Tnt's 154 G SPS reef build
- Thread starter tntneon
- Start date
tntneon
SPSahollic
Thats very nice of your boss.
Look forward to the progress.
Oh, are you going SPS dominant in this tank? - I hope so! :lolspin:
He already knew that i was a reefhead , and he's realy friendly...
How to motivate a reefhead at work .... give him some osmotic water ...
-Yes it will be SPS dominated , only a the torch coral i gotten from my mother will go in the new system ( my clowns hatch bi - weekly on this coral).
Will put it at a safe distance of the SPS's
greetingzz tntneon
AMAZING build, I'm really impressed with the look of the wood trim. I recently completed a 75g build where I only had to build a new canopy and even that seemed like a ton of work. I hope to build a steel stand for any future reef, I really love how the stand and wood finish look!
I do want to mention one small problem that I ran into, and by your pictures I wonder if you will as well. Without realizing it, I drilled my return plumbing hole a bit lower than my overflow box height (my first time doing a return thru the glass). When I ran my freshwater test, when I turned off the main pump to see how much drained back to the sump, I was surprised to see that the main tank water level dropped all the way down to the return pipe. I expected a siphon, so I created a siphon break but that didnt help because the water was just going down the pipe with gravity. The only way to fix it, since I already drilled a hole in the glass, was to have my return pipe plumbed higher than the top of the tank, than use an elbow back down to the hole into the tank so gravity doesnt drain the tank as low.
Your setup looks much closer to the height of the overflow, but wanted to point that out! Again, fantastic job, I thought I would share my experience. Looking forward to this becoming a full blown reef!
I do want to mention one small problem that I ran into, and by your pictures I wonder if you will as well. Without realizing it, I drilled my return plumbing hole a bit lower than my overflow box height (my first time doing a return thru the glass). When I ran my freshwater test, when I turned off the main pump to see how much drained back to the sump, I was surprised to see that the main tank water level dropped all the way down to the return pipe. I expected a siphon, so I created a siphon break but that didnt help because the water was just going down the pipe with gravity. The only way to fix it, since I already drilled a hole in the glass, was to have my return pipe plumbed higher than the top of the tank, than use an elbow back down to the hole into the tank so gravity doesnt drain the tank as low.
Your setup looks much closer to the height of the overflow, but wanted to point that out! Again, fantastic job, I thought I would share my experience. Looking forward to this becoming a full blown reef!
tntneon
SPSahollic
THx Fig70G ,
-That's treu it will syphon some waterlevel out of the display to the sump , but taken the low level (20 cm or 8") in sump it normaly ( if my calculations are correct...) can handle the flood in there , hopefully keeping my feet dry.
-I will have then a lower level in display probably only with powerbreaks and /or returnpump failure.
Powerbreaks are very rare here (luckly , like once in the 3 to 4 years , and only for a coupple of minutes.
Only onces in hard winter conditions we had 2 days of no electrical power (10 years ago)
greetingzz tntneon
-That's treu it will syphon some waterlevel out of the display to the sump , but taken the low level (20 cm or 8") in sump it normaly ( if my calculations are correct...) can handle the flood in there , hopefully keeping my feet dry.
-I will have then a lower level in display probably only with powerbreaks and /or returnpump failure.
Powerbreaks are very rare here (luckly
, like once in the 3 to 4 years , and only for a coupple of minutes.Only onces in hard winter conditions we had 2 days of no electrical power (10 years ago)
greetingzz tntneon
Awesome! I certainly wasnt trying to take anything away from your beautiful build. Unfortunately in my situation, Im using the same sump from my 40b setup so I didnt have as much room for water coming back down from my display. Luckily my ugly fix works well, plus its hidden behind the tank! I turn my return pump off from time to time when I feed the tank so the leftovers are kept in the display longer before getting pulled down to the sump and skimmed.
Keep the pics coming, great work!
Keep the pics coming, great work!
tntneon
SPSahollic
- Hi Fig70G ,
-Maybe i wanna do that too , turn return pump off or reduce flow when feeding , nice tip !
-When doing this one could also close the return valve a bit more closed , so that flow is reduced .
But then also the level in the sump wil rise too , and drain pipe valves have to be adjusted again not to have those toilet flush sounds
-The drainpipe would be moire flexible when i had mounted a membrame valve , has a much finer adjustment... ( first point of self critism )
-Tank is now filled with tap water to flush all gleu /silicones/dust and others into the filtersock.
With all the lights on i think it's gonna be a little bit of a overkill !!
-I love the looks when the back t5 unit (bleu+ /fiji purple) and 60 watt led fixture (100% roy bleu / 50 %white) are on , when i put the front t5-unit ( bleu+/ 15K°) also on i get tmuch more lighting into the room and a bit more in the tank.
