TVS 75 Gallon Build

[The Velvet Sea]

Wesleyforbes, from what I've read and experienced, it is common/normal for salifert to read about 1-1.5 dKH higher than other alk tests. I'd guess that a hanna would read your alk around 8.5-8.7 dKH if your salifert kit is inline with mine.

Hey chefb_5, the SRO 1000int has grown on me. It was a challenge at first but has gotten a lot better for me. I still run it very shallow and wish it could perform in a little bit deeper water like the installation instructions say it can, but overall I'm pleased. CoralVue was a great help in the beginning and replaced my faulty bubbleblaster. My skimmer now has tons of tiny micro-fractures in the plastic right below where the collection cup mounts to the skimmer body. They don't seem to be affecting anything, but it is a bit of a concern.

 

[The Velvet Sea]

The weather has started to warm up so I installed installed my canopy fans this morning. The plastic tube that you can see is my supply line from my ATO reservoir. Since my reservoir is so tall I couldn't run it to the sump without having a siphon start when the ATO pump turns off, so I ran it up to my herbie emergency drain. This also shows the space I have to work with when I slide the sunpower over to one side. Plenty of room to reach into the tank.

Just a FTS to keep the photo junkies satisfied. I still have trouble getting my camera to take a good shot. I guess it would be easier if the sunpower wasn't so insanely bright.

Thanks for looking!

 

[wesleyforbes2]

I have that problem as well with my ATO. So your saying to alleviate that, run the line to my overflow up on the tank?

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Yep. Works like a charm for me. Don't submerge the ATO supply line in the overflow or it will back siphon into your ATO reservoir. My supply line goes into a drain that is normally empty. As long as the line is above your ATO reservoir and is not submerged, you shouldn't get a siphon or back siphon when the ATO pump turns off

 

[Dnic]

Love it

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Thank you very much, Dnic. The aquarium is still in its infancy but I'm excited to watch it mature.

 

[wesleyforbes2]

Thanks for the help! Tank is looking great, keep up with pics.

 

[Shellyfish]

I love the tank, and I'm very curious about your canopy, what do you do with it when you need to get into your tank? Do you have to lift if off?

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Thanks Shellyfish! The opening in the canopy provides plenty of space for any day to day work where I need to get into the tank, like moving frags around, siphoning for water changes, or feeding. I haven't had the need to yet, but if I need more room, I'll just lift the sunpower off of the canopy and then work in the tank. Having long arms definitely helps. I can still reach the sand bed with the canopy on. The canopy is very easy to remove though.

 

[The Velvet Sea]

I went to a LFS today to check out their frozen food selection. I've been trying lots of different kinds to provide a nice variety and to figure out what my fish and I like best. So far the frozen foods I've tried are PE Mysis, Rod's Food Original, Hikari Mysis, Hikari Krill, SFBB Brine Shrimp, SFBB Bloodworms, SFBB Marine Cuisine, SFBB Plankton, and Formula One.

My fish love the mysis, krill, bloodworms and plankton the most. I like all of those except the PE mysis because it kills my skimmer foam for way too long. I don't really like Rod's because it is way too easy to over feed with and seems to have a lot of fine sized foods that go uneaten (my frags aren't large enough to require that type of broadcast feeding yet). I don't like the gel formula one nor the marine cuisine. One of the clowns is finicky and won't eat SFBB brine shrimp, so I picked up Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp today to see if she likes it better. So far the hikari mysis and krill, SFBB plankton and bloodworms are my top 4, with PE mysis on occasion. I also feed formula 1 pellets which all of the fish seem to like. I picked up some garlic extreme today and am excited to see how the fish respond to that when the foods are soaked in it.

Its so hard to go to the LFS and not buy coral, so I ended up getting a cool purple with green polyp acro frag. I experimented with my camera for a while, changing the white balance, ISO, macro and flash settings. Here are some coral shots, first shot is without flash and the rest are with flash.

 

[AugustWest]

Nice job ! Where did you get that top-off reservoir, looks like something I could hide out of the way.

Thanks

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Thanks AugustWest. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it, because for just a top off reservoir it was quite expensive in my opinion, but it was the volume I needed (15 gallons), is food grade plastic, and it gets the job done. I got it from US Plastics.

 

[Shellyfish]

Is your fixture a 6 bulb one? I have a 70g tank and am looking to upgrade my lights to a 4 foot 6 bulb fixture, I really like the look of your canopy, I may have to copy it. I currently have glass lids on my tank, I am paranoid about a cat jumping in or fish jumping out. Even though your canopy is open I'm guessing it would be hard for a fish to jump out of there.

 

[Shellyfish]

Is your fixture a 6 bulb one? I have a 70g tank and am looking to upgrade my lights to a 4 foot 6 bulb fixture, I really like the look of your canopy, I may have to copy it. I currently have glass lids on my tank, I am paranoid about a cat jumping in or fish jumping out. Even though your canopy is open I'm guessing it would be hard for a fish to jump out of there.

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Yep, 6 bulb fixture. Any fish that tries to jump out would have to be very determined to make it out, and a determined cat to get in for that matter. The canopy wall goes up about 4" above the tank trim on the open end where the light vents out, and about 5" on the other 3 sides. Building it was pretty easy. I'm definitely not a carpenter.

 

[Shellyfish]

Ok, sorry for all the questions. I've been looking at lights and measuring things and most of the lights I've come across are 16" wide, my tank is only 18" wide and then I also have a HOB skimmer which sticks out into the tank. Looking at your pictures, it looks like you have a fair bit of room there. I think our tanks are similar dimensions, how wide is your light fixture? I'm concerned I may have to go with a 4 bulb fixture instead just to make it fit.

 

[The Velvet Sea]

No problem at all, its my pleasure. My fixture (ATI Sunpower) is 13 3/8" wide. When I slide the fixture over to one side of the canopy, I have nearly 5" of clearance on the other side to work with. My tank is a standard 75 gallon. 48"x18".

 

[Shellyfish]

That's the same dimensions as my tank. Unfortunately I can't seem to find any fixtures smaller than 16"

 

[The Velvet Sea]

The sunpowers are a pretty penny, but they are worth it. Crazy bright. Depending on the corals kept, a 4 bulb sunpower would even be a possibility I think.

 

[Shellyfish]

I'm really only looking at keeping softies and maybe a few lps. Luckily I'm still at the research/ saving stage so I can take my time looking for lights!