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backdraft_reefer
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Merry Christmas to me! Picked this up at JoeKnowsReefs today! He has got some great looking scolys in and I could not pass one up. Definitely compliments my warpaint scoly.
180 Gallon Mixed Reef Living Room Build
- Large Build
- Thread starter backdraft_reefer
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backdraft_reefer
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Thank you! I will keep the updates coming
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backdraft_reefer
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Even with the crazy holiday schedules, I was still able to do a little work on the tank. In addition to the Scoly, I also added three new female Anthias. All are doing well and have fit in with the tank community with little issues.
I finally went Christmas shopping yesterday and ended picking up an Amazon Fire from Best Buy. It was easy to plug in, register, and open Fusion. I had to download an app that would over ride the settings to allow it to be always on. So far, I love the set up. I use the Apex display for sound alarms and in case I lose internet, while the Amazon display is great for quickly turning items on/off without having to grab my phone. I still want to add some quick action buttons that will link into the Apex though.
I finally went Christmas shopping yesterday and ended picking up an Amazon Fire from Best Buy. It was easy to plug in, register, and open Fusion. I had to download an app that would over ride the settings to allow it to be always on. So far, I love the set up. I use the Apex display for sound alarms and in case I lose internet, while the Amazon display is great for quickly turning items on/off without having to grab my phone. I still want to add some quick action buttons that will link into the Apex though.
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backdraft_reefer
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Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Got some great present under the tree, including gift certificates to my LFS. Used them to get some more fish for the 180. I got 3 barred torpedo dartfish. Love these guys! Very active and stay together. So far, they get along with all the other fish in the tank. Also thinking about going to get the last 2 left. Let me know if any of you have any history or suggestions.
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backdraft_reefer
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Quick update this morning. Everything is going well with the tank! Starting to see some good growth and coloration from some of my acro frags. Also moved a few more corals around to help find the sweet spots in the tank for them. My only issue right now is my large purple acro colony from my old tank is still STN. I do not want to move it due to its size and everything else is settling in nicely. I think my last option is to take it out and frag it like crazy. I’m hoping that I can restart it from there.
Additionally, I added some sticker that I have been saving for a while to my control board. Got to show love for the companies and places that inspired me to create my reef!
Additionally, I added some sticker that I have been saving for a while to my control board. Got to show love for the companies and places that inspired me to create my reef!
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backdraft_reefer
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Did some work on my saltwater mixing station yesterday. I’ve had the entire station set up for about 3 years now and love it. I have it set up in my laundry room with my RODI unit. I have a power strip set up with pumps for both containers as well as a heater and circulation pump set up in the saltwater mixing barrel. I have two 50’ long hoses that I run through my house when I do a water change or topping of my ATOs. For maintenance, I wash Out my saltwater barrel about every 6-8 months. However, yesterday I decided to finally get around to cleaning up some of the wire and RO tubing. Here are the before and after pics!
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backdraft_reefer
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Big update!
Sorry for the two week pause, once again got caught up in work and personal commitments. I did manage to get some work done on the tank though. Short story, there is some bad and some good that has happened.
First is the bad:
I finally found what has been killing one of my big acro colonies. I believe it is AEFW. I found what looks like a bunch of eggs on the bottom of my big purple acro. I took out the entire colony, but it was too late. I fragged and dipped it, but by the time I had started to help it, the majority was already dead.
A few days after, I was adding some extra MP10’s to the backwall of the tank when I bumped one of my drain line. I’m assuming the bulkhead was already a little lose from me working and setting up the tank after I initially installed them, because water began running down the outside of the pipe and spilling all behind my tank. I freaked out for a few minutes and completely cut power to everything until I did a damage assessment. Luckily, all the water was contained to the back pad and I was able to soak it up with a towel. All in all, it was less than half a gallon of water. I am very glad that I thought ahead of time and placed an outdoor receptacle cover over the outlet behind the tank. Without the cover, water would have definitely gotten into the outlet and I would have had a major problem! The water proof gym mats I placed under the tank also worked well in containing the water and not allowing it to seep into my wood floor.
Like I said, bad stuff first. Now for the good stuff!
I added and changed up some of the pumps in the tank and in the sump. I finally added the two MP10’s that use to be on the side of the SR-80 to the back glass of the 180 next to the exterior overflow. adding these was part of my original plan for extra flow in the tank. While not making a huge difference now, I believe they will definitely help add some extra randomness with the MP40’s and it will show down the road. I also changed up the circulation pump in my refugium and added a pump into the skimmer chamber next to the dosing lines. I got the idea after watching Marc Levenson on Melevs Reef and how he aimed a small pump to help dissolve the dosing additives into the water. It was amazing to see the how well this helped the tank! Immediately my PH levels rose and the precipitation around my heaters stopped. I used the small Aqueon pump that was originally in the fuge to do this. In its place in the fuge, however, I placed a small Tunze pump that was smaller, yet more powerful. I think the extra water move to has help oxygenate the Marine Pure balls in there and also release some excess CO2. Here are some pics! Please excuse the cords, still placing them in the cord holders.
