Build thread - converting 75 gallons fresh to salty

[bluegrass_reef12]

How do you like the Comline filter? Thinking about getting the 3162 for a 27 gallon cube. Do you use the optical sensor of the ATO on the back of the filter?

 

[Idech]

How do you like the Comline filter? Thinking about getting the 3162 for a 27 gallon cube. Do you use the optical sensor of the ATO on the back of the filter?

I really like it. It’s powerful and not too noisy. Noise is a very important factor for me.

I do not use the back of the filter for the ATO. My tank is rimmed so it would have made it harder and since the skimmer is right next to it, there was a space issue. But it’s totally doable, it was made for it.

 

[bluegrass_reef12]

I really like it. It’s powerful and not too noisy. Noise is a very important factor for me.

I do not use the back of the filter for the ATO. My tank is rimmed so it would have made it harder and since the skimmer is right next to it, there was a space issue. But it’s totally doable, it was made for it.

How do you have the ATO mounted with the rim? Concerned about mounting the ATO and having the water level show beneath the rim.

 

[Idech]

How do you have the ATO mounted with the rim? Concerned about mounting the ATO and having the water level show beneath the rim.

It doesn’t show at all. I bought a 3D thingy to fit the ATO on the rim, as what comes in the box will not fit at all. Not wide enough.

I bought it from @Shirak, from this forum.

 

[bluegrass_reef12]

It doesn’t show at all. I bought a 3D thingy to fit the ATO on the rim, as what comes in the box will not fit at all. Not wide enough.

I bought it from @Shirak, from this forum.

Nice, I’ll have to pick one up. Thanks!

 

[Idech]

My new corals aren’t doing great. The montis and green polyp porites are bleaching. The favia is browning. Anthelia is fine as is pipe organ. The others are so-so.

So of 11 corals, I might keep 2 alive. Not the greatest batting average…

On the the other hand I bought 3 inexpensive tools from Amazon that I should have bought a long time ago.

A coral cutter that does wonders because of its spring action. My hands are weak but it takes me one second. No more killing corals from cutting the plugs !

Some hemostat so I can easily pluck xenias (and other corals I need to contain) from the rocks.

And a UV flashlight that was supposed to let me look at the tank at night without scaring anything alive. That doesn’t really work but it lets me see the brown spots on corals and other details that I can’t see with regular light. (I haven’t dared check my house in fear of finding dog pee stain, lol !)

 

[Idech]

I have realized a few days ago that my lights were only 6.5 inches from the water ! I’m sure this caused many hot spots and inconsistent lighting.

I put it as high as the rigid mount allowed, which is about 9.75 inches from the bottom of the led to the water. I hope this is enough to make a difference and fix whatever problem I’m having with some corals.

I also programmed the Saxby schedule, since many reefers with mixed reefs appreciate it. I used acclimation at 50%, for 30
days.

I guess we’ll see in the coming weeks if this is helping.

I also plan to use Phosguard to reduce my elevated silicate levels but I don’t want to do two changes at once so that will wait.

Oh, and I also got a rainbow BTA, a small finger leather and bird’s nest. Bird’s nest not doing great, finger leather looks okay.

 

[Idech]

I’ve lost most of the new corals I bought, as usually happens. It seems I can only keep the easiest ones. Anthelia and finger leather are okay, the rest are either dead or not looking good.

I used Phosguard to remove silicates in the tank and it worked because the Hanna tester gives probable results, ie 0.07 ppm Phosphates.

I stopped using the Saxby schedule and went back to my own, as I lost one coral immediately after starting using it (can’t remember which one).

I tried to shut down the UV but one clown didn’t look well 2 days later. It might be in my head but I didn’t want to take the chance so put it back on.

I had planned to try reefing for 2 years before deciding if it was doable for me. So far I am 50/50, not sure if I want to keep going or not. I am not having good enough results with the coral; no real growth and mostly, I can’t keep the ones I like most (euphyllia).

