WAMAS Tank of the Month
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My name is Graham and I’ve been in the reefing hobby for over 15 years now. This tank was featured as the WAMAS TOTM back in February 2018. So, rather than reiterate the information that’s still accessible in that article I am going to focus on what has changed with the tank and what I have learned since that time. I’m still maintaining about 1500 gallons across 11 tanks, so I’ll focus on lighting, husbandry and livestock changes.
This tank is a Marineland 300DD that is about 8 years old now and set up in my basement. The tank measures 72” x 36” x 27”. Plumbed into it are two 36” x 36” x 10” frag tanks. Since the 300DD is strictly SPS dominated I keep a mix of SPS, LPS, mushrooms, zoanthids and palythoas in the frag tanks. I use these tanks to grow frags that I sell locally and online. Selling frags has enabled me to invest in equipment and high end frags that I would have never been able to spend the money on otherwise.
Water movement in the 300DD hasn’t changed much since the last TOTM article. I’m still running four MP40s on the back wall. They all run in Reefcrest mode at full power. The two on the left are synced and the two on the right run in anti-sync to create more random flow and a bit of a gyre. I did replace the two Jebao RW-15s with Tunze 6105s. The Jebao RW series motor blocks had a high failure rate and Tunze 6105s are pretty bulletproof in my experience. On the two frag tanks all of the Jebao RW-8s got replaced with Jebao SW-8s. I was hesitant to replace them with more Jebao pumps but I was struggling to find a cost effective option of equal size, output and controllability. I haven’t had any failures with the SW-8s yet, so Jebao must have addressed the design issue in the RW series. I’m still running a Fluval SP6 as the return pump. I added a small Tunze pump into the sump. I recommend everyone adds a powerhead to their sump to to keep detritus from settling. Unless this is where you want detritus to settle to siphon up. I use filter socks so I prefer to let them collect the detritus.
The biggest change to this tank has definitely been the lighting. Towards the end of 2020 I replaced all of my Radium halides with Ecotech Radion G5 Blues over the course of several months. This was an expensive upgrade as I was running 9 250W halides and one 400W halide. Over the 300DD there were two 250W halides and one 400W halide in the center. The two frags had a 250W halide over each of them as well. Before taking the plunge with this upgrade I purchased a few XR30s and evaluated them over several months. LEDs have come a long way since they were first introduced into the hobby, and I was very happy with the spectrum and spread of the G5s as well as how the corals reacted. I had been running Radion G4 Pros over my Red Sea Reefer 425XL and had been happy with their performance.
I think the first thing hobbyists need to realize when considering a similar upgrade is to take the marketing with a grain of salt. This size LED light was typically marketed as a comparable replacement for a 250W halide back when halides were more commonplace. A single XR30 really doesn’t have comparable output to a 250W halide in a large reflector. I’d say a single XR30 falls well short of having the intensity and spread of a 250W halide, but two XR30s exceed the output of a single 250W halide. So everywhere I replaced a halide I installed two XR30s or 4 XR15s. This worked out quite well on the 300DD as the rockwork at the top back of the tank had always been poorly lit with the halides. They could illuminate a 2’ x 2’ area well but didn’t have enough spread to cover 3’ of tank width. When I upgraded from the halides, I kept the four 80W ATI Blue Plus T5s for even coverage as well as the two 60” Reefbrite XHO blues for extra actinic pop. The Reefbrites run for 12 hours, the T5s for 10 hours, and the Radions have a peak period of 6 hours with an hour ramp up and ramp down on both ends. As far as programs for the Radions, I turned on the T5s and Reefbrites and adjusted the color channels to produce the light I found most visually appealing. SPS coloration has improved since moving to Radions. I’ll miss the shimmer and natural, immersive look the halides provided, but I do believe a more blue spectrum is better for the coral health and coloration. I also believe the reduction in the white spectrum helps cut down on algae growth. The frag tanks ended up with four XR15s and two 30” Reefbrite XHOs over each. They also suffered from poor illumination at the corners, which has now been resolved by going from a single light to four. One downside to the Radions is the mounting height. They have incredible spread but must be mounted about 6-10” from the waterline to not waste light. This makes working on the tanks much more difficult. To remedy this I designed and built light racks that are easily raised and lowered on suspension cables. There really haven’t been any changes to the filtration. I still use a 40-gallon sump which houses a Super Reef Octopus XP5000 cone skimmer. I use filter socks 24/7. I utilize an ATS that has two 12” x 18” sheets. I haven’t run any GAC or GFO in years. A few years ago, I set up a large mixing station that provides water changes to all three systems. It has a 600 gallon RODI container and a 600 gallon saltwater mixing container. I have been doing 20% water changes every two weeks religiously since early 2018 using Instant Ocean salt. One significant change I have made is utilizing LaCl to control phosphates. PO4 has always run high on this system naturally. For years it was in the range of 0.4-0.8 PPM. At one point I tried dosing some additional aminos to accommodate a higher coral load. At this point my PO4 spiked up to about 1.2 PPM. As a result, I did observe slowed growth and browning with some of my SPS. I’ve never been a fan of the way GFO works. It’s difficult to predict how much to use to lower your PO4. It also lowers it very quickly when first added and then slowly as the media becomes saturated. I also don’t like the dust it produces and historically I’ve had a lot of negative reactions from more sensitive SPS when using it. I started reading more about LaCl and like how it can be dosed in a very controlled manner to control PO4 accurately. Over several months I dosed diluted LaCl using a peristaltic pump to reduce PO4. I target 0.10-0.15 PPM PO4. With LaCl it is not difficult to accurately control PO4 levels assuming your nutrient input is controlled as well. Once the PO4 levels are reduced it takes a very small amount of LaCl to maintain a desired level. I drip it into the skimmer intake in an effort to avoid significant levels of free-floating Lanthanum. My ICP-OES tests do indicate Lanthanum is elevated, but