Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164” x 48” x 56” SPS peninsula build

[dave.m]

I am curious as to how you keep all these systems in mind. Do you have a sort of personal maintenance manual written out for yourself? I'm thinking that it would make a great web site or blog to have all these systems and their elements written out in one place. It would certainly make it easier for readers to follow along. Just a thought.

Dave.M

 

[Darth_Tater]

That's the first I've heard of an Orange Spot Rabbitfish. It's a very cool looking fish! How big would you say it is now?

 

[007Bond]

I had one that grew to 10+ inches and was still going strong...it was also very peaceful.

 

[delmo]

Thanks for the update! Good to see progress.
BTW, the Apex does do increments in seconds i.e. 15 seconds = "000:15"
An example of 15 seconds every 8 hours would be
"OSC 430:00/000:15/049:45 Then ON"

I copied my program which starts at 7:10am (430 minutes past midnight) and runs every 8 hours, adjust yours accordingly...

 

[maxxII]

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.

Is this the Nori you're using to feed your fish?

It's good stuff but expensive for what you're getting.

I realize that the cost of Nori is minuscule in regards of the monthly cost of running a reef system of any size, but you might seriously consider switching to this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Raw-S...srs=6306675011&ie=UTF8&qid=1454367320&sr=8-22

I can find it locally in Whole Foods, and a few other local grocery stores and you get much more Nori for the money than you do with the Julian Sprung labeled stuff.

Just a suggestion.

System looks good. I can appreciate your patience and attention to detail with your set up.

Thanks for sharing as always.

 

[007Bond]

Can get Nori at any Asian food market.

 

[delmo]

Yeah, I get 100 sheets for $15 at the local Asian market. Make sure it only has 1 ingredient on its list...

 

[007Bond]

They have dried Kelp and if you look,... most likely a few other things your favorite Herbivore might like

 

[CuzzA]

As always, great update Paul. Glad to hear most of your troubles are behind you. Looking forward to an update with no issues and corals graduating to the DT. I can't wait to see this tank in 5 years.

 

[maxxII]

Can get Nori at any Asian food market.

Yeah, I get 100 sheets for $15 at the local Asian market. Make sure it only has 1 ingredient on its list...

Getting Nori is one thing. Getting dried Nori vs the Toasted Nori is another all together....

I dont know about you guys, but finding dried Nori out here in St Louis is tougher to find than the toasted.

Toasted has nutrients cooked out of it. Not that it cant be used in a pinch, but long term it's not as good as the dried.

 

[biecacka]

Coming along very nicely. It's going to grow in very nicely. Yeah my rabbitfish grabs mine too. I actually just switched to the screen we use for algae scrubbers. Same stuff knitters use. Cut a few larger holes in it and it is working good so far.

Corey

 

[sde1500]

And here my wife is annoyed it's going to take 12 days, 4 ttm rounds, to get fish into our display haha. Amazing tank, and great update!

 

[Iduhno]

This thing is epic! Definitely want to follow this one.

 

[iced98lx]

Paul- Love the update, bummer on the coral but good you found it prior to introducing them into the DT. Curious on your skimmer washdown, it sound like you're using tank water as the washdown source, would it be 6/half dozen if you used freshly made saltwater or RO/DI water? How much goes down the neck, enough to significantly alter things over time if you using a non-tank source?

 

[Zack33]

I just went through this entire build and WOW!!! I can't wait to see how it looks as you add more fish and eventually get to adding the coral!

Question:

Large coral colonies? (IE; quality/size over quantity?)
OR small colonies (relatively speaking of course with a tank so large lol), in order to fit more variety in?

Looking awesome!!

Zack

 

[Dmorty217]

Is this the Nori you're using to feed your fish?

It's good stuff but expensive for what you're getting.

I realize that the cost of Nori is minuscule in regards of the monthly cost of running a reef system of any size, but you might seriously consider switching to this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Raw-S...srs=6306675011&ie=UTF8&qid=1454367320&sr=8-22

I can find it locally in Whole Foods, and a few other local grocery stores and you get much more Nori for the money than you do with the Julian Sprung labeled stuff.

Just a suggestion.

System looks good. I can appreciate your patience and attention to detail with your set up.

Thanks for sharing as always.

