SCR Member: Discotu
First Name: Brian
Years in Hobby: 30+
Age of Featured Reef: 3+ years
The beginning:
Now:
INTRODUCTION
I was always into aquatic creatures. As a child I would catch tadpoles and crayfish from my local creek and raised them in small tanks. In elementary school, I moved onto cichlids and in high school got a job at a local fish store. That's where my salt water journey began. I learned so much working there and yeah the discounts! I still have a scar on my hand from when a tang slapped me with his spine. (I used catch fish by corralling them into a container VS using a net). When I went off to college I used my final discount to buy an AIO and brought that to school. I also learned to SCUBA and eventually became a SCUBA instructor which only fed my interest.
Fast forward and I've been through many different tanks over the years.
This last round it had been a 6-7 year break (time flies!) and when we found out my wife was pregnant I saw an opportunity. Even though I was out of the hobby I would lurk on the forums and coincidentally I found this used Elos that came up for sale. It was a sign. Wife gave me the thumbs up and here we are now. Although the pandemic sucked, it was awesome being able to work from home and basically play with the tank all day. Of course when the baby came it coincided with the ugly phase of the tank cycle so it kinda took a back seat to taking care of the baby.
After the 1st couple years of settling in and getting past the sleepless nights now I feel like Im at the happy stage where everything is doing well and things are on cruise control (knock on wood).
SYSTEM PROFILE
Display tank: Used Elos 160XL (~200g)
Dimensions: 63x32x24
Stand: powder coated steel
Sump: Advance Acrylics PVC hybrid 46x21x15
Refugium: Advance Acrylics PVC hybrid
Protein skimmer: BK Supermarin 200 with AquaDriver Helix neck cleaner and wash down ring.
Return Pump: Varios 8 (was Cor 20)
Water circulations: 2x Neptune Wav and closed circuit UV
Lighting: 10x Kessil A360x tuna blues
Doser: 2x Neptune DOS
Heater: 800w finnex
Chiller: usually none. Will hook up 1/4hp when traveling during warmer months.
Controller: Apex
UV: 57w Aqua UV
Reactor: GFO/carbon and Co2 scrubber
ATO: Neptune ATK
Testing: Neptune trident and Hanna
WATER PARAMETERS & DOSING
ALK: ~9-10 Dkh
CA: ~400
MAG: ~1300
PHOSPHATE: ~0.1
NITRATE: ?? (I haven't tested this in a long time)
TEMP: 77-78
SALINITY: 1.026
pH: ~8.5
Alk: sodium hydroxide (for max pH boost) + Tropic Marin A- element
Ca: bulk calcium chloride (from Laverda) + Tropic Marin K+ element
Mg: BRS Mag Chloride + Mag Sulfate
NaCl free salt: Aqua Forest mineral salt (less expensive than the TM salt)
I'm using the Tropic Marin hybrid balling method and seems to be making my corals happy. This does jack up the salinity over time so I usually correct at water change time. I'm up to 240ml per day so slowly looking for a calcium reactor.
From Tropic Marin literature:
"The basis of the Balling method is the addition of calcium chloride 2-hydrate (CaCl2-2H2O) and sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate (Na2CO3 / NaHCO3). Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is formed as a byproduct of the use of these salts by the corals. To balance this additional sodium chloride, the Balling method adds sodium chloride free sea salt as a third component. Combined with the sodium chloride produced from the use of the first two compounds, this third part creates totally complete sea salt. In this way, the ionic balance of the solution is maintained."
Just as an FYI, I am not a chemist and can't definitively say that dosing NaCl free salt water makes any difference. I recall the last time I looked into this RHF said something to the effect that he wasn't sure about the effects with and without but it couldn't hurt. I had an extra dosing head so there you go. Please let me know if there is more info on this topic.
LIGHTING
Having been in the hobby for so long I've used it all. VHO, compact fluorescent, T5, halides etc etc. My last tank I ran an ATI power module and had excellent results. But, i missed the shimmer of halides. For this latest build I wanted a clean look and shimmer so settled on the Kessil A360x. This would allow me to easily add lights as my tank matured.
I started with 3 and have been adding as my tank matured. Currently Im in the process of re building my light fixture and adding the last 2 light heads for a total of 10. From there i might add a light bar or two.
I also cut 55degs reflectors in half and added them to the front half of the front row lights. This allows the same light spread in the middle and towards the back but reduces light spill in the front and actually less algae on the front panel.
Photoperiod starts at around 5:30am so I can take advantage of some peace and quite and enjoy my tank with my morning joe. Lights out a 7PM.
WATER FLOW
Personally, I hate bulky internal pumps but i know we have to live with them. I eventually settled on 2 WAV pumps in part because they are native to Neptune and they are relatively quiet. I know i have some dead spots but my Acros are happy, so I live with it.
FILTRATION AND MAINTENANCE
- Rea Sea Reefmat 1200
- I run my UV 24/7 primarily for the glass. I notice I only need to wipe my glass every few days vs every day without.
FUN FACT: I might have been one of the 1st to run a chaeto reactor! - https://forums.reefcentral.com/threads/chaeto-reactor.641878/
I'm not very prescriptive about testing and maintenance. I was in the beginning but now I really only track alkalinity and occasionally test phosphate (po4) to see if I need to replace the GFO.
