Danano's Reef

[danano]

Est. August 2019

The guiding principles behind my tank design and build were simplicity and ease of maintenance.

Another aim was also to establish and maintain an ultra low nutrient environment for SPS to thrive. Managing the bio-load and promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria were key to achieving this.

Some basic information:

TANK: 50g main + 30g lagoon + 20g sump

LIGHTING: AI Hydra 52HD (x2) + Orphek OR60 light bar; lagoon tank Kessil A360X

FILTRATION & CIRCULATION: Skimz skimmer, return pumps (X2) and wavemakers, Prodibio Biodigest & Bioptim, FM Bacto Reef Balls, coral chips and live rock

OTHER EQUIPMENT: Coralbox auto-doser and battery backup, RODI, Haliea HS-66A chiller

SALT & SUPPLEMENTS: Red Sea Salt and Foundation (CA+/KH/Mg), Tropic Marin Pro-Reef, and Fauna Marin Color Elements

 

[danano]

[danano]

Sump, skimmer, auto-doser, etc...

[danano]

Chiller, pump/wm controllers, battery back-up, etc...

[danano]

I♥️SPS

[danano]

Some close-ups...

[danano]

[danano]

[danano]

[danano]

The millepora was stunted and colours muted for several months, then from January, it blossomed into a rainbow! Tank had finally matured and water parameters ideal...

[zander]

Nice and beautiful!!!


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[danano]

Thanks Zander.

One more thing I do, I dose aminos and feed marine/reef snow daily. The latter, after lights out.

The fish get pellets twice a day.

[fatphotoboy]

awesome tanks. SPS are healthy!

[zander]

Nice!! How often do you change water?


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[danano]

Weekly water changes, approximately 5% of the total water volume.

[jem]

20 hours ago, danano said:

 

[Rilakkuma]

Very nice


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[Jimng]

Very nice tank and setup, the sps guru is back fast and furious...

[danano]

Thanks for the kind words all!

Jim, it's been a long time... how are you and how's the reef?

For those unaware, once upon a time, I had a 110g SPS dominated reef tank. After 12 years away from the hobby, I'm back and still nuts about reefkeeping, with SPS in particular

Edited April 22, 2020 by danano

[Jimng]

Your 110g reef tank was an inspiration for many including myself   My tank had its ups and downs....still a lot to learn which makes this hobby so addictive.

[danano]

Yes, lots to learn indeed, with LEDs and all the new equipment and reef keeping methods.... it was back to school for me.

Here's a growth sequence for a hoeksemai frag I salvaged from the mother colony, a piece that started in a nano tank before the 50g. Attached to a small piece of coral rubble, it's now fully encrusted with a few new growth tips.

[danano]

Same hoek w polyps extended

[R0B]

Wow what a great set of tanks. Thanks for sharing! What do you think is your key to SPS success? (How do you maintain your paramters?)



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[danano]

Thanks Rob! Gazing at the corals, that's the secret 

I used to run a CR with my 110g. Now, with a smaller 50g tank, I have an auto-doser, and I've been tuning it the past few months to keep up with the growth and Ca/kH/Mg consumption rate of the corals, which also means weekly or biweekly testing of the three main parameters. The tank is now 9 months, and I've just about reached a steady state with CA/kH/Mg consumption. Auto-dosing also allows me to easily make manual adjustments to the CA/kH/Mg levels to keep the parameters as stable as possible. I'm now playing with the lights, scaling back the intensity a little, to see if there's an impact on the consumption rate without affecting coral colour.

I've kept the bio-load low from the start, and maintained a low nutrient system, hence nitrates and phosphates are undetectable.

Seeding the tank with beneficial bacteria is important as well.

Ca 420-450

dKH 7-7.5

Mg 1380-1450

NO3 undetectable

PO4 undetectable

[R0B]

Awesome. Do you feed your corals? Or follow a particular system like AF or Zeovit?

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