Alan's 180g Reef

[bohlke]

Here's what I did tonight:

:eek1:

You have been busy, I was happy that I moved my prop tank 2' that had to be a long night.....

 

[alanmorehead]

Jon came over last night and helped with moving the stock tank into the fish room. Thanks Jon! :beer:

Here's how it went:
I made up 100g of fresh saltwater earlier in the day. Moved all the rocks and the frags into trash cans, rubbermaid totes, and 5g buckets. That part went pretty fast and were left with about 100g of water to dump. We hooked up the skimmer pump (Sedra 9000), but we had to stop every once in a while for the floor drain to catch up. Once it was empty we put the tank on it's side and wiped things down for the bulkhead. We got the new hole marked and cut it out pretty fast with the Dremel. The bulkhead barely fit though and has just about 1mm of wiggle room.

We ran into the first big issue when we went to shave down the factory bulkhead lock/guides. The 100g that I did this on was flat and didn't have any issues after shaving those down. The 300g is a lot different. The area inside the guides is raised, so there is a drop off very close to the hole. In addition, the area above the hole had a slope on it. We tried to flatten things out with the dremel bit, but couldn't get anything that was very smooth. I was getting a little worried at this point and sure it would leak as it was. We came up with the idea of sanding it and got out the orbital sander. After 5-10 minutes of sanding we had a completely flat surface. No slope or edges and the bulkhead fit nice and flush.

We wiped off all the shavings, flipped it on it's side, and took it into the fish room. I'll post some pics later, but I was surprised with the amount of space still open after the 300g was in there. I figured it would a lot more crammed since that tank is nearly 6' in diameter. Then it was on to the refill. I only had one temporary expanding plug and needed something to plug the new bulkhead on the 300g. We hit the local grocery/hardware store, but they didn't have anything. I thought Menards was open until 10pm and he headed over there. Apparently they close at 9 on the weekdays We came back and decided to get the Dart going on the existing system with the plug (it was just running an internal return pump temporarily). I decided to go ahead and cement the short 2" PVC into the bulkhead on the old 100g sump. We got the Dart running and were able to use the plug on the 300g. We put the rocks and frags back in and used 5g buckets to transfer the water back in (way faster than what the pump could do). I think I'm going to cement the short PVC on the 300g tank's bulkhead when I put the return pump on it. As long as I have the rubber coupler I shouldn't have any problem servicing or removing the pump. Also, I get a good seal where I've always had trouble before.

Tonight I need to hang lights over the tanks, move the control panel out of the way on the back side of the tank, and get the skimmer set up. Also, I'll probably move over a few more corals into the 300g since the others have done well the last week or two.

I had another SPS coral RTN on me yesterday. It was my pink milli colony, so I had to break it down into a bunch of frags. Also, I think the kole tang has been picking on my clam. I've seen him pick at the algae on the sides before, but I noticed the clam was not opening up for a few days. Nikki said she saw the kole tang aggravating it, so I have it caged off with eggcrate. Probably won't be going back in the display

 

[huskerreef]

There needs to be a 24 hour fitting store. You always start these projects thinking you have everything you need only to run 1 peice shy and its usually hours later than you planned on it taken. I guess that why I have buckets of fittings laying around, from all the "I think I need all this" trips to the hardware store. Cant wait to see pics!

 

[hankclaussen]

There needs to be a 24 hour fitting store. You always start these projects thinking you have everything you need only to run 1 peice shy and its usually hours later than you planned on it taken. I guess that why I have buckets of fittings laying around, from all the "I think I need all this" trips to the hardware store.

DITTO!!!

WOW Alan, I know that had to be a crazy amount of work to do! This is inspiring, I have a lot of work to do too but have been dragging my heels a bit.

About the pump plumbing though, I would just hard plumb it all mine are pretty quiet that way. I'd also add ball valves before and after but I don't know the layout so maybe it doesn't matter for you.

 

[bohlke]

I am so jealous of your fish room. I was thinking yours was going to be more like mine after we put that monster of a tub in the room but it really doesnt take up much space at all. After watching the waves crash over the rock while we dumped in the 5G buckets I think a couple of CSD devices in that tank would be cool.

 

[alanmorehead]

There needs to be a 24 hour fitting store. You always start these projects thinking you have everything you need only to run 1 peice shy and its usually hours later than you planned on it taken. I guess that why I have buckets of fittings laying around, from all the "I think I need all this" trips to the hardware store. Cant wait to see pics!

