Troy Vs 3 DTs

[Troy V]

I"m glad that the NO3 is working for you man. Kudos on getting your dosage just right. I've had a hard time finding the right amount to keep the concentration at 5 ppm consistently. I have found that with all of my feedings, my NO3 have hovered around 4ppm for roughly 2 weeks before I noticed a decline to 1 yesterday when I did my test using Redsea's kit.

The color change is impressive to say the least for you man.

Thank you Justin,
I too have learned that NO3 dosing isn't an exact science. I am still not out of the woods yet. Now that I have reached the "magic" number, lets see if I can maintain. From what others have experienced NO3 seems to have a cumulative effect and it will be easy to overdose. This week I reduced the amount of KNO3 I am adding to 20 gallon of ATO water. Now I am adding 3 tsp instead of 4. We will see what happens.

 

[justin.k.nelson]

Keep us posted on the progress. I typically dose to get to 4ppm and measure until I get a 0 and then dose again. It's fluctuating I know, but at least I'm getting my corals some nutrients. When i first started dosing, I was all over the place trying to get it dialed in and wrecked my tank with too much. This process at least avoids the over dosage

 

[Daydream Corals]

This is the coolest build ever!

 

[Troy V]

This is the coolest build ever!

Thank you!

 

[Troy V]

Keep us posted on the progress. I typically dose to get to 4ppm and measure until I get a 0 and then dose again. It's fluctuating I know, but at least I'm getting my corals some nutrients. When i first started dosing, I was all over the place trying to get it dialed in and wrecked my tank with too much. This process at least avoids the over dosage

I think your cycle method is the smartest way to do it. That way I can keep feeding with the auto feeders to keeps the PO4 up and not worry about the nitrates levels getting away from me.

 

[esquare]

Great build, great thread!
Can you give a little more detail how you plumbed the 3 tanks together and what is under each stand? I have thought about a similar setup on the future and would like to see how you have done it.

 

[Troy V]

Thank you!

I will take some detailed pictures of the setup this evening. I don't know why I've never done it before. I should've done it in the beginning before the "stuff" started to accumulate. It will be good to do some cleaning back there.

 

[pwilliaml]

Hey Troy, what food are you, or were you broadcast feeding with the Eheim auto feeders? Thanks.

 

[Troy V]

Hey Troy, what food are you, or were you broadcast feeding with the Eheim auto feeders? Thanks.

In the SPS tank I feed a combination of food.(from largest to smallest) Ocean Nutrition Formula Two pellet, Golden Pearls(Brine shrimp Direct), Reef Chili(BRS), and Decapsulated Brine Shrimp.
This is fed at 6am, 2pm, and 6pm

The Eheim Feeding station is to the left of the Gyre next to the drain so the food is drawn into the Gyre and broadcasted throughout the tank before it has a chance to go down the drain.

On the LPS/Softie tank the placement of the feeder is exactly the same except I use an MP40 for flow. I feed Golden Pearls, Coral Frenzy, and Reef Chili once at 1am with 2 revolutions of the feeder. This also feeds the tube anemones, but I am trying to still figure this tank out. It reacts very differently than the other tanks to heavy feedings. I am not sure I will keep this an LPS/softie tank for long. I am seriously considering making it a Peacock mantis tank right now or some other specimen tank maybe a cuttlefish. We will see....

​

 

[Troy V]

Decided to spawn all afternoon. Luckily I was able to video it.

 

[Troy V]

So the clam ended up spawning for 8 days every 15 minutes from 1pm to 7pm. And as a result it left the tank with a hair algae, cyanobacteria, and a diatom bloom. But the system is recovering nicely and seems to be back on track.
I have decided to make the "right tank" a mantis shrimp tank. I think their messy nature will benefit the system.

 

[ramona]

Love your clam, quite impressive!

How did you set up the Xenia fuge?

 

[Troy V]

Love your clam, quite impressive!

How did you set up the Xenia fuge?

