Bills CDA 225 gal 72x30x24 tank upgrade/SPS Dream Tank!!!

[Billldg]

You are far more daring than me, I didn't have a great experience with vibrant. The only bacteria-based product I dose is 6 drops of zeobak once a week, I used it through dinos, then cyano, and just lowered the dosage to once a week. Not sure what it does for me now if anything.......

Right now I am dosing 50 ml of Vibrant twice a week. I have never had any issues with Vibrant as some may have. I do feel if effects LPS more that SPS, IME. I just ordered 2lts of Microfactor7 and will dose it at the same time. I already lost 4 SPS frags that were testers, but, were doing good until this outbreak. I can't add anymore corals to the tank until I get this taken care of. I hate looking at a bare tank. I love my fish, but want corals in the tank as well.

This is an aggressive, but, not a reckless or short cut approach.

 

[James_O]

This is a seriously cool tank!!

How do you feel about having a big tank with lots of cool fish, rather than having a smaller tank with less fish, but lots of coral?

Does it equal out with the cool fish? Which do you prefer?

—-

If I ever got a big tank like this, it would most likely be a FOWLR.

 

[Billldg]

This is a seriously cool tank!!

How do you feel about having a big tank with lots of cool fish, rather than having a smaller tank with less fish, but lots of coral?

Does it equal out with the cool fish? Which do you prefer?

—-

If I ever got a big tank like this, it would most likely be a FOWLR.

LOL, I want both, just dealing with Dino's right now. As soon as I get that taken care of I will load this tank up with SPS frags. ;Hilarious

If I ever only go with a FOWLR, it would be a predator fish tank. I love those fish, but, right now I want a piece of home in my house in GA. I am from Miami, and thus, seen a lot of the ocean.

 

[James_O]

LOL, I want both, just dealing with Dino's right now. As soon as I get that taken care of I will load this tank up with SPS frags. ;Hilarious

If I ever only go with a FOWLR, it would be a predator fish tank. I love those fish, but, right now I want a piece of home in my house in GA. I am from Miami, and thus, seen a lot of the ocean.

Sweet!

I was just asking because I want a bigger tank, but I know it’s a huge hassle to deal with coral in such a large system. But if I got mainly cool fish, and then a few softies, I think I would love the tank. Your fish are just so awesome.

Obviously this is way in the future, but I like to think ahead. ;Hilarious;Greedy

 

[Billldg]

Sweet!

I was just asking because I want a bigger tank, but I know it’s a huge hassle to deal with coral in such a large system. But if I got mainly cool fish, and then a few softies, I think I would love the tank. Your fish are just so awesome.

Obviously this is way in the future, but I like to think ahead. ;Hilarious;Greedy

Thank you

I don't feel a bigger tank with fish and coral is more of a hassle, in general, its just more of it literally.

I wanted a Achilles tang, but, I also knew to be fair to the fish I would need a 6ft tank. I went with a 72x30x24 tank because I wanted the extra depth for the aquascape and corals. It was a win win...LOL!!!

 

[AaronFReef]

Well Bill after reading this thread nights and weekends over literally the last three weeks I’ve reached the end. Its been quite a journey already! Thanks for the effort to document it. Hope to be right behind you with a similar build. Lots of good info here. My only tip for Dinos is to let the glass and rocks be dirty. Just stir the sand where they’re gathering multiple times a day. I battled them for nearly a year with my current tank and haven’t had them come back since I tried that method and let competing organisms get a foothold.

 

[Billldg]

Doing a big cleaning of my tank today. I am doing the normal cleaning, along with removing my powerheads and cleaning them as well. I currently replaced 1 MP40 powerhead and have the dirty one soaking in citric acid, then that one is done, I will use it to replace the other powerhead and clean it. I'm also cleaning the gyre's as well. As you can see below, I am starting to get what looks like Cyano, it is smothering the dino's on the sand bed, or at least I hope it does.

 

[Billldg]

When I put my MP40 powerheads back together, I will also grease the powerheads. Below is the exact grease Ecotech uses on the powerheads.

 

[AaronFReef]

Woohoo! Dinos be gone! Hopefully you’re on the road to a mature tank soon enough for some frag shopping.

 

[James_O]

Doing a big cleaning of my tank today. I am doing the normal cleaning, along with removing my powerheads and cleaning them as well. I currently replaced 1 MP40 powerhead and have the dirty one soaking in citric acid, then that one is done, I will use it to replace the other powerhead and clean it. I'm also cleaning the gyre's as well. As you can see below, I am starting to get what looks like Cyano, it is smothering the dino's on the sand bed, or at least I hope it does.

Ah, sorry to hear that man. I feel your pain with the algae.

