Marty's 8' 300g/sump room build. ~750g system

[crusso1993]

Well.. I think it's happening again. Burnt tips. Alk going up, nutrients all over. This thing is really kicking my butt.
Little back story, about a month or so ago I removed the fuge like I previously mentioned. Prior to this things were going good for most part, some stuff rough but overall was ok. Before removing fuge nitrates were 16 phos .03 I remove fuge and within 3 days nitrate drops to 8 phos goes to .04 it sits like this for 3 weeks then 3 days ago test saying 12 nitrate and .08 phos. I know this jumping of nutrients is bad and in finally at the point with equipment that I consider my "final" setup but things are looking rough again. I assume it's from the nutrient imbalance but not 100%. I have a triton test here now that I'll be sending out monday. I'll be gone all next week for training for work..wonder what I'm gunna come home to.

This tank man..just so many problems for me! Makes me so happy one day then super stressed the next (guess that's the hobby tho). Frag system is still growing wild and 100% hands off so I cannot complain about that, just wish display followed suit.

If i end up having another crash the tank is 100% gunna get torn down and restarted. Theres plenty of things i learned setting up my first huge tank that I already wish I did different in terms of flow, rockwork, and other things. If that happens I'd be taking this rock out, bleaching it, and starting fresh cycle..hoping it doesnt go that far but I'm accepting the possibility. I just cant keep watching this thing go like this.

My alk has been 8.5 but since fuge down it's gone to 9ish. I figured corals were upset so tried to adjust reactor. I've turned it down 3 times since removing fuge, now at 12ml/min.

Testing all with hanna I got 9.2 I used last test from bottle without checking against new reagent which was dumb. I test new bottle next day (yesterday) and it's at 9.7! I turn reactor down to the 12 it's at now and it says 9.8 today. Yesterday I tested with redsea and got 9.2 so I'm sure its variance in reagent for hanna but that still sucks that the reading jumps. Now I feel like I dont even know what's going on in tank. The triton test is here and hopefully I have results by time I'm back from training

I ordered a kh guardian which will be here next week so I'll set that up when I'm back. 6 tests a day should let me create a chart to see my all patterns.

I know I'm kinda rambling all over in this post but that's where my mind is. Just totally at a loss of what move I should make, for now its letting it sit and see what happens. Maybe when i come back it will be much further along either way and I'll know the direction I'm heading who knows..

I'll attach some pics of the damage. Looks same as last time
Here's some tips losing flesh

This is a fox flame that was growing great and lost its bright yellow tips

Theres more that looks like this but u get idea.

This hobby man I tell ya.

I know I made a big change with fuge and I know that is most likely my issue but this just really hurts. If it gets bad as last time what do you guys think of me starting it over? I'd go much slower this time as I wouldn't be in such a hurry with things. Frag system doing great so I have a store of coral to shop from-slowly. Luckily I've also got duplicates of almost every coral in system so I'm protected there as well.

I'm feeling at a loss again

Bro, my heart is breaking for you!

Like you, I'm not even sure what's going on. I'm sure pulling the fuge had an impact but, to what degree is a guess. Maybe there's something wonky with your CaRx setup and it's causing the swings you're seeing.

I wouldn't consider hitting the reset button yet. A big reason is because the problem is unidentified and there's nothing to say that you'd start over and encounter the same issue.

On a high note, I'm happy the frag system is rockin'!

 

[Mshort03]

Bro, my heart is breaking for you!

Like you, I'm not even sure what's going on. I'm sure pulling the fuge had an impact but, to what degree is a guess. Maybe there's something wonky with your CaRx setup and it's causing the swings you're seeing.

I wouldn't consider hitting the reset button yet. A big reason is because the problem is unidentified and there's nothing to say that you'd start over and encounter the same issue.

On a high note, I'm happy the frag system is rockin'!

Yea I'm not quite at the restart button yet I'm just realizing that it may be a possibility in future.

Very thankful for the frag system doing so well. On 2 part too. Funny..been hands off 100% since starting it and that's how the calrx was supposed to be....

I will say I did refill it recently so that's another factor. The hanna reagent issue is another thing that's troubling to me but I'll buy another red sea and use that as my standard. It's been tried and true for me for years so might as well stay with that.

