Operation Rebuild
- Thread starter Flame_Angel
- Start date
david00061
New member
good job... looks real good
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Well, the tank is starting to ramp up its consumption of calcium and alk now that everything is for the most part settled, happy and growing, so I'm going to have to start considering a better way to keep it dosed than manually doing it every other morning. Still considering running piping to our backroom and setting up a sump and some reactors, but until then I'm open to suggestions for keeping the levels up on this tank without lots of manual dosing.
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Just a small update with some new tank shots. Been adding corals and a few fish to the tank here and there, but of course because it's in a store things get sold as well. Tank has been doing great, and people love coming in to look at it.
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Thanks for the compliment, snick!
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Added some Purple Hornet zoas to the tank yesterday; those puppies are beautiful. I'll take a picture tomorrow if I remember. I've been making an attempt to start hand-feeding the fish whenever possible, to make it easier to snag them out of there with a net if I ever need to either sell one or take one out for (heaven forbid) treatment of some sort.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OSJwbxat3TI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OSJwbxat3TI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Thanks, its definitely in the plans. At some point, we're going to plumb the returns into our back room and set up a dedicated large sump and all of the other addons.
-RYknow
Warped
The tank looks great Flame! Not just in the pics, but in person too! :beer:
100x's better then before! I'm so happy to have you guys as my LFS! Now I need to get my 20L filled, cause I saw some corals that would look great in my 20L! haha!
How do you like the Sunshine UFO lights?! I have the panel one you suggested, but I need at least one more (probably two more) for my 20L. I see they have the Aquapanel on sale at their site right now for $100...might order one in the next day or two.
-RYknow
100x's better then before! I'm so happy to have you guys as my LFS! Now I need to get my 20L filled, cause I saw some corals that would look great in my 20L! haha!
How do you like the Sunshine UFO lights?! I have the panel one you suggested, but I need at least one more (probably two more) for my 20L. I see they have the Aquapanel on sale at their site right now for $100...might order one in the next day or two.
-RYknow
prop-frags
SPS Slave
You've done a fantastic job on this setup. Love the stocking, and the store looks great...the NH folks are lucky to have such a nice LFS there. For the CA dosing, you could look into a DIY dosing pump setup or perhaps kalkwasser...
Foreverfishy
New member
I like that you dont have an overflow on that tank, that the water goes straight into the bulkheads...Do you find that more/less effecient, quieter/louder etc.. That gave me an idea to do the same on my 125gal RR tank. Just place some rubble around the bulkheads to hide them and I should be good to go...Are you worried about if somethign were to fail? I.E. let's say the return pipe broke do you have anything to stop that water from overflowing your sump? The design of your return bulkhead and how the water enters into the pipe do you find it more/less noisy? btw very nice setup!
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Many thanks.
Thanks for the compliments, so sorry it took me this long to answer you. I technically do have an overflow on the tank. If you look at the overflows, I've rigged up some DIY overflow 'boxes' on the top of the overflow pipes. The inside has an additional grate to prevent snails from climbing over the lip and going down to the sump. I avoid an overflowed sump simply by knowing how much water gets drained from the tank, and making sure I have enough room in my sump to accommodate that amount should the power go out. It helps cut down on interference with the water going down to the sump, and it really isn't loud at all (so long as the stand is closed; if it's open, it's quite loud).
Much thanks!
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Had a little shipment come in the other day...
Bubble Magus dosing pump, BRS 2-part large dosing kit, Hanna Checkers for calcium and alk, and a Red Sea Magnesium Pro test kit. There are actually two BRS kits and two dosing pumps; one is for our coral tank, the other for the display reef.
Also added a Purple Tang and a few different fairy wrasse species the other day. The Atlantic Blue is being a chode to the Purple, but that will go away in time I'm sure. The Purple is eating nicely, he's just keeping to himself on one side of the tank for now.
Bubble Magus dosing pump, BRS 2-part large dosing kit, Hanna Checkers for calcium and alk, and a Red Sea Magnesium Pro test kit. There are actually two BRS kits and two dosing pumps; one is for our coral tank, the other for the display reef.
Also added a Purple Tang and a few different fairy wrasse species the other day. The Atlantic Blue is being a chode to the Purple, but that will go away in time I'm sure. The Purple is eating nicely, he's just keeping to himself on one side of the tank for now.
