Stolireef--New SPS Build

Stolireef

Stolireef

Active member
I've always subscribed to this forum and have followed many of the tanks here for years. I've been in reefkeeping for around 20 years and have always loved SPS dominated tanks. That said, my family liked to motion of a mixed reef.

This meant making sacrifices that limited my ability to grow out the most difficult (and often the most beautiful) SPS. So, now it's my turn.

Equipment:
110 Rimless Leemar 48x30x24 with center overflow
Hamilton 2x250MH running 20K Ushio's and 2x48" T5 Actinics
Trigger Elite 30" Sump
Reef Octopus Skimmer
Tunze Osmolator ATO with Eshops 10 Gallon ATO Reservoir
5 Stage Spectrapure RO/DI
Bubble Magus 3 head doser (planning on B-Ionic)
Apex with Temp and pH probes
Dry plumbed Sicce Syncra 4 Return Pump
2xMP40's and 2xTunze 6095s (should allow about 100x in tank flow at about 80%)
Bare Bottom
110 lbs dry rock

The goal here is to run a low nutrient system with excellent flow and proven lighting.

Tanks is currently filling with RO/DI and should start cycling tonight.
 
Well, after installing my RO membrane backwards and basically wrecking all of my RO/DI cartridges...trip to Spectrapure (local for me), and my tank is now 1/2 filled with 0 TDS water. I'll be adding salt tonight.
 
sirreal63 said:
Nice equipment selection!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Some parts are pretty high end but most is just tried an true. I almost took the plunge on Ecotech Radions Gen4 Pros but decided to wait and see how things do under the halides and t5s. I did upgrade to electronic ballasts for the MH's. Run nice and cool and completely silent.
 
Stolireef said:
Thanks. Some parts are pretty high end but most is just tried an true. I almost took the plunge on Ecotech Radions Gen4 Pros but decided to wait and see how things do under the halides and t5s. I did upgrade to electronic ballasts for the MH's. Run nice and cool and completely silent.
Click to expand...

Good choice, I don't think you will have any problems growing coral with those lights, or any of the equipment for that matter. At least you cought the membrane being backwards before things went to far! :)
 
Piper27 said:
Good choice, I don't think you will have any problems growing coral with those lights, or any of the equipment for that matter. At least you cought the membrane being backwards before things went to far! :)
Click to expand...

Ummm. My wife wasn't real pleased with the awful smell that permeated the house. And yes, DI resin smells horrible. But the guys at Spectrapure thought it was pretty funny. They also noticed the wrench marks on the RO holder and 'suggested' that I really don't need a wrench for that.
 
Hahaha that's funny, I use Chanel locks to snug it up since I change it while it's on the filter sometimes, I am sure lots of people do. I feel better even though it's got a gasket I like my fittings tight. I am surprised the filter made the water smell, or was the smell just nasty chemical water smell? I know some of the water around here especially in DC is rough.
 
According to the guys at Spectrapure (and a few other sites that I plagiarized here)...

DI Resin releases trimethylamine. A very small amount will cause a fishy odor to be noticeable. The odor is most noticeable when the resins are new and when they are at or near the point of exhaustion...(or in my experience, when you accidentally blow the cartridge apart by installing RO membrane backwards). It's completely safe, just stinky.
 
Anyone who says that the MP40 QD is not a huge improvement over the last model hasn't listened to them side by side. The difference is huge. I'm just about to put my old one on the market and get a second QD.
 
If you think that you are going to get into SPS bigtime, then I might suggest that you keep and eye out for a good used CaRx and pick one up when it become available. Most people end up going this way after a while.

If you are buying new, then I think that they dry rock will set you back a bit. Regardless of what any supplier says, most of it is chalk full of phosphates and can be a detriment to the tank for a year or more. Real live rock is far cheaper in the end and more effective. If you already have the rock, then nevermind.

Good luck.
 
jda said:
If you think that you are going to get into SPS bigtime, then I might suggest that you keep and eye out for a good used CaRx and pick one up when it become available. Most people end up going this way after a while.

If you are buying new, then I think that they dry rock will set you back a bit. Regardless of what any supplier says, most of it is chalk full of phosphates and can be a detriment to the tank for a year or more. Real live rock is far cheaper in the end and more effective. If you already have the rock, then nevermind.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Very good points. I actually have a Geo 618 CA Rx with an Aquarium Plants regulator. I've heard from several people that I should stick with it.

To be honest, I've never dosed and want to give it a try. I like the control it gives you but we'll see. The way I plumbed the return on the tank, I can easily add (literally, fill the thing with media, plug in the circulation pump, and screw in a fitting into an existing ball valve stub, under 15 minutes) the Ca RX if I don't like the way dosing is going.

As far as the rock is concerned, it is dry but it was in my last tank for three years. About 50% was originally dry and the rest was live rock from friends tanks and a few pieces from a local reef store. If that stuff was going to leach something, it already did. :wave:
 
Today I completed the major equipment setup and added salt. The flow being generated by the two MP40s and the two Tunzes is amazing. The Tunze Osmolator setup went much easier than I expected but I'm still trying to figure things out with regard to filling the ATO reservoir. Stay tuned.
 
Since this is a new build and a somewhat different approach to a reef than I've done in the past...

Let's get the show started. I decided that since I'm using completely dry rock and no sand, I'd try out the pure ammonia and Bio-Spira cycle. I'm going to add 10 ml of ammonia to the tank tonight and then test tomorrow morning. It should be right at 2 ppm tomorrow morning. I'm going to add the Bio-Spira and see how long it takes to consume the ammonia and convert it to nitrites.
 
As of this morning, per salifert Ammonia test, tank is at 2ppm ammonia. Added two bottles of Bio Spira. I'll test at about 4 hour intervals to see what happens.
 
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