My 110 Mixed Reef

[Anselth]

So, I figured I'd start my TOTT by just telling the story of how I got to where I am today, and give some basics about my tank.

When I moved into my last apartment, I set up a 50 gallon reef. About a year or so later, I upgraded to a 70 gallon Oceanic, and purchased the 110, setting it up in my room in the apartment. The 110 went well for about a year, when suddenly everything crashed. Absolutely heartbroken, I left it circulating but never added anything new to the tank. The 70 kept chugging along until I bought my home. Realizing it would be much more difficult to move and set the 70 back up, I instead emptied the 110 and moved it to the house in advance of moving us in. I set up a fish room behind the wall where the tank resides and plumbed the tank to two rubbermaid stock tanks. I mixed up brand new salt water, added rock and sand, and let it sit for a week to make sure the parameters were right. Then I moved everyone in from the 70 and broke that down. I plan someday to set that back up in my office upstairs.

Everything went well at first. I had removed all of the old sand and never re-introduced it due to concerns over the potential for chemicals to leach from the old DSB. I had an extremely light bioload (bicolor blenny, blue-spotted jawfish, christmas wrasse, and coral beauty angel) and feed only every other day. But eventually my nitrates got out of whack and I could not get them to come down. No matter what i did, things started to die - corals that I'd had since the 50 receded and I couldn't save them, no matter how much or how often I changed my water. Cyano started cropping up, and then I couldn't keep up with it. Manual removal just wasn't doing it. And it made me lose heart. I basically gave up on tank maintenance. I'd make cursory attempts and clearing out the cyano, but it had me whipped.

Then my fiancee suggested the unthinkable: "Why don't we break the tank down?"

And it made me realize something. I loved keeping a reef tank. The rough time over the past year or so hadn't changed that. No, I didn't want to break it down. I wanted to save it. I wanted to fix what was wrong. I bought a whiteboard and use it to track what I did, when I did it, and when I need to do it again. All of my parameters are there. What I'm dosing, how much. When was my last water change? When am I doing it again? Now it's one of the first things I look at when I get home, to make sure there's nothing due today. And I have hope. It's already looking better. It'll take time and effort to get to where I want it to be, but it's going to be worth it.

So some specifics:

Display: 110 Gallon Oceanic on DIY cabinet
Lighting: 2 54w T-5 actinic bulbs and 2 250w metal halides (14,000K Phoenix bulbs)
Filtration: 100 gallon sump and 70 gallon refugium. Octopus NW-200 protein skimmer (Way under-rated for the system, on the short list for replacement). 2 phosban reactors running phosban and carbon.
Water movement: Lifereef dual-tube overflow with Mag 9.5 return. Additional flow provided by 2 Koralia Evolotion 1050s and a maxijet with the high-flow mod.
Control: Aquacontroller III

Parameters:
Temp: 78-80 degrees F
Salinity 1.025
PH: 8.1-8.3
Nitrate: 40
Phosphate: <0.25 (Just got a Salifert kit to narrow this result)
Calcium: 420
Alk:8-9dkH
Mg: 1440

So that's the story. I'll post a bit more this weekend, including some photos of the current setup and inhabitants.

 

[mori30]

well welcome. and sorry to heard bout your issues, and good luck, keep on marching brotha.

 

[jgraz]

Welcome to the boards and sorry to hear about your problems. A concern if I may point it out is the amount of flow you have going on. For that size tank I would think you would want much more flow then the 2 koralias and a maxi jet could ever hope to add.

 

[Anselth]

All told I'm pushing about 4000 gph (2100 for the korallias, 1300 for the MJ, and ~650 for the return pump), though the korlias are on timers. As it is, the fish had trouble getting used to the flow. I also have trouble finding areas where my LPS are happy, and don't close up because there's too much directed at them.

 

[downbeach]

Welcome aboard. It looks like you're on the right track. I'll assume you've got a decent RO/DI unit. I would also consider going to a Hanna checker for the PO4, all chemical test kits for that aren't really accurate enough for reef systems, especially if you intend to/have SPS.

 

[mnat]

How much live rock do you have and was it cycled when you added it to the tank?

 

[Anselth]

How much live rock do you have and was it cycled when you added it to the tank?