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
So after a lot of thought and deliberation, I decided to renovate this aquarium. When I put it together, it was rushed and on a budget, and I'm starting to have problems because of it. Keeping my nutrient levels down with the high bioload is a pain, and dosing with calc and alk requires a LOT of it. The sump is too small for the tank, and I'm not that crazy about the aquascape any more.
So, with all that in mind, I've been slowly gathering bits and pieces in preparation for a major overhaul of the aquarium, included but not limited to:
As the tank is a display in a store, the plan is to use the lighting as a store display for the different lighting we offer. I've already swapped out 2 of the 4 lights for Kessil A350 LED pendants (one regular, one wide-angle); in the future, I'll be swapping out the other two lights for Ecotech Radion XR30W and XR30W Pro units, respectively. Our frag tank will be lit with an AquaticLife 42" 3W fixture, giving our customers a 'Good -> Better -> Best' display of LED lights.
Another idea I've been tossing around is setting up a webcam, either attached to the outside of the tank, or inside a custom-made submersible enclosure, so our customers can direct their browser to our website and have a fish-eye view of the inside of our reef any time they want.
Redoing the tank will also give me a chance to get some fish out of there, notably the Lamarcki Angel, who has decided she enjoys the taste of clams and wellsophyllia.
More to come as it developes.
So, with all that in mind, I've been slowly gathering bits and pieces in preparation for a major overhaul of the aquarium, included but not limited to:
- Reef Octopus BR-140 Biopellet Reactor (purchased)
- Korallin C1502 Calcium Reactor (purchased)
- BRS Jumbo GFO reactor (purchased)
- Neptune Systems Apex controller (purchased)
- Custom-made acrylic sump; the current one is far too small (in the planning stages)
- Reworked return and overflow plumbing (planning)
- Manifold system for reactors (planning)
- Upgraded lighting (partially purchased)
- Aquascape reworked (planning)
As the tank is a display in a store, the plan is to use the lighting as a store display for the different lighting we offer. I've already swapped out 2 of the 4 lights for Kessil A350 LED pendants (one regular, one wide-angle); in the future, I'll be swapping out the other two lights for Ecotech Radion XR30W and XR30W Pro units, respectively. Our frag tank will be lit with an AquaticLife 42" 3W fixture, giving our customers a 'Good -> Better -> Best' display of LED lights.
Another idea I've been tossing around is setting up a webcam, either attached to the outside of the tank, or inside a custom-made submersible enclosure, so our customers can direct their browser to our website and have a fish-eye view of the inside of our reef any time they want.
Redoing the tank will also give me a chance to get some fish out of there, notably the Lamarcki Angel, who has decided she enjoys the taste of clams and wellsophyllia.
More to come as it developes.
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Started setting up the calcium reactor yesterday, but I didn't have time to get it all dialed in before I had to leave for the day. Tomorrow or Monday I'll probably get in there and get it running. Swapped out the stock top on the Korallin for the upgraded one with the pH probe holder, and put an extra pH probe on the Apex so I can keep track of the tank pH and the reactor pH. Also added a new temperature probe since I screwed up and broke the one that came with it, so the heaters are working properly now.
Been looking into the My Reef Creations sumps, specifically the 48" Hi-Flow Reef sump. Anyone have experience with them that can give some feedback?
Been looking into the My Reef Creations sumps, specifically the 48" Hi-Flow Reef sump. Anyone have experience with them that can give some feedback?
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Pulled the trigger on a custom My Reef Creations 48" Hi-Flow Reef sump today. Now the 2 week wait is going to kill me 
Flame_Angel
Ready For Business
Been a while since I updated last, but here's how the tank stands now:
Been sort of on cruise control for a while now, installed the MRC sump. Swapped the lights over to two Hamilton MH fixtures, running 400w Megachrome bulbs off of Lumatek ballasts. Filled the tank with some more fish and corals, as it was starting to look a little empty.
Stock list and other info can be found here:
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/lebpetcenter/9
Been sort of on cruise control for a while now, installed the MRC sump. Swapped the lights over to two Hamilton MH fixtures, running 400w Megachrome bulbs off of Lumatek ballasts. Filled the tank with some more fish and corals, as it was starting to look a little empty.
Stock list and other info can be found here:
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/lebpetcenter/9
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