Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

Looks awesome buddy, just imagine what you can do with that 3ft front to back depth - i'm still blown away how much better the 32" width of my tank is compared to the old 24" display so you are going to have lots of fun with that display :thumbsup:
Don't scape it better than mine please or i'll crack it big time.........

If those spooky overflow things don't have emergency overflow backups then i'd urge you to just go with a simple external overflow box out of glass. I'm looking forward to seeing the reef come alive, the school of Anthias sounds cool. Chromis are rubbish fish so lets just drop that idea right now. Don't get lyretails because a girl friend visiting the other day actually asked ' can you keep goldfish with sea creatures ? '
Now ignoring the fact that she's permanently banned from my house and was standing behind the door when brains were being handed out she did think the lyretails were goldfish so i don't like them so much anymore.
Bartlett's anthias are pink more than orange and are super easy to keep because i haven't killed mine. I'm going to get lots more Bartlett's because their colors look awesome darting around the acro islands

The 12 x 39W of ATI T5 lighting will let you go nuts from the bottom up and all over the 12 sq feet of scaping area. Have you considered running a blue/violet LED light bar like i use in between those two fixtures - just for the ridiculous pop they give and also the subtle glimmer lines you should get.

Hurry up and get that beasty wet please mate

I love green Chromis(I can't help it, sorry Biggles), but I also like Anthias. I had a school of 8 of them and they did well for about 6 months then all died within a week when I raised my Magnesium level to combat some Bryopsis. So I have mixed feelings about them. However, I got them for a very reasonable price(15bucks each) at Reef-a-palooza and there is another coming up this year in October:dance:
That isn't the "Nemo tank" girl is it???
I'm considering all options for lighting, I even considered adding a couple of 150 watt HQI halides. I'm installing Solar in two weeks and the cost of power will become somewhat irrelevant after that, and I have AC:lol:


I have next week off since my son has the week off for Spring Break, so I will be jumping into this build very soon!!!

 

[mhucasey]

Awesome, I love the new tank!!! And what a steal at $250, nice score! Can't wait to see this thing setup. I am also planning on going BB in my new tank, but I also want some wrasses so I am torn

I know, right? I couldn't believe I was able to get it. I love the wrasses as well, so there will be sand and wrasses in the current tank, long with the larger fish I have now and one anemone. The other anemone and its clown will go in the shallow tank, with schooling fish and Maybe a tang for algae control.

I prefer sand, but with the shallow depth even if I could keep the sand in place it would eat up my vertical space. The system will have sand in the other tank and maybe the sump as I think sand is good thing biologically. As for the rock, I may do something very different, like using artificial rock. I only will have small islands of rock very much like Biggles new tank. Mine will look rubbish next to his though

 

[mhucasey]

If those spooky overflow things don't have emergency overflow backups then i'd urge you to just go with a simple external overflow box out of glass.

Were you referring to the "Ghost Overflow"? I plan on using them(or similar) for this. They use two largish holes drilled through the back glass and have an external box with three outlets so you can do the two returns with a safety overflow(beananimal style?). I wouldn't trust a over the back external overflow on this thing. I also will probably convert the current tank to that type of overflow as well. I hate the internal overflow tower thats in there now, it takes up a ton of space and disrupts the flow.

 

[aggie13reef]

Congrats on the new tank :beer:! What a steal for 250. Can't wait to see how the build unfolds. I was excited about my 40B upgrade but sadly I had to ditch that idea. My large SPS tank day will come one day, hopefully sooner rather than later. But if this new tank looks anything like your current one with double the volume, one can only imagine the colors :spin3:

 

[mhucasey]

Congrats on the new tank :beer:! What a steal for 250. Can't wait to see how the build unfolds. I was excited about my 40B upgrade but sadly I had to ditch that idea. My large SPS tank day will come one day, hopefully sooner rather than later. But if this new tank looks anything like your current one with double the volume, one can only imagine the colors :spin3:

Thanks! I will be starting the stand this upcoming week depending on when the aluminum channel arrives, I'm excited to share the process with you all here:celeb3: Don't worry, you will get a chance to build your dream tank eventually

 

[mhucasey]

I want to do something really different with this new reef system build, and luckily i am at a place in my life where I can afford to do it, getting the new tank for 250 dollars is really icing on the cake.

