rsaha's 120 (re)build

[rsaha]

My 120 has been up for about 7 years and until I had a pretty big meltdown was doing really well. About 18 months ago I lived through an inexplicable meltdown, losing many prized SPS to STN and turning my tank into a toxic mess. Some corals made it through the other side but the tank has never really bounced back to it's former glory. I also have a real xenia problem. I have to prune pretty aggressively on a regular basis and this seems to put the tank into a funk even if I am running lots of carbon.

I'm pretty disenchanted with my tank but still love the hobby and so I have decided to go with a re-build of the tank, shutting it right down and starting fresh with all new rock and substrate. I will bring my corals forward but nothing that will bring any softies into the new version of the tank. I've never posted a pic before so it may take me a few tried to get this right. Here's what the tank looks like today.

 

[cmabrey75]

I think the tank looks great, have you found what caused the melt down? You may want to figure that out before going any futher so it doesnt happen again.

 

[rsaha]

Thanks for that. It's just not like it used to be. I used to just put things in and they would grow and grow and grow. It's not like that anymore.

I have spent the better part of a year trying to figure out my meltdown. I don't call it a crash because it went on for months. I tested every parameter I could and had my tests confirmed by the LFS. Nitrates were zero, phosphates undetectable, alk, mag and calcium in line. Salinity always tested using a refractometer... Changed my bulbs every 6-8 months (T5), was careful about acclimation with new bulbs...

It could have been switching to bio pellets, could have been trouble from using dowflake/magflake instead of higher quality chemicals, could have been a temp spike (it was just as the weather changed although I really doubt this one), could have been my first really bigs xenia clean up turning the water into xenia soup but what it set off was enough STN that my tank turned into a toxic soup.

I have a setup that has evolved over 7 years so it's hard to pinpoint when I went from stellar to not so stellar. Started with MH plus VHO, then MH with with T5 - 400w to 250w, XM10K to more trendy bulbs, then switched to T5. Kalkwasser to dosing. 2-3 in sandbed to 1 in sandbed, refugium with DSB to no refugium no DSB, several skimmers, different circulation pumps, going from a rock wall to islands... Not at all clear to me where I lost it...

 

[NaH2Ofreak]

The xenia gives the the tank a "larger than it is" look. Almost looks like cliffs. Kind of cool looking. Good luck with the rebuild.

Dennis

 

[rsaha]

Thanks Dennis.

I built the canopy and stand for the tank when I set it up. It has stood up well but there are a couple small things I will fix while I'm at this. I left the entire rear of the stand open for ventilation. This really limits where I can put power bars from my controller. I am going to add some additional mounting space on the back.

The other thing I'll be able to do is move the tank out slightly into the room so I have a bit more room to work behind the tank. I made the mistake of only giving myself about 4 inches behind the tank when I first set it up. I'm going to bump that up to about 7 or 8 inches. Hopefully it won't look to weird - it will make things a lot easier.

 

[rsaha]

For rock I'm going to try Marco Key Largo. It is really nice stuff. Lot's of places to fix corals unlike the largely smooth surfaced rock I currently have in my tank.

I have about 60lbs in a big bin with some live seed rock. I will be putting in a damsel or two this evening to help colonize the marco rock.

My LFS has just started stocking a really nice Indonesian cultured rock that comes in large flattish pieces that will make nice "top" rock. I have one piece I'm using in the rubbermaid as the seed rock. I'll be picking up some more in the next day or so. I'm hoping to do the rebuild between Christmas and New Years.

And as a nice bonus I have had to buy a couple new heaters for this project so I will have Eheim Jager 300W plus a 150W secondary/backup heater.

 

[d-man]

i know xenia release a mucus that can irritate other corals. Too much at one time is not good. Although that is what the GAC is for.
good luck

 

[rsaha]

Thanks d-man. I am religious about my use of carbon now...

 

[rsaha]

Looking for ideas for flow

Looking for ideas for flow

I have collected a number of Tunze pumps over the years. Right now I have two 6105 with 6205 shrouds, a 6101 with a 6201 shroud and a 6055 to play with. I have a 7096 controller as well as a couple 7091 controllers. I also have the nano wavebox but I don't want to use that. There's no closed loop and the return is an Eheim 1260 throttled back so doesn't really count for much in the way of flow.

