Clown's 48.2G Baller Upgrade

DrBrownThumb · Jan 29, 2019

Started a thread for this build on a nano site, but realized this isn't really a nano anymore, so here I am on R2R.

The story begins with the clown in my avatar, which got me back in the hobby after a long hiatus. I had started up a 6g AIO tank in my office back in 2011, added the clown, and some softies. The tank had since been moved, then suffered from neglect, cracked and leaked down to a few inches of water, replaced with a 10g, crashed from an alk issue, then torn down for a remodel. The one survivor in all this was this clown. During the remodel, he lived in a 5g bucket with a piece of liverock for a year. So I had a spot at the end of our tiny hall that could fit a tank, so I went as big as I could, which was 36"w x 18" deep. The primary goals of this tank being to minimize maintenance as much as possible, house sps, be as stable as possible, and be able to be left behind for up to a 2 week vacation without needing a tank sitter.

Tank is a 48.2 AquaMaxx that I drilled and painted the bottom (outside) with Caribbean sand stone paint and the back black. Running it bare bottom, and painting the bottom really helps with the aesthetic of it. Overflow is an Eshopps Eclipse M, and the back of the box fits within wall so the tank fits almost flush to the wall. Made the cabinet for it as well to fit perfectly at the end of our hall. The opposite side of the wall is the master bedroom closet, so I was able to keep all the electrical in the closet away from the tank. Since this build coincided with me remodeling the master bedroom, I ran a dedicated 20amp circuit for the tank and some cat5 so I could hardwire the Apex.

Lighting consists of two Kessil 160's with 4 T5 retrofit strips.

DrBrownThumb · Jan 29, 2019

Here's the opposite side of the wall in the closet. Made some large access panels and ran the plumbing within the walls. Mounted some 3/4" plywood and cable channels to mount all the electrical. To the right side of the closet is the Master Bath, so I was able to hard plumb the ATO and setup automatic water changes with a Litermeter.

ndrwater · Jan 29, 2019

Tank looks great!!! Keep the updates coming!!!

DrBrownThumb · Jan 29, 2019

Here's what I have setup under the master bath sink. There's a 10g ato reservoir that I use as a SW reservoir for the automatic water changes, Spectapure high silicates RODI filter, and a Litermeter. The only thing I do to mix water now is turn the valve to fill up the reservoir, turn on mixing pumps, add salt, urn off valve, and I'm done. Have the Litermeter changing 1g/day right now but will dial that back to .6g once I'm out of the new tank phase.

DrBrownThumb · Jan 29, 2019

Here's the sump area. Using a Skimz UP34 sump, Reef Octopus Regal 150 skimmer, and Varios-4 return pump. ATO is with the Tunze osmolator, but I'm filling the ATO chamber every day by having the Apex open a solenoid allowing RODI water to fill the reservoir until the float switch senses it's full. There a few backups for this. One is that I only allow the solenoid to be open only long enough for 2G to flow in, 2 is the float switch that turns it off in normal operation, 3 is the float valve attached to the reservoir for a mechanical backup, and 4 is a water leak sensor connected to the Apex. BRS 1.1 dosers are in there as well, and I'm running GFO and GAC in a BRS reactor T'd off the return. Also using a Kessil tuna flora and Chaeto for the Fuge area.

DrBrownThumb · Jan 30, 2019

Just spotted two tiny aiptasia on the glass! So peeved! I used dry rock, acid washed it, got 6 captive grown frags from liveaquaria and a small clump of Chaeto all in an effort to avoid all pests. I also added 3 snails from the lfs. Already have pests. I don’t see them on the frags or snails, and can’t find them in the Chaeto, so not sure which one was the culprit.

Has anyone gotten pests from captive grown frags? Think it was the lfs snails? Or the Chaeto? Their tanks looked really clean to me.