My plan of a 125 gallon build

[SimonSKL]

Not a pharmacist but I do work with water and the make up of it. I add phosphate to bind calcium at work. Calcium and Mag loves to make scale in boilers, thus I must rid of it! Totally opposite of what I do in my reef!

Haha! Just make sure you wash your hands after work and before you put your hands into your tank. You sure don't want to introduce a new source of phosphate to your reef tank.

 

[240drift]

How about that? A fellow pharmacist who is also interested in reefing. What a great combination:celeb1: We know all about calcium, magnesium, phosphate....., right?:headwalls: Where are you located 240drift?

I shouldnt say pharmacist yet, 34 days until graduation :dance: tank is in Peoria, while I am living in Dixon doing my final rotation.

 

[SimonSKL]

I shouldnt say pharmacist yet, 34 days until graduation :dance: tank is in Peoria, while I am living in Dixon doing my final rotation.

You have a long career ahead of you while I am getting close to my retirement. It is a great profession now with many options and career choices. I have worked in all of those options except for a pharmaceutical company. Best of luck to you.

 

[240drift]

Yes very long career and thankfully it will support this salty habit! Currently CVS is the career choice but as you know everything is subject to change.

 

[240drift]

I always come back to htis build for ideas, mainly cause its an "economical" and sensible build. Also the same tank size that I have. Updates?

 

[SimonSKL]

I always come back to htis build for ideas, mainly cause its an "economical" and sensible build. Also the same tank size that I have. Updates?

Thanks for the compliment! As far as updates all equipment are functioning properly without any issue except the Blowhole 1450 pump was running kind of warmer than usual one day last week. I took out the impeller and gave it a good cleanup and now it is running fine and always quiet.

Corals are doing great and kept growing and I sold some frags to some local reefers. I do havea small outbreak of cyanobacteria in the mid section of my tank but they only appear during the day. All in all no major issues and just enjoying my tank.

Here are some of the pictures that I posted in my corals for sale thread from last week from my iPhone.

 

[SimonSKL]

Here are some closeup of other corals in my tank. Some of them I am hosting for Trademark.

 

[naeem]

Hi Simon,
Thank you for all the information regards the Eshine led products that you are using, and the link to your thread, I forgot to mention that I am in the UK.
I have just finished reading your thread and what can I say except Wow! Wow! and Wow!, outstanding coral growth and colors. I am really impressed by your skills as a craftsman and a reef keeper. I personally have been keeping marines for years but only just planning to keep SPS corals so investigating the various lighting options. I think that I may well go with the Eshine products and consider the controllable version.
Once again thank you for your guidance and keep up the good work.
Kind Regards.
Naeem.

 

[SimonSKL]

Naeem, Thanks for the compliment and welcome to RC!

 

[naeem]

Simon,
It just occurred to me that you are not using optics in your LEd's due to being a shallow aquarium. Mine is 33 inches deep and i will aim to keep the LED mounted as close to the waters surface as permissible and the SPS as high in the water column as possible, which optics would you recommend that I opt for, perhaps 60 or 90 degree, or not at all.
Many Thanks.
Regards.

 

[SimonSKL]

33" is a very deep tank by any standard for a reef tank. I doubt a Eshine with 3W LEDs can penetrate such depth. If you want to try, I would go with the 60 degree optic lens but your spread or coverage will be very limited.

 

[naeem]

Hi,
The eshine are like a third of the cost of AI Sols or Radions, i may well give it a shot and place the sps higher up in the water column.
Many thanks for your advise, and keep up the good work.
Regards.

 

[SimonSKL]

It has been a while since my last update of my tank. Tank is doing great but I am fighting a bad outbreak of cyano which covers almost the entire sand bed making it look quite dirty. Turning the lights off didn't help much as it came right back. Any suggestion to get rid of them will be appreciated. I really don't want to use any chemical or antibiotic.

Here is the latest FTS video.

 

[tassod]

Simon,
Did you try using that algae mower vac you bought? Its supposed to be able to pickup that red slime algae.

 

[SimonSKL]

The algae mower stops everytime a small piece of sand got stuck in the impeller. It is a hassle to keep taking the thing apart to free up the impeller. The AM works great with hair algae in my other tank though. A turkey baster works much better but I have to keep doing it every few days.

 

[sushimi]

Beautiful video of a an awesome aquarium.

 

[tassod]

Yeah, i know what you mean about the algae vac, real pain..don't even use mine anymore as i find it useless.

 

[zalmaxiss]

How is your Reeflo return pump doing Simon? I am still undecided as to what I am going to get. I see on some sites they show that model is discontinued.

 

[SimonSKL]

How is your Reeflo return pump doing Simon? I am still undecided as to what I am going to get. I see on some sites they show that model is discontinued.

You are right about model 1450 being discontinued by Reeflo. In fact they have discontinued all models below 2700 which is really disappointing. The pump is a great pump, quiet and efficient. Good thing is I bought a backup pump with extra impeller from the Used Equipment forum so I am okay for a few more years.

The pump did get hot one day last month and I took it out to clean it (I haven't cleaned it for over a year since I started last March) and it is now running fine. May be you should look into a DC return pump. From what I heard, they are also extremely quiet and very efficient with variable speed control. Price has come down considerably and you can use it both inside and outside the sump.

 

[zalmaxiss]

I have been pondering that. I was going to go with a basement sump, but trying to keep this as affordable as possible. I would have to drop a big bill for a basement return pump. Thanks for the suggestion!