I have about 300 lbs of live rock, all of the rock I had in both systems. The rock from the 70 came from another reefer's system breakdown and went through a short cycle in the 50. The rock from the 110 originally cycled for about 4 months while I finished my tour in Afghanistan - I kept the water heated with circulation while the tank was fallow.

 

[Anselth]

I have a 75 gpd RO/DI. I just took a look at the hanna checker, I could have sworn I saw it for sale at around 300, which is why I just picked up a salifert kit instead. I know they have a SW nitrate one planned but looks like it's not in development yet. Maybe because it's more difficult, but you'd think that would be the one with the most interest to SW folks. Color based kits are too inaccurate.

 

[downbeach]

I was thinking of something around the $50 range:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store.../hanna-checker-phosphate-po4-colorimeter.html

 

[Anselth]

Yeah, just ordered one. I have no idea what I was looking at, I can't find it again.

 

[mnat]

Hannah has a super duper phosphate meter that does cost around $300 and then they came out with the pocket checkers not too long ago. The pocket checkers have become much more popular for obvious reasons.

 

[Anselth]

So, here is where my system stands today:

First, a FTS (Click for full sized photos):



As you can see, I still haven't beaten the cyano. However, it's not coming back anywhere as strongly as it was before.

I have three fish, a Christmas Wrasse, a Coral Beauty Angel that we've had for going on five years now, and a Blue Spotted Jawfish:



I don't have too many surviving corals:

My hammer started out as a single head:


This is an unknown gorgonian:


A few photos of my fish room:





In the second photo, there's a pair of phosban reactors running phosban and carbon. I have a third, which I am going to set up tonight on a separate pump to double the phosban contact in the tank.

As you can see, there is quite a bit of live rock in the one tub. Each tub is fed by one of the overflow lines, and water flows back into the skimmer/return section. I'm considering t-ing off the flow into the return/skimmer section and plumbing in a brute trashcan or two with flow entering from the bottom of one, flowing out of the top, then into the bottom of the second, out the top and into the return section, and moving the live rock and chaeto (in the eggcrate basket) into this. I'll restrict the flow into this area with a ball valve. I would then move the skimmer into the section that houses the LR to get it further from the return pump. Problem is, I'm not sure if I can safely plumb two curved tanks...

Anyhow, following my last water change, my parameters are:

P: <0.25. Hanna checker is on the way, so hopefully this weekend i will have a better value.
NO3: Somewhere between 20 and 40. I've been checking almost once daily. It's hard to be positive. Going to try a salifert kit.
Ca: 420
KH: 9dKH
Mg: 1340

 

[mnat]

When you are looking at the photos in photobucket, click on the lowest tag (IMG code) and paste that here. Like so:

 

[mnat]

Ok back to the sleuthing for the tank to try and figure this out.

The rocks and sand: You said the tank crashed and you kept the rocks wet and circulated during this time. They could be leaching phosphates or nitrates from the crash if there was a cycle. Take some of the rock out and put it in freshly made salt water, let it sit over night and see if any phosphates or nitrates leached out (testing before and after the rocks). Also where did you get the new sand from, since you got rid of your old DSB?

Skimmer: Always helps to have a great skimmer.

Phosban and carbon: What types are you using? Have you tested the water directly coming out of the phosban reactor? This way you can see what sort of impact (if any) it is having. Some people have gotten bad GFO and even though they keep replacing it is never brings down the phosphates. Also how much are you running and how often are you changing it?

Lights: How long are your lights running for? How old are the bulbs? Lighting and especially the MH can lead to cyano.

Temp: The only time I had a cyano outbreak was when the temp in a tank got too hot. I know you said 78-80 but how and when are you measuring that?

If all else fails you can look at some red slime remover. I know a bunch of people on here have used it with great success and did not have any come back. Just make sure you read the directions and go from there.

Love the BSJ by the way.

 

[Anselth]

Ok back to the sleuthing for the tank to try and figure this out.

The rocks and sand: You said the tank crashed and you kept the rocks wet and circulated during this time. They could be leaching phosphates or nitrates from the crash if there was a cycle. Take some of the rock out and put it in freshly made salt water, let it sit over night and see if any phosphates or nitrates leached out (testing before and after the rocks). Also where did you get the new sand from, since you got rid of your old DSB?

