1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures

[Cuzit]

Epic ,... Congratulations... Awsome .... You deserve a couple of these...����������

 

[Socaltoaz]

Thanks all for following f along. Greatly appreciate the kinds words. Just a bit of an update, I orders 3 marine pure blocks. Will add to the sump to supplement all the love rock I have. Can't hurt right.

I'm pretty much done stocking fish- have some fish that are growing fast and I dont want to add too many and then the fish grow and get too crowded. I have two nasos, two hippos and a couple of angels that have the potential to be over a foot long each.

I am going to add more coral. Going to my local trusted fish dude and he has had a bunch of stuff In quarantine for a few weeks for me. Going to check out what he has so I can add a few more large colonies to the tank.

Will post photos later.

 

[Socaltoaz]

Latest addition- nice big piece of bubble coral. Lights are off in the tank when I took this photo.

 

[Socaltoaz]

I'm going to change up my lighting schedule. Mix it up a bit. Right now I have my lights on about 7 hours. I'm going to do a 3 day "cleanse" of the tank and keep all lights off. I still have natural sunlight coming in but my hope is to get rid of a bit of hair algae and small diatoms that have popped up. It's minor but have been reading up on 3 day dark periods in the tank leading to continued growth and reduction of Unwanted algae. I'll post some photos- here is baseline: will document a couple of spots and see what happens. I'm also going to up my water change to 8 gallons a day for the next week- I'm currently at 4. Filter socks were just cleaned and carbon and GFO has been changed.

 

[Socaltoaz]

As you can see nothing major but have some green algae on the rocks and sand/coral bed is coated with green stuff. Let's see how the cleanse goes.

 

[oldbones]

Hmm, what's the flow like in those lower areas of the tank?

 

[Socaltoaz]

I've got 4 massive tunzes strategically placed to cover the whole tank- also 2 230 watt return pumps running about 50%. Off the top of my head total flow about 25k gph

 

[Socaltoaz]

Project for the day- I hooked up the drain with the waste water from my Reef Genesis to go instead directly into the drain, I hooked it up so that it would wash out my skimmer cup. That along with the the wiper I have inside the skimmer means my skimmer is auto cleaning.

 

[Socaltoaz]

Here is a video of the process of how I keep my skimmer head clean. I'll probably do something more permanent and cleaner with the tubing but this works great for now. https://vimeo.com/157182319

 

[n8rad]

over time you're going to have a problem with skimmer performance since you're blocking the air on top of the lid. Not to mention you will have salt creep in those lines if you dont keep them clean (another manual operation we try to avoid) ;-)

 

[dave.m]

I think you've got a pretty good idea for the skimmer wash-down, but as your equipment and hoses are all new you haven't seen any wear and tear on them yet. I would seriously suggest you get hose clamps on all those Genesis and hose connections. Make sure the hose clamps are marked "SS" for "Stainless Steel" so they won't quickly rust out on you.

Dave.M

 

[Socaltoaz]

over time you're going to have a problem with skimmer performance since you're blocking the air on top of the lid. Not to mention you will have salt creep in those lines if you dont keep them clean (another manual operation we try to avoid) ;-)

Not worried about it. Regular maintenance will be necessary no doubt to keep things clean and skimmer performance is doing fine.

I think you've got a pretty good idea for the skimmer wash-down, but as your equipment and hoses are all new you haven't seen any wear and tear on them yet. I would seriously suggest you get hose clamps on all those Genesis and hose connections. Make sure the hose clamps are marked "SS" for "Stainless Steel" so they won't quickly rust out on you.

Dave.M

Dave- my plan now that I have everything "roughed" in is to call in a plumber- and redo all the cables, wires professionally. Ill see what I can do to clean up everything and make sure nothing gets loose. But so far all the automation is working just fine.

 

[Ricardo18]

I like the execution of your skimmer cup cleaner.Hate to be a Debbie Downer,but are you not concerned about having your skimmer empty unrestricted into the house drain? Occasionally, skimmers will go skim crazy
( inevitable)and will result in the sump level dropping and the ATO re-filling with fresh water.
...just say'n

 

[Socaltoaz]

I wasnt concerned but I guess I should be. I'll plan on a float switch to shut off the skimmer pumps if water level drops. So far the clean out is working great. The waste water for my rodi is washing the skimmer as is the water changes from the reef Genesis.

 

[Socaltoaz]

So I just checked my Storm auto top off system- if the Storm fails to get the water level filled up after two consecutive 30 second top off cycles, it shuts down. So the tank won't fill up with top off indefinitely. Regardless, a float switch to shut off the skimmer pumps is not a bad idea and something I have planned for the future.

 

[Socaltoaz]

Man- this day just keeps getting better and better. Look what arrived via Amazon Prime:

 

[Ricardo18]

good choice!..I use this in my sump and in my QT tank to maintain biology.

FYI,
I have my skimmer cup empty into a Reef Octopus Waste Collector (the big boy)..works like a charm.

 

[Socaltoaz]

Picture?

 

[Socaltoaz]

Marine pure blocks are in the sump. Probably overkill but it can't hurt:

 

[stevenmiller27]

Not at all.. just about right. I've got 4 of the thinner blocks in 150 bar bottom prop tank. 20 fish and heavy feeding with levels always stable.. not recommending but I went a month with out checking parameters due to hectic work schedule and checked and they were spot on from last recorded. Over time they'll mature and you'll notice a big difference..