Hey ReefCentral! It’s been a bit since my last post so I just wanted to re-cap my build and let you know where things sit today. First and foremost- my baby boy came into the world on August 23rd so my life has been turned upside down in the best way possible. Pretty awesome experience that I know other parents out there can relate to. The one thing I am still trying to get a grip on is my time… but I guess that is just how life goes from here on out. HAH!
Here is an update of all of my equipment that is being used in this set-up:
• SCAquariums 150 gallon tank and stand (60 x 24 x 24) 12mm starfire glass on front and side panels
• LifeReef LF1-300S custom sump w/ Blueline100HD return pump (basement sump)
• LifeReef SVS3-24 in sump Protein Skimmer w/ 8” collection cup and powered by Mag9 pump
• LifeReef return manifold (currently tied to refugium flow only)
• 24” LifeReefugium attached to sump and housing copepods and amphipods, a variety of macroalgae/chaeto/red mangrove propagules.
• LifeReef filter cylinders for carbon, GFO, and other media
• Neptune Apex Classic Controller w/ PH, ORP, Temp, Salinity, PM2, Leak detection module, EB8, EB4, B/O box
• Eheim 150-200W heaters x3 (only using two at the moment)
• Chinese black box full spectrum 165w LED units x 4
• BRS 6 stage 150GPD RODI system w/ TDS meter
• Tunze 3155 ATO
• Tunze 6095 wavemaker x 2
• Tunze 7096 Multicontroller
• Geo 618 CaRx w/ Milwaukee PH controller and reef fanatic regulator on a 20lb C02 tank
• 30 gallon QT tank
Livestock List (tank is fully stocked):
• Blue/Green Chromis x3 / Chromis viridis
• Black and White Ocellaris clownfish pair (bonded and spawning frequently) / Amphiprion ocellaris
• P. Fridmani Pseudochromis / Pseudochromis fridmani
• Melanurus Wrasse / Halichoeres melanurus
• McCosker Flasher Wrasse / Paracheilinus mccoskeri
• Trio of Sunset Anthias / Pseudanthias parvirostris
• Powder Blue Tang / Acanthurus leucosternon
• Yellow Tang / Zebrasoma flavescens
• Flame Angelfish / Centropyge loricula
• Midas Blenny / Ecsenius midas
• Diamond Goby / Valenciennea puellaris
• Randalls Goby / Amblyeleotris randalli
• Rose Bubble Tip Anemone x 2 since it split
Coral List:
• Too many types of zoa/paly to list
• Various Montipora, Acropora, SPS species including and not limited to tenuis, tortuosa, valida, stylophora, cerealis, staghorn, capicornis, loripes, caroliniana, nasuta.
• Various LPS species including branching frogspawn, branching hammer, acan lordhowensis, fungia, etc.
• The only leather in the tank is a neon toadstool
• The only shrooms are a lava lamp mushroom, Jawbreaker mushroom (Poletti lineage), and WWC bounce mushroom baby the size of a nickel.
I am currently using IO salt, BRS ROX carbon, and BRS GFO. The carbon and GFO are turned on and off as needed. I am performing weekly water changes at about 25-30 gallons. The tank has been set-up since the beginning of June and is just now starting to settle in with the new base rock I added (caused for some diatom outbreak). I neglected it for a bit while the newborn event took place and ended up getting RTN and lost a good 4 or 5 of my acro frags which bummed me out especially since they were some of my favorites (red dragon, Oregon tort, red planet). Nothing more painful than watching your coral babies fade away. I have since started using more GFO to help get the phosphates under control and got my new Calcium reactor tuned in to help replenish my low Ca/Alk levels. I was also finally able to get my Neptune Apex controller dialed in- I ordered four float switches (Slief redundancy recommendation) and set them up with my breakout box. I calibrated the temp, PH, and salinity probes. I created some code for alarms and redundancies, as well as custom feed cycles and maintenance cycle. Now I will get alerted if my temp is off, if my ATO bin is low on water, if the sump high level or low level and main display tank high level float switches trigger, alerted when there is a loss of power, etc. I never knew you could do so much with this controller, and I love it! I was battling some high tank temperatures over the middle of summer (display tank was getting up to 82-83 degrees) and I wanted to get it under control without the use of a chiller. I added two clip-on fans above the sump in the basement to battle the submerged pumps/heat dispersion and MAN what a difference a fan can make. Now I am steady between 79-80 degrees and haven’t looked back since. I have my heaters dialed in for the winter months and I am feeling confident about traveling/leaving the tank for days at a time. I was able to go back and fix my emergency drain per Soulpatch advice and modified it with two 45 degree elbows so that I could work around the return T. This allowed me to get my water level .25” below the euro brace of the tank and right where I wanted it. This project also allowed me to clean up the internal overflow box and reminded me that I need to DYI a “lid” to keep the light from getting in there and promoting algae growth. I want to lower my canopy so that I am covering the gap between where the water surface ends and the canopy begins but I reaaaallly don’t want to get my lights any closer to the water’s surface… so I am still thinking this one through. Some of that thinking involves the possibility of purchasing three Radions and going canopy-less… at this point though I need to focus on diapers and continue to save for a better lighting solution. I discovered the “flipper scraper” magnet cleaner and this thing is awesome. The blade side scares me but for use in the bottom 1” of the glass where it meets the substrate this thing does wonders and I highly recommend it. I am in serious need of getting out the nice camera and taking a BUNCH of photos since I have re-aquascaped the entire right side of the tank and moved a bunch of coral around. So stay tuned and pictures will follow in the coming week or so! I hope this build-thread has helped many of you learn/visualize and apply to your own projects as much as other threads I have read through have helped me. I am excited to see the growth of my SPS over the coming months since the addition of the Geo CaRx and my constant goal of keeping rock solid parameters. Happy reefing!
