BK's 110 Gallon Build

[Schplitter]

Everything I have ever read says to keep pH between 6.7-6.5. I keep mine right at 6.5 because I use zeomag to keep mag up and it requires lower pH to dissolve. Anything lower than 6.5 and your media may turn to mush and clog.

Same here. I'm shooting for the 6.7 mark to see what happens. I also read that you make an adjustment and wait for 12 to 24 hours to see the results and that's spot on. This morning the PH inside the reactor is 6.72 so it's still dropping very slowly. I'm hoping by this afternoon it will be low enough to start dissolving the media.

 

[McCune]

Well Mother Nature helped with the decision basement rug got wet have to move the tank now anyways so mine as we'll upgrade. Going to move the 72 off the rug clean the rug and start build the 110 in the original spot. Going to try to plan this tank out better then the last.

 

[Schplitter]

So the internal PH in the Ca Reactor settled at 6.56 without tripping the solenoid valve every 20 minutes. I'm afraid to touch it as it seems very hard to get things perfect between the bubble count and the effluent rate.

 

[smoothdog]

Sweet, now don't touch it! Are you doing anything to keep mag up? I found out the hard way that the reactor won't really add mag so I started using zeomag at about 10% in the reactor and it's been holding steady at 1500 without dosing.

 

[Schplitter]

Tested the drain lines and after some messing with them they are no longer leaking.

Bought a used RODI unit with extra filters. Took it apart and cleaned it. Added All new filters to the unit. When I took the charmer for the membrane apart I discovered that there was no membrane inside. There was a membrane that came with the package but it turns out it is not new and sealed like I expected it to be but it's the one that was removed from the unit. I tried it and no dice. Contacted the seller (local guy) by PM. I'm hoping he has the extra membrane I was promised and just forgot to pack it. I hope he gets back to me soon with good news or at least some kind of partial refund. I always had good experiences with locals so I'm hoping this will not mess up my experience.

I had to get water going so I went to HD and bought a crappy membrane for now. I'm hoping they will take it back when I tell them it doesn't work for me. It produces 12 gallons in 24 hours! That's seriously stinks.

Oh yeah, we have WATER!!!

Happy belated birthday to my tank. It has been a year since water 1st touched this tank! What a PITA it has been!!! I look forward to the next 30 years :blown:

 

[Mr D smack]

Happy belated birthday to my tank. It has been a year since water 1st touched this tank! What a PITA it has been!!! I look forward to the next 30 years :blown:

:celeb3::bum::beer:

 

[Schplitter]

My 15 month old little guy is addicted already. Every day after I pick him up from daycare he makes me pull up the tall chair so he can watch he fish. He's mesmerized by the tank. Can't move him from without making him mad.

 

[Schplitter]

Some updates to the system:

1. The biopelet reactor got an upgrade to a Mag 3 because it was cheap and I had to fiddle with something. It's now sitting in the sump.

2. I took the carbon and GFO reactors off line as they were in my way. I'll add the GFO reactor back soon or maybe go with a LaCL reactor instead. Still trying to figure out all the important parts of one and leave all the BS out. Well see what we end up with in the end.

3. The Ca reactor is up and running. Had some issues with leaks but after a little playing with it those are solved. I will change over the main feed to the reactor from feeding it from my main pressure rated pump to a MJ 400. The pressure is just too hard to regulate.

4. Had a whole bunch of trouble with a GFCI I installed where I could not reach it. A bad MJ pump and some stupidity on my part kept tripping it. Finally I was able to pull the GFCI and replace it with a regular outlet. Got a GFCI breaker instead and everything is working flawlessly.

5. Rearranged the rock pile that was on the left as I had a frag fall into it. Looks a lot better now and I have more room for coral.

6. Added a whole bunch of stuff like a Sebae, Green Carpet, red bubble tip, a couple different hammers, a small frogspawn and some zoa.

I'm pretty happy with the system now. With the GFCI problem resolved and the use of the Ca reactor the tank is much easier to maintain. The parameters seem a lot more stable also. Maybe I can try some sps in a few months again.

 

[smoothdog]

My 15 month old little guy is addicted already. Every day after I pick him up from daycare he makes me pull up the tall chair so he can watch he fish. He's mesmerized by the tank. Can't move him from without making him mad.

That right there makes it all worthwhile. Glad to hear things are back k on track!

 

[Nanook]

Very cool picture!!!

 

[Mr D smack]

Glad to hear everything worked out for you. The pic justifies all of the aggravation.

 

[Andystl]

Great pic! My 9 month old is the main reason my tank is still setup and running. It has become more work to keep running that I would like, but she loves it so much I can't bring myself to tear it down & sell it! We are moving soon and a condition of the new house is a good spot in the basement for a fish room. That will make things much easier!

 

[Pife]

Great picture.

 

[Schplitter]

That right there makes it all worthwhile. Glad to hear things are back k on track!

I just have to remember to breathe sometimes. This hobby can be frustrating.

Very cool picture!!!

Thanks! You should take some of your tank so we can all see a true work of art.

Glad to hear everything worked out for you. The pic justifies all of the aggravation.

So true! And it gets the wife off my back lol

Great pic! My 9 month old is the main reason my tank is still setup and running. It has become more work to keep running that I would like, but she loves it so much I can't bring myself to tear it down & sell it! We are moving soon and a condition of the new house is a good spot in the basement for a fish room. That will make things much easier!

Adam had been in love with this tank since he was 6 months old. At some point last year there was a good 3-4 month stretch where he refused to eat unless we placed him in front of the tank. Hunger strike or fish lol.

I was thinking of running everything to the basement as I have a perfect space directly under my tank but since the basement is unfinished I was afraid the cold down there may mess with the tank too much. Still thinking about it...

Great picture.

Thank you! It's my background on the work computer now. Makes the day go by a lot quicker.

 

[Schplitter]

I measured the effluent out of my Ca reactor and I got 420. The tank is at 360. Should I leave it alone or mess with it? It has been steady like this for a good two weeks now. The other 2 in the tank are 1260 Mg and 12 dkH.

 

[Nanook]

I measured the effluent out of my Ca reactor and I got 420. The tank is at 360. Should I leave it alone or mess with it? It has been steady like this for a good two weeks now. The other 2 in the tank are 1260 Mg and 12 dkH.

I would add Calcium to get it up to 425-450 over 2-3 doses. Your alkalinity is plenty high enough, I wouldn't go any higher. Is it on the rise, or has it been holding steady?

 

[Pife]

Do you have any SPS in there? I see your big ole clam. What would be using up the Ca?

 

[Schplitter]

I would add Calcium to get it up to 425-450 over 2-3 doses. Your alkalinity is plenty high enough, I wouldn't go any higher. Is it on the rise, or has it been holding steady?

If I remember correctly the last two tests (every Sunday) have been 360. I should have written them down into my excel file but I was too lazy.

When you say add calvium do you mean add it manually like dose something?

 

[Schplitter]

Do you have any SPS in there? I see your big ole clam. What would be using up the Ca?

No SPS whatsoever. I am a SPS murderer. The clam does have new rings and I have a lot of coralline growing.

 

[Nanook]

If I remember correctly the last two tests (every Sunday) have been 360. I should have written them down into my excel file but I was too lazy.

When you say add calvium do you mean add it manually like dose something?

Yeah, I would dose calcium to bring it up by 50ppm per day. I just did this with my tank when I saw my calcium was only 300. I used calcium chloride and J Dieck's reef calculator:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html