My 112G Cube Build Thread. I'm baaaaaaack!!

[fullonsound]

Really nice set up!

 

[hersheyb]

Judging from the picture of your previous tank, this one is going to be even better, great build so far!

 

[MrSandman]

Really nice set up!

Thanks!

Judging from the picture of your previous tank, this one is going to be even better, great build so far!

Thanks! I sure hope so!

what is taking so long?

Toan, you need to cut back on watching those Tanked episodes. You're starting to believe its all true.

 

[lowbudget]

Toan, you need to cut back on watching those Tanked episodes. You're starting to believe its all true.

you mean a reef tank takes time to grow? :dance:

 

[solitude127]

Been a couple weeks and figured it was time for an update. I've been battling a little hair algae over the last week and decided to run some tests. Based on my Hanna phosphate tester I had a reading about 0.04. I'm not exactly sure where the source is other than the ceramic rocks. I've heard from others that the ceramic rocks need to be cured for a very long time to pull the phosphates out. I guess the 4 weeks wasn't enough.

Anyways I was lucky enough to have some poly filters on hand and threw those in and over the course of about 4 days it dropped my phosphates back down to 0.

As the poly filters only have a short lifespan I started looking into running some GFO in a media reactor. After looking at a dozen different media reactors I couldn't make up my mind until Mike told me to look into the ATB ones. I couldn't find any for sale online so I contacted Chad, the ATB distributor who happens to be local. Anyways, after some texts back and forth Chad sent me a media reactor to test out and give him some feedback on. When I came home this evening it was sitting by the front door.

So far I like it because there are no sponges, there is a union on top for easy access and it utilizes an up flow design. Will update again after I fire it up.

I really like those reactors. It seems super easy to change out the media. My only concern is the pump for it. You'd have to have a quick release or a union to make taking the reactor out easily.

 

[reefish123]

Hey Ramon how are you? just checking hows your tank, any updates?

 

[Centralreefs]

sweet cube!

 

[MrSandman]

Hey Ramon how are you? just checking hows your tank, any updates?

Man. So much to update....where do i start?

i was gone for practically all of February on a business trip for work. Leading up to this trip everything was doing well. I had just done a water change, corals were healing and encrusting, my phosphates were down and hair algae was practically gone. Everything looked good. I had instructed my wife to watch over the tank while i was away and she did everything from cleaning the skimmer to feeding the fish and making top-off water. Never once did she place her hands into the tank.

When i came back from my trip most of the corals had bleached and some were starting to RTN. I'm not sure when it started or why it happened but it did. I did a water test and everything checked out fine. Phosphates undetectable with my Hanna meter, calcium, alk, salinity, temp, pH, nitrates, nitrites, magnesium all were in spec. During my trip i was closely monitoring everything via my Apex app and everything went fine. No anomalies, or spikes, or power outages from what i could see.

I was totally confused as to what it could be. I have cycled many tanks over my reefing career and had never dealt with anything like this.

Initial thought is the lights were too strong. So i reduced the tubes down to 70% and the led's down to 50% intensity. The RTN continued to happen.

Then i thought...maybe the detox blox are just absorbing everything. Trace elements nutrients, etc. So i did a water change and tried feeding a little bit more and resorted to target feeding the corals and shut off my skimmer for almost 2 weeks. The only thing that resulted was a major increase in hair algae and pod populations. Meanwhile, SPS were still on a downward spiral.

So i flipped on the skimmer 2 weekends ago and did a 30% water change this past weekend and am keeping a close eye on things. My RBTA is still doing fine. I have a small colony of xenia on the sand that is doing fine, but it hasn't grown much (which is why i thought i was lacking nutrients). I have several zoa colonies doing fine and have an encrusting monti that is taking off and encrusting in several directions. I have a couple chalice frags doing fine too.

Almost 4 weeks later to today i'm still not sure what it is and will try a process of elimination. The only things in my tank that could cause this are the detox blox, the ceramic rocks, some caribsea crushed coral and 2 pieces of marco rocks. Everything else is acrylic, PVC or glass. Meanwhile, i'll shut off the GFO reactor and see if my phosphates start to creep back up.

