HybridAZN's 180 gallon build

[Tommy's Reef]

Why are u dosing that stuff?

 

[hybridazn]

That's a lot of starfish!

Seriously tell me about it! The population has taken quite a bit since I got the shrimp though, so I'm happy about that

Why are u dosing that stuff?

Nitrate dosing. It's easier to do this than to figure out a way to automate dosing coral foods.

 

[Tommy's Reef]

That's stuffs not gona hurt your live stock

 

[Rakie]

@hybridazn -- I didn't like spectracide because it has a chemical odor -- IMHO, you're better off getting pure KNO3 from a freshwater planted tank website (I like NilocG). It's way more pure, I think NilocG is verified by a 3rd party lab, and has no odor at all. It's like $3 for a POUND plus shipping. I would highly advise that based on nothing but that chemical smell in spectracide scares me, lol.

 

[Brew12]

@hybridazn -- I didn't like spectracide because it has a chemical odor -- IMHO, you're better off getting pure KNO3 from a freshwater planted tank website (I like NilocG). It's way more pure, I think NilocG is verified by a 3rd party lab, and has no odor at all. It's like $3 for a POUND plus shipping. I would highly advise that based on nothing but that chemical smell in spectracide scares me, lol.

If you are going that route (ordering pure chemicals online), wouldn't you be better off getting Sodium Nitrate?

 

[Rakie]

Not to me, as I don't think an extra bit of potassium is bad -- and most importantly these are pure substances made for anal fw planted people. For the most part they're just as picky as we are.

Edit: although I do understand what you mean @Brew12 -- and companies like NilocG do have sodium nitrate as well. I wouldn't have an issue with spectracide if it didn't have that chemical smell. It's that smell that bothers me most, it makes my reefer sense start tingling lol.

If you are going that route (ordering pure chemicals online), wouldn't you be better off getting Sodium Nitrate?

 

[hybridazn]

@hybridazn -- I didn't like spectracide because it has a chemical odor -- IMHO, you're better off getting pure KNO3 from a freshwater planted tank website (I like NilocG). It's way more pure, I think NilocG is verified by a 3rd party lab, and has no odor at all. It's like $3 for a POUND plus shipping. I would highly advise that based on nothing but that chemical smell in spectracide scares me, lol.

I'll have to keep that in mind, the spectricide doesn't bother me but I do notice a slight smell to it. I'll order some here soon.

 

[GoVols]

Nitrate dosing. It's easier to do this than to figure out a way to automate dosing coral foods.

(lol)
Just add some plastic bio-balls to your sump
Trickle filter ;Wacky

.... ;Sorry

 

[hybridazn]

(lol)
Just add some plastic bio-balls to your sump
Trickle filter ;Wacky

.... ;Sorry

Lol worked like a charm! Hahaha

 

[prsnlty]

I've used the spectracide also in the past but I didn't notice the smell for some reason... Maybe it's me LOL.

Hi George sorry I haven't been around in a while I just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your tank. Looking good!

I'll have to keep that in mind, the spectricide doesn't bother me but I do notice a slight smell to it. I'll order some here soon.

 

[hybridazn]

I've used the spectracide also in the past but I didn't notice the smell for some reason... Maybe it's me LOL.

Hi George sorry I haven't been around in a while I just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your tank. Looking good!

Wow, not sure how I missed this. I'm sorry Jackie!

I'm working on an update, I've missed a bunch of stuff. Some good, some bad. Lol

 

[justingraham]

Caught up good stuff

Why not do it like me and eliminate the ato container and just top off from ur rodi can? I have 35 gallons of top off at any given time and I do not have to do anything but watch and that’s only sometimes

 

[hybridazn]

Caught up good stuff

Why not do it like me and eliminate the ato container and just top off from ur rodi can? I have 35 gallons of top off at any given time and I do not have to do anything but watch and that’s only sometimes

Oh wow, sorry I thought I answered this. I didn't want to totally eliminate the ato container just for the simple fact that my tunze ato kicks on and off a lot due to the sensor it uses. It turns on and off probably a couple times an hour when my halides are on. Because of that I didn't want my rodi constantly turning on and off for a few seconds, burning up di resin quicker than I want. Right now I go thru about 3-4 gallons of top off per day. I have the refill programmed to run once a day to help save on my di consumption.

