drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

I meant liters not gallons sorry Brett. I would do any version of 1l per 1ml of lathanum. Wether than be 1-5l of solution a day. At that rate since you aren't adding any phosphates other than what is leaching I would test maybe once a week. You aren't in a hurry...I don't think (since it's cycling) so I would just drip everyday for a week then see what it's reading at.

Sounds like a solid plan. I'll do 5ml of SeaKlear daily, diluted in RO/DI dripped over a few hours. Then re-test in a week and see where it's at.

As far as the display reading 0.006 ppm, do you see any reason to drip SeaKlear in the display? I suppose there could be a constant low-leaching Phosphate issue from the rocks and sand bed still that I could potentially promote the leaching/precipitation a bit faster by dosing? Any thoughts on that??

My Tri-Color Acros are still browned out which leads me to believe there's an underlying PO4 issue still - thus the reason for my question above.

 

[cromedogg33]

Another thought after reading his thread.....

Like he said, it doesn't matter how much you dose since it's in a vat and won't affect anything but if you do the math....

From seakler---
Effective - 1 quart removes at least 3,000ppb of orthophosphates in 10,000 gallons of water

1 quart = 946.353ml

He was dosing 8/12/16/20 ml at a time!!!!

20ml=~2% of a quart dose
2% of 3000ppb = 50 ppb

Take into consideration this is 50ppb in 10,000 gallons of water. You guys are running 35-60g.

In other words that is so much LC that at some point it does nothing for you. The rock is leaching over days, it's not just taking the phosphates off the rock themselves (I think), it's taking it out of the water, and then the rock leaches more.

 

[cromedogg33]

Sounds like a solid plan. I'll do 5ml of SeaKlear daily, diluted in RO/DI dripped over a few hours. Then re-test in a week and see where it's at.

As far as the display reading 0.006 ppm, do you see any reason to drip SeaKlear in the display? I suppose there could be a constant low-leaching Phosphate issue from the rocks and sand bed still that I could potentially promote the leaching/precipitation a bit faster by dosing? Any thoughts on that??

My Tri-Color Acros are still browned out which leads me to believe there's an underlying PO4 issue still - thus the reason for my question above.

No I wouldn't dose it to the display at .006. From what I can tell and from others experience LC has a hard time getting phosphates below .03

It won't hurt anything if you do just to stay on top phosphates you could.

 

[drummereef]

Another thought after reading his thread.....

Like he said, it doesn't matter how much you dose since it's in a vat and won't affect anything but if you do the math....

From seakler---
Effective - 1 quart removes at least 3,000ppb of orthophosphates in 10,000 gallons of water

1 quart = 946.353ml

He was dosing 8/12/16/20 ml at a time!!!!

20ml=~2% of a quart dose
2% of 3000ppb = 50 ppb

Take into consideration this is 50ppb in 10,000 gallons of water. You guys are running 35-60g.

In other words that is so much LC that at some point it does nothing for you. The rock is leaching over days, it's not just taking the phosphates off the rock themselves (I think), it's taking it out of the water, and then the rock leaches more.

No I wouldn't dose it to the display at .006. From what I can tell and from others experience LC has a hard time getting phosphates below .03

It won't hurt anything if you do just to stay on top phosphates you could.

OK, sounds good. Yeah I figured at some point the SeaKlear would precipitate all the available PO4 then render the rest useless until more leaching takes place. Hopefully then as Pete said, once I get the fuge online I'll see a significant difference in nuisance algaes in the display, since most will be proliferating under the lower kelvin bulbs in the fuge... at least that's what I hope to have happen.

 

[Reefahholic]

Brett, you got a 2 in the DT and 200 in the vat? That dang pukani rock is so dirty!!

2 is nearly nothing for ur DT.....that's great!

I bet that sand is driving you nuts...lol....I know how clean you are...

 

[drummereef]

Brett, you got a 2 in the DT and 200 in the vat? That dang pukani rock is so dirty!!

2 is nearly nothing for ur DT.....that's great!

