The "She Said Yes!" 120 Gallon Build

[TattooedReef27]

Yea looks like diatoms to me. Cuc. And time

 

[REEFRIED!]

Great question!

My UV plumbing is not ideal. There were no good options for placement, and I *believe* my placement was the least bad of the options. I plan to use the unions built into the UV if I need to remove the whole unit. But that will result in some spillage. If I had it to do over again I’d also add ball valves to be able to shut it off. I may still modify that at some point.

For simple bulb changes I should have space to unscrew the bulb and swap it without removing the whole unit.

Here are a couple of better shots of the placement and plumbing…

Do you have a ball valve or anything before the UV? How do you control flow through it?

 

[dangles]

Yea looks like diatoms to me. Cuc. And time

I'm actually taking delivery of a little over 100 little critters tomorrow!

 

[dangles]

Do you have a ball valve or anything before the UV? How do you control flow through it?

The return line running from my return pump splits into 2 - left and right. There's a ball valved followed by a manifold on the L return line, and on the right return line there's the UV followed by a ball valve. By adjusting the total flow, and reducing the flow through the L return line, I can adjust the right return to achieve a desired rate.

That being said, for my tank volume and UV size I need a much higher flow rate for algae/bacteria than I think I can achieve right now. I'm hitting the 400 gph (90k microwatts/cm2) through the UV return line that's needed for fish parasites, but I would need double that to target algae/bacteria. I COULD shut down the left return completely and direct ALL ~800 gph through the right return (UV) but I'm not sure how my 1" return lines would handle that. Probably fine? I haven't tried. I suppose I should!

 

[dangles]

Ugh. Stupid FREAKING Kasa wifi power strip

I have a lot of my equipment running on Kasa wifi power strips while I get my EB832s all up and wired and programmed. That includes my Avast Plank auto feeder.

I'm away from home and had some free time so I figured I'd start the programming for the auto feeder. I opened up the Kasa app to remind myself what times I had it scheduled to feed, and the Kasa app showed that my Plank auger was ON. My last feeding was over 3 hours ago!

So I went into the outlet details to see how long it had ACTUALLY been on (hoping it was going to say only a few seconds as a result of a fat-finger when I opened the app or something). No luck. It had been on for over 3 hours... slowly pushing freeze-dried food into the feed chute. The pump in the feed chute wasn't on, so it was just collecting there in a big wet re-hydrated smelly mess. My wife was able to FaceTime me to take a look and help get it taken out of the tank so it doesn't COMPLETELY foul it before I can get home tomorrow.

So mad at Kasa right now. It just randomly decided to NOT follow its programming and shut the feeder off when it was supposed to. "Nope. I'm going to leave it on, even though you told me to turn it off." Lots of bad words I can't post here.

I'm putting together the Fusion programming now so I can switch the Plank over to my EB832 tomorrow for MORE RELIABLE and NUANCED control, AND notifications. And I turned on my AWC to run at max for a little while hoping it can offset some of the massive nutrient bomb that just got dropped into my tank

I'll have to at least throw a new bag of GFO in tomorrow, and maybe do a big water change. Worst case I can fire up the skimmer I have still in the box!

 

[dangles]

This was what was left in the feed chute. The entire drum got emptied - and the Plank drum is NOT small. The water looked like GARBAGE when I got home.

I did a 20% wc after I blew off the rocks and did coral snow. My testing day is tomorrow. I’ll see what the nutrients are like then. All the fish look ok. The corals are a bit cranky but perking up after the wc.

I also added 100+ CUC after the wc. There are SO many tiny snails. I am FOR SURE going to lose a few to the overflow

 

[tsharpe291]

that really sucks, another wifi related disaster. its getting harder to find things that aren't wifi based. your fish and cuc have one heck of a feast on there hands, lol

 

[Arkayology]

I hope all that food doesn't cause too much chaos with your parameters.

 

[Rickarded-Reefer]

For my original Innovative Marine 50 gallon AIO build, click HERE.


This will serve as my new build thread. It will be slow to get started as I gather all the gear but once Black Friday hits the pace will pick up dramatically!