ICP few times a year. I've haven't noticed a significant difference between salts so I switch/mix between IO, RC and TM...whatever I'm able to get on sale at the time.
5-10% weekly water changes consist of one or more of the following: vac the sand, drain sump, turkey baster the rocks (it's amazing how much crap blows out of the rockwork!) Occasionally I'll skip a week or two if I get busy with no ill effect.
I plan to switch to AWC after I figure out how I'm going to manage my water station. Recently built a new fish shed outside tied to my tank through a hole in the wall. Still working out how to organize all the equipment and anticipating how to future proof it.
Keep it simple stupid (KISS). I use this philosophy to the extent that I am happy with my current results. I often read of other dosing programs and very specific testing methods (moonshiners, specific iodine dosing etc). but that just seems tedious. Maybe if I was retired.
CORALS AND FISH
Most of my fish have been from friends, tank break downs and rescues and so far they all get along. Of them all, the CBB is my favorite fish...he's got a ton of personality and eats out of my hand. When I move things in the tank or stir up the sand he's right there ready to pick at any pods that come loose. Least favorite is the fat Hippo tang that ALWAYS splashes. For some reason he gets spooked during feeding and splashes what feels like a gallon of water over the front of the tank.
I feed my fish a mix of freeze dried mysis and New Life Spectrum small pellets with the occasional cube of freeze dried brine. Occasional sheet of nori for the tangs
Current fish:
- Spawning chromis (started with 12 now down to 7) These were the very first fish i added to the tank.
- Flame angel
- Purple tang
- Copperband butterfly
- Royal gramma
- Sailfin blenny
- Lyretail Anthias male + 2 females
- Cherub angel
- Yellow tang
- Tomini tang
- Powder brown tang
- Blue hippo tang
Inverts
- Skunk cleaner shrimp
- Fire shrimp
- Coral banded shrimp
- Pair of Harlequin Shrimp (decimated my asterina stars, supplementing with CC stars now)
- Various hermits and snails
- Pin cushion Urchin
- Long spine Urchin
- Small limpets
Corals
I've always been an SPS guy but will sprinkle in some LPS or softies for some variety. In terms of favorite corals I have to admit I've jumped on the Tenuis bandwagon. It's amazing the colors these produce. I am also competing in the Vivid Insanity grow out so I'm really babying this frag and it's turning out nicely.
https://www.socalireefs.com/index.php?threads/vivid-insanity-growout-2025-official-thread.115844/
Tank Profile
I love deep tanks (front to back). If I had it my way it would be 36-40" but close enough. Does pose some challenges with light coverage but it's worth it. Its just so much more immersive and it's great seeing the fish swim in more of an open space vs crammed between a rock wall and front glass.
Not sure it's unique to my system. But I was trying to get that layering effect between the different tabling corals with a valley in the middle. In order to achieve this I had to mount some corals on top of each other. In some cases I would take a sacrificial frag and place it on the host colony to see how they interact. If they play nice or are relatively tolerant I'll mount it and let them grow out.
Middle:
Left side:
Right Side:
FINAL THOUGHT AND RECOMMENDATION
If I had one word of advice in this hobby, Patience. Nothing good comes from rushing in reefing.
Particularly when it comes to adding livestock to your main display. I've lived through most of the dreaded coral and fish pests and it's no fun. I dip and inspect every coral with a loupe and scrape the plug with a dental pick and/or remove the frag completely onto a new plug. Same with fish...always QT and treat as needed.
Pay attention to your tank and if there is something out of whack take action immediately. Don't procrastinate. Things can go south really quick in this hobby so stay on top of it.
In terms of improving coral growth, I noticed explosive growth after I raised pH and lowered po4.
Work smarter not harder. One of the challenges with reef keeping is all the routine maintenance. By automating some of these it allows you to enjoy the tank more without dreading doing the "chores"
These are some of the things that have made my life easier.
- Making RODI in larger batches
- Reefmat (no more filter socks!)
- Skimmer neck cleaner with wash down ring.
- UV sterilizer so i don't have to wipe down the glass as much
- ATO obviously
That said, reefing can feel random, unpredictable and so esoteric at times. As an engineer I try to account for all the "what ifs" but I swear my system knows when I am about to go on vacation. I've had to replace a Apex head unit and EB832 a week before a 2 week trip. Ever get the random frag that decides to RTN while everything else looks great? Pests show up even when you followed all the right QT steps? Ever do a bone headed thing and drop your light rack into the tank? Yep, keep you head up high and keep reefing. I don't know how many times I've said "Man, I got lucky...that could've been a lot worse!"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Of course none of this is possible without the support of our local community. When I started up this tank after a LONG break I had so many people reach out to help and donate frags. More importantly, even though I've been doing this for a long time I'm still learning from all of you. It's such a rewarding hobby but even better when you can enjoy it with others. (wife can care less LOL).
Finally, huge shout out to @Jimbo327 and team SCR for making all of this happen!
Please help me congratulate @Discotu on this informative writeup for the SoCaliReef's community.