So i think i'm gonna turn-on the front t5 unit only for a coupple of houres , and still i have to mount the 156 w LED unit :bigeyes: :bigeyes: at the SPS section ( right side).
-I will post some pictures soon , my battery of camera is empty ....recharging....
greetingzz tntneon
,-Maybe i wanna do that too , turn return pump off or reduce flow when feeding , nice tip !
-When doing this one could also close the return valve a bit more closed , so that flow is reduced .
But then also the level in the sump wil rise too , and drain pipe valves have to be adjusted again not to have those toilet flush sounds
-The drainpipe would be moire flexible when i had mounted a membrame valve , has a much finer adjustment... ( first point of self critism
)-Tank is now filled with tap water to flush all gleu /silicones/dust and others into the filtersock.
With all the lights on i think it's gonna be a little bit of a overkill !!
-I love the looks when the back t5 unit (bleu+ /fiji purple) and 60 watt led fixture (100% roy bleu / 50 %white) are on , when i put the front t5-unit ( bleu+/ 15K°) also on i get tmuch more lighting into the room and a bit more in the tank.
So i think i'm gonna turn-on the front t5 unit only for a coupple of houres , and still i have to mount the 156 w LED unit :bigeyes: :bigeyes: at the SPS section ( right side).
-I will post some pictures soon , my battery of camera is empty ....recharging....
greetingzz tntneon
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Look forward to the photos my friend. Do you own a PAR meter or have access to one?
I ask because you need to be careful with the amount of PAR that your corals get. T5's and PAR lighting are PAR monster. You have combined the two...you dont want to fry your corals.
I had to reduce my LED's to run at 1watts each because the PAR levels were too much...I was hitting 350 PAR on the sandbed! :smokin:
I now run 120watts T5 and 24watts LED. I run two actinic T5's for 9 hours, the LED's for 6 hours and full lighting for only 4 hours.
I spent £260 ($400 US) on a PAR meter and feel it is very useful. I still use it to locate suitable areas when adding new corals. Without it, I wouldnt have realised just how powerful the LED/T5 hybrid lighting is.
I ask because you need to be careful with the amount of PAR that your corals get. T5's and PAR lighting are PAR monster. You have combined the two...you dont want to fry your corals.
I had to reduce my LED's to run at 1watts each because the PAR levels were too much...I was hitting 350 PAR on the sandbed! :smokin:
I now run 120watts T5 and 24watts LED. I run two actinic T5's for 9 hours, the LED's for 6 hours and full lighting for only 4 hours.
I spent £260 ($400 US) on a PAR meter and feel it is very useful. I still use it to locate suitable areas when adding new corals. Without it, I wouldnt have realised just how powerful the LED/T5 hybrid lighting is.
tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi Sahin ,
-I don't have a PAR - meter , but i saw something cool at the LFS last time i went there.
I is called sense-eye or something like that :facepalm: , it is some sort of electronic multimeter , that measures Ph , PAR, K° , NH4+ , o² , T° and others 24/7 and you can log it onto your computer !
It only costs about 125 € , althought i don't know for sure how accurate it will be ?
Maybe i'm gonna buy me this gimmick , and perhaps i can measure then both nano and 154 g on PAR numbers.
Anyway i'm gonna slowly adjust the light intensity when introducing my corals , a real Quantum or PAR-meter would be better though , but i already spend that much that a PAR meter is not on top of my priority -list :wildone:
-No pictures , because i already drained tank from tapwater as it was becoming very couldy and i only had a filtersock as filtration , skimmer was running but in fresh water it doesn't catch much .
-Refill for good on thuesday :bounce1:
greetingzz tntneon
,-I don't have a PAR - meter , but i saw something cool at the LFS last time i went there.
I is called sense-eye or something like that :facepalm: , it is some sort of electronic multimeter , that measures Ph , PAR, K° , NH4+ , o² , T° and others 24/7 and you can log it onto your computer !
It only costs about 125 € , althought i don't know for sure how accurate it will be ?
Maybe i'm gonna buy me this gimmick , and perhaps i can measure then both nano and 154 g on PAR numbers.
Anyway i'm gonna slowly adjust the light intensity when introducing my corals , a real Quantum or PAR-meter would be better though , but i already spend that much that a PAR meter is not on top of my priority -list :wildone:
-No pictures , because i already drained tank from tapwater as it was becoming very couldy and i only had a filtersock as filtration , skimmer was running but in fresh water it doesn't catch much .
-Refill for good on thuesday :bounce1:
greetingzz tntneon
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Hi there my friend. Reports of the Seneye are not too good. I wouldnt waste your money on it. Maybe if you can find a use one...
As you say, take it easy with the lighting and watch your corals closely for lightening. Decrease the LED light hours if you start to notice corals lighten.