The rock work will be two islands again but the islands will be taller in the new tank. The rock will not touch any walls. Total rock will be the 50lbs of Marco (six big pieces) plus 5-6 of the cultured indo rock pictured above. Been looking at aquascapes a lot lately but that will be a bit later on.

Right now I use the two 6105 high and in front and have the 6055 down low at the back in the left corner below the overflow (big xenia colony on the left). I want to minimize the visual impact of the pumps as much as possible this time around.

I pulled the 6101 into service for the 50 gallon holding tank that will house inhabitants of the 120 during the rebuild and I am quite impressed with the diffuse flow. Haven't used it in a while but I am thinking it might find a home replacing the 6055 down low in the back pointed across the tank. Will be a problem until the sand gets colonized so it may get added a couple months after the tank gets up again.

The tank will be a mixed SPS/LPS reef but SPS dominant. Not interested in acquiring more pumps - I have enough gear as it is and never do seem to get around to selling anything.

So - love to hear some ideas.

 

[rsaha]

jroovers 120 thread shows the 6105's on the back of the tank at both ends about half way up the tank. I think I will try that configuration as a starting point. Much less intrusive looking. Last weekend I set up a 50 gallon tank to store the inhabitants of my tank while I do the rebuild. It's an old scratched tank but it will do. Banged together a rack for the light from 2x4 and hung a DE MH fixture.

I bought some more of the cultured indo rock about mid-week and on the weekend I took three pieces of the marco rock from the rubbermaid bin and had some fun trying out some aquascaping ideas

I am thinking a two island configuration using the 5/3 rule so something like this would be the bigger island. I may have too much marco rock though. I still have three pieces as big as the ones here.

Now I sit back and wait for it to complete it's cycle.

 

[rsaha]

Thought I'd post a side view to give a sense of how much space the indo rock will provide for coral placement. The 120 is 6 inches deeper so I should have enough negative space with this style rock work.

I also grabbed a pic of my old AquaC EV-120 that I had to put into service while I wait for a replacement pump. I am actually pretty surprised. It pulls some pretty good skimmate.

 

[rsaha]

Nice thing about an LFS that sells fully cured live rock. 10 days after dropping the rock into the 50 gallon staging tank I introduced the first of the clean up crew. 5 mexican turbos and 5 astreas. I have a bit of a diatom bloom and touch of nuisance algae. Hopefully the clean up crew works the nuisance algae. If I recall right (it has been 7 years since I set up a tank) the diatoms are just a step along the way. I'm seeing some diatoms in the rubbermaid tank with the rest of the Marco rock/seed rock.

Boring post I know - just trying to document the journey. Sorry...

 

[REEF SMAC]

Holly Xenia! I used to have some in my tank years ago but one day my PB Tang suddenly decided he liked the way it tasted. It was all gone in about three days. Haven't seen any since. I was kinda bummed at the time but looking back, maybe it was a blessing.

Anyway looks like you are on your way to a really nice rebuild. Rebuilds always turn out nicer anyway because you always learn so much from the previous ventures.

Cary on, good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[rsaha]

I have developed an almost irrational hatred of xenia, GSP, and even clove polyps. There will be no invasive softies in the rebuild.

I have been thinking back to the days when my tank thrived and I am thinking about resurrecting my kalk reactor. I want to try running the tank a little dirty - maybe 25 percent per month water changes so I'm thinking kalk plus dosing mag for as long as I can keep up.

Thoughts?

 

[rsaha]

Nitrites have been down in the 50 gallon for a couple weeks and I have had a piece of pavona and a frogspawn in there for a week. I've had snails for a couple weeks so I think I am going to start transferring things over to the smaller tank this weekend. Also going to get a big garbage can and start mixing up fresh salt water and rinsing aragonite. Can't imagine that's going to me much fun.

I don't think I will bring my hermits forward to the new tank. Probably time to go back to small blue legs. I have not put any hermits in the tank for a few years and they are all pretty big. Makes them too efficient at hunting snails!