If I close the tank, it has to be done before winter (to be able to clean stuff outside) so that gives me 3 more months to decide or else I keep going until next summer.

But before I decide, I plan to do a second ICP test and see if my levels are stable since the first one. I also want to start using AB+ to see if I will get the growth I want. I will also rent a par meter and adjust my schedule if need be.

After that, if I’m not having acceptable results, then maybe I just did too many mistakes and it’s not sustainable to manage this tank without doing WC (which was my goal). That’s when I will have to make a decision.

 

[Idech]

After doing some research I decided to try Red Sea AB+ to see if I would get happier corals. I used about 40% of the recommended dose daily, and planned on doing it for 2 weeks before reevaluating.

After a few days some of the corals were more retracted but I figured I should give them time to adapt. After 8 days they were definitely sadder looking and my alveopora was showing skeleton on half of one side. So I stopped.

AFR and AB+ don’t work together for me. I have no more dinos, after fighting for 18 months so I won’t do WC. I had some hair algae where there is more flow, at the top. I removed it with a tooth brush and it’s all gone.

Besides that, anemone seems to be doing well. Oh, and my bicolor blenny jumped out through the lid. He wasn’t even fully acclimated yet. RIP little guy.

 

[Idech]

I bought new stuff for the tank and I’m happy ! YWG, 3 rock flower anemones and 3 sexy shrimps and an emerald crab.

All shipped just fine and were released in the tank early afternoon. I tried to release the YWG in the pistol shrimp den, but instead of going into the cave he went on top of the rock, then behind. He’s not far from the shrimp and I’m hoping they find each other so the shrimp stops wanting to kill everyone and waking me up at night with her firing.

I released the 3 shrimps as close to the anemones as possible but they were all separated. One fell directly on top of an anemone, and a second one joined it a while later. The third one is close by, but can’t see them and still hasn’t found her friends. I’m hoping she does.

The emerald crab fell on a rock when I released it and immediately started stuffing his face. I mean he didn’t even take a moment to look around ! I’ve never seen anything so cute and I’m happy he likes the buffet !

I still can’t keep most LPS, let alone SPS so I will give it a good while before I try again. I have started doing a WC routine of 4 gallons per week, which isn’t a lot but a whole lot more than none. We’ll see in a few months if it changes anything.

I have done an second Fauna Marin ICP test and should get the results in about 2 weeks.

 

[Idech]

Still waiting for ICP results but Fauna Marin got my sample today.

I said I wasn’t going to buy more corals but there is a little bit of improvement since I started doing WC again and it got me really excited about getting new corals to test.

So I got 2 small hammers from a local reefer and will be going to another reefer’s house tomorrow for a mini colony of blue candy cane.

Then I splurged and bought 5 additional rock flower anemones… I went over my budget but managed to get a good deal, with free shipping.

Exciting times !

 

[Idech]

I also bought a blue cane mini colony. Here it is with the new hammers as well :

 

[Idech]

Shipping of the 5 rock flower anemones has been delayed because of the extreme heat wave. I’m okay with that; I want to get them alive. They are reserved under my name so they’re not going anywhere.

I had a very pleasant surprise this morning ! I never saw the YWB I bought after putting it in the tank, 2 weeks ago. I put it near the pistol shrimp cave but it hadn’t gone into it.

Well, she’s there, mounting guard, next to a different hole, near the back of the tank. And I even saw the shrimp in the cave ! This made me very happy ! Now that I know where it is, it’s going to be well fed.

My only disappointment is the store I bought it from never said anything about it being a female. I wanted a yellow fish and got a grey/white one. But hey, as long as it’s healthy it’s okay.

 

[Idech]

I won’t be updating this thread anymore, as I am upgrading to a 110 gallons with sump.

Here is my new build thread : https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/u...ustom-110-gallons-sump.1011569/#post-11813462