That's the way it works. I have a few buckets of extra plumbing parts too

DITTO!!!
WOW Alan, I know that had to be a crazy amount of work to do! This is inspiring, I have a lot of work to do too but have been dragging my heels a bit.

Yeah, it's been a long week. I can't believe it's Friday already, but I'm happy to have the big stuff taken care of. Tuesday and Wednesday night were the big ones. I took it easy last night and didn't do much.
You need to start a thread so we can push you're motivation

About the pump plumbing though, I would just hard plumb it all mine are pretty quiet that way. I'd also add ball valves before and after but I don't know the layout so maybe it doesn't matter for you.

Intake:
I'm not sure if a ball valve on the intake side would be needed. They say never restrict the intake, so I shouldn't need to valve it down. To block flow, I can use that temporary pressure plug in case I need to service/remove the Dart. If I cemented things into the bulkhead I would need to do a union valve to take the pump off. Other option would be to substitute a rubber coupler in place of the union valve. The union valves are pretty big though, so I'd need to make sure it all fits in there and still leaves enough room for the pump.

Output:
Still undecided on this and have lots of ideas going through my head:
* I need 1.5" as far as I can go to reduce head/friction loss
* I will have a 1/2" split-off for the Ca reactor
- Add a valved split-off to divert water to the floor drain for water changes? Would be nice to utilize the exiting pump, rather than have to get out a smaller separate pump to do changes. However, I'm a little worried about having a bunch of extra split offs that aren't really going to be used or necessarily needed.
- Add a valved split-off going into the 300g? This is assuming I will have enough extra flow after the display and reactor is fed. Also could be an unneeded split off.
- Use my 1" SCWD? I could run a 1.5" to the rim of the display, then the SCWD outputs to PVC wrapped around to feed over-the-top. It would mean 1" PVC running all along the top, but that's the only way I can think of splitting it up (and at the same time alternating the flow). Otherwise, I would only have a single 1.5" feed on one end of the tank.

Most likely plan is just have the 1/2" split to the reactor, run 1.5" to the SCWD, then 1" PVC on the pair of SCWD outputs. I want to avoid over plumbing it and keep it simple if possible.

I am so jealous of your fish room. I was thinking yours was going to be more like mine after we put that monster of a tub in the room but it really doesnt take up much space at all. After watching the waves crash over the rock while we dumped in the 5G buckets I think a couple of CSD devices in that tank would be cool.

I have to admit that it's a luxury having the space available. I took that control panel out and moved the return pump under the display tank. Now you can walk all around it with plenty of space. I agree on the CSD. I need to do some testing with the 5g buckets and figure out if those will work or if something bigger will be needed. Good thing is I have a lot of buckets to experiment with I'm going to move the RO/DI unit out of the way this weekend and rebuild that stand where the top off trash can is. That should free up some room and give me an idea of how the CSD/skimmer tank could fit.

I don't have any pics of where I'm at now. I'll try to get some tonight. I'm not sure how well the webcam will work looking down on the tank, but I'll mess with that too. I have a 250w Lumenarc hanging over the 300g now for lighting. I removed the control panel and moved the controller to the other side of the room. The return pump was moved underneath the display tank so it wasn't in the way on the other side. I also set up lights on the 50g.

 

[jd474]

Intake:
I'm not sure if a ball valve on the intake side would be needed. They say never restrict the intake, so I shouldn't need to valve it down.

I think what Hank is getting at is in case you need to remove the pump for servicing/replacing, not necessarily restricting the intake. I always use Tru-Union ball valves on both sides of my pumps. They are expensive, but well worth the money, IMO. When I take a pump off, all I need to do is shut the valves off and unscrew the unions. This way you can change a pump out in under 5 minutes if needed. But, it's about $50 in valves, vs. a $1 bulkhead plug.

Other option would be to substitute a rubber coupler in place of the union valve. The union valves are pretty big though, so I'd need to make sure it all fits in there and still leaves enough room for the pump.

