Isn't that a lot more work?

[Dustin07]

Congrats. I look forward to continuing to follow your progress.

I am both excited and terrified, ha. The systems are so much more complex than my current situation.

And yesterday I really ticked the tank off, somehow I got sloppy and ended up with a little too much salt in my water change causing my shrooms, frogspawn, bubble, pretty much everyone to shoot some stress into the tank. I got that fixed fast though and everyone looks good this morning.

 

[Dustin07]

we don't have the bigger tank yet, the seller had some fish and corals in it still that were yet to be relocated and he flies tomorrow for 15 days. So when he returns, we're supposed to connect.... I'm honestly getting pretty excited. I have some ideas. I sorta want to shape the rock like the island of molokini. (but fully submerged of course). that would leave a "beachy" area in the center for anything I want down at sand level. I also think I'll move my giant zoanthid rock lower in the water. even though my zoas grow well up there, they are so short, I think they're a little too high in the par rating right now.

I almost crashed my tank sorta. I was doing a WC and did not get my salt mixed well enough. as I added it I saw thick salt going into the tank, some landing directly on my mushroom. (he's still mad, but recovering), then a few days later had some zoa melt. I assume it's all related. I think I have it all cleared up but it's raising new questions for me about zoa melt.

this is the first time I've seen Utter Chaos melt, but it looks like it's just a few. it's the second time I've seen my pink diamonds go through melt. I gave them a revive dip and put them back in the tank but I still lost probably 10 polyps or more.

Only thing I can think is:

a. my falt for the salinity crisis even though it was short
b. maybe it's just normal for a colony to melt a little bit. everyone seems to have theories on random sudden zoa melt. I've only seen it a few times now and I'm still learning...

 

[griss]

That aquascaping sounds cool. Can't wait to see it when you (finally) get the tank and start making progress.

Sorry to hear about the salinity crisis.

I won't comment on the Zoa melt issue as (while I do have quite a few) I a far from an expert on Zoa. As you know, I'm more of an Acropora and R. Florida person.

 

[Dustin07]

My last couple WC's with the purple bag of instant ocean have not left my tank looking good. My mushroom has shrunk about 50%, my BTA has not been very puffy. I had some melt on a few pink diamond zoas and a couple utter chaos (which has never happened) and one of my torches has been acting a little withdrawn.

In the past, I always used the orange instant ocean, and I've seen people (I think you were one of them @griss ) talk about a bad bag of salt causing chaos. so Yesterday I checked my salinity again, then did a 10% WC with the orange bag.

almost instantly I felt like many of my corals were looking better, and my frogspawn is looking the biggest it has been in months.

I'm really starting to think that the purple bag I have is not good. It seems like the salt density is way off and there could be some other weird issue, IDK.

I won't comment on the Zoa melt issue as (while I do have quite a few) I a far from an expert on Zoa. As you know, I'm more of an Acropora and R. Florida person.

I have never done an iodine or KFC dip but I'm thinking of upping my 'medical supplies' for the next time I see a little melt. this time I lost a few polyps from two different strains but I sorta just let it happen because I could tell it seemed isolated and that it wasn't going to be the entire colony. It's still a little bit of a bummer, but coincidentally happened right after I started using the new purple bag of instant ocean...

 

[griss]

Yes, I had two different buckets of Coralife (different, but close, batch numbers) that has super low Alk and super high Ca that caused issues with my tank.

I've also heard that salt can settle and stratify in the buckets. So, whenever I get a new bucket of salt, I roll it around on the floor to to ensure everything is mixed well. Also, when getting a new bag or bucket of salt, I always mix a small batch and test if for Salinity, Alk, CA and Mg to ensure it's a good batch.

That said, you might want to mix a batch of salt with the purple bag of IO, test it and see if there are any parameters that are off.

 

[Dustin07]

I'm just throwing this in here so I can reference it later. I'm still looking at that Redsea XL 425 (88 gal + 24 gal sump) but I have concerns about weight (and the redsea reputation of course).

Proper Floor Support for Large Aquariums

Why a strong foundation matters We’ve often discussed the importance of using a sturdy aquarium stand to support your tank. Water, glass, and ornaments add up to a lot of weight, and you don’t want to rely on a flimsy piece of furniture to keep your aquarium secure. If the stand collapses...

fishtankadvisor.com

I'm very very torn on it. Fortunately the owner who is selling it to me is still out of the country until Nov 22nd so I have time to think and plan still.

