Albertan's 180 Gallon Reef Build
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Albertan22
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Thanks, will do!
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Albertan22
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Well it's been awhile since my last update. I've been sick and in self isolation waiting for a COVID19 test. Today I'm feeling much better though so I worked on the tank a bit and tidied up the cables and set up my dosing pump. Right now it's only running alkalinity as the only thing I really have in the house is baking soda. I moved the corals I chose to keep from my old tank into the 180g a couple of weeks ago and the tank is surprisingly consuming alkalinity already. I did a water change a week ago to bump the parameters up but it wasn't enough.
Anyway, onto the pics!
There isn't much on the left side of the tank, just a couple of green acro frags along the top that I broke off of a colony when I tore apart the last tank. The green stuff encrusted on the left is the base of what was that colony. There is also some kind of brain coral on the sandbed, a blue acan, and a few zoas.
The right side of the tank is where I'm building my euphullia garden. I put my duncan over there as well as a chalice that never did well in the old tank. It seems to be taking off under these new lights though and looks better than it ever has. Surprisingly my RBTA has also survived and is looking healthy again too. It wouldn't let go of the rock so went straight into the tank and suffered through a week of me not being able to keep the temp stable due to not enough heaters, and also no lights! It has bounced back and is looking like it is recovering nicely.
Here's the little Kamoer F4 dosing pump I setup, I love how small it is for a 4 head dosing pump!
I also found a good solution for my ATO reservoir. I was using 5 gallon blue camping jugs but was finding they only lasted about 2.5 days. I took a trip to Big Als before I got sick and found a very odd dimension 20 gallon aquarium. They call it a 20 gallon extra high and they even sold lids for them. It fits in the space perfectly and lasts more than a week.
To make it work I had to build a siphon break for my Tunze ATO. I didn't find much online but the one source I did manage to locate suggested creating an air gap that was above the highest elevation of the ATO. I had some 1/2 inch tubing laying around so I cut that and zip tied it to my return pipe, then ran the Tunze line into that. It works perfectly.
The first fish will be coming out of quarantine in a little over 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to getting them in there. I'm getting a little worried that even feeding the tank daily I can't register any nitrate or phosphate. The tank is cycled, I think the coraline algae and corals are just up-taking it all. I'm a little scared of a dino outbreak and I'll feel a lot better once there are some fish in there to pollute the water a bit. In the meantime, I've been having to scrape this brown hair algae off the glass every 3 days or so, so at least that's something. No signs of cyano or diatoms yet. Maybe I'll get away without that since I transferred so much rock over? I kind of doubt it, I'm sure it's coming.
Anyway, onto the pics!
There isn't much on the left side of the tank, just a couple of green acro frags along the top that I broke off of a colony when I tore apart the last tank. The green stuff encrusted on the left is the base of what was that colony. There is also some kind of brain coral on the sandbed, a blue acan, and a few zoas.
The right side of the tank is where I'm building my euphullia garden. I put my duncan over there as well as a chalice that never did well in the old tank. It seems to be taking off under these new lights though and looks better than it ever has. Surprisingly my RBTA has also survived and is looking healthy again too. It wouldn't let go of the rock so went straight into the tank and suffered through a week of me not being able to keep the temp stable due to not enough heaters, and also no lights! It has bounced back and is looking like it is recovering nicely.
Here's the little Kamoer F4 dosing pump I setup, I love how small it is for a 4 head dosing pump!
I also found a good solution for my ATO reservoir. I was using 5 gallon blue camping jugs but was finding they only lasted about 2.5 days. I took a trip to Big Als before I got sick and found a very odd dimension 20 gallon aquarium. They call it a 20 gallon extra high and they even sold lids for them. It fits in the space perfectly and lasts more than a week.
To make it work I had to build a siphon break for my Tunze ATO. I didn't find much online but the one source I did manage to locate suggested creating an air gap that was above the highest elevation of the ATO. I had some 1/2 inch tubing laying around so I cut that and zip tied it to my return pipe, then ran the Tunze line into that. It works perfectly.