If you use a fernco coupler (rubber), don't use one on the output side, as the PSI coming out of the pump is too high for that application (~40 PSI for that pump if I remember right), and I've seen them fail on people. :thumbdown (Intake side is fine, however)

 

[alanmorehead]

Ok, got a few more things taken care of today. I mostly worked on rewiring and cleaning up the mess of cords going all over the place. When I was moving the AC Jr I think one of the ends of the control cable dipped in the water (the reason I was actually moving it was to get it away from the water). I had some issues with it for a while and started looking at the Apex units for an emergency upgrade The AC Jr stopped sending commands to the DC8, but didn't seem to have any other problems. Jon brought his X10 modules over and after 2-3 tries they started working. Thanks again Jon! We went back to try the DC8 and it magically started working again :hmm2: Everything seems to be ok now, but I'm going to keep an eye on it this weekend to make sure it's not acting flaky.

Anyway, here are some pics from my phone:

I'll try to get the video posted as soon as it's done uploading

 

[alanmorehead]

Video is uploaded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNQFTwB_jpk

 

[alanmorehead]

Also, I got my extension ring set yesterday. I haven't had a chance to do anything fish-related, but I tested it out on a penny :

100mm Canon macro lens:

100mm Canon macro lens + 55mm extension ring set:

100mm Canon macro lens + 55mm extension ring set + another 55mm extension ring set:

 

[huskerreef]

fish room looks great. Is there enough room to move around the back of the stock tank easily? its hard to tell from the pics

 

[alanmorehead]

fish room looks great. Is there enough room to move around the back of the stock tank easily? its hard to tell from the pics

Thanks. The sides have plenty of room, 2-3 feet on the back side and then the open area when you first walk in. The side along the wall has about 12" inches clearance at the rim and then it tapers down so there is plenty of room for your feet. A single side-step is that's needed to get through.

 

[DaKineReef]

Alan everything looks great. I cant wait to see your setup again.

Ike

 

[alanmorehead]

Well, I pretty much thought I had things ready to start slowly moving corals over, but ran into a snag. I did water tests this morning and I'm getting phosphate readings of 0.9! I've done a few different tests just to confirm with the Hanna meter, but they show the same thing. The water in the test vial actually turns a little purple when I mix in the reagent. I haven't added any significant amount of food to the 300g since I started it (a couple pinches to feed the the chromis) and I changed the DI resin on my filter before making water. This pretty much leaves the rock, so maybe I didn't clean/rinse it well enough before I started? Either the dry rock was phosphate-soaked or algae die off from the frozen rock?

I am planning on picking up that sohal tang today too. I did some reading on phosphates and fish only tanks, but it looks like phosphates shouldn't harm fish; even at high levels. I assume it's safe to add the tang still?

I don't want to move any corals until I get it down to an acceptable level. I only have a handful of coral frags in the tank for testing, but they seem to be doing fine (3 SPS frags, 10 zoa frags, 2-3 chalice frags). Still trying to figure out which way I want to reduce phosphates. I'd like to just do macro, but I think that will take forever. I'm sure a few large water changes would help cut things down (along with nitrates), but maybe GFO is needed too.

 

[jd474]

Well, I pretty much thought I had things ready to start slowly moving corals over, but ran into a snag. I did water tests this morning and I'm getting phosphate readings of 0.9! I've done a few different tests just to confirm with the Hanna meter, but they show the same thing. The water in the test vial actually turns a little purple when I mix in the reagent. I haven't added any significant amount of food to the 300g since I started it (a couple pinches to feed the the chromis) and I changed the DI resin on my filter before making water. This pretty much leaves the rock, so maybe I didn't clean/rinse it well enough before I started? Either the dry rock was phosphate-soaked or algae die off from the frozen rock?

Is this your first test since adding the Pukani? We used a lot of dry rock in our caribbean tank, and the PO4 was off the charts for about a month or so (w/a large PhosBan reactor running), so that's my guess.

I am planning on picking up that sohal tang today too. I did some reading on phosphates and fish only tanks, but it looks like phosphates shouldn't harm fish; even at high levels. I assume it's safe to add the tang still?

I'm sure if he feels bad, he'll just take it out on his tankmates. (Kidding, they can be pretty mean in low phosphates, too) :fish1:

I don't want to move any corals until I get it down to an acceptable level. I only have a handful of coral frags in the tank for testing, but they seem to be doing fine (3 SPS frags, 10 zoa frags, 2-3 chalice frags). Still trying to figure out which way I want to reduce phosphates. I'd like to just do macro, but I think that will take forever. I'm sure a few large water changes would help cut things down (along with nitrates), but maybe GFO is needed too.

Water changes + GFO. If corals start browning, I'd probably move them out, I don't know how long they will tolerate that high of a level?

