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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Time to add salt!!!
Ash's 400 Gallon Reef
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- Thread starter Ashish Patel
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reef80
Active Member
Looks amazing so far. I love my miracle tank and so nice to see them being a top contender. I did wish I did the removable sps thing cuzz my colonies are getting nutty in just over a year. Not going to be manageable in another year and it’s gonna be process of natural elimination that I’m afraid of….survival of the fitness.
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Thanks, how big your tank? It was a pain to drill holes but it was an investment in my future time. My detritus removing system is something I am most happy with as being able to drains to the sewage. I'll have a filter sock attached to this line by the sump as well as a flexible hose in the 20 Gallon container so at anytime I can siphon crap out of the display and not worry about further clean up.
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Ashish Patel
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reef80
Active Member
Tank is 72x36x22 external overflow peninsula. I have some Tonga branches and I’m trying to see how I can get those in there and mount them. I do have some sps on domes that I can move around but now they are tipping and falling all over the place as the sps are colonizing. I don’t want to putty them on as I like to have the option to take them out and move around. I did space them out and didn’t think some of them would grow this fast in just one year but will see what happens in the months to come. Can’t wait to see how your tank evolves over time. I have my sewage drain next to my tank also so I like your concept of the detritus removal.
Keep it up…Exciting times I’m sure!
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1) Do you have a section of silicone tubing between the pump and the hard plumbing? Is the hard plumbing strapped to the structure of the house?
2) Is there a gate valve or ball valve on the main drain? If you leave the main drain 100% open and nothing goes down the secondary then you essentially have a durso drain; which isn’t necessarily a problem, just not beananimal. With a gate valve you should be able to dial it in better.
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
No silicone tubing. I just have one wall anchor on 2nd floor behind the tank. I added rubber under the pump which reduced noise by 50%. I have a ball valve on the main drain. If I relied on this only it would probably be too loud since the overflow is getting different amount of water caused by seaswirls. I think I am somewhat ok with drain noise but my tune it in the coming weeks. I have a few leaky ball valves on my manifold so have to replace them. Luckily they are threaded and above my sump so not an issue
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Your corals look really healthy and nice colors, also the fish are awesome, what kind of fish is the darker tang? I am really determined to get a achilles and powder in this tang since I feel I can provide them with what they need. Queen angel and emperor IMO are the most desirable fish in the hobby but I just can't risk it. Anyways back to the main point.
Your rock structure looks very nice kind of like you took inspiration from that one from Australia with the floating pillars. It is challenging to mount corals after tank is wet or established like yours. If I had your tank, given its in growth mode I would just leave it alone! I think tonga rock is probably the best rock to do an add on since it would be easier to glue onto your existing aquascape.
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reef80
Active Member
Thanks. I really appreciate the feedback. Yeah I’m more hands off so hopeing the corals will just work it out themselves. I’m a sucka for tangs and powder blue and archillis are my top two. Lost both in an outbreak that was my fault. I’m planning another build and those two will def be part of the crew. That’s a pale lip tang and I don’t see it too often in the trade. Very docile and a constant algae grazer. I love the different color variant it brings depending on mood. My emperor has been good with stonies as that’s all i have in there. My first large angel was a queen and that fish was breathtaking.
Ha! You said it right on. I def took that Aussi Tank if you mean Evan Luos tank as an inspiration. Always was stunned by how impacted his acros were and the amount of lighting 360degree wise he had on that tank. I’ve learn that however my current tank is nowhere near it lol so my next build will focus more on that as I like a mix reef like his with heavy acros on top but his real estate spacing is incredible and the corals compliment it much. Looking forward to your continued build for sure.
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Added liverock to sump and some to tank for seeding. Tank has a bacteria bloom so will run a uv in few days to clear it up. This happened to my last tank. Prob should have covered tank with cardboard during the 1 week long filling process
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Temp of tank is 70 degree (room temp). I have new 800watt finnex heater and questioning if it works since it keeps beeping and on red so I unplugged.