The first fish will be coming out of quarantine in a little over 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to getting them in there. I'm getting a little worried that even feeding the tank daily I can't register any nitrate or phosphate. The tank is cycled, I think the coraline algae and corals are just up-taking it all. I'm a little scared of a dino outbreak and I'll feel a lot better once there are some fish in there to pollute the water a bit. In the meantime, I've been having to scrape this brown hair algae off the glass every 3 days or so, so at least that's something. No signs of cyano or diatoms yet. Maybe I'll get away without that since I transferred so much rock over? I kind of doubt it, I'm sure it's coming.
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Albertan22
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Thanks! I am feeling much better. The test came back COVID19 negative so I didn’t have the plague, just a bad flu. I still haven’t ventured out much as my workplace closed the office and sent everyone to work from home.
Sometime soon I’m going to be ready for new livestock as I just moved everything from my coral qt into the DT and my fish will be ready to come out of their qt in about a week. Most of the LFS around here are running pretty lean on livestock right now but keeping up with their dry goods supplies.
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Albertan22
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With the first fist set to enter the DT later this week, I set to building the mesh top today. It is a DD Jumpguard Pro top. It went together pretty easily and took less than an hour to build. Just cut the pieces to length and install the screen.
It sits nice and flush within the eurobracing and you can hardly see it. And yes, the OCD among us may notice that the center brace isn't centered. While building the lid I experimented and laid the brace across the center of the tank which put it directly under one of my Kessils and it cast a very sharp and nasty shadow into the center of the DT. Offsetting it just a couple of inches made the shadow disappear. I decided that more people would notice the shadow than the off center brace so built it that way.
I have also been at work mounting the various frags in the tank. My coral QT is now empty and I am not really sure what to do about that. Most LFS are really low on livestock and frags. With COVID out there I'm a little hesitant to be participating in the local frag scene and going into other hobbyists houses. My son is an asthmatic so we're being extra careful. I've been considering ordering some stuff online, but I'm still worried that I may get some kind of algae bloom or something when the fish get in there since I haven't seen anything at all yet despite the tank being lit for 5 weeks.
Anyway, for those of you who have read this far, thanks for following! Your reward is some gratuitous tank shots. Sorry everything is a bit blue. One of these days I'll get the DSLR fired up and work with proper white balance, or maybe buy a filter for my phone.
The euphyllia garden is coming together.
The duncan and the red chalice are really loving the new lighting and taking off.
That little SPS frag in the top right seems to be doing really well. Maybe using rock from the other tank and cycling the rest for 4 months in a barrel has jumped me ahead in maturity? Still leery to try any higher end SPS yet but I might start a monti cap or digitata sometime soon.
It sits nice and flush within the eurobracing and you can hardly see it. And yes, the OCD among us may notice that the center brace isn't centered. While building the lid I experimented and laid the brace across the center of the tank which put it directly under one of my Kessils and it cast a very sharp and nasty shadow into the center of the DT. Offsetting it just a couple of inches made the shadow disappear. I decided that more people would notice the shadow than the off center brace so built it that way.
I have also been at work mounting the various frags in the tank. My coral QT is now empty and I am not really sure what to do about that. Most LFS are really low on livestock and frags. With COVID out there I'm a little hesitant to be participating in the local frag scene and going into other hobbyists houses. My son is an asthmatic so we're being extra careful. I've been considering ordering some stuff online, but I'm still worried that I may get some kind of algae bloom or something when the fish get in there since I haven't seen anything at all yet despite the tank being lit for 5 weeks.
Anyway, for those of you who have read this far, thanks for following! Your reward is some gratuitous tank shots. Sorry everything is a bit blue. One of these days I'll get the DSLR fired up and work with proper white balance, or maybe buy a filter for my phone.
The euphyllia garden is coming together.
The duncan and the red chalice are really loving the new lighting and taking off.
That little SPS frag in the top right seems to be doing really well. Maybe using rock from the other tank and cycling the rest for 4 months in a barrel has jumped me ahead in maturity? Still leery to try any higher end SPS yet but I might start a monti cap or digitata sometime soon.
