Lux T90 - 50 Gallon Office Build

[braysky]

Hi everyone,
I just started putting together my first tank this past week (started my cycle over the weekend). I'm hoping to do a mixed reef of fish/softies/LPS though i might venture into some SPS down the road. I thought i'd share a couple pictures and where I'm at (my ammonia levels are 0.8ppm as of this morning [ 36 hours after dosing - started at 2ppm] and nitrites are showing over my test limit of 1ppm at the moment.

Gear:
Octo Reef Lux T90 (48g with sump, 36x18x18)
Classic 150 protein skimmer + AQ3000 return pump
Kessil AP9X light
Two Maxspect XF330 gyres
300W BRS heater + Inkbird controller
Hoping to add a larger ATO reservoir and Tunze system soon as the built in 1.5g reservoir doesn't go far at all. I'm running no lights and still evaporating about 3/4 gallon per day

I used Marco rock and their mortar to do my aquascape and about 30lbs of Special Grade sand.

BTW, to anyone else using this tank - does my method of tuning the overflow look correct? This tank was definitely loud as heck and from my reading I really needed to use the ball valve on the main drain to dial it in. In my case, the thing is probably closed up about 50% to get it nice and quiet. Just a bit more and it starts getting really loud and a touch less i get gurgling/slurping sounds about every 30 seconds or so.

 

[SPR1968]

I love the aquascape design, very nice indeed!

It has a beautiful natural look to it

 

[braysky]

Thanks, i added a few pics up close so you can get a better sense of what its doing in 3D. I kept asking myself if it was too much or not haha. I left about an inch and a half to the glass and the worst case location (enough to still get my hand and/or cleaning methods in there) and it's only at one or two points.

 

[braysky]

I started my cycle 12 days ago using BioSpira and some ammonia dosing. I thought i'd post my data, but everything looks pretty good so far I think. Following some of Dr Tim's advice from the BRS lecture that was posted, i have my tank up around 84 degrees right now, though my salinity was still at 1.025 (i didn't check the new salinity after raising temperature - theoretically, it would drop a little which would be preferred for the cycle).

My test kit (Red Sea) only shows up to 1ppm Nitrite so i'm not able to see how high it is getting after the ammonia doses. You can see where i've done 2ppm doses (whenever the Nitrite reading has been close to 0). On day 10, that reading was actually done 12 hours ahead of schedule So far, i think it's pretty good but let me know if anything seems amiss. The tank PH has been steadily around 8.0 to 8.2

 

[braysky]

Finally finished cycling mid week, did a couple large water changes to get the nitrates down to about 10ppm and finally introduced the new guys. The acclimated well and were eating on day 1. They are definitely a bit crazy - pretty much use my gyre like a fish treadmill.

 

[MillennialReefer]

Wonderful! I use the same tank!! I set up the filtration a bit different. I basically have the overflow go directly to the main chamber. In there is the skimmer and an ATS that sits inside a container with live rock and some extra sand. In the filter sock component, I added the red sea filter cup and put some mangroves I previously had. The emergency drain goes directly into the return compartment. I set it up this way because I didnt like that the tubing curved and caused massive gurgling even after tuning the float valve. I will upload a picture shortly!

 

[braysky]

Wonderful! I use the same tank!! I set up the filtration a bit different. I basically have the overflow go directly to the main chamber. In there is the skimmer and an ATS that sits inside a container with live rock and some extra sand. In the filter sock component, I added the red sea filter cup and put some mangroves I previously had. The emergency drain goes directly into the return compartment. I set it up this way because I didnt like that the tubing curved and caused massive gurgling even after tuning the float valve. I will upload a picture shortly!

I had a bear of a time tuning that overflow to not gurgle. If you look at one of the pictures with the sump, you can see how closed it is. Were you able to open it up a lot more with rerouting if the plumbing? I wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference but I will say it took a solid hour of fidgeting to get that ball valve to move the fractions of an inch that made it go quiet from a gurgle every 30s.

I wouldn't mind trying to do a refugium in that section before the return pump but it just seems so incredibly small for that.

 

[Freenow54]

Hi everyone,
I just started putting together my first tank this past week (started my cycle over the weekend). I'm hoping to do a mixed reef of fish/softies/LPS though i might venture into some SPS down the road. I thought i'd share a couple pictures and where I'm at (my ammonia levels are 0.8ppm as of this morning [ 36 hours after dosing - started at 2ppm] and nitrites are showing over my test limit of 1ppm at the moment.

Gear:
Octo Reef Lux T90 (48g with sump, 36x18x18)
Classic 150 protein skimmer + AQ3000 return pump
Kessil AP9X light
Two Maxspect XF330 gyres
300W BRS heater + Inkbird controller
Hoping to add a larger ATO reservoir and Tunze system soon as the built in 1.5g reservoir doesn't go far at all. I'm running no lights and still evaporating about 3/4 gallon per day

I used Marco rock and their mortar to do my aquascape and about 30lbs of Special Grade sand.

BTW, to anyone else using this tank - does my method of tuning the overflow look correct? This tank was definitely loud as heck and from my reading I really needed to use the ball valve on the main drain to dial it in. In my case, the thing is probably closed up about 50% to get it nice and quiet. Just a bit more and it starts getting really loud and a touch less i get gurgling/slurping sounds about every 30 seconds or so.

Are you sure its not your Oct? I had to put a piece of plastic on my levy to keep the discharge under water. Also I used to have a sock on the drain from the tank. It kept it quiet but caused other issues as it is too dense. I insulated my entire base with Styrofoam it is not bad but noisy like you describe. Beautiful set up very classy

 

[braysky]

Honestly, I don't know. Being my first tank I have no real good comparison but 8 know it shouldn't be THAT loud. I mean, it was moving some serious water. When I started looking it up, I came across the whole tunibg overflow thing and started to adjust. What's the best way to know if the flow is too little or too high? To me right now, it sounds like I would expect (not a gushing river in my office) but I do find it odd to have that drain valve probably 2/3 closed

 

[MillennialReefer]

Here the pictures of how I set up the sump. When shopping online the pictures included the other sump that is basically just one open tank with a small baffle and the overflow would have been directly below the plumbing unlike this one. I personally didn’t want the tubing to curve and bend to the right side where the filter sock would have been. It’s slightly less “clean” looking but to me I’d rather have my current set up and have the valve more open. So it’s about 25/30% closed instead of 75% when I first set it up with the kinked tubing. Now it’s more or less silent.

 

[braysky]

I've come to the conclusion that grammas and me don't seem to get along. First gramma I put in lasted a day - he was already stressed right out of the gate which was very noticeable, and within a day he was gone. I since came across another, who was very active in the tank and looked great so i picked him up. He acclimated well, was eating by the next morning. A few days later, he was actively hanging around outside his cave and would patrol about an 8" area and dart in and out of his cave.

I started getting diatoms in the last week as well, so i picked up a few snails and a fire shrimp. The shrimp walked by his cave, and he tried to rip his antenna off and then darted back in cave. Here we are a day later, he's dead and the shrimp is eating him. I'm sure the shrimp didn't attack him - did he really get that stressed??

My water params have been great, as of today....8.2Ph, 78 degrees, 1.025 salinity, 9 dKh, 0 ammonia, between 5 and 10ppm nitrates.

Meanwhile, the clowns are fantastic.

 

[PR_nano]

Any update on your build? I have the same tank sitting in the garage since December and will be setting it up soon, looking for pros and cons of reefer who have/had the tank for some time.

 

[nuxx]

Should look really nice when the rock colors up

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any updates on your tank?

 

[PlowboyReefer]

Here the pictures of how I set up the sump. When shopping online the pictures included the other sump that is basically just one open tank with a small baffle and the overflow would have been directly below the plumbing unlike this one. I personally didn’t want the tubing to curve and bend to the right side where the filter sock would have been. It’s slightly less “clean” looking but to me I’d rather have my current set up and have the valve more open. So it’s about 25/30% closed instead of 75% when I first set it up with the kinked tubing. Now it’s more or less silent.

What is that ice cap thing in your sump is that your ATO reservoir?