Phuzzykins' 300 gallon AGE Build Extravaganza

[phuzzykins]

on the krylon fussion paint you used for your return pipes, how long did you let it cure? and did you prep the PVC in anyway before painting? really like the look just a little nervous about it doing something to the water quality

I didn't prep the pipe in any way, apart from ensuring that it was clean.

Fusion dries to the touch in ~ 10 minutes, can be handled after ~ 30, and the can states that it is chip resistant after 1 week. I let it cure for a couple of hours before getting it wet.

Many (and I mean MANY) other hobbyists have used Krylon Fusion with no ill effects reported.

 

[ctmgardea]

Thank you for the info, your build is a great spot for info and ideas.
how did you get the sun rise \ sun set effect with your lighting? it looks amazing!
thank you for a great build! your tank is just amazing!

 

[phuzzykins]

Thank you for the info, your build is a great spot for info and ideas.
how did you get the sun rise \ sun set effect with your lighting? it looks amazing!
thank you for a great build! your tank is just amazing!

I just have my five lighting ballasts programmed to come on 10 minutes apart, in the following order:

1. Front actinics
2. Rear actinics
3. Right halide
4. Center halide
5. Left halide

They turn off in the reverse order for "sunset".

The lighting, like the rest of the tank, is controlled with a Neptune AquaController Apex.

Glad you're enjoying the build!

Cheers,
-Matt

 

[reefer50]

keep up the hard work your pics and videos are much appreciated.. tank looks like it is coming along great.

 

[phuzzykins]

So much for my bryopsis being under control. :uzi:

The pale "new tank" bryopsis is indeed gone, but now I have some of the much more tenacious and vigorous variety that I battled in my nano tank. It's decided to grow directly in the output stream of a Vortech running at about 80%. :wildone:

I've been slowly raising my Mg, and put 300g of Phosban back online. According to my shiny new phosphate photometer, I'm at 0.01 ppm phosphate.

I moved the 3 SPS frags that had been sitting in the sand up on the rocks a bit. The birdsnest already has some noticeable growth after 1.5 weeks.

The trigger, rabbit, and goby in quarantine are all doing very well... they should be ready to go to the main tank next weekend along with the chromis that needed some extra time to heal from a couple of missing scales.

Next fish - a harem of filamented flasher wrasses; 3 female and 1 male.

 

[maxxII]

What's your magnesium at currently?

Nick

 

[phuzzykins]

The last time I tested Mg, it was 1360. Since then I've dosed enough to bring it up about 200ppm, but I haven't confirmed that with my Salifert kit.

I'm overdue for a full set of water tests... I need to get to that in the next couple of days. I've just been spot-checking alk to make sure my 2-part dosing wasn't too far off.

 

[phuzzykins]

I (mostly) set up the calcium reactor. Need to get the CO2 tank filled (or more likely, exchange it for a full one) and get more media. 18lbs didn't even come all that close to filling up the reactor, which is supposed to hold 16lbs. Oops.

This is the GEO 6x24 with a 10lb CO2 cylinder, reef fanatic regulator with solenoid, lab grade pH probe, and a MJ1200 feed pump.

The fish room was also christened by its very first saltwater flood, which is quite a milestone. After the freshwater pressure test, I drained the reactor, hooked it up to the feed pump in the sump, and refilled it... forgetting to close the drain valve. :lmao:

 

[jmoney]

that sucks, hope you didn't do too much damage to your floor...love your rockwork btw

 

[maxxII]

I've got a Geo 612 Reactor with the RF solenoid and a Maxi-jet 1200 as a feed pump as well.
Two things to pay attention to:

1...if you have a power interruption, (flicker, surge, unplug/plug back in briefly, etc), sometimes the solenoid will stay in the closed position not allowing any CO2 to leave the tank, and enter the reactor, even though the orange light from the solenoid is on. This results in your reactor running without CO2 for however long until you discover there are no bubbles coming through the bubble counter. This will result in your DkH/Alk dropping if you have a significant calcium using bioload...get in the habit of just glancing at the bubble counter every couple of days. Anytime I've discovered the solenoid in the closed position, all I've had to do was unplug it and plug it back in again and it corrected itself.

2...I've also had a few issues with the reactor getting overloaded on CO2. I suspect that source behind this is the media dissolving, (into grains of sand etc) and begining to clog the effluent line. When this happens, flow is reduced but CO2 bubble rate doesnt change so the reactor chamber gets loaded up on CO2, and the recirc pump begins to cavitate. All I have to do in this instance is shut off the CO2, and open the effluent valve wide open. This clears the line of any possible clogs, and shortly after its running clear and free, I adjust the effluent valve to a drip rate that I need for my tank, and plug in the Solenoid again. I also go back after a few minutes to check and ensure the solenoid is open.

I've got another 612 Reactor I'm going to be setting up on a different tank here soon. With this one, I will try using an Aqualifter pump and using it to pull water through the reactor, instead of the maxijet pushing water through. I think this will allow me to restrict the inlet line, as opposed to the effluent, which in theory should keep blockages to a minimum.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Nick

 

[phuzzykins]

Thanks for the tips, Nick... I can program the Apex controller to cycle the solenoid off then back on every once in a while, if it's been on too long.

Excess CO2 shouldn't be an issue, since the pH control program will prevent the solenoid from opening if the pH drops too low. Are you running with a pH controller?

I'm in the habit of giving my whole system a once-over daily. Today, I found that I have a leak in the reactor - the joint where the flex PVC line of the pump output is glued into the elbow. It's a very slow leak, but I'm not looking forward to having to dismantle and drain the whole reactor to fix it. Ugh.

