Krawl's First Reef Tank Attempt (90g)

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Typically what happens is the CC wants to only eat the tasty algae and by the time the only thing really left is GHA, they’re too weak to go after it and die, often leaving only a few snails that were “on the ball” and outlasted their competition long enough for that tasty algae to come back as a result of the decaying CC corpses and lack of CC competition.

So was doing some digging. Liveaquira (sure that is spelled wrong) offers some CUC packages. Some with sorted stuff and the. Some more hermit crab and snail specific. Anyone ever order from them? Thinking of getting a CUC package to help boost the crew and hopefully that helps with the algae.

Also speaking of which, dont know if I will get a answer here or if I need to lost elsewhere in R2R. Some mornings, I get up and our Kessil is on? Tnak is lit up like it is in the middle of the light cycle. Not sure what time it came on (goes off at midnight), but when I am up at 6:30, it is on and corals are open. Cant be good and I am sure it does not help the algae issue. So the I have to reset the light cycle and it goes back off. Any ideas??
 

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So was doing some digging. Liveaquira (sure that is spelled wrong) offers some CUC packages. Some with sorted stuff and the. Some more hermit crab and snail specific. Anyone ever order from them? Thinking of getting a CUC package to help boost the crew and hopefully that helps with the algae.

Also speaking of which, dont know if I will get a answer here or if I need to lost elsewhere in R2R. Some mornings, I get up and our Kessil is on? Tnak is lit up like it is in the middle of the light cycle. Not sure what time it came on (goes off at midnight), but when I am up at 6:30, it is on and corals are open. Cant be good and I am sure it does not help the algae issue. So the I have to reset the light cycle and it goes back off. Any ideas??

 
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Do you have the kessil on a controller?

No it is not ran through the APEX. It is just ran off the app. Figured it would need to be to keep programming for the ramp up and ramp down cycle.
 

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I have never ran one with an apex, but there must be something going on with when the apex is turning on the light. Maybe post a picture of of the light cycle graph and how you have it setup on the apex. I’m sure someone will be able to help
 
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Yeah that is the thing. It is not ran through the APEX. That is the only thing that is not. I dont run it through there since I have the Kessil app on my phone.
 

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Just because people aren't commenting...doesn't mean they ain't looking!

The more updates (and photos) the better...it's what keeps people interested in these tank builds. I have the same exact 90g as you...but haven't started my build thread yet. Following along on your build.
@Reefpuck I hope you started that build thread. :)
 
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So tonight was another hour long plucking of the GHA while my better half scooped it out with the fish net. I also tired to siphon clean the sand bed... that was a epic fail. Was going to do a water change but going to wait till Saturday so we can get back on the weekly cycle. I did fine some clean rock fragments in the sand so I put them close to my GSP in Hope's it will move there. Then may transfer that into the biocube tank. Still need to post pictures of that one! Lol...

Here is some pictures of how it looks like with the white lights on. Please dont beat me up to bad. We are trying to get things back in order...

20190321_213455.jpg

20190321_213500.jpg

20190321_213510.jpg


Then our coral banded shrimp (think that is what he is) came out. He has been in the tank for about 2ish years. His watchman goby friend didnt make it long at all.

20190321_213400.jpg


So... that is where we sit now. Water test and water change coming this weekend!

Oh! Did have a question... stands. Where do you stand on stands? Lol who makes a good one and should I even think about swapping? I dont think there is enough height under ours. I dont like the way the drain and return run. It may be a issue. I see really nice sump areas on here and ours looks like crap!

-Krawl
 
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This is an interesting read. I'm going to be following along. P.S. I think a 90 may be the perfect size. :)

Lol nice! Thanks for the follow. Been a long road for sure! I do like the size of the 90. I would like a bigger size one day but then again, got to master this size first. Still, this one is our first attempt at a reef tank. But, if you follow along, you can see what NOT to do with yours! Lol...
 

