BeltedCoyote’s reboot: the birth of the leviathan

[sp1187]

@sp1187 I'm wondering if this issue is seen with the Brighwell products too since I just ordered a brick ??

Xport-NO3 Biological Filtration Dimpled Brick

Dimpled Brick Dimensions - 9.0" x 4.5" x 2.625" Why Dimples? The dimples allow for water flow to pass through when a single brick is placed on the bottom of a sump, or when multiple bricks are stacked one on top of another. Xport-NO3 is great for tanks that have minimal aquascape, or are heavily...

www.marinedepot.com

I think I read some where's that all the ceramic bio's leach aluminum.
but old guy.... so don't trust my memory.

 

[DiefsReef]

I think I read some where's that all the ceramic bio's leach aluminum.
but old guy.... so don't trust my memory.

I thought I saw a post or something on the web somewhere stating Brightwell didn't have aluminum but cant find it now

 

[count krunk]

Many builds on here take awhile to get wet.

I think my 40 breeder took two years from first post to saltwater in the system.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I needed it.

Im pretty much the only person in the house who is into reef keeping and my SO tends to just view it as something at which I’m irresponsibly throwing money.

gets a little discouraging sometimes, but I’m doing this build for me and that’s that

 

[BeltedCoyote]

So just wanted to shout out to both The Godfather of our group @fishguy242 and my fellow Hoosier @F i s h y.

You two freakin’ rock. I’ll share why when the time comes.....

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Yes they do!

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Really hammers home what an incredible community we have here on R2R!!!

honestly I don’t think I would have stuck around chipping away at my build if I hadn’t found this site and the group that spam the crap out of Frank’s build lol

 

[BeltedCoyote]

So I’m trying to decide a few things, and thus any input people want to provide would be most welcome.

first, I want to try and minimize water changes (or eliminate them if possible). There are two “dosing” systems I’ve been looking at as a means of maintaining stable parameters and or eliminating the need for frequent water changes. The systems are:

1)the Ez DSR system
Or
2) reef moonshiners program.

the only thing I’m not wild about for the DSR is the need for the power filter (don’t know where I’d stick it so it’s out of the way) also I believe the moonshiners program might be a little less costly in the long run.

the other thing I’m debating about is if I want to run a refugium or an ATS. I like the notion of both, with a refugium taking a slight lead as it’s another good way to improve biodiversity. Problem is, with the sump I will be using there won’t be room for a fuge. So I would need to plumb in another tank to the system (regardless of it being a display fuge or not)

What do people think?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Nothing to offer but in for the answers!

 

[count krunk]

I think running a skimmer, and ats, and fuge may strip nutrients too well.

I would expect to do wc in the beginning with the goal of getting away from them using a dosing system

 

[BeltedCoyote]

I think running a skimmer, and ats, and fuge may strip nutrients too well.

I would expect to do wc in the beginning with the goal of getting away from them using a dosing system

Oh I agree. I’m going to do either a fuge or an ATS. Just having trouble deciding on which avenue to pursue

 

[F i s h y]

Oh I agree. I’m going to do either a fuge or an ATS. Just having trouble deciding on which avenue to pursue

Looking forward to showing you my system. It may give you a few ideas...

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Looking forward to showing you my system. It may give you a few ideas...

I have a feeling I’ll walk away with lots of new ideas to ponder. Looking forward to it as well!

 

[danieyella]

I switched from a refugium to an ATS. Easier to maintain.

And I vote moonshiner, but I'm biased

 

[danieyella]

Oh, I do still run a skimmer. I enjoy feeding. But I know many with an ats don't bother

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I had an ats that dropped into a fuge at 1 time. It was nice. Lol.
D

 

[BeltedCoyote]

So a little bit of an update after this great day.

First, I finally managed to find the other really well known and popular LFS in the Indianapolis area: Modern Aquatix. Really nice little shop. Amazing coral selection at really good prices as well as a good variety of fish considering the size of the system. Oh, and it’s 8 minutes from one of my two clients. Soo my wallet will inevitably be angry at me lol

In other news, shoutout to @F i s h y for having me over and showing me your systems. Definitely did get some ideas from the tour on the drive home. Also super excited for those corals you mentioned. Especially the old school candy cane.

Looks like the glue for my aqua scape got here today so now I just need to get some sand. I’ll be getting ahold of you in the next few weeks about that scaping help @F i s h y

Edit: to everyone else, Jason’s two systems are gorgeous. The pics in his build thread don’t do them justice. If you ever get the chance, check them out. Well worth the trip

 

[count krunk]

what do you do where you are traveling to your clients? I bet his systems are NICE

 

[BeltedCoyote]

what do you do where you are traveling to your clients? I bet his systems are NICE

I’m a registered behavioral technician (also know as an AbA therapist). I work with individuals diagnosed with ASD (autism)

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Double post but it’s my thread. Yeah his stuff is amazing hilarious too. One of his BTAs took a walk around his nem tank while we were looking at the 60