New tank 125 (note: this may progress slowly)
- Thread starter boviac
- Start date
Thanks Melev! I have like 20+ corals on the two frag racks and about six or seven more spread out on the rocks. I'm excited about this tank upgrade, the size of how much more space I have, the new lights (to me at least) and how wonderfully everything is working out.
Don't worry there's still more to this build thread as I find at this point most ongoing build threads just go to coral pics and other day to day chore details.
I'm probably going to stick with the HOB prizm skimmer(s) for now but this makes pushing the light canopy back to reach/adjust corals/feed fish/dose supplements a bit troublesome as my elbow sometimes has difficulty passing through the available space. So I think something to raise or slide up the light or move the skimmers down is in the near future.
I just put on the PO4 rx back on the sump.
I plan to put on the aquahub DIY ATO kit on soon. (defenately before going to L.A. for family Christmas!)
Also, I've determined the HOB fuge will not work as designed because the suction tray does not go low enough for the water level in this tank ~1.25 below the top of the tank rim - however, I might just glue some gutter guard on suction tube and see if that will work without the suction tray.
Also, I'm considering making a pull-drawer shelf system above the chiller on the right side. And of course the eventual Sump and new stand build...
Don't worry there's still more to this build thread as I find at this point most ongoing build threads just go to coral pics and other day to day chore details.
I'm probably going to stick with the HOB prizm skimmer(s) for now but this makes pushing the light canopy back to reach/adjust corals/feed fish/dose supplements a bit troublesome as my elbow sometimes has difficulty passing through the available space. So I think something to raise or slide up the light or move the skimmers down is in the near future.
I just put on the PO4 rx back on the sump.
I plan to put on the aquahub DIY ATO kit on soon. (defenately before going to L.A. for family Christmas!)
Also, I've determined the HOB fuge will not work as designed because the suction tray does not go low enough for the water level in this tank ~1.25 below the top of the tank rim - however, I might just glue some gutter guard on suction tube and see if that will work without the suction tray.
Also, I'm considering making a pull-drawer shelf system above the chiller on the right side. And of course the eventual Sump and new stand build...
Ok got my aquahub ATO kit on with a 5 gal bucket, a Maxi-jet 400, some 1/2 tubing, and a digital timer. I have the timer cycle on 4x a day at 6 hr intervals for 10 minutes each. I may shorten this on time as it was nearly 18 hours since I last topped off manually and it only took about 45 seconds to fill the sump back up to the normal level.
Here's the bucket. I plan to mount the controller box and orgainze the wires later.
Here's the return pump section and you might be able to see the floats and the top off tubing, (it is the higher one, the lower one is the drain to the skimmer which is not in service right now.)
Here's the timer with the 12v DC xfrmr and the extension cord for the maxi-jet top off pump plugged in on each side.
Oh yeah. I didn't mention yet (I think) the 12 outlet power strip mounted to the underside of top of the stand.
Here's the bucket. I plan to mount the controller box and orgainze the wires later.
Here's the return pump section and you might be able to see the floats and the top off tubing, (it is the higher one, the lower one is the drain to the skimmer which is not in service right now.)
Here's the timer with the 12v DC xfrmr and the extension cord for the maxi-jet top off pump plugged in on each side.
Oh yeah. I didn't mention yet (I think) the 12 outlet power strip mounted to the underside of top of the stand.
bladeruner143
Premium Member
Nice work. How about an updated FTS?
Bladerunner143: Thanks!
This was taken Yesterday but I didn't check the picture before proceeding to take the above photos of the corals. So sorry about the poor quality. Lights are already off for tonight so I'll take one tomorrow and post. Also I took out the majoraty of the rock out of the 29 and picked them mostly clean (I've already found a few tiny ones) of mushrooms and other various soft corals I am trying to remove from this tank. So tomorrows show will show even more corals, more rock, and maybe the two fish I swapped over: Blue Hippo Tang and a female lyretail anthias and also a peppermint shrimp.
This was taken Yesterday but I didn't check the picture before proceeding to take the above photos of the corals. So sorry about the poor quality. Lights are already off for tonight so I'll take one tomorrow and post. Also I took out the majoraty of the rock out of the 29 and picked them mostly clean (I've already found a few tiny ones) of mushrooms and other various soft corals I am trying to remove from this tank. So tomorrows show will show even more corals, more rock, and maybe the two fish I swapped over: Blue Hippo Tang and a female lyretail anthias and also a peppermint shrimp.