Thing is the price is what's getting me. It's probably sitting with $7k in value for $1400 complete... and he's tossing in all his extra live rock, corals that haven't sold (not sure if I want them, but, hey) offered to help if I want to keep his water, etc.

it's been a rollercoaster lately trying to decide. My wife had a final surgery related to her breast cancer last winter/mastectomy last week so obviously priorities shifted a bit (she's doing very very well, clean bill of health and all incisions healing wonderful), then we rebuilt a deck (but I got a hell of a deal on that too so that helped financially). But my very simple 40g is just... way overfull now after 3 years of collecting lol. It would be nice to have some room to grow...

 

[Dustin07]

had my contractor out to review my floors and he said if he were to reinforce them, he would have done exactly what was already in place. so he said where we want to put the tank is the perfect spot, no changes or updates needed.

Well, I got the 425 XL home last night. that was a project. The previous owner gave me a ton of extra rock and a few interesting mushrooms and zoas that I have already added to my existing tanks while I work on getting the 425 set up.

It has 3 x Red Sea 90w LED lights (which I'm happy about because I run 50w now and understand the app etc)
A new redsea reef mat
Protein Skimmer
Algae Reactor
Sump tank is bigger than most tanks I've had (LOL)
auto doser
electronics seem to be well organized in the cabinet with individual switches for the powerheads (2ea), pumps, autodoser, lights, etc
Sand, rock, etc.

He probably added about $500 worth of random stuff between the rock, sand, electronics, mushrooms, etc. I'm also normally of the mindset to get rid of the sand and start over, but I actually really like the stuff he has, I am in no hurry in terms of tank cycling, and I can seed this tank with rock and water from my 40g which I *think* will speed up the process. Generally speaking his tank was pest free. I did see a single aiptasia sprouted off a rock, but since adding shrimp to my 40g tank I have not seen any since, so I'm not too concerned.

Here is a picture from his listing before he broke it down:

 

[Dustin07]

a lot of zoas were encrusted on the back of the tank, and unfortunately left to die. on the back right you see a plate encrusted up the side as well, which I believe was GSP but now will need to be cleaned off the tank. I'll likely get the stand and tank in the room where I want it permenantly set up tonight, although I am not sure when I'll start adding water. I need to learn and understand all the plumbing.

it was about a 6hr process between driving to my folks to borrow their truck, then helping the seller break down his tank. we syphoned all the sand out first (which I was at first on the fence about), then slowly everything else. He still had the tank functioning 100% so we had to take out the fish and any corals I didn't want, so he could sell them that night. He did offer me two beautiful clams for $90 total which would have been great, but they were encrusted on a large piece of rock that I didn't think I could accomodate in my existing 40g tank.

Maybe against better judgement, I did take a biscuit star fish for my wife. I know they could be hazardous for a reef tank. He had zero issues with his, but I'm a little nervous... so we'll see how it does.

 

[Reefing102]

Was a beautiful tank and I’m sure it will be too.

With sand, I’d just rinse it well and you should be fine.

As for the encrusting coral on the back, that appears to be a type of montipora. If it’s not dead yet (they can sometimes stay out of the water for a while and still live), you might be able to break a piece off the back and have it for your own. If it’s already dead, vinegar or citric acid and a sharp razor blade should help remove it.

 

[Dustin07]

If it’s already dead, vinegar or citric acid and a sharp razor blade should help remove it.

It did! came right off. we had some big wind here in the PNW last week and the power outtage caused a lot of his corals do die. You might be right about it being a type of monti, I had asked him what it was and he couldn't remember but seeing it in person this weekend it looked like it had polyps like gsp and it was more of a purple color my my gsp is when it's fully pulled in, but it was definitely a different / crustier texture to touch.

It's gone now.. I spent last night scrapping off dead zoas, that coral, and a few other things. Hoping to get the tank and stand moved to their forever home in our living room tonight.

Was a beautiful tank and I’m sure it will be too.

I'm really excited about it, but admittedly overwhelmed about the reefscape/aquascaping portion of it. I'm hoping to start getting it set up and learning the systems here this weekend a bit (slowly) but I'm going to take my time to enjoy the build. I want to add some lights inside the cabinet, including a grow light, and reorganize the sump to make it useable potentially as a frag tank.

