A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build

[zigzag1]

Just looking at your ATS setup, and noticed that you're spilling a good deal of light on your skimmer, I would avoid that if possible. It will lead to a maintenance hassle eventually as algae grows in your skimmer. Maybe a well-placed piece of black acrylic would do the trick. Looking good though! And, yes - definitely following along for your build.

Hope to see you at the INDMAS frag swap on April 28th! Look for me @ Scuba Steve's Sea Store.

 

[Dustin1300]

Just looking at your ATS setup, and noticed that you're spilling a good deal of light on your skimmer, I would avoid that if possible. It will lead to a maintenance hassle eventually as algae grows in your skimmer. Maybe a well-placed piece of black acrylic would do the trick. Looking good though! And, yes - definitely following along for your build.

Hope to see you at the INDMAS frag swap on April 28th! Look for me @ Scuba Steve's Sea Store.

Yeah, agreed on the light spilling. I'll have to do something about it but not yet sure what I want to do...Curious if it will be cut down a lot when I get the algae growing in on the screen.

I'll be at the frag swap whether I'm picking up frags or not...As long as I can drive Nitrates down in the next few weeks then I'll definitely be there picking up some hardy coral to start stocking the tank:bounce1:

 

[Dustin1300]

ATS Modifications

ATS Modifications

After some critiquing of the start of the ATS build, I had planned on adding a splash guard today to help prevent any splashing outside of the sump. At a later day I may build the ATS into a box but for now, I'm happy with the modifications. I'll likely cut down the sizing of the screen per Bud's recommendations but need to figure out a way to cover up the unused part of the slot so I can then easily add more screening at a later date if needed.

I looked for the washers but had no luck at HD, but will likely drop by ACE sometime this week to see if they have something that will work. I did use some scrap acrylic to build the splash guard as well as added the saran wrap. I was not really getting any spray but figured with growth of algae, that'd become more of a problem.

For additional support, I went ahead and used velcro up around the manifold caps as the acrylic was a lot of weight. I could use the plastic hangers I've been using on the rest of the build but the velcro made more sense so I could easily remove the piping on a weekly basis. Manifold is held up by three plastic hangers and have confidence that it's got a good hold as my piping is VERY secure. (Might be a little OCD but would rather be safe than sorry)

Cut acrylic and hole to slip over end of ATS end cap. 'Flame polished' too but really just an excuse to continue working on that technique and keep me from cutting myself on the acrylic daily.

In place with lights on. Protector is wet from me playing with the ATS rather than splash as I'm not getting that much splash so far.

Here you can see the three supports currently holding the manifold.

 

[Dustin1300]

Below is updated 'Fish Wishlist' with some adjusted numbers, adds, and changes to the livestock I'll plan to add. (Plan is the word, this could always change if I see something I can't pass up)

I just put in order for 10 Lyretails and 2 purple firefish at Premium Aquatics! The fish should be in later on this week and I have Friday off so I"ll be picking up the fish then. Need to get the SG dialed in on QT tank tonight and I should be ready to start adding the fish. One week of observation/acclimation then I'll start treating with Prazipro/Cupramine.

 

[rogermccray]

That's a whole lot of tangs in there I am quite jealous.

How will multiple mandarins getting along? (I am not saying there will be a problem, just curious)

 

[Dustin1300]

That's a whole lot of tangs in there I am quite jealous.

How will multiple mandarins getting along? (I am not saying there will be a problem, just curious)

Some of the standard rules go away with size. I've seen many tanks with multiple mandarins in the 200+ gallon range. With 600 gallons I should be safe. I've got quite some time before that happens since they need mature rock with lots to feast on.

 

[rogermccray]

Some of the standard rules go away with size. I've seen many tanks with multiple mandarins in the 200+ gallon range. With 600 gallons I should be safe. I've got quite some time before that happens since they need mature rock with lots to feast on.

Very true, I figured it would be fine, they can probably go months without seeing each other.

 

[Dustin1300]

Very true, I figured it would be fine, they can probably go months without seeing each other.

I'm also worried about not ever seeing them! In my previous much smaller system, I added one after it was a couple years mature and he liked to hide out....We'll see if I find them in 'The Beast'.:crazy1:

 

[Dustin1300]

10 lyretail will be cool to watch

I hope so. I'll likely increase that number once the DT goes up....I was going to go with Ignitus and after more reading/persuasion I got the Lyretail as they are a bit more aggressive and not as timid as the Ignitus.

 

[Dustin1300]

Hoping to start stocking frags at the INDMAS frag swap on April 28th so I'm battling to bring the nitrates down. LiterMeter III has only changed out about ~15 gallons since Sunday morning's test and Nitrates are still dropping so I think I'm going to hault the water changes and let the live rock, sand, and hopefully the ATS do some work on the trates. Nitrates are the only param I really need to bring down before picking up the frags

Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - .05, and Nitrate was between 10-25 so we'll call it 17.5, and Phosphates are now registering 0.00 on the Hanna Checker!

