Kyle's Reef

[samnaz]

The old tank at my parents is fully removed now, there's a good 40 lbs of three year old marco rock that's unfortunately full of algae. I've got it in a brute can with the water from that tank and a heater / MJ1200 in there right now. Not sure if I should just light starve all that algae out, or give it a muratic acid bath and lose three years of maturation. I definitely won't put it in any of my tanks as-is, don't want that hair algae all over the place. Might just run it dark for a few months and do water changes using my DT water to keep some nutrients for the rock dwellers.

Ordered a carbide hacksaw rod to cut some of the dry marco rock flat, tried with a 24t metal blade and it just didn't work all that well. A few smaller pieces I'm going to try just grading on some rough concrete as one person suggested since I don't have access to a pedestal grinder.

Last equipment update is I used the last of my xmas / hobby money to order a wave engine and the adapter cords to run four gyres. The two XF230 on my DT, the XF150 from my parents tank and the Icecap 4K gyre that came with the icecap controller, which I'm using on my 1K gyres. Also going to run the SW-4's off of the 0-10v port it comes with, potentially use the two of them from the frag system in the new tank as well. We'll see..

I’m in the same boat with the algae infested rock from my current tank, unsure if it’s worth reusing or not just because of bubble algae. I definitely want to use live rock for my new tank and it seems like a waste not to use what I have already, full of beneficial bacteria and life. I hadn’t thought of light starving it. I’m curious how that would work and how much life on the rock would survive. Ever done it before? Thanks for the idea!

 

[Kyl]

My DT already has bubble and vermatids, despite my best efforts. It's more I don't want that crazy hair algae that their tank had going all over. I might just keep it in the brute for half a year and periodically put some fish food in there to keep things going. I really don't like to see rock, especially from a fish and coral pest free tank go to waste like that. If I can ever move and get a big tank then the rock would be of great use, so for now I'll just keep it cooking.

 

[JoshH]

My DT already has bubble and vermatids, despite my best efforts. It's more I don't want that crazy hair algae that their tank had going all over. I might just keep it in the brute for half a year and periodically put some fish food in there to keep things going. I really don't like to see rock, especially from a fish and coral pest free tank go to waste like that. If I can ever move and get a big tank then the rock would be of great use, so for now I'll just keep it cooking.

Cooking it in the dark might eliminate the algae issues

 

[Kyl]

Going to be March madness around here, and I don't even watch basketball..

• New tank is due March 10th
• 3D printer enclosure finally coming in first week of March which means I can start 24/7 some prints I've been holding off of, especially with ABS.
• New LFS opens up near my work that's run by a great guy I've gotten a few things from previously, namely the rainbow trachy.
• Going to be trying the freshwater black molly "canary" testing on my qt tanks going forward

Add to that a touch of professional development that's increasingly taking more of my time and woosh, the days will be flying.

I've given up on finding an easy way to cut my existing Marco rock flat, instead will pick up a few pieces and just roll with that. The majority of free time the last week or so has been coming up with a firm tank rollout plan to ultimately join the new tank to the DT. I've noted in the past that when my frag qt sump swap took place a couple mini colonies had RTN events shortly afterwards, which I have to partly attribute to the manufacturing funk of a new tank, even after attempting to clean it. A lot of new additional water, even though I matched dKH exactly, probably didn't help either. Honestly the tank volume near doubled with the addition, so it may have been a combination of both those factors.

With that in mind, there's going to be a few phases to the upgrade:

1. New shallow tank arrives. Current location is occupied by the 40b housing the shut-down tank stock from my parents. Will drain the 40b to the point it can be slid out of the way, get the rough plumbing done on the new tank for the return and drain bulkheads, valves and unions then it can be put into final position. Initially it will be a ghetto AIO tank with the overflow and return valves shut. After I'm comfortable with no leaks, it will be salted.
   
   
2. • After a few days of 1.026, the 40b stock will be moved over. The 40b will be drained and moved to a temporary platform under the new tank to serve as a temporary sump for a month or so. During that time setup of the drain and return lines to the DT sump can take place
     
     
   • Re-route AWC for the DT to output the waste line into the new tank. Will use one of my un-sold DOS to pull waste water into a 5gal jug and empty it every couple of days. Once a good portion of the DT water has been blended into the new tank, and some time for that construction funk to wear off I'll move some frags over.
     
