o2manyfish 750g Tank, 1500g System "Built" Thread

[o2manyfish]

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[mrpizzaface]

Your system is really great. I love your run and gun video style. You are an inspiration.

 

[biecacka]

Dave, your tank is an inspiration to us all. Last July I was gone and had an anemone die, came home to a tank full of dead coral and almost all my fish died. Saddened by this I just let the tank cruise all summer knowing I was moving in the winter. Just moved and lost 6 of my 7 fish in the move. So now, I’m starting with 1 fish and no coral- it’s a real bummer. However, I watch your videos and your drive to push through whatever comes your way. I might as well also, like you I love this hobby way too much!
Thanks


Corey

 

[o2manyfish]

Update on the 560g after a Velvet Outbreak in February.

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[o2manyfish]

Been awhile since an update. The tank has been plodding along. The algae growth in the 560g is a pain in the butt. To enjoy the tank requires a daily wipe on the glass and in the last couple of months Cyano has overtaken the sand bed. The rest of the tanks in the system have no algae problems, it's only the display tank inside. The params on the tank have gotten a little out of whack. Phosphates as always are aroung 1.5 to 1.6. But the Nitrates have fallen to under 1.0.



So last week I did a dose of Chemi-clean, and next week after the 2nd water change I will start dosing nitrates and try to get some balance back. With the crazy algae growth the corals still look good, not great, but good, with some stags and torts growing well.



Here is a video of the tank last week before dosing the chemiclean.

 

[o2manyfish]

Here is a new video, including some coral macros, shot on Nov 21,2021. Tank is looking pretty good. After dosing with Chemi-clean the cyano vanished and corals looked good. Started dosing nitrates to balance out the .05 Nitrates to the 1.5 phosphates.



Since starting the nitrate dosing the glass is now greening over in about 8 hrs. Hoping this balances out soon cause I'm getting tennis elbow having to wipe the front glass 2x a day.





Some people warned that some corals wouldn't like the dosing of the nitrates. On the first day (double dose) the giant green sinularia was closed up, since then it seems happy. But one of 3 healthy gorgonians has closed up since the dosing started.



The new joculator angel from Eric at Amoung the Reef is doing awesome. He's fat as can be. I can't say enough for how well Amoung the Reef conditioned that fish. He went in and was right at home and eating and has only gotten wider in the last few weeks.


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[o2manyfish]

Here is an update of the 560g Display tank after a very cold Dec.

Dave B

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I'm sorry too but let's face it, I wish mine looked that good.

 

[JohnL]

Here is an update of the 560g Display tank after a very cold Dec.

Dave B

Sorry about the losses Dave. It really is a beautiful tank. Hoping it recovers quickly.

 

[o2manyfish]

After 3 decades in this hobby, with the help of good friends and good luck I have had the opportunity to collect most of the fish on my bucket list. While sadly we lost several of those with the velvet outbreak last year, we still have several. And yesterday I brought home another bucket list fish - I hate to say Holy Grail fish, because let's face it that title is so overexaggerated pretty soon it's going to be applied to a Scopas Tang, oh wait the Koi Scopas - A holy grail fish - they already have. So here is my bucket list fish. A captive bred Interruptus Angel. About 2" and cute as a button.

Dave B

 

[JohnL]

Congratulations ?

 

[o2manyfish]

This is one of those horrible posts. This post is so bad it took me almost 3 weeks to make it. It's all gone! We had a 2 strike catastrophe and lost everything. On Mar 17th we treated the display tank with Salifert Flatwrom exit at 80% dose strength. I added a wooden airstone, turned on all the pumps, add 2lbs of carbon to the tank and thought I was safe to treat. But just 2 hrs after dosing the fish just started falling to the bottom of the tank. Lots and Lots and Lots of fish. Out of about 140 fish maybe only 15 survived. All the angels (Interruptus, Joculator, Pair of Goldflakes, Trio of Flameback, Pair of Golden, Pair of Venustus, Flame, Yellow Belly Regal), most of the tangs (9 yellows, 2 purples, Gem, Black, 1 Hippo, 3 Hippo's with no tails), all the anthias just gone. My wife and I were just devestated. So many fish just falling to the bottom of the tank. We caught as many of the bodies as we could out of the tank and sat to wait and see how things would pan out. This was on Thursday night. On Saturday sometime before dawn the 300gal outdoor sump blew apart at the back corner seam. The sump drained to 3" of water. Then at 5am the Topoff turned on to fill up the system before sunrise. With a 4000 gal a day top off system it didn't take long for it to try to fill the sump back up. But the more fresh water the topoff pumped in the more freshwater got pumped out of the sump and into the tanks - Diluting the salt in the whole system. By Saturday morning breakfast all the corals were bleached. By Saturday evening all the tissue was gone. Display tank, frag tanks, sump, anemone tank - everything but the chaetomorph dead.

