new schools 200 gal sps build

[new school]

updated info

 

i pulled my calcium reactor. my regulator was milwaukee and constantly jamming up! drilled it and just kinda got tired of fiddling with it.

added a new 4 pump profilux doser, 2x5 gal cans for the cal and alk diy, and a 1 gallon can for magnesium. been 40 days and have used .5 gal of solution in my 200+ gal system. i cant believe i didnt do this earlier. i can get any calc number or alk number i would like with ease. also no fluctuation other that when i do a water change. and then it settles right back within a day or two. best piece ive bought since halides.

[new school]

a few updated photos, a side photo i really like now that i have moved some corals around and did a lot of thinning.

a shot of my superman table milli

a shot of a new tenius i scooped from a friend as well.

im going to get better shots soon. just need a camera.

[new school]

the oregon torte came from a friend that decided to get out of the hobby so i scooped it from him, along with some others that were very nice and large. i also have cali and the original oregon torte as well. im going to pull some live rock soon and lower the profile of my aqua-scape. some of my acros are growing quickly and its time to adjust now that the tank has really settled in and taken off.

[CA2OR]

Nice pic's .

[finch6013]

Nice tank New School! What return problems are you having? I am considering a marineland 70 or 93 cube. they only have a single corner overflow but I am wondering what issues they have so I can plan for that.

[undrtkr_00]

Looks great, man. How much was the Profilux dosing setup?

[new school]

finch6013

on the less than 200dd im not sure if its a problem? on the larger ones the overflow grate/grill teeth are too close together, when you pump the sump water up into the tank the grill restricts the return flow. cut out some teeth with a dremel and use raingaurd mesh. not sure if you know this but marineland tanks can be customized, addtnl bulkheads, overflows, glass type. no where near expensive as other manufacturers. if i do it again id do a large center overflow, i dont like the viewable space their corner overflows absorb. tell you this, ive seen that 93 at a shop in san jose filled and growing, it was so nice i was tempted to buy one...the overflow on its the only one i know in the middle.(unless they since changed?) it also had a larger bulkhead std from marineland compared to their rectangles. 3 viewable sides. no black back, the wires were hidden in a custom homemade plastic abs cover. was clean. snapper for return, mrc polywhite special sump, mrc skimmer, a ati 10 bulb t-5 fixture, 2 mp20s (front to back). was one of the nicest, simplest tanks ive ever seen. like a mini upscales cube without the plumbing. looked so clean it was almost labratory/medical like with all the white acrylic under the tank.

 

thank you, undertaker oo.

i do appreciate that very much.things are really starting to grow in now. that doser is the best piece ive purchased in a long time. i was lucky to be able to take several frags of my high end sps and trade thru a shop. having said that, i know saltwater fantaseas, rose city, and west side are authorized distributors for profilux and are pre-approved to order. michael w ghl direct,(profilux) will educate you over the phone before you buy it. he likes to let you know all about faunas balling salt options and how to more effectively set it up and use them.(can be costly if your lrg than a 120) also he is a cool funny sounding euro dude that is very, very knowledgeable about these things and how they compare with other dosers and reactors..... its very easy, easier than a reactor. more stable, and if a tank is under 250 gallons i cant imagine why in the future that calc reactors will become the second choice. according to ghl and grotec, dosers are currently used in 80% of aquariums overseas now. not sure how true this is but each time i look on the euro/japanese sites, its all i see with sometimes a lime reactor. they have several doser options they push that include the fauna balling salts. they dont even try to sell it without salts now. kinda wierd but your dealer can get it without. 499 for the 4 pump minus salts is what im told. you will need some 1/4" tubing, any type is fine, 2-3 containers for your solutions. i used randys diy 2 part with his diy 3c mag technique. bout the same price as a reactor setup. i had planned on keeping my reactor as a spare for emergencies but ended up selling once i set this up. this thing is easy!