You can get 100 sheets of the sea veggies from Julian Sprung for not much more than that stuff

 

[pmrogers]

I am curious as to how you keep all these systems in mind. Do you have a sort of personal maintenance manual written out for yourself? I'm thinking that it would make a great web site or blog to have all these systems and their elements written out in one place. It would certainly make it easier for readers to follow along. Just a thought.

Dave.M

Good suggestion. My doc is sorely lacking at this point. Other than early notes and sketches and the posts here, it's all in my head or on the equipment itself. I use adhesive labels generously throughout the system to label valves, lines, plugs. For longer interval or irregular service items like UV bulbs and pump seals, labels note the time of last service. My daily maintenance items are documented for our house-sitter when we travel, but I don't use it myself.

That's the first I've heard of an Orange Spot Rabbitfish. It's a very cool looking fish! How big would you say it is now?

Thanks! They are my favorite rabbit fish, and very gentle. Ours is right at 8" tip of nose to tip of tail fin and our fastest grower. He was smaller than the chocolate tang when he joined us. He very well may turn out to be the largest fish in the system if he reaches his full size of 16" (in a photo finish with the Naso).

Thanks for the update! Good to see progress.
BTW, the Apex does do increments in seconds i.e. 15 seconds = "000:15"
An example of 15 seconds every 8 hours would be
"OSC 430:00/000:15/049:45 Then ON"

I copied my program which starts at 7:10am (430 minutes past midnight) and runs every 8 hours, adjust yours accordingly...

Thanks, delmo, good to know!

Is this the Nori you're using to feed your fish?

It's good stuff but expensive for what you're getting.

I realize that the cost of Nori is minuscule in regards of the monthly cost of running a reef system of any size, but you might seriously consider switching to this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Raw-S...srs=6306675011&ie=UTF8&qid=1454367320&sr=8-22

I can find it locally in Whole Foods, and a few other local grocery stores and you get much more Nori for the money than you do with the Julian Sprung labeled stuff.

Just a suggestion.

System looks good. I can appreciate your patience and attention to detail with your set up.

Thanks for sharing as always.

Thanks for looking out for me. The box in the pic is just for convenience. I usually buy the 50 sheet bulk packages of Ocean Nutrition with garlic for ~$28. After cutting into thirds I use the small package for storing them near the tank.

Coming along very nicely. It's going to grow in very nicely. Yeah my rabbitfish grabs mine too. I actually just switched to the screen we use for algae scrubbers. Same stuff knitters use. Cut a few larger holes in it and it is working good so far.

Corey

Thanks, Corey. I will give the algae scrubber screen a try next.

Paul- Love the update, bummer on the coral but good you found it prior to introducing them into the DT. Curious on your skimmer washdown, it sound like you're using tank water as the washdown source, would it be 6/half dozen if you used freshly made saltwater or RO/DI water? How much goes down the neck, enough to significantly alter things over time if you using a non-tank source?

Hi iced98lx, yes, the MRC skimmer uses tank water. I would guess about half of the water goes down the neck, or 5 - 6gpm, too much to use city water. My previous RK2 handled wash down better: it used city water for the cup and outside of neck, tank water for inside the neck. There was some cross contamination, but not enough to skew chemistry.

I just went through this entire build and WOW!!! I can't wait to see how it looks as you add more fish and eventually get to adding the coral!

Question:

Large coral colonies? (IE; quality/size over quantity?)
OR small colonies (relatively speaking of course with a tank so large lol), in order to fit more variety in?

Looking awesome!!

Zack

Thanks, Zack! The plan is to go mostly with small colonies and frags. I like having room to grow.

 

[iced98lx]

Hi iced98lx, yes, the MRC skimmer uses tank water. I would guess about half of the water goes down the neck, or 5 - 6gpm, too much to use city water. My previous RK2 handled wash down better: it used city water for the cup and outside of neck, tank water for inside the neck. There was some cross contamination, but not enough to skew chemistry.

Bummer, I am using RO/DI water from my ATO tank to spray the cup on mine down, though it's tiny in comparison to the RK2 so the volumes are obviously way different. Upshot is you've got a separate system to compensate so if you turn off the washdown you can turn it off and continue on as normal. I've seen some that compensate with brackish ATO water etc and that is a mess to keep right.

 

[iced98lx]

Oh, and I think it goes without saying but it's sometimes nice to hear: I really enjoy the choices you've made on your tank, it will be a blast to watch fill in, thanks for taking us on the ride with you!

 

[robot2222]

Sweet tank . Unreal .