5ft of questionable decisions....

[tripdad]

Sorry for your losses and troubles. Hang in there and things will improve. Are you going to go fallow for a bit to eliminate any chance of a disease? I know you have a lot of time and money and effort invested so far but patience can help solve a lot of problems. Beautiful build, well thought out and executed.

 

[Blutspitze]

Dang, that's awful to hear. So sorry about everything. Hope that the extra flow from the gyre will help a bit, at least.

 

[revhtree]

I am sorry to hear of your troubles. Keep plugging away as this is a very well done build so far!

 

[cmaxwell39]

Haven't been on much lately, but I am so sorry to hear about your recent fish losses as well as the major algae issues. Hang in there. It will get better. You have done a great job planning and building the system. Sometimes these things are not avoidable. As was mentioned above, give it some time before putting fish back in and take the time to get everything where you want it.

 

[Knology]

I decided to solve the flow issue and I picked up a Jebao SCP-150M Gyre. Right now I have the lights off and this thing cranked to 100% to kind of "scrub" the surface areas of the tank. Man can that thing move some water. Really really quiet too.

The surface areas of the tank are doing much better. Of course having the lights off help. I did see a bunch of big copepods roaming around this morning.

So, here is the skinny. I need to get fish back into this tank so my beneficial bacteria doesn't stall as there is a downward swing in food, poo, nitrates etc.

What is a good few fish I could get back in the tank that could help move this thing forward while being hardy?

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I decided to solve the flow issue and I picked up a Jebao SCP-150M Gyre. Right now I have the lights off and this thing cranked to 100% to kind of "scrub" the surface areas of the tank. Man can that thing move some water. Really really quiet too.

The surface areas of the tank are doing much better. Of course having the lights off help. I did see a bunch of big copepods roaming around this morning.

So, here is the skinny. I need to get fish back into this tank so my beneficial bacteria doesn't stall as there is a downward swing in food, poo, nitrates etc.

What is a good few fish I could get back in the tank that could help move this thing forward while being hardy?

Glad things are back on track! This is a really great build so far and it’s interesting watching the ups and downs of others tanks.
as for the fish question, I always recommend springeri damselfish as a good Hardy fish (never seen one sick and I work at an lfs) that you won’t wanna get out later. They also have the great benefit of eating flatworms!
continue doing good with the build! Cant wait to see what happens now things are getting better.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Glad things seem to be improving. I would caution against putting fish back in the tank yet. A fallow (running the tank with no fish) period is always a good idea after you lose fish for unknown reasons.

If you are going to add anything back in now, make sure that they are hardy fish. Also resist the urge to purchase something that doesn't fit with the long term stocking plans for the tank.

If you want to keep the beneficial bacteria going, but decide to wait on putting fish back in you could always ghost feed the tank. This is putting fish food in as if you were feeding a few small fish. As the food breaks down it will feed the bacteria for you.

Good luck and I really hope things keep improving for you.

 

[Knology]

Thank you.

Tank is looking a lot better with the lights off for a few days. I'm going to do one last brush down tomorrow and remove one of the large rocks in the back I notice isn't helping flow.

New heater arrives tomorrow so I can get the saltwater mixing station up and a water change started in a few days.

Good call on the ghost feeding. I don't want to lose any beneficial bacteria that I have built over the last 6 months.

 

[Knology]

Tank update.

Last week was the first time I had to change out the roller mat filter. How long is that?? A lot longer than expected! It went through the full cycle, 2 full tank scrub downs, 4 months of diatoms blooms. Impressed. AND...

Right now BRS has the Theiling roller mat on clearance for $150. Get it. Just do it.

My only gripe is theoretical. The mat it comes with is good and thick. The one BRS sells, and mostly everyone else, is super thin material. I have no idea how the thinner material will work over time. Plus....mat refills are not the easiest to come by in the states.

Tank is looking good. Very stable. Infestation level of amphipods. Everything is at 0 and Nitrate is around 5. I need to get more life into the tank so I am going to look at some starter softy corals this weekend and maybe some snails.

I have been thinking about the next best step and I decided to order an Apex today. Found a new one, open box, on eBay for $600 so I jumped on it. I need to start monitoring things and adding some automation. Clean up the power cords, get rid of manual timers, etc. I figure this is the best investment and a platform for all future upgrades.

First thing is first - Auto water changes. I did my first 30-35g water change by sucking chamber 1 dry in the sump. I wanted to find a way to do a water change, with the largest volume, while working just in the fish room. It was frustrating and a mistake or two landed me with a mess to clean up. I'm going to do some research on the DOS for auto changes and decide what I need to order. I think automating the water changes is going to solve 50% of my monthly work and a good deal of future messes. Next step it automate the topping off of the auto-top off.

 

[Zach B]

Wow, awesome build! Very inspiring for my upcoming fish room, same tank and same sump

 

[Knology]

Went ahead and ordered the DOS and some plumbing accessories. I'm going to T-fitting into the waste water line that goes from my RODI for the DOS waste. That line goes up to the ceiling and over to the sewage pipe.