Hopefully you will be able to exterminate this once and for all!

Your favias are looking good though.

 

[Billldg]

I tested my N03 and P04 today. I haven't dosed in a week, but still haven't skimmed yet and still feed heavy. My P04 was at .13, which I can actually live with, my N03 was at 75 ppm, yikes!!!The N03 being at 75 ppm is very high, BUT, it means that I have hit the saturation point of the dry rock and now I can skim again. I turned on my skimmer just now and will start to lower the N03. I may have to dose P04 to keep it up, but at least the good algae now has a fighting chance to grow and win.

Fighting Dinos is a slow process, you have to look at taking baby steps to win. I am starting to see signs of winning this battle.

 

[mattgsa]

You and I are having the same problems. I have an 80 watt UV and I still have dinos, and I even dosed Vibrant. In addition I can' t seem to keep my nutrients up with out dosing. The good news is I just gave up on the dinos and it has started going away on its own. All these tangs are not carrying their weight.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

How long did you go between nitrate tests? 75 ppm is a ton with all that water volume!

How's the Neptune / GHL comparison coming? I'm having a very hard time deciding... Neptune's customer support and loud DOS scare me.

 

[Billldg]

How long did you go between nitrate tests? 75 ppm is a ton with all that water volume!

How's the Neptune / GHL comparison coming? I'm having a very hard time deciding... Neptune's customer support and loud DOS scare me.

I haven’t tested N03 until I had a steady P04, now that I have a steady P04 reading I will test the N03 more often.

The comparison is coming along, I just haven’t had much time as this is my busy time of the year for work.

 

[Billldg]

I just got finished scrubbing out my 100 gal saltwater mixing tank. I am currently running the pump to keep anything scrubbed loose suspended for a bit. I will dump out 100 gals of water in a bit, and then fill it again and evaluate whether or not I need to do it again.

 

[Billldg]

OHHH!!! I found out its wasn't the Apex PMUP that failed on me, it was the FMM module that failed on me. Even when the Apex said off, the FMM module will bring on the pump, thus the PMUP failure. I am done with the Apex ATK. I should have never left the Tunze 3155 ATO, BUT, I will have one ordered as soon as they come in. My ATK is only 4 months wet, if that, and I won't even waste the time in warrantying it.

 

[Billldg]

I AM about to send in my Apex Trident. Its amazing what happens when you speak out against the merger on the live stream and get censored. A few hours later I received a e-mail from Apex for a ticket that was opened, not at my request, asking about my issues with the Trident. I didn't realize I was that important. That opens up A WHOLE NOTHER DISCUSSION TOPIC that I don't care to get in to. I am about to shut down the Trident so I can remove it and take pictures to open a RMA at their request...HMMM!!!

I started the conversion thread to give a honest comparison between GHL and Apex. I will allow Apex to look at my Trident and tell me what they want, otherwise, how can I be honest in the comparison.

What they say should be interesting.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

I AM about to send in my Apex Trident. Its amazing what happens when you speak out against the merger on the live stream and get censored. A few hours later I received a e-mail from Apex for a ticket that was opened, not at my request, asking about my issues with the Trident. I didn't realize I was that important. That opens up A WHOLE NOTHER DISCUSSION TOPIC that I don't care to get in to. I am about to shut down the Trident so I can remove it and take pictures to open a RMA at their request...HMMM!!!

I started the conversion thread to give a honest comparison between GHL and Apex. I will allow Apex to look at my Trident and tell me what they want, otherwise, how can I be honest in the comparison.

What they say should be interesting.

I wouldn't be surprised if they send you a new one for free in "good faith" since you're so important... I would take anything but bad news with a grain of salt. I genuinely hope that BRS can improve Neptune's customer service and warranty services, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Billldg]

Like I had said in the past, I have never had any major issues with the Trident, just small ones, mainly the reagent drift. My only concern is how long will it take. I can’t afford to give them a credit card so they send a temp replacement, so I will disconnect it and send it off. I just need to buy a 15ft aquabus cable as I have equipment running thru the Trident Aquabus cable. I will try to pick one up today.

 

[Billldg]

I turned off my AWC to help combat the Dino's. I just turned back on the AWC Supply Ecotech Versa pump to help raise my salinity. I will add salt water to my tank to help raise the salinity, when, evaporation is involved. I will never use a Neptune ATK again, and, will always say stay away from it. I will install a Tunze 3155 again...I should have never given the one I had away... in my 225 gal tank upgrade. Its a short turn win win for me. I will be able to keep my tank water level up and raise the salinity at the same time. This is short termed as their will come a time when I came no longer use the AWC...as it will keep raising my salinity.