My tank in pictures

[Boolay1978]

Here is a pic of my sump

 

[Ingy]

I don't use filter sponges as I subscribe to the belief that I want all the poop to go into the skimmer to be extracted, not stay in a filter and break down into liquid (dissolved) ammonia and then nitrates. I think a filter reduces the effectiveness of the skimmer. But I have not done any scientific experementation to that. My tank water is crystal clear and my nitrates are 0 with no algae build-up in the DT.
I may suck some of the junk off the bottom of the sump but its mainly of a granular nature and of a coral dust or calcium consistancy. Its difficult to vaccum the sump as its on the floor almost, so it may only be a semi-annual event.

 

[Boolay1978]

I don't use filter sponges as I subscribe to the belief that I want all the poop to go into the skimmer to be extracted, not stay in a filter and break down into liquid (dissolved) ammonia and then nitrates. I think a filter reduces the effectiveness of the skimmer. But I have not done any scientific experementation to that. My tank water is crystal clear and my nitrates are 0 with no algae build-up in the DT.
I may suck some of the junk off the bottom of the sump but its mainly of a granular nature and of a coral dust or calcium consistancy. Its difficult to vaccum the sump as its on the floor almost, so it may only be a semi-annual event.

Ok that makes sense. Do you bio balls or live rock?

 

[Ingy]

Rocks.

Heres a couple shots of my sump taken with my phone (not great quality). In the first you CAN see the filter which I was using when I initially set the sump up and I would put back on if I was messing in the tank causing excessive particulates. There was no cheato visible either (its since grown big time). In the second the filter is gone and the black filter there is just my bio-filter pad for my QT tank staying biologically active.

 

[Animal-Chin]

New sps cause i gots me some fancy lights!

 

[fort384]

Wow, looks great!!

 

[Vettitude]

Nice pic(s).
What kind of lights re you running?

 

[Boolay1978]

Nice pic(s).
What kind of lights re you running?

4xt5, 2 white and light blue ones, just the ones that came with the tank

Have got an aqua ray blue led strip also

 

[Animal-Chin]

Rebuilding one side of the tank to have only sps coral (I think). The new rock actually glows under the new LED fixture. Put the rock in today...

Full Spectrum D120W Dimmable LED Aquarium Light USA Local Warranty | eBay

 

[Animal-Chin]

some from tonight. the newly added dead rock is becoming quite live...

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Man your tank is really beautiful. I hope mine looks like that some day!

 

[Animal-Chin]

couple new corals...

 

[fort384]

Wow, things are definitely growing! You have some really intense coloration. I am sure you probably covered it somewhere, but can you briefly discuss your lighting (what kind of LEDs, how powerful, how long each day, etc).

 

[54seaweed]

I hope my SPS tank turns out that nice

 

[Animal-Chin]

I'm using the ebay specials. 2 120watt dimmable LED units. They are the full spectrum LEDs with the red and green lights mixed in with the white & blue. I use the remora aqua c skimmer and i dont have a sump. I'm a water change aholic and do on average 2 a week to keep my parameters in check.

 

[200 gallon reef]

What size change are u doing each time?

 

[Animal-Chin]

5 gallons or 10%. Sometimes I do 10 gallons if i notice algae on the glass starting or something like that. I usually do 10% change on Wed and a 10% change on Sunday.

 

[fort384]

I'm using the ebay specials. 2 120watt dimmable LED units. They are the full spectrum LEDs with the red and green lights mixed in with the white & blue. I use the remora aqua c skimmer and i dont have a sump. I'm a water change aholic and do on average 2 a week to keep my parameters in check.

Interesting. I wonder if that full spectrum lighting is what is bringing out that coloration. Do you run them at 100% intensity, and how long per day?

 

[Animal-Chin]

100% at 9 hours a day.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Thanks to Aquarium Advice for awarding me tank of the month!

April 2013: Animal-Chin's 50 gallon Mixed Reef - Aquarium Advice