I did a 90g water change 3 days ago and will do another when I get back from training. I also just started considering changing salts too to plain old IO. I've never used it, only used fritz my whole time in hobby, but with this large of water volume It would be a lot cheaper for me.. 20 bucks a water change instead of 35.. worth it? Idk. Scared to change. I really like fritz..always been good to me..only reason considering switch is due to price. this big system just has presented a MAGNITUDE of things that I never could forsee. I jumped into this head on and have learned a lot.. super thankful tho, look forward to figuring this all out even if the dreaded reset button has to be pressed. (Hope not)

 

[Mshort03]

When I get back I'll get the guardian at up and then I'm going totally hands off for 3-6 months like frag system. See if this balances out or falls off the beam.. deal with accordingly.

With that said, anyone have experience with the kh guardian? I'm SUPER excited for it a friend owns 2, loves them, and I've been talking with alex lin a lot and am blown away by his quick responses to the million questions I've had about it.

 

[justingraham]

I have one
Just plug and play
Set up an apex alarm at 7.5 and 8.5 I keep my alk at 8 so when it goes out of that dkh I adjust accordingly
Easy peasy

 

[Mshort03]

I have one
Just plug and play
Set up an apex alarm at 7.5 and 8.5 I keep my alk at 8 so when it goes out of that dkh I adjust accordingly
Easy peasy

So you use it to monitor only? That's what I'm thinking for mine.
Do you dump reagent back in?
2part or calrx?

 

[justingraham]

So you use it to monitor only? That's what I'm thinking for mine.
Do you dump reagent back in?
2part or calrx?

I dump back in
2 part
Only monitor I trust it but every once in a while I will get a funky reading
I don’t need my alk to be 8 every second of everyday I found my alk curve in the beginning set up my dosing accordingly and then forgot about it

 

[Mshort03]

I dump back in
2 part
Only monitor I trust it but every once in a while I will get a funky reading
I don’t need my alk to be 8 every second of everyday I found my alk curve in the beginning set up my dosing accordingly and then forgot about it

That's exactly how I plan to use it. Thanks for the response!

 

[crusso1993]

Hoping things are improving with the tank while you're at training!

 

[Dyanna Diaz]

Hoping things are improving with the tank while you're at training!

Me too since I’m in charge until he gets back!

 

[crusso1993]

Me too since I’m in charge until he gets back!

Hey @Dyanna Diaz - thanks for replying! I'm fairly sure he's been calling every day asking about the system AND you!

How are things looking?

 

[Dyanna Diaz]

Hey @Dyanna Diaz - thanks for replying! I'm fairly sure he's been calling every day asking about the system AND you!

How are things looking?

Oh yes lots of calls and texts about the tank.. it’s holding steady for now!

 

[crusso1993]

Hoping things were looking better upon your return from training!

 

[Mshort03]

Things not so much better but arent worse so thats a plus. The burning tips seems to have slowed down or stopped on most things, no full casualties yet. I got my icp test back and it didnt show anything alarming except slight elevated trace elements (stopped using brightwell aminos about 2 weeks ago, felt like they were over dosing some things which seems to be confirmed, atleast for me) and I am still showing slight levels of tin and aluminum which were in last test as well.

Here is my icp report

Triton Applied Reef Bioscience are the world leaders in professional sea water analysis.

Empowering aquarists around the world since 2008. Click to view shared sea water analysis.

www.triton-lab.de

Another fun note is I redid my electrical panel to get the controllers under the ledge and protected from water. Along with this was my kh guardian!

I got the guardian up and running and so far I'm super impressed. I also got the aim module so it displays my alk on my apex dash board. I currently have it testing every 2 hours which will give me a month per reagent pack. I'll prob cut this back to every 4 hours to double my reagent life after I see the trend my tank has. If I continue to like it I'll prob even let it do some micro dosing to tighten up my all curve even more.

(Pics from 2 different tests hence the .04 difference)

I also ordered a 50 low boy to plumb into frag system. I'm running out of room in there and need more space to grow an acro forest! I'll have a viper spectra led and it retrofit kit on that tank as well as 4 mp10s that I'm getting in a trade.