As you say, take it easy with the lighting and watch your corals closely for lightening. Decrease the LED light hours if you start to notice corals lighten.
tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi my friend Sahin ,
Thx , for the tip about senseye , sounded already a bit to good for 125 €...
I already experienced some bleaching on green top acro , when i swapped my nano cree 60 w LED lighting with the 48 X 3w g4 LED.
I calculated an power ratio that would be close to the 60w fixture ( 40 % white / 60 % royal bleu) , but because this fixture has much more light spread and the acro was at the top but a little off-centre it received a bigger punch off light then before.
Leaving some top branches bleached at the side facing the light , rest of branch is still green.
-The first stony's i'm gonna put into the tank after the cycle will be the four slightly different poccilopora dermacornis i have and watch them very closely before moving the acro's to the 154g .
greetingzz tntneon
,Thx , for the tip about senseye , sounded already a bit to good for 125 €...
I already experienced some bleaching on green top acro , when i swapped my nano cree 60 w LED lighting with the 48 X 3w g4 LED.
I calculated an power ratio that would be close to the 60w fixture ( 40 % white / 60 % royal bleu) , but because this fixture has much more light spread and the acro was at the top but a little off-centre it received a bigger punch off light then before.
Leaving some top branches bleached at the side facing the light , rest of branch is still green.
-The first stony's i'm gonna put into the tank after the cycle will be the four slightly different poccilopora dermacornis i have and watch them very closely before moving the acro's to the 154g .
greetingzz tntneon
tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi dear reefing friends ,
-thuesday i got my osmotic water from my boss and gotten oures hands wet
It was a multi generation job as you can see in the next few pictures ...
The bleu barrels are the ones from work ( 60 l or 15 G)
-Pouring the 60 l barrels into two more ergonomic 30 l plastic barrels for mixing and pouring into sump.
-As said a multi generation job , mixing ( my daughter and my father)..
-Here You can see the first salt water pictures of my 154 G , two houres after fill-up ,still some cloudyness .
Probably also due to the fact that i filled my overflowbox with live sand for a 8 " DSB in the overflow box (something learned from mr. Wilson) , topped off with 4" crushed coral ( to prevent excess sandstorming ) .
-Here a shot from the side after one day off skimming , completly clear water...
And a glimps of the tunze 8000 l/h streamer i bought and love..
-The reason that i didn't post the pictures thuesday or wednessday is because i wrecked my left feet .
-I ripped the flesh of the upper part of my feet ( where all the vanes and tendons are) , on some locking pins of my garden sliding doors :mad2:
Luckely the tendons and vanes are not hit , and they only had to stitch the flesh back togheter.
But leaving me 2 days in the cauntch , looking at my filled tank and the Tour the france....
Luckely today i could make some first steps and do some reef jobs on the nano.
greetingzz tntneon
,-thuesday i got my osmotic water from my boss and gotten oures hands wet
It was a multi generation job as you can see in the next few pictures ...
The bleu barrels are the ones from work ( 60 l or 15 G)
-Pouring the 60 l barrels into two more ergonomic 30 l plastic barrels for mixing and pouring into sump.
-As said a multi generation job , mixing ( my daughter and my father)..
-Here You can see the first salt water pictures of my 154 G , two houres after fill-up ,still some cloudyness .
Probably also due to the fact that i filled my overflowbox with live sand for a 8 " DSB in the overflow box (something learned from mr. Wilson) , topped off with 4" crushed coral ( to prevent excess sandstorming ) .
-Here a shot from the side after one day off skimming , completly clear water...
And a glimps of the tunze 8000 l/h streamer i bought and love..
-The reason that i didn't post the pictures thuesday or wednessday is because i wrecked my left feet .
-I ripped the flesh of the upper part of my feet ( where all the vanes and tendons are) , on some locking pins of my garden sliding doors :mad2:
Luckely the tendons and vanes are not hit , and they only had to stitch the flesh back togheter.
But leaving me 2 days in the cauntch , looking at my filled tank and the Tour the france....
Luckely today i could make some first steps and do some reef jobs on the nano.
greetingzz tntneon
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tntneon
SPSahollic
hi reefers ,
-I've been a week on vacation , and when i came home everything was fine with my 154 G and nano :dance:
Always a nervous moment , when entering after a vacation as a reefer (top-off ok , fish ok and not to much algea......)
-The water in the 154 G is still cristal clear , no algea or dino's or cyano.
I already putted in one frag of poccilopora darmacornis on the back wall , just before i went on vacation , and it is still doing fine.
Measured yesterday nitrites and phosphates and they still read zero.
Today i'm gonna try too make a trip to a renomated reefstore (reefcorner) and buy me a beautifull rifkeramik ( with overhang) and some LR.
