Ginu's 120gallon zeoland journey

[Ginu]

Hello,

I've contemplating upgrading from a 75g tank and due to our move at the beginning of October and decided there is no better time to upgrade, so here it goes...

I had a 75g tank which seems to hate SPS (gave this away to a friend and hes starting fresh as well)... hopefully this will change with the addition of a new tank/ and with the zeo system which I've never tried before.

Tank is from Concept Aquatics rimless custom made with three starphire sides (front, left and right panes), single external overflow and drilled(drilled for herbie with 2 x 1.5" drains) and two returns 3/4"(one on each side of the overflow)
12mm starphire glass all around with polished edges and black silicone.
Back will be black with vinyl and one piece black acrylic covering the overflow.

Measurements of the tank will be a 120g 48"x24"x24" height

Equipment I'll be using from my previous 75g tank and new equipment for the zeovit system:

Decided to discard all my old rock and start fresh, so I went with 51lb pukani and 7lb shelf rock from Eli@fijirock. This is the rock formation I have which is currently curing for the past 3 months until I move and get the new tank in place.

For return I'll be using my old Eheim 1262

I've decided to go with a Avast Marine Vibe reactor and pay the little extra so I don't have to shake stones everyday.
Zeo reactor will be fed by a Eheim compact 3000+ and controlled by Apex

Tank circulation will be provided by two MP40W ES controlled by Apex and backed up with a Ecotech battery backup

ATO - I will use my Tunze Osmolator 3155

Lighting will be provided by a 6 bulb ATI T5

For skimming purposes I was going to use my old Vertex Omega 150 but decided to switch and bought a BK Mini 180 as I wanted something smaller with an internal pump and cant beat the ease of cup removal on the BK, really looking forward to this skimmer (hope it performs really well).

I also have a BRS deluxe reactor which I was planning to use, but I've read its better to place carbon passively in a bag rather than use a rector which can be too aggressive with Zeo. I will still plumb the reactor just in case it will be needed one day.

For sump I will use my Triger systems Ruby 36 but would like to upgrade to the new Trigger systems Emerald 39

Currently I have a Neptune Apex controller along with the WXM and ALD module and I plan to use it on this system

Dosing will be done using the BRS two part Ca/Alk along with BRS magnesium mix when needed in conjunction with the BRS dosing pumps controlled by Apex.
I was doing to order the new Apex DOS to provide automatic water changes, but really contemplating getting the DHL Doser 2 for this task as it provides 4 pumps and its WiFi controllable... With the DHL i can take the BRS dosing pumps offline which would offer two extra plugs on the Apex controller, however I'm still debating what direction should I go as I really want a automatic water change system


Now the fun part... I've setup a 150g stock Rubbermaid tank at my friends and moved all the livestock in there so I can focus on setting the system up slowly and not in a rush... I am very attached to my fishy friends and would like to try and make sure they have a safe and sound move with as little stress as possible.

My current stock list consists of two black clownfish, 4" kole tang, 5-6" purple tang, female dragonet, red head fairy wrasse, cleaner wrasse, starry blenny, pinkbar goby residing with a tiger pistol shrimp, cleaner shrimp, blood shrimp, tuxedo urchin, second tiger pistol shrimp residing in the sump.
I did however lose my Kole Tang, I'm thinking he got scratched against a rock which gave him a nice bacterial infection...

I'm not going to go into the selection of corals as I mostly have mushrooms, zoas, toadstool, acans, anemones and some random sps etc... and would like to focus more on SPS/LPS with zoas in the new tank (scrap all the softies)

Now for the Zeo ecosystem I purchased about 250$ worth of zeoproducts when the zeosale was on at BRS so I think I'm set for quite some time (hopefully)

For sand I went with two bags 2*30lb Tropic Eden Reef flakes 2mm and one bag of 30lb Tropic Eden Reef flakesfor a total of 90bof sand

For salt I got a bucket of Red Sea Blue bucket and plan to use that since Zeo wants low parameters.

 

[Ginu]

Here is my new rock curing for about 3-4 months now with a skimmer, GFO reactor and flow pump
Its 49lb pukani and 7lb shelf rock I also have another 30lb of BRS drysaver rock in a different container, but not sure if I will use that.

I did a couple of 100% waterchanges

on this this rock and it will stay like that until the tank is ready to go.

