Eric's Marineland 300DD FOWLR Build

[marin8n]

Finally got some portraits of all the inhabitants of the 300DD. Enjoy!

 

[marin8n]

 

[marin8n]

Wow, I can't believe it's been 6th months since I have posted an update. Everything is running smoothly and the 300 is fully stocked with 13 beautiful, well fed fish. Biopellet reactor has been running smoothly and keeping nitrates around 40. Feel like they could be lower but I still do 55gal monthly water changes and just started using filter socks a couple months ago. Water is crystal clear but still get some algae on the sandbed. I empty the skimmer, change the filter socks, and scrape the glass about once a week. I need to replace the UV bulb and do a full cleaning of the WP pumps soon so hopefully that will keep everything running smoothly. Fish have been eating my homemade food like pigs along with a 1/2 sheet of Nori (puffer's fav) and NLS pellets daily. Considering vinegar dosing to help battle nitrates but not sure if its necessary in tandem with the biopellets. Here are some updated pics...as you can see the Emp looks like he is beginning to change. He's also asserted himself as the leader of the tank. I've also caught the puffer puffing up for the first time. He did it about 3 times over the course of two weeks and haven't seen it since. Thinking he was trying it out or bored as he gets along well with all his tankmates. Lastly, the yellow tang was battling some septicemia for several months and after a couple weeks of Dr G's antibiotic caviar and good water quality, it seems to have finally completely cleared up Enjoy and I'll try to post more regular updates. Been busy with my youngest son being born just two weeks ago.

 

[marin8n]

The dual Herbie setup has been rock solid for nearly two years now so I have no plans to change that.

 

[marin8n]

Here's a pic I snapped on my iPhone when I caught the puffer all puffed up...he didn't seem to be threatened by any tank mates (although they all backed off when they saw the ball of spikes). As playful as he is I think he may have just been messing around and decided to get puffy!

 

[clekchau]

Awesome fowlr I like the selection and overall setup !

I noticed people rarely reply to fowlr posts and threads unless they have crazy fish, you definitely have a nice tank, congrats!

 

[marin8n]

Thanks Clekchau! I like having a place to document the progress of my tank and growth of my fish more than anything. Nice to get some comments and feedback, especially when first building the tank.

 

[marin8n]

Here's a cool video I took with my GoPro - messing around with the Time Lapse feature during a water change. 90 min down to 4 min. Enjoy! (never mind the brief plumber's crack)

https://youtu.be/ymg4HjfHXGk

 

[marin8n]

So I have an equipment update...I was changing the filter socks and somehow managed to crack my acrylic sump about 6" down. OK until the return pump shuts off then we have a problem! I was able to patch with some thin acrylic on both sides and some plastic bonding epoxy. Taped it up for good measure and managed to survive the two weeks it took to build a new one from a 40B.

I'm enjoying the extra space a lot and it gave me a good opportunity to give all my pumps, skimmer, etc a thorough cleaning. Fortunately I was able to get the plumbing to line up close. All that's left is to reinstall my UV which needed a bulb replacement and cleaning anyways...

Fish-wise I also lost my yellow tang. He was the weakling from the beginning - some HLLE from the QT with Cupramine. Once that cured he battled a septicemia infection for several months as well. It cleared up as well but I think all the added stress finally took it's toll.

 

[marin8n]

Emperor Angel Changing

Emperor Angel Changing

I've been trying to keep a photo log of the changing of my emperor. Truly an amazing transformation going on...First one is full juvenile in March of this year. He has probably quadrupled in size in the last 8 months and is now almost halfway morphed to his adult coloration. Beautiful fish!

I will post more updates as the transformation progresses. Enjoy!

 

[joesfiddy]

Kool pics of emperor changing

 

[marin8n]

So it's been a while since I posted an update. Been busy moving all my pics over from photobucket to revive my build thread. Here is a cool chronological collage I put together of my Emporor changing over the course of about 22 months. Such an amazing process! Looking to add a couple new fish soon so stay tuned!

 

[marin8n]

So I decided to remove my reactor as the biopellets seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. Decided to give carbon dosing a try to attempt to get my nitrates somewhere back to earth. Tired of all the algae buildup on glass and sandbed. I chose to dose NO3PO4X from Red Sea due to the high ratings and controlled dosing schedule. 36ml per day via BRS dosing pump handing off my sump. After about a month I've managed to get my nitrates down to 40-50 range (API and Salifert respectively). While that still seems high, my sandbed has cleared up drastically and tank has been much cleaner. Skimmer has also been pulling a lot more gunk along with filter socks clogging after less than a week (200 micron). Going to continue dosing per the instructions and if I ever get under 1ppm NO3, I will reduce the dose. Thankfully BRS offers a 5L bottle of NO3PO4X for under $90 shipped. Cheaper and easier than biopellets, etc...
For a dosing reservoir, I found the slim plastic ones on BRS for $15 and it includes a float sensor that I was able to wire to my Apex to alert me when I need to refill it. As a result, I was also able to remove my UV sterilizer, so two fewer pumps, less electricity and maintenance, and cleaner tank. Sometimes simpler is better!

 

[marin8n]

A couple of updated tank shots - you can really see how much all these fish have grown in just a few years!