I've put an email out to Cerameco's distributor to see if they have had any complaints with the detox or ceramics and they immediately responded that there were none. I'm not yet ready to throw in the towel on these rocks. My next step will be to order some Marco rocks and start swapping out the detox blox for it in my sump.

Meanwhile, my forest fire digi is still bleached. That is my gauge for now. Once it regains its color, then i figure i've got it solved. If anyone has any other suggestions, i'm all ears!

 

[reefish123]

Man. So much to update....where do i start?

i was gone for practically all of February on a business trip for work. Leading up to this trip everything was doing well. I had just done a water change, corals were healing and encrusting, my phosphates were down and hair algae was practically gone. Everything looked good. I had instructed my wife to watch over the tank while i was away and she did everything from cleaning the skimmer to feeding the fish and making top-off water. Never once did she place her hands into the tank.

When i came back from my trip most of the corals had bleached and some were starting to RTN. I'm not sure when it started or why it happened but it did. I did a water test and everything checked out fine. Phosphates undetectable with my Hanna meter, calcium, alk, salinity, temp, pH, nitrates, nitrites, magnesium all were in spec. During my trip i was closely monitoring everything via my Apex app and everything went fine. No anomalies, or spikes, or power outages from what i could see.

I was totally confused as to what it could be. I have cycled many tanks over my reefing career and had never dealt with anything like this.

Initial thought is the lights were too strong. So i reduced the tubes down to 70% and the led's down to 50% intensity. The RTN continued to happen.

Then i thought...maybe the detox blox are just absorbing everything. Trace elements nutrients, etc. So i did a water change and tried feeding a little bit more and resorted to target feeding the corals and shut off my skimmer for almost 2 weeks. The only thing that resulted was a major increase in hair algae and pod populations. Meanwhile, SPS were still on a downward spiral.

So i flipped on the skimmer 2 weekends ago and did a 30% water change this past weekend and am keeping a close eye on things. My RBTA is still doing fine. I have a small colony of xenia on the sand that is doing fine, but it hasn't grown much (which is why i thought i was lacking nutrients). I have several zoa colonies doing fine and have an encrusting monti that is taking off and encrusting in several directions. I have a couple chalice frags doing fine too.

Almost 4 weeks later to today i'm still not sure what it is and will try a process of elimination. The only things in my tank that could cause this are the detox blox, the ceramic rocks, some caribsea crushed coral and 2 pieces of marco rocks. Everything else is acrylic, PVC or glass. Meanwhile, i'll shut off the GFO reactor and see if my phosphates start to creep back up.

I've put an email out to Cerameco's distributor to see if they have had any complaints with the detox or ceramics and they immediately responded that there were none. I'm not yet ready to throw in the towel on these rocks. My next step will be to order some Marco rocks and start swapping out the detox blox for it in my sump.

Meanwhile, my forest fire digi is still bleached. That is my gauge for now. Once it regains its color, then i figure i've got it solved. If anyone has any other suggestions, i'm all ears!

Oh man sorry to hear, I belive its your light. Did you start your lighting at 70%? I ran mine at 30% beucase a Rep at ATI recommended that and ramp up from time to time. Even though I never checked my par levels 30% is intense. But as much as I used them they did great for me, corals did great.
Was gonna ask you for feed back on the blocks as I a big fan of cerameco as Im considering some for my new tank build.
Hopefully you get everything squared out.

Got pics?

 

[MrSandman]

Oh man sorry to hear, I belive its your light. Did you start your lighting at 70%? I ran mine at 30% beucase a Rep at ATI recommended that and ramp up from time to time. Even though I never checked my par levels 30% is intense. But as much as I used them they did great for me, corals did great.
Was gonna ask you for feed back on the blocks as I a big fan of cerameco as Im considering some for my new tank build.
Hopefully you get everything squared out.

Got pics?