Id say its a success if i can get tank temp to 76 with 1200watts and foam insulation downstairs. Otherwise I am thinking about using my hot water tank and running a heat exchanger..
Anyone else have suggestions of heating a large tank?
Id say its a success if i can get tank temp to 76 with 1200watts and foam insulation downstairs. Otherwise I am thinking about using my hot water tank and running a heat exchanger..
Anyone else have suggestions of heating a large tank?
I asked about this on my local forum since they all have tanks in approximately the same environment (ambient temp and humidity). One person responded that he has a 1275 gallon system that he heats with two 500w heaters. He has an extra 300w heater in case one breaks. I would recommend using more smaller heaters instead of one large one. On the 700 gallon system I’m planning, I have two 200w heaters (left over from my previous system) and bought two 500w heaters. Once it’s running I’ll have to see if they are all necessary or if I can take one or more of them offline.
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Thanks. This helps. I have a extra heater but used 2 in my Qt so don't know verdict on using heaters from copper water but probably looking into brs titanium heaters
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
I just ordered 3 Eheim 300 watts heaters and going to stick to them
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
So far I am very pleased with the display tank and mainly the amount of flow coming from the Periha 100 watt return pump - Hopefully it lasts. Vectra L1 on closed loop is outstanding and producing outstanding circulation in and around the rockwork.
To do list:
1. Figure out where to put my UV sterilizer -thinking about mounting to the side of the stand.
2. Build a algae turf scrubber of the manifold. I introduced aiptasia on my last build with Cheato from LFS so still upset about that. Cheato has proven to have no benefits to me, it gets into the tank and the pumps, fish are not suppose to eat it, often time it doesn't compete well with other algae or even other nutrient export methods. Fish like tangs live of Turf algae so found it to be very beneficial compared to dried up sheets of nori.
3. insulate the sump and pipes. Temp right now is cold outside as its going to get so my tank sits at 67 degrees. I think i can get up to 70 degrees with just insulation. I am thinking about adding the heater in the overflow box as i did this in the past and it worked well.
4. Figure out where to put my ATO container, for now just going to fill sump with RODI via float valve weekly. Best part is i can probably go 14 days without evaporation water before air hits my pump. This is a great feature since If I am traveling worst case I can have salinity increase and not my pump running dry.
5. I want my electrical management to be on point from the start. Once I plug something in I live with it and rarely go to make changes so its important that I plan this accordingly. I left space around my sump so no idea how to make it perfect and safe.
To do list:
1. Figure out where to put my UV sterilizer -thinking about mounting to the side of the stand.
2. Build a algae turf scrubber of the manifold. I introduced aiptasia on my last build with Cheato from LFS so still upset about that. Cheato has proven to have no benefits to me, it gets into the tank and the pumps, fish are not suppose to eat it, often time it doesn't compete well with other algae or even other nutrient export methods. Fish like tangs live of Turf algae so found it to be very beneficial compared to dried up sheets of nori.
3. insulate the sump and pipes. Temp right now is cold outside as its going to get so my tank sits at 67 degrees. I think i can get up to 70 degrees with just insulation. I am thinking about adding the heater in the overflow box as i did this in the past and it worked well.
4. Figure out where to put my ATO container, for now just going to fill sump with RODI via float valve weekly. Best part is i can probably go 14 days without evaporation water before air hits my pump. This is a great feature since If I am traveling worst case I can have salinity increase and not my pump running dry.
5. I want my electrical management to be on point from the start. Once I plug something in I live with it and rarely go to make changes so its important that I plan this accordingly. I left space around my sump so no idea how to make it perfect and safe.
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Any suggestions for wire management? Electrician will come and add outlets soon but thinking about mounting what I can on opposite side of support and what won't reach mount under or near sump
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Ashish Patel
2500 Club Member
Added liverock on my scape. Hope this speeds things up
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