The real question is how to install the lines into the SW mixing tank to pull water out from the bottom.

 

[cmaxwell39]

You could either drill a bulkhead into the side of the mixing container towards the bottom or you could drop a line down from the top and find a way to hold it on the bottom of the mixing container. If you are using RO tubing for your DOS that is doing the water changes you could use bulkheads like this. The downside would be the need to completely drain your mixing vessel to install it near the bottom.

If you wanted to drop in from the top, you could use a PVC fitting to hold the tubing to the bottom to the mixing vessel. Just a couple of thoughts for you.

 

[Knology]

Ok, a lot going in and going on now. I'm feeling pretty good getting back into pushing the tank forward.

I went to the local Reef Shac and grabbed a few additions to the tank.
- 4 very small hermits
- 3 conch snails. Good size. They will be good for moving around and stirring up the sand bed.
- 6 line. Putting him to work. Found a nice small one.
- Diamond watchman goby 0 he got to work immediately. Tank has been cloudy for 3 days as he is just doing what he does. Love it.

I also wanted to get some small frags to get the tank started off and see how they do. I picked up a little tuft of GSP and a zoa frag.

They are doing great after a few days. Light and flow seems to be great.

So, onwards to the other projects.

Tablet and mount to control the Apex system.

I love how this turned out. It has a great power cord built in to keep it charged and I ran it through the surround and over to power. All hidden. Painted the mount to match the other fix accessories.

This is next

 

[Knology]

Got the Apex mounted and up and running. I only have the heater running through it currently. Big BRS order comes in today with water lines, brackets, Apex DOS, and a few other things to get the Apex fully integrated.

 

[Knology]

Yes. I feel like this is a graduation to lvl 7. Auto water changes. This is going to really change the game moving forward.

I'm going to rework my RODI system this weekend. Drop the float valve on my ATO reservoir so it tops itself off. Move some things around.

 

[Knology]

Well we made a huge leap into automation this weekend. Outside of adding a Flood Guardian to my RODI mixing station, to top itself off once a week, I'm feeling we are almost set for all the goals I have at this point. I still need to get a stand for the skimmer before I drop it in, but I honestly don't really have any more equipment on my need list anymore.

So, what did we do?

- Auto water change system is in! Ran my first job last night. 1.5g p/day to start. Pulls at 9pm-12a and pull and pushes simultaneously so hopefully my ATO doesn't get involved. I'll program that off when I get it put on the Apex eventually.

- I was able to create a gravity fed auto-toppper offer for my ATO reservoir. Failsafe with a float valve. This will help me not forget to top this thing off as well as the need to refill anything manually with a hose. This was a huge point of failure in the make-a-mess department.

- I also added my dual return pumps to the Apex, configured the heater, and added the fuge light to programming.
- Cable managed.
- Moved the pump controllers to above the board for better access and to keep away from the sump.

- Finally, I got all the Apex probes setup and the monitoring screen upstairs all setup so I can keep an eye on things.

Next is to get into monitoring and alerting.

Well I got some parts coming in today to repair a float valve on my RODI. I need to start designing a skimmer stand for about 7", and maybe work on bringing up my salinity about 1 point. Other than that it is sit back and keep an eye on things so we can start to drop in more frags and coral.

Oh, last but not least. I have come to the conclusion that if you have a larger tank with a sand bed, a diamond watchman goby is a must. This guy has cleaned the surface area of my entire sand bed in a week. He works all day without complaint. If he keeps this up, I don't think I'll ever really need to get in there and clean the sand bed on my own. It looks fantastic now.

 

[Knology]

I dropped my new skimmer in last night on a 5" stand. Fired it up just for break in over the next week, set it to it's lowest setting, and look at what it pulled overnight.

Impressed.

I also did a Nitrate test last night, and logged it in the Apex which I had no idea it even had that feature, and I got barely detectible. Maybe a 0.5 - 1(Red Sea). I have been adding more food, have more life, and more poopers in my tank than ever, and the refugium is just eating it up like a champ!

 

[Knology]

Ph got a little high, as I can now actively monitor it, to 8.42. Slowly putting in some mixed vinegar to bring it down. Works like a charm.

Setup auto delivery every 3 months for Tropic Marin Pro salt from Petco. Keep things stocked now that we are doing auto water changes.

Tank is looking great. I swear the GSP is already spreading over the plug. I'm going to glue that down somewhere this weekend as well as pop off the Zoa piece and find a home for it.

 

[Blutspitze]

Wow! Love the updates. The screen for the Apex and everything especially is pretty awesome. Hope the water change system stays active and working well as you need it to be. Definitely a good thing to have.

 

[jimsflies]

Nice build and thread. Your thread popped up while I was looking for info relating to the Theiling compact rollermat. I didn't see the post where you added that, got any photos? Any updates on how it is working for you. What's the verdict on the replacement fleece compared to the original, assuming you went through the first roll by now?

I also saw you mention it a couple times, but didn't see what the fight with the HOA was about. It caught my attention as we were just looking at a house in a sub with HOA.