Jason's 360G Build Thread
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likemike99
Community Member
run a calc reactor and you have the co2 built in, no need for external co2
jepuskar
Active Member
I have the room for it, so it's not a big deal. I read about issues with them and honestly don't want to spend the time dialing it in. What I'm doing now is straightforward.
I think that a Calcium Reactor with Kalk running too in order to raise the PH is the best setup for larger tanks like yours. They really aren't hard to dial in at all. Once you grasp how they work they are truly set it and forget it. Especially since you have the room for one. I would seriously just give it some consideration.
jepuskar
Active Member
Ahh ok, you quoted my message where I was talking about excessive CO2 on my well water which is depleting my Anion resin..so I was responding to that.
My untouched PH is 7.8 atm. I'm going to get my skimmer going soon with an outside airline to see if I can get that up above 8.
I am having a PH issue as well. With an outside line I am at 7.86 maxxxx. Without it I have dipped below 7.6. There are no corals in the tank yet. I am hoping that once I start dosing maybe the KH addition will raise PH to acceptable levels.
jepuskar
Active Member
My cycle is about done..but I found an issue. One of the negative aspects of DIY'ing and not accounting for all variables.
I thought I fixed this, but apparently water was still leaking through the aquarium where I drilled for the overflow. The back of the aquarium is plywood coated with a lot of resin and pond shield, but with imperfections, so the gaskets on the weir don't seal like they would on glass. I thought I fixed this by using silicone to fill the voids, but nope...
Back when I was waterproofing I foolishly didn't waterproof the holes..because well, water was never suppose to be there...would have taken me a couple extra minues to waterproof...but no, let's be dumb.
The wood was wet, but I tried using Bondo Resin to waterproof..didn't cure...gave it 24 hours too. So removed what was there and went with J-B Weld WaterWeld, which I read people swear by. So the holes are now waterproofed, but I also put some of this around the holes on the inside where the gaskets seal to hopefully make a smoother surface.
The other fun part is I had some weird growth on my sump baffles..which may have been from the water interacting with the wood..bacteria?? I don't know, but I used Semco Water Proof Membrane for the baffles and some people questioned the decision to use that product. I couldn't get a straight answer from the company, so I ripped the sump out and took out the baffles and cut new ones and used pond shield. Waiting on that to dry, will silicone it and put the sump back in place.
I had moved the heaters to the DT and have the gyres going and have been topping off manually in the meantime.
I'm glad I'm doing all of this now without critters. 20lbs TBS Live Sand arriving tomorrow too.
I thought I fixed this, but apparently water was still leaking through the aquarium where I drilled for the overflow. The back of the aquarium is plywood coated with a lot of resin and pond shield, but with imperfections, so the gaskets on the weir don't seal like they would on glass. I thought I fixed this by using silicone to fill the voids, but nope...
Back when I was waterproofing I foolishly didn't waterproof the holes..because well, water was never suppose to be there...would have taken me a couple extra minues to waterproof...but no, let's be dumb.
The wood was wet, but I tried using Bondo Resin to waterproof..didn't cure...gave it 24 hours too. So removed what was there and went with J-B Weld WaterWeld, which I read people swear by. So the holes are now waterproofed, but I also put some of this around the holes on the inside where the gaskets seal to hopefully make a smoother surface.
The other fun part is I had some weird growth on my sump baffles..which may have been from the water interacting with the wood..bacteria?? I don't know, but I used Semco Water Proof Membrane for the baffles and some people questioned the decision to use that product. I couldn't get a straight answer from the company, so I ripped the sump out and took out the baffles and cut new ones and used pond shield. Waiting on that to dry, will silicone it and put the sump back in place.
I had moved the heaters to the DT and have the gyres going and have been topping off manually in the meantime.
I'm glad I'm doing all of this now without critters. 20lbs TBS Live Sand arriving tomorrow too.
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jepuskar
Active Member
So the good news is that I believe I protected the wood with the JB Weld, but even with a smoother tank surface now and with silicon on the gaskets, water is still entering the holes and into the overflow box. Tried it without silicon, but it leaked...with silicon it's leaking a lot less..but it's not leaving the tank on the outside.