Skimmer: Always helps to have a great skimmer.

Phosban and carbon: What types are you using? Have you tested the water directly coming out of the phosban reactor? This way you can see what sort of impact (if any) it is having. Some people have gotten bad GFO and even though they keep replacing it is never brings down the phosphates. Also how much are you running and how often are you changing it?

Lights: How long are your lights running for? How old are the bulbs? Lighting and especially the MH can lead to cyano.

Temp: The only time I had a cyano outbreak was when the temp in a tank got too hot. I know you said 78-80 but how and when are you measuring that?

If all else fails you can look at some red slime remover. I know a bunch of people on here have used it with great success and did not have any come back. Just make sure you read the directions and go from there.

Love the BSJ by the way.

I don't think there's anything leaching out of the rock, but I will try that test this weekend. When I first set the tank up in the house, I had all the rock in new salt water for a week or two prior to moving the inhabitants of the 70 over, specifically because I wanted to make sure that there wasn't an issue. It tested out at 0/0.

I have a new cone skimmer coming this week (with the Hanna checker)

I have not tried testing the phosban reactor effluent. I change it out every other week. I was running the two reactors inline, then removed one. I just started up the second one on its own feed, we'll see if maybe I didn't have enough media.

Halides run for 5 hours, T5s for 12. I'm thinking I need to cut them back some.

I measure the temp using the probe for the aquacontroller. I check whenever I work on the tank, especially when the basement feels warm. This afternoon it was up to 78.7 at about 5. I haven't seen it over 79.2 or so yet this summer.

Hopefully it won't come to the red slime remover. I don't trust things that are meant to kill anything being injected into a closed system.

I love the BSJF as well. He's the second, the first survived the crash, only to manage to find a way to jump out of my 70 while I was on vacation. I've had this one for about 18 months, which I think is getting close to their natural lifespan.

 

[Anselth]

Well, might have found some of the problem. Ordered a new tds meter for my RO/DI, find out that it's reading 8 in, 4 out. Changed the filters and it's reading 9/0. Tested my ATO (Salifert kit) and phosphates came back at 0.0, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't organics breaking down later. Dumped the ATO and am running new RO/DI into it now.

On a more exciting note, I was just notified that I won BRS's order refund contest for this week. The order was only about 40 bucks, hole saws and some uniseals, but I'll take it!

 

[Anselth]

Well, over the past week, I haven't seen much cyano growth. It hasn't been going away, but not really advancing, either, which is a pleasant change. Did my third 60 gallon water change in as many weeks this morning, this evening Phosphates were at 0.0 with the Hanna checker. Nitrates are still hovering around 20.

Also replaced my skimmer today with a Aquamaxx Cone 2. It's breaking in right now, so I really can't say how its performance compares yet. A few observations about it, though:

Constructionwise, it seems sturdy, though it's smaller and lighter than the Octopus, yet it's rated for almost twice the volume.

One thing I'm not to fond of is that the pump is only connected to the skimmer by a piece of flex tubing, not hard plumbing.

The quick adjust valve is very easy to operate. There's no water coming out of the top of the riser tube, so the skimmer runs very quiet.

The Sicce pump itself is also quite quiet. and it draws about a third of the wattage the Octopus did.

I hope the new skimmer is able to outperform the old one.

 

[Anselth]

Things change a lot in 7 years. I was having some issues with the sump system, it never really worked the way I wanted it to. I suppose things were more stable, but I feel like I ended up making things more complicated than necessary, and ended up with a lot of frustration. I also was dealing with a leak in the connector between the two tubs that I could never get sealed correctly. So around November, I cut a hole in my basement wall, transferred my livestock into my old 50 gallon, and moved the 110. This resulted in a much quieter room, a simpler sump setup, and what I think came out as a pretty sharp looking built in.



The old canopy had started to rot around the bottom of the doors, so the face framing and doors are white PVC boards and panels.



Full tank shot.

Just a few quick photos off my phone of the residents:



The newest, a pair of Perculas. I need to find them a home.



Linear blenny



Pyramid butterfly and Kole tang. There's a Fridman's pseudochromis in there too, but he is tough to catch.



And our Coral Beauty. She's been with us for almost 13 years now. She had been hiding quite a bit prior to the move, but is now out and about all the time.