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I just watch the ATO turn on and it only took like 6 seconds or less to top off. I think I'll turn down the timer duration to 1-2 minutes. That should limit the amount the pump could possibly put into the sump/tank to be about 1-2 gallons of makeup water.
I'd like to add a bottom float to the sump shut down the return pumpt to protect the it should the ATO go dry or for some other leak or tank drainage stoppage. Also put this to activate the alarm. I can see myself upgrading to an AquaController III Pro in the future...
I'd like to add a bottom float to the sump shut down the return pumpt to protect the it should the ATO go dry or for some other leak or tank drainage stoppage. Also put this to activate the alarm. I can see myself upgrading to an AquaController III Pro in the future...
I put the maxi-jet 400 in an outside storage container with RO/DI water and used it to pump water into the 5g bucket. (only about 1.5ft of head loss due to height.) I didn't time it but I was able to do a few other quick things before it was full. So I'm not really looking at the pump curve, I'm just estimating GPM on how fast I'm seeing the water flow, sump level rise, etc...
Thanks!!! Yeah I have an aqualifter but I'm considering using it for something else. But if that doesn't work out then I'll certainly consider using the slow flow rate of the aqualifter. (really - it came down the the fact that I had pleanty of 1/2" tubing and not enough air line tubing on hand.)
I wanted to send a shout-out to Dan and Melissa for watching over my tanks over the holidays and to Dan for taking a "spectrograph"? image and PAR reading of my current lights. He said the spread was still pretty good but the PAR was low at 69. Everything made it through my family's holiday vacation down in L.A. But I did notice these things:
Anemone is on the move and seriously stung part of the green birdsnest such that I have like three or four fraggable portions left alive. Since I've been home I've had to move two other corals in the anemone's path.
Silver Dollar Chalice was found upside down but replaced and later that night it was sending out some tentacles. Love how these guys can survive what some SPS's would die from after 5 seconds of the same exposure.
My third X10 module failure in six years. The X10 appliance module that the return pump was plugged into failed to restore power sometime on Friday midday. This yielded a 125g tank without heaters for about 2.5 days!!! When I did restart the return pump, the sump temperature dropped as the tank drain water began cycling again - all the way down to 72.0F!!! At least it wasn't that bad and the corals showed no sign of stress other than from the anemone. The first two X10 failures happened near the same time (heater module and I think the return pump or chiller) But that was near four+ years ago. I'm thinking about getting a DC4 or DC8 from Neptune Systems to have more reliable power control over thinks that happen more frequently like return pump and heater/chiller. If you want to see what will go wrong with you aquarium. go away for a few days.
Also my first algae attack has ensued: a brown slimy algae that is most prolific where I have the highest flow.
Anemone is on the move and seriously stung part of the green birdsnest such that I have like three or four fraggable portions left alive. Since I've been home I've had to move two other corals in the anemone's path.
Silver Dollar Chalice was found upside down but replaced and later that night it was sending out some tentacles. Love how these guys can survive what some SPS's would die from after 5 seconds of the same exposure.
My third X10 module failure in six years. The X10 appliance module that the return pump was plugged into failed to restore power sometime on Friday midday. This yielded a 125g tank without heaters for about 2.5 days!!! When I did restart the return pump, the sump temperature dropped as the tank drain water began cycling again - all the way down to 72.0F!!! At least it wasn't that bad and the corals showed no sign of stress other than from the anemone. The first two X10 failures happened near the same time (heater module and I think the return pump or chiller) But that was near four+ years ago. I'm thinking about getting a DC4 or DC8 from Neptune Systems to have more reliable power control over thinks that happen more frequently like return pump and heater/chiller. If you want to see what will go wrong with you aquarium. go away for a few days.
Also my first algae attack has ensued: a brown slimy algae that is most prolific where I have the highest flow.
Twisted
Premium Member
Glad to see you are setting back up Jason.
Hey Chris, Are you planning to add more rock? I know previous expectations were 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon of water, and I may be mis judgeing it, but you look like you only have about 50 or 70 pounds in there?
I honestly think it is up to the builder, and that how much you have is adequate with the sump and everything, but I like a lot of rock myself.
Hey Chris, Are you planning to add more rock? I know previous expectations were 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon of water, and I may be mis judgeing it, but you look like you only have about 50 or 70 pounds in there?
I honestly think it is up to the builder, and that how much you have is adequate with the sump and everything, but I like a lot of rock myself.
