SCR Member: nkkm
First Name: Nick
Years in Hobby: 15 years
Age of Featured Reef: 2.5 years (Water in March 20th 2023)
INTRODUCTION
Growing up in Australia, I've always had a passion for the ocean. On a family holiday to Fiji at 14, I managed to convince my parents to let me try scuba diving—and I was hooked. Around the same time, a good friend started a reef tank, and I was amazed we could keep a piece of what I experienced diving right in our homes. I knew that at some point, I would have to do the same.
After moving to the US, I knew it was the right time to dive in. I researched a good starter setup and bought the Cadlights 50 cube. Weekly trips to all the SoCal aquarium shops became a ritual. I made the typical rookie mistakes but enjoyed every second of it. Most of all, seeing tanks from people on this forum really gave me the itch to go bigger—so my second tank was born: a secondhand Lemar 150 gallon. I loved the dimensions of this tank (48"×30"×24"). I knew I would never be able to go back to a 24" width.
Through these initial years, I had many ups and downs. I fought hair algae outbreaks, fish disease wiping out my tank, and many other challenges, but eventually got to a place I was proud of. I was addicted to soft corals and chalices and never understood the draw of SPS that didn't move (more on that later).
After a couple of years with everything looking amazing—and having invested way too much money in high-end chalices—everything started to go wrong. I was doing water changes, keeping up with maintenance, testing religiously, and felt like I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. Eventually, this ended up as an almost total loss and still remains a mystery. We ended up moving house soon after, so I broke down the 150 and put what was left into the 50 cube again, storing the big tank. Emotionally, I was done. The cube turned into an algae tank, and I focused on other hobbies.
After a couple of years, I started coming back to SoCalReef to look at people's tanks and got the itch again. The hobby had continued to move forward in its understanding of home tanks, and I realized a big problem that probably caused my crash. Back then, it was all about having zero nitrates and phosphates, so I was running GFO constantly and doing water changes. Ultimately, I think I starved the tank and caused the die-off. Feeling like I had at least gotten to the bottom of that mystery, I decided I was getting back in.
First thing to do was get the cube back on track, so I reached out on this forum to get some chaeto to outcompete the hair algae. A local reefer @Dipan00 reached out and said I could grab some. Well... what a happy but expensive mistake that was! I turned up and Dipan showed me his 100g peninsula—and from that second, I was back in the hobby with full force. I went home, dusted off the 150, and started the journey again. Dipan became a good friend, and we've battled the ups and downs of this hobby together ever since.
Fast forward a few years: we stopped renting and bought a house. It was time to build my ultimate system. I ultimately decided on the Innovative Marine 200 gallon peninsula with external overflow.
SYSTEM PROFILE
Display tank: Innovative Marine 200 EXT Peninsula
Display Dimensions: 70.9x30x21.7
Stand: Innovative Marine APS
Sump: Innovative Marine RFS 50 (74 gallons)
Frag Tank: Zoo Med Low Boy with Eshopps External Overflow
Frag Tank Dimensions: 48x24x10
Protein skimmer: ATI Powercone 250iS
Return Pump: 2 x Simplicity 3200 DC
Water circulations: Jebao SCP-180 and 2x AI Nero 7
Lighting Display: Reefbreeders Photon 48 V2+ with 4 Blue+ LED Bars (similar to the Orphek Bars)
Lighting Frag Tank: 36" Aquatic Life Hybrid T5 with 2 x Radion Gen 2 XR30W
Doser: Neptune DOS and Jebao 3.4
Heater: BRS Titanium + Inkbird controller connected to Apex for redundancy
Cooling: Lasko Blower fan
Controller: Neptune Apex EL
UV: Aqua UV Classic 160 Watt
GFO Reactor: Two Little Fishies
Calcium Reactor: Koralin 1502 + Auqamaxx T-X secondary chamber. Carbon Doser + Milwaukee PH Controller hooked up to Apex for redundancy. Only been running 1 month
Kalk Reactor: Avast Marine K2
ATO: DIY float switch / breakout box connected to Apex.
WATER PARAMETERS & DOSING SYSTEM EVOLUTION
ALK: 7.0-7.5
CA: 400-450
MAG: 1300-1500
PHOSPHATE: 0.2 Hanna
NITRATE: 8 Hanna
TEMP: 78-79
SALINITY: 35 PPT
For my last two systems, I've moved away from water changes. The biggest issue I've seen long-term with the no-water-changes method is either buildup of contaminants like heavy metals or depletion of trace elements, ultimately leading to big problems after a couple of years—especially with SPS. I was doing ICP tests every 6 months to watch for contaminant buildup and then moved to ATI Pro Essentials to take care of trace element depletion. This worked great, and the growth I've seen on SPS has been amazing. I got to a point where I was dosing so much Pro Essentials that I needed to supplement with something, so I chose kalk.
Until last month, I was dosing the following:
- 2-Part: 5L Pro Essentials A+B every 6 weeks
- Kalk: 2 gallons a day
- Reef Moonshiners: Daily and monthly correctives
The only solution I could see was to bite the bullet and move to a calcium reactor. In the past, I had been scared off by all the horror stories of tank crashes with them, but things seem to have come a long way, so I was willing to dive in. I picked up a secondhand system about a month ago and within a couple of days was easily able to dial it in. I've been able to cut my 2-part and kalk in half already and remain stable. Ultimately, I'm not sure if I'll keep all three running or just continue with calcium reactor and kalk.
The biggest change over the last year was my dosing for trace elements. Although ATI Pro Essentials was great, as my colonies have grown huge, I was noticing certain elements getting depleted in the ICP tests. I've started the Reef Moonshiners method of daily dosing elements. I'm not 100% strict on it—I do use different brands for some of the bigger corrective doses and I only ICP every 3-4 months—but I feel it's working for me and I have an idea of what I need to dose monthly. If I notice something going off and I can't explain it, then I send off an ICP.
LIGHTING
Over the years, I've transitioned away from T5 to LED. I love my 8-bulb ATI Hybrid Powermodule—I just didn't like the cost of both the bulbs and electricity use. I've tried many fixtures since, and for this setup I ended up with Reefbreeders. At the time, I believe they were the best value for money for their performance. I added 4 additional bars that are similar to the Orphek bars to try to get the T5 coverage and reduce shadowing. For the frag tank, I'm still running a hybrid fixture with T5 and a couple of Gen2 Radions.
My schedule runs 9am to 10pm with ramp up, starting and ending with the blue spectrum and full spectrum for a few hours in the middle.
Full Spectrum
Blues
AQUASCAPE & WATER FLOW
My focus for the last few years is SPS, but I still have a love for the movement that comes from soft corals and LPS. Finding the ideal flow for both can be a tough ask, and for this build I had two more challenges. Being a peninsula, it's even harder to get flow to the entire length, and the glass is 3/4" so finding powerheads that stick on that thickness is tough. Ultimately, I went with a large gyre at the far end to provide laminar flow across the top of the SPS, and then powerheads at the overflow end to crash into the gyre's flow to give turbulent flow across the tank.
A key thing I had learned from my earlier builds was how the aquascape plays a part in the overall health of the tank and its occupants. I wanted an open scape to provide the flow needed for SPS and not have dead spots, but also have enough areas for the fish to establish hiding spaces to cut down on any aggression.
The other consideration from previous experience is where to mount SPS corals and how much room they need. Ultimately, you will get this wrong... every time. I see tanks of people with SPS of different species growing into each other and shading without causing issues, but this hasn't been my experience. So for this scape, I wanted a way to adjust a colony's lighting and reposition corals when they're getting too close to each other—so a main focus of the scape design was building in lots of areas for non-permanent placement of frag plugs. This has worked out great, but I still don't feel I added enough holes. I also made the scape too high to start with, not anticipating the growth I would get. You'll still deal with coral growing over the plugs to the rock, but it's a lot easier to deal with than if you had glued directly to the rock.
FILTRATION AND MAINTENANCE
My philosophy for this build was to make my life easier for maintenance and mitigate any chance for spills and floods in the living room. To achieve this, I chose a spot in the living room that had our garage behind it to enable me to cut into the wall and put the sump and other equipment in the garage for easy access.
The other problem I wanted to solve was the clutter we all collect over the years. As with everything in this hobby, the more effort it requires, the less likely you are to do it regularly. In the past, I was always digging through boxes to find test kits and other maintenance items, or I just would end up not doing it for periods to avoid the hassle. I also ended up leaving clutter around the kitchen or living room, and that definitely didn't keep the wife happy! I wanted an area to be able to easily do the weekly tests as well as perform tasks like fragging, so I built the sump area with a tabletop and installed shelves. I also wanted to make sure I had as little in the way of cables as possible. I'm still working on that, but it's in a much better place.
Having a frag tank was a must-have on this build, and again in the interest of simplicity, it's plumbed directly into the main system, saving me from having to double up all the testing and dosing. Although there's no redundancy this way, it's what works best for me and the time I have to dedicate to maintaining the tank. The increase in water volume helps also.
CORALS
I've gone through phases like I'm sure everyone else has with coral keeping. I understand now the love for SPS as it truly tests your abilities in the home reef tank and leaves little room for error. While I love this challenge generally, it also brings stress and heartache when it's going wrong.
LPS
Chalices were really my first obsession in the hobby—trying to get the rare rainbows and some of the classics that weren't really around in the hobby anymore. After the total loss I moved on but still keep some in this new build. My Sexy Corals Dynamite being the prize piece, now about 7"×7". I recently started to keep some Goniopora having previously had zero success with wild pieces. It's definitely something I would like to get more of now.
SPS
This is where my passion really lies now. I mentioned earlier that I never understood the draw of SPS that didn't move—well, I was completely wrong about that! The growth patterns, the colors, the way they react to your water parameters... it's addictive. And as for movement, although you have to look a little closer, watching the polyps dance in the flow on a healthy Acro colony is mesmerizing. When you get it right, there's nothing quite like watching a colony double in size over a few months and see the colors intensify as it settles in.
I've learned the hard way that SPS is all about stability and patience. You can't rush it, and you definitely can't cut corners. My current favorites are my rainbow Tenuis—SKA Jackpot, TGC Acrolandia, RRC Mardi Gras, and TRC Superbird—that are absolutely exploding with color and now getting great growth. It was all about Tenuis for me until I was encouraged to try a smooth skin from Defugium Reefs called Morning Star. Now I would love to get more smooth skins—I've been unsuccessful in the past with wild speciosa, but it's a goal to have a couple of colonies.
SOFTIES
The "OG" Bounce Mushroom
I gave this its own category as it's a coral I've had and prized for many years now. They've always grown well and produced natural babies. Best of all, they've really been the only thing to survive tank crashes. I think this is an exception to the rule as I know a lot of people have struggled with them and have them melt if you just look at them the wrong way.
FISH
Display
- Desjardini Sailfin Tang
- Blue Hippo Tang
- Convict Tang
- Naso Vlamingii Tang
- Copperband Butterfly
- Foxface Rabbit Fish
- Midas Blenny
- 3 Chromis
- Saphire Damsel
- 2x Leopard Wrasse
- Solar Wrasse
- Ruby Red Wrasse
- 2 x Mandarin Goby
- 3 x Bartlett Anthias
- Tomini Tang
- Saphire Damsel
- Six Line Wrasse
- Australian Stripey
- Bimaculatus Anthia
FINAL THOUGHT AND RECOMMENDATION
This hobby is humbling, and you can go from something epic to disaster in the blink of an eye. The longer I'm in it, the better I am at noticing issues before they become major problems. Sometimes though, it just baffles you and leaves you scratching your head about why something is going wrong.
I always seem to find the most unusual issues—whether it be algae even the most seasoned reefers haven't seen, to prehistoric aiptasia the size of RBTAs. You just have to take it in stride and research, research, research!
When starting out, I think the instinct and some advice is to start small. While I think this helps to know if the hobby is for you and the expense is less to get started, I think ultimately going as big as you can at the beginning will provide the best success. Stability is the key to everything, and the bigger the water volume, the more time you'll have to spot problems and make corrections.
I believe bacteria plays a massive role in the success of our tanks—both good and bad—and for me, I still don't understand its role well. I have noticed when you're having issues like being overrun by hair algae, just seeding a rock from a local reefer who is having success can turn that around quickly.
The SPS game can be hard and expensive. The key things I've learned and what you'll hear a lot around here is: don't chase numbers, chase stability. My tanks at different times have been anywhere between 7 and 10 dKH and nutrients ranging from 0.01/5 to 0.6 and 50 and have been successful at either end. The key is not getting to either extreme too quickly. Also, don't be afraid to frag your favorites—I've lost too many colonies by being precious about cutting them. Now I regularly frag my best pieces as insurance, and it's saved me more than once.
A lot of issues I've seen stem from the wild colonies we all tend to buy (trying to find that diamond in the rough), either from pests or other diseases being brought into our tanks. Good QT practices and knowing the signs to look for and being able to act quickly with medications helps a lot. Buying from people off this forum who have established tanks can help mitigate a lot of those issues when you're starting out. That said, there's no better feeling than finding a washed-out piece with no polyp extension and turning it into this!
Please help me congratulate @nkkm on this informative writeup for the SoCaliReef's community.
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Congrats!
