109 gal Reef Savvy SPS

[ReefKeeper64]

I just wanted to share the latest with all the SPS fans here on reefcentral. I started this tank up 2 months ago so it's still quite new. Overall the tank is coming along well and I'm pleased with the results that I'm seeing.

The sand is starting to clean up of diatoms and the coralline is beginning to encrust the rock everywhere.

A Masterflex auto water changer is set to replace 8% of the water per month. That works out to 1/2 gal per day and this method is keeping salinity very stable.

This tank is my first to run a calcium reactor and I'm really pleased with it. It is holding Alk steady at around 7.5.

Most of my frags are from Emster and I couldn't be happier with them or the help that Emster has provided along the way. He has given me advice about everything to do and what not to do and I really appreciate that.

My biggest challenge to date has been keeping PO4 to acceptable levels without resorting to GFO. I hate changing that stuff and wanted to try other methods for PO4 control with this build. Currently I'm experimenting with sodium nitrate dosing via the auto water changer to maintain Nitrates between 2 - 5 ppm so that the elevated bacteria can consume more PO4. It is working as I can keep PO4 levels between 0.05-0.10 this way. I may ultimately incorporate a GFO reactor just to keep the PO4 under 0.03 all the time. With the Nitrate additions, I know that the GFO media will last much longer and corals seem happier with a little extra nitrate to feed the zooxanthellae growing inside of them anyways.

This picture was taken just a few minutes ago with a cell phone. Thanks for looking!

 

[trueblackpercula]

It's going to be an amazing tank.

 

[rovster]

Looks great. My reef savvy is almost the same size (52/26/19) Mine is still dry, but this just inspired me to get my stuff together! Love the scape!

 

[ReefKeeper64]

It's going to be an amazing tank.

Thanks a lot. I have seen your 120 build thread and your tank awesome!

 

[ReefKeeper64]

Looks great. My reef savvy is almost the same size (52/26/19) Mine is still dry, but this just inspired me to get my stuff together! Love the scape!

Love your tank dimensions. Get some water in that baby soon because that's when the real fun begins. And please post your build thread here when you start it so I will know where to find it!

 

[Drae]

Can we see the tanks heartbeat and life support? Great tank btw. Felix is second to no man on earth imo.

 

[ReefKeeper64]

Can we see the tanks heartbeat and life support? Great tank btw. Felix is second to no man on earth imo.

Hey Drae, Thanks alot. I'll take a few pictures of the heartbeat and life support and get them posted over the next day for ya. Felix is probably the most meticulous person I've ever met and he doesn't skimp on anything when it comes to his tanks.

 

[Andyf30]

Nice tank man. Excited to see how things grow in

 

[dowtish]

Looks fantastic! Reef Savvy is the best glass tank builder in America IMO. Felix is the man for sure.

Can you please go into some detail about the water change system? I would love to incorporate this onto my system.

 

[Drae]

Aquascape is awesome. What type of rock and method did you use?

 

[ReefKeeper64]

Here is the life support.



The top panels are all removable. Behind the door on the right is a 40 breeder remote refugium and horizontal ATS. The 10 gal is a QT.



Behind the door on the left is where the sump is.

 

[cugly]

Verry nice

 

[dowtish]

Wow! very impressive.

 

[rogergolf66]

Must have 1 nice chiller on this one

 

[ReefKeeper64]

water change system

water change system

Can you please go into some detail about the water change system? I would love to incorporate this onto my system.

Hello dowtish, Here are some close ups of the water change system. It's really very simple and most anyone can DIY their own. I recommend it as it really simplifies maintenance.

For starters, you get yourself a 10 gallon tank like this one and fill it with water. Then put some tape on it and mark it with a full line. Then get a one gallon jug and remove a gallon or water and mark where you new water line is at each time you remove a gallon. I change 1/2 gallon a day and refill this tank bi-weekly. When you are adding just, put in 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of RO you add. Put a mixing pump in this tank tank and plug the tank up to the same timer that turns on your peristaltic pump. Each day when you change out 1/2 a gallon of water, your salt water also gets a 15 minute stirring. That is all that is needed.

You don't need a heater because the salt water is changed out at a very slow rate so it doesn't matter if this water is ever cold.




Next, you need an easy way to fill your water change tank with fresh RO every couple of weeks. If you look at the earlier full shot pictures of the work area, you can see a 29 gal tank up top left where RO water is stored. I put a small pump in the RO tank and plumbed it with 1" sched 80 that I had on hand. The RO runs from the 29 gal tank up top, over to the right, then down to the 10 gal. To turn on this pump I flip the switch on the panel below labeled "Fill Salt Tank". Of course this step is optional but its one of the best parts of the system. I always get a look of surprise and a big grin when a fellow reefer sees this setup in action.