Here is an update of all of my equipment that is being used in this set-up:
• SCAquariums 150 gallon tank and stand (60 x 24 x 24) 12mm starfire glass on front and side panels
• LifeReef LF1-300S custom sump w/ Blueline100HD return pump (basement sump)
• LifeReef SVS3-24 in sump Protein Skimmer w/ 8” collection cup and powered by Mag9 pump
• LifeReef return manifold (currently tied to refugium flow only)
• 24” LifeReefugium attached to sump and housing copepods and amphipods, a variety of macroalgae/chaeto/red mangrove propagules.
• LifeReef filter cylinders for carbon, GFO, and other media
• Neptune Apex Classic Controller w/ PH, ORP, Temp, Salinity, PM2, Leak detection module, EB8, EB4, B/O box
• Eheim 150-200W heaters x3 (only using two at the moment)
• Chinese black box full spectrum 165w LED units x 4
• BRS 6 stage 150GPD RODI system w/ TDS meter
• Tunze 3155 ATO
• Tunze 6095 wavemaker x 2
• Tunze 7096 Multicontroller
• Geo 618 CaRx w/ Milwaukee PH controller and reef fanatic regulator on a 20lb C02 tank
• 30 gallon QT tank
Livestock List (tank is fully stocked):
• Blue/Green Chromis x3 / Chromis viridis
• Black and White Ocellaris clownfish pair (bonded and spawning frequently) / Amphiprion ocellaris
• P. Fridmani Pseudochromis / Pseudochromis fridmani
• Melanurus Wrasse / Halichoeres melanurus
• McCosker Flasher Wrasse / Paracheilinus mccoskeri
• Trio of Sunset Anthias / Pseudanthias parvirostris
• Powder Blue Tang / Acanthurus leucosternon
• Yellow Tang / Zebrasoma flavescens
• Flame Angelfish / Centropyge loricula
• Midas Blenny / Ecsenius midas
• Diamond Goby / Valenciennea puellaris
• Randalls Goby / Amblyeleotris randalli
• Rose Bubble Tip Anemone x 2 since it split
Coral List:
• Too many types of zoa/paly to list
• Various Montipora, Acropora, SPS species including and not limited to tenuis, tortuosa, valida, stylophora, cerealis, staghorn, capicornis, loripes, caroliniana, nasuta.
• Various LPS species including branching frogspawn, branching hammer, acan lordhowensis, fungia, etc.
• The only leather in the tank is a neon toadstool
• The only shrooms are a lava lamp mushroom, Jawbreaker mushroom (Poletti lineage), and WWC bounce mushroom baby the size of a nickel.
I am currently using IO salt, BRS ROX carbon, and BRS GFO. The carbon and GFO are turned on and off as needed. I am performing weekly water changes at about 25-30 gallons. The tank has been set-up since the beginning of June and is just now starting to settle in with the new base rock I added (caused for some diatom outbreak). I neglected it for a bit while the newborn event took place and ended up getting RTN and lost a good 4 or 5 of my acro frags which bummed me out especially since they were some of my favorites (red dragon, Oregon tort, red planet). Nothing more painful than watching your coral babies fade away. I have since started using more GFO to help get the phosphates under control and got my new Calcium reactor tuned in to help replenish my low Ca/Alk levels. I was also finally able to get my Neptune Apex controller dialed in- I ordered four float switches (Slief redundancy recommendation) and set them up with my breakout box. I calibrated the temp, PH, and salinity probes. I created some code for alarms and redundancies, as well as custom feed cycles and maintenance cycle. Now I will get alerted if my temp is off, if my ATO bin is low on water, if the sump high level or low level and main display tank high level float switches trigger, alerted when there is a loss of power, etc. I never knew you could do so much with this controller, and I love it! I was battling some high tank temperatures over the middle of summer (display tank was getting up to 82-83 degrees) and I wanted to get it under control without the use of a chiller. I added two clip-on fans above the sump in the basement to battle the submerged pumps/heat dispersion and MAN what a difference a fan can make. Now I am steady between 79-80 degrees and haven’t looked back since. I have my heaters dialed in for the winter months and I am feeling confident about traveling/leaving the tank for days at a time. I was able to go back and fix my emergency drain per Soulpatch advice and modified it with two 45 degree elbows so that I could work around the return T. This allowed me to get my water level .25” below the euro brace of the tank and right where I wanted it. This project also allowed me to clean up the internal overflow box and reminded me that I need to DYI a “lid” to keep the light from getting in there and promoting algae growth. I want to lower my canopy so that I am covering the gap between where the water surface ends and the canopy begins but I reaaaallly don’t want to get my lights any closer to the water’s surface… so I am still thinking this one through. Some of that thinking involves the possibility of purchasing three Radions and going canopy-less… at this point though I need to focus on diapers and continue to save for a better lighting solution. I discovered the “flipper scraper” magnet cleaner and this thing is awesome. The blade side scares me but for use in the bottom 1” of the glass where it meets the substrate this thing does wonders and I highly recommend it. I am in serious need of getting out the nice camera and taking a BUNCH of photos since I have re-aquascaped the entire right side of the tank and moved a bunch of coral around. So stay tuned and pictures will follow in the coming week or so! I hope this build-thread has helped many of you learn/visualize and apply to your own projects as much as other threads I have read through have helped me. I am excited to see the growth of my SPS over the coming months since the addition of the Geo CaRx and my constant goal of keeping rock solid parameters. Happy reefing!
