Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164†x 48†x 56†SPS peninsula build
- Thread starter pmrogers
- Start date
You're welcome Paul, glad to hear the nori feeder is working well. Unfortunate to hear about the possible bleach residue in the qt tank.
I use bleach (no detergent) for my bags. IME, vinegar will not break down and open the pores of a clogged filter bag. Peroxide would be expensive and is basically just a very mild bleach. Perhaps it would open the pores after a long soak, but who's got time for that. I do a wash cycle and extra rinse on sanitary temp setting with bleach and then an extra rinse cycle for good measure and hang dry. Never had a problem.
As for the coraline not growing on the rocks but in other areas of the tank, it's my understanding and contrary to a lot of threads, coraline algae really likes low to no light. I'm willing to bet the chemistry of the display is just fine and can support corals and the lack of coraline algae on the rocks is simply due to the the majority of the high powered light being over the rocks. Hell, my vinyl tubing in my stand that receives no light is covered with coraline algae. I would put a test frag in the display to see what happens.
I use bleach (no detergent) for my bags. IME, vinegar will not break down and open the pores of a clogged filter bag. Peroxide would be expensive and is basically just a very mild bleach. Perhaps it would open the pores after a long soak, but who's got time for that. I do a wash cycle and extra rinse on sanitary temp setting with bleach and then an extra rinse cycle for good measure and hang dry. Never had a problem.
As for the coraline not growing on the rocks but in other areas of the tank, it's my understanding and contrary to a lot of threads, coraline algae really likes low to no light. I'm willing to bet the chemistry of the display is just fine and can support corals and the lack of coraline algae on the rocks is simply due to the the majority of the high powered light being over the rocks. Hell, my vinyl tubing in my stand that receives no light is covered with coraline algae. I would put a test frag in the display to see what happens.
Hi Paul and everybody!, my name is Kyle and I have been watching this thread for 2 years now. Your tank, house, obsession and creativity are all just a pleasure to see, watch, and even imitate (just a little). Thank you for sharing this incredible build!!! 2 years ago, this December, I was researching big aquariums while designing my own house and it's outrageously large tank. I designed my house to wrap around the 3-5000 gallon FOWLR Native shark tank. I've always loved reef tanks though, so with a little inspiration from Paul's thread, I designed my 500 gallon Floating Cube of Ocean, 4'x4'x4'. It will sit on a 10" diameter pedestal, which will be tiled using the same tile that's on the floor. The pedestal should disappear and it will have the effect of a floating cube of ocean reef. No hood/canapy, no overflow, just a 1,5" thick acrylic(no braces on top or anywhere) cube of water floating in front of a wall of glass with a beautiful Texas hill country view, very similar to Paul's ablity to see through his tank and see the 360 corridor. That is your view, no? I recognized it before I read you live in Austin. If not, you are in that area, I'm 99% sure.
I am a builder, aquarium nut, and 35 year Austinite(grew up in Htown). I would give my left arm to get a tour of your Mancave Paul!. I think mine is better ;o), but mine is filled with tools, a shop, 7000 square feet of tools, that is. So we aren't competing, just different. You definitely would win if we were. I am in awe of your setup. As a builder, I am in awe of your house/Mancave. I noticed the steel in your remodel, I too have a 2000# beam holding up my tank. Second floor, of course, how else do you get that view THROUGH the aquarium. (I am referring to my two tanks in that one statement. They aren't built yet)
My FOWLER tank will be oval, 4' deep, 20+- feet long, and have three viewing windows from 3 rooms. 4'x4' in the bathroom, 10'x4' above the couch, and 4'x4' in front of my desk(self employed Contractor). Having this shop, and having built a bit of everything at some point, allows me to design all this outrageous stuff, like no overflows(the cube), 30k#s of water on the second floor, and the pedestal for the cube.