I wasn't so sure it was my light. I ran similar lights on my last tank but without the LED's (8 bulb powermodules) and never had this problem. I've toasted SPS before and usually i'll see signs of bleaching due to light within the first couple weeks. But these frags were in the tank for about 6 weeks before i left for my trip and everything seemed fine. Plus, most of these frags came from a tank that was running AI's so i wouldn't think it was too far off PAR wise. Maybe you're right and i underestimated these things.

Also, yes i did start them at 70% and was experimenting during the 6 weeks and went as high as 90% to see how the corals reacted. When i left for my trip i dropped them back down to 70%. When the ATI rep said to run at 30%, was he talking about the T5's or the LED's? I think my LED's are at 50% now but they could be lower. Its been a while since i adjusted them.

 

[reefish123]

I see Ramon.. He explained T5 @ 30% cant remember what he said for LEDs but I can assure you it was around 50%.

Even my AI's that I was running were at 45%. Mike from SC also recommended never to run right at high percentages thus you get bleached coral.

IMO I'd lower the % down and see how they do, are you considering some removing detox blocks?

 

[sahin]

I doubt its the lights. Seriously, if it was the lights, you would see bleaching on the upper surfaces of the corals etc...and maybe coral death much later, but many SPS would still be fine.

My bet is on the water...either something leaching out from one of the various rocks or even a parameter issue...Have you tested all parameters with a different test kit?

 

[discotu]

Hey Ramon, sorry to hear about this....I'm supposed to travel in may and keep thinking about this as well. Be carful removing you detox blocks...you might get a nutrient spike if you take out too much....but I'm also using detox blocks and cermedia blocks and I don't have any issues. I wonder if it was a singular incident...power went out, something died in the tank and nuked it, ato malfunction, kid put something in the tank. Are you running carbon and or gfo? I think whatever caused it is out of the system now. Turn down the lights and let them recover slowly. Good luck buddy.

 

[christygirl]

Ramon,

Let me take a quick moment here and tell you the tank is a real nice setup.

Now, that said....

I have detox blox and cerameco rock for my tank..... All rocks in my tank are cerameco...

I also have the ATI powermodule 8 x 84 and 4 x 75 LED.

My tank is also 2 feet deep.

I run the lights about 6 inches off of the water...

So, our tanks are real similar.....

I run my LEDs only at 50%.... I do this for color and viewing.... my program is:

It only shows one LED Curve, but, that curve shows the 50% LEDS....

I run my tubes at 100% because my fixture is not dimmable.... So, the inner 4 tubes (all the color lamps) come on first for an hour and then the outer tubes (all actinic) come on.

This setup gives me a real steady ramp up but not too bright dawn cycle followed by the colorful light to strong daylight reversing for the end of the day.... I really think I am only "growing coral" for 4 hours between 1 and 5 PM

The rest of the time, the light is pleasing to the eyes and makes all of the colors pop....

I haven't dosed yet... but that start tomorrow.

In my opinion...... Maybe cut the LEDS back just a bit.... I am not saying to 50% like I run, but, maybe somewhere between 50% and 100%

I am one of those guys that still thinks the best overall growth comes from T-5 and that is why I use the LED for effects and for color.... Not intensity.

If you want my t-5 scheme, I will look at that tonight and tell you.

 

[sonnus]

Bummer to hear Ramon.

Do you do any carbon dosing?

 

[Jflip2002]

Such an awesome dimension. Of all tanks Ive had, my favorite dimensions were my 36x36x20. Love this tank.

 

[MrSandman]

I see Ramon.. He explained T5 @ 30% cant remember what he said for LEDs but I can assure you it was around 50%.

Even my AI's that I was running were at 45%. Mike from SC also recommended never to run right at high percentages thus you get bleached coral.

IMO I'd lower the % down and see how they do, are you considering some removing detox blocks?

I think i'll give that a try before i start removing the blox. Seems like the easiest thing to do at this moment.

I doubt its the lights. Seriously, if it was the lights, you would see bleaching on the upper surfaces of the corals etc...and maybe coral death much later, but many SPS would still be fine.