Long story short, my fiancé just built a house out in the country. It makes the most sense for us to sell my house and move in with her once we get married (yeah we're the old fashioned type). I suggested the possibility of upgrading my current 50 gallon AIO tank to a 4 ft 120 gal tank because it would fit PERFECTLY in the spot we've picked out for it. There's even a laundry room on the other side of the wall where I can set up a large controller board and possibly even the RODI setup. Plus... there's no better time to upgrade than when you move! She didn't put up any fight at all

My philosophy guiding this build is to automate and back up as much as possible, provide some more space for some fish I couldn't keep long term in my 50 gallon, and not become a slave to the maintenance of the tank. I travel a decent amount, and I work 24+ hours at a time. I don't want my fiancé to have to manage things while I'm away.

My plan for the 50 gallon was to pretty much focus on LPS. But with this bigger tank, and the lighting I have planned, I may shift focus to some hardy SPS as well as some LPS and shrooms. A 4-foot tank with SPS lighting also opens the door for a clam, which I'd REALY love to do!

Here's what I have planned so far:

Tank

Planet Aquarium rimless 120g w/ internal external overflow and stand

Sump

Tideline 36 (a little large for the tank size, but I'm going to ATTEMPT to go sans-skimmer, relying instead on a filter roller and refugium)

Rock/Sand

Marco dry rock (cooked in a dark tub with dark-rubble from my current tank)
I'm leaning toward TBS live sand. I'm really digging the look/makeup of their sand (the big chunks and such) and I wanna give the "live" stuff a go.

Filtration

ClariSea SK3000 G3 filter roller

Refugium lit by an AI Blade Fuge

Reef Octopus Classic 110EXT recirculating skimmer (intentionally undersized because of the filter roller and refugium)


Pumps/Flow

Return pump: Dual EcoTech M2 pumps, one S2 going straight to the tank, and an M2 going through the UV and a small manifold. One of the M2 pumps will flow through UV and on to the display, the other will flow through a manifold and then to the display.

Powerheads: Ecotech MP40mQD x2


Lighting

2x AI Prime 16 HD

2x AI Blade Grow 48"

Controller

Neptune A3 Apex
- FMM
- MXM
- EB832 x2
- LLS15 for the sump

Topoff/Dosing

Neptune ATK Gravity-fed from the fresh water in the mixing station (RIP Jake )

Neptune DOS #1
- Dosing head 1: Kalkwasser (possibly adding an Avast Kalk Stirrer)
- Dosing head 2: TBD (phyto, All For Reef...)

Neptune DOS #2 for auto water changes

Temperature Control

BRS Titanium heaters x2

Inkbird Wifi thermostats x2

RODI/Mixing Station

Brute 44 gal trash cans x2 65 gallon water tanks

Vectra L2 (definitely didn’t need a pump this big!)

BRS 7-stage 150 gpd RODI system with auto flush, auto shutoff and booster pump

Misc

Avast Plank autofeeder

Amazon autofeeder

Ecotech battery backup x2

Aqua Ultraviolet 25 watt UV sterilizer


I'm going to be having a couple of engineer friends help me design and build a dope controller board and cabinet. One of them has a wood shop, the other has a 3d printer, and CNC router/laser cutter. All of those will come in REALLY handy!

Anyway, hopefully you all will enjoy the process along with me


CURRENT PROGRESS

12/12/23
RODI and tank plumbing complete (mostly… still waiting on a couple of parts for a manifold), same with aquascape. Controller board mostly complete (still needs a door, and I’m in the process of adding the equipment to it). Taking delivery of TBS live sand Dec 18!

Sick!!!

 

[dangles]

I hope all that food doesn't cause too much chaos with your parameters.

Woof

And that was AFTER a 20% wc!

I have since then increased my AWC to 3%/day (up from 1%/day) and added a bag of gfo.

 

[ralquist]

Woof

And that was AFTER a 20% wc!

I have since then increased my AWC to 3%/day (up from 1%/day) and added a bag of gfo.

So irritating when its something out of your control. Seems like your getting that beast back on track, could have been way worse! Luckily you've shown the self control of a saint not loading that with wall to wall coral yet! Sending positive vibes your way sir!

