I Promise, It’s the Last Tank!!! dustinc’s 200 SPS Reef

[dustinc]

***Update***

So everything in the tank is settling in very nicely. I added Red Ogo and 4 bottles of pods from Algae Barn this past week. The tank had started to have the beginnings of a Dino outbreak (assumed it was coming with dry rock and bare bottom) and the 2nd day of the outbreak when it was starting to grow was when I added the pods and macro. The next day it was about 50% gone, and today (approximately 3 days later) it's entirely gone. I'm assuming the pods and macro helped tremendously with the outbreak and helped things to settle in nicely. My parameters and staying very consistent and right where I want them to be. I'm hoping to pick up a couple more fish this week. Unfortunately, the captive bred Regal Angel died a couple days ago. I believe it may have been the BlueLine Angel that killed it unfortunately. The Regal was so much smaller and it had a bruise under it's eye and a nipped fin at the back when I found him. He was eating fine but had started to be even more reclusive over the last couple days of its life. I definitely plan to get another, but hopefully a bit bigger and with some other fish that can help stave off aggression. They were really the only 2 free swimmers in the tank, so this probably led to the untimely death.

 

[hawkeyejp82]

Just wanted to follow-up with you. The UV is now showing 46 watts for power draw. It may be where your EB832 needs it's watts readings reset to "ZERO" which is what I had to do to get anything to show. Now it's working properly.

No Im certain my EB832 is showing the correct watts because the T5 80W bulbs are showing 168W power draw for two of them on one plug in its my UV is only drawing 13W. I probably set it up wrong or maybe had the bulb on with no water running through it not sure gotta open it up and check and possibly replace the bulb. Thanks for follow through.

 

[Sean Clark]

No Im certain my EB832 is showing the correct watts because the T5 80W bulbs are showing 168W power draw for two of them on one plug in its my UV is only drawing 13W. I probably set it up wrong or maybe had the bulb on with no water running through it not sure gotta open it up and check and possibly replace the bulb. Thanks for follow through.

Maybe try another plug on the EB832 and compare? My 25w uv shows 33w, my 40w uv shows 47w both are Pentair.

 

[dustinc]

No Im certain my EB832 is showing the correct watts because the T5 80W bulbs are showing 168W power draw for two of them on one plug in its my UV is only drawing 13W. I probably set it up wrong or maybe had the bulb on with no water running through it not sure gotta open it up and check and possibly replace the bulb. Thanks for follow through.

Definitely check on another plug, because my understanding is some plugs can show and others won't be correct. I zeroed out all 8 of mine and reset up, now it's working great. Good luck!

 

[hawkeyejp82]

Definitely check on another plug, because my understanding is some plugs can show and others won't be correct. I zeroed out all 8 of mine and reset up, now it's working great. Good luck!

So what should it look like if it is on? Can you tell the light is on when its sealed? I literally took the bulb out of the casing and turned on the switch with the Fusion APP (while wearing sunglasses to protect my eyes) and my bulb is not on. And this time the EB read out 28W which is maybe higher because I pulled the bulb out of the water.

 

[JachPot]

How are you feeling about the sump, I'm on the fence on what I want to go with and obviously the plat and sapphire are on the list, but I'm also looking at the icecap XL

 

[dustinc]

So what should it look like if it is on? Can you tell the light is on when its sealed? I literally took the bulb out of the casing and turned on the switch with the Fusion APP (while wearing sunglasses to protect my eyes) and my bulb is not on. And this time the EB read out 28W which is maybe higher because I pulled the bulb out of the water.

It's very dim for sure. UV doesn't need to be "bright" to work. I would say at dark, when I'm directly looking at the UV from the top, you can see a very faint purple glow inside, but that's about it.

 

[dustinc]

How are you feeling about the sump, I'm on the fence on what I want to go with and obviously the plat and sapphire are on the list, but I'm also looking at the icecap XL

It's the 2nd time I've used the platinum sump on a build and they are my favorite sump I've ever used. I will never own a sump without a filter roller ever again, and I love that this one is built in and not an after add. Very well built and no issues at all. Highly recommend.

 

[hawkeyejp82]

It's very dim for sure. UV doesn't need to be "bright" to work. I would say at dark, when I'm directly looking at the UV from the top, you can see a very faint purple glow inside, but that's about it.

Yeah its not working right on mine Im going to get a replacement bulb. I checked in pitch black room with it turned on took it out of the casing and nothing no light at all comes from it.

 

[dustinc]

Yeah its not working right on mine Im going to get a replacement bulb. I checked in pitch black room with it turned on took it out of the casing and nothing no light at all comes from it.

Understand man. Good luck and hopefully you can get it fixed soon. Here is a quick picture I took this morning of the light to give you an idea of what to expect. Don't pay attention to the light from behind the tank, that's coming from the refugium light, so it makes it look a little brighter than it actually is.

