60g 36Lx24Wx18H brick build log (56K go home)

[ReeferMonkey]

Yesterday I made a long run about town picking up my Vortech, some supplements, a little LR, a yellow sea cucumber and some pink ricordea. I spent the better part of this morning fiddling with the tank before Sunday chores commenced. The Vortech was unpacked, inpsected and installed. I got a little frustrated wrestling with one of the rubber pegs in the standoff bending at an odd angle but eventually worked out the problem. The MP-40 is a lot larger than I realized it would be but it moves an incredible amount of water. I estimate it's turned down to 40%-50% of it's full power.

Good things come in small, heavy packages.

Well packaged pump.

12oz. can for scale

The BB is a brick, it weighs 13.5#.

Of course, once the pump was installed it was time to reaquascape based on the new flow pattern. I don't think it's quite right yet but almost.

Updated shot of the guts. Note I have not mounted the Vortech controller or the battery backup. Also, if I ever have money burning a hole in my pocket I'd like to replumb the whole area in grey or black flex PVC.

 

[naka]

Nice clean setup Nathan! You should run the vortech power line horizontally along the top towards the back using 2 stickers. I can show you how I did mine if you want.

You're welcome to stop by my house for some frags when you're in town. Keep up the good work.

 

[ReeferMonkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9889693#post9889693 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by naka
Nice clean setup Nathan! You should run the vortech power line horizontally along the top towards the back using 2 stickers. I can show you how I did mine if you want.

You're welcome to stop by my house for some frags when you're in town. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for the compliments, your setup has really been inspirational.

I'm still mulling over the final location for the pump - it may go a tad bit higher and a little further back. I got excited earlier and attached it on my first try at placement and had to scrape it off - only two tabs left now. Once I nail the position then I'm going to run the line horizontally.

I would really enjoy a trip to Houston, it's been quite some time. I'm going to have to make it happen before too long.

 

[GSMguy]

great looking tank reefermonkey i like it very much : )

 

[ReeferMonkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9889902#post9889902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
great looking tank reefermonkey i like it very much : )

Thanks man, yours is also looking pretty sharp! Do you have a build thread going anywhere? I only saw the pics in the 3' tank thread.

 

[DaveG99]

where is the 3' tank thread?

 

[ReeferMonkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9892013#post9892013 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveG99
where is the 3' tank thread?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1113786

Tank looking better with some stuff in it?

 

[tigerarmy40]

so othre then you sea swirl, what do you have for returns and how much flow are you putting through your sump? even before you added the new vrtechs there was a lot of surface movement and I am wondering how you concealed the returns so well?can you take more pics of the overflow and returns?

 

[ReeferMonkey]

Aside from the (temporary) Seio that was a placeholder for the Vortech, the only flow on the tank was the Eheim 1260 on the 3/4" sea swirl. The nozzle is aimed straight out, as pointing too high pushed almost all the water into the overflow and pointing too low scoured out all the sand.

I'm a little frustrated with the Vortech, as now my sump/skimmer/fuge surges every 10-15 seconds. My skimmer is constantly overflowing. I'm not sure if the Vortech is a good choice for a tank this size or maybe I've just got it turned up too high. :/

 

[tigerarmy40]

when you say surge you mean that it is rushing water down into the sump causing everything to go out of wack or are you talking power surge? like it may need its own outlet?

 

[ReeferMonkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9922331#post9922331 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tigerarmy40
when you say surge you mean that it is rushing water down into the sump causing everything to go out of wack or are you talking power surge? like it may need its own outlet?

Water flow not electricity. Something is happening with the cycle of the sea swirl and the flow pattern of the Vortech; when they hit a certain couple of spots, a larger surge of water goes over the overflow and disrupts my drainage, sending bubbles into my sump, fuge and skimmer. My skimmer has overflowed on me everyday for since Saturday.