 

[alanmorehead]

Is this your first test since adding the Pukani? We used a lot of dry rock in our caribbean tank, and the PO4 was off the charts for about a month or so (w/a large PhosBan reactor running), so that's my guess.

Yeah, that seems to be the most likely reason. The existing rock that I froze was from a tank with extremely low phosphates. Also, those frozen pieces I put in were more base rock that didn't have the algae and cyano on them, so seems unlikely that would be a major source of phosphates. Today was the first phosphate test that I ran on the 300g. I was just doing the nitrite/ammonia/nitrate tests and didn't really worry about the others as it was cycling. I guess I was a little surprised it was THAT high. If I get more Pukani in the future I'm going to put it in a trash can for a few days and test the phosphate levels before the first water change.

I'm sure if he feels bad, he'll just take it out on his tankmates. (Kidding, they can be pretty mean in low phosphates, too) :fish1:

If he had tankmates He'll have free roam of the 300g. FWIW, I was told that he wasn't as aggressive. Either way, no plans of adding any other fish to the 300g at this time.

Water changes + GFO. If corals start browning, I'd probably move them out, I don't know how long they will tolerate that high of a level?

The corals I have in there are just "test corals" that I'm not too concerned about. Otherwise, I would move them back. They are browning a bit, especially the chalice frag. I'm still having issues with my existing system and have seen some stress signs on more than one SPS colony. I was hoping to get things moved over to the 300g so I could hopefully get them away from whatever it was that's going on. This phosphate deal will just delay that process

 

[alanmorehead]

300g update:
- I got the skimmer set up the other day. I still plan on building an eggcrate shelf so that I can use the space more efficiently against the wall, but a $3 plastic crate is doing the job for now.
- Also got a 2x4' sheet of eggcrate in place last night. This should give me a good amount of space to put the corals when the tank is ready. If they're still alive by then :sad1:

I have the sohal drip acclimating now:

 

[bohlke]

Yeah, that seems to be the most likely reason. The existing rock that I froze was from a tank with extremely low phosphates. Also, those frozen pieces I put in were more base rock that didn't have the algae and cyano on them, so seems unlikely that would be a major source of phosphates. Today was the first phosphate test that I ran on the 300g. I was just doing the nitrite/ammonia/nitrate tests and didn't really worry about the others as it was cycling. I guess I was a little surprised it was THAT high. If I get more Pukani in the future I'm going to put it in a trash can for a few days and test the phosphate levels before the first water change.


If he had tankmates He'll have free roam of the 300g. FWIW, I was told that he wasn't as aggressive. Either way, no plans of adding any other fish to the 300g at this time.


The corals I have in there are just "test corals" that I'm not too concerned about. Otherwise, I would move them back. They are browning a bit, especially the chalice frag. I'm still having issues with my existing system and have seen some stress signs on more than one SPS colony. I was hoping to get things moved over to the 300g so I could hopefully get them away from whatever it was that's going on. This phosphate deal will just delay that process

I have a spare phosban reactor and some left over phosban, let me know if you want it.

 

[alanmorehead]

I have a spare phosban reactor and some left over phosban, let me know if you want it.

I might have to take you up on that. I haven't ran GFO for almost a year now and I'm all out.

I assume the rock is in equilibrium with the water at 0.9 and won't release any more phosphate until the water around it is lower? I like the idea of GFO since it is easy to just physically remove the bound phosphates with the media, but I have been considering lanthanum chloride again. Not sure how much GFO I'm going to need to bring PO4 down around ~0.05ppm. The Blue Life says 6 drops per 10g will bring it down by 1ppm.

 

[bohlke]

I might have to take you up on that. I haven't ran GFO for almost a year now and I'm all out.

I assume the rock is in equilibrium with the water at 0.9 and won't release any more phosphate until the water around it is lower? I like the idea of GFO since it is easy to just physically remove the bound phosphates with the media, but I have been considering lanthanum chloride again. Not sure how much GFO I'm going to need to bring PO4 down around ~0.05ppm. The Blue Life says 6 drops per 10g will bring it down by 1ppm.

The initial thread I saw was pretty specific about the ability to remove PO4 with phosban in a FOWLR tank. I think you would be surprised. You still have a reactor right? I would assume with both reactors running it would get in check rather dramatically.

I wouldnt do blue life unless you gave GAC and a skimmer in the 300 now.