I'm hoping the pukani leached most of the phosphates during this period

 

[Ginu]

My current holding tub surrounded by bikes and some other junk...
I barely have enough space to squeeze to the edge and feed the tank every day:

__________________

 

[Ginu]

I was contemplating going with 80/20 aluminum but that fell through and went with a stand made out of 2"x4".
Started the construction a couple of days ago.
30$ worth of 2x4's cut from Rona and 2.5" deck screws 5$

I've never worked with wood or 2x4's so this was quite the experience, made some errors but it all worked out in the end:

I constructed the stand to 30" wide even though the tank is 24". The tank is 24" wide + 5" due to the external overflow, so I decided to make the stand wider so I can push the sump all the way to the end and have the pipes going straight down and I think having extra room in the stand will be beneficial.

The height of the stand is 40", so the total height will be around 65" for the tank and stand as I really hated the 28" tall stand on my previous 75gallon tank... always had to bend down to look inside not to mention working on the sump/skimmer was a painful chore. I really like the RMS S series and loved the height on the stand and the viewing height of their tanks so I figured why not go the same and have some extra shelving behind the tank to use if needed


The middle shelf is 6" shorter in width of the stand and the cables will be routed through this opening.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Looks like a fun build. I love that tank size!

 

[Ginu]

Some more stand construction pics

__________________

 

[Ginu]

I've never made a stand or worked with wood, but I have to say this didn't turn out bad at all(besides the weight), quite impressed and it looks like the stand is level, based on my cellphone.

A've caulked the inside and painted it white with a Kilz latex paint.

 

[Ginu]

Ride home from the depot station where the tank was shipped

And on the stand:

 

[Ginu]

Well almost ready to get it wet.

Had to take a break as I threw my back out and it made it difficult to work on the stand.

However, I almost finished the stand, just have to fill in holes and sand it down then either stain or paint it (haven't decided yet, whats better to use?). Doors should arrive either tomorrow or Monday; I opted to buy the doors from IKEA as they have lifetime warranty and i don't have to mess around trying to make doors.

Got the main plumbing done, still have to plumb in the ZeoVit Vibe reactor.

Have to add the sand, but not sure if I should rinse it. I am using Tropic Eden miniflakes and Tropic eden reef flakes 2:1 for a total of 90lb

I've decided to get a new skimmer so I'm trying to get a BK 180mini and get rid of the Vertex Omega 150. I was entertaining the idea of a lifereef skimmer but cant work myself up to spending 600$ on a lifereef skimmer (if I find a cheap used one, I'll jump on it) to see what works best.
This weekend I will connect the Tunze ATO as well.
Got the dosers in place as well, just need the add the sand, rock and cylce the tank.

Sorry for the bad pics, don't feel like bringing up the DSLR just yet.

 

[Ginu]

Well I'm almost done with the stand, just have to sand it one more time and apply one last coat and I think the painting will be done.

For doors I went to IKEA and ordered doors, so those will be added shortly.

I've also bought a BK Mini180 gen3 to run the system, instead of the Vertex Omega 150. Nothing wrong with the Omega, just wanting to try a BK and I really liked the cup removal on this skimmer along with the small footprint... that should arrive next week some day.

 

[revhtree]

Looking great! Nice job!

 

[Zero Nitrates]

The stand looks good in black!
Are you adding live sand?

 

[Ginu]

The stand looks good in black!
Are you adding live sand?

Not live
I went with 60lb tropic eden miniflakes and 30lb tropic eden reef flakes
Probably the cleanest sand out there

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Nice!

 

[ethridge78]

very nice

 

[d2mini]

Coming along nicely.

 

[Ginu]

---

Update

Its been 14 days since I started the zeovit cycle and currently dosing the following:

.4ml in the morning and .4ml in the evening of Zeostart
5 drops of sponge power
5 drops BAK twice a week (I'm a little concerned about this additive as it smells a little fowl).. ordered two more 10ml bottles to compare the odor
I'm currently running 1000ml zeostones with 100gal/h flow rate which is shaken twice a day for a minute by a Avast Vibe (best reactor out there - anyone looking to get a new reactor, I suggest spending the extra $ and going with an automatic reactor... I can't imagine manually shaking the stones.)

