Ash's 400 Gallon Reef

[Ashish Patel]

My Salinity is down to 1.008 and Hypo is going on. Still too early but all is good for now.
I added a ATO to the sump and confident with the water volume it will remain below 1.010 and kill any ich parasite in my system in 30 days.

If this In tank treatment works I will be Hypos biggest fan. Especially since I dont plan on adding any more fish but worried about adding LPS and softies without the QT. I can QT them for 30 days but 76 days is difficult since QT are not designed to be as robust as a display. I will try to build a second tank that is good as a display that will serve as a QT, Maybe a large sump with alot of rock and water volume and keep the tank clean.

 

[Ashish Patel]

DAY 2 hypo video

 

[Ashish Patel]

Day 3 of hypo going good so far. I think spots are dropping but still not 100% gone. I'm expecting at least a week

 

[Ashish Patel]

This pic from yesterday

 

[Ashish Patel]

I decided to run filter socks during hypo. Have to clean them daily but Tanks looking crystal clear.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I build a tray for sponge for mechanical. Though I need to build some sides for it.

I'll have a spare foam and find it does good job of removing larger particulates but not so much it effects skimmer performance. I got this bulk foam from Amazon and concerned even with 12"×16" size that it may be too dense and may clog in few days.

Since it was creating alot of splashing I decided to just use socks for the hyposalinity. Pain to clean them but given skimmer may not be performing optimal may be a good solution for 1 month

 

[Ashish Patel]

Finally got the mop sink shorted. I had a small coral frag stuck in the pump lol

I guess strainer is mandatory so added one
Now I have to paint it and mount the booster and rodi unit

 

[Ashish Patel]

Organized fish tank stuff and got it of the floor

 

[Ashish Patel]

Debating on how to setup a qt

I have icecap 36xl sump and this tank. Also have a vectra m1 pump and seasweep I can remove from display (once I get a mp60), and I have new ecotech radion Gen 4 xr15 I can use.

I have my old tank that is 115 gallon too but that maybe too big

I want to get a smaller qt display but with a large sump so prefe to get a smaller or lower tank then my acrylic tank. I'm not trying to spend a dime on this Qt since I've hoarded enough things over the years but want to set it and leave it a ongoing display qt

 

[Ashish Patel]

I have alot of these containers. 35 gallon and 65 gallons. I just have to pick them up but planning on using 2 for freshly mixed saltwater and maybe one to dose saturated kalk. They have air tight lids so will work great. I am thinking about getting one versa pump and dosing Kalk to maintain pH also. I saw a video of one guy growing sps with only kalk. He was dosing so much even with his PH going high as 8.6. It got me thinking I can do the same. If needed I have enough sump space to add more water then evaporates. I just have to maybe drain water every month or so. Let's see I can always add 2 part if it drops too much h20

 

[Ashish Patel]

I am thinking about cutting this acrylic tank by 8" and making it a 16" tall 40 gallon breeder rimless. I am looking for a smaller tank that I can drill since I want something smaller for a fishless QT system. I have a few options, i can run as is and just add my HOB refugium/skimmer as main filter but then I have to add some rock for biological in the display. The advantage of adding a large sump is i can add all the biological filter in the sump and keep only frag racks in the display, this would make it easy to maintain and catch any potential pest or aiptasia easier before it spread to the sump rock. I dont think SPS can thrive without fish for 6 weeks let alone a good amount of LR - but I just dont want too many nesting area in the display for any potential pest.

So would anyone else cutt this acrylic tank? I put it on the market for $200. I think the 2 holes drilled make it deal breaker but I was going to use it for draining the tank to the sink.

 

[GBRsouth]

I am thinking about cutting this acrylic tank by 8" and making it a 16" tall 40 gallon breeder rimless. I am looking for a smaller tank that I can drill since I want something smaller for a fishless QT system. I have a few options, i can run as is and just add my HOB refugium/skimmer as main filter but then I have to add some rock for biological in the display. The advantage of adding a large sump is i can add all the biological filter in the sump and keep only frag racks in the display, this would make it easy to maintain and catch any potential pest or aiptasia easier before it spread to the sump rock. I dont think SPS can thrive without fish for 6 weeks let alone a good amount of LR - but I just dont want too many nesting area in the display for any potential pest.

So would anyone else cutt this acrylic tank? I put it on the market for $200. I think the 2 holes drilled make it deal breaker but I was going to use it for draining the tank to the sink.

I think if it was me, I would use glass tanks for QT due to all the times they need to be sterilised and scrubbed. I think an acrylic tank would look pretty scratched up by that kind of work life for it. Then what could be surviving in those scratches could be potentially defeating what we try to achieve doing QT. (I realise this could also happen along silicone beads on a glass tank, but potentially less surface area for it to happen long term.)

 

[Fuzzywuzy]

Awesome!

What's the glass thickness? I noticed there wasn't a centre brace

 

[DCR]

Acrylic tanks rely on top bracing for strength. It may bow quite a bit if you do not replace the bracing after cutting off the top.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Awesome!

What's the glass thickness? I noticed there wasn't a centre brace

Looks like 1/2" thick or maybe 3/8". There is a eurobraced around the top.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I think if it was me, I would use glass tanks for QT due to all the times they need to be sterilised and scrubbed. I think an acrylic tank would look pretty scratched up by that kind of work life for it. Then what could be surviving in those scratches could be potentially defeating what we try to achieve doing QT. (I realise this could also happen along silicone beads on a glass tank, but potentially less surface area for it to happen long term.)

Thats a good point! I definitely prefer glass if I can find something at a reasonable price

 

[Ashish Patel]

I am confused and not sure if should use this HOB fuge or large sump. I'm probably going to Qt some high end sps for upwards of 76 days, so a sump has its benefits. I am going to run t5 lights as well as 1 radion. HOB fuge with skimmer would do the job too and make it easier to take care off. I just rather not look at it and have evaporation line in my tank. I may not run a skimmer at all anyways

 

[Ashish Patel]

Acrylic tanks rely on top bracing for strength. It may bow quite a bit if you do not replace the bracing after cutting off the top.

I can always leave 4-5" of tank after water line and maybe glue a brace with acrylic left after the cutt. I may just use the entire tank as Is. More water volume will stay more stable but then again it will take me to 80 gallons total (with sump)

 

[Ashish Patel]

I got my 115 gallon cleaned up and may just try to sell it

 

[Ashish Patel]

Tank updates

- Corals in the vat are making a comeback, Phew, I swore they where all goners as they started bleaching after few weeks of being fishless, Algae problem is rampard in this system so i have to remove manually. Can't find large enough snails to take care of the problem and my large gem tang doesnt graze at all, he's too lazy and wants to be fed.

- Hypo is going (10 days in) but will take another 1 month since few spots are still on achilles and hippo. turned of UV few days ago since i dont any false reading of ich being gone when its just being controlled. My same philosophy of coral eating pest, if there is a problem i rather find it early and not have some wrasse keep them under control until the problem gets out of hand.

- I finally have a working sink, This just saved tons of headache. I can test here now and clean my socks and skimmers or even not have to lug 5gallon water upstairs to dump outside.