 

[dangles]

So irritating when its something out of your control. Seems like your getting that beast back on track, could have been way worse! Luckily you've shown the self control of a saint not loading that with wall to wall coral yet! Sending positive vibes your way sir!

A good lesson to learn now instead of later for sure!

Also… I just reserved 10 new fish at my LFS! That should help my low nitrate problem!

 

[michealprater]

Yeah WC is only way to fix that… ratio is all messed up! Good luck brother.

 

[Arkayology]

Woof

And that was AFTER a 20% wc!

I have since then increased my AWC to 3%/day (up from 1%/day) and added a bag of gfo.

Yikes! GL getting that under control.

 

[dangles]

If you've been following along, you'll have seen my nitrates have been low (too small of a bioload) and my phosphates as of the last few days have been.... high

Yesterday I added some Brightwell NeoNitro to boost the nitrates, and a small bag of GFO to reduce the phosphates. Today I retested and my nitrates are up to 6.8 (4.4 before the NeoNitro) and my phosphates are slowly going down - 0.28 today, down from 0.31. I added another 2 small baggies of GFO and another dose of the NeoNitro.

I'm tempted to break out my skimmer but I worry that would work against my efforts to raise the nitrates. Same with more water changes. So GFO it is! My continuous auto water changes are still at the boosted 3% daily until I get my phosphate under control. But MAN are those DOS pumps loud. Absurdly loud.

 

[tsharpe291]

those DOS pumps loud. Absurdly loud.

yea they are, luckily I have mine in the basement so I can't really hear them.

 

[michealprater]

Think they are loud? Obviously you haven’t heard a Kamoer X1

 

[dangles]

9 weeks

I got almost everyone switched over from the Kasa power strips to the EB832s. My controller board is nearly complete...

I also fired up the Avast Marine kalk stirrer. I started at 200 mL overnight (off during the day) to try to increase and balance out my pH. After the first night my alk only increased by 0.1 so I increased to 250 mL for the second night. So far so good!

My uglies are nearly gone. The brown ones anyway. I'm pretty convinced they were diatoms at this point. They lasted about a week. Here they are at their worse, and then today:

My seriatoporas are doing great. Wonderful polyp extension on all of them - even the tiny accidental frags!

My angry goni is slightly less angry. Probably due to all the fresh sea water lately?

My King Kong Bounce (ricordia yuma) is growing nicely. He's more than doubled in size since I got him:

Unfortunately my branching cyphastrea isn't perking up. At all. I moved him to a lower light and low flow area. We'll see if he recovers...

My other goni is looking the same as he always has. He's happy enough I guess

And last but not least, the baby urchin I found is likely a pincushion urchin according to TBS. They grow to a max of 8" so I will need to re-home him eventually

ps - I'm still unhappy with my photos, AND all the freaking particles floating around in the water column. I have no idea how other people with fleece rollers have better luck with them than I seem to be having. The ClariSea filter paper is supposed to be more tightly woven than the rest too so I have no idea what the issue is. More coral snow I guess...

 

[ralquist]

Looking great, so so so clean! I have the same style branching cyphastrea, they are very temperamental in my little experience. I've moved mine multiple times, once you find the sweet spot they seem to take off pretty quick! Noticed they seem very sensitive to alk changes, more so than other corals in my tank. That and high phosphates seem dull their color, my green/pink one turned almost all brown at one point, sure it happens to everything but I def notice those first. Can't wait to see this loaded up!! Have a great week!

 

[dangles]

Looking great, so so so clean! I have the same style branching cyphastrea, they are very temperamental in my little experience. I've moved mine multiple times, once you find the sweet spot they seem to take off pretty quick! Noticed they seem very sensitive to alk changes, more so than other corals in my tank. That and high phosphates seem dull their color, my green/pink one turned almost all brown at one point, sure it happens to everything but I def notice those first. Can't wait to see this loaded up!! Have a great week!

High phos.... couldn't be what it is for me... 0.22 as of yesterday lol

Better than the 0.31 after my auto feeder incident