My bet is on the water...either something leaching out from one of the various rocks or even a parameter issue...Have you tested all parameters with a different test kit?

You know, i also thought it was the water but i'm using new filters on my RO/DI and using leftover TM Pro salt from my last setup which didn't have any problems. I tested everything with new test kits. I ran polyfilters and GFO as well as carbon and nothing changed. Nobody else seems to be complaining about the rocks so i'm hoping that's not it. I'll go with the light reduction first and then try rocks next if it doesn't work. The only reason why i think its not the lights is because even the SPS on the sandbed bleached or died. If its killing stuff on the bed, then this thing must be intense.

Hey Ramon, sorry to hear about this....I'm supposed to travel in may and keep thinking about this as well. Be carful removing you detox blocks...you might get a nutrient spike if you take out too much....but I'm also using detox blocks and cermedia blocks and I don't have any issues. I wonder if it was a singular incident...power went out, something died in the tank and nuked it, ato malfunction, kid put something in the tank. Are you running carbon and or gfo? I think whatever caused it is out of the system now. Turn down the lights and let them recover slowly. Good luck buddy.

Power didn't go out, nothing died that could have nuked it (unless SPS can nuke things), ATO has been working fine and the kids know better than to touch the tank. Even if they did, i'd see it because the rockwork is totally open (unless it was liquid). But then again, the poly filters and water changes would have fixed it, you'd think. I'm going with the lights for now. Question: Are all your rocks detox and ceramecos? or are there other rocks mixed in?

Ramon,

Let me take a quick moment here and tell you the tank is a real nice setup.

Now, that said....

I have detox blox and cerameco rock for my tank..... All rocks in my tank are cerameco...

I also have the ATI powermodule 8 x 84 and 4 x 75 LED.

My tank is also 2 feet deep.

I run the lights about 6 inches off of the water...

So, our tanks are real similar.....

I run my LEDs only at 50%.... I do this for color and viewing.... my program is:

It only shows one LED Curve, but, that curve shows the 50% LEDS....

I run my tubes at 100% because my fixture is not dimmable.... So, the inner 4 tubes (all the color lamps) come on first for an hour and then the outer tubes (all actinic) come on.

This setup gives me a real steady ramp up but not too bright dawn cycle followed by the colorful light to strong daylight reversing for the end of the day.... I really think I am only "growing coral" for 4 hours between 1 and 5 PM

The rest of the time, the light is pleasing to the eyes and makes all of the colors pop....

I haven't dosed yet... but that start tomorrow.

In my opinion...... Maybe cut the LEDS back just a bit.... I am not saying to 50% like I run, but, maybe somewhere between 50% and 100%

I am one of those guys that still thinks the best overall growth comes from T-5 and that is why I use the LED for effects and for color.... Not intensity.

If you want my t-5 scheme, I will look at that tonight and tell you.

LED"s are at 50% now. They have been for the last few weeks. Its the T5's which are around 70%. Maybe I underestimated the power of this fixture. I'm hoping that's it. I'll try to reduce the lighting from the T5's down to 40%. Worst case the SPS brown out but at least they aren't bleached!

Bummer to hear Ramon.

Do you do any carbon dosing?

Nope. But i did dose MB7 early on to give the tank a boost. Why? You think that's it?

Such an awesome dimension. Of all tanks Ive had, my favorite dimensions were my 36x36x20. Love this tank.

Thanks. Now let's see if i can turn this thing around.

I'll report back in a couple weeks. I'm gonna reprogram the lights right now. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

[discotu]

I'm running LR in the display and blox in the sump. So far so good...

Btw everything cool in your dept? I heard they shuffled some people around.

 

[MrSandman]

I'm running LR in the display and blox in the sump. So far so good...

Btw everything cool in your dept? I heard they shuffled some people around.

Ok. So you do have some LR too. I wonder if anyone has done like I have and only used ceramics and detox.

Everything good in my department. They did some serious shuffling and also decided to double my staff in the process. How about yours?

 

[christygirl]

I have no live rock in my system.

I did use half my sand as live sand from the manufacturer, not another system