And i have to sign up for a premium account , because my picture limit has been reached .....
greetingzz tntneon
,-I've been a week on vacation , and when i came home everything was fine with my 154 G and nano :dance:
Always a nervous moment , when entering after a vacation as a reefer (top-off ok , fish ok and not to much algea......)
-The water in the 154 G is still cristal clear , no algea or dino's or cyano.
I already putted in one frag of poccilopora darmacornis on the back wall , just before i went on vacation , and it is still doing fine.
Measured yesterday nitrites and phosphates and they still read zero.
Today i'm gonna try too make a trip to a renomated reefstore (reefcorner) and buy me a beautifull rifkeramik ( with overhang) and some LR.
And i have to sign up for a premium account , because my picture limit has been reached .....
greetingzz tntneon
bmullikin1
New member
Great looking tank, question about the overflow box being filled w sand, wouldnt that cause nitrate/phosphate problems long term, with all the junk that w settle in there and no way to clean.
tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi bmullkin ,
-I hope there will no settlement there , as turnover rates are enormous (i geuss like X 400 the contaiment volume) , that is why i did top the live sand off with a thick layer of crushed coral else the flow would blow all the finer live sand out.
-It is a bit experimental , but as i read it as a good pratice in a article of the four masters (mr. wilson ,nineball , chingchai and peterfishtank)
See if you like the 12e article from the top :
http://petersfishtank.com/best-practices/
And if i would get cyano or other algea settlement on the sand you wouldn't see it as it is in the over flow box.
Time will tell , but its already a nice way of saving space in the sump .
greetingzz tntneon
,-I hope there will no settlement there , as turnover rates are enormous (i geuss like X 400 the contaiment volume) , that is why i did top the live sand off with a thick layer of crushed coral else the flow would blow all the finer live sand out.
-It is a bit experimental , but as i read it as a good pratice in a article of the four masters (mr. wilson ,nineball , chingchai and peterfishtank)
See if you like the 12e article from the top :
http://petersfishtank.com/best-practices/
And if i would get cyano or other algea settlement on the sand you wouldn't see it as it is in the over flow box.
Time will tell , but its already a nice way of saving space in the sump .
greetingzz tntneon
reeftanknewbie
New member
keep us posted as to how things are going with the sand in the overflow box. It's a neat idea and I am interested in seeing how it works out. love when you can save space especially in a small tank like mine.
tntneon
SPSahollic
-Hi reeftanknewbie ,
-Will keep posting how it works , i'm currious too.
-Yesterday i putted the first 5 kg of live rock into the tank , two nice pieces with alot of coraline algea on it.
Today i saw a rare zoa on it :celeb3: , but also the first specs of cyano on the backwall :hmm4:
Will try to post some pictures later on , first i have to delete some older pictures ...
greetingzz tntneon
,-Will keep posting how it works , i'm currious too.
-Yesterday i putted the first 5 kg of live rock into the tank , two nice pieces with alot of coraline algea on it.
Today i saw a rare zoa on it :celeb3: , but also the first specs of cyano on the backwall :hmm4:
Will try to post some pictures later on , first i have to delete some older pictures ...
greetingzz tntneon
tntneon
SPSahollic
hi reeffriends ,
-Here some first shot of my tank with about 11 kg of LR (for the moment) .
I also putted in some shrimps , as a cleanup crew.
Water parameters are :
Ca = 430 ppm
Alk =10.2 ° dkh
No2 (nitrite) = 0 didn't measured a spike
No3(nitrate) =0.5 ~ 1 ppm has spiked a week ago to 5 ppm
Po4 = 0.015 ppm has spiked to 0.1 also a week ago (LR input)
S.G. =1.0262 very stable
T° = 27.2 °C ~ 27.8 °C (night/day)
-I couldn't wait to put in some corals from my nano in , these are pieces that had a hard time in the nano due to space issues , they look healthy now , although i have a little bit of hairalgea on the poccilopora piece if you look good.
se you guys next time....
greetingzz tntneon
,-Here some first shot of my tank with about 11 kg of LR (for the moment) .
I also putted in some shrimps , as a cleanup crew.
Water parameters are :
Ca = 430 ppm
Alk =10.2 ° dkh
No2 (nitrite) = 0 didn't measured a spike
No3(nitrate) =0.5 ~ 1 ppm has spiked a week ago to 5 ppm
Po4 = 0.015 ppm has spiked to 0.1 also a week ago (LR input)
S.G. =1.0262 very stable
T° = 27.2 °C ~ 27.8 °C (night/day)
-I couldn't wait to put in some corals from my nano in , these are pieces that had a hard time in the nano due to space issues , they look healthy now , although i have a little bit of hairalgea on the poccilopora piece if you look good.
se you guys next time....
greetingzz tntneon
