Ento-Reefer's 180g Build Thread

cycled123 · Jan 20, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
I don't think this tank is going to cycle. The seeded ceramic and marine pure handled the 2.0 ppm of ammonia that I added within 12 hours. I put a sea chem badge in the tank just so I can keep an eye on the ammonia and it has never moved from the safe level. I will be receiving my order from Indio Pacfic Sea Farms today. I ordered some live sand activator, ISPF Wonder Mud, reef worms diversity pack, coraline booster, amphipods, micro hermits and grazers, and lastly some chaeto and calupera for the fuge.

I am planning to take 6-8 weeks and gradually move most of the livestock over from my 95g and take it down. I will put the tank, stand and LED lights up for sale as my reef tank account is getting a little low and I need to start filling it up again...lol..

I'm going to have to take a look at Indio Pacific Sea Farms. The reef worms diversity pack seems intriguing!

Ento-Reefer · Jan 20, 2018

cycled123 said:
I'm going to have to take a look at Indio Pacific Sea Farms. The reef worms diversity pack seems intriguing!

This is my third time ordering from them and I am always super happy with what they send me. Everything looked great and I now have tons of pods running around my fuge. I like the mix of diversity you get and I have never gotten any pests from them.

Ento-Reefer · Jan 21, 2018

I decided to take the plunge and just bought an Apex controller for my tank. I have been frustrated with my Reef Keeper both the Archon and the Elite. All of my power bars went wonky and stopped working and I have already had one of them replaced. I have spent more then 8 hours troubleshooting my problems and I am just done. I am hoping I will be up and running with the Apex and be happy with it.

My scopas and three fire fish are ready to move to the new tank. I am going to move them tomorrow morning! I am excited to get them out of the QT tank. Ill post photos tomorrow.

cycled123 · Jan 21, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
I decided to take the plunge and just bought an Apex controller for my tank. I have been frustrated with my Reef Keeper both the Archon and the Elite. All of my power bars went wonky and stopped working and I have already had one of them replaced. I have spent more then 8 hours troubleshooting my problems and I am just done. I am hoping I will be up and running with the Apex and be happy with it.

My scopas and three fire fish are ready to move to the new tank. I am going to move them tomorrow morning! I am excited to get them out of the QT tank. Ill post photos tomorrow.

We have a reef keeper Elite on our 37g tank. We also went Apex for the big tank. We initially had trouble setting up the Elite a year ago but it has been trucking along since then. I found a good deal on a used Apex so went that route for the new tank. I hope the initial start up goes smoothly this time!!!

I can't wait to see your fish swimming in your tank!

Ento-Reefer · Jan 22, 2018

Everything went fine transferring the fish out of qt. They are all sticking together is the new tank thus far. My diatom bloom has started and the scopes has been picking at the rocks a little. I am sure as time goes on they will get more comfortable with the increased space. I find it hard to get a decent FTS with the amount of room I have to stand back from the tank, but here are a few I got of the 4 amigos.

cycled123 · Jan 22, 2018

Yay Fish in tank!!! It's a true Aquarium now

P-Dub · Jan 27, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
Thank you!! This is my first tank above 100g and it has definitely been a learning experience. Do you have a build thread yet for yours? I would love to follow it if you do. I am sure it is going to be nice. My 95g was bought used in 2008 so this will be my first brand new tank in over 10 years.

I have not started a build thread yet. I have been working on the canopy and installed some leds and just put in some thermostatically controlled fans. I feel like I'm going to slow to really start a thread yet. As soon as I progress further I will start one so that I can keep the updates regular. I fear that I really should be starting the thread now so that I can get some constructive criticism as I go to soften the re-learning curve. So much has changed since I had my reef but so much has stayed the same.
Some of the changes that I have made are posted up here.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reboot-with-leds-after-many-many-years-out.344915/#post-4294139
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thoughts-on-canopy-cooling-with-these.347403/#post-4336646