3. If things seem stable SPS wise with the frags after another couple of weeks, I'll finish the plumbing and go live.
   

That's a rough time table of around two months, give or take. Then the real fun can begin, and I can look at stocking some fish in the shallow tank like smaller anthias. As noted, I'm thinking keep around half the tank with the flat marco rock and treat it as a lagoon, while the other half can be SPS on 3" frag tiles. Orientation wise I am keeping the glass clear to the DT, I want that pass-through ability even though it means longer plumbing runs.

Tada

combined_system by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

Mmmm, flat rocks


flat_rocks1 by Kyl, on Flickr

Lots of blenny holes in this one, my favourite of the bunch:


flat_rocks3 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

Finally arrived, sans a XF150 connector..


pump_control by Kyl, on Flickr

Now to get things fully transfered, but already loving having the ability to 'blitz the tank every hour again.

 

[Kyl]

Getting closer..


closer by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

TANK SHIPS TOMORROW ;Woot

 

[Kyl]

Laminated black rear glass, oh so nice.


laminated by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[samnaz]

Wow that’s a beauty.

 

[Kyl]

Tank arriving tomorrow. I hope to have it in place by Sunday, but still debating how I want to clean this sucker before putting it in place..

Fill it a bit and give it a good citric acid scrub, shopvac the water out,or some other way.. hmm..

 

[JoshH]

Tank arriving tomorrow. I hope to have it in place by Sunday, but still debating how I want to clean this sucker before putting it in place..

Fill it a bit and give it a good citric acid scrub, shopvac the water out,or some other way.. hmm..

That sounds like a good plan, I usually just do the vinegar thing. Can't wait to see this one all set up!

 

[Kyl]

I don't want to sabotage the DT like the sump swap did on my frag tank. I lost 3 medium sized colonies after that swap and I can only attribute it to that fresh funk from the tank manufacturing, since I didn't have to touch the plumbing as it was an in-place swap.

Going to grab some polyfilters and run them rather aggressively in "AIO" mode for the first good bit to get rid of all that junk. Fish will most definitely be happy with 6' to run.

 

[Kyl]

Carrier, I mean, tank has arrived. No clicky clicky till later..

 

[Kyl]

new_tank1 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank2 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank3 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank4 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank5 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank6 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank7 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank8 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank9 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank10 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank11 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank12 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank13 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank14 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_tank15 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

Figure this thing weighs about 200lbs, wonder how I'm going to get it up some stairs and in here with the quarantine going on..

 

[Kyl]

Stand, perfect fit.


90g_stand1 by Kyl, on Flickr


90g_stand2 by Kyl, on Flickr

Not level at all, have to do some shimming and find the 4' level wherever it's hiding. Not going to cover the stand, will keep it rather open with that Ikea Kallax below it till the plumbing is done down the line, then will put ply on the bottom and make it incorporate the Kallax flush. Have to fix those holes in the walls too..

And settled on a solution, going to borrow one of those hydraulic scissor carts from my uncle, then I can just roll it into place, jack it up and slide it off. Planning to do that on Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[JoshH]

Stand, perfect fit.


90g_stand1 by Kyl, on Flickr


90g_stand2 by Kyl, on Flickr

Not level at all, have to do some shimming and find the 4' level wherever it's hiding. Not going to cover the stand, will keep it rather open with that Ikea Kallax below it till the plumbing is done down the line, then will put ply on the bottom and make it incorporate the Kallax flush. Have to fix those holes in the walls too..

And settled on a solution, going to borrow one of those hydraulic scissor carts from my uncle, then I can just roll it into place, jack it up and slide it off. Planning to do that on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Everything's looking good, your tank probably weighs atleast that If not more. Good call on the scissor jack cart, by far the best tool for moving tanks IMO. Looks like that stand just squeezed in there lol

 

[Kyl]

4-3/4" from the wall, 1-1/2" from the DT. Just enough. External overflow is 4" exactly.

 

[Kyl]

5/8 Birch plywood installed, really hoping I can give the tank a run at moving tomorrow. Might have to make a bit of a sled with a moving dolly to get it up five stairs. I can lift one end and push it not too bad, so it may just work. Once it's over those five stairs I need to get it on the plywood and all centered, as I'm not sure how much tack the matting it's shipped on has or if I can slide it around a bit. I don't want to cart the tank solely on the glass just in case.