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Mike's Dream Build
- Thread starter trivan
- Start date
Never done it, but seems enough people on RC are, and everyone seems pleased. When I was running it normally eg. pushing water out, it would always get clogged after some time. Giving the size of my tank and the size that the frags I'll start with, I probably won't see the benefits for a while. I've been hunting ebay for awhile and I finally was able to find one for a reasonable price. Seems everyone on RC are driving the prices up on these units.
Thanks, although right after I posted this, a square fell off. I used JB Weld on it, I'm thinking I have some oil on the acrylic. I'll have to sand it down and try again.
+1 I have to make one for my tank.
Make sure you get the heavy duty stuff, the ones normally carried at HD are the thinner ones and don't hold up.
I started my cycle Feb 16th so with that going, I was able set up a QT tank and I took a trip to AP last weekend. I picked up a fish I always wanted:
The fish is doing well, eating and swimming around so I started to reduce the water salinity yesterday to to do a hypo treatment on it and then probably 2 weeks of Prazi.
I also set up a QT for frags and new coral:
I picked up aiptasia from either the frag swap or a frag someone gave me recently while I had the temporary set up. In 4 years, I've never had aiptasia, and now I'm kicking myself for accepting the frags and buys a few at the swap. So the plan is to keep what ever survived in QT for a few weeks to see if any develop, seek and destroy till all are gone. The way this works is I have 2 liter meters, 1 pump pulling DT water to the Frag QT, another feeding new SW to the DT, and then another from the frag to the slop sink. This is similar to what I had with my cube for auto water changing.
The command center:
My skimmer, CaRx and reactor on line.
I have a clean up crew on order for delivery on Friday, and my Natureef reactor bathing in a vinegar solution as I don't want to chance aiptasia in the reactor so I'm starting fresh.
The fish is doing well, eating and swimming around so I started to reduce the water salinity yesterday to to do a hypo treatment on it and then probably 2 weeks of Prazi.
I also set up a QT for frags and new coral:
I picked up aiptasia from either the frag swap or a frag someone gave me recently while I had the temporary set up. In 4 years, I've never had aiptasia, and now I'm kicking myself for accepting the frags and buys a few at the swap. So the plan is to keep what ever survived in QT for a few weeks to see if any develop, seek and destroy till all are gone. The way this works is I have 2 liter meters, 1 pump pulling DT water to the Frag QT, another feeding new SW to the DT, and then another from the frag to the slop sink. This is similar to what I had with my cube for auto water changing.
The command center:
My skimmer, CaRx and reactor on line.
I have a clean up crew on order for delivery on Friday, and my Natureef reactor bathing in a vinegar solution as I don't want to chance aiptasia in the reactor so I'm starting fresh.
Very good Michael, beautiful fish.I started my cycle Feb 16th so with that going, I was able set up a QT tank and I took a trip to AP last weekend. I picked up a fish I always wanted:
The fish is doing well, eating and swimming around so I started to reduce the water salinity yesterday to to do a hypo treatment on it and then probably 2 weeks of Prazi.
I also set up a QT for frags and new coral:
I picked up aiptasia from either the frag swap or a frag someone gave me recently while I had the temporary set up. In 4 years, I've never had aiptasia, and now I'm kicking myself for accepting the frags and buys a few at the swap. So the plan is to keep what ever survived in QT for a few weeks to see if any develop, seek and destroy till all are gone. The way this works is I have 2 liter meters, 1 pump pulling DT water to the Frag QT, another feeding new SW to the DT, and then another from the frag to the slop sink. This is similar to what I had with my cube for auto water changing.
The command center:
My skimmer, CaRx and reactor on line.
I have a clean up crew on order for delivery on Friday, and my Natureef reactor bathing in a vinegar solution as I don't want to chance aiptasia in the reactor so I'm starting fresh.
So it sad to report that the Helfrichi didn't make it. The fish was in it 4th week of QT and 3rd in hypo. No other medication. 2 days ago, it stopped eating and was hiding all day. This morning I found it dead. I tested all the parameters and ammonia was reading zero using a Red Sea test kit.
What's the best way to clean out a QT? Weak Chlorine solution? I'll have to clean it up and start a filter and for the bio load again.
What's the best way to clean out a QT? Weak Chlorine solution? I'll have to clean it up and start a filter and for the bio load again.
On the DT side things are moving along, Dino and algea are starting to show up, the fish from the 45 are having a blast with the extra space. So just need to continue to let the DT run it course through the new tank cycle. Last week, I took a trip to AO, and purchased some sand shifters, a few big nassarius snails and a brittle star. I also ordered some pods from ebay to seed the tank, I havien't seen the fish go after them so Im hoping a heathly populate develops. I've also put some test LPS in. Frags from the green/purple hammer, 2 chalices and a basic green Acan. They too are doing well.
