henrystyle
Member
Yea know what you mean. My tank will be located in my office behind locked doors. What kind of sand did you use? Thinking about getting some extra fine arag Oolite sand.
The Ultimate Eight Foot Softie Reef
- Thread starter InsaneClownFish
- Start date
Don-Coraleone
New member
once he adds the koralia magnum i think he will be ok on the other end. the 8 is a beast it puts out 300gph more than the vortech does. and at less watts. you cant beat that.
InsaneClownFish
New member
henrystyle - I've been getting alot of questions about the sand. It's Paverstone High Desert Play Sand from Home Depot. It passed the vinegar test(calcium carbonate) in store, and I did alot of reading on RC that lent to the fact this sand is totally acceptable.
The Don said it best. Once the new Magnum is added I should have no issues. I'll be more than doubling the flow. Vortechs are nice, but I don't need the wave function- not to mention the issues I'd have trying to get it to work with 1" acrylic. Those magnums are hard to beat from a flow/wattage standpoint.
I finally got the lights hooked into my timer. I'll be running from 12pm to 8pm. I'm pretty embarrassed I never got my timer working properly on my last setup. Completely user error as I didn't realize I needed to push down all the segments between the given time frame. Talk about feeling dumb, I could never figure out why my lights would only pop on for an hour at a time.
I ended up running them manually. 
The Don said it best. Once the new Magnum is added I should have no issues. I'll be more than doubling the flow. Vortechs are nice, but I don't need the wave function- not to mention the issues I'd have trying to get it to work with 1" acrylic. Those magnums are hard to beat from a flow/wattage standpoint.
I finally got the lights hooked into my timer. I'll be running from 12pm to 8pm. I'm pretty embarrassed I never got my timer working properly on my last setup. Completely user error as I didn't realize I needed to push down all the segments between the given time frame. Talk about feeling dumb, I could never figure out why my lights would only pop on for an hour at a time.
I ended up running them manually. 
Trigeek
Member
I'm jumping on the thread. I'm in the process of a rebuild of my 90g and going softie, coralamorphs, (o.k., maybe a few LPS if I can't help myself).
Thanks for sharing the timer story. Good to know I'm not alone in the "usually function at a pretty high level but definately just space out on some things" camp.
Thanks for sharing the timer story. Good to know I'm not alone in the "usually function at a pretty high level but definately just space out on some things" camp.
InsaneClownFish
New member
Here's a picture from tonight I liked. Everything really looks stellar, and the leather is opened with its polyps out and it's already "yellowing" up.
InsaneClownFish
New member
Don-Coraleone
New member
wow! the tanks coming along great. i love that leather.
havingfunin08
New member
very nice keep up the good work!!
InsaneClownFish
New member
I lost two snails- one looked like it was bitten in half?!
Unfortunately, I lost the Potter's angel. For some reason, the last couple days he was showing signs of being picked at by the clowns. I moved him into the sump last night, but he was already on his side and breathing heavy. Two weeks since he came in...hmmm cyanide?
Prior to this he was eating fine and showing signs of being less shy than when introduced and more openly cruising between the rocks.
I'm done with my LFS. They're a big all in one chain pet store here in CT, and the ONLY reason I have continued to go there is because they're convenient. I should have stopped going there when they tried to charge me for some extra water one time when I was already buying other things- with all the money I had spent there...forget it. Come to find out it's not even RO water- they use tap water.
All the corals looks fantastic. The yellow leather looked spectacular up to tonight, but I'll talk more about that in a minute.
I also have a second outbreak of diatoms that appeared after the first completely cleared. I'm 100% sure this is a flow issue.
Kudos to Hydor USA. I received a call from them Friday saying they'd be replacing both of my Koralia 4s with brand new units, and they're allowing me to send them back one at a time so as not to disrupt the flow.
So the Koralia Magnum 8 arrived today, and boy is that thing a beast. I took some videos to show the difference in the flow.
Across the length:
With the Magnum:
Feeding around 7 feet down:
Feeding around 7 feet down with the Magnum:
Notice how the food flys down. Now the water circulates around the back rocks to the front of the tank, and I can clearly see the water move from back to front in a tide pool effect. Even though the leather is a good 4 feet away, it's extremely agitated with the added flow. I adjusted the Magnum to point more towards the back of the acrylic. We'll see if it looks better this way.
Unfortunately, I lost the Potter's angel. For some reason, the last couple days he was showing signs of being picked at by the clowns. I moved him into the sump last night, but he was already on his side and breathing heavy. Two weeks since he came in...hmmm cyanide?
Prior to this he was eating fine and showing signs of being less shy than when introduced and more openly cruising between the rocks.
I'm done with my LFS. They're a big all in one chain pet store here in CT, and the ONLY reason I have continued to go there is because they're convenient. I should have stopped going there when they tried to charge me for some extra water one time when I was already buying other things- with all the money I had spent there...forget it. Come to find out it's not even RO water- they use tap water.
All the corals looks fantastic. The yellow leather looked spectacular up to tonight, but I'll talk more about that in a minute.
I also have a second outbreak of diatoms that appeared after the first completely cleared. I'm 100% sure this is a flow issue.
Kudos to Hydor USA. I received a call from them Friday saying they'd be replacing both of my Koralia 4s with brand new units, and they're allowing me to send them back one at a time so as not to disrupt the flow.
So the Koralia Magnum 8 arrived today, and boy is that thing a beast. I took some videos to show the difference in the flow.
Across the length:
With the Magnum:
Feeding around 7 feet down:
Feeding around 7 feet down with the Magnum:
Notice how the food flys down. Now the water circulates around the back rocks to the front of the tank, and I can clearly see the water move from back to front in a tide pool effect. Even though the leather is a good 4 feet away, it's extremely agitated with the added flow. I adjusted the Magnum to point more towards the back of the acrylic. We'll see if it looks better this way.
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InsaneClownFish
New member
Thanks Marc, that's good to know! I'm kinda a leather noob. I adjusted the Magnum again back toward the center a bit after Marc posted this because it was actually popping water onto the top off the acrylic rim. I'm anxious for the tank to clear. I performed my regular maintenance tonight. I did a 20 gallon water change and between my hands in the tank, and the new flow, some sand got kicked around so the tank has been quite cloudy.
Don-Coraleone
New member
it's looking good...
InsaneClownFish
New member
That's good to know as well. If you look at the last couple of pictures I posted, that leather looks beautiful opened up. When it's happy, the color turns a crisp yellow.
NASO, I can't be more happy with the color, size, and health of the two pieces I got from you. Fellow reefers really do it best..:thumbsup:
NASO, I can't be more happy with the color, size, and health of the two pieces I got from you. Fellow reefers really do it best..:thumbsup:
zachofalltrades
New member
ICF, I've been checking back here for updates because it's such a cool build, and just recently noticed you're in CT. Where in CT? I'd love to see your tank some day.
