with the corals - not really aggressive growth, easily dislodged from key locations with a turkey baster, and the corals are doing great - but is a bit of a problem in the other three tanks in the system). Most importantly, an ATS would allow the heavier levels of feeding that I want to be able to do in that system to keep some of the animals we have in the three smaller tanks for teaching.
In the Inland Aquatics style of ATS like I have (that I used to have in full operation - right now it needs replacement lights) this tended to be the early colonizer when first starting up the ATS. It would generally then get replaced by a red turf algae. My impression was that the Enteromorpha preferred higher nutrient levels, and that the red turf algae could pull nutrients down lower, but I don't have any data on that.
Your algae harvest is HUGE though compared to what I used to get out of my ATS. It is really impressive. And your unit seems to be working overall at least as well as my larger unit, in a much smaller space too - it looks like it must be pulling out huge amounts of nutrients. Your tank(s) look really terrific.
I found that our ATS in the lab controlled most sorts of algae in the tank extremely well, but not all types. I still had some Bryopsis growth, and that Valonia with the small elongated bubbles could be an issue sometimes too.
I'd love to set up a nice compact ATS unit like yours on our system of 4 tanks by the window in the lab. I think it would solve the current cyanobacteria issues that I've been fighting (the cyanobacteria growth is manageable in the 40 breeder with the corals - not really aggressive growth, easily dislodged from key locations with a turkey baster, and the corals are doing great - but is a bit of a problem in the other three tanks in the system). Most importantly, an ATS would allow the heavier levels of feeding that I want to be able to do in that system to keep some of the animals we have in the three smaller tanks for teaching.
Last edited:
David previously made a 4 foot version of an ATS that I'm currently using on a large overfeed fowler. You need a good sized pump to run it, but even at 4 feet its hard to get an even water flow over the entire length. Doable, but might be easier to just have a 2nd ats above that size.