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Is it possible to try to manually remove as much of the nuisance algae as possible and do frequent water changes? Adding a booster pump to your RO/DI can help with making an appropriate amount of water for changes. I would be constantly monitoring water parameters. Which type of test kits are you using? Also check the flow in the tank for stagnant areas where detritus can collect and wreak havoc on your tank. Vaccum the sand bed and stir it up a bit to get rid of things contributing to the problem. Do you run a skimmer on the tank? Any phosphate removal media? I wouldn't try to add anymore livestock to the tank until things are under control. Maintaining water quality is the number one key thing to keeping a successful tank.
 

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[QUOTEOh! Did have a question... stands. Where do you stand on stands? Lol who makes a good one and should I even think about swapping? I dont think there is enough height under ours. I dont like the way the drain and return run. It may be a issue. I see really nice sump areas on here and ours looks like crap!-Krawl[/QUOTE]

When I set up my 210 I had a few people tell me to lift the stand if possible -- not enough room. I wish I listened. Now it has almost a ton of weight on top of it. It would have been easy enough to do before I filled it with water. If you have the opportunity to create room to work around in -- do it. PVC is easy enough to reconfigure with elbows and valves. If it comes to aesthetics there are plenty of refinishing kits at Home Depot or Lowe's that can make a stand look much nicer if you want to give it a different look. Or...You can also buy a second tank and set it up the way you like. ;)
 

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Just went back and looked at your sump under the tank. It seems that you just have a filter sock coming from your drain for filtration. In my opinion, you should probably look into getting a proper sump, with a refugium, and a protein skimmer. Also you may not have enough natural biological filtration to keep up with the tank. The amount of rock in the tank alone isnt enough.
 

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[QUOTEOh! Did have a question... stands. Where do you stand on stands? Lol who makes a good one and should I even think about swapping? I dont think there is enough height under ours. I dont like the way the drain and return run. It may be a issue. I see really nice sump areas on here and ours looks like crap!-Krawl

When I set up my 210 I had a few people tell me to lift the stand if possible -- not enough room. I wish I listened. Now it has almost a ton of weight on top of it. It would have been easy enough to do before I filled it with water. If you have the opportunity to create room to work around in -- do it. PVC is easy enough to reconfigure with elbows and valves. If it comes to aesthetics there are plenty of refinishing kits at Home Depot or Lowe's that can make a stand look much nicer if you want to give it a different look. Or...You can also buy a second tank and set it up the way you like. ;)[/QUOTE]

Building a new 280 gallon setup now. I made my stand with 36" of height inside under the tank. My tank will be sitting at 42" off the floor. My tank is also 36" tall. I'm 6' 8" to the top of the tank. The lighting canopy goes right to the 8' 4" tall ceiling. It will look like an entire wall unit.

20190320_230243.jpg
 

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[/QUOTE]

Building a new 280 gallon setup now. I made my stand with 36" of height inside under the tank. My tank will be sitting at 42" off the floor. My tank is also 36" tall. I'm 6' 8" to the top of the tank. The lighting canopy goes right to the 8' 4" tall ceiling. It will look like an entire wall unit.

20190320_230243.jpg
[/QUOTE]
I hope you have a build thread started. :)
 
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most people prefer to build their own stands.

What all do you have for CUC today?

CUC is lacking. We have thought about ordering a CUC package from Liveaqueria. Anyone ever ordered from there, especially the CUC? 120ish gallon system and I may have 10 snails and hermits total. Yeah I know 1 per gallon so we need to add a bunch. Thinking of 100 or so each. I can always add some to our 14 gallon biocube.

Is it possible to try to manually remove as much of the nuisance algae as possible and do frequent water changes? Adding a booster pump to your RO/DI can help with making an appropriate amount of water for changes. I would be constantly monitoring water parameters. Which type of test kits are you using? Also check the flow in the tank for stagnant areas where detritus can collect and wreak havoc on your tank. Vaccum the sand bed and stir it up a bit to get rid of things contributing to the problem. Do you run a skimmer on the tank? Any phosphate removal media? I wouldn't try to add anymore livestock to the tank until things are under control. Maintaining water quality is the number one key thing to keeping a successful tank.

