Jdack's 90g Flat Back Hex

[Jdack]

This has been up and running for about 2 weeks now, aboput half the rock and all livestock came from the 90g buy.

Im happy with the current results for the most part, the skimmers i got with it are junk, so i have to buy a new one on the 5th, soonest i can do it. Nutrient export is solely from water changes atm, good thing i bought salt in bulk!

Parameters have been stable, since about half the rock has been in a running tank for years.

Aquascaping will be redone once i get my 40g breeder AIO done and can put the 2 clowns and lionfish in there for a few days while i redo the scape in the 90g along with a few other key points i want to change.

The plumbing being the big key. The previous owner hadnt really used this tank before so i had to drill the air hole for the durso a bit bigger, as it wasnt up to par with the magdrive 5 return rate. The drain is being fed into the sump with flexible (pvc?) it just looks bad to me, and i think it attributes to most of my water sound.


Im thinking of rehoming the lionfish, as he wasnt originally part of the deal, and was kinda thrown into my care. (Previous owner literally put him in a bucket and brought him out to me as i was loading, had no idea i was taking this sucker home, kinda throws my plan for a semi peaceful full mix reef into whack)

Anyway, mainly rambling, bet you didnt even read it! Heres the pics

On this Pic, is the purple corraline thats growing, or something else? ive had calcium drops since i started, but idk.

That return pump was switched out for the mag drive 5, its a rio 2100

 

[Jdack]

The lights are a t5 setup with moonlights- the relay? box & timer was bad, so i got into the light, removed them, and wired everything together (carefully, fortunately ive done this stuff before)

Currently everything is onone swith with no controllability, used with an analog timer, lighting schedule is about 5 hrs, mostly for when im home after work. Its right in front(behind) a window, which i was hoping would help with fresh air as the overflow is about 3 inches from it. The tank is pretty much fully enclosed, except the overflow box, and sump.

 

[Jdack]

Nitrates are sky rocketing, being barely managed with weekly 30g water changes, i assume its a combo of the dry rock that wasnt fully cured, and no skimmer (tried to work with the berlin triple pass, but it was very, very, very erratic, producing almost nothing, to very very weet, almost clear skimmate, which i am betting is just straight up normal water.

Ive elected to go with an icecap k-200 on pay check, a bit overkill for this tank, but i do plan to heavily stock, and i do want a bigger 125-200 gal tank when i move.

 

[JUNBUG361]

Is that a T on the return line? Didn't want a emergency drain? Tank looks good & clean

 

[Jdack]

It is a t, this is how it was setup when i got it, i havent drilled it at all yet.

It has 2 return loc lines in the tank

When i get the 40g done, and set it up as a QT, im thinking of switching it up to a herbie, but im just not sure theres enough room in the overflow

 

[Jdack]

So I'm thinking about getting a recirculating/external skimmer, and connecting to my overflow, any suggestions? Pretty sure my overflow bulkhead is 1 1/4", with a return pump that is a mag drive 5. The return line looks like 1/2" or 3/4", it has a t to feed the two return lines, that split again for a total of 4 return jets inside the tank. So I'm estimating my overflow is only running around 300 gph. I'm not feeding anything huge, food wise, that can get sucked into the overflow, and nothing I'll be keeping livestock wise can get to the overflow. (The overflow teeth are 1/4 inch big, and meet the top/lid of the tank.

I'm thinking about upgrading the return pump, and teeing again to feed a reactor later, if the skimmer would need more flow.

Suggestions on how to set it up? On skimmers?

Thanks guys!

 

[Jdack]

Quick update, nitrates are dropping, ive got that stupid berlin triple pass figured out, ive added ball valves to the outputs to raise the water level inside it, so it now actually skims, doesnt surge anymore, pulled out nasty dark tea color skimmate. i will be replacing with a dc cone skimmer soon. I have 1/2 cu ft of marinepure on the way to line the sump.

Best part, IVE GOT COPEPODS ALREADY!

 

[Jdack]

Woke up this morning to my skimmer overflowing, my ATO pump running dry. Now, im glad i had it draining into a 5 gal bucket. still not sure WHY it did it, but ive heard these damn things are unpredictable. luckily im planning on getting a real cone skimmer in about a week. Maybe it just finally broke in, i guess that happens even if its been used before, idk.

My new stand for the 40 gal arrives today ( not really a tank stand, but it will be better than a basic leaf kitchen table), and my gfo reactor and 1/2 cu ft of marine pure gets here tomorrow, which also happens to be the start of my weekend.

Looking forward to a real skimmer, as this berlin thing doesnt produce stable foam, more of a wet bubble popping that still skims some real nasty stuff out, but it doesnt foam into the cup, just pops and drips over.

Im hesitant on actually using my gfo reactor right away as while there is a bloom of "nuisance algae" i want plenty of food for the CUC im picking up soon. Which incidentally, i need help on picking out, since i have a BB tank, not sure which snails to get. Will post this question on a different thread.

Anyway, props to anyone who actually reads my ramblings