bubblemytip
Active Member
Hi I'm from Auckland, New Zealand. We are quite limited in the products available here, but we make do.... (Aquaforest has only just arrived, no Triton, etc)
A little about my tank:
AquaOne mini reef 90 (45cm x 45cm x 45cm) - spec'd out, about 100L net volume. Tank has been running for a year now. Switched to Zeovit in November 2016, as it has a NZ distributor I trust.
Parameters:
Feeding:
Zeovit/Dupla additives:
Other maintenance:
Livestock:
Corals:
Two weeks ago, I added some SPS frags (not sure of exact species of the Acros yet, will post some pictures, so if you can identify them, please do!
):
That's about it in a nutshell... Not sure if this should be in the welcome threads now, but maybe it can be moved to somewhere more appropriate? Thanks for reading!
Photos:
A little about my tank:
AquaOne mini reef 90 (45cm x 45cm x 45cm) - spec'd out, about 100L net volume. Tank has been running for a year now. Switched to Zeovit in November 2016, as it has a NZ distributor I trust.
- Light: AI Hydra 26HD running an equivalent to the AB+ radio programming but with some David Saxby inspired respiration peaks and troughs thrown in, running 20cm above water line.
- Return: Ecotech Vectra M1 (silent, calibrated - love how feed mode synchs with the MP10); Eheim Compact 3000 in wardrobe as backup.
- Circulation: Ecotech Vortech MP10WQD with a DIY battery backup.
- Skimmer: Tunze 9004 in sump
- Heater: Eheim 100W and GHL 3-fan battery - both controlled by my Neptune Apex
- ATO: Tunze nano osmolator for baseline in case of massive evaporation, IKS Vario Blue 2 for keeping level steady above that, controlled by Apex too with Avast Marine float switch and OSC function. Using a 25L jerrycan as a RODI reservoir (buy RODI from supermarket here - distilled, then passed through RODI a few times, then ozonised, so it's good, but $6/10L. Luckily I only change 10L every two weeks. 25L RODI lasts me about 2-3 weeks of ATO)
- Filtration: 150-micron filter sock, Zeovit Rx with 100ml KZ carbon on top, Eheim compact 300 pump powers the Zeo RX.
- Dosing: GHL Doser 2.1 standalone 2-pump version (love this pump - silent!!) for two part only - 118*0.2ml doses (23ml) of Randy's #2 recipe, spiked with Dupla trace/vitamins; Dupla DP4 dosing pump for Potassium chloride (4x 3ml doses during photoperiod) mixed to ~18,500ppm K+/L - all powered through my EB6, so if pH or water level goes crazy, the dosing pumps turn off.
- Reactor: [possibly getting a new Skimz chaeto reactor for night-time oxygenation and nutrient redundancy - not sure if worth it or just cool to have - chaeto likely won't grow much, but it could mean I could feed a lot more...]
- All electrical outlets are in a separate cabinet to the left of the display to avoid any water damage/issues. All dosing pumps and containers are under my desk 2m away from display, out of sight but easily accessible.
Parameters:
- KH - 7.7
- Ca - 420
- NO3 - 1.5 (I try to run my NO3 and PO4 a little higher than normal zeo in order to keep my clam and softies/LPS happy)
- PO4 - .02
- Mg - 1350 (stays pretty steady without dosing)
- Salinity - 35ppt at 25ºC
- Temperature range: 25.5-26.1 each day (typically 25.5-25.8ºC)
- pH swings from 8 to 8.35 each day
- Photoperiod is 1 hour ramp, 7 hours with respiration peaks (equivalent to a Radio G3 running the AB+ program at 70% intensity)
- [Awaiting K+ test kit - trying out Giesemann v Salifert]. Bacteria use up a lot of potassium. Since dosing KCl, I have noticed my mushrooms have swelled enormously and everything has perked up. Been reading about the benefits of potassium courtesy of Justin Credabel. I also used to run a Deltec SC1351 skimmer, which was far too large for my aquarium - foam head was inconsistent and it was skimming out too much good stuff, and it took up a lot of space. The Tunze 9004 is perfect for my tank and its nutrient levels, and it is extremely quiet.
Feeding:
- Mysis cube every second day - broadcast
- Vitalis xs pellets twice a day (4 weeks normal, 2 weeks platinum). Previously fed NLS pellets. I just buy what is available at the time.
- Target feeding of anemones and LPS once a week with a special marine mix of mussels, clams, prawns enhanced with vitamins etc.
Zeovit/Dupla additives:
- Zeovit stones - 100ml with flow of ~80-100L/hr, 80% replaced every 8 weeks
- zeobak 1 drop x2 a week
- zeozym - 1/8tsp dissolved in 1 cup tank water the night before dosing (dosed on Wednesday and Sunday)
- Vitalizer - 1 drop per day
- Sponge power - 2 drops every second day
- ZS3 - 0.1ml x2 per day (0.2ml total)
- Using K-balance and B-balance automatic elements
- Nyos aminos (soon switching to KZ Aminos once these run out) - 1 drop every second day
- DIY coral snow - usually after a frozen food feeding or maintenance
- Dupla Iron/Manganese - 1 drop/day
- Dupla Potassium Iodide/Potassium Flouride - 1 drop/day
- Dupla Strontium/Molybdenum - 1 drop/day
- Salt mix is either Dupla Natural Balance, KZ Reefer's Best or Red Sea blue bucket - whichever is on special.
- 1ml H2O2 3% per day (manually dosed a few hours after any zeobak product)
Other maintenance:
- My dosing containers are 10L empty RODI bottles, which at this point will last me over a year...
- Water change - 10% every 2-3 weeks - when I feel the corals need it or I want to suck something out of the tank I don't like. Sometimes vacuum the sand a little.
- Filter sock changed every 2-3 days
- Skimmer cup cleaned every 3 days (if going away, I make it skim wetter and then use a dosing pump to empty the cup)
- Shake zeo stones when I wake up, before I go to bed. Does not take much effort at all, and I like tinkering with the tank and observing, so does not take any extra time from running non-zeo.
- I try to pluck any algae I don't like out before it become a problem. Used to have bryopsis. I found running kalk at the time, plucking and running a chaeto refugium for a couple of months knocked that off. I have noticed a slight return since going zeo, but easy to keep on top of as it is localised on the clam's shell (H2O2-dipped toothbrush scrub of the outside of the shell is my latest remedy, which seems to have paid off)
Livestock:
- 7 Rose Bubble-tip Anemones
- 1 Tridacna maxima
- 2 ocellaris clownfish (pair)
- 1 Midas blenny
- 1 yellowtail damsel
- 1 banded boxer shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)
Corals:
- Rhodactis mushrooms
- Ricordea mushrooms
- Frogspawn
- Pink and green Trachy
- Sarcophyton leather
- Green star polyps
- Various zoanthids
- Seriatopora
Two weeks ago, I added some SPS frags (not sure of exact species of the Acros yet, will post some pictures, so if you can identify them, please do!
):- x3 Acropora
- 1 green Montipora digitata
- 1 red Monti cap
That's about it in a nutshell... Not sure if this should be in the welcome threads now, but maybe it can be moved to somewhere more appropriate? Thanks for reading!
Photos:
