Using AI for Reef Tank Results? 150 Gallon Modern Design Aquarium!

What's going on reefers? Blaine here. I'm with Antonio. Antonio, thank you so much for having us over. I'm really excited. It's been way too long since we talked about a tank tour. So, today Antonio, let's get right into it, man. What size system do we have here and what's the make of the tank? Yeah. So, this is a 150galon display tank. It's got about 30 in the sump and it's a Cade 1500. [music] Yeah, I think when I initially walked in, big shout out to Kade in this situation. Honestly, uh I thought it was a custom system. the way you have it all set up. Did not realize that this is some of the cabinetry work that they can obviously provide to you. So, really love it's one of those first things you see as soon as you walk into the space. Was that ultimately the plan for you guys? It was um for for me the the house is like a mid-century modern house. I wanted to have something that was a focal point and um I didn't want something that looked like it was in the basement. I wanted it to be out there. I obviously put my heart and soul into it and so I enjoyed the design aspect of it. So yeah, so I wanted something that looked clean, that looked finished. [music] Um, but I wasn't ready to go into a built-in. So I did the best I could. I get excited when I get to see some of the systems that we had a little bit of hands-on playing with when it comes to these systems. This was a tank that actually was almost two tanks at one point and it was over in your office space. Walk us through the journey of how the tank has now got to here. Sure. Um, so I started um probably about two and a half years ago, three years ago, and I had an Ocean Forest [music] um the Aquaforest Ocean Guard 275. So it was a cube. I had it right over here across the the thing. And that was my pride and joy. And that's kind of what got me going into it. I spent about a year in in that. Lots of successes, lots of failures. You know, the whole learning curve was real. But I got so excited that I decided that I also wanted to have one in my office, which is about 3 milesi from here. [music] And that's where this tank came in. So I had the ocean guard here at the house and I had this tank at the office. [music] When I set it up, I realized pretty quickly that I did not enjoy doing maintenance on two separate tanks. [laughter] Um, you know, cuz again, you come home after work, long day, you got to tweak around, look at the fish, look at the coral. That's fun. But what was not fun is then turn around on a Monday morning, show up at the office and and you're going to have, you know, the issues of a new tank. So um that was very real and quickly I learned that I did not enjoy having two locations maybe two tanks but not two locations. So then we went through a process of probably about 6 7 months of playing out how could I merge them together and then where where you all um came in is u getting helping me get this out of the office and getting it set back up here. Um, one of the priorities though when I did, so I did have you guys actually [music] um, servicing the tank at the office cuz I didn't want to deal with the water. The water changes was really the biggest issue. Um, I was an office facility. I didn't want to have a water station, all that stuff. Kayla would come in um, every 2 weeks and and help me out with with maintenance and and the water changes. [music] when we decided to migrate it over here and something I discussed with my wife, she thought, you know, we approved the location, she approved the the the concept, but uh what I wanted to make sure and do is is not have to do with water changes anymore cuz our water station's outside of the house and you know, I'm I'm carrying the buckets every every weekend. And with this, now we're getting into the volume that was probably about going to be like 20 gallons. So now I'm doing four [music] buckets and you know it's a long haul over here. So so we're really um I engaged with you guys was to to let's get this as as automated as possible specifically with the atto and the water changes. [music] Gotcha. So a lot of automation gone into this system very important in today's day of reefing. You know a lot of people have started to utilize automation to [music] have success with their reef tanks. Let's talk about the livestock we went with. You've got a mixture in here. We'll start with the corals. What was the plan for the corals? Um so again, um for for me the the biggest um concern or or the priority was I was really happy with my cube and that's really the the center structure here. So what I wanted to do is I have had success. It was about as packed as I could get it and I need I wanted to make sure that I didn't lose that momentum coming over here. So and it um again this was my first tank ever. I started from ground zero. You know I watch your videos. people have been doing for TW. I've been doing it for three years like everybody else. I started with, you know, the the softies, the the torches, the the beginner and and so you can kind of see it from the ground up that that's where everything started and then by the end um again about a year or two ago, I was um ready to start playing around with the the SPS [music] kind of stuff. So So that's really kind of the the center structure. And then when I had this tank at the office, it was mostly um softy dominant. Um the the two rock structures, they've been rearranged, but basically those two rock structures [music] were um more linear layout. And then when we decided to bring it over here, we we kind of separated and then a lot of the the corals actually from the original tank got spread out across the top. And then we've just been slowly filling in everything since then. Gotcha. Yeah. And it's definitely the slow progression of a reefer, right? You kind of start out with some of that stuff you can trust in and it can kind of be lenient with when it comes to [music] the parameters and then working your way up to some of the corals. I see a lot of really nice ones though. We've got a big o pearlberry. We've got the snazberry. You've got all kinds of really amazing corals in here. I love the ganis too. That's something I wanted to ask you was how have you had such great success with some of these Ghanis cuz they look amazing. Yeah. So to tell you the truth, the Ghanis of I've been lucky enough those have been I've been successful with them since the first one I got. So I have not lost um really maybe one of them over time I've lost but that was um probably when the tank was about 6 months old I started um getting the little Ghani garden going and those I've I've had no issues with. So I've been I've been you know one of those I know every tank is different and [music] what succeeds and what doesn't but the Ghanis have been pretty easy for me. I think a testament to aquacultured corals in general, you know, how strong and resilient they've become. Something that I've seen in so many systems is the idea of like creating gardens, right? A hammer garden, a gani garden. What I like about your tank is it's kind of everything mixed together. It's not just one coral segregated by itself or [music] all of the chalicees here, things like that. You do have a mixture of all things all over the place, which I like cuz it kind of creates the madness, the craziness of a real reef. Right. And what I was trying to do too there there was a thought behind that is to since I do it's a very minimalist landscape or aquacape you know I have no bottom so it does get to be a little stark so to try and tie it all in let's say I'll have ganis over here but they'll still be ganis like almost you know abapora on each island. I thought it'd be something that was consciously trying to tie it all in together somehow. [music] You mentioned the scape. I think that's something ultimately a lot of people forget is that you allow the scape to be an area that it was going to let the corals grow [music] and become the realcape, right? The corals ultimately become the structure of the reef. You kind of create the baseline with your rockscape, but you're allowing a lot of these SPS to [music] kind of really create that, you know, extravagant different structure to what the reef's got going on. Now, let's talk about your fish. A huge mixture of fish. Let's talk about with what fish you went with. Um, so, um, first of all, again, when we moved the the tank over, I think we moved it, it's been about six, seven months now. Um, I did have, you know, a gem tang, a purple tang, and I had, um, yellow tangs. When I moved it over, uh, at the time I was dealing also with a I had thrown everything at it and, um, some of the meat corals were not happy, the A cans weren't happy. So, I I really took advantage of I wanted to make sure that I did not have aggression issues [music] moving forward knowing that the tangs were kind of going to be the bosses of the place. Um, I did go ahead. I'm lucky enough that I live down the street from TSA, so I can kind of go over there, you know, pretty frequently and I was able to trade in some of the fish and get back. And then that's when we just went with the the three yellow tanks. And that's kind of where my wife and I wanted to start out with. We always feel like the yellow tangs are it's just a happy looking fish. it it automatically um brightens up the tank. So, we started with those three and then from that starting um the the liar tails were already um with us. So, we have um four females and and one male in there and and they've been kind of there from the beginning. Um and then so I literally was just trying to think color-wise, how can I mix everything? So, then um we started with the the the damsels. We have two different types of damsels in here. Again, nothing really super exotic. They're all aquacultured. So, I also the other thing I've been trying to kind of stay with the aquaculture just because they seem healthier. They um they last longer and I don't have to be dealing with swapping out fish. Then after that, you know, we we have some chromis that came over from the other um tank. And um and then from that, we just kind of start filling in um you know, the what I call the charismatic fish. [music] You know, um having an algae blenny in there. Um you know, that's like the old man of the tank. Um we're always kind of looking for him. We have um two um clown fish. Again, nothing super exotic, just, you know, they're they're black and white and and and they seem to be doing their job. I have a pajama cardinal back there, but he kind of hides in the back. We have a a couple um mandarins in there. One is a a wild mandarin, and then we did get an aquaculture, a small one. [music] Just trying to cover the bases to to see if we could, but but surprising enough, both of them been done really well. So, I'm really pleased with that. And then I think we have a couple fairy rases in there and then we have the melaneras um for [music] you know for pest control kind of thing. I will say sometimes you go and I get to visit these systems and I see some [music] extravagant different fish collections. I really like the fish collection you have here because it's a budget friendly fish selection but at the same time it looks really good too. And you said it off camera you know the negative scape your scape creates it allows the fish kind of to fill all that extra space up as well. And then I saw the pair of angels as well. The angels are beautiful. Some of my favorite here in the system. How long have you had the angels in the tank? Um about a year. So, um I did get um the the male um I think it's a it's a wild male. I you know I got it like that and then I did um I think the other ones and or a um um female. So um I wanted to kind of pair them up. I might um add in a couple more females. That's kind of like the last um thing [music] that I'll probably do cuz again what you were mentioning I was consciously trying uh I knew my my scape was minimalist the whole tank there a lot of negative space I wanted fish that would kind of would was would shaw um so so that's really where I've been trying to get to is that they're active within like you know that that negative area up top again another system showcasing multiple sholing fish species altogether and success is showing let's talk about your cleanup crew I see some brittle stars or the serpent stars hanging out underneath the rock work. What else are we using for some of our cleanup crew? And why so many serpent stars? Um the the serpent stars, they're like the red serpent stars. I just I find them fascinating. I find them beautiful. I mean, we have a couple serpent stars that u I started out with. Um you know, I grew up in the Caribbean. I um I'm in Florida, so I've been Keys. I was always fascinated with picking up a rock and you you see what's under there. So to me, the inverts you honestly like some of the more interesting stuff. So, um [music] the the and the red serpent stars, I'd never seen them red. And once I discovered that they existed, anytime that one pops [music] up, um I would get one. So, I probably have about five of them in there. And then, um usually they'll come out at night or whenever we're feeding all the tentacles come out. Um other than that, pretty much like the the the standard cleanup crew. I try and keep a little bit of everything. I have a variety of snails. Um obvious um and then uh we have emerald crabs. They have a couple pithos crabs in there. So again, I try and maintain, you know, again, I I'm the luxury of being in Orlando. You know, there's like plenty of supplies for reefing um supplies here in Orlando. So I can always go over to the store and pick up, you know, a few things [music] if um if I see something dies off. So I have a little mix of it. I have the the blue leg um hermit crabs and and then again like a mixture of all the snails. You mentioned the cube used to have the reborn media down on the bottom of the system. You said it worked for that tank. [music] this system, we're going bare bottom. Was there a reason you went with the bare bottom on this tank in particular? Yeah. So, actually on this tank and it's um older iteration at the office, it was um I did have reborn again since I had two tanks and that this one wasn't getting the love that it deserved. Um it it was kind of um building [music] up a little detritus. I also did not have the flow that I have on this now. Like now this is, you know, I I I cranked up the flow. Um, [music] so it it just aesthetically it did it it wasn't um looking the way that I wanted to. So [music] um I I removed all the reborn. Now when I did that though, I did not anticipate that all of a sudden the the parameters of the tank um really the the the nitrates [music] spiked and that was not something I I had been anticipating and that was right before we were going to merge the tank. So we we spent probably about 3 months trying to you know with water changes and trying to stabilize it. so I could get both parameters matching so then we could merge the tank. So that was um that was something I did not anticipate and it it did take us about 3 months to to kind of get it back in line. Mentioned the flow. Let's start talking about some of the pieces of equipment that are making this tank run. We'll start from the top with our lights and kind of work our way into the tank. Okay. Um so up top we have an ATI straighten flex. So the flex is um I wanted um again something very clean looking that to me the aesthetics really mattered of the equipment just as much as the tank. So um the the straight and flex to me was a perfect solution. It fit perfectly over the tank. I don't have to have a lot of um wires. Um on the the two motors we have the AI orbits in the back um the two gyros and then over in the corner in the back I have an MP40. So, which um clears out the detritus and it it it's usually running about 60% and then um around lunch it will kick up to 90% and it clears out all the detritus on the on the bottom. Gotcha. And then up top hooking to the side of the tank we've got a plank auto feeder. How are you liking the plank? I love the plank. I've had that since day one for me. I travel a lot for work so the the feeding was um that that was the first automation that I did, right? Um and so I've had that since day one. Um, it's pretty easy. Now, I have a pretty complex setup automation, but I I started I had like a Amazon power strip that I could schedule like off of my phone. So, I was able to kind of do automated feedings and and so it allowed me also to control the the nutrient um in the water pretty easily cuz if they're high, I could turn it down a little bit and I could do it all from my phone. Right. And as we work our way down into the sump space, what do we have for nutrient control and other things down in the sump? What's the brain of the system? Okay, so I'm um I'm pretty much hydros everything. So I have some the XP um 10 uh X XP8 um and then we do have a couple dosers in there for the water changes. So we have auto water changes in there as well. So on the sump we have the Red Sea uh roller mat. Had that since day one on the original tank. And then we have the um the the skimmer in the back. Love that skimmer. It's uh very easy to dial in. It's um you know the cause and effect of it is pretty nice. So I've been really happy with that. Um I do have a little you know my little frag area and then I have some um algae in there with a refuggeium to to help with the um phosphates. And then the reactor you just running carbon in that? Um I sometimes uh it does have GFO in there and based off of whatever um you know wherever the parameters I can dial it up or down. What's nice with the K down in there [music] um you do have the manifold that comes automatically with with two different um extenders on it. So I have a UV um light here and then the other manifolds going into the reactor. Is the UV running 24/7? Do you have that going 247? It is. Yeah. I have not um adjusted much of that. haven't really even got that far. Have you seen that's been beneficial for both fish health and for like micro algae, things like that? Uh I I can tell you from from the UV um perspective, we're pretty stable with the fish. So, um again, you're always, you know, if you have 30 odd fish, you know, you're going to have some issues, but um fish stability I've been really pleased with. I can only attribute that to to the UV. And then for the the AI light, um it, you know, refuge gym always helps. So, and it also gives me a little bit grow out area here for I have some zoatiles and some mushrooms down there that allows me to keep the thecape clean while I, you know, this is where I grow out stuff. Maintenance-wise, I know we've talked about the idea of trying to create a system that is, you know, off or your hands off, right? But what does maintenance look like for you when we're talking about a system that we're trying to ultimately automate as much as possible? Sure. So the I mentioned the water changes are automated. I do three gallons a day. Um so so roughly about 12% per [music] per week is that's coming out of it and that turns on automatically in the morning around 6:00. Um I have the the hydros for for dosing, you know, um you know, part A, part B, and and again that's happening right after the water change finishes. Um, from a to try to standpoint, honestly, the the system I've been really pleased with how dialed in it is. Um, I do have a schedule where all the pumps will kick on overdrive right around noon and it'll wash out all the any detritis. You can see right there, I get a little bit. That's about as much as I ever get. So, so from from that standpoint, it it's pretty low maintenance. The rest of it is is your typical stuff. You know, I do like to keep [music] the back clean. So, you know, twice a month I'll I'll scrape that and then the glass. Honestly, I enjoy cleaning the glass every day. That's my little bit of zen. I like the idea of basically putting your pumps into overdrive for How long is that period? Is it like a 10-minute period? I I do have it for about 45 minutes. Okay. So, it's 45 minutes and then it pretty much ramps it up to a high high output of flow. Gotcha. So, you're basically trying to kick over as much as possible, get it down. Exactly. Yeah. cuz I will say for it being bare bottom definitely extremely clean. You you know like you said you have a couple spots here and there. The other thing I'm curious about with it being bare bottom are you fighting corals off from being on the bottom? Do you want something on the um if you look most of the corals I use these little frag rocks to um so I'm always playing around with the composition and you know they start touching each other. So most of them are not um they have not grown in yet. So that's part of it. two. I do want them to be able to be removed so I can kind of um keep on adjusting without having to really get into um moving the a the rockcape. The only ones that really have made it so far down are these um zoas. And again, I do kind of trim them up to to keep them up. I have made a conscious decision just from an aesthetic standpoint that I don't want the corals going down there. I like this starkness. I know it's not for everybody, but for me, I do like the the white bottom and how it contrasts with the the the rocks and and [music] the corals. What are we feeding the tank when it comes to our fish and our corals? What are we actively feeding these guys? Um, so, uh, I do have I think it's vitalis pellets and, uh, I have some algae pellets in there. And again, that that goes off about, you know, cuz I had the antheus and whatnot. Um, I wanted it feeds five times a day. In the morning, I'll feed frozen usually a little bit, you know, I'll I'll mix up the cubes every day just to make sure that they're getting something different. Um, with the corals I I feed um I believe it's um benipetss. So I I'll feed that um a couple times a week and then I also have oyster feast that I'll feed a couple times a week. And then for the dosing, what products are we actively dosing? Obviously we have the automatic water changes happening. What salt is it by the way? Um Aqua Force. Aqua Force. Okay. And then what are we actively dosing on top of? So I have the the Brightwell A and B is is what I'm I'm doing. And then I use um Aqua 4 is for for the um micro elements. I use Aqua 4 as component [music] 1 2 3. I'm curious to hear now with the automation what are the goal numbers for this system? Yeah. So um alkalinity is right around 8.5. My my calcium's always running around the the 420 450 number. The the phosphates they'll they'll bounce around from 0.02 to 0.12 something like that. Honestly, I haven't seen much change in the tank if it goes one way or another. And that's when I I hit the um the reactor um [music] just to to kind of keep it somewhere in the middle of that. And that magnesium never seems to be much of a factor for me. So, I don't monitor that um very often. Just hasn't been a um anything to worry about. Kind of hard to see off camera. People won't be able to see it, but there is some large windows, right, with a lot of natural light. Have you seen the natural light causing any extra issues for algae or things like that? Um, again, I wouldn't know anything different because my this is how I started. It's always been in this room, but but no, I don't. Um, I do have a couple buddies that, you know, help out with the tank. They live down the street [music] and um I don't, you know, I help them with their I don't think I have any more algae than they do. Um, so so no, I have not and and yeah, as you mentioned, it's fairly large windows, lots of natural light in here. have not really had. I think like anything else, once you get it dialed in, you're just adjusting [music] it to whatever situation the tank is in. You know, when I started reefing, it felt like finding information was kind of hard. Getting the information you wanted was a little difficult. You know, starting reefing back in the '9s at this point. Today's day and age, there's so much information out there. It's almost at this point where it's like over saturation of, you know, information. What did you do being a new reefke keeper to try and find the right information that's led to success that you have here today? Yeah. Um, chiefly, so going back three years ago, maybe three and a half years ago when I really started delving into research, [music] it was mostly YouTube, you know, um, there was BRS, there was and you guys, there was, you know, a couple other channels that, um, [music] and I just, you know, would come home at night and just watch videos and and and really that's I didn't have any books on it. I you know I know back in the day that's kind of how you got the information. [music] I wasn't really on the forums but I watched lots of YouTube videos. Nowadays um again 3 years from that what for me and I know not everybody um subscribe but to me AI is I do everything via AI. The the motor schedule that was AI suggestion [music] to to do it at that the mo the motor placement was AI. Um, even the Rycape, I would take pictures of it, upload it to AI and say, "Give me feedback." And it would let me know, you know, it's amazing nowadays what the resources are. And I know, you know, two years ago that wasn't the situation, but now, um, you know, I'm I'm in tech world. I have to deal with AI every day. And I've really leaned into it with that. and and really the level of automation, the det, you know, I have one motor that's um you know, they they reverse each other at at noon, stuff like that that I would have never thought of cuz I'm more kind of like a set it and forget it kind of guy, but they'll actually reverse direction at noon, but that was like an AI suggestion. The um the the clearing out the detritus for a 45minut period at the setting, all AI. Um, again, it's just another resource like anything else, but it certainly helps um, you know, when you're getting into this and you're trying to kind of tweak everything [music] and get it dialed in as as best as you can. Now that you've had the success with the tank, are you starting to see opportunities where you're like, I might want to swap this out, put something else in, a new coral. Do you have any dream fish or things that you'd like to get into the system right now? Yeah. Um, fish wise, I've been really happy with the fish selection. Um, again, it's stable. There there's movement, there's color. I'll probably get uh a couple more of the swallow tails. Um just a couple more females just again to to get a little bit more of that that that herm kind of look. Um and and coral wise, yeah, as as things, you know, the especially mostly the um the acros as as things grow out and if if I I wanted to make sure first to fill out the the scape, but now as they're starting to get a little bit bigger and then organically, I swap them out for maybe something a little bit, you know, more nuance and colors or um but honestly, I've been I'm I'm really happy where where I'm at. It's It's not like there's anything that I feel that is missing or that I'm yearning for. I ask every single person whenever I come into their home, again, thank you for letting us come by. This has been a lot of fun checking out this system. You've been keeping reef tanks for 3 years now. That is a long period of time when it comes to reef tanks [music] because a lot of people get in and out within a year. What has allowed you, what's a piece of advice you would give someone to be able to maintain and then create a system? Um, for me it was almost religion the the 10% water change from day one. Um, again I have, you know, couple friends that we've set up their tanks in the meantime. It just it's religion. 10% water change and it helps, you know, especially when you're setting it up. You don't have to be dosing. Um, at least it it's a it's a cheat code for for um keeping it going. Since then, honestly, I keep on thinking AI is just an amazing tool now for something as, you know, very niche as this is [music] using whatever resources you have, but I think most of us now have phones that have AI on it. And it, you know, [music] you the fact that now you can just ask it a question about your dosing, your parameters, [music] um, why is this happening, what are some, you know, setup issues. Uh, I really think that that that's kind of like the the great new [music] resource that uh that people maybe aren't calculating yet. Well, thank you again for letting us stop by, talk [music] about your system, learn more about how we're integrating more and more technology in today's reefing age. If you guys have hung out all the way till the end, I want to say thank you guys so much. If you have any questions for Antonio about his system that we didn't talk about in today's video, feel free drop them down in the comments below. Thank you guys so much for watching. Be [music] sure to like, subscribe, and hit the bell notification so you guys don't miss out on any future uploads. [music]