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Albertan22
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Time for an update, more for my own records than anything. Pic quality isn’t the best, the lights are on aclimate mode.
I really need to break out the dslr and set a custom white balance or get a filter for my phone!
I added in a couple of ochre stripped cardinals which were about the only non clown fish I’ve been able to find during covid quarantine. I have a lot of sticks on the way in the next few days that will be going into qt.
I really need to break out the dslr and set a custom white balance or get a filter for my phone!
I added in a couple of ochre stripped cardinals which were about the only non clown fish I’ve been able to find during covid quarantine. I have a lot of sticks on the way in the next few days that will be going into qt.
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Albertan22
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Yes, that acro frag started out as a little forked twig. I can’t believe the growth over the last 6 weeks. It’s given time the confidence to order some more acros that should come in on Monday. Hopefully I’m not jumping the gun. The only issue I’ve run into is a diatom bloom, which was to be expected. It’s only on the new rock that didn’t come from my old tank, and the sand. I may need to start dosing nitrates since I can’t seem to find fish right now.
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Albertan22
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Well we're due for an update. Over the last month I've put a lot of coral in the tank, mostly acros but a couple other things too. I think I've filled out the top of the tank, but I have saved a couple prime spots for some expensive acros once I'm positive that I can keep everything alive. I have a few acans and zoas in the qt, and will be looking for more zoas to round out a couple zoa rocks i'm creating in the sand. I have some lyretail anthias in quarantine along with an orchid dotyback, and a neon goby. I've lost 2 of the 6 anthias so far, one to uronema, and the other one I don't know what got it. Hopefully the rest make it.
Before we get to the tank pics, I also picked up a Seneye and mapped the Par in the tank. I was pretty worried that it would be lower since I only went with 3 Kessil A360X's instead of 4 to go with my Aquatic Life Hybrid. I was wrong, the Par levels are a lot higher than I thought they would be and I'm only running the Kessils at 70% during the peak period. Here is the map I produced (old photo):
The T5s pack more punch than I expected, that 497 at the peak of the structure only drops to 275 when I turn out all the LEDs.
Here are a couple tank picks:
The next big project is to set up the auto water change. The mixing station has been in place since the start, the hurdle I've been facing is that I haven't been successful in fishing RO tubing through the ceiling to get from the mixing station to the tank on the other side of the finished basement. The new plan is to use cord management ducts and just attach them to the inside of the roof. This isn't ideal, but there's too many wires and ducts in the roof space to get a fish line through between the trusses. I have a Neptune DOS pump in it's box and ready to go when I get the tubing run. I'm hoping to get this online sometime in the next two weeks.
Before we get to the tank pics, I also picked up a Seneye and mapped the Par in the tank. I was pretty worried that it would be lower since I only went with 3 Kessil A360X's instead of 4 to go with my Aquatic Life Hybrid. I was wrong, the Par levels are a lot higher than I thought they would be and I'm only running the Kessils at 70% during the peak period. Here is the map I produced (old photo):
The T5s pack more punch than I expected, that 497 at the peak of the structure only drops to 275 when I turn out all the LEDs.
Here are a couple tank picks:
The next big project is to set up the auto water change. The mixing station has been in place since the start, the hurdle I've been facing is that I haven't been successful in fishing RO tubing through the ceiling to get from the mixing station to the tank on the other side of the finished basement. The new plan is to use cord management ducts and just attach them to the inside of the roof. This isn't ideal, but there's too many wires and ducts in the roof space to get a fish line through between the trusses. I have a Neptune DOS pump in it's box and ready to go when I get the tubing run. I'm hoping to get this online sometime in the next two weeks.
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Albertan22
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Thanks! The dimensions are 72” x 24” x 24”.
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Albertan22
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Auto water change system is up and running! It was about a 6 hour project. I managed to fish RO tubing through the ceiling and over to my mixing station, the rest was securing everything and making it look presentable. I used a DOS pump to run the AWC. It took forever to prime the tubes across that distance (approximately 22m or 72 feet) but it is working fine. It’s a bit noisy so I think I will set it to run at night when everyone is sleeping since the tank is in the basement and the bedrooms are upstairs. I'm going to set it to change 3.7 gallons per day, which equates to about a 13% water change per week.
