Bryman's 90G Reef

Frag Tank Online

So my main tank is doing pretty well these days despite all my recent work travel. I've had an acrylic AIO in my shed for about 2 years waiting to get to this point, and today is finally the day it's ready to go. Specs:
- Advance Acrylic Tank, approximately 15G
- Lighting - ATI 4x24w T5 Dimmable, Innovative Marine AUQA Gadget - MagnaFuge - Magnetic Refugium LED Light
- Heater - EHEIM JAGER TRUTEMP 75 WATT
- Return pump - SICCE SYNCRA SILENT 1.0
- ATO - Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off

I have this tank completely separated from the DT system in case SHTF there. I do have it linked to Apex on an old powerstrip module so I still have controllability, which is nice. I am feeding a 10g tank from my RODI unit for the ATO reservoir, and it looks like it will last at least 3 weeks on a fill. My plan is to run this tank with a refugium only and a bag of carbon in the overflow. It will be a low bioload system and if I've learned anything lately, nutrients >0 aren't necessarily a bad thing. I'll do weekly 10G water changes from the frag tank to buckets, and then siphon 10G directly from the DT into the frag tank. I am hoping this will keep the parameters stable until I get a doser unit for the frag tank. Maybe I won't even need one.

Some pics - sorry no lights on yet:
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Valentine's Day Update

Plans got cancelled with the lady due to the weather, so I figure it's time for an update. Overall, things are going well. I had a red slime bloom a while back that I am still trying to get rid of. I attribute to dosing to much PO4 too fast. I am down to about 8 ml / day of my solution of potassium nitrate, and red slime is losing a foothold while everything still looks happy. I find that watching my ricordeas are a good indicator of nutrient level. Puffed up and looking good = enough nutrients. Shrivelled = not enough. Growth on my SPS just exploded and I am now dosing 2x what I was dosing on my last post - about 110 ml / day of Alk / Ca.

My frag tank is going now, but I think I was zapping everything with too much light so it was paling SPS. I have the light raised a lot higher now, and am squirting a little food in there once or twice a week to get some nutrients in there. I just through a snail and hermit in there too as algae is starting to grow.

On to pics. Forgive my poor pics with my Galaxy S6, especially the top-downs. I have no idea how to do top-downs correctly, lol.

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Last edited:
Wow, looking back on this thread stuff has changed a lot. I neglected the tank for a while this year and was considering taking it down before moving later this year. However the lady convinced me otherwise. I was able to beat the red slime and bubble algae, only to discover that I had AEFW about a month ago. I think I may have them beat, by dipping what I could, basting 2x daily, and adding a six line.

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We will see if that's the last of them. Now my fish have developed a taste for the buggers when I was basting so that may help too if any remain.

My continuing battle is that of too low nitrate. I won't be using stump remover anymore because of the red slime and bubble algae side effects. Just added a foxface and six line to increase bioload. Large fuge is just too efficient.

I hope to upgrade to a 120 up to a 180 for the new house so let me know if you guys see any deals.

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Well I have one thing going for my tank, the biggest blue squamosa I've seen. About 8 in across.
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bryman said:
We will see if that's the last of them. Now my fish have developed a taste for the buggers when I was basting so that may help too if any remain.

My continuing battle is that of too low nitrate. I won't be using stump remover anymore because of the red slime and bubble algae side effects. Just added a foxface and six line to increase bioload. Large fuge is just too efficient.

I hope to upgrade to a 120 up to a 180 for the new house so let me know if you guys see any deals.

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Click to expand...
Good luck im looking to lol there is a 150gal six foot at underwater they want 400$ says has a stand but havent seen stand yet . Im kinda holding out til spring time
 
Sorry, meant upgrading from my 90 to somewhere between 120-180. I would really like at least a 5' tank for bigger tangs but we'll see.
 
Looking good man! Never seen so much coralline in my life lol def a healthy tank u got going there. That coraline can consume a great deal of alk and calcium so if u want to dose less I would scrub it off the glass or if you are lazy like me you can buy an urchin and it will take care of that for u


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I am not out or dead

Well, was extremely close to getting out as I didn't have the time anymore and had a generally shitty 3/4s of 2017. With the AEFW, my Apex fried from an electrical storm, and the prospect of moving in spring next year, I didn't have much motivation. In fact, I couldn't see in the tank 2 weeks ago and all my dosing stuff had run out weeks before. GF wanted me to keep tank but I was without much hope. Then I scraped off a patch of the front glass and saw that it wasn't so bad. Then scraped a bit more. I lost a lot of my stuff, but fish were still alive and it could have looked worse. Then I remembered why I enjoyed keeping SW reefs for so long when I saw my 18+ year old clown swimming around like always.

I am about 2 weeks into recovery, and starting with an Alk of 6.4 and Ca of 330 my parameters are almost back to normal. I upgraded to the latest Apex so that I can eventually use the Trident Alk / Ca / Mg monitor Apex is coming out with next year. I think this thing will be a game changer if it works as well as advertised, and especially if they include programming to automatically adjust your dosers / Ca reactor. I pulled out about a bucket and a half of dead / dying coral and the scape looks pretty naked now aside from encrusting montis. I've decided I am going to pull out all acros left and give them to a friend to dip / treat / propagate. I'll go without acros for at least 2 months to make sure every last surviving AEFW starves out. Then I will start inspect / dip / brush off everything that enters the tank from now on to make sure I don't have that scourge of reef tanks again. The plan is to upgrade to a 120G 4 or 130G 5' Planet Aquarium tank with Reef Savvy external overflow when I move, but may start with frags again before then.

So, some FTS. Sorry it's not much to look at for the moment.
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Can't believe it, but my large Tyree Pink Lemonade and blue tort made it through the terrible conditions and are turning around quickly. Wish I could keep em but I want to make sure there's no chance of AEFW.
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The blue squamosa is also doing very well. It's about the size of a small cantaloupe now. Probably centerpiece of my tank now and in the future:
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For the person who asked, I've had it since about April of 2013. Here's a pic a few months after I got it. It was teeny - see the hermit shell next to it:
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I would highly recommend picking up one of these blue squamosas if you ever wanted a nice blue maxima or crocea. It is unbelievable how hardy it is in comparison, and they get freaking huge quickly. They are difficult to find so snatch one up if you see em.
 
Been there before and feel your pain. Glad to see your attitude changed and you want to keep things going. Sometimes a break is what you need to get re-motivated :rock:
 
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