Alao traded old rock from the fuge to a friend for his 5 foot t5 retrofit kit which I'll add to the 12t to get that thing pumping even more

All in all I thought a lot while I was gone for training and read a lot from people with large systems. Reality is this tank is less than a year old and I've been messing with it non stop after slamming it pack full of corals. My plan for display system now is to just leave it be, no more filtration or wild changes, just put it on a water change schedule for a 6 months or so and let it mature. I I fluconozole yesterday to deal with a random bryopsis outbreak I had in 90(previously the fuge..) and once that's done in a month I'll do a water change and keep my hands out this thing. I've paid no attention to frag system and it's doing great, now to let the display recover and mature as well. This is the main reason I got the kh guardian, to give me a quick glimpse that the water is stable and I dont need to worry and stress over it as much as I have this past ten months. Looking forward to hopefully relaxing some and watch this thing mature into the amazing tank I know it will be

Hoping things were looking better upon your return from training!

 

[crusso1993]

Things not so much better but arent worse so thats a plus. The burning tips seems to have slowed down or stopped on most things, no full casualties yet. I got my icp test back and it didnt show anything alarming except slight elevated trace elements (stopped using brightwell aminos about 2 weeks ago, felt like they were over dosing some things which seems to be confirmed, atleast for me) and I am still showing slight levels of tin and aluminum which were in last test as well.

Here is my icp report

Triton Applied Reef Bioscience are the world leaders in professional sea water analysis.

Empowering aquarists around the world since 2008. Click to view shared sea water analysis.

www.triton-lab.de

Another fun note is I redid my electrical panel to get the controllers under the ledge and protected from water. Along with this was my kh guardian!

I got the guardian up and running and so far I'm super impressed. I also got the aim module so it displays my alk on my apex dash board. I currently have it testing every 2 hours which will give me a month per reagent pack. I'll prob cut this back to every 4 hours to double my reagent life after I see the trend my tank has. If I continue to like it I'll prob even let it do some micro dosing to tighten up my all curve even more.

(Pics from 2 different tests hence the .04 difference)

I also ordered a 50 low boy to plumb into frag system. I'm running out of room in there and need more space to grow an acro forest! I'll have a viper spectra led and it retrofit kit on that tank as well as 4 mp10s that I'm getting in a trade.

Alao traded old rock from the fuge to a friend for his 5 foot t5 retrofit kit which I'll add to the 12t to get that thing pumping even more

All in all I thought a lot while I was gone for training and read a lot from people with large systems. Reality is this tank is less than a year old and I've been messing with it non stop after slamming it pack full of corals. My plan for display system now is to just leave it be, no more filtration or wild changes, just put it on a water change schedule for a 6 months or so and let it mature. I I fluconozole yesterday to deal with a random bryopsis outbreak I had in 90(previously the fuge..) and once that's done in a month I'll do a water change and keep my hands out this thing. I've paid no attention to frag system and it's doing great, now to let the display recover and mature as well. This is the main reason I got the kh guardian, to give me a quick glimpse that the water is stable and I dont need to worry and stress over it as much as I have this past ten months. Looking forward to hopefully relaxing some and watch this thing mature into the amazing tank I know it will be

Thanks for the update!

Happy to hear (bad) things have not progressed. I think that's a great sign!

Control station is looking good and sounds like you're digging the addition of the Guardian.

I like the "hands off" methodology too as most things generally level themselves out, over time, with just a little care.

Still sending good vibes!

 

[lost66]

@Mshort03 Sir, you can now officially mark it in nat geo as a "Holly Springs Great Reef". Amazing devotion and passion. Greetings from Fuquay Varina!

 

[crusso1993]

What's the good word over there?

 

[crusso1993]

@Mshort03 - It's been a while since we've heard from you. What's new or different?