Here is a youtube video showing the disaster.

The wife and I talked at length and the wife said I can't quit. So we ordered a new 300 gal outdoor sump - this one made of fiberglass - no more worries about splitting. And if you have followed my posts and videos from the past year you all know I hate the 36" deep 560g tall tank we put in as an emergency fix in Dec of 2020.

We are waiting on a quote for the new tank now - We already had quotes for the new tank to be made out of glass. But this experience with a 3 year old glass tank just reminded me of the risks involved with a glass tank. And I am going to stick to acrylic, as I have for the last 36 years.


Dave B

 

[JohnL]

I'm so sorry Dave.

 

[kolakao155]

So sorry Dave...however, never give up...we believe in you

 

[albano]

Sorry to hear… freak accident split the seam of my 450g tank a few years ago… replaced it with a 500g. 6’x5’ tank and couldn’t be happier!
I’m sure you’ll be back better than ever.

 

[o2manyfish]

New tank design approved... Off to production...

 

[shred5]

Wow that is terrible.
Glad you are sticking around. I have been following your system for years.

 

[o2manyfish]

90 Day Update Since Disaster Struck ---

Well today, June 17 is 90 days since the Salifert Flatworm Exit nuked my fish and this nightmare episode in my reefing career began. All the tanks are still up and running - 560g Display, (2) 180g frag tanks, 90g anemone tank. After the die off of all the coral the algae growth took off. Chaeto in the frag tanks took off in the spring sunlight and was growing the equivalent of 4 5g buckets a week between the 2 tanks. The tanks themselves were just filled with brown grunge algae. Each frag tank has about a half dozen assorted fish that survived. I added some snails and about a dozen mollies to each frag tank. Over the past month the chaeto growth has slowed to nil and the algae growth in the frag tanks has gone from brown to green.

In the display tank the coraline is growing all across the rock. There are about 20 fish that survived in the 560g. I moved the Imperator and Rabbi Tang from the frag tank to the 560g to have something swimming around for the last few months. Also threw in a Black and White heniochus that was in the old sump for aptasia control. I have really enjoyed the heniochus in the tank, but don't think I will risk it when we start adding corals again. Initially the rocks in the 560g all were covered in brown shag crap looking algae, and the glass was going full cloudy in 24 hours. Now after 3 months the rock is either clean or coraline covered. The glass takes about 4 days to get cloudy - but it's brown algae on the glass not green.

Once the sump arrives and the rock from the 560g gets moved into the sump. Then I will individually drain the frag tanks and bleach clean them and give them each a 'fresh start'.

We ordered a new 270g Fiberglass sump to replace the 340g glass sump that blew a seam outside. We had tried ordering it through a vendor from AES / Aquatic Eco Systems / Pentair out of Florida. After 4 weeks of them dickering around (with the vendor) confirming the sump was in stock and available I finally got fed up and just ordered it myself directly off their website (AES).

They gave me a shipping quote and said delivery would be in 2-4 weeks. After 2 weeks I hadn't heard anything. 2 emails a week and finally after 5.5 weeks they crated up the sump and sent me a Tracking number. They told me it had shipped out a week ago today. But after checking the tracking number everyday - there was no information. Turns out that AES had blatantly mis-informed me (Interpret that wording any way you like). And when they said that the crate had been picked up and shipped they really meant - One day it will be picked up and shipped and it's not actually on a truck.

So after a bit of frustration I can say that I now have tracking information that shows the sump is on it's way to Los Angeles.

Not having the sump has delayed the breaking down of the 560g. It's also forced me to patiently wait and not start collecting fish or corals yet.

Next weekend, June 26th we will be building the steel stand on site on my back patio. Stand will be constructed of 2x4 and 3x3 1/8" steel. We will Herculiner the stand.

We've also made some plans for above the new tank. I ordered a motorized lift for the light rack. I picked what I think is a clean looking unit from a company called Auxx-Lift. Auxx Lift. Another item which should have been shipped a few weeks ago and I have yet to get a tracking number.

I ordered it without the rack shown in the photos cause I wanted to build my own. Last night with the help of my friend, Tim Kelly, we put together the order for the light rack from 8020.net for a T-slot 4 rail rack to hold the lighting.

Lighting is not finalized yet. I was hoping, without letting the wife (very very supportive wife) know to replace my XR30 Gen3 Pro with Gen 5s - But of course they just came out with the Gen 6. I was speculating to need 15 or 18 lights. Not an un-noticeable charge on the credit card.

A phone call to Jake Adams over at Reefbuilders to discuss the new Gen 6's and he convinced me I would only need 12 of the new Gen 6s to cover the 10'x4' foot print. But Jake is also really pushing for me to not get 12 XR30s and instead get 24 XR15s for better light coverage.

I like the idea of 24 spots of light over the tank. I don't like the idea of 2x as much equipment and electrical to keep clean and organized.