I have not experienced any resulting issues with the fish or coral. Dosing it 24/7 at a very slow rate is likely much less risky than dumping in a large amount periodically. Since dropping my PO4 levels and upgrading my lights, growth has really taken off. Reducing PO4 didn’t have a huge impact on coloration compared to when it was around 0.4-0.8 PPM. I have some SPS that look better now and some SPS that looked better with the higher PO4 levels. Lowering the PO4 had a much more significant impact in terms of increased growth. My NO3 came down in parallel with my PO4. This happened organically and was not intentional. My NO3 sits around 1.0-2.5 PPM now. I’d prefer it to be higher, but I’m not noticing any significant issues with it being at a lower level. A couple years ago I switched this system over from two part to a calcium reactor. I believe it’s a Geo 624. I’ve always used two part and wanted to see if a Ca Rx had any impacts on coloration or growth. Overall, I haven’t noticed any significant differences resulting from this change. To me it seems like the corals don’t care where they get their elements from. On my systems with two part I add potassium, strontium, and iodine to maintain NSW levels. All of these will become depleted or run low without additional supplementation to the two part. With the calcium reactor I no longer had to supplement these trace elements, it does a better job keeping them at NSW levels. On the downside, I find the Calcium reactor has a lot more points of failure. For two part only a peristaltic pump is required, and the concentration is as consistent as the accuracy you can mix it at. With the calcium reactor I still have a peristaltic pump to control the effluent flow rate, but now I also need a recirculating pump, pH probe & controller, and a CO2 regulator. It also requires more maintenance as lines get clogged up and the media turns into sludge after a while. With both, I need to make adjustments when mixing new two part or adding media. With the two-part changes to head pressure on the peristaltic pump require a rate reduction of 10-20% when replacing an empty container with a full container. On the calcium reactor a larger reduction needs made to the peristaltic pump speed when adding new media, closer to a 30% reduction in my experience. When I fully disassemble the reactor to clean all the sludge out, I have to make a large reduction to the pump rate otherwise I’ll have an alkalinity spike. Fortunately, I run alkalinity monitors on all of my systems, so I am able to much more quickly react to changes in alkalinity. Another aspect I had to learn is what pH different medias melt at. For ARM coarse I need to run my pH at 6.0 while with TLF ReBorn a pH of 6.3 is sufficient. In the end I prefer two part for simplicity and stability, but I’ve now learned how to achieve similar results with a calcium reactor, so I’ll likely keep using the calcium reactor for the time being to continue observing any pros/cons between the two methods. The only other additive I add to this system is Aquavitro Fuel. I’ve always had good results with it when using it at about 1/2 the manufacturer’s recommended dose. As a reef tank fills in, most systems require supplementation to support more coral tissues. There haven’t been many changes to the fish population since the last TOTM article. Most of the tangs and the clownfish have been with me for about 15 years now. The lifespan of the tangs really impresses me. I have a Regal Angelfish that was with the previous owner for about 5 years before I got him about 15 years ago, so he’s around 20 years in captivity. I had a harem of five or six flame wrasses that have matured and grown over the years. I lost a few to aggression or jumping despite the tanks being covered. I have three left that have all become males, but they are now all in separate tanks to avoid aggression issues. I’m trying very hard to preserve the remaining three, especially considering you can no longer get them with the Hawaii Ban. Overall, my fairy wrasse and chromis population has tapered off. I’m not sure about the lifespan of these types of fish, but they simply do not seem to last as long as the tangs and other, larger fish in captivity. One of my mandarins (spotted) also perished at some point over the years. He started showing aggression towards the Red Mandarin, despite being smaller. I think he exerted too much energy chasing the Red Mandarin around, as the Red Mandarin is still doing well to this day. I also lost my pair of harlequin shrimp, but I think at this point they simply exceeded their natural lifespan of a few years. The only fish I’ve added is a Rosefascia Fairy Wrasse. My dream fish is a Lanceolatus Fairy Wrasse, but since those aren’t something you can find in the hobby the Rosefascia is likely the next closest thing. I feed a mix of Nori, frozen mysis cubes and NLS pellet. MWF I feed frozen mysis cubes and Nori. The other days of the week I feed NLS pellets. I increase or decrease my feeding by small amounts to try to increase or decreased nutrients by small amounts, respectively. Since the last TOTM article, there haven’t been too many challenges with this system as it is long established. My population of large vermetid snails still exist but hasn’t been too much of an issue for the corals. Once or twice a year I go through and knock off the ones I can access as well as scrape off remnants of monitpora that have regrown on the rocks. There’s some red turf algae in the frag tanks that is a nuisance. At one point this was an issue in the display, but a certain type of turbo snail from Live Aquaria actually eats this stuff and eliminated it in the display. I need to look back to find what type of turbo snails those were and get some for the frag tanks. Other than that, it’s the usual nuisances such as bubble algae and detritus build up. If I did this tank over, I would have probably used less live rock. The tank is a bit crowded and I’d prefer to have a bit more open area and more room for coral that’s taken up by rock. For this system I really don’t have any significant changes planned. My focus is on constantly getting rid of overgrown colonies and replacing them with smaller pieces that have better coloration. A system jam packed with colonies looks great but is not sustainable without intervention. At this point light and flow gets restricted and the health of impacted colonies can decline. At a bare minimum trimming is required. Eventually I’ll need to do another partial “reset” where I remove most of the colonies other than my favorites and replace them with smaller, nicer pieces. I’ll likely do this one bommie at a time as it’s too much of an undertaking to do it all at once. |
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