Choss' 96 gallon Reef Savvy "Nano" Tank

[Janci]

Looking great Choss.
Love the video.

ORP... oxidation reduction potential... nasty words. I learned that to have it between 300/400 is the most common level in my tank.
When I do a water change, it drops till 200. In the next hours it starts getting higher and at least within 48 hours it is back in that same range. A good skimmer brings a lot of O2 in the water which helps a lot in getting this level.

When you are bored and can sit down with a good glass of wine, you can read this article:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.htm
Here even Randy admits it is difficult to understand so I am fine not understanding it at all. ;Bookworm;Bookworm;Bookworm

 

[choss]

Good glass of wine and a piece by Randy sounds like a good evening! My ORP has been around 350 - no idea why it started so low when I first began measuring. On this tank I have barely changed any water. but it stays between 300 and 400 so I am happy with that.

 

[choss]

Update with pics
Tank is doing well. Here are a few photos to share. Thanks for following:

Clown Closeup

clown closeup by choerenz, on Flickr

Brain

brain late night better version by choerenz, on Flickr

Trumpet Coral

trumpet closeup by choerenz, on Flickr

Clown coming at ya

clown coming at ya by choerenz, on Flickr

Urchin on glass

urchin on glass by choerenz, on Flickr

Halloween Hermit

halloween hermit better pic by choerenz, on Flickr

Branching Hammer - newest addition

Hammer pic 2 by choerenz, on Flickr

branching hammer by choerenz, on Flickr

Acans

left acan best pic by choerenz, on Flickr

 

[Janci]

Looking great.
Patience did pay off!!!

 

[choss]

Indeed. I am itching to add some SPS though....but I think I will occupy myself with the KH director this weekend. That should keep me busy for sure. Also, I did some good work on my salt water mixing stations. Just waiting for a couple of pieces to come in and I'll post an update. Its really come together.

 

[choss]

Update - water mixing station
I have been taking things slowly so not much has changed in the main display. I am amazed that the display has shown virtually no signs of any nuisance algae. My refugium on the other hand is a mess of slimy green stuff, clinging to the walls of the fuge (although not on the live rock I have in there) and in a small chaeto basket I have suspended in the fuge. So far so good.

Full tank shot may 28 2018 by choerenz, on Flickr

I have also had the tank up and running for a few months now and have done virtually no water changes! This is not on purpose, but I have been working on setting up my salt mixing station for automatic water changes. I'm almost there.

I covered this in an early post but the system works like this:

Water goes from the RODI unit on the wall, directly into a 35 gallon fresh water tank that sits about 6' off the floor on a stand above my frag tank (20 long).

fresh water tank by choerenz, on Flickr

This tank serves 3 purposes. First, it supplies the display with RODI top off water. I put the tank as close to the ceiling as I could and the small Tunze pump can push the water about 6' up into the sump located directly above this room. The water enters the sump via a Kalk dispenser container that is located in the refugium section of my sump.

Second, it supplies the 20 gallon frag tank directly beneath it with RODI top off, delivered via a float switch. And finally, I can turn a ball valve and fill my salt water mixing tank, or fill small containers via another ball valve attachment to the plumbing leading to the mixing station.

water refill area by choerenz, on Flickr

From the bulkhead of the 35 gallon fresh water water tank, the plumbing runs to a spout just above the first of the two tanks on the left side of the room.

water storage tanks by choerenz, on Flickr

The tank on the left is a 25 gallon tank for mixing salt. I can then fill the tank on the right (55 gallon capacity) which will supply the display upstairs with salt water at about 1.5 gallons per day. I wanted to be able to mix water without affecting the stable source feeding the tank. I can add 25 gallons quickly from the RODI 35 gallon tank, leaving 10 gallons in the tank to ensure that the fresh water supply for frag and display remain unaffected.

Once I hook up the AWC via the litermeter 3, I will use the water I drain from the display to add to the frag tank. The frag tank has a nano overflow so that the water entering the 20 gallon will displace about 1.4 gallons into the sink per day. The frag tank is mainly for quarantining new frags and my hope is that the water chemistry will stay very close to the main display. This should make transfers easier once I have dipped and observed corals for some period of time.

I also set up a small fragging shelf in the room. Its a tight fit as the fish room is a small utility room off my garage, but I love that I no longer need to do any maintenance or testing in my display room. I can now test water as it it drawn down via the AWC, cut frags, etc.

fragging station by choerenz, on Flickr

 

[Janci]

Well thought system.
;Drool;Drool;Drool

 

[samnaz]

^^^^ it’s perfection!

 

[choss]

Well thought system.
;Drool;Drool;Drool

I took some notes from your system.

^^^^ it’s perfection!

Not quite. Had a small leak in the pump connections. But I think I have addressed it. But thanks for the compliment!

 

[drtrash]

How are you liking the flow out of open 45?

 

[choss]

How are you liking the flow out of open 45?

I am liking it a lot. I have a ton of flow right now. The MP40 and 2 MP10 seem to do a good job of keeping the flow pretty chaotic - sometimes I even get a small wave that breaks over the top of the rimless tank.

 

[najer]

Great work, hat's off to you.

 

[choss]

Great work, hat's off to you.

Thank you!

 

[YHSublime]

Looking good, the patience is paying off!

 

[choss]

Looking good, the patience is paying off!

Thank you. My patience has been in part to lack of time due to travel, and part in my struggles getting the Profilux to cooperate. I have recently spent a good amount of time with Marco from GHL and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now that things are getting ironed out I should be ready to start adding some SPS to the tank. I also still need to get my fish QT setup done so I can add a few fish.

 

[Janci]

Thank you. My patience has been in part to lack of time due to travel, and part in my struggles getting the Profilux to cooperate. I have recently spent a good amount of time with Marco from GHL and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now that things are getting ironed out I should be ready to start adding some SPS to the tank. I also still need to get my fish QT setup done so I can add a few fish.

So you got the Profilux installed and working?
What did you connect to it?

Put at least 8 sps corals (or 16 ) in it so you can check the function of the KH Director and keep us informed... ;Pompus;Playful

 

[choss]

Not yet connected but that is my plan for the weekend. I currently have three SPS frags and can add a fourth but I most definitely need to do a little shopping run . Any recommendations on acros to start with?

 

[choss]

Quick Update
This past weekend I hooked up the Litermeter 3 for automatic water changes. Programming the unit is simple. First you run the pumps to prime them. Then you fill a 500 ml container to determine the flow rate of each pump. Next step, I determined I wanted to change about 10% water volume per day. Based on the approximate volume of my system I targeted 1.6 gallons a day or approximately 6 liters. Then I plug in the value "6" for flow in the Litermeter 3 and start the pumps. It then makes small additions 150 times a day (about every 8 minutes)

So far its worked like clockwork. I couldn't be happier with this system. Super simple and seems dead on reliable. Here is a chart of my conductivity readings.

 

[Janci]

Not yet connected but that is my plan for the weekend. I currently have three SPS frags and can add a fourth but I most definitely need to do a little shopping run . Any recommendations on acros to start with?

Staghorn of course!!!
I love the look when they reach the water level. It makes the tank look more full.

 

[choss]

On it! Big father's day sale happening at my LFS this weekend so I'll see if I can grab one.