I'm truly not sure how I want to lay out the tank design itself. I have three different GSP's that will be fun to incorporate and let spread like crazy, but I'm still not 100% sure how I want to set up those focal points yet... Plus my euphylia collection is growing, so I want to be smart about where I set them all up since half my corals want to fight each other now days lol.


Most important thing to me is keeping all the rocks as far away from the glass as possible. I'm tired of bumping rocks and corals trying to clean glass, lol.

 

[Dustin07]

So one thing I've wanted for a long time but have of course never had room for was a Hippo Tang.
Even with the tank I just picked up, I did not think it was big enough. Internet Tang Policia of course will verify that. But I was talking to my LFS owner about it and he said that it may stunt the fishes growth but he wouldn't hesitate for a second to put a blue tang in there. He's been running his store for 15 years and has by far the largest BTA I've ever seen in my life... I trust his judgement I think. so when we do the transfer of tanks, I'll be selective.

Some of my zoas that are less interesting and spread like weeds won't be brought over.
My clove polyps won't be brought over. They were pretty and filled a lot of room in a new tank, but spread like wild fire so I'll likely keep them out.
I'm 99% certain I will keep my Kenya trees and let them go.
I might attach all my various GSPs to the back wall.
I am pretty sure I have plenty of rock.
I am considering a couple separate rocks for growing particular zoas where they can't necessarily jump easily to another rock.
The blue damsel will definitely NOT be coming to the new tank. he doesn't bite other fish, but he causes so much havoc in the sand. any of my corals that are left on the sand are vulnerable to his destruction. I currently have shrooms, torches, and a few other items down there that I have to constantly protect from him.

Researching a ton of various aquascapes people have built, looking at as many 425 xl tanks I can and at the end of the day I'm pretty sure I'm going to just end up putting a ton of rock in the tank until I'm happy. I'm truly lost at how to scape this much volume.

 

[Dustin07]

Not yet in it's forever home, but I got the tank moved into the living room while I had my step daughters boyfriend in town. once my wife decides on the "exact" spot against that wall, I'll pull out the level and see if any adjustments are needed.

Then I'll likely do a dry run, getting all the equipment in etc. I still want to figure out how to use the sump as a frag tank so I may need to reorganize a bit. it's quite cluttery down there with:

algae reactor
protein skimmer
reef mat
ATO Tank (about 7g)

 

[Dustin07]

Found the manual online. it's going to be tight in the refugium.

just saving these links for easy reference later:

https://g1.redseafish.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/6635B_Reefer-XL-425-Cabinet-Aquarium-Manual_v20a.pdf

REEFER™ XL 425 - Support page | Red Sea

Find all manuals, spare parts, sump drawings, FAQ & how to videos

g1.redseafish.com

REEFER™ XL 425 - Support page | Red Sea

Find all manuals, spare parts, sump drawings, FAQ & how to videos

g1.redseafish.com

https://g1.redseafish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/5501-REEFER-Series-Manual_EN_FR_DE_JP_CH_-v21b_web.pdf

 

[Dustin07]

Any suggestions, recommendations, or rules of thumb for how close to the wall I should leave it? I'm thinking at least enough space to run power cords.

 

[Reefing102]

I generally put enough space for power cords or at least to fit my hand behind to grab power cords (usually the later).

 

[griss]

I generally put enough space for power cords or at least to fit my hand behind to grab power cords (usually the later).

This ^

 

[Dustin07]

I might try to get all the plumbing and pumps set up today, in which case I could start mixing salt. I'm leaning towards 5g buckets but might opt for a new garbage can lol

I'm thinking order of operations might be:
Set up plumbing
Add sand/ rock
Add salt/water
Once overflow/sump are operating acceptably,
Figure out reef mat
Then protein skimmer
Then algae reactor last.

I'm not super worried about a long cycle because I have 40g of water and live rock to bring over to the new tank. Although, catch 22, I sorta want to trust the new tank is operating well before I start doing that so I'm thinking the possibility of a mini cycle exists....

I'm leaning towards a lot of dead rock and dead sand from the previous owner with the only live stuff coming from my current tank since I know it, and I know it's currently free of any algae or aiptasia issues etc

 

[griss]

Brute trashcans work great for storing/mixing water. Remember, add salt to the water not water the salt or you’ll precipitate out calcium or alkalinity (can’t remember which one).

Your game plan sounds good.

 

[Dustin07]

Great time for my clowns to finally decide to start laying and fertilizing eggs!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

You Can't Fool With Mother Nature!!!