I bet that sand is driving you nuts...lol....I know how clean you are...

It is filthy! Hahaha. Actually, visually it looks really clean but yeah there an abundance of PO4 in this stuff. I feel fairly confident the Lanthanum Chloride will kick it's booty though.

I was actually shocked to see the DT was only 2 ppb. I might re-test in a few days to make sure my test was accurate.

And yes, the sand is driving me crazy!! :crazy1: Hoping as Pete said, once I get the fuge up and running, it will direct most of the nuisance algaes over to it instead.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Here's the doser I set up last night to dose the Lanthanum Chloride. Pretty high tech huh? :lol: The balers twine and good ol' duct tape helps keep the container from blowing a gasket.

 

[cromedogg33]

So he is human?

 

[Taqpol]

So he is human?

 

[javimarino]

Hi Bret,
I just went through the whole thread and I think your build is truly inspiring. It took me two day to browse through all pages, updates, pic descriptions, tutorial and topics that interested me the must at the moment:reading:. the index on page 100 was genius, cause I'm planning to build a 120g and now I can look back now for ideas without going page by page. Soon it will be time for another index, I hope...:rollface:

Your attention to detail and documentations of the build is second to none. Keep up the good work and the thread going.:wavehand:

 

[drummereef]

So he is human?

Hahaha, you two!

Hi Bret,
I just went through the whole thread and I think your build is truly inspiring. It took me two day to browse through all pages, updates, pic descriptions, tutorial and topics that interested me the must at the moment:reading:. the index on page 100 was genius, cause I’m planning to build a 120g and now I can look back now for ideas without going page by page. Soon it will be time for another index, I hope...:rollface:

Your attention to detail and documentations of the build is second to none. Keep up the good work and the thread going.:wavehand:

Thank you so much for taking the time Javier. I really appreciate the feedback. Hats off to you if your profile pic is your tank. It's beautiful.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


OK guys, making progress here. I've dosed 5ml for the last 5 days now. We've gone from an initial reading of over 200ppb to 20ppb! That is roughly 0.06ppm PO4 currently. :thumbsup: I have a little ways to go but I'm thinking another week and hopefully the rock will have stabilized. Here's the proof.

And a long overdue FTS.

 

[javimarino]

Thank you so much for taking the time Javier. I really appreciate the feedback. Hats off to you if your profile pic is your tank. It's beautiful.

Yes it is my tank. THANK YOU, really appreciated! I know that refugium will serve you well, I a firm believer of cheatomorpha. Don't clean it to much, just fight the urge, and add it in there. I have the chaeto under ligth 24hrs. I'm hoping to see the refugium up and running soon!:spin1:

 

[tj1627]

Brett,

First off, wow. Amazing build. I've spent the past 3 days reading through your build and following along from post 1. I was silently cheering when you added water to the system to test. And that was over 3 years ago! Its been a wild ride so far (I couldn't take it anymore so after page ~109 I skipped to the end and got caught up to present day. Still reading 109 - 160, so don't spoil anything for me!).

I just wanted to thank you for this amazingly detailed build thread. As a newbie who just finished cycling his 55 gallon and has his first fish in QT, I have to say that its been an inspiring read that I'll continue to reference for years to come.

I hope that once my wife and I buy a house in the next year I can do an in wall build and sump room that is even 1/10th of the quality you've shown here.

Any chance of a recap post? Sort of a look back - see if there are things you'd do differently, improve upon, leave out, etc if you were to do it all again? It would be interesting to hear your take on the choices you've made in the past few years and if you'd do it the same way again. If I missed something like this in the past 50 pages or so, go easy on me. Had to skip ahead!

-Tim

 

[drummereef]

Yes it is my tank. THANK YOU, really appreciated! I know that refugium will serve you well, I a firm believer of cheatomorpha. Don’t clean it to much, just fight the urge, and add it in there. I have the chaeto under ligth 24hrs. I'm hoping to see the refugium up and running soon!:spin1:

Indeed, looking forward to getting some macro growing in too. I plan on lighting is 24/7 as well. Speaking of Puerto Rico, I've been through 3 times on cruises. The last time I was there I went on a kayak excursion through the Vieques Bioluminescent Bay. I have to say that was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. I wish I could get my tank to light up at night like that.

