12 Foot - 450G Office Build

Albertan_Reef · Oct 12, 2018

LeonThePeon said:
So here we are... Cycled, kind of - nitrite went down to 0, I added ammonium chloride to get 2ppm and it's taken 3 days so far and not quite down to 0 nitrite again.

And came the thought of doing a partial water change once cycling is done. Then I came to realize that the way I had planned, though convenient, may not have been the most efficient.

Blue arrow shows the drain pipe (behind skimmer) that pours in water from my remote mixing station. Red arrow is the M1 that was set for drain and future accessories (you can see the T)

The idea was that I could pump water in and water out at the same flow rate - not disturbing the sump levels. No buckets/bins/siphons/mess - especially for the office.

Now I'm thinking that if I pump water in, would I just be pumping the fresh water back out? (Not ounce for ounce of course - but that'd make my planned 10% WC session for the tank become more like an effective WC for the sump instead).

Thoughts?

I guess I could alternate a little at a time (i.e. 10G in, turn off and let return pump flow for a minute or two, drain 10G, drain off, repeat)

Thinking out loud now... I wonder if EcoTech has something I could program to do that...

If that pump is only controlling the manifold, swap the 2 around. Put the new water into the return, then pump the old water out of the skimmer section. Therefor the new water goes to the display

LeonThePeon · Oct 12, 2018

Albertan_Reef said:
If that pump is only controlling the manifold, swap the 2 around. Put the new water into the return, then pump the old water out of the skimmer section. Therefor the new water goes to the display

Not a bad idea - but I’m pretty sure the pump won’t fit in the skimmer section. The skimmer is huge!

Though there is the thought of maybe putting a few elbows in and have the new water go straight into the return chamber - I just didn’t know if the water level would equalize fast enough because of the baffles (small section would overflow before it disperses into the other chambers?)

LeonThePeon · Oct 13, 2018

The first ones in their new home!! They're best of buds and they seem to follow anybody who walks next to the tank - and if they see you while they're at the opposite end - they both try to swim so fast to meet you it's hilarious (still takes them a good 3-5 seconds to travel the 12' length - against the flow I guess)

I sure hope the rest of the fishes - (5 yellow tangs, 3 purple tangs, 2 hippos) do the same thing - it'll be some calming for me!

mattgsa · Oct 16, 2018

Really nice

LeonThePeon · Oct 22, 2018

Feeling anxious.

Started NoPo-X last week Tuesday and the tank clouded up about two days later. From what I've read from Randy and others - it looks like it's a bacterial bloom that should go away on its own and is not harmful - only aesthetically displeasing.

Today:
Ammonia is 0.003ppm (Seneye)
Nitrite is 0.0 (Salifert)
Nitrates are still at 25ppm (Salifert) (Red Sea Pro kit was way off the charts).

I had gotten an acrylic trickle chamber that is suppose to replace the filter sock from RAP - CA. I bought two to replace both, but only one could fit

I threw two bags of Seachem Seagel figuring it couldn't hurt to try to keep sillicates (though using RODI water) and phosphates low (0.0 phosphate according to Red Sea Pro kit - will have to confirm with my Hanna ULR).

LeonThePeon · Oct 22, 2018

This is also making me anxious! All the tangs are done with TTM - One hippo tang didn't look 100% so I'm extending his stay.

I sure hope these guys can learn to be friends for 4 more weeks in observation QT - 5 Yellow Tangs, 3 purple tangs, 1 rusty angel (Rusty slips back and forth between the divider).

CoralWealth · Nov 6, 2018

wow. looks awesome so far! following along

dantimdad · Nov 6, 2018

Is it possible to have a crush on an aquarium?

;Playful

LeonThePeon · Nov 7, 2018

dantimdad said:
Is it possible to have a crush on an aquarium?

;Playful

I'm guilty of the same - it's what got me started on this project!

LeonThePeon · Nov 7, 2018

Updated - I've got just about all the equipment running except the chiller (not too worried about it at the moment - will finish that before Thanksgiving hopefully.

Completely cycled
Still trying to get to my goal of single digit nitrate - aiming for ULNS - currently around 10+PPM
Phosphate is 0.00 - need to get myself a ULR to see how 0 it really is.

Will probably cheat a little and get the gang into the DT 3 days shy of 40 days QT. Feel so bad they're cooped up in there. One YT didn't make it - wasn't eating, separated it out, but eventually died. Hippo is still being shy but eating well.

Got myself an Avast Marine automatic skimmer head wiper thing - Was going to put it on today, but probably won't have time to put it on and program Apex.

Running ozone - not sure if it's doing anything. ORP doesn't change much (and yes, I know it shouldn't be a gauge). But what I do know is that, although there's hardly anything crapping in the tank (two fishes in 400+ gallons of water) - I did a 40G water change (and used the water to soak a dead/dried coral I want to put in - and check for leaching phosphates) - and the water was crystal blue in a white bucket. As if it was freshly made. Gotta be worth something right?

Really liked how the 80/20 bars worked out for setting up the XR15s. Changed my mind at the last minute and opted for the 1/4 circle horizontal bar up front - instead of the square bar all around. It's also connected to three 90deg pivots so I can work in the tank and not have to hit the lights.

So far so good - Had a few leaks, but fixed them pretty quick. I must have been a handyman or plumber in a past life - haha!

LeonThePeon · Nov 7, 2018

BTW - I had one XR15 crap out on me after being on for 2 minutes tops - Customer Service at EcoTech is amazing!! On the phone with them for no more than 10 minutes and they got a replacement sent, I just had to send mine back within 30 days. Kudos and thanks to EcoTech!

LeonThePeon · Nov 7, 2018

Sneak peak. Some will say it's kind of sad to use dead coral - I'm hoping for a visual ode to hope of new life despite death in our oceans. I want to get it to Coraline up and I plan to grow new SPS all over it.

CoralWealth · Nov 7, 2018

looks really good!!

Any reason for the really tall rock pillars on both ends of the tanks?

Scrubber_steve · Nov 7, 2018

LeonThePeon said:
The overflows are going to go straight down into the sump and the return portion of the sump should be towards the middle of the tank and I can split it from there.

Speaking of overflows... John at Advanced Acrylics is getting ready to send my sump over!

Courtesy of John:

what type of material is that constructed from exactly?

LeonThePeon · Nov 7, 2018

codydemmel4 said:
looks really good!!

Any reason for the really tall rock pillars on both ends of the tanks?

I wanted to try to keep a minimalist look - but knew I needed some places with height so I could have placement options for corals. And opted for some symmetry too.