I was really stuck in the decision process on the 66X32X22" tank I was originally intending, and worried about the logistics of getting such a big tank exactly like I wanted it. I think having control over every aspect of the design was stifling my creativity and when I saw the 250 dollar tank it jarred something loose and the ideas started flowing. The idea of having two tanks hadn't occurred to me before this but it allows me two different coral environments to work with.

I've had a lot of ideas for things to do but nothing is set in stone yet other than the stand framework, the overflow for the new tank, that the bottom will not be sand but will be HDPE sheet(aka Starboard) and in-tank flow will be provided by Maxspect Gyres exclusively. Some concepts I'm exploring for the new tank:
1) Completely artificial and modular mounts for the corals. I'm considering everything from plastic rocks to PVC rods. I'm thinking of the mounting of the corals like flower arrangement. I want to be able to see corals and fish as much as possible and make Bryopsis and bubble algae near impossible. There will still be lots of live rock and sand in the system, just not in the high energy tank.

2) Ozone - I used it years ago and lots of Germans still use it with great success. Theoretically I could eliminate any yellowing of the water with this.

3) Calcium reactor - My 2-part is dirt cheap now but the peristaltic pumps run for 15 minutes every hour for 12 hours of the day to keep up. At double the volume for the system it will get difficult to manage without getting new Peristaltic pumps. With a calcium reactor I could eliminate ionic imbalances too. This is the item I have the hardest time with, I've heard how tough calcium reactors are to tune but many of the best reefs Ive ever seen use them.

4) Continuation of the "no water changes" plan. I'm at one year with no water changes and the corals have literally never looked better.

5) Stand covered with removable/swappable panels to make replacing a damaged panel or changing the look of the stand easy.

6) One half of the stand either open or filled with drawers for lots of storage. I only need one side of the stand for the equipment.

7) Incorporation of the conical settling tank but with improvements. I actually bought two 16 gallon conical tanks when I originally set up the current system, so I have a brand new spare. I may cut it up a bit to make it possible to use inside the stand, and I need to find a way to accelerate the conical flow to get better settling action. Alternately, I looked a lot at this filter when I was designing the current system and maybe I could find a way to use it in the new one:

 

[mhucasey]

Current tank update:
I made a big purchase to replenish my testing supplies and have been able to test everything but Nitrate(out of stock)
Mg:1900
Ca:440
Salinity: 36ppt(reducing this slowly)
Alk:7.7(this rose after I removed a lot of coral from the system during the recent clean up. I reduced the dosing sightly and its stable)
Potassium:410
PO4: 0.00
I(total Iodate, Salifert): undetectable.

The Iodine got me to experimenting. My first test was the day after my FM colors dosing. Wednesday I tested again and both Iodide and total Iodate were undetectable. I then added the dose, waited an hour or so and tested again. Still undetectable. So then I added 1.8mL iodide supplement from Brightwells. That amount should raise the level from undetectable to 0.06. I waited a half hour and tested again. Still nothing other than the slightest color, not as dark as the 0.03 level.

The next day a bunch of corals looked significantly different, specifically in the green fluorescence. The newest coral had definite glow around the coralites where there was only very pale green the day before. That Night I tested again, once again undetectable. i added another ml supplement and have repeated each night till now. The color improvement is definitely noticeable, and polyp extension is ridiculous. Biggles saw a very similar effect in his tank and I think that there is definitely something to the need for Iodine and the system's ability to consume it.

 

[mhucasey]

Im going to try completely artificial bases for the mini islands in the SPS Tank, so i got these to try:

They're made of resin and so they will be pest free, easily drill-able, and won't leach phosphate.