Brett,

First off, wow. Amazing build. I've spent the past 3 days reading through your build and following along from post 1. I was silently cheering when you added water to the system to test. And that was over 3 years ago! Its been a wild ride so far (I couldn't take it anymore so after page ~109 I skipped to the end and got caught up to present day. Still reading 109 - 160, so don't spoil anything for me!).

I just wanted to thank you for this amazingly detailed build thread. As a newbie who just finished cycling his 55 gallon and has his first fish in QT, I have to say that its been an inspiring read that I'll continue to reference for years to come.

I hope that once my wife and I buy a house in the next year I can do an in wall build and sump room that is even 1/10th of the quality you've shown here.

Any chance of a recap post? Sort of a look back - see if there are things you'd do differently, improve upon, leave out, etc if you were to do it all again? It would be interesting to hear your take on the choices you've made in the past few years and if you'd do it the same way again. If I missed something like this in the past 50 pages or so, go easy on me. Had to skip ahead!

-Tim

Thank you Tim, appreciate the kind words. One thing I would have definitely done different is to prepare the Marco Rock in my display more appropriately. With that said, Lanthanum Chloride dosing wasn't commonplace a couple years ago so I was going by the typical protocol on cycling a new tank. It has turned out OK but definitely took a long time to leach the remaining phosphates out of the rock. I think I could have avoided a few months of major algae outbreaks if that would have been a common practice in home aquaria back then. Maybe it was, I just didn't know about it... Hindsight is always 20/20 though. Other than that things have gone rather smoothly, but obviously as you've read, it's been a slow but constant journey. I think taking the hobby as it's handed to you is probably the best advice I could offer. As issues arise, address them with the knowledge the hobby has to offer today. Don't rush it, respect the process, and always have fun with it.

 

[tj1627]

One question for you though (from a few pages ago). Regarding your 70g stock tank for the refugium, I see youe 2 upturned elbows for your drain lines, the locline return right between them, but what is the 1.5" bulkhead for that you drilled in the bottom?

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa113/drummereef/180g Reef Tank/MoreStockTank-7.jpg

 

[drummereef]

One question for you though (from a few pages ago). Regarding your 70g stock tank for the refugium, I see youe 2 upturned elbows for your drain lines, the locline return right between them, but what is the 1.5" bulkhead for that you drilled in the bottom?

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa113/drummereef/180g Reef Tank/MoreStockTank-7.jpg

All the Rubbermaid Stock Tanks have a drain built into the bottom of the container. They come with a stock bulkhead but are prone to leakage so it's advisable to swap them for a bulkhead suited for aquariums. Unfortunately Rubbermaid doesn't make it easy for us... The pre-fab hole size is too small for a 1.5" bulkhead, so I had to enlarge the hole to accommodate. I've basically plugged the installed bulkhead for now but the option is there to plumb it as a drain in the future if the need arises. Hope this helps.

 

[psteeleb]

wow - glad to see an updated FTS, your tank is looking awesome. Great colors and nice growth !!!

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Did some more testing tonight... Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, but to my shock Nitrate is off the chart! I didn't even have to wait 5 minutes for the test to develop, the color was instant. :eek1: I expected high NO3 but this was shocking to say the least.

I will obviously be filling the fuge with fresh saltwater and transferring ONLY the rock to it when ready. Do you think any of that excess NO3 will transfer to the fuge when I add the rock or will it just stay in the cycling water?

 

[tredreef]

Brett,

If I were you I would just be patient and wait out that Nitrate spike. Even though it is the less harmful of the cycle, it is NEVER a good idea to rush things. Plus the reward for doing it right is just so much sweeter. Just look at the rest of your system, you know what I am talking about.