Ento-Reefer · Jan 27, 2018

P-Dub said:
I have not started a build thread yet. I have been working on the canopy and installed some leds and just put in some thermostatically controlled fans. I feel like I'm going to slow to really start a thread yet. As soon as I progress further I will start one so that I can keep the updates regular. I fear that I really should be starting the thread now so that I can get some constructive criticism as I go to soften the re-learning curve. So much has changed since I had my reef but so much has stayed the same.
Some of the changes that I have made are posted up here.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reboot-with-leds-after-many-many-years-out.344915/#post-4294139
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thoughts-on-canopy-cooling-with-these.347403/#post-4336646

@P-Dub I have taken breaks from the hobby a few times due to traveling for work and I am always amazed at how far the technology advances. The last time I shut down my tank was 2011-2014. In just 3 years LEDS came so far that I too bought my first fixture. It has been a steep learning curve coming from T-5, but I really do love the advantages that these fixtures offer.

I have a new Apex controller to set up this weekend and I am hoping it will go smoothly for this very non-techy woman

Ento-Reefer · Jan 28, 2018

I set up my Apex last night and it was easy, even for a non-techy like me. So I was finally able to get my cord disaster organized. I went from this

To this

P-Dub · Jan 28, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
@P-Dub I have taken breaks from the hobby a few times due to traveling for work and I am always amazed at how far the technology advances. The last time I shut down my tank was 2011-2014. In just 3 years LEDS came so far that I too bought my first fixture. It has been a steep learning curve coming from T-5, but I really do love the advantages that these fixtures offer.

I have a new Apex controller to set up this weekend and I am hoping it will go smoothly for this very non-techy woman

Ahhh, the Apex controller. I have purchased one as well. Not the fancy one but the Apex classic. Interested in how the set up goes for you.

cycled123 · Jan 28, 2018

I literally was just talking to my husband about cord management and how wanted something to hold all the cords together, lol. Then I saw this. I think we are going to go plastic though as most of it will be under the tank with the sump (very humid)

Ento-Reefer · Feb 3, 2018

I have been so busy this past week I haven't had time to update this thread.

I have a new grand baby born Monday 1/29/18. This is number 4 and she is healthy and beautiful. So that is my excuse..lol...
I made my first video clip of the tank last night and you can see that I have moved everything over from my 95g. It is nice to only have one tank to worry about now. Everything is doing well all the fish have adjusted and now I just need to let things settle for a while.

cycled123 · Feb 4, 2018

Congrats on the grandbaby! The tank looks great

Ento-Reefer · Feb 12, 2018

I did my first water change this morning and the drain and refill system that my husband installed worked perfectly. I was able to drain 30g and refill it without touching one bucket. I did cover all of the electrical stuff until I was positive we had no leaks or drips. Not even one drop of water on anything outside the tank.

P-Dub · Feb 12, 2018

serious envy there on that system. I have 8inch concrete walls. No running of plumbing for me.

Ento-Reefer · Feb 12, 2018

P-Dub said:
serious envy there on that system. I have 8inch concrete walls. No running of plumbing for me.

I am so fortunate to have such a handy husband . He ran all of the plumbing in the crawl space. It will definitely make maintenance more likely to happen on a regular basis. No excuses when it only takes 30minures or less to do a water change

cycled123 · Feb 12, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
I did my first water change this morning and the drain and refill system that my husband installed worked perfectly. I was able to drain 30g and refill it without touching one bucket. ]

I dream of this!

Daniel@R2R · Feb 13, 2018

Ento-Reefer said:
I did my first water change this morning and the drain and refill system that my husband installed worked perfectly. I was able to drain 30g and refill it without touching one bucket. I did cover all of the electrical stuff until I was positive we had no leaks or drips. Not even one drop of water on anything outside the tank.

This water change system has me very jealous...now to go figure out what I can do in my apartment.

Ento-Reefer · Feb 15, 2018

I am going to try and post a video update once a week so I can track how my tank develops over time. I am specifically interested in how well SPS corals do because of the negative experiences some people seem to have when starting their tanks with dry dead rock. Making videos is not something I am particularly good at so I apologize for the quality. I miss spoke in the video and forgot to mention that I have had my rock beauty angel for just about 1 year.