AlexGs Basement Plywood Build 2 displays one system.

[AlexG]

Checking on the tanks this morning before work and I found this. A hermit crab taking a ride on a sea cucumber. I wonder when the hermit crab realized this ride was going to where no hermit crab had gone before. Before I walked away the crab fell back to the sand and was on his way.

 

[AlexG]

Just a quick update today. I told my puffer not to play with the sea urchins but puffers will be puffers. Luckily the spine in the puffers mouth was dislodged during feeding time with ease. I also started raising some phyto plankton. Now I can dose a few liters a week if needed

 

[Muttley000]

That will teach him!

 

[AlexG]

This was not the plan for today. Bottom skimmer access door came off. Hopefully nothing was broken.

 

[Muttley000]

Ughhh, good luck!

 

[AlexG]

Well one of the nylon flange bolts holding the bottom door on failed and the water pressure caused the threaded access door to pop off its threads. No visible damage other than the nylon bolt. It was not easy getting the skimmer out on my own without removing the uv sterilizer. I replaced the bolt and put it all back together. So far so good. On the plus side my skimmer maintenance is completed. The diy needle wheels are still holding up good. The tanks just need some time to clear up.

 

[dragon99]

Nobody likes skimmer cleaning day.

 

[Muttley000]

Glad it came out OK for you!

 

[AlexG]

The amphipods are getting ready for their nightly party in the refugium tank. It's hard to believe just how many of them are on the front glass of this tank.

 

[AlexG]

In case you have not seen it yet I just wrote another article on bioluminescence in my aquarium which has been posted in the Reef2Reef articles section. One of the coolest aspects of my aquarium system has been the ability to see bioluminescent organisms thriving in my aquarium system. The article goes in depth into my observations and research and the video gives a better look what I seen when I am watching my aquarium at night.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/r...bioluminescence-observations-research.467493/

 

[AlexG]

Just a quick update. The tanks for the most part have been doing well. Not sure why but some of my montipora have been fading away and slowly stripping. Not sure on the cause. Nothing seems to be eating them and not all are effected. My potassium is a little low and I have a strontium test kit on the way. I am also due for some ro filter changes. The LPS and soft corals are doing good and some of the acros have been showing growth. The fish are doing great in the 720 gallon tank. My new angels have been in the tank 2 weeks now and have been eating well. The puffer decided that rock boring urchins taste good.

 

[JBKReef]

I've followed your build for about a year now, always great to see updates. I also saw you comment on another users Plywood Tank build I have a question for you regarding your system. What would you say are the main challenges/benefits to having a FOWLR plumbed in with a Reef tank? I really enjoy the idea of having both, and for a future build want to do something similar. Having both tanks empty into one fish room/sump.

 

[AlexG]

I've followed your build for about a year now, always great to see updates. I also saw you comment on another users Plywood Tank build I have a question for you regarding your system. What would you say are the main challenges/benefits to having a FOWLR plumbed in with a Reef tank? I really enjoy the idea of having both, and for a future build want to do something similar. Having both tanks empty into one fish room/sump.

@JBKReef I find that there are both challenges and benefit to having the two display tanks tied together. Here are a few that I think are important. Let me know if you want more information on anything specific.

Benefits of the combined system:

• Stability through a higher water volume
  • Water parameters tend to shift slowly during normal operation
  • I tend to think of this aquarium system like a giant cargo ship where once it gets momentum it is not easy to make sharp turns or rapidly slow down or speed up.
• Single filtration system that eliminates the need to buy equipment for two systems.
  • More efficiency in maintaining equipment for a single system rather than two systems
• If a fish does not work out in one display it can be moved to another display quickly. I have already moved two fish from the 480 gallon display to the 720 gallon display.

Challenges

• Issues that arise in one display will impact the entire system
  • Fish disease will spread through the entire system if it is infected.
  • Equipment failures can impact the entire system (Most of this has been minimized with redundant equipment on hand or in operation)
• Patience required to allow corrections to take place in the system.
  • The algae bloom when the system was started lasted several months as it just took time for the system to balance out. I would even say that one year in the system is still balancing itself
    
  • Its not easy standing by after changes are done to make corrections, but with this water volume nothing good will ever happen fast although this can be said in any aquarium system.
    

 

[AlexG]

The system is doing well overall. I did lose a couple of corals over the past few weeks. With the monitporas starting to not look good and a couple of acros that bleached I was concerned as to what was going on. I did some additional water testing of potassium and strontium and both were low per the salifert test kits. I have started some light dosing of potassium and strontium to see if the levels can be slowly adjusted to correct them. I did find out in part why some of the montiporas were not looking good. During a bioluminescence viewing session I turned on the red light and found on two separate nights that emerald crabs were munching on the montiporas at night. I have removed the two emerald crabs and put them in the 720 gallon display. The montiporas are starting to look better but I think they need a few weeks to recover. I will continue to monitor the potassium and strontium levels as well. I do have one fish loss to report. One of the original orange tail damsels added to the 720 gallon display is MIA for about a week. I am not sure what happened but I know they were overweight so I am not sure if that was contributing factor or if something else happened. The rest of the fish and corals have been doing well. I took some time today to take a few hundred pictures and I had a few that turned out good that I wanted to share.

 

[AlexG]

How can you not like that face. The porcupine puffer has not been camera shy.

 

[Ferdinand Miran]

Nice thread... Hopely i can build the tank like your own...
Enjoy your story ... Realy

 

[AlexG]

Nice thread... Hopely i can build the tank like your own...
Enjoy your story ... Realy

Welcome to Reef2Reef. It was a lot of work and fun building this aquarium system and I share everything I can about the system for others that are looking to build similar aquarium systems.

 

[AlexG]

Random top down pictures for today.

 

[AlexG]

Here are some top down pictures of the zoa garden. The garden is slowly taking shape. Most of the zoas are doing well but I have found that some types are more finicky thank others.

 

[LDH]

Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this and for documenting everything so well. Your patience, kindness and detail in answering everybody's questions on here is the reason people like me can have success in this hobby. Learning from people like you. Super cool man. Well done.