 

[Mshort03]

man o man has it been a while since i updated. LOTS has gone on over the past couple months but ill try to highlight the main parts. the tank has finally started to recover from the fuge coming down. i am seeing new growth on things which certainly makes me happy. ive gotten some new equipment and make BIG changes in the room to the frag system.

i ended up getting a larger skimmer, (cant remember if i posted that yet..went back a bit and didnt see it) its a reef octopus regal 300 int. i call it the $h!t shrine, because...well...its MASSIVE. i have 3 neck extensions on it which i really love. why 3? because i couldnt fit 4. thats why. they really add so much tunability to the skimmer and the skimmate was noticibly thicker almost instantly. i also have the cup cleaner installed on this one because well, i just wouldnt have it any other way.

behind this massive eiffel tower of a skimmer is another massive equipment addition.. the lifegard aquatics 90 watt high output amalgam UV sterilizer. this bad boy is nick named the bazooka and for good reason.. i mean just look at it. its on my main line so all water returning to display goes through it. so glad to have UV back in my life.. i really missed the benefits. no more carbon needed for clear water being one of them.

i added a door to my cabinet for the equipment on this system and im glad i did. the little splashes of water all over the front glass of it proves its doing exactly what it was intended to do.

heres a random selfie of me and the equipment.. still not quite sure why i took this pic lol.

one random weekend i also decided to build a raspberry pi 4b touchscreen computer for the room. it runs the apex and KHG dashboard as well as team viewer so i can see KHG remotely. i replaced the fire tablet with this because it kept locking screen and would time out and log me out of fuzion..with this it stays up so any time i can quickly do whatever i need while in room. im still trying to figure out other fun projects i can make it do.. but for now all ive come up with is installing PLEX so i can use it as a hub to access my buddies media server which has endless movies

now the frag system.. that has been the main adventure of the last 2 months or so. i had added in a 50 low boy frag tank on shelf above where my equipment cabinet is.. well i was in there working on some things and happened to notice a drip of water coming from one of the seams. sure enough, the tank had popped a seam and was beginning to leak only THREE WEEKS after setting up. i am so eternally grateful that the moons had aligned and i was in the room when this happened because if i didnt catch it, it would have leaked all over 10k in equipment and wiped out my entire hobby. that for sure would have been the end. (prob not..but i like to say it would be) so this event lead me to a local acrylic tank builder who i got to build me a custom frag tank to replace the 50 low boy. this, along with the pure HATRED of having to use a ladder to do everything in room including feeding since everything was so high, lead to a much cooler event which was...redoing the entire frag system! lol

like i said, the ladder was getting really old, especially when people came over and i had to shuffle it around in an already small room so people could pick out corals so it had to go. i decided to get rid of the 125g as having 2 displays really wasnt accomplishing me much. i got a second custom tank built and now the frag system now consists of a 60 frag tank, a 50 frag tank, a 40b, an sro5000ext, and a new trigger triton 44 sump. i got a second custom tank built and now here is the setup of the frag system. im really digging it.

here is a view of the whole room from my camera

the system is just so much better now. it feels like a fun fish room again, not so overwhelming with everything up high. plus i like looking down on the corals, i mean.. its the best view. ive already done a fun project pertaining to that as well by programming a big red button that when i press it all powerheads for the two tables shuts off for ten minutes. i really love it.

another thing i added recently was a kamoer f4PRO doser. i replaced the chinsey and worn out jaebo doser with the kamoer on the frag system, and have another on the back of the display tank that is feeding various coral foods directly into the display.
heres both of them

^^ dosing the essentials

i loved them so much i actually went and did a full write up review on them. hop over there and join that discussion if youre interested to hear about it..its worth checking out.

ACTIVE REVIEW- Kamoer F4PRO wifi dosing pump

What's up guys, I thought I'd share an awesome new piece of equipment I picked up from WWW.CoralVue.com which was the kamoer F4PRO wifi doser. I had been using a cheap off brand doser for a couple years, and while it worked ok it certainly wasnt quality of any level. With a dosing pump being one...

www.reef2reef.com

here the display as of today

...and finally ill leave yall with a little coral **** to enjoy since were all quarantined and stuff..

JF Vino

SBB Aphrodite

jedi mindtrick

JKR apocolypse now

Cream white rose

NED

oh...and @crusso1993 if you think ive forgotten...

 

[Mshort03]

Decided to snag a few more

Yeaaaa buddy

 

[crusso1993]

man o man has it been a while since i updated. LOTS has gone on over the past couple months but ill try to highlight the main parts. the tank has finally started to recover from the fuge coming down. i am seeing new growth on things which certainly makes me happy. ive gotten some new equipment and make BIG changes in the room to the frag system.

i ended up getting a larger skimmer, (cant remember if i posted that yet..went back a bit and didnt see it) its a reef octopus regal 300 int. i call it the $h!t shrine, because...well...its MASSIVE. i have 3 neck extensions on it which i really love. why 3? because i couldnt fit 4. thats why. they really add so much tunability to the skimmer and the skimmate was noticibly thicker almost instantly. i also have the cup cleaner installed on this one because well, i just wouldnt have it any other way.

behind this massive eiffel tower of a skimmer is another massive equipment addition.. the lifegard aquatics 90 watt high output amalgam UV sterilizer. this bad boy is nick named the bazooka and for good reason.. i mean just look at it. its on my main line so all water returning to display goes through it. so glad to have UV back in my life.. i really missed the benefits. no more carbon needed for clear water being one of them.

i added a door to my cabinet for the equipment on this system and im glad i did. the little splashes of water all over the front glass of it proves its doing exactly what it was intended to do.

heres a random selfie of me and the equipment.. still not quite sure why i took this pic lol.

one random weekend i also decided to build a raspberry pi 4b touchscreen computer for the room. it runs the apex and KHG dashboard as well as team viewer so i can see KHG remotely. i replaced the fire tablet with this because it kept locking screen and would time out and log me out of fuzion..with this it stays up so any time i can quickly do whatever i need while in room. im still trying to figure out other fun projects i can make it do.. but for now all ive come up with is installing PLEX so i can use it as a hub to access my buddies media server which has endless movies

now the frag system.. that has been the main adventure of the last 2 months or so. i had added in a 50 low boy frag tank on shelf above where my equipment cabinet is.. well i was in there working on some things and happened to notice a drip of water coming from one of the seams. sure enough, the tank had popped a seam and was beginning to leak only THREE WEEKS after setting up. i am so eternally grateful that the moons had aligned and i was in the room when this happened because if i didnt catch it, it would have leaked all over 10k in equipment and wiped out my entire hobby. that for sure would have been the end. (prob not..but i like to say it would be) so this event lead me to a local acrylic tank builder who i got to build me a custom frag tank to replace the 50 low boy. this, along with the pure HATRED of having to use a ladder to do everything in room including feeding since everything was so high, lead to a much cooler event which was...redoing the entire frag system! lol

like i said, the ladder was getting really old, especially when people came over and i had to shuffle it around in an already small room so people could pick out corals so it had to go. i decided to get rid of the 125g as having 2 displays really wasnt accomplishing me much. i got a second custom tank built and now the frag system now consists of a 60 frag tank, a 50 frag tank, a 40b, an sro5000ext, and a new trigger triton 44 sump. i got a second custom tank built and now here is the setup of the frag system. im really digging it.

here is a view of the whole room from my camera

the system is just so much better now. it feels like a fun fish room again, not so overwhelming with everything up high. plus i like looking down on the corals, i mean.. its the best view. ive already done a fun project pertaining to that as well by programming a big red button that when i press it all powerheads for the two tables shuts off for ten minutes. i really love it.

another thing i added recently was a kamoer f4PRO doser. i replaced the chinsey and worn out jaebo doser with the kamoer on the frag system, and have another on the back of the display tank that is feeding various coral foods directly into the display.
heres both of them

^^ dosing the essentials

i loved them so much i actually went and did a full write up review on them. hop over there and join that discussion if youre interested to hear about it..its worth checking out.

ACTIVE REVIEW- Kamoer F4PRO wifi dosing pump

What's up guys, I thought I'd share an awesome new piece of equipment I picked up from WWW.CoralVue.com which was the kamoer F4PRO wifi doser. I had been using a cheap off brand doser for a couple years, and while it worked ok it certainly wasnt quality of any level. With a dosing pump being one...

www.reef2reef.com

here the display as of today

...and finally ill leave yall with a little coral **** to enjoy since were all quarantined and stuff..

JF Vino

SBB Aphrodite

jedi mindtrick

JKR