 

[rsaha]

The gear

The gear

The gear will be a subset of the bits and pieces I have accumulated over the years. The tank is a Miracles 120 starphire front. The stand and canopy are cherry - made myself.

Lighting will be Tek Elite 8 bulb. Right now I'm running 5 Blue Plus, 2 Coral Plus and one Purple plus. I may switch out one of the Blue Plus for a GE daylight. I may also add a reefbrite white to punch through some shimmer when I'm on dusk mode.

I use evaporative cooling with 4 80mm case fans angled downward over the water.

Circulation will be 2 Tunze 6105 controlled by a 7096. I will also find a spot for a 6055 running at 12V connected to a UPS for power outages. Return pump is an Eheim Eheim 1260. Overflow is old school spa flex. No filter sock.

System will be controlled by a ReefKeeper Elite plus SL2 (temp plus PH) with 5 PC4s so I should have lots of outlets.

Dosing will be a mix of a nielsen reactor (locally built) and magnesium via GHL Profilux Stand Alone doser. I currently have 3 pumps in it. When kalk can no longer keep up I will add calcium and alk to supplement the kalk so I will need another pump. My thinking is I would like to keep dosing constant and my top of varies by season.

My sump is a custom acrylic sump with 3 chambers - skimmer, general sump and fresh water top off reservoir. I will be keeping the general sump area clear and plan to locate a TLF for phosban and MR-1 for carbon. Both will probably be fed by Maxi-jets. I may add a small circulation pump in the sump to keep it clear of detritus.

ATO will be handles by a Tunze osmolator though it won't likely be seeing alot of action as I will be dripping kalk via the profilux.

Skimmer will be Bubble King Mini 180.

Heat will be 300W and 150W Eheim Jagers.

 

[rsaha]

I've transferred almost everything to the 50 gallon. Tomorrow I have a few large xenia and clove polyp covered rocks to take to the LFS and then I can drain the tank. My aragonite has been through 5 rinses so it will hopefully not cause to big a dust storm.

Here's what the fifty looks like now. Please excuse the snails

 

[rsaha]

Been a busy few days. Took down the tank and moved it forward (off the wall) so it is now about 7 inches from the baseboard. Makes a huge difference in accessibility to the back.

Redid the electrical - cleaning up a big mess. I used to have the osmolator controller, the Tunze 7096, the DA SL-2 module and DA PC4 inside the cabinet. Messy and too much humidity/salt. I added a panel to the rear of the panel (love those pocket screws) to give me some room to work on. I still have pretty good ventilation so hopefully that will be OK.

I also built a little box that holds the power bricks for the Tunze 6105 but you can't see it in the picture. My old electrical was 7 years of add on this and that and it was a big mess of wires in behind the tank. This will be a lot easier to live with.

My Red Dragon motor block arrived before Christmas so I have my BK mini180 up again. Right now it's nice and bare under the tank. I only have the heater, osmolator, skimmer and return in. I will be adding carbon and phosphate reactors to the large section of the sump on the right and the kalk reactor and mag dosing to the right of the sump. The doser sits in the little box in the upper right hand corner. I'll post a pic of that side once I get the reactors set up.

I used 90lbs of Carib Sea aragonite and used an inverted plate to minimize the dust. It's been about a day and it's clearing up pretty well. I used a mix of about 50 percent water from the tank and 50 water I had mixed up a few days ago. I am using D&D salt. The rock I had cooking in a rubbermaid formed the basis of the island on the right hand side. I was pretty excited about finally trying my hand with aquascaping with the new rock.

Here's a full tank shot to show it in perspective. I had to replace my overflow box as well. The old one split at the seams when I dropped it into the tank undoing the bulk. Round instead of square - a bit different...

I also changed out one of the ATI Blue Plus bulbs for a GE6500. I like a bit more crisp white.

Now I am running

Front
B+
C+
B+
GE
C+
P+
B+
B+
Back

 

[rsaha]

The 6055 in the FTS above is just for circulation at the moment. I will be setting up the 6105s in the next couple days - depending how bad my hangover is on Jan 1

 

[biggles]

Things are looking good, i'm sure the start over will not only improve your tank health but also give you a new outlook towards your reefing. Looking forward to seeing things develop over time - xenia free of course