Aggressive fake Reef 120 gallon

[JasonK84]

Got the new lights hooked up Monday with the plug extension and trying to figure out how to set them to turn on and off automatically. Have just tried figuring out on my own (with no luck) but haven't pulled the instructions out yet. Probably going to splurge for the Bluetooth controller upgrade in the next couple weeks.

Also, just a few minutes ago I ordered my Australian Harlequin Tusk from LA!! I ordered a large (5"to 6") and got 20% off my order for today's promo code.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Can’t wait to see the tusk in the tank!

I’m not normally a instruction reader but I needed it for the current marine lights. All is working after reading it.

 

[JasonK84]

Can’t wait to see the tusk in the tank!

I’m not normally a instruction reader but I needed it for the current marine lights. All is working after reading it.

Do you have the Bluetooth controller or the controller that is shipped with the light.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I have the standard controller and remote.

 

[JasonK84]

Harlequin Tusk was acclimated yesterday evening and still with us this morning. Once he starts eating good I'll ramp up copper power.

 

[JasonK84]

Water mixing station almost complete! The other day I got the bottom section all cut and glued up leaving the out side of the pump to finish later.
Got out to the garage this evening and got the top end all cut and in place but it still needs cemented. That'll be a quick task after work tomorrow.

Here is how it's looking:

After getting the rest of it glued in place I'll leave it a day or two before testing. Here's to hoping nothing is going to leak!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Looking good!!!

 

[JasonK84]

All done and filling up! All I need/want to do now is organize the control box for the pump and mount it up on the wall. Uniseals are awesome!
I'm thinking of drilling a hole in the lid for the saltwater and putting in a uniseal. Then make a plug out of a smaller diameter piece of PVC then a reducer fitting so it can sit on top of the lid. This will allow the heater wires to go thru the lid and also have a hole that the salt can be funneled into. Wouldn't be a must but I've got the extra uniseals. It would also allow a powerhead to be placed in there so I can save wear and tear on the pump only using it to transfer water.

 

[JasonK84]

Got my BRS reactor and MJ1200 pump set! Got it hooked up a few minutes ago and am running ROX 0.8 carbon.

I’ve always just run carbon passively in past tanks so it’ll be cool to see how well active carbon filtration works in comparison.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I have a reactor for carbon as well but haven’t installed it. Let us know what benefits you see from it!

 

[JasonK84]

I have a reactor for carbon as well but haven’t installed it. Let us know what benefits you see from it!

Holy Moly!! Got home from work today and my water is as clear as the day I filled the tank! I filled this tank on October 5th and 6th and the only water change I’ve done was an 8 gallon change last weekend! Since the completion of my cycle I’ve never had any measurable nitrate and I feed 4 to 5 cubes every day! Half in the am and half in the pm. When I pulled the 8 gallons out last week into a white bucket I realized how yellow the water actually was even though it looked pretty clear and it confirmed that ordering the reactor was a good call.

No more passive carbon filtration for me!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Now that is a fast strong benefit!

 

[JasonK84]

A couple side tank shots showing how clear the water is after the carbon has run for a couple days.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Your tank is looking great! Seems like you never got the new uglies.

 

[JasonK84]

Your tank is looking great! Seems like you never got the new uglies.

I had some pretty good GHA growing on most of the high level coral pieces. The large orange monti was covered in green this morning but it had been getting worse very slowly. This morning I pulled about 7 coral pieces off the insert and scrubbed then bleached for a couple hours. Rinsed them very well and soaked in Seachem Safe for another hour before reinserting. I never had any diatom or bacterial blooms but I attribute that to my UV sterilizer. There was also a very small patch of red cyano on the top yellow “sps” coral that got removed today along with the GHA. Very minimal uglies but since there are no corals, anemones, or even live rock I am only running enough light for my viewing pleasure and no more. The lights only run in the evenings when we are all home so I’m not growing algae all day. I am thinking about adding GFO to my reactor to completely strip the phosphate from the system and slow the GHA even more.

 

[JasonK84]

Build progression video. It’s a span from August 2018 to today.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Awesome!
I esptlike the trigger and puffer!

 

[JasonK84]

Copper treatment complete! On Friday morning I did an 80% water change and Friday evening dosed first round of Prazi pro.

 

[JasonK84]

So, I’ve had a pretty easy go of things since start up. With only running lights at very low levels for just a few hours a day (5.5 hours) I’ve kept algae growth to a very minimum. My PBT, Koran angel, and blue spot puffer take care of the rest. 2 days ago I came home and noticed the slightest ting of pink color on a couple spots of the sandbed. I look close and, oh crud, I’ve got the beginnings of a cyano outbreak! Not really surprised. I’ve only changed out 8 gallons of water since the initial fill since my nitrates have shown 0 from the start. So when I noticed this starting on my sandbed I’m thinking it’s got to be elevated phosphate! I don’t have a test for that! Jump on eBay and order from Saltwaterfish.com. I ordered the new Hanna ULR phosphate checker, biomaxx GFO, and 25 reagents for the checker. Now I am just waiting for that to come in so I can test and verify that this is my issue. I come home each day and stir the sand in the spots where the pink started showing just so it can’t grab and take a strong hold. I also turned my powerheads up to 80% from 50% for added flow to help also.

For the past month my skimmer was acting up. It would run “pretty good” for several days then all of a sudden it would overflow. Last week I pulled the skimmer out and pulled the pump and Venturi off for cleaning. The Venturi was almost completely clogged with salt buildup and this is what was causing the overflow. Got that completely cleaned and now my skimmer is back to pulling major skimmate! I know this is the reason for the added nutrients causing the cyano (if the phosphate levels show high). If the results come back low then I’ll have a whole different battle on my hands! I plan on running a mix of carbon and GFO in the single reactor unless my phosphate test proves to be low.

Wish me luck!!

A current pic. Not sure if it’ll show the pink spot but I’ll try.

Side tank shot (cyano about midway). It’s not bad at all I just don’t want it to be. Can’t even see it in the side tank shot.

 

[JasonK84]

Just survived a 6.5 hour power outage! Was at work at 10:18 when my wife let me know that the power company alerted her to the outage (she was also at work). I knew I had about 2.5 hours on the UPS and a little after 12 got with my boss and he let me go home to get the generator going. When I got home the DT was down as the UPS had run out of juice.

I was real concerned for my Harlequin Tusk because he is in QT (irony is today was moving day to the DT) and doesn’t have any battery backup. I’m thinking I’ll wait until this weekend to move him so he can relax a few more days.

So I got home and the first course of action was run my extension cord from my truck’s 110v plug to the air pump on the QT. Then went to unbox and prep the generator for duty. Got it going and got both the DT and QT vitals running on generator power and shut the truck off.