The DOS running the AWC system.
Some cable covers I picked up to hide the RO tubes.
This shot is behind a beam that is right above my tank, you can't see the exposed black RO tubes unless you lean over the tank and look up.
RO tubing to the mixing station. I didn't take a picture of the drain line but it goes directly into a floor drain near the mixing station.
For those of you who have set up an AWC, I'm curious as to what effect it had on your dosing. I've moved back to only testing once per week as I had my dosing pump zeroed in and my alk has been dead steady for weeks. I assume I will need to get back to daily testing and perhaps reduce my dosing now that I've got fresh saltwater coming in every day.
The DOS running the AWC system.
Some cable covers I picked up to hide the RO tubes.
This shot is behind a beam that is right above my tank, you can't see the exposed black RO tubes unless you lean over the tank and look up.
RO tubing to the mixing station. I didn't take a picture of the drain line but it goes directly into a floor drain near the mixing station.
For those of you who have set up an AWC, I'm curious as to what effect it had on your dosing. I've moved back to only testing once per week as I had my dosing pump zeroed in and my alk has been dead steady for weeks. I assume I will need to get back to daily testing and perhaps reduce my dosing now that I've got fresh saltwater coming in every day.
Nice progress!
Love the mixing station. I am considering something similar but with only 1 very large container for either continously changing water or periodic water changes. Not sure which one I want to do yet.
I have a 1000L (app 275gal) container that is sitting outside my house. I'm filling it with RO/DI as I type this. I have no idea how I'm going to plumb it yet.
I was not getting updated on your thread so I'm happy you visited mine.
Love the mixing station. I am considering something similar but with only 1 very large container for either continously changing water or periodic water changes. Not sure which one I want to do yet.
I have a 1000L (app 275gal) container that is sitting outside my house. I'm filling it with RO/DI as I type this. I have no idea how I'm going to plumb it yet.
I was not getting updated on your thread so I'm happy you visited mine.
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Albertan22
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Thanks! I will say that it is very nice to have saltwater on hand at all times. It makes running things like QT tanks a lot easier as there is always saltwater available to do water changes, increase salinity if doing hypo, etc. Having RO on hand has also been handy for rinsing things and of course topping up the ATO.
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Albertan22
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Thanks! I’m really happy with the setup so far. I currently have a scopas tang that was a transfer from my 120g that I upgraded from. I’m hoping to add a blue hippo tang, tomini tang, powder brown tang, and a purple tang. That may be too much tang for this tank though. My LFS has all but the purple in stock right now so I may pull the trigger this weekend on that group without the purple and see how everyone does. Though I was hoping to add some anthias and a couple wrasses first. With the covid fish shortages I haven’t been able to stock as quickly as I would like, or in the order I’d like.
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Albertan22
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Thanks for checking in! Health is good and things are alright in general. I’m fighting a bit on an algae bloom in the tank right now. I added a couple anthias two weeks ago and the increased feeding has bumped my nitrate from where it was stabilized at 5 to about 10 (phosphate is sitting steady around 0.09). I’ve notice a pretty rapid growth of algae on my sand bed an increase in the brown algae on my back glass, and a need to clean my glass more frequently. There has been a bit of algae on the back glass for months but it was gradually subsiding and never getting worse, in the last few days it has taken off and grown back in again.
I’m thinking of starting up my refugium to address the algae issue and see if I can get my nitrate back down to around 2-5 where the algae wasn’t a problem. It’s funny because I struggled so long trying to get any readable nutrients in the tank at all. I have been keeping some chaeto alive in a bucket from my old tank and have a light so may set this up tonight. The trick will be not to strip too much out. I’ll probably start with a pretty short light cycle, maybe only 3 or 4 hours. The alternative would be to bump up the volume of my AWC which is doing 2 gallons per day (approx 1% system volume). That would have me making saltwater more frequently though so I’m not that excited about that.
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