 

[dustinc]

***Stocking Update***

So I picked up 3 new fish over the last 2 days to add some movement and also try to offset any potential aggression that may have come from the Blue Line Angel (since I believe it killed my Regal).

Yesterday I added a Royal Gramma and Filefish (finishing the first phase of the small fish. The RG is staying hidden for the most part, but coming out to eat. The firefish has been very active since I added it and ate yesterday as soon as I placed in the tank.

Today I added a Scopas tang. It wasn't on my list, however my wife loves the look of the black tang (I think they are ugly) and felt like this was a good alternative and much cheaper... ha ha. I really like the way it looks with the lighter face and darker body. As soon as I added to the tank, it never went and found a place to hide and immediately started exploring the tank. I fed about 10 minutes later and it ate like a champ. Move forward another 30 minutes or so, and I can definitely tell that the Blueline has some aggression inside. They have bee "comparing tails" and the Scopas keeps minding his own business and zooming around the tank, while the angel keeps wanting to tussle a little (it does seems the tang may be slightly teasing though). Hopefully it will calm down and not be too much, otherwise I will be forced to remove the blue line, as I want to be able to add other fish of similar size. I caught a quick picture of the Scopas tonight once I put it in the tank. Let's hope Mr. Blueline calms down.

 

[hawkeyejp82]

Understand man. Good luck and hopefully you can get it fixed soon. Here is a quick picture I took this morning of the light to give you an idea of what to expect. Don't pay attention to the light from behind the tank, that's coming from the refugium light, so it makes it look a little brighter than it actually is.

Yep that is what I would expect it to look like. I probably messed it up by turning it on without having water running through it or something. I took the bulb out and while the filaments look good there is some rattling material inside. Also the casing that brought power to the bulb was wet.

 

[frankny]

very creative! good job!!

 

[dustinc]

very creative! good job!!

Thank you. A long way to go, but very pleased with the progress thus far. Thanks for following along!

Dustin

 

[dustinc]

Tonight I worked on cleaning up the skimmer and also labeling water levels in my ATO container so I can better understand how much top off water is being used daily. Looks like my container holds about 19 gallons of actual water and lasts me right at about 2 weeks currently. Below I have a picture of the sump area as it's being used currently, my refugium as it's running (growing Red Ogo well), and the labeling of my ATO container.

I also have a white tail bristletooth coming in tomorrow and a new Regal Angel tomorrow as well. It's going to my LFS to quarantine and treat them, and I hope to bring them home asap.

 

[dustinc]

***Skimmer Update***

This is my first experience with a Bubble King skimmer, and I have to say in the very short time I've owned it, I'm quite impressed. I've used a lot of skimmers over the years, and honestly have always loved the consistency of LifeReef skimmers, however, I absolutely love this skimmer so far. I cleaned it out on Thursday evening, and below is a picture of 24 hours of skimmate. I have it dialed in well now and it is pulling some nasty dark stuff, and I'm impressed because I wouldn't think there is much with the filter roller and only a few fish at this point. Let's hope it keeps up the great work!

 

[dustinc]

Today I swung by to check out my new arrivals for the setup at my LFS. I have a white tail bristle tooth tang and a new Regal Angel waiting on me when I'm ready to pickup. The Regal is a Red Sea wild caught, but it's already eating, and should definitely be able to handle his own with the blue line as he is larger as well. Everything is doing well and settling in nicely. The rocks are starting to get a brown algae film on them again, but typically that lasts a few days. I may pickup a couple snails to offset some of that, but don't want too many.

Lastly, this is my favorite part of the evening. After a long day at the office, coming home to sit with my wife and son, and watch the fish with a cold beverage.

 

[dustinc]

Just thought I would post a couple of quick shots I took of a few of the fish... The Blueline and Scopas occasionally try to prove their dominance, but overall they seem to have become buddies, constantly trolling the tank together. Can't wait to add a few more fish in the next week or so. The other picture is of the tailspot blenny in his hole that he's always in, pops out to grab food in the water column and that's about it. Surprisingly, the firefish spends more time in the water column by far. You can see his head peaking out.

 

[dustinc]

***Stock Update***

Tonight I added my White Tail Bristletooth Tang and the new Regal Angel. The tang immediately ate when I placed him in the tank and started picking the bare bottom and rock work. The regal went to hide almost immediately. He's very subdued and the BlueLine and Scopas were very interested in him, but quickly left him alone because it is the largest fish in the tank. Going to let these guys settle in for a week or 2 then start adding some wrasses. I've also added 4 tester Acro frags early this week and they are all doing very well. The tank has really balanced out well and happy with where it is at this point. Their frag plugs also had a ton of Coraline on them, so glad to add that to hopefully spread throughout the tank.

 

[hawkeyejp82]

Got my UV sterilizer up and running again thanks for the help dustin. What happened was I didn't secure the quartz sleeve and water leaked up to the ballast cost me almost $300 to replace the ballast and the bulb.