 

imo, anyone considering switching its worth it. one cord. no regulator cord or adjusting, no reactor pump/return pump, or water line taps. no co2 tank dumps, or re-pressure testing your tank, the one thing i think i should point out is calc reactors introduce harmful c02 into the aquarium. even if you run a probe and run off chamber you still get small amounts of c02. these levels are not present in nsw......also you can get small amounts of harmful metals and build up toxic compounds from your reactor medias. some worse than others. you can find the specifics if you google it. with the doser in a diy solution application the only negative ive learned is bromide from "some mixes", not all. also bromide "is" found in nsw in trace amounts. it seems most euro users dosing are using the balling method, grotech or fauna with positive results for over 4 yrs now. japanese use a local branded 2 part,(dont remember the brand) like most things aquarium related, americans seem to try/receive newer technology later. were gonna be seeing more doser options in the near future. vertex, bubble magus, and digital aquatics have all announced new dosers by yrs end. bubble magus released a decent looking one last yr but due to demand cant keep it in stock, and have more models coming. also several other nutrient manufacturers have also anounced they intend to get into the balling salt market as well. i would like that. as much as diy solution seems cool and are very easy i would be more comfy w say a seachem balling product. once you make your first solution and setup the controller you will kinda feel like it was too easy....i felt like, man i musta did something wrong. 48 days in, dkh 8, calc 420-430, mag 1400, and ph 8.3. i got worried when i did my first water change not realizing that the new mix would change my parameters a little, but within 3 days completely back to normal. dkh was 9, calc 480, mag 1450, and ph 8.2 so not really an issue but after 35 days of testing and staying exactly the same i tripped out for a min. anyway hope this helps someone and i think im gonna do a nice review on r.c. for this.

[JasonH]

the oregon torte came from a friend ... i also have... the original oregon torte as well. QUOTE]

 

Are there two versions?

[fishmanmike01]

Fantastic work done on all aspects of your'e build, looks great. Well done

[new school]

thank you fishmanmike01, its a nice feeling to know your tank is doing well and thriving but even nicer when you get a compliment from a collector and fellow reefer. i really do appreciate the nice comments very much, so thank you all!

 

jasonh , unfortunately there have been different variations and a (morph or two) over the yrs....

#1 is the one that is blue with a metallic sheen that most people have, this one grows at a med pace and is widely available. especially on r.c. and a local shop in pdx. this one came from the soloman islands prior to their civil war, was also farmed by tyree and bob beckett and was available at the same time the ort was in 99-2000. people got them very confused. this thing is a strong grower! again "darker in color"

 

#2 there is one that is straight up chalk blue, no sheen, polyp colors, or metallic haze, whatsoever and grows so slow you would have to wait 3-6 months to get a small frag or two or for it to be large enough to produce "many" fragging points. thats the one travis at upscales has had in limited stock for yrs now. he gave this to tyree and it was reef farmers lead off coral. people got them confused because bob and tyree both sold them thru reef farmers at one time. it was a huge debate for over 10 yrs now. when they are side by side you can tell the difference. the lame thing was it sold straight up as the "soloman island blue" for about a yr, and all of a sudden the ort became the bigger deal cuz no one had it, simply because it actually grew slower, not because it was less beautiful. some people decided they wanted to own both, bought them and lost track of lineage, when one died, they unknowingly caused this issue, which one is which?

if an aquarium isnt lit extremely well, has a lot of nutrients you couldnt tell the difference between the two by color other than one grows slow!!!! if a tank is ulns, has no real high nutrients and runs a excellent lighting combo you can tell the difference pretty easy by the slightly lighter shade, and depth of color to the skeleton around the base. the 1st torte will be quite darker with that light metallic shine sometimes it even looks like a hint of blue spray paint. with some green even at the base edge sometimes.

 

now everyone is gonna go look at their acro and wonder what it is? if you can frag it at the same pace as most other colonies, it aint the original! travis and shaun (if you find him) will both verify how slow it grows. this is why it was so difficult to keep available, the expectation early on, was that it would grow like most other acros. it didnt. if you had a problem in your aquarium and your acros rtn a little, this tiny slow growing frag died cuz it never grew large enough to withstand a small event. even causing more of the ort hype. crazy