Fooser's Reef (UPDATED April 25, 2010)

[fooser]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

AMAZING! Even more amazing that your doing it so "low tech". I am really surprised that the tanks calcium and alk is keeping up with all those colonies and no supplements or calcium reactor.

Great tank.

Thanks! I don't know how it works either. Low tech is the only way I can afford since I am a student. Some people say I am just getting lucky :P I have never had a problem with alkalinity or calcium. I am however, getting interested in dosing. I have never really checked my alk or Ca levels before, and I have been researching some dosing lately. I wonder if I will get any better growth with it. I may give it a test in the next few weeks. Anybody with experience in 2 part dosing and would liek to give some advice, I would love to hear it. I find that hearing from others is a good way to get ideas and learn from.

[Skimmerking]

great tank man, Im running a 150 gal SPs tank too ,but nothing like yours, my CAL and ALk are using I drip kalk from a reactor and drip it 1 drip every 3-4 seconds and my CAL is at 430 and ALK is 8.9 so im happy until they start to grow then. Im going to Dosing with a pump.... better then a CAL reactor i dont hav time to fiddle with it.

[fooser]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

great tank man, Im running a 150 gal SPs tank too ,but nothing like yours, my CAL and ALk are using I drip kalk from a reactor and drip it 1 drip every 3-4 seconds and my CAL is at 430 and ALK is 8.9 so im happy until they start to grow then. Im going to Dosing with a pump.... better then a CAL reactor i dont hav time to fiddle with it.

Hmm.. I never really thought of a drip style. Is it hard to determine how much to drip at certain time intervals? I thought of a reactor, but figured I don't have enough SPS to justify spending on that yet.

[Skimmerking]

well looking at your system you must be going thur some CAL and ALK levels since mine are stubbs corals compared to yours and im going thur it. alot.

all you need is to do is a drip i run my reactor 24/7 on a drip I still have a automatic top off from my RO/DI machine. some people are consuming the same KAlk levels from their evaporation. basicly your using alot of CAL/ ALK levels from your tank and can't keep up with your water changes.
I do 5 gal per week. all I do is beef up the CALcium demand in the water change.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

How long has this tank been set up? DO you have growth pics? I really, really like it!

[fooser]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

well looking at your system you must be going thur some CAL and ALK levels since mine are stubbs corals compared to yours and im going thur it. alot.

all you need is to do is a drip i run my reactor 24/7 on a drip I still have a automatic top off from my RO/DI machine. some people are consuming the same KAlk levels from their evaporation. basicly your using alot of CAL/ ALK levels from your tank and can't keep up with your water changes.
I do 5 gal per week. all I do is beef up the CALcium demand in the water change.

Thanks for the info. I will seriously look more into it now. I suppose with this much SPS I would be going through a lot of calcium and alk a day. I Will start testing and dosing after my final exams next week. Advice from more experienced reefers who have tried the methods seems more reliable that reading alone. Hope it all works for the better.

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

How long has this tank been set up? DO you have growth pics? I really, really like it!

Thank you, although there are a few things I want to change, I really like it too. I want to get at least 7' and ewant to redo my ugly rockwork and add a 3rd halide and maybe 2 T5's, but that is all stuff to think about for the future when it is actually financially possible for me :P.
This 5' has been running since about June/July 2008. Before that it was a 4' tank(not much of a size difference eh? Should have went at least to 6' or 7') that was running since February. I think I was crazy when I transferred everything in the same day from my old tank right after I plumbed and mixed water i threw it all in within 2 hours with the water still cloudy. Luckily no casualties. Oh and before that it was a 65 gallon tank for about a year. I have been doing SPS for a little under 2 years I believe.

[fooser]

So just found out I am allowed to add a name of where I got the coral with my picture, so long as I am not biased advertising for them, which is good since I like to give credit where it is due. Thanks Delphinus for clearing that up for me Here are some pieces I picked up at Ocean City not too long ago.





Acan after abuse from torch, it's starting to recover...

Some random SPS





Wicked Frags pink digi

Tri-color from red coral

[bignose]

I've been reading your journal for a couple of weeks now. Your sps coral's look great.

[fooser]

Originally Posted by bignose

I've been reading your journal for a couple of weeks now. Your sps coral's look great.

Thank you very much. I feel like I hardly know anything and there is so much more I want to learn about this hobby, but I will keep trying to improve every chance I get. I just hope they can look even more great!

[fooser]

Time to ring in the new year with some updated photos. Perhaps a year from now I will look back at this and be able to see some actual growth!



Above: Picture when I just got it home with no color.
Below: 1 week later, starting to see some coloration. Yellowish and pink with purple tips? Tricolor?