Raptor's Red Sea 750 XXL

[Raptor72]

Raptor's Red Sea 750 XXL

No big changes lately. The tank is cycled. I picked up a couple of clowns, a small spotted Rabbitfish and a yellow tang. All ate quite well after being acclimated.

The biggest change was the swap on the pumps yesterday. I took out the SICCE 9 and put in the Ecotech Vectra L1. What an obvious difference in the quietness. There was no annoying hum and even though it's a bigger pump, the flow is amazing. My brittle star and Nassarius snails all came out from the detritus that the new pump is kicking up. Even in the morning they were still out and about. I am running the pump at 100% right now which I believe is 3100 GPH. I might turn it down but not in a big hurry.

The clear lid should be here in a couple of weeks and the NYOS 160 skimmer should be here this Friday.

 

[solitude127]

Looks good. did you still keep the stock plumbing?

 

[Raptor72]

Looks good. did you still keep the stock plumbing?

Unfortunately, no. I started seeing all those threads after I had water in it already. I'm contemplating redoing it if I can shut the system down for a couple of hours. Otherwise it'll have to wait till a major crash.

 

[Colinm822]

Incredible build!! Can’t wait to see more

 

[Raptor72]

A few additions in play. I was tired of filling the stock ATO reservoir every 2 days so I ordered a custom 20 gal container to sit on the side of the stand. I'll have to keep track and see how long this goes before needing refilling.

Also, the NYOS 160 skimmer came in yesterday. It's currently in a bucket in the garage with some water and vinegar to help break it in.

My son says it looks like an overpriced coffee maker. I told him he was half right.

I also added a few fish to get things going, a Midas Blenny, a pair of Anthias and a Lawnmower Blenny which didn't make it after a week for some unknown reason. It was eating well and I just found him dead one morning. My eye is on the Midas Blenny, he looks kinda guilty.

I'm working now on getting my dosing system running since I picked up a few frags.

 

[solitude127]

that's a nice ATO container. You should put another on on the other side and plumb them together so your top off will last twice as long.

 

[BeanMachine]

Nice tank.

 

[denash24]

Nice tank, RS tanks always look great.

 

[solitude127]

how's the tank coming along?

 

[Raptor72]

So nothing much new to report. I picked up a Naso Tang who was fine for a couple of weeks and just died over night for no apparent reason. He was eating well and swimming fine and didn't show any signs of ailment. I ordered a Blonde Naso and Hippo Tang that came in and I'll pick up this weekend. I have a couple of female Bartlett Anthias and a male. They seem to be doing fine also.

The ATO will last a full 7 days in case anyone was wondering. I was hoping for at least 10 but being that it's a lot of open surface area, I guess that good.

I'm looking around the local area for sps sticks. There are a bunch of good ones that come up down in SD but I don't like driving down there for just one or two corals. I picked up several from Aqua SD on their EBay site a few weeks ago. They appear to be fine even though the doser still isn't set up.

 

[Confuse]

Yes, I'm in Wildomar.

Google maps: Riptide Creatures
Fish Frenzy
Gill's Marine
Deep Sea Creations

Thanks for the recommendations! I work in Riverside and had no idea there were that many fish stores in the area. Or at least, within the county.

 

[Kain]

I was just at Gill's. Nice selection of fishes. Great guy too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Confuse]

I was just at Gill's. Nice selection of fishes. Great guy too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's funny because I've contemplated moving within that area and was afraid there were no fish stores around and would have to make long trips to OC or LA for livestock, but seems like there's a pretty strong presence of local stores.

 

[moondoggy4]

^^^^San Diego is an easy drive much easier than going to the OC.

 

[Kain]

I can get to SD in 1 1/2 hours easy. It takes me longer to get to LA. Gotta love SoCal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Raptor72]

No more jumpers!!

My split lid finally came in from Artfully Acrylic.

I had an issue with what I'm attributing to New Tank Syndrome last month. I think I was stocking too fast for the bio load to keep up. I lost about 7 fish in a week and all parameters were good. As much as I remind myself to take it slow, it's difficult to abstain from filling it up with every fish I see and want. I've decided not to add anything sooner that a 2-4 week span in-between.

 

[Raptor72]

I also forgot to mention I've picked up a few 3D printed parts online. The first was a grid for the L1 pump that I found on eBay.

I found a few Cuvette dryers and holders for the Salifert tests.

And I replaced my space saver dosing jugs with a clean looking one instead.

 

[aiber]

A few additions in play. I was tired of filling the stock ATO reservoir every 2 days so I ordered a custom 20 gal container to sit on the side of the stand. I'll have to keep track and see how long this goes before needing refilling.

Also, the NYOS 160 skimmer came in yesterday. It's currently in a bucket in the garage with some water and vinegar to help break it in.

My son says it looks like an overpriced coffee maker. I told him he was half right.

I also added a few fish to get things going, a Midas Blenny, a pair of Anthias and a Lawnmower Blenny which didn't make it after a week for some unknown reason. It was eating well and I just found him dead one morning. My eye is on the Midas Blenny, he looks kinda guilty.

I'm working now on getting my dosing system running since I picked up a few frags.

Hi. Where did you order the ATO container from? Thank you

 

[Raptor72]

Hi. Where did you order the ATO container from? Thank you

I ordered it from Aquatic Wharehouse.

 

[Raptor72]

Raptor's Red Sea 750 XXL

I've been stocking my tank again and taking it slow this time. My main goal for this tank is stony corals first and fish second. I don't have any good pictures yet as I'm trying to find an app that will cancel out the blues.

I've been ordering a few things to beef up my testing kits. I bought an automatic stirrer for the test kits. This helps if you can't rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time. [emoji23]

I also picked up a few Cuvette dryers for my different sizes and attached them in the garage.

Today I got a great deal on the new Red Sea ABC supplements and picked up some NO3O4-X NITRATE & PHOSPHATE REDUCER to assist with some hair algae that's been getting a foothold in the rocks. I can't wait to see results from this stuff.