I am experimenting with the apex auto feeder using the sump pump as the delivery means. Inital tests are pretty good, when the food gets dropped into the sump, it spreads out enough so the pump only is pulling a few at a time, I was worried that it would suck too much and potential cause issue down the road. I'll keep monitoring it, and will probably take the pump off in a couple of weeks to check for build up. I'm working on the timing, when the feeder goes on, I shut down the manifold and the skimmer for 4 mins. Most of the time this is enough for all the food to get delivered before the pumps kick on and suck up the rest, still adjusting to get the best timing for the sequence.
I am experimenting with the apex auto feeder using the sump pump as the delivery means. Inital tests are pretty good, when the food gets dropped into the sump, it spreads out enough so the pump only is pulling a few at a time, I was worried that it would suck too much and potential cause issue down the road. I'll keep monitoring it, and will probably take the pump off in a couple of weeks to check for build up. I'm working on the timing, when the feeder goes on, I shut down the manifold and the skimmer for 4 mins. Most of the time this is enough for all the food to get delivered before the pumps kick on and suck up the rest, still adjusting to get the best timing for the sequence.
What level was the hypo? Its seems he got ill right after that...
hypo was at 1.009 as recommended. This was the end of the third week and it was fine until 2 days ago, so not sure what to conclude from that. I guess that is why one QTs. If it was some illness better in the QT the DT. I put some bleach in the tank and will dry it out for a few days before starting up again.
Have you calibrated your refractometer recently? If its off you could of gone too low.
Yeah, I thought of that, I'm using a Milwaukee Digital Refractometer, it's been pretty spot on, but I guess there is a chance that it is off. I did read that going to 1.008 would be too low. I would have thought the fish would have shown signs the first few days, but it's been 21 days since hitting 1.009 and I'm using a Tunze ATO to keep the water level. I lower the salinity over the course of 5 days.
Thanks for the comments and thoughts.
Thanks for the comments and thoughts.
I haven't done much to the tank in the past few weeks as the dreading algae phase has started. I don't have a lot on the rock, and I believe its because I used the real reef rock, but the sand is getting covered.
What is the general opinion here? Let it be as it will soon disappear or vacuum up as much as possible? I have a cuc in, but they aren't touching the hair algae growing on the sand.
What is the general opinion here? Let it be as it will soon disappear or vacuum up as much as possible? I have a cuc in, but they aren't touching the hair algae growing on the sand.
Wow. It's been over 1 year. So I guess a time for an update. It's been a long and very slow progress. I've been traveling almost weekly for the past year. While the tank has not suffered it hasn't been thriving like it should have. I've been focused on everything a bit more these past few weeks. Here is where I'm now....
Equipment:
A lot is the same but added a refugium from Lifereef:
I've dialed in my CxRx as my coral is finally starting to grow. I've found I was playing around with what I had too much and my Alk was never stable enough. Finally I started the process to dialing in the MasterFlex pump along with the Co2 Reg. Now, the Ph in the reactor never changes. To those looking for stability I highly recommend this set up.
I initial had the Kessil 360's over the tank, I decided to switch to T5. I went with the Giesemann Aurora T5 LED hybrid. It's a beautiful light and the build quality is outstanding.
I also switched from the Tunze pumps to the MP40's, while the Tunze were very good. The newer quiet drives noise levels were a lot lower I had to switch. I like the silence in the living room at night when relaxing in front of the tank.
I just added a AvastMarine Barrel Tender to my Ro/DI tank, so I'll never had to fill the RO/DI again. The Solenoid they use is a common 12 volt, and I have a heavy duty one, which I will be connecting as a 2nd fail safe to prevent any future issues.
I'll be traveling a bit less in the new year, so I hope I can get this tank to the state where it's filled with SPS as it was designed and planned to be.
Equipment:
A lot is the same but added a refugium from Lifereef:
I've dialed in my CxRx as my coral is finally starting to grow. I've found I was playing around with what I had too much and my Alk was never stable enough. Finally I started the process to dialing in the MasterFlex pump along with the Co2 Reg. Now, the Ph in the reactor never changes. To those looking for stability I highly recommend this set up.
I initial had the Kessil 360's over the tank, I decided to switch to T5. I went with the Giesemann Aurora T5 LED hybrid. It's a beautiful light and the build quality is outstanding.
I also switched from the Tunze pumps to the MP40's, while the Tunze were very good. The newer quiet drives noise levels were a lot lower I had to switch. I like the silence in the living room at night when relaxing in front of the tank.
I just added a AvastMarine Barrel Tender to my Ro/DI tank, so I'll never had to fill the RO/DI again. The Solenoid they use is a common 12 volt, and I have a heavy duty one, which I will be connecting as a 2nd fail safe to prevent any future issues.
I'll be traveling a bit less in the new year, so I hope I can get this tank to the state where it's filled with SPS as it was designed and planned to be.