fort's 57 gallon Rimless Reef Build

[Bearchumjs]

Absolutely fabulous as always! Thank you for sharing.

[Dary421]

National geographic would be proud of those photographs,....well done.

[Mdubster]

Amazing!

[fort384]

Thanks all. It is definitely a labor of love.

[Sonomakid]

Dang Fort your tank is flat out amazing ! But in all seriousness you can bring my tank home now .

[fort384]

Thanks Jason.

One thing that is interesting (and I guess expected): As my SPS colonies continue to grow, I have almost tripled the amount of 2 part solution I have to dose daily to keep my Alk and Ca levels consistent. It seems like every week, I have to add time and add adjustment doses to keep the levels up. It is amazing to me how drastically that has changed in the 5 or so months I have run the autodosers.

[Sonomakid]

Have you always dosed calcium ? also what do you use ?

[fort384]

I started 2 part dosing back in September or so I think? I use the BRS 2 part system - it is far more economical (and very easy) to make your own solutions rather than buy premixed solutions, where you are paying for 90% water. I also use the BRS perastaltic dosing pumps and some digital timers to control them.

The whole system is pretty much fire and forget. It takes very little maintenance. If I had to add measured amounts of solution each day by hand, I'd never do it. With this, I just have to fill the reservoirs under the tank with 2 part solutions every 5 weeks or so, and thats it. Though as I said lately with the SPS getting bigger, I have had to make weekly adjustments to the timers because my tank is requiring more and more solution to keep Ca and Alk constant.

I experienced an explosion in coral growth and health when I started the 2 part system. Keeping Ca and KH stable really seems to be have benefited my tank.

[Evansimp]

This reef is so awesome!! So sleek and clean! Awesome!!

[Sonomakid]

If I dose I am going to have to do it by hand which doesn't bother me as I really don't have much to do these days with out being able to work an all. Thanks for the info

[fort384]

Thanks Evan.

Jason, understandable . If you decide to go with the autodosers, the BRS pumps are pretty reasonably priced and pretty reliable so far. Even if you don't autodose, I really like the results I have achieved using 2 part dosing. It really isn't too expensive, so long as you mix the solutions yourself.

[fort384]

So, I have been doing a lot of reading lately about amino acid dosing, based on a recommendation a few months ago by my LFS guy. What I have discovered is a bunch of inconclusive findings, but a million anecdotal accounts from people saying it makes a huge difference in an ULNS. I would say I am close to ULNS, but maybe not all the way there. My PO4 is consistently 0-0.03, and my NO3 consistently tests at 0 with a test kit that has resolution down to 0.25ppm Nitrate.

My LFS guy has an AMAZING zero edge 180 gallon SPS display tank in his store, and he swears the colors and growth of his SPS are due to ULNS and amino acid dosing. He uses either Aquavitro Fuel or Seachem Reef Plus (usually reef plus since he can get it in bulk), and swears by it. I decided to give it a try in my system and see if I notice in comparable difference in color and growth over the coming month. I can say that his tank is truly awe inspiring in terms of color and growth, so hopefully dosing amino acids will be the difference in my tank.

Anyone else using it or have any opinions on it? I'll post some more pics later as well... and perhaps setup some more side by side comparisons after a month of dosing according to directions on the bottle.

[54seaweed]

I was reading about this on another forum
but for the life of me I can't find it
I was intrigued by the awesome color coming out of the sps
under just whites than the guy showed the same pict under the blues all I could do was drool just how they popped out at you
I'm still learning as much as I can so my new sps tank can look as sweet as yours

[fort384]

We shall see how it goes. First dose is in. My LFS guy said I will notice a difference within 2 weeks.

[54seaweed]

don't forget before and after pictures lol

[Hondatek]

Have you stopped using the reef chili or are you going to use both the food and the amino acids?

[fort384]

I feed reef chili very sparingly, maybe once every week or every other week.

[fort384]

Ok, here are a few shots of some of the sps, as they look today. First one is a new pick up for me since the last photos.

In a few weeks I'll post some similar shots hopefully so that coloration can be compared.

[maxwellag]

Looking good! The new one looks great too. I am looking forward to seeing the coloration comparison.

[CorallineAlgae]

I used Seachem Reef Plus and had great results. I noticed strong growth and overall coral health more than color while using it, though color was never an issue in any of my reefs. I won't have photos to share until I get another reef going though.