Yea we are not adding anything right now except CUC. We MIGHT add a tang or something to help with the GHA but that is it. We are doing weekly water changes and testing the water once a week. Our test is API but thinking of getting some of the Hannah kits. Seem like they would be quick and easy. We are so trying to remove the GHA manually and with water changes. It is down to the fine hairs that are hard to get off.

[QUOTEOh! Did have a question... stands. Where do you stand on stands? Lol who makes a good one and should I even think about swapping? I dont think there is enough height under ours. I dont like the way the drain and return run. It may be a issue. I see really nice sump areas on here and ours looks like crap!-Krawl

When I set up my 210 I had a few people tell me to lift the stand if possible -- not enough room. I wish I listened. Now it has almost a ton of weight on top of it. It would have been easy enough to do before I filled it with water. If you have the opportunity to create room to work around in -- do it. PVC is easy enough to reconfigure with elbows and valves. If it comes to aesthetics there are plenty of refinishing kits at Home Depot or Lowe's that can make a stand look much nicer if you want to give it a different look. Or...You can also buy a second tank and set it up the way you like. ;)[/QUOTE]

Just went back and looked at your sump under the tank. It seems that you just have a filter sock coming from your drain for filtration. In my opinion, you should probably look into getting a proper sump, with a refugium, and a protein skimmer. Also you may not have enough natural biological filtration to keep up with the tank. The amount of rock in the tank alone isnt enough.

Sounds like we need to post a picture of the sump! Thought I had one but went back as well and we dont. It is now a EShops. It has a filter sock chamber that holds a media bag with carbon and phosphate remover media. Then goes into a middle chamber with 2 heaters, APEX probes and a EShops protein skimmer. Then it goes over and through a black sponge and into the return chamber. That is it. No cheats or anything else. I dont think we have room for that or anything else. Not to mention the bottom of the tank and the top of the protein skimmer is close. I have just enough to take the cup off and empty it! Then off to the side of the sump is our APEX setup.
 

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CUC is lacking. We have thought about ordering a CUC package from Liveaqueria. Anyone ever ordered from there, especially the CUC? 120ish gallon system and I may have 10 snails and hermits total. Yeah I know 1 per gallon so we need to add a bunch. Thinking of 100 or so each. I can always add some to our 14 gallon biocube.



Yea we are not adding anything right now except CUC. We MIGHT add a tang or something to help with the GHA but that is it. We are doing weekly water changes and testing the water once a week. Our test is API but thinking of getting some of the Hannah kits. Seem like they would be quick and easy. We are so trying to remove the GHA manually and with water changes. It is down to the fine hairs that are hard to get off.



When I set up my 210 I had a few people tell me to lift the stand if possible -- not enough room. I wish I listened. Now it has almost a ton of weight on top of it. It would have been easy enough to do before I filled it with water. If you have the opportunity to create room to work around in -- do it. PVC is easy enough to reconfigure with elbows and valves. If it comes to aesthetics there are plenty of refinishing kits at Home Depot or Lowe's that can make a stand look much nicer if you want to give it a different look. Or...You can also buy a second tank and set it up the way you like. ;)



Sounds like we need to post a picture of the sump! Thought I had one but went back as well and we dont. It is now a EShops. It has a filter sock chamber that holds a media bag with carbon and phosphate remover media. Then goes into a middle chamber with 2 heaters, APEX probes and a EShops protein skimmer. Then it goes over and through a black sponge and into the return chamber. That is it. No cheats or anything else. I dont think we have room for that or anything else. Not to mention the bottom of the tank and the top of the protein skimmer is close. I have just enough to take the cup off and empty it! Then off to the side of the sump is our APEX setup.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I must have just seen the old pictures and didnt realize there was more to the thread. My apologies. Seems you have some equipment now.
 

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