Fat Al's 93 Gallon Reef Cube

Discussion in 'New Tank Builds' started by fattytwobyfour, Oct 30, 2015.

  1. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Rinsing food really doesn't do anything (if you believe Randy Holmes-Farley) because the amount of phosphate in the water the food is in is insignificant compared to what's in the food. GFO is your most effective tool for phosphate reduction IMO, the manual removal helps a lot too....another form of nutrient export.

    Looks great Allan! Looks like you have the dreaded GHA on the run. I was about to give up on mine but the GFO and water changes have completely eliminated it in my tank.
     
  2. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I had read that, and also read.things where it said to. My thought process was that since my phosphates were already so high, I didn't want to do anything to add anything to it, no matter how small. It might be alright to do so, but it really don't add any extra work to do it that way, so I did it too. I'd say the GFO for sure made the biggest difference. And the manual removal also helps for sure.

    Hopefully I'll see some of y'all next month if we do reef fest. I already asked for the day off.
     
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  3. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Those are cool! If they turn up I’d love to have a frag some day!
     
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  4. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I picked up these 3 corals at the Fish Bowl today. I had a hard time deciding what to get. The plate coral was very fleshy in their tank, but it hasn't expanded yet in my tank. I thought the maze coral was more yellow in their tank, but it looks green under my radions. That is alright though. I'd love to get it to grow in a ball shape.
    PSX_20171019_212303.jpg PSX_20171019_212159.jpg PSX_20171019_212358.jpg

    I also picked up a yellow canary there today.
    PSX_20171019_131405.jpg
     
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  5. Brian

    Brian Blenny

    Nice corals. Birds poo, alot. Stick with the corals. I used to have a pair of conures in a cage suspended over a tank full of dempsies. The birds would throw theirs seeds just right to hit the open wet/dry filter. I would end up with plants growing in there
     
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  6. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I've kept finches the last 5 years. I enjoy small birds that don't need a lot of interaction. I don't mind cleaning and feeding though.
     
  7. Kim

    Kim Secretary Staff Member

    Hiya,

    My 75 actually doesn't have a phosphate issue, but a nitrate issue. Running some DeNitrate in the tank and I'm upping my water changes to 30 gallons a week from 15. Also hate to say it, but my cyno's back.
     
  8. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Cyano is a common side effect of lowering nitrates unfortunately. It usually happens though when the phosphate is up.

    I know your PO4 didn't register high when we checked it but I wonder if it was because the hair algae was sucking it up. Try running some GFO and see if that calms down the cyano.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2017
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  9. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Bring some water tomorrow and we can check it again with the Hanna.
     
  10. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I would for sure try the gfo. You can get a reactor pretty cheap on BRS. I would say if you have hair algae, then there is a phosphate issue. I was literally ready to tear this tank down, but now I'm starting to love my tank again thanks to the GFO
     
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  11. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    But water changes alone won't help the phosphate issue, in my experience. I change my water every week, and have only missed a week like twice the past 2 years. It didnt have any effect on the hair algae, other than that's when I manually pull it out. But even that didn't help until I started the gfo and changing it regularly.
     
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  12. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Picked up this leather from the Fish Bowl today. I think it's a spaghetti leather. It's about 6 inches tall, and lots of polyps when it's fully expanded (not fully expanded in this photo). I'm starting to get a nice collection of leathers in this tank, now if they will get huge and explode with polyps. :)
    PSX_20171030_191245.jpg
     
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  13. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    I like leathers too!
     
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  14. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Here is some photos of the tank. I haven't taken any full tank shots in a long while, but the hair algae is almost gone, so here you go.
    PSX_20171126_194518.jpg
    PSX_20171126_194804.jpg
    PSX_20171126_194904.jpg
    Here is the goniopora from Reef Splash. It is red with bright yellow centers. I am hoping it does well, it is a beautiful piece.
    PSX_20171126_195454.jpg
    I am also wanting leathers to be a focal point of this tank, in the way that many folks do with large sps colonies. Here are a few of my larger ones.
    PSX_20171126_195602.jpg
    You can see a yellow Fiji stool in the background that I picked up at Reef Splash. It seems happy and is doing a lot better than the one that I had shipped a year or so ago.
    PSX_20171126_195843.jpg

    PSX_20171126_194150.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2017
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  15. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Not sure why but only the last two pictures showing up for me. I wanted to see that goni!
     
  16. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I am not sure. They are showing up on my end.
     
  17. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Showing up for me too ... the forum is acting crazy with pics lately!
     
  18. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    The leather with the frogspawns is the one you got a piece of. I think once it gets a foot or so tall, it will be a stunning piece.
     
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  19. Great tank shots
     
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  20. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Cool. I was actually able to glue it to a shell ... wasn’t sure if it’d stick but it did! Seems to be doing well so far!
     

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