Let me know if the aqualifter works better for you. I had both MJ1200 and Aqualifter pumps in my "spare parts" bin, so I just picked one.

 

[phuzzykins]

that sucks, hope you didn't do too much damage to your floor...love your rockwork btw

Thank you!

The fish room floor is 100% fine. It's sealed and painted concrete, and the walls next to my sump are waterproof, with a nice thick bead of silicone between the wall and floor. Minor floods are inevitable, so I just planned for them.

My display tank is sitting on a tiled concrete pad that extends about 8" beyond the stand, so minor drips and splashes there aren't an issue either.

 

[maxxII]

Thanks for the tips, Nick... I can program the Apex controller to cycle the solenoid off then back on every once in a while, if it's been on too long.

Excess CO2 shouldn't be an issue, since the pH control program will prevent the solenoid from opening if the pH drops too low. Are you running with a pH controller?

I'm in the habit of giving my whole system a once-over daily. Today, I found that I have a leak in the reactor - the joint where the flex PVC line of the pump output is glued into the elbow. It's a very slow leak, but I'm not looking forward to having to dismantle and drain the whole reactor to fix it. Ugh.

Let me know if the aqualifter works better for you. I had both MJ1200 and Aqualifter pumps in my "spare parts" bin, so I just picked one.

The excess CO2 isnt a problem with the livestock since its trapped in the reactor chamber. A better way of putting it would have been this:

I suspect dissolved media breaks down into smaller particles and some of those are large enough to slow the effluent rate from the reactor. The slower flow through rate allows more CO2 to be injected into the reactor chamber. This causes the reactor chamber water to become oversaturated with CO2 to the point that the Co2 which cannot be absorbed into the water column inside the reactor, gathers at the top of the reactor and causes the eheim recirc pump to cavitate, and not move water at all. Hope that makes more sense.
I didnt realize you had a controller. I am not running a controller on my system. Initially, I used a pH monitor to get things going and realized it wasnt strictly necessary for my needs...I've been running without one for sometime now with only the minor issues I mentioned previously.

My reactor doesnt have any flex pvc on it anywhere, but I'm assuming your talking about the recirc pump? On the 612 its an Eheim pump connected with vinyl tubing that is secured with those really annoying barbed hose clamps. They work well, but are real PITA to get off for any maintenance. I'm assuming that since you have a larger reactor, you also have a larger re-circ pump and that's where the flex pvc is and subsequent leak as well?

Nick

 

[phuzzykins]

The excess CO2 isnt a problem with the livestock since its trapped in the reactor chamber. A better way of putting it would have been this:

I suspect dissolved media breaks down into smaller particles and some of those are large enough to slow the effluent rate from the reactor. The slower flow through rate allows more CO2 to be injected into the reactor chamber. This causes the reactor chamber water to become oversaturated with CO2 to the point that the Co2 which cannot be absorbed into the water column inside the reactor, gathers at the top of the reactor and causes the eheim recirc pump to cavitate, and not move water at all. Hope that makes more sense.
I didnt realize you had a controller. I am not running a controller on my system. Initially, I used a pH monitor to get things going and realized it wasnt strictly necessary for my needs...I've been running without one for sometime now with only the minor issues I mentioned previously.

My reactor doesnt have any flex pvc on it anywhere, but I'm assuming your talking about the recirc pump? On the 612 its an Eheim pump connected with vinyl tubing that is secured with those really annoying barbed hose clamps. They work well, but are real PITA to get off for any maintenance. I'm assuming that since you have a larger reactor, you also have a larger re-circ pump and that's where the flex pvc is and subsequent leak as well?

Nick

Oh, I understood what you were saying, but I don't think I was clear in my explanation of how a pH controller prevents the excess CO2 buildup.

CO2 lowers pH. If the pH drops below a sane value (6.4), the flow of CO2 is stopped. So, the pH controller should stop the flow waaaay before there's enough gaseous CO2 in the chamber to cause the pump to cavitate.

And yes... the flex PVC line is part of the output site plumbing for the recirc pump. The 624 uses a Panworld pump with a hose barb on the intake side, and a union with some flex PVC on the output.

 

[maxxII]

Makes sense...I prolly should look into buying a good controller...

Nick

 

[phuzzykins]

I moved the trigger, rabbit, goby, and remaining chromis out of QT last night. My actinics are completely removed until I rebuild them using the 80w (5' long) bulbs, so I'm running with just the 10k halides right now. Not nearly as pretty, but I just haven't had time to get the T5's rebuilt.

Time for some updated pics, I guess...

First, the FTS... there's a field of bryopsis on the far right hand side. Fortunately, the rabbit seems to have a taste for it!

The birdsnest actually has some visible growth after ~ 2 weeks.

I still find it extremely difficult to get good photos of fish, but this chromis cooperated a bit.

The goby is going back and forth between two burrow sites.

I swear the royal gramma's coloration has gotten more intense...

The trigger is still pretty camera shy.

 

[phuzzykins]

Wow... I just went down to take a look at the tank. In less than 24 hours, the rabbitfish has decimated my bryopsis field. Probably 2/3 of it is just GONE, and the rabbit has a rather distended belly.

I'm just amazed that it seems to be eating the bryopsis in preference to the other algaes in the tank. Unexpected and very much welcomed.

 

[ceige]

nice work!

 

[phuzzykins]

I finally got a decent shot of the rabbit... and an interesting one of the trigger as well.

 

[gophilau]

nice

I am anxious to see your cabinet

good job