1 year anniversary of my reef tank

[huskerreefatl]

One year ago today, I set up this reef tank. I bought the 75 gallon tank and stand off of Craigs list for $175 but then didn’t set it up. A year later I tried to give it away to some neighbors, who decided against it, so I finally decided to set it up. I have definitely spent a few more dollars on it and have enjoyed the hobby so far. I have been battling hair algae and for the last couple of days my finger leather corals have shrunk and been shedding so not sure what is wrong with them but other than that, the tank seems to be healthy. If you notice anything that I should do differently, please let me know.

Here is my set up:
75 gallon DT
20 gallon sump
Reef Octopus 150 skimmer
300 watt heater
Reefkeeper Elite controller with temp and PH probes
Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5HO (2 – 10k, 2 – actinic) (runs 10 to 5)
Current USA Marine Orbit LED light (runs 8 am to 10 pm)
2 - Hydor Koralia nano 425 on the back side of the rock structure on a wavemaker
Smart ATO
2 - two little fishies reactors, one with carbon and the other with phosban
2 - Hydor Koralia 1050/1150 pumps connected to the reefkeeper elite as a wavemaker
Eheim AEH1262310 return pump (900 gph)
Seneye Reef monitor and par meter (got it for the par meter)
Filter on the return changed about every third day
Green Killing machine 24 watt UV sterilizer in sump
BRS 4 Stage Water Saver Plus RODI
Media bag of seagel in sump (thought that this would help with hair algae)

Feed about a quarter size of Rods Original each day and add nori to a clip about every other day. About once a week, I will add some oyster feast at night and spot feed about once a week with mysis shrimp for some of the corals.

Parameters:
Ammonia, Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
Ca - 400
Alk – 9
Mg – 1200
Phosphate - .006 (Hanna tester)
PH - 7.9 – 8.1
Temp – 78
Salinity – 1.026

Inhabitants:
Mixture of corals from softies to LPS
Yellow Tang
2 – Clown Fish
6 line wrasse
Royal Dottyback
Yellow watchman goby
Engineer goby
4 Pajama Cardinals
Cleaner shrimp
About 20 blue legged hermits
Mixture of snails
Fighting conch

I dose BRS for Ca, Alk, and Mg as needed. I have dosers but have not set them up. Instead, I test and add as needed. I have recently started adding the Blue Vet Phosphate Rx to see if that would help with the algae....about the same time as my finger leather shrinking…not sure if this is the cause or just a coincidence.

Thanks for any thoughts,
Carl

 

[KrisDeitz]

you run the LEDs for 14 hours?? Why?

 

[huskerreefatl]

They run on a program that slowly ramps up (sunrise) starting at 8, work their way to full intensity, and then ramp down (sunset) at 5, then go to moon light until 10 and shut down. The Coralife runs while the LED is on full intensity and is automated so it comes on at 10 and off at 5.

 

[rb647]

looks great. lots of people have long photoperiods. you get to enjoy the tank more. It's also a great way to provide more light for your corals if your lights are not as bright as you would like. 14 hours of medium light can get you the same results as 8 hours of brighter light.

 

[huskerreefatl]

BTW, this is why I bought the par meter to test how much light I am actually getting at different levels in the tank. I have some preliminary data but want to collect more data points.

Here they are:
Bottom of the tank - par 50, lux 1949
Middle - par 210, lux 7830
Top - par 252, lux 9863

I am also still trying to interpret the data that I have....

 

[huskerreefatl]

Thanks. 5:30 is my favorite time to look at the tank. The Coralife lights are off and the LEDs have gone to full actinic intensity while all of the corals are still open so the colors are great.

 

[shrimpy brains]

Looks fantastic!

 

[bobz]

Great looking tank!
bob

 

[huskerreefatl]

Thanks Bob. Based on the limited info that I shared, do you see anything that you would do differently? Or anyone else? I am always open to constructive criticism.