James404's 80g Rimless SPS Build

[James404]

James404's 80g Rimless SPS Build

Did you get the new unit? Any shots of the tank?


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Yes, Neptune was great to deal with. I paid the $300 deposit and they overnighted a new base unit which is working great.

Will post some updated tank shots tomorrow when I finally have some time to get the dslr out.

Added an Emperor Aquatics 40w UV, still working on cleaning up some of the wires and stuff.

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[MMOORE0324]

Nice! I've never ran a UV. Have you run them on previous tanks? Do you see a lot of benefit?

 

[James404]

Nice! I've never ran a UV. Have you run them on previous tanks? Do you see a lot of benefit?

Yes I have always run UV on my tanks.I use it primarily for water clarification ever since I had a huge phyto outbreak on my very first 75g tank. See below! I remember I had tried everything from lots of carbon, to huge water changes. The UV cleared it in less than a day. It's amazing how crystal clear the water becomes, even if you think your water is clear to begin with

I know it may not always be effective for disease control, so I do not count on it for that aspect, but it may help in certain situations.

 

[DogueDeBordeaux]

Back and forth with Neptune Support all day. They want to RMA the base unit.

Of course that requires many things like Pictures of the unit, serial numbers, original invoices, the blood of a virgin etc..

Hope I can find my invoice...

If you cannot find your invoice, reach out to the vendor.
A while back I had a pump go out that was in warranty. I never keep invoices (bad I know).
I emailed the vendor, and they emailed me another invoice. Some vendors even keep your purchase history online, and you can access in your account.

 

[James404]

If you cannot find your invoice, reach out to the vendor.

A while back I had a pump go out that was in warranty. I never keep invoices (bad I know).

I emailed the vendor, and they emailed me another invoice. Some vendors even keep your purchase history online, and you can access in your account.

Thank you, actually I was lucky that I stuck it in the original box that I still had [emoji3]


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[James404]

Last week it got pretty cold up here in NY. I was only running a 300w Eheim Jaeger, with the sump in the basement the tank ended up getting down to 72 deg. I added another 300w heater and now the temp is staying rock solid. As a result though I had a little STN on my Tricolor Valida, which has since stopped.

Got a chance to snap a few pics.



First, a side by side of the Bird of Paradise I got, already some growth on this piece, it has lightened up quite a bit though.

Tricolor with one tip that STN'd as a result of temp drop. Some coloring has come through though.

My newest fish. This guy almost didn't make it through QT. On the 2nd day I had him, I checked on him right before work and he was stuck to the filter.

My heart sank when I thought he was dead. I killed the filter and to my surprise he was still alive.

I did a full TTM as well as 2 doses of PraziPro. He is eating like a pig now.

I had a bad hair algae outbreak for about a week, all of which has died. Here's current FTS

 

[MMOORE0324]

Looking good! I'm glad the purple tang made it! What kind of filter do you have on the QT? The growth on the BOP looks good, really nice PE.

 

[James404]

Looking good! I'm glad the purple tang made it! What kind of filter do you have on the QT? The growth on the BOP looks good, really nice PE.

Thanks! I was using AquaClear 20's with no filter media, I have since stopped using them and now use just airstones in the qt's. Much easier to dry and no stuck fish when they are weakened

 

[vitodog]

James, is it necessary to run carbon if running a UV?

 

[James404]

James, is it necessary to run carbon if running a UV?

Definitely not necessary. I don't normally run carbon unless I suspect some sort of issue with water quality. From my experiences, carbon can often remove too many DOC's and effect coral health.

 

[James404]

Update

Pretty excited about this update. My Artfully Acrylic top finally came in! I love the build quality and it was definitely worth the wait.

 

[James404]

Coral Additions

Added ORA Laura's Purple Polyp

ORA Red Planet

 

[Ucantwin]

Things are looking good!

 

[James404]

Update:

It's been a while since I updated this thread. Been super busy but will summarize the last 2-3 months best I can.

The tank definitely went through some ugly phases for a while.

I had a huge outbreak of GHA which I attribute to excess PO4 leaching out of the rocks. I didn't do anything drastic, just let it run its course and did manual removal when possible as well as letting some large Mexican Turbos help out.

After the GHA I developed some other snotty type algae which I had never experienced before. It didn't seem like dino's but perhaps it was.

I again just kind of let it run it's course while doing a water change every once in a while and keeping up with Alk and Cal.

The snot algae has now vanished and I am left with just some green cyano in a few spots.

I have been blowing it off occasionally and will soon increase flow by installing some additional MP40's I have planned.

 

[James404]

I finally hooked up my Cal Reactor today, up until now I have been dosing with DIY 2-part. I still need to tidy up some of the wires.

 

[James404]

Another thing that has occurred over the last few months is poor coloration of some of my acros. I attribute this to a few things:

1. I had my ATI fixture hung way too low, especially for a tank that is only 16 inches deep.

I have since moved it up to about 10 inches off the surface of the water.

2. I was running too long of a photoperiod.

This has been reduced down to 9 Hours.

3. The ORA Laura's Purple Polyp I bought from LiveAquaria came in with Red Bugs.

I treated the display with Dr. G's. I have done Interceptor treatments on my previous tanks and Dr. G's has the same active ingredient while being easier to obtain. Treatment went well, I dosed 6 capfuls and haven't seen red bugs at all since.

 

[James404]

Now for the pics.

1. Ora Laura's Purple Polyp - This was infested with Red bugs when arrived.

2. Not so Red Planet. Should start to recover coloration with the changes I outlined above.

3. Nice Mari Piece I picked up. The tips are a really nice blue and I see some nice colors coming out on the branches.

4. ORA Birds of Paradise. Have gotten some nice growth out of this piece.

5. ORA Red Goniopora - Newly added.

 

[James404]

February FTS - Nothing special, I've been moving very slowly on this tank deliberately.

 

[burrito]

Updates?