I'm going to just call it and re-visit another time maybe. Not sure what else to try at this point.
Sump is going back into place tomorrow and I'll be dosing more Ammonium Chloride.
I'm going to just call it and re-visit another time maybe. Not sure what else to try at this point.
Sump is going back into place tomorrow and I'll be dosing more Ammonium Chloride.
jepuskar
Active Member
I'm calling the tank cycled. Dumped 8 bottles of Algae Barn copepods in and am feeding them with Phyto daily. Ordered 6 Yellow Headed Jawfish from Saltwater Aquarium as they will either ship or let me do a local pickup of them after a 7 day Quarantine...waiting on an answer to that.
In the meantime, will work on the 1/4" netting cover and will break up a ton more dry rock into smaller rubble pieces for these jaw fish, not to mention pick up some food. Have more TBS sand coming Tuesday as I liked what I received the first time. Will turn lights on the day they arrive on a 30 days acclimation cycle. I know this is probably geared toward coral acclimation, but I figured the less intense the lights to start may help with the ugly stage to come.
In the meantime, will work on the 1/4" netting cover and will break up a ton more dry rock into smaller rubble pieces for these jaw fish, not to mention pick up some food. Have more TBS sand coming Tuesday as I liked what I received the first time. Will turn lights on the day they arrive on a 30 days acclimation cycle. I know this is probably geared toward coral acclimation, but I figured the less intense the lights to start may help with the ugly stage to come.
jepuskar
Active Member
Went and picked up 6 Yellow headed Jawfish from Saltwateraquarium.coms Chicago office..that was a little out of the way, but not too bad and saved the fish about 14 hours in a box. Acclimated in about 20-25 minutes and got them in one at a time with no fanfare....and took almost a day before I saw one of them. Three days later we finally spotted the sixth one.
So we have 3 in the corner of the tank digging to China together, 2 digging under a rock together andthe last one spotted under a crevice in a rock. The two together decided to be ***** today and pulled a rather larger rock for them in front of their burrow as a big F the world gesture. Needless to say my wife and kids are amused with what they have seen soo far. All of them are eating Rod's Fish food delivered by Julian's Thing.
Going to give them a few weeks to get settled before I introduce more fish..these are most likely going to be the only wild caught fish in the tank...i looked for captive bred jawfish and couldn't find a source.
I'll provide pictures once I take decent ones..I think I need to set my white balance as the pictures look awful.
Here is a video I made over 11 years ago in Bonaire, just mute and fast forward...it was cool when I made it. Been fascinated with these creatures for years.
So we have 3 in the corner of the tank digging to China together, 2 digging under a rock together andthe last one spotted under a crevice in a rock. The two together decided to be ***** today and pulled a rather larger rock for them in front of their burrow as a big F the world gesture. Needless to say my wife and kids are amused with what they have seen soo far. All of them are eating Rod's Fish food delivered by Julian's Thing.
Going to give them a few weeks to get settled before I introduce more fish..these are most likely going to be the only wild caught fish in the tank...i looked for captive bred jawfish and couldn't find a source.
I'll provide pictures once I take decent ones..I think I need to set my white balance as the pictures look awful.
Here is a video I made over 11 years ago in Bonaire, just mute and fast forward...it was cool when I made it.
Been fascinated with these creatures for years.jepuskar
Active Member
At some point, in planning my water changing station, I convinced myself that 60g of salt on hand was enough capacity for 400g total system volume. I always wanted more, but my fish room is just not big enough, so I settled. While I probably could get away with it, I don't think anyone would argue that having more water available to change out is a bad thing, so I've decided to change it.
Took a couple days of back and forth to come up with a solution, but it involves moving my current 65g Norwesco freshwater and 65g salt mixing containers to the garage and plumbing them together to make ~120g of freshwater RO/DI. I just found out that 20 minutes away is a Tank Depot facility, so I picked up a 105g vertical Norwesco and didnt have to pay the $10,000 for shipping.
So this 105g will now be in my fish room for saltwater mixing and will allow me to do a ~20% biweekly water change. Have all the plumbing materials on order...well, what I think is all of it.