So that's the update for now. Hope to start updating this thread more frequently as things start to happen / change / evolve. Hopefully next weekend you get to see me doing some welding on my stand.

Dave B

 

[shred5]

90 Day Update Since Disaster Struck ---

Well today, June 17 is 90 days since the Salifert Flatworm Exit nuked my fish and this nightmare episode in my reefing career began. All the tanks are still up and running - 560g Display, (2) 180g frag tanks, 90g anemone tank. After the die off of all the coral the algae growth took off. Chaeto in the frag tanks took off in the spring sunlight and was growing the equivalent of 4 5g buckets a week between the 2 tanks. The tanks themselves were just filled with brown grunge algae. Each frag tank has about a half dozen assorted fish that survived. I added some snails and about a dozen mollies to each frag tank. Over the past month the chaeto growth has slowed to nil and the algae growth in the frag tanks has gone from brown to green.

In the display tank the coraline is growing all across the rock. There are about 20 fish that survived in the 560g. I moved the Imperator and Rabbi Tang from the frag tank to the 560g to have something swimming around for the last few months. Also threw in a Black and White heniochus that was in the old sump for aptasia control. I have really enjoyed the heniochus in the tank, but don't think I will risk it when we start adding corals again. Initially the rocks in the 560g all were covered in brown shag crap looking algae, and the glass was going full cloudy in 24 hours. Now after 3 months the rock is either clean or coraline covered. The glass takes about 4 days to get cloudy - but it's brown algae on the glass not green.

Once the sump arrives and the rock from the 560g gets moved into the sump. Then I will individually drain the frag tanks and bleach clean them and give them each a 'fresh start'.

We ordered a new 270g Fiberglass sump to replace the 340g glass sump that blew a seam outside. We had tried ordering it through a vendor from AES / Aquatic Eco Systems / Pentair out of Florida. After 4 weeks of them dickering around (with the vendor) confirming the sump was in stock and available I finally got fed up and just ordered it myself directly off their website (AES).

They gave me a shipping quote and said delivery would be in 2-4 weeks. After 2 weeks I hadn't heard anything. 2 emails a week and finally after 5.5 weeks they crated up the sump and sent me a Tracking number. They told me it had shipped out a week ago today. But after checking the tracking number everyday - there was no information. Turns out that AES had blatantly mis-informed me (Interpret that wording any way you like). And when they said that the crate had been picked up and shipped they really meant - One day it will be picked up and shipped and it's not actually on a truck.

So after a bit of frustration I can say that I now have tracking information that shows the sump is on it's way to Los Angeles.

Not having the sump has delayed the breaking down of the 560g. It's also forced me to patiently wait and not start collecting fish or corals yet.

Next weekend, June 26th we will be building the steel stand on site on my back patio. Stand will be constructed of 2x4 and 3x3 1/8" steel. We will Herculiner the stand.

We've also made some plans for above the new tank. I ordered a motorized lift for the light rack. I picked what I think is a clean looking unit from a company called Auxx-Lift. Auxx Lift. Another item which should have been shipped a few weeks ago and I have yet to get a tracking number.

I ordered it without the rack shown in the photos cause I wanted to build my own. Last night with the help of my friend, Tim Kelly, we put together the order for the light rack from 8020.net for a T-slot 4 rail rack to hold the lighting.

Lighting is not finalized yet. I was hoping, without letting the wife (very very supportive wife) know to replace my XR30 Gen3 Pro with Gen 5s - But of course they just came out with the Gen 6. I was speculating to need 15 or 18 lights. Not an un-noticeable charge on the credit card.

A phone call to Jake Adams over at Reefbuilders to discuss the new Gen 6's and he convinced me I would only need 12 of the new Gen 6s to cover the 10'x4' foot print. But Jake is also really pushing for me to not get 12 XR30s and instead get 24 XR15s for better light coverage.

I like the idea of 24 spots of light over the tank. I don't like the idea of 2x as much equipment and electrical to keep clean and organized.

So that's the update for now. Hope to start updating this thread more frequently as things start to happen / change / evolve. Hopefully next weekend you get to see me doing some welding on my stand.

Dave B

If these are mounted high I would go gen5. Gen 6 have more spread and if mounted high would waste allot of light. Now if they are mounted close to the water Gen 6 would be fine. Gen 5 is also at a lower price right now and could save some money. Biggest difference between them is the spread.

I like xr15 over xr30 also so you can more evenly space the lights and have less hotspot for more even coverage.

 

[o2manyfish]

This was a good weekend for some progress. On Thursday our new sump finally arrived from Florida. It got installed on Friday. I don't have any photos of it yet. But it holds water and we are happy.

Saturday and Sunday we built the stand for the new 750g tank. It was only 105 in the backyard, it felt like the metal was welding itself together. But with a couple of sun shades and several gallons of water the stand got built.