 

[hybridazn]

Oook so an update on what's been going on with the tank. I can sum up the last couple months with just one word, laziness. Yup, I said it. Between wanting to spend time with my family and working a lot of overtime at work, the tank has taken a back seat recently. Water changes I have still been doing, but I've gone as long as 2-3 weeks without one. Because of this some of my sps took a hit, and I don't known if it's bad or not but I'm not too upset about it.

Recently I started getting back into wanting to get the tank right though, so I started with my calcium reactor. It was filthy and clogged. My effluent wouldn't even drip most days, it was bad. So I finally ripped it all apart, cleaned it, rinsed the media and then topped off with new media. After I got it back up and running I realized I should have put the new media on the bottom and the old on top, but I wasn't ripping it back out for that lol.

This pic was the old media after I rinsed it to show how much I've used in 1 year time. The pieces are also much thinner than they used to be. I fill up to the bottom on the sticker if anyone is wondering.

Here it is with both reactors cleaned and refilled with fresh media. I should also add that my 20lb co2 tank is still going strong even after a years worth of use. Still no signs of emptying out.

After all that I went thru the daunting task of doing this:

Yup, switched over to the apex 2016. I've been sitting on it for a while, but just didn't want to reprogram everything lol. I realized that while I was doing the switch that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was quite easy actually. I just took my time and copy/pasted my programming from the classic over to the new one via fusion.

Excuse the mess though, I do still need to clean up some wires. I didn't hook up the 832, why you ask? It's because I bought this unit used, the previous owner (who also acquired it second hand) couldn't get it to work and didn't want to deal with it. So I made him an offer for it (quite cheap actually) and had it sent to me. After some troubleshooting with neptune they asked me to send it in. So I did, and this is where it goes down hill. The brain and the 832 insides looked like they were completely submerged in water for quite some time. Neptune wanted a decent amount of coin to fix both but I could only afford one or the other at the time. So I got the brain fixed(it's all brand new inside now) and had the 832 sent back to me, I'll send it back at a later date to get fixed and use it of course. It's just not necessary right now since I have 2 eb8s and a eb4 on my tank.

 

[Brew12]

This pic was the old media after I rinsed it to show how much I've used in 1 year time. The pieces are also much thinner than they used to be. I fill up to the bottom on the sticker if anyone is wondering.

I have to ask, do you feel that the dissolved media accurately reflects the amount of new growth in your tank?

 

[hybridazn]

I have to ask, do you feel that the dissolved media accurately reflects the amount of new growth in your tank?

Over the past year I think it does. It's really tough for me to show because while some pieces have thrived, others have failed because of other reasons (mostly nutrient issues). But all corals are growing and doing well at this point. I plan on taking some pics this week.

 

[vlangel]

I found it hard to balance family, work and fish tank when I was in your stage of life. If one has to take a hit, I think you chose the right one.

I am glad that you had some time to get to some things and that in general the tank still is doing well. I will be anxious to see pics of the tank.

 

[acer]

NO doubt- summer is tough- lots of other stuff going on makes tank maintenance difficult.

 

[Rakie]

I gotta say, I almost have zero maintenance to do ever and I think that should be very common. What is all this maintenance people have that takes HOURS of your week?

Weekly:
- Fill the ATO
- Scrape the glass 3-4x a weeek
- make sure I don't need to brew up some 2-part

That's like 15 minutes per week. And scrubbing the power heads once every other month also only takes a few minutes.

I see this maintenance talk all the time but nobody says what the heck you guys do. Is staring at the tank maintenance? If so, then I do a lot of maintenance too ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[hybridazn]

I gotta say, I almost have zero maintenance to do ever and I think that should be very common. What is all this maintenance people have that takes HOURS of your week?

Weekly:
- Fill the ATO
- Scrape the glass 3-4x a weeek
- make sure I don't need to brew up some 2-part

That's like 15 minutes per week. And scrubbing the power heads once every other month also only takes a few minutes.

I see this maintenance talk all the time but nobody says what the heck you guys do. Is staring at the tank maintenance? If so, then I do a lot of maintenance too ;Shamefullyembarrased

You have a point, water changes take 20 minutes, wiping the glass maybe 5 minutes. So on and so on, but for me working a weird shift at work I'm pretty beat when I get home at 2am and don't want to do any of that stuff lol. That's my issue. And on weekends when I'm off I just want to spend time with my family lately.

The tank in reality doesn't really eat up that much time, but when your tired it feels like it eats up hours lol