The other thing I obsessed about is my current water production rate is abysmal due to water quality and not be able to run back to back membranes because my incoming TDS is ~750 and the fact the water is high in CO2. So the water gets sent out to a brute container in the garage and bubbled for a while and then sent through DI to the fresh containers. It just takes too long and with the added bubbling time needed and now the fact I need even more water so I decided to just put another RO unit in parallel. I didn't need to spend the full amount on a brand new unit, as I have a membrane, 2 canisters etc..so I pieced together the parts on BRS to make it whole.
I'm not convinced this is was the smartest thing to do, but I'll try it out and see. It will be fun putting it together at least.
The 6 Jaw fish are doing great. The largest one is a loner and disappears for 2-3 days until he is hungry and then comes out to feed with the rest. The other 5 are all up front and are pigs. I've got the feeding down pretty good now. I feed them frozen mysis/brine and Rod's Fish blend...after I thaw in water and cut up into manageable pieces for them, I dump this mix into a fine mesh net. I then put a small amount of tank water in the small cup I use and turn the net inside out and the food goes into that. The end result is less uneaten food and cleaner water. Before I was shooting cloudy water into the tank along with the solid pieces, but this takes care of that. I'm sure this is a known thing for years, but I came up with it on my own without reading about it, so I feel special.
Next up for Live stock is a CUC and I'm eyeing some Biota Purple Tangs, but not sure if those will be good tankmates for the jaw fish.
Took a couple days of back and forth to come up with a solution, but it involves moving my current 65g Norwesco freshwater and 65g salt mixing containers to the garage and plumbing them together to make ~120g of freshwater RO/DI. I just found out that 20 minutes away is a Tank Depot facility, so I picked up a 105g vertical Norwesco and didnt have to pay the $10,000 for shipping.
So this 105g will now be in my fish room for saltwater mixing and will allow me to do a ~20% biweekly water change. Have all the plumbing materials on order...well, what I think is all of it.
The other thing I obsessed about is my current water production rate is abysmal due to water quality and not be able to run back to back membranes because my incoming TDS is ~750 and the fact the water is high in CO2. So the water gets sent out to a brute container in the garage and bubbled for a while and then sent through DI to the fresh containers. It just takes too long and with the added bubbling time needed and now the fact I need even more water so I decided to just put another RO unit in parallel. I didn't need to spend the full amount on a brand new unit, as I have a membrane, 2 canisters etc..so I pieced together the parts on BRS to make it whole.
I'm not convinced this is was the smartest thing to do, but I'll try it out and see. It will be fun putting it together at least.
The 6 Jaw fish are doing great. The largest one is a loner and disappears for 2-3 days until he is hungry and then comes out to feed with the rest. The other 5 are all up front and are pigs. I've got the feeding down pretty good now. I feed them frozen mysis/brine and Rod's Fish blend...after I thaw in water and cut up into manageable pieces for them, I dump this mix into a fine mesh net. I then put a small amount of tank water in the small cup I use and turn the net inside out and the food goes into that. The end result is less uneaten food and cleaner water. Before I was shooting cloudy water into the tank along with the solid pieces, but this takes care of that. I'm sure this is a known thing for years, but I came up with it on my own without reading about it, so I feel special.
Next up for Live stock is a CUC and I'm eyeing some Biota Purple Tangs, but not sure if those will be good tankmates for the jaw fish.
RJT
Active Member
Do you have a pump for your rodi? Do you have a cover for your tank, jawfish jump really well.
I have 2 captive bred purple tangs. Besides a too small sailfin tang they haven't bothered any other fish in my tank. Even with their aggressive eating they should be good tank mates for the jawfish.
I have 2 captive bred purple tangs. Besides a too small sailfin tang they haven't bothered any other fish in my tank. Even with their aggressive eating they should be good tank mates for the jawfish.
jepuskar
Active Member
Yes, Aquatec..incoming PSI is around 80. Incoming water pressure without the pump was 60. It's the TDS that is getting me...I can't run the membranes back to back because the concentration would be too high. Well, combine that with the off gassing I need to do, it just adds more time to the process.
