Slakkers 58RR - Continued

[sslak]

It's with great sadness, and pride that I take over this build thread. This tank belonged to my younger brother, Tyler.

His build thread can be seen here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1411374

We lost Tyler a on 2/11 to a rare and agressive stomach cancer.

I don't want this to turn into a memorial thread, so please refrain from posting sympathy. If you knew him and have something to say, PM me.


He talked me into getting my first saltwater tank, and we started the adventure together. We had a freshwater tank since we were kids.

We had often talked about it, and I even joined ReefCentral long ago to research, but never took the plunge. Most things in life as the big brother, I led the way...but reefing is one adventure where he took the first step. And as with most things, he dove in head first and only looked to the finish line.

He called me up when he got his first tank and the clownfish pair that I have now.

At our next family holiday he convinced me to try it:
"You gotta get a tank, we can share frags!"
"Trust me, it's easy!" he said :lolspin:

Tyler was a great person, and a strong athlete. He touched many lives and will be missed greatly. He is, and always will be, my hero...and my brother.

Swim on good swimmer...swim on.

 

[sslak]

I decided we just couldn't sell the tank.

I moved the reef from my parents house to my house. Tyler and I had discussed "if I had it to do differently" ideas and he always thought a 20L sump would be better than a 20H sump.

When I made the move, I had a brand new 20L sump built just the way he wanted it all ready to go.

Here it is in action:

 

[sslak]

As you can see I had an AquaC Urchin instead of his EV-150.

I didn't know how to use the EV-150 and the Urchin was in my basement, new in a box for my planned "40 Breeder Upgrade".

The Urchin went in and after a couple weeks of running it, I did get some skimmate but I just wasn't happy with it. At best I would get a half a cup of apple-juice colored skim every day or two.

Two nights ago I cleaned the EV-150 and the Mag7 he had running it and into the sump it went!

More pictures to come soon!

 

[sslak]

Time to get serious with this Chemistry now that I'm adding SPS.

I've always tested Nitrates, Nitrites, Phosphates, Calcium and of course Specific Gravity.

What I have never delved into is the relation between KH, Ca, and PH. Goodtimes! :bounce3:

Well, I don't have a PH test kit right now(mine expired), but I do have KH and Ca. Here's what I have tonight:

SG - 1.026
Ca - 360ppm
NO3 - Undetectable
PO4 - Undetectable
KH - 8dKH which according to the API test should be 143ppm KH

I'm not entirely sure what the KH should be, but I do know the Ca should be a little higher.

I have some Bulk Reef Supply 2 part, so I'm going to mix that up and start SLOWLY dosing tiny bits at a time after my next water change. That's a weekend project, not to be rushed.

For now, I'm going to dose a little Ca the way I have been, using a few scoops of Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium.

Supposedly each scoop should raise the levels by 28ppm Ca and 4dKH per 10gallons. I figure I have almost 60 gallons of water, conservatively.

So 6 scoops should raise me a full 28ppm. I'm going to put in 4 scoops to be on the safe side, and test again tomorrow.

Pictures coming tomorrow when I get the camera cord from my parents house! Some new SPS in the tank! :beer:

Oh, here's the big skimmer in-place. It's not making foam because I had my hands in the tank re-arranging the corals. I'm still working on tweaking it anyway.

 

[Rhizo]

I would do the same! No matter what the size tank, I would keep it going for him.

 

[cecilturtle]

I would not do SPS until you are comfortable with your Cal/Alk. FWIW, it would be easier to find a good salt mix and 2 part and just test Alk until you get it steady for a few months...then delve into montis and see how you do.

More important to keep alk steady then it is to be at 8 or 11. In the meantime, maybe you can show us some more pictures of the tank and build.

 

[sslak]

I've had an orange monti cap and an encrusting monti thriving for months, and the Hydnophora that is in the tank has been doing great as well. I know these are easy to keep, but hey there's no better way to learn than by doing!

It's not like I'm buying $$$ colonies here, I haven't paid for any of my frags so far as I've been trading off my planned 40 Breeder build equipment for all the frags I've gotten.

Eye candy as promised!

Some nice Zoanthids, reproducing nicely under the halide.

Recent addition...Shrimp Daddy. Inverts are fun!

The happy couple hogging the spotlight, I was actually trying to take a picture of the frogspawn and the nice blastos colony. The blastos are one of Tyler's first corals, it started as 3 polyps. The Frogspawn came over from my Biocube when i combined my tank contents with his reef. You can see a purple Millepora in the back.

RK2 in feed mode - This came over from my tank, planned it for my new setup. I combined the best equipment from my planned setup with his already nice setup and ended up with a fantastic system.

ALMOST a FTS but not quite. I missed the focus on the FTS, still learning to use this camera.

Left to right:
Green Birdsnest, Green Hydno, Pink/Purple Ricordia, tiny pink mille tip frag, Unknown Free ORA stag (friend wanted to see if it would color up in my tank), Purple Millepora, Frogspawn, Blastos, Green Frilly Mushroom (the male clown likes to sleep on this)

I'm still working to rid that rock on the right side of caulerpa, my Emerald Mythrax has knocked it back considerably as well as having regular water changes, running phosban and carbon, and attempting to boost my chaeto growth in the sump.

 

[mullinsd2]

Sweet. Do you have a fts?

 

[sslak]

Test results after 4 scoops of Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium last night

Ca - 360ppm
KH - 9dKH or 161ppm

So the KH went up, but the Ca is about the same after a day.