Thank you!

There isn't a short way to answer this question, for me its been trial and error over many years. But if I was to boil it down to several key components they would be:

- Know your system
Before a person attempts to do an alternate form of filtration, they must first have a finger on the nutrient pulse of their tank, and the way it ebbs and flows. I wouldn't attempt this if you are battling nuisance algae growth or if you are constantly having to clean your glass. One of the ways you know that the Xenia fuge is working is by watching these indicators very closely, and having it stable/in balance will make it much easier to notice a change in your system so you can adjust if needed.

-Building a Xenia fuge must me done intentionally.
I've found it pretty much an all or nothing endeavor. To run both a skimmer and a massive Xenia colony could potentially lead to a crash. Though I've never had this happen I could see the potential problem being that you have 2 competing nutrient exporters, with one (the skimmer) that isn't as consistent as a living nutrient exporter. When your system is "dialed in" you will notice a difference in the Xenia when the skimmer is clean vs dirty. When it is clean the Xenia will pulse slower, and not grow as fast. Just allow the Xenia population to grow to meet the needs of the system. Trust me it will do everything you need it to and more.

- Try and keep it in a remote system.
Or in your sump with very low flow and a baffle to shield it from your return pump. Once you know you can grow Xenia successfully it can easily become a plague in your system, and if that happens it is very difficult to remove.

-Cycling your skimmer.
Once you've started the fuge and the Xenia is growing well. The next step is wait until the Xenia growth plateaus. Now you are ready to reduce the skimmer run time to just 12hrs a day. With in a few days you will notice a marked increase in the algae growing on your glass and your Xenia population will begin to grow to fill the void created by the skimmer being off. So much of this will depend on the bio load of your system. Once you are back to where the Xenia stops growing as fast. Reduce the skimmer by another 12hrs and see what happens. This is pretty much the process you will follow for several months until you will eventually turn the skimmer off for good. Or just dial it down to a point were it no longer skims but still provides oxygen to the system.

- Take it slow
Remember nothing good happens quickly in this hobby. It will take time for your Xenia population to fulfill the needs of your system. It was an unlearning process for me. I believed a skimmer was necessary for any successful reef. So I based my system around its performance, and I stocked according to the skimmer's potential. Once I stopped using it and went to a natural filtration source the system became much easier to manage with less maintenance, and the coral health was optimum.

There is so much I am sure I left out. If you decide to do this PM me your phone number and I can discuss it with you in further detail. GOOD LUCK!

 

[ramona]

Thank you Troy, much appreciate, your tanks are awesome!

 

[Troy V]

2 yr pic Update:

The system has been on a 2 year auto pilot. Life had been busy. I haven't had much time for reefing these days. I did 1 water change last year and still running skimmerless with the same 2 part regiment. I manually feed everyday at 6:10am. Making it a point to take 5-10 minutes before I leave for work to enjoy my reef. I love every second of it.
Recently I removed the 250 MH on the center tank and went with the
Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid instead. So far I am getting great results and it triggered the yearly week long clam spawns. So I know it is happy!

Here is the R2R link on how I hung the Aquatic Life fixture.

Another way to hang the Aquatic Life Hybrid fixture

Tank Dimensions:60"x30"x31" (241g) Light Mount: 3/4" galvanized conduit. I've been running 2-Hydra 52 HDs with a single 250 watt MH with some success for almost 4 years. However I've never liked the coverage I would get on the back corners. But I delt with it because my lighting options are...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[najer]

Very nice, the clam is amazing.

 

[alton]

Glad everything is going well! The tanks look awesome!

 

[Troy V]

Very nice, the clam is amazing.

Thank you!

 

[Troy V]

Glad everything is going well! The tanks look awesome!

Hi Alton! Thank you again for the Gem Tang. It eats bubble algae like most fish eat brine shrimp. I place it in like flake food and it tears it up.

 

[Troy V]

Here it is eating some bubble algae that was growing in the Gigas tank.