Nitrates:

 

[rogermccray]

Originally Posted by rogermccray<br />
Very true, I figured it would be fine, they can probably go months without seeing each other.

I'm also worried about not ever seeing them! In my previous much smaller system, I added one after it was a couple years mature and he liked to hide out....We'll see if I find them in 'The Beast'.:crazy1:

Very true the are cool looking fish , would be a bummer not to see them.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

 

[Haffs09]

My nitrates peaked within the last day or two. I'm gearing up for a 180 gallon water change to hopefully bring them down. They are currently between 80 and 160ppm using an API test kit. Maybe I skimmed over it , but why not perform a large water change?

 

[Dustin1300]

Sunday my nitrates were 25+ and they are already down to ~17.5 in two days. I only did a total of 15 gallons since through the LiterMeter and that's only 5% of my water volume so that should have only brought nitrates down 1-2 ppm. Most of the nitrates are being processed by the system it seems so why waste water if I've got 3 weeks before I start putting frags in the tank? If need be, I'll do some large water changes when it comes crunch time

 

[Haffs09]

Makes sense to me. What do you think is processing the nitrates?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Ok I'm not going to jump to a conclusion here on the Nitrate reduction. But you don't have a test point shown between 3/24 and 3/31. What system components do you have in place that could perform nitrate reduction, and when did you put the Alage Scrubber online?

 

[SPotter]

+1 on the scrubber being responsible for the reduction. are you seeing any growth yet?

 

[Dustin1300]

I honestly don't think the ATS is having any effect yet but I could be wrong. The water change made a small change, I have about 100 pounds of live sand that makes up a DSB of 6-8 inches, skimmer, and ATS. Those are really the only nitrate reducing components of the system. GFO/Carbon reactor should not have any effect...

The ATS is still going full tilt but I don't see much of anything growing on it yet. I will be following Bud's recommendations and just rinsing with tap water Saturday but for now, it's just showing a few specs of brown here and there. I made an additional modification to the ATS last night and actually extended the screen to the water so it can more gently flow into the sump. I did not rough up that part of the screen as I don't want algae growing on it since the system is currently oversized compared to the latest recommendations I've now read up on.

***ATS was put online late Saturday night and I had not done any water testing for ~1 week. (I know, I'm a slacker...) I did water test first thing Sunday morning so I'd know parameters when ATS first came online. I'll try to do Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate testing every couple days now so I can make sure I'm on track to have it below 1 ppm before I get frags.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Skimmer won't reduce nitrates, technically it cannot. It has the net effect since it removes things from the biological process before they can become nitrates, but if you add a skimmer to a tank with high nitrates, that alone will not reduce them by any significant factor beyond a couple percentage points.

if the Nitrates are just 'in the water' meaning that the rockwork hasn't soaked up a ton of it and would then constantly leech it out, algae *could* suck the N out pretty fast, but my first gut reaction is "not that fast" especially with a brand new screen. That is why I asked when you put it online, so which Sunday (exact date) was that?

Also, how long as the DSB been in place? I would not think the DSB would do much Nitrate reduction if it's new since you would need anaerobic pockets and those can take a long time to form. But again, we're talking N in the water only.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Skimmer won't reduce nitrates, technically it cannot. It has the net effect since it removes things from the biological process before they can become nitrates, but if you add a skimmer to a tank with high nitrates, that alone will not reduce them by any significant factor beyond a couple percentage points.

if the Nitrates are just 'in the water' meaning that the rockwork hasn't soaked up a ton of it and would then constantly leech it out, algae *could* suck the N out pretty fast, but my first gut reaction is "not that fast" especially with a brand new screen. That is why I asked when you put it online, so which Sunday (exact date) was that?

Also, how long as the DSB been in place? I would not think the DSB would do much Nitrate reduction if it's new since you would need anaerobic pockets and those can take a long time to form. But again, we're talking N in the water only.

 

[Dustin1300]

Floyd, understand and agree on the ATS and the small contribution by skimmer, just considering all factors and it is a small contributing factor to consider. Since system is not being fed food each day that also helps....

From Randy's article:

"2. Increase Nitrogen Export By Skimming, Or Skimming More Extensively
Such skimming alone does not usually permit aquaria to eliminate a nitrate problem, but it can be a significant help, and also has other benefits, such as aeration and phosphorus removal."

ATS was brought online on night of 3/31, first test was Sunday morning and phosphates were .06 and nitrates were 25+. Phosphates have been reducing due to the GFO and would not say the ATS is contributing like earlier stated.

As far as DSB goes, I'm looking at my records and the sand bed/rock in fuge were put in place on 12/3 so it's ~4 months old.