The next thing you need is a peristaltic pump. I bought this one used right here on reefcentral. It has two standard 7528-10 heads bolted on it.

Masterflex Peristaltic pumps are medical grade lab pumps that use steel rollers and gears and basically run forever. The are also designed so that you can put longer bolts on the main unit and daisy chain two heads together so that both heads rotate at the exact same rate. I pulled the second head off of another unit I already had and bolted it to this one so realistically I have about $300 invested in the pump and heads total. Masterflex pumps are workhorses but you can just as easily buy a good used GHL doser for the same price and those will work just as well and are quieter too. BRS sells single head pumps for cheap that are pretty good but you would need to buy two of them. I went the masterflex route because I happened to find it for sale cheap and I liked the way you always get an equal exchange of water in and out.



The knob on upper left hand corner of the masterflex allows you to adjust the speed at which the pump runs. You can adjust it to run it so slowly that it will only remove a cup of water in 15 minutes or you can turn it up and change a couple of gallons or water in the same time period. Its really up to you.

You can also see that the two heads work off the same pump so no matter how fast or slow you have the pump running, there is always an equal exchange of water in and out. One head has a hose running through it that is pulling water out of the 10 gal tank and putting the new water into my sump. The other head has a tube that is inserted into the refugium and is pulling equal parts of water out of the system from there. The tube for waste water runs through the wall and drains outside into a 200 gallon tank I keep on hand for any emergency water change that might come up. Otherwise, it would just run outside and that would be fine since its only 1/2 gal a day and nothing to worry about.




You get a simple timer and set it to run for 15 minutes a day. In my case, I have this one set to run at 19:00 each day.



I've recently started adding small amounts of iron, iodine, l_aspartic acid, vinegar and Mrs. Wages Lime to the 10 gal and I'm getting multiple doses with a single system this way. The lime is important because it raises the PH to levels so that any bacteria in the 10 gal will die off. I wouldn't want them to be munching on the nitrate and carbon!

Well, there you go. it is fairly inexpensive, easy to build, and reliable as can be. If you end up building your own, be sure to let me know so I can tag along and know that I paid it forward!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

You really have to see this tank up front and in person. It's so sleek and the light fixture tops it off. His tank has inspired me and I am definitely using his techniques(those not patented yet) probably in larger form on my build. Keep up the good work partner.

 

[djsmallz]

Very nice setup you got there, that equipment room is the bees knees

 

[ReefKeeper64]

Nice tank man. Excited to see how things grow in

Thanks, I'm in the same boat. Its difficult when you look at the tank everyday, isn't it? Then you take off for a few days on business or whatever and when you return it's so much easier to see the changes.

Aquascape is awesome. What type of rock and method did you use?

It's dry rock from tampa bay saltwater (tbsaltwater .com). The owner lives down the road about 8 miles away right here in Tampa so I placed my order and drove over to kick it up the next day. This rock is the real deal as he has it shipped in from somewhere in the pacific from what I'm told. Evert piece of rock has great shapes and you can tell it came off of a reef. Its also more solid than other rock I've purchased the past.

Below you can see I used rubber bands to get the basic shape I was after. Then I used an aquarium safe epoxy product to bond the rocks together where I wanted to. Looking back can see that I adjusted the rock a little bit after taking this picture but you get the idea.

Verry nice

Thannks a lot cugly!

Must have 1 nice chiller on this one

Hey Roger, No chiller here. The system stays at 79-80 on its own. It is lit by a T5 lighting fixture that doesn't really put out that much heat and the tank is in my office, which has an inline booster fan in the A/C duct. The rest of the system is in the garage which only gets up to about 86 degrees on the hottest of days. We used to use the garage as a game room for the kids so its already insulated and has an A/C duct off the central A/C unit that I leave open about a quarter of the way. Seems to do the trick.

You really have to see this tank up front and in person. It's so sleek and the light fixture tops it off. His tank has inspired me and I am definitely using his techniques(those not patented yet) probably in larger form on my build. Keep up the good work partner.

Hey Wayne, Funny you should say that because your tank build and how you plan ahead and think everything out has motivated me to try to do the same. Your current reef is two and a half times this one and is a marvel by itself. Now you are even outdoing yourself with your new 468 gal build and I can't wait to see it later this year. You sir - are the inspiration!

 

[Andyf30]

Thanks, I'm in the same boat. Its difficult when you look at the tank everyday, isn't it? Then you take off for a few days on business or whatever and when you return it's so much easier to see the changes.

Yeah I know. Waiting for frags to fill in is very frustrating. Its going to be interesting waiting to see what my tank looks like when I come home to visit from college this year haha. I'm expecting some crazy changes.

 

[zackw]

Definitley a sweet set up.