Lastly, I want to share my amazing experience with Unique Corals. After working on the tank the past few weeks, I though it would be nice getting some fresh corals to replace the ones I had lost due to the AEFW. I decided to order a orange hammer coral from UC and got it delivered last Saturday. The coral came in well packaged and taken care of. What surprised me was the extra purple gonipora that they put in the order for free! Both of these corals are doing great and I can’t thank UC enough for the surprise coral. They are definitely a great company and I will be ordering from them again for sure!
If you have read all of that, I really appreciate your patience and hope you enjoyed seeing all the ups and downs the past few weeks with the tank. I think I will post about my frag tank in the next few days and my plans for it this coming year. Let me know if you guys have any questions or if there is anything specific on the tank you would like me to talk about.
Sorry for the two week pause, once again got caught up in work and personal commitments. I did manage to get some work done on the tank though. Short story, there is some bad and some good that has happened.
First is the bad:
I finally found what has been killing one of my big acro colonies. I believe it is AEFW. I found what looks like a bunch of eggs on the bottom of my big purple acro. I took out the entire colony, but it was too late. I fragged and dipped it, but by the time I had started to help it, the majority was already dead.
A few days after, I was adding some extra MP10’s to the backwall of the tank when I bumped one of my drain line. I’m assuming the bulkhead was already a little lose from me working and setting up the tank after I initially installed them, because water began running down the outside of the pipe and spilling all behind my tank. I freaked out for a few minutes and completely cut power to everything until I did a damage assessment. Luckily, all the water was contained to the back pad and I was able to soak it up with a towel. All in all, it was less than half a gallon of water. I am very glad that I thought ahead of time and placed an outdoor receptacle cover over the outlet behind the tank. Without the cover, water would have definitely gotten into the outlet and I would have had a major problem! The water proof gym mats I placed under the tank also worked well in containing the water and not allowing it to seep into my wood floor.
Like I said, bad stuff first. Now for the good stuff!
I added and changed up some of the pumps in the tank and in the sump. I finally added the two MP10’s that use to be on the side of the SR-80 to the back glass of the 180 next to the exterior overflow. adding these was part of my original plan for extra flow in the tank. While not making a huge difference now, I believe they will definitely help add some extra randomness with the MP40’s and it will show down the road. I also changed up the circulation pump in my refugium and added a pump into the skimmer chamber next to the dosing lines. I got the idea after watching Marc Levenson on Melevs Reef and how he aimed a small pump to help dissolve the dosing additives into the water. It was amazing to see the how well this helped the tank! Immediately my PH levels rose and the precipitation around my heaters stopped. I used the small Aqueon pump that was originally in the fuge to do this. In its place in the fuge, however, I placed a small Tunze pump that was smaller, yet more powerful. I think the extra water move to has help oxygenate the Marine Pure balls in there and also release some excess CO2. Here are some pics! Please excuse the cords, still placing them in the cord holders.
Lastly, I want to share my amazing experience with Unique Corals. After working on the tank the past few weeks, I though it would be nice getting some fresh corals to replace the ones I had lost due to the AEFW. I decided to order a orange hammer coral from UC and got it delivered last Saturday. The coral came in well packaged and taken care of. What surprised me was the extra purple gonipora that they put in the order for free! Both of these corals are doing great and I can’t thank UC enough for the surprise coral. They are definitely a great company and I will be ordering from them again for sure!
If you have read all of that, I really appreciate your patience and hope you enjoyed seeing all the ups and downs the past few weeks with the tank. I think I will post about my frag tank in the next few days and my plans for it this coming year. Let me know if you guys have any questions or if there is anything specific on the tank you would like me to talk about.
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backdraft_reefer
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Thanks! I’ll keep them coming!
Love this thread. Planning something similar myself. How do you like the metal stand? I planned on building a wood stand myself. However now you have me thinking metal might be the way to go with the ability to easily change the look later on.
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backdraft_reefer
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So far I really love the metal stand. The fact that I can keep the stand and tank and completely change the exterior panels later on is nice. I also like that it was built for the tank itself, so I know for certain the dimensions are correct. Lastly, the stand is solid and came powder coated to protect against any salt water. I feel like the stand was over built, but at the same time it gives me piece of mind.
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Came home early enough to get some good pics with clean glass. The new corals from UC are doing great. Still figuring out the best placement for the purple Goni, but the orange hammer seems to like it’s placement for sure!
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Hey there! Sorry for the late reply!
I used pre-painted composite wood panels from a big box home improvement store that are 1/4” thick. They are white on one side and black on the other. I just used some strip magnet tape on the top third of the panel to attach it to the stand. I had to cut each one to size. I did the magnets to make them easier to remove or manipulate while plumbing and running the wires to the equipment. I’ll take some close up pictures when I get home tomorrow.
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So far, I have only lost the few acro frags and colonies. I haven’t seen any, but I have also started battling a Dino outbreak. I am writing a long update which I’ll post in the next few days detailing everything that and down the past 3 weeks. I did dip all my other acro frags, scrubbed their bottom plus and put super glue on top of any white spots that I have seen. In terms of AEFW, the tank is doing well (fingers crossed), however I am still hesitating to say I won the battle just yet.
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Thank you!!
Definitely glad I decided to do it. The past few years with hurricanes have reeked havoc on my tank. I think for peace of mind and comfort knowing I am one of the few that cannot evacuate, it is a great investment.
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