We started getting new frags in preparation for the new tank, big haul today:

from the top:

 

[glaukos]

What new tank buddy?Did i miss something

Iodine experiment is really interesting.Curious to see their longterm results.
What's going to be your dosing plan?

 

[joshky]

Im going to try completely artificial bases for the mini islands in the SPS Tank, so i got these to try:

They're made of resin and so they will be pest free, easily drill-able, and won't leach phosphate.

I thought about using those rocks as well, I saw them on ebay. Are you not worried there might be something else that leaches from the paint? I couldn't pull the trigger, I guess paranoia, I don't think they are made for reefs? Hopefully you know more about them than I do, I would like to use a few.

 

[mhucasey]

What new tank buddy?Did i miss something

Iodine experiment is really interesting.Curious to see their longterm results.
What's going to be your dosing plan?

Hi Mike, yep you missed something big! Start back at post 265 and you will see all the goodness

 

[mhucasey]

I thought about using those rocks as well, I saw them on ebay. Are you not worried there might be something else that leaches from the paint? I couldn't pull the trigger, I guess paranoia, I don't think they are made for reefs? Hopefully you know more about them than I do, I would like to use a few.

With plastic i don't worry too much about it, but especially since Andrew Graham(V1...Rotate) used them long term with no issues I'm not concerned. Im more worried about battling leaching Phosphate and pests where the sps will be thick. There will still be a lot of live rock in the system, hopefully these rocks will make clean up and nuisance algae removal easier.

Ill see what's what when I receive them and can see them close up.

 

[acrohead500ppm]

Absolutely gorgeous work!

Cannot wait to see this new build take off. Subbed !

 

[mhucasey]

Absolutely gorgeous work!

Cannot wait to see this new build take off. Subbed !

Thanks! The work will kick off very soon!

 

[mhucasey]

I've only been able to work a little bit on the new tank despite having the week off. I'm waiting for items to be delivered
I did manage to DIY a larger pellet reactor out of a spare media reactor. It works really well:

The new frags are doing well and should be stunning:

 

[cFloor]

The new frags are looking nice! I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on that fake rock you are using. I've heard good things about it and I think it looks really good

 

[mhucasey]

I'm interested too in how it works out. Received all the aluminum channel and connectors for the stand today and put in an order for glass to make a coast to coast overflow, Basso style
I just need the darn special drill bit to machine the ends of the aluminum and i can start building everything. Im gonna be busy next weekend

 

[mhucasey]

Finally got going building the new stand, I'm using 80/20's 2020 10s Aluminum channel and Anchor fasteners. The aluminum channel is 2" square and has 2 channels each face. Its great stuff, just takes a little work to mill it if you want to use anchor fasteners.

I bought their bit and built a jig for my drill press:

You have to make very precise cuts as there is zero give to the channel. I use a grinding blade in my chop saw. It went together nicely, and that sucker is so stiff and strong its ridiculous. The connections are very precise:

Here is the final frame:

The Top and inside bottom will be covered in HDPE sheet, but the top pieces were cut a 1/4" too small. I need to cut the corners out of the bottom sheet, but this gives you an idea:

Still lots to do obviously, but made good progress today

 

[echopiece]

I've seen this style alum stand quite a bit lately. I really like it! I'm also very interested to see how that artificial rock works for you. It's looks awesome, that's for sure! I'm starting my new tank with Marco rocks, so I'll just have to wait for it to look all nice and pretty.

 

[mhucasey]

I've seen this style alum stand quite a bit lately. I really like it! I'm also very interested to see how that artificial rock works for you. It's looks awesome, that's for sure! I'm starting my new tank with Marco rocks, so I'll just have to wait for it to look all nice and pretty.

I want to build everything out of this stuff now! It's so clean and strong and it gives me a ton of room under the stand to work with! I'm a big fan of the HDPE sheet as well, it's very dense and strong but cuts like butter in the band saw. The wife really likes the new stand as well, especially since we can switch out the skin that will cover it if we want later