I may try to lower the Vortech since it's only 4"-6" below the surface - the impact on my Calfo overflow may be too great. But if it goes lower I get sand problems :mad2: I don't want to go BB but it may be the best solution for this problem. As I only have two sources of flow, I want to maximize each one as best I can.

 

[tigerarmy40]

what if you tried the vortech on the opposite sideof the tank? that way the sea swirl is further away?

 

[ReeferMonkey]

Fresh pics!

Fresh pics!

Since our last episode, my sandstorm has continued and my hands in the tank don't help much. I've managed to re-tune my skimmer and got it back under control, although I disabled my Sea Swirl to prevent the surge. I'm having a weird issue with the chaeto in my fuge - parts of it seem to be decaying or thinning out. I'm not sure if photoperiod is the issue but I would prefer a reverse daylight schedule anyway.

I picked up some corals at our local MAS meeting and from a friend in the area, including a few acros, some zoanthids and a Palau sinularia. So far the Palau isn't particularly colorful but the tank it was coming from had some issues, so I'm hoping it will improve. Most (I know, I know) of the acros were treated simultaneously with fluke tabs (1/4 tablet per 2.5g) and Interceptor (approx 8x dosage) for 20 minutes before being acclimated into my systems.

My camera's white balance is off, so these pics are slightly duller than in person.

FTS:

Isometrics

Left side:

Tyree tenius, recovering from the meltdown in the 20L

Crayola Table, from a much larger colony that was fragged to spread around to friends.

 

[ReeferMonkey]

I've been scraping my glass every other day but mostly for sand buildup; algae comes and goes. I'm scaling back the size and frequency of my feedings as I begin to dose small amounts of Pappone after lights out, preceded by amino acids.

What is everyone using to measure their pappone servings?

More eye candy:

Red table with blue tort beyond.

Acropora lokani

A friend was incredulous that I was going to put GSP in the tank, but I've isolated it to a small outcropping and will keep it pruned as necessary. Green slimer above.

Ryan's Green Mille and ORA Blue mille, hoping to see some color improvements.

Tenius colony

Pinkish palys and orange florida rics.

Purple and green blastos.

Palau Sinularia, supposedly now extinct in the wild. Slightly greener in person but not much. Hope to see improvement.

 

[TCU Reefer]

Looks good Nathan. Your tank will be rockin in no time.

 

[ReeferMonkey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9936650#post9936650 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TCU Reefer
Looks good Nathan. Your tank will be rockin in no time.

Thanks for the frags! It was nice seeing your tank on Saturday.

The hardest part is knowing when to say when with livestock. It's getting to the point where I'm going to only add some small frags - hopefully a few LE acros, maybe a funky softy of some sort and some zoanthids and then just let everything fill in.

I have to recant on my position with the Cardinals - I think I may try to bring in another batch at some point. I'm also on the lookout for a small CBB that's eating in the LFS. Fish Gallery had a nice one but he kept spitting out his food, so I couldn't do it in good conscience. Maybe a few more inverts, like a Fromia sp. star and some porcelain crabs and things will be pretty much full up.

 

[SERVO]

A friend was incredulous that I was going to put GSP in the tank, but I've isolated it to a small outcropping and will keep it pruned as necessary. Green slimer above.

 

[tangalone]

GSP

GSP

I must admit, I too was skeptical about you putting the GSP in your very manicured tank, but it does add a sense of movement that was lacking with all of the sps. It looks good already, nice and open.

Lindsey

 

[ReeferMonkey]

Thanks Lindsey Nice to see you on RC!

 

[Bayou]

pappone measure

pappone measure

Nathan-

To measure the pappone - Pick up a meat injector at your local grocery. Most have marks on the sides to let you know how much you have picked up into the injector.

I like to lay out a length of Glad Press n Seal and put the measured feeding amounts on the sheet like cookie dough on a baking sheet. Then cover w/ another layer of press n seal. Once you the individual feedings sealed you can cut with sissors, place in a freezer bag and take out 1 pack each feeding. Makes it easy.