I have a 4" clown and 4" red Solon wrasse in the tank; both are very happy and eating. Clown is probably a little upset as I could not catch his pair and hes all alone... hate catching fish in a 150g tub...

I still have to catch a fairly large purple tang, second clown, anthias, starry blenny shrimp goby, two pistol shrimps, one blood shrimp and one cleaner....


Now I don't know if I should be concerned but, I have not had much of a algae bloom... one day I had one string of hair algae and next day it turned to a dime size cyano then it disappeared...there was a few strings (maybe3) on a rock but it disappeared overnight assuming to the cleaning crew...

The rocks are fiji live dead live rock which I've been soaking since april in a tub and ran lots of gfo along with a skimmer on them, then after setting up the tank, I waited a week before i started the zeo cycle.

On day 10 I added some Zoas from my previous tank and each day after I added one coral, so far all Zoas are happy except two frags which were pretty ****** from before... I suspect they did not have enough light.

MY Parameters are a little low and will start dosing over the weekend... I want to take a few calculations in two-three days so i can measure the consumption.
Ca 390
Alk
KH 7.1
MG 1160

 

[Ginu]

Well, sometimes no updates is a good thing.
I've had the tank on cruise control waiting out the algae and all the fun stuff which comes with a new tank, but I think its coming along nicely.

This is what the tank looks like now

I've tried adding some new fish but for some reason they don't make it for very long.. I'm a little bummed out as I lost a YWG and two Flasher Wrasses within a day of adding them to the tank...

Currently my fish list is:
2 clowns
1 purple tang
1 chocolate tang
3 bartlett anthias
1 lyretail anthias
1 starry blenny
1 prawn goby
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 blood shrimp
2 tiger pistol shrimps
green mandarin goby
Tuxedo urchin

Corals and all frags sadly:
green slimer
green birdsnet
bird of paradise
orange digi
forest fire digi
undata
tri color bonzai
purple cross
cali tort
pink lemonade
blue green mili
green acro
meteor shower
German blue digi
Red planet
dendro or sun coral which is not doing too hot (thinking of moving this to the overflow so i can feed it easier)
various zoas ( bout 7-8 different kinds)

over the weekend Ill be picking up the following:
Green hulk
Rainbow monti
Tri colour nana
glow stick
Reef Raft wolverine
Mystic Sunset
Grene Mili
Sarmentosa
Blueberry Tenius
Rainbow Austeria


Still running the Zeovit

Currently dozing:

.4ml zeostart twice a day
4 drops zeobak twice a week
4 drops biomate once a week
For calcium and alk i use the BRS bulk stuff
Fixed my rotor on the BK Mini180
Added Avast Swabbie on BK

Ordered the neptune Apex DOS and i should have automatic water changes next week

Colors are pale however it looks like they are coloring back up (i had some really pale colors not long ago)

 

[Ginu]

Oh boy, this thread needs to be updated with some pictures... its been a while...
The washed out birdsnest is now two colonies, one the size of baseball and one the size of a handball... and some other random mini colonies... this sucker grows FAST
The two frags in front are now mini colonies... its amazing but I was thinking my tank had no growth until i revisited this thread. I will post pictures soon.

Since I started this tank I've dealt with AFW, monti eating nudis and FW... I strongly suggest using a dip to clean the coral and QT any new additions for a minimum of 3 weeks... I thought dipping the coral was adequate enough, however its not worth the risk and the headaches to nurse coral back to life, always run a QT tank, make no exceptions.

Now for some updates, I purchased a gyre and hope to take my two MP40's off line and use one Gyre

I wasnt happy with the lack of pop from the T5's and I added a actinic pacific blue 48" true lumen led strip and I love it... the tank is alive and I plan to add another strip in front of the fixture, totally worth adding something similar to this if
Also I have a custom made frag tank which will take a while to get up but I'm planning to plumb it directly to my main sump, however I plan on running a emergency sump under the frag tank for frag qt process. The dimensions of this frag tank are 24x18x10 and it has an external overflow; for light I have a 4 bulb 24" ATI to match my main DT; was thinking to run one of my Ecotech Radions but ended up with ATI which I think its better in the long-run.

BRS order just arrived with all the plumbing pieces, just have to put it all together now.

 

[Ginu]

Sneak peak at the frag tank