I have screen netting, but I must say they are pretty settled, when they do get spooked they zip right back into their holes. I gave them about 4-5" of sand.
I'm not really concerned with the Purple Tangs themselves, just more of the Jaw Fish not coming out as much. I think I can manage the feeding of both...but at $500 a piece for the Tangs that would be an expensive mistake if it didn't work out. With that said, I really want them.
RJT
Active Member
I forgot I paid a lot for those fish. Thank you for the reminder haha
Have you looked at the 500gph rodi system?
The captive bred tangs are small. Mines may have been 1.5" at most when I got them. That may help with the jaw fish being afraid of them, not sure if your seller sizes can be decided before you order.
Have you looked at the 500gph rodi system?
The captive bred tangs are small. Mines may have been 1.5" at most when I got them. That may help with the jaw fish being afraid of them, not sure if your seller sizes can be decided before you order.
RJT
Active Member
Haha Not a problem. Your setup works fine anyway.Ohhhhh F.M.L, I've never seen that before. Ohh well, I'll be running two RO/DI systems in parallel, but that looks cool though. Thanks for ruining my evening.
jepuskar
Active Member
Apparently the Jaw Fish are comfortable as I just saw a male with a mouth full of eggs. Wasn't sure if that was going to happen or not, but I'm going to try and be a Jaw Fish dad. We'll see how it goes.
Added a cleanup crew from Saltwateraquarium.com and 5 Royal Grammas from Biota a couple weeks ago, as well. Bringing down Nitrates by doing water changes. Corals are still a ways off at this point, enjoying what we have atm.
Added a cleanup crew from Saltwateraquarium.com and 5 Royal Grammas from Biota a couple weeks ago, as well. Bringing down Nitrates by doing water changes. Corals are still a ways off at this point, enjoying what we have atm.
jepuskar
Active Member
So out of my 6 JF, I have two mated pairs and 2 Bachelors who hang out in the back together.
Last night the same JF from last month released his eggs (I missed last months release) and I was waiting and saved about 100 of them and transferred to the rearing tank. Here are a few from this morning. JF Babies- 12 hours old I'm not expecting to be successful at saving any of them, but I'm going to try. Water quality and food is the focus.
Also, the other mated pair, the male is holding eggs too, so in about 5-6 days we'll be transferring more babies to the rearing tank.
Now that I know what happens when they release, I'm sure I can save even more babies this next time. Will need to refine my catching skills. Pretty dang cool to see.
Last night the same JF from last month released his eggs (I missed last months release) and I was waiting and saved about 100 of them and transferred to the rearing tank. Here are a few from this morning. JF Babies- 12 hours old I'm not expecting to be successful at saving any of them, but I'm going to try. Water quality and food is the focus.
Also, the other mated pair, the male is holding eggs too, so in about 5-6 days we'll be transferring more babies to the rearing tank.
Now that I know what happens when they release, I'm sure I can save even more babies this next time. Will need to refine my catching skills. Pretty dang cool to see.
jepuskar
Active Member
So out of those 100 babies, we are down to 1 now. Trying to get him through, but not looking good, even though he is active.
Added 3 Biota Yellow Tangs and a Biota Coral Beauty today. Current stocking list:
6 YHJF - Wild
5 Royal Grammas - Captive
4 Peppermint Shrimp - Captive
1 Cleaner Shrimp - Wild
2 Green Chromis - Wild (12 delivered, 10 died within 2 days)
3 Yellow Tangs - Captive
1 Coral Beauty - Captive
Not sure when I'll add coral...sort of off on a tangent now with these babies.
Added 3 Biota Yellow Tangs and a Biota Coral Beauty today. Current stocking list:
6 YHJF - Wild
5 Royal Grammas - Captive
4 Peppermint Shrimp - Captive
1 Cleaner Shrimp - Wild
2 Green Chromis - Wild (12 delivered, 10 died within 2 days)
3 Yellow Tangs - Captive
1 Coral Beauty - Captive
Not sure when I'll add coral...sort of off on a tangent now with these babies.
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