Looking forward to starting the 2-part regiment this weekend.

 

[patrick1234]

Looks like the tank is on the right track. I like your clowns.

 

[sslak]

Ok, so I mixed up the 2-part and let it sit for a few hours.

I used the reef calculator and dosed 200ml of the Ca solution. The calculator recommended more but I didn't want to do too much too fast. My target is about 420ppm Ca.

I plan to do another run of tests tonight and start doing my 2 part daily dose, according to the calculator it should be around 30ml per day, I'm going to start out a little less.

 

[sslak]

Here are my three new corals I added as a result of the trade I made on my 30 Breeder that I was planning to set up.

Green slimer (a bit out of focus, sorry!)

Top Left - Blue tipped acro
Center - My new favorite coral, anyone have an ID on this? It's a green and purple SPS of some sort. It's just a tiny tip, but it had encrusted the plug in the other guy's tank so I figured it should make it and I'm very excited to see what this grows into because the colors are amazing.

And finally a FTS!

 

[Bax]

Going with the bigger skimmer was the right move. It'll be the backbone of this system to be sure.

Invest in good test kits soon, as achieving balance is the next critical thing at this stage of the tanks development.

Good Luck!

 

[sslak]

Going with the bigger skimmer was the right move. It'll be the backbone of this system to be sure.

Invest in good test kits soon, as achieving balance is the next critical thing at this stage of the tanks development.

Good Luck!

Thanks! Anyone here have experience with Aqua-C skimmers? The lid on the collection cup originally had a sleeve that went over the bubble tower in the collection cup. That was broken when I got it.

The skimmer still makes foam, but I wonder how critical that sleeve is. It seems like once I build up a good head of foam it just sorta stays up there. Maybe the sleeve is designed to pop the bubbles so the skimmate falls into the cup...

I think you can see it better in this pic: See the shard of the sleeve remaining hanging off the lid of the cup on the right side?

My bioload is pretty small right now, but I have never used a skimmer before and I'm not sure how much I should expect to be pulling out.


$40 for a new collection cup is just annoying since it's only the lid that I need.

I do have API test kits for everything but PH.

 

[dogstar74]

Wonderful jesture, Very nice tank. Looks like you're off to a great start.

Aaron

 

[sslak]

Mixed up my 2 part and dosed 200ml of Ca Solution.

I'm up to 400ppm now, as I didn't want to raise it too fast in one day.

Now I can start my daily dosing, I will sill raise the Ca a little more by probably doing another 100ml of Ca and the normal dosage of Alk. Then I plan to do about 20ml per day of each for a week and see how it goes! :beer:

 

[patrick1234]

My skimer has the same kinda lid yours dose and the little skim mate I get sticks to it also.

 

[cecilturtle]

Steve,

AquaC skimmers as a whole are behind the curve. They are temperamental when feeding or dosing and have to be cleaned regularly for maximum effect. The Ev series is a great step up from the others in the line, so I think you can get by a bit until you find a used skimmer or a new one that you read up on. I suggest you contact Jason at AquaC and see what he can do about the skimmer top. I don't see spending 40 dollars but see if you can get just the lid or at least ask him about performance. Even though his skimmer designs are behind a bit, his service has always been exceptional to me. Besides, it is always good to have an extra skimmer around, whether for cooking rock or frag tank, etc. and you would be hard pressed to find a better skimmer for the trade in money you get.

This aside, I can give you a few pointers that may help with this model, which is similar to the Ev-120 I had. These guys do better with pressure rated pumps which the Mag is not. With Mags, you need to maintain a consistant water level in the sump. Turbulance from the overflow will also affect this skimmer. So you may want to play with which area feeds the skimmer or in minimizing the crash you get from overflow to sump. Unscrew the air valve and the jet nozzle and make sure they're both clean and unobstructed. Small baby snails seem to love to get stuck in the pressure nozzle. Reassemble and keep air valve all the way open. Open gate valve all the way and then close 2 full turns and let skimmer run a bit. Water from skimmer should not be back pressured (touching water).In your picture, gate valve is below water. I would turn 1/4 turn right and empty straight to refugium. Check water level inside skimmer with flashlight. You want it app 1/4" or less below the top of the skimmer box. Close 1/2 turns every half hour until you get close. The bubbles in the riser will be very small if you do these things right and there will be no turbulance or flatness unless you feed or dose. After this just keep the neck and cup clean every two days or so for best results. Besides the evolution of technology, this hassle is a good reason why these skimmers have lost alot of popularity.

 

[crvz]

Indeed, looks like a great start.

I agree with what cecilturtle is stating about the AquaC skimmers, as well. I had an EV120, and it didnt really do much until I put a mag 7 pump on it (high flow rate than their recommendations. In general they are temperamental, so while you may fiddle with this for a while, I would also consider thinking about upgrading it to something a bit more straightforward (I like many of the needlewheel/pinwheel models that are on the market these days).

 

[sslak]

Thanks a ton for the feedback!

My brother did have it running with a Mag7 already, so he apparently came to the same conclusion as you guys.

I'm not really excited about buying a new skimmer as they're pretty expensive and I just don't have the extra money laying around right now. Is there a brand that is more reliable and hassle free? I don't have room for much bigger footprint than what I have already.

Cecil - The real downside of letting it drain above-water is the constant waterfall noise it creates. Right now it's virtually silent.

Maybe I can turn it so it drains right AT water level to minimize the splashing noise...

Again, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you guys like the tank...I have a vision of greatness for this reef!