Before anybody says "no overflows? Can't be done!" Just wait for my build thread, instead of taking the attention away from Paul's incredible setup/thread/build! It was this thread that inspired my Floating Cube of Ocean Reef, so, thank you Paul, this will change my life( somewhat). I have spent many many! nights reading this thread over and over, HOPING, not to make the same mistakes, and learning how to do it right. In the thesaurus under DIY, it says "Mistake" (j/k). This will be my 3rd reef tank and 3rd FOWLR. I am building my house right now. By hand, one nail at a time, with one helper. All designs are exclusively mine. I have spent the last two years designing and building, and designing, and building, and redesigning etc... We are installing the 5- 4'x9' wood sliding glass doors that I made. Also finishing up my front door 6' wide x 9' tall, one door, on a pivot about 2' from the edge of the door(it will open to 4'). I even designed and built the pivot hinge for the 400# door. After I move in (about 2 months from now, lots of cabs, counters, floors etc.. to make. Even the furniture will be hand made by me), I will start a build thread for the two aquariums. It's too bad I can't use the same sump for both tanks. Thanks to Paul, I have it laid out similar, but not near as neatly done(it won't be for lack of effort), I know where and how to set up the entire system. I may not have the patience, at least, not as much as Paul. But I am going to try my hardest to keep it neat and organized. Picture it like Paul's, but without the money, LOL! or the time. That said, it WILL be different this time. So again, THANK YOU PAUL! I am creative, but your tank is where I came up with this idea. I didn't copy it by any means, but I will have a view through the tank(north), Kcon aka Kyle
Ps, How high above the water (4'deep), can I hang those cannons or is there a better light for the task? The higher the better. I don't want a single wire or tube anywhere near the tank. The higher the lights, the better the visual effect. I am not set on growing sps on the bottom, but there will be, at the least, soft corals down there.
One more question, is everybody starting off with dead rock these days? I understand the advantages, but there are disadvantages too, like lack of diversity. Y'all have a GREAT day! Kyle
PSS, I named my new place (7 acres) Shark Ridge Ranch, and that will be the thread title. Website is Sharkridge,com, coming soon
I am a builder, aquarium nut, and 35 year Austinite(grew up in Htown). I would give my left arm to get a tour of your Mancave Paul!. I think mine is better ;o), but mine is filled with tools, a shop, 7000 square feet of tools, that is. So we aren't competing, just different. You definitely would win if we were. I am in awe of your setup. As a builder, I am in awe of your house/Mancave. I noticed the steel in your remodel, I too have a 2000# beam holding up my tank. Second floor, of course, how else do you get that view THROUGH the aquarium. (I am referring to my two tanks in that one statement. They aren't built yet)
My FOWLER tank will be oval, 4' deep, 20+- feet long, and have three viewing windows from 3 rooms. 4'x4' in the bathroom, 10'x4' above the couch, and 4'x4' in front of my desk(self employed Contractor). Having this shop, and having built a bit of everything at some point, allows me to design all this outrageous stuff, like no overflows(the cube), 30k#s of water on the second floor, and the pedestal for the cube.
Before anybody says "no overflows? Can't be done!" Just wait for my build thread, instead of taking the attention away from Paul's incredible setup/thread/build! It was this thread that inspired my Floating Cube of Ocean Reef, so, thank you Paul, this will change my life( somewhat). I have spent many many! nights reading this thread over and over, HOPING, not to make the same mistakes, and learning how to do it right. In the thesaurus under DIY, it says "Mistake" (j/k). This will be my 3rd reef tank and 3rd FOWLR. I am building my house right now. By hand, one nail at a time, with one helper. All designs are exclusively mine. I have spent the last two years designing and building, and designing, and building, and redesigning etc... We are installing the 5- 4'x9' wood sliding glass doors that I made. Also finishing up my front door 6' wide x 9' tall, one door, on a pivot about 2' from the edge of the door(it will open to 4'). I even designed and built the pivot hinge for the 400# door. After I move in (about 2 months from now, lots of cabs, counters, floors etc.. to make. Even the furniture will be hand made by me), I will start a build thread for the two aquariums. It's too bad I can't use the same sump for both tanks. Thanks to Paul, I have it laid out similar, but not near as neatly done(it won't be for lack of effort), I know where and how to set up the entire system. I may not have the patience, at least, not as much as Paul. But I am going to try my hardest to keep it neat and organized. Picture it like Paul's, but without the money, LOL! or the time. That said, it WILL be different this time. So again, THANK YOU PAUL! I am creative, but your tank is where I came up with this idea. I didn't copy it by any means, but I will have a view through the tank(north), Kcon aka Kyle
Ps, How high above the water (4'deep), can I hang those cannons or is there a better light for the task? The higher the better. I don't want a single wire or tube anywhere near the tank. The higher the lights, the better the visual effect. I am not set on growing sps on the bottom, but there will be, at the least, soft corals down there.
One more question, is everybody starting off with dead rock these days? I understand the advantages, but there are disadvantages too, like lack of diversity. Y'all have a GREAT day! Kyle
PSS, I named my new place (7 acres) Shark Ridge Ranch, and that will be the thread title. Website is Sharkridge,com, coming soon
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Paul, I read this build from start to finish last night. I'm just in awe.
You say you're a tech "manager", I find that comical, haha. Maybe a 'manager' of an entire division of a fortune 500 operation.....lol!
Back to your build. Just magnificent. While your growing pains are unfortunate, I believe they're to be expected in an undertaking of your size, no matter your precision, knowledge, or diligence. These size tanks in a residential format are so few and far between that it's clearly an inexact science. To be clear though, it appears you have handled the hurdles like a gold medalist. This tank, as you said, is meant to be a 30 year tank. I am excited for you for the future, to see how it grows and matures!
Best of luck!
You say you're a tech "manager", I find that comical, haha. Maybe a 'manager' of an entire division of a fortune 500 operation.....lol!
Back to your build. Just magnificent. While your growing pains are unfortunate, I believe they're to be expected in an undertaking of your size, no matter your precision, knowledge, or diligence. These size tanks in a residential format are so few and far between that it's clearly an inexact science. To be clear though, it appears you have handled the hurdles like a gold medalist. This tank, as you said, is meant to be a 30 year tank. I am excited for you for the future, to see how it grows and matures!
Best of luck!
nuxx
.Registered Member
Cool more big tanks in Austin
Another thing about dry rock is more than likely you'll run into phosphate issues at some point.
I didn't really care about it until GHA exploded in my tank. 10s of lbs of GFO, tons of manual removal and 6 Sea Hares later I'm seeing the last of it go.
Which part of town are you in?
Yeah Paul's setup is extremely nice. Checked it out in the early stages, I don't think it was even wet yet :rollface:
This is an awesome build. I really like all of the little things you jumped for like going with saphire glass. I thought it was pretty epic that the tank had to be hoisted by a crane. Beautiful house btw, I didn't read if your the billionair owner of the house or if you were just contracted to do the tank or not.
Also, I don't know if it was covered or not as I haven't read the whole thread, I just saw the pics on the 1st page, but given the dimensions you have, 164x48x56, the tank is just over 1908 gallons.
Also, I don't know if it was covered or not as I haven't read the whole thread, I just saw the pics on the 1st page, but given the dimensions you have, 164x48x56, the tank is just over 1908 gallons.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
That's full to the very top with water and also with outside dimensions. You take a 1" of measurements off that large of a tank and you start to lose gallons quickly
Most people on this (or any) forum do not refer to their tanks by it's inside dimensions/'actual capacity'... Most don't even know how many gallons that their tanks actually hold...
I love the detail of this build thread... magnificent design and beautiful craftmanship..I showed some of this to my wife and she took my laptop and went thru every page of this thread!!!! so i'm thinking I will owe you a gigantic thanks in the end... not that i'd do anything this big but you have no idea how many doors you may have opened for me with the wife on my next build!!!! and I really appreciate your detail in posting!
avoidtheboyd
New member
Just read the whole thread in one sitting and all i have to say is wow. Extremely impressive work and look forward to your next update.
January Update
January Update
Hi All, Looks like I'd better post before an APB goes out. Going forward, updates will likely be every 2 or 3 months, or QT cycle. Not much interesting is happening between livestock introductions.
First off, thank you for joining, avoidtheboyd, winwar, druzelle, albano, madmodder, chimmike and anyone I've missed.
Since the last update:
Second Hydro Wizard to replace tower of Streams
For whatever reason I've never been able to get the tower of 5 Tunze Streams to work reliably, with one dropping out every week or 10 days. They simply quit starting back up. No calcium buildup or other discernible issue, I can generally go in and give the prop a hand turn and they will resume running, sometimes need to reseat the Apex adapter connection. I assume this must be something about my install as I haven't heard anything about Tunze quality dropping off. In any case, I got tired of having to futz with them constantly, so out they go to be replaced an ECM-63.
I previously had some concern about sufficient vertical distribution with only one power head. No longer worried about this because all 5 streams have been offline for nearly 3 months now, and the tank is looking better than ever. I will mount this one lower than the other ECM-63.
Rusting Dryer Tub
I got in the habit of putting used fish room towels directly in the dryer. I didn't care if they were particularly clean for the next floor sopping up, so I'd just toss them straight into the dryer. And sometimes forget about them for a week or two before running the cycle.
Then I decided to start using the dryer for my car detailing micro fiber towels, which called for a good wiping down of the dryer tub before use. Looked in to discover a couple of holes rusted completely through the tub; looks a bit like a road sign that was shot by teenagers a year or two ago.
Not going to count on being able to make a warranty claim for this one.
Full lighting cycle for Display
While the display was fish-only, lighting was limited to an hour in the morning, 90 minutes at lunch, and 3.5 hours in the evening. In other words, fish feeding times plus a few hours for viewing in the evening. In October, as it began to look like the coral QT would be ready to graduate within a few months, I changed the light timing to 10 hours continuous, the idea being that if there was going to be a hair algae cycle, I'd let it complete before adding any corals. I was a bit nervous about this as I'd started to have some signs even with the short light cycle: hair algae streamers developed on the tops of the sea swirl outputs, and a few small (3" x 4" to 4" x 6") patches of dinoflagellates and cyano had developed.
First use of DT Vacuum System
The appearance of the dynos inspired my first use of the vacuum system. Used a Mag 5 to prime it, then vacuumed the dynos directly to the drain. The system worked reasonably well but didn't quite meet expectations.
First disappointment was that suction was not quite as strong as I hoped, requiring me to position the intake wand precisely over each dyno patch to get it to dislodge. I'm thinking now that it was a mistake to upsize the main piping to 1" from the 3/4" suction wand pipe. My best guess is that with a 3/4" constriction up front, the main pipes are not full enough to establish a strong siphon. This may be a completely off base guess, though, as I've never had this problem before when using a 1/2" vacuum wand in front of 3/4" siphon tubing.
The other minor disappointment is that it won't hold prime for more than a few hours when only the upper valve is closed. Works just fine so long as I remember to go downstairs and also close the fish room valve within a few hours of finishing vacuuming in the display, but this requirement significantly reduces the always-on convenience I had envisioned. If I need to start vacuuming regularly, will install an actuated ball valve downstairs controlled from a switch in the canopy of the DT.
On the bright side, while it wasn't the vacuum nirvana I was hoping for, the one use over 2 days did the trick. The dynos went away completely within 2 weeks of vacuuming, and the hair algae on the sea swirls disappeared without me doing anything. I suspect the brief bloom may have been the result of having to make 600 gallons of water as RO only, no DI, during one of the filter canister failure episodes.
Advancements in water quality for Display and QT
For most of last year, the systems had persistent nitrates in the 2 - 5ppm range, and phosphates between .03 and .1. Alkalinity was generally steady at 7 - 8 with no supplementation beyond water changes, and calcium stayed at 500+ with zero supplementation.
In October, I increased amino dosing and coral feeding to daily from previous 2x or 3x per week. November got busy, and I didn't test anything other than alkalinity. In December, after dynos cleared, coralline finally started growing on the DT rocks. In the coral QT, I was having to up my alk dosing and struggling to keep alk above 7. I ran first full set of tests in a couple of months: nitrates < 1ppm, phosphates 0, low alk at 6.5, and calcium at 350. The system was finally starting to use calcium faster than water changes could replace it.
Reflections on Rock Cooking
Now seems like a good time to reflect on rock cooking. Painful as it was to kill the live rock from our old systems, it is seeming like one of the best decisions I've made with this system. I don't know that I needed to be quite as obsessive as I was about sterilizing the rock, but sterilization to some level definitely paid off. The cooked rock, combined with bare bottom and high flow, has worked out better than I dared to hope. I'm amazed that I was able to run for 2 years feeding 3x day before needing to vacuum anything out of the tank, and with no significant algae, diatom, or cyano cycles. When I did perform the first vacuum to remove dynos, there was still almost no detritus of any kind
Almost added first corals to Display
By early December, the coral QT had been stable for a couple of months, and everything was looking great. Then I noticed 2 aiptasia and one bubble of valonia. After purging these guys, decided to give the QT another couple of months to make sure no others popped up. Currently planning to introduce first test corals to DT during the 2nd or 3rd week of February.
Coral QT:
Hung UV unit for DT
Where we last left off, the UV unit for the Display was plumbed in and running, temporarily installed on the floor next to the skimmer where it was intended to sit for a one-week leak test period. One-week turned into 6 while working through issues with the Abyzz 420 intended to feed it. The only place available to mount it was the wall between the skimmer and black RO/DI water reservoir, behind the two 30-gallon reservoir that holds old DT water that is used as NSW for the quarantine tank water changes.
The UV is placed inline before the skimmer, fed by an Abyzz 420. While the UV was still on the floor and the Abyzz 420 was being repaired, I used an Abyzz 200 that, after friction and head loss, could only push 25gpm of flow, or 1/3 of what the skimmer is rated for. Not a problem while the system is so lightly stocked. Was looking forward to getting the 420 back to provide more like 40 or 50gpm. Unfortunately, moving the UV from floor to 9' up the wall (4' higher than skimmer input) almost entirely offset the greater output of the 420, which can now only push 30gpm. At some point in the next 12-18 months, will need to either replace the Abyzz 420 with a larger pump or add another Abyzz 420 to feed the UV separately from the skimmer. Probably will go with the 2nd option since the UV isn't quite large enough for 50+ gpm.
Getting a photo is a bit tricky as it is jammed behind the DT-OSW reservoir.
Installed greenhouse mist system timer to automate skimmer washdown
Configured the timer to run for 15 seconds every 8 hours. Apex wasn't an option for this control because the shortest unit of time it supports is 1-minute, which is far too long for the washdown to run.
With the washdown running this frequently, it became necessary to add saltwater top-off to the mix since the MRC washdown sprays the entire collection cup, not just the neck. The washdown sends about 6 gpm of tank water to the drain with each run.
This complicates top-off management. Top-off is no longer as straightforward as adding fresh water to maintain a constant water level in the sump. The process I use now is: estimate evaporation loss of freshwater and washdown loss of saltwater, then use dosing pumps to add the appropriate amounts of each. This means there will be perpetual drift of both sump water level and system salinity as evaporation rates vary with humidity and as the spray pattern of the washdown changes due to skimmate gunk accumulating on the nozzle between cleanings. Fortunately, these are slow enough and minor enough to need adjusting only once a month or so.
You may wonder why I don't use a standard top-off system for the evap component. This is purely my personal preference for minimal complexity and maintenance. Even the most reliable top-off system (Tunze Osmolator, in my experience) has problems every 18 - 36 months-- water level sensor issues, relay failures, controller problems, pump failure, etc. Each issue has to be diagnosed, appropriate parts replaced or repaired. As I've mentioned before, I've found peristaltic dosing pumps to be the most reliable of all aquarium gear I've used. In nearly 20 years of using Liter Meters, 5 concurrently, I've never had a motor or controller failure. The only service I've performed is replacing the neoprene tubing, and even that only about 1/2 to 1/3 as often as recommended (~every 4 - 6 years). Bottom line, tweaking the dosing rate once every month or so after the sump level drifts up or down is less hassle than keeping a complete top-off system operational. Of course, with 19 liter meters deployed now, failure frequency is likely to go up. Fingers crossed that MTBF stays high.
Graduated QT Fish Batch #5
Added 3 Yellow Tangs, 4 Cardinals, 5 Green Chromis, 1 Coral Beauty Angel. I think this may be the first batch to go through QT with zero disease or parasite outbreaks. This brings the current stock list for the display to:
Still to go, another 30 or so green chromis, 2 or 3 additional hippo tangs, small school of pyramid butterflyfish, copperband butterfly, crosshatch trigger pair, 15 to 20 anthias, assorted reef-safe wrasses, dussumieri tang, purple tang, and, finally, 2 achilles tangs.
Display Tank Fish
Even with the gutter guard feeder, the orange spot rabbit can manage to pull out large chunks of seaweed.
Rock finally getting a bit of color.
Full Tank Shots
Still rather empty of life when viewed from a distance. Hmm, I really should clear my clutter off the bar before shooting. . .
View from the gaming table. Air filter isn't normally cluttering the opposite corner-- recovering from a cat who decided this room looked like a classier potty than the little tray of litter in the utility room.
January Update
Hi All, Looks like I'd better post before an APB goes out
. Going forward, updates will likely be every 2 or 3 months, or QT cycle. Not much interesting is happening between livestock introductions. First off, thank you for joining, avoidtheboyd, winwar, druzelle, albano, madmodder, chimmike and anyone I've missed.
Since the last update:
- Ordered second Hyrdo Wizard ECM-63 to replace 5 Tunze Streams
- Rusting Dryer tub
- Implemented full lighting cycle on DT
- Used DT vac system for first time
- DT and Coral QT water quality advancements
- Almost introduced first coral to DT
- Hung UV unit for display tank, flow disappointment
- Installed Greenhouse timer to automate skimmer washdown
- Added NSW top-off doser to make up for water lost during automated washdowns
- Graduated QT Fish batch
Second Hydro Wizard to replace tower of Streams
For whatever reason I've never been able to get the tower of 5 Tunze Streams to work reliably, with one dropping out every week or 10 days. They simply quit starting back up. No calcium buildup or other discernible issue, I can generally go in and give the prop a hand turn and they will resume running, sometimes need to reseat the Apex adapter connection. I assume this must be something about my install as I haven't heard anything about Tunze quality dropping off. In any case, I got tired of having to futz with them constantly, so out they go to be replaced an ECM-63.
I previously had some concern about sufficient vertical distribution with only one power head. No longer worried about this because all 5 streams have been offline for nearly 3 months now, and the tank is looking better than ever. I will mount this one lower than the other ECM-63.
Rusting Dryer Tub
I got in the habit of putting used fish room towels directly in the dryer. I didn't care if they were particularly clean for the next floor sopping up, so I'd just toss them straight into the dryer. And sometimes forget about them for a week or two before running the cycle.
Then I decided to start using the dryer for my car detailing micro fiber towels, which called for a good wiping down of the dryer tub before use. Looked in to discover a couple of holes rusted completely through the tub; looks a bit like a road sign that was shot by teenagers a year or two ago.
Not going to count on being able to make a warranty claim for this one.
Full lighting cycle for Display
While the display was fish-only, lighting was limited to an hour in the morning, 90 minutes at lunch, and 3.5 hours in the evening. In other words, fish feeding times plus a few hours for viewing in the evening. In October, as it began to look like the coral QT would be ready to graduate within a few months, I changed the light timing to 10 hours continuous, the idea being that if there was going to be a hair algae cycle, I'd let it complete before adding any corals. I was a bit nervous about this as I'd started to have some signs even with the short light cycle: hair algae streamers developed on the tops of the sea swirl outputs, and a few small (3" x 4" to 4" x 6") patches of dinoflagellates and cyano had developed.
First use of DT Vacuum System
The appearance of the dynos inspired my first use of the vacuum system. Used a Mag 5 to prime it, then vacuumed the dynos directly to the drain. The system worked reasonably well but didn't quite meet expectations.
First disappointment was that suction was not quite as strong as I hoped, requiring me to position the intake wand precisely over each dyno patch to get it to dislodge. I'm thinking now that it was a mistake to upsize the main piping to 1" from the 3/4" suction wand pipe. My best guess is that with a 3/4" constriction up front, the main pipes are not full enough to establish a strong siphon. This may be a completely off base guess, though, as I've never had this problem before when using a 1/2" vacuum wand in front of 3/4" siphon tubing.
The other minor disappointment is that it won't hold prime for more than a few hours when only the upper valve is closed. Works just fine so long as I remember to go downstairs and also close the fish room valve within a few hours of finishing vacuuming in the display, but this requirement significantly reduces the always-on convenience I had envisioned. If I need to start vacuuming regularly, will install an actuated ball valve downstairs controlled from a switch in the canopy of the DT.
On the bright side, while it wasn't the vacuum nirvana I was hoping for, the one use over 2 days did the trick. The dynos went away completely within 2 weeks of vacuuming, and the hair algae on the sea swirls disappeared without me doing anything. I suspect the brief bloom may have been the result of having to make 600 gallons of water as RO only, no DI, during one of the filter canister failure episodes.
Advancements in water quality for Display and QT
For most of last year, the systems had persistent nitrates in the 2 - 5ppm range, and phosphates between .03 and .1. Alkalinity was generally steady at 7 - 8 with no supplementation beyond water changes, and calcium stayed at 500+ with zero supplementation.
In October, I increased amino dosing and coral feeding to daily from previous 2x or 3x per week. November got busy, and I didn't test anything other than alkalinity. In December, after dynos cleared, coralline finally started growing on the DT rocks. In the coral QT, I was having to up my alk dosing and struggling to keep alk above 7. I ran first full set of tests in a couple of months: nitrates < 1ppm, phosphates 0, low alk at 6.5, and calcium at 350. The system was finally starting to use calcium faster than water changes could replace it.
Reflections on Rock Cooking
Now seems like a good time to reflect on rock cooking. Painful as it was to kill the live rock from our old systems, it is seeming like one of the best decisions I've made with this system. I don't know that I needed to be quite as obsessive as I was about sterilizing the rock, but sterilization to some level definitely paid off. The cooked rock, combined with bare bottom and high flow, has worked out better than I dared to hope. I'm amazed that I was able to run for 2 years feeding 3x day before needing to vacuum anything out of the tank, and with no significant algae, diatom, or cyano cycles. When I did perform the first vacuum to remove dynos, there was still almost no detritus of any kind
Almost added first corals to Display
By early December, the coral QT had been stable for a couple of months, and everything was looking great. Then I noticed 2 aiptasia and one bubble of valonia. After purging these guys, decided to give the QT another couple of months to make sure no others popped up. Currently planning to introduce first test corals to DT during the 2nd or 3rd week of February.
Coral QT:
Hung UV unit for DT
Where we last left off, the UV unit for the Display was plumbed in and running, temporarily installed on the floor next to the skimmer where it was intended to sit for a one-week leak test period. One-week turned into 6 while working through issues with the Abyzz 420 intended to feed it. The only place available to mount it was the wall between the skimmer and black RO/DI water reservoir, behind the two 30-gallon reservoir that holds old DT water that is used as NSW for the quarantine tank water changes.
The UV is placed inline before the skimmer, fed by an Abyzz 420. While the UV was still on the floor and the Abyzz 420 was being repaired, I used an Abyzz 200 that, after friction and head loss, could only push 25gpm of flow, or 1/3 of what the skimmer is rated for. Not a problem while the system is so lightly stocked. Was looking forward to getting the 420 back to provide more like 40 or 50gpm. Unfortunately, moving the UV from floor to 9' up the wall (4' higher than skimmer input) almost entirely offset the greater output of the 420, which can now only push 30gpm. At some point in the next 12-18 months, will need to either replace the Abyzz 420 with a larger pump or add another Abyzz 420 to feed the UV separately from the skimmer. Probably will go with the 2nd option since the UV isn't quite large enough for 50+ gpm.
Getting a photo is a bit tricky as it is jammed behind the DT-OSW reservoir.
Installed greenhouse mist system timer to automate skimmer washdown
Configured the timer to run for 15 seconds every 8 hours. Apex wasn't an option for this control because the shortest unit of time it supports is 1-minute, which is far too long for the washdown to run.
With the washdown running this frequently, it became necessary to add saltwater top-off to the mix since the MRC washdown sprays the entire collection cup, not just the neck. The washdown sends about 6 gpm of tank water to the drain with each run.
This complicates top-off management. Top-off is no longer as straightforward as adding fresh water to maintain a constant water level in the sump. The process I use now is: estimate evaporation loss of freshwater and washdown loss of saltwater, then use dosing pumps to add the appropriate amounts of each. This means there will be perpetual drift of both sump water level and system salinity as evaporation rates vary with humidity and as the spray pattern of the washdown changes due to skimmate gunk accumulating on the nozzle between cleanings. Fortunately, these are slow enough and minor enough to need adjusting only once a month or so.
You may wonder why I don't use a standard top-off system for the evap component. This is purely my personal preference for minimal complexity and maintenance. Even the most reliable top-off system (Tunze Osmolator, in my experience) has problems every 18 - 36 months-- water level sensor issues, relay failures, controller problems, pump failure, etc. Each issue has to be diagnosed, appropriate parts replaced or repaired. As I've mentioned before, I've found peristaltic dosing pumps to be the most reliable of all aquarium gear I've used. In nearly 20 years of using Liter Meters, 5 concurrently, I've never had a motor or controller failure. The only service I've performed is replacing the neoprene tubing, and even that only about 1/2 to 1/3 as often as recommended (~every 4 - 6 years). Bottom line, tweaking the dosing rate once every month or so after the sump level drifts up or down is less hassle than keeping a complete top-off system operational. Of course, with 19 liter meters deployed now, failure frequency is likely to go up. Fingers crossed that MTBF stays high.
Graduated QT Fish Batch #5
Added 3 Yellow Tangs, 4 Cardinals, 5 Green Chromis, 1 Coral Beauty Angel. I think this may be the first batch to go through QT with zero disease or parasite outbreaks. This brings the current stock list for the display to:
- 7 Yellow Tangs
- ~20 Green Chromis
- 3 Pajama Cardinals
- 4 Blue Eye Cardinals
- Chocolate Tang
- Hippo Tang
- Yellow Eye Kole Tang
- Naso Tang
- Sailfin Tang
- Orange Spot Rabbitfish
- Foxface Lo
- Magnificent Foxface
- Midas Blenny
- Coral Beauty Angel
- 3 urchins
- Assorted snails and hermit crabs
Still to go, another 30 or so green chromis, 2 or 3 additional hippo tangs, small school of pyramid butterflyfish, copperband butterfly, crosshatch trigger pair, 15 to 20 anthias, assorted reef-safe wrasses, dussumieri tang, purple tang, and, finally, 2 achilles tangs.
Display Tank Fish
Even with the gutter guard feeder, the orange spot rabbit can manage to pull out large chunks of seaweed.
Rock finally getting a bit of color.
Full Tank Shots
Still rather empty of life when viewed from a distance. Hmm, I really should clear my clutter off the bar before shooting. . .
View from the gaming table. Air filter isn't normally cluttering the opposite corner-- recovering from a cat who decided this room looked like a classier potty than the little tray of litter in the utility room.
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