Dubber's 40 Gallon Breeder Mixed Reef

[jose7878]

+1. Your pics look awesome

 

[iadubber]

happy to say I think my algae is diminishing without using the GFO reactor. I stepped down feedings from 6 days a week to every 2-3 days and the GHA seems to be backing off now.

I don't think I'll be able to use my BRS reactor, I have no room in the cabinet unless I just set the reactor in my return chamber.

My coral banded died yesterday sometime though. Kinda sad I liked that guy alot. He came in missing a few legs. I was hoping they would grow back but didn't in the three weeks he was in my tank.

 

[carey]

Thats too bad about the shrimp. :-( I had gotten a mated pair of them and the one had a few legs missing and disappeared shortly after I put them in the tank. :-(

Good news on the algae though, feeding can make all the difference.

 

[iadubber]

Thanks Carey.

Did some rearranging today, vacuumed my sump as it was getting quite a bit of detritus in there, and took apart my skimmer to clean it. I redid the rockwork to try and get the higher rocks a bit farther from the top of the water to improve flow and get them away from the light. Hopefully this helps some with algae as well.


IMG_5672 by iadubber, on Flickr

 

[gman42]

i really like your new aquascaping, it looks awesome

 

[jose7878]

That looks really good.

 

[carey]

Gotta say the same, I really like the raised section in the middle. That should really help keep gunk from building up on the sandbed.

 

[iadubber]

 

[iadubber]

Ordered all my stuff to go LED and get rid of this hot as hell MH.

Going with
24 RB XP-E Cree
12 CW XP-G Cree
60 degree optics
Two color dimmer
2 Dimmable drivers
1 non dimmable driver
8"x20" heatsink from heatsink usa

 

[iadubber]

Led stuff starting to roll in


Untitled by iadubber, on Flickr

Bought two lengths of 3/4" conduit and 90* elbows to build a light hanger.

 

[iadubber]

LED Light is almost finished. Waiting on one more shipment from RapidLED. I have the dimmer all wired up. Just need my Royal Blue leds.

Having major algae issues. I ordered a TDS meter to test my ro/di water. The unit is a cheap purewaterclub unit so I'm guessing it's not working well. I've cut back feedings to every 2-3 days the past month and a half and it's just getting worse. Bought a BRS reactor to run GFO and I haven't seen any noticeable difference in 3 weeks.

 

[carey]

What are your phosphate readings? I found when they are very high the GFO absorbs what it can and then stops. Might just need some new gfo in there.

As far as the ro unit, when did you get it? I had to replace the filters about 8 months into using it, BUT I also make a ton of water.

 

[iadubber]

What are your phosphate readings? I found when they are very high the GFO absorbs what it can and then stops. Might just need some new gfo in there.

As far as the ro unit, when did you get it? I had to replace the filters about 8 months into using it, BUT I also make a ton of water.

carey,
I am getting a false 0 reading. I got a TDS meter today finally in the mail and my RO/DI is 2ppm. Water prior to the RO/DI is 397 so the filter is working. Albeit should be 0ppm but I can live with 2. I'm atributing the algae to the newness of the tank and maybe too much light. I have come to that conclusion because most of my SPS has now bleached.

Today I got my DIY LED light 95% finished. Still tweaking placement. I the corners of the tank are pretty dark yet. I need to devise an easier way to adjust the height of the light from the top of the water. Currently I'm running 12 CW, 11 RB, and 3 blue. 80* optics and two meanwell dimmable drivers. I had one Blue DOA. I need to reapply a couple of the optics as they didn't seat down completely. All in all I like it. I would have done a longer heatsink than 20" next time. I have to figure out how to get some more coverage on the edges. I have them about halfway turned up rigt now and I'll ease into it over the next couple of months.

I Still need to clean up wires and fiddle with the hanging kit/conduit rack to get the light just where I want it.


Untitled by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_5723 by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_5729 by iadubber, on Flickr

Sorry for the dirty glass!!!!


IMG_5730 by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_5732 by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_5734 by iadubber, on Flickr

 

[iadubber]

IMG_5735 by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_5736 by iadubber, on Flickr

Raised it up a bit


IMG_5738 by iadubber, on Flickr

 

[carey]

What an awesome job! looks great!

 

[gilley]

still have the bowfront?

 

[iadubber]

still have the bowfront?

Nope. Went to the breeder and never looked back. Best decision I've made.

 

[iadubber]

So far I like the LEDs alot. Although my zoas don't like them yet. I had the middle with the MH setup. I had to move them down to the sandbed for now. It's so nice to not have to hear fans running and have white blue dimmable separately. I haven't put a fan on the heatsink and may not. It barely gets warm to the touch after being on 6 hours.

Currently in a huge diatom bloom. I never really had an outbreak the first five months but now it's really coming on. My whole sump is brown orange and my rocks are getting pretty covered. I have a large cleanup crew coming from reefcleaners to help out.

 

[iadubber]

I got three nice red mushrooms from a buddy lastnight. Man they really pop and add a much needed color. My CUC from reefcleaners should be here today and hoping they help with the diatoms.

 

[Mrc8858]

I got three nice red mushrooms from a buddy lastnight. Man they really pop and add a much needed color. My CUC from reefcleaners should be here today and hoping they help with the diatoms.

There really isn't much you can do about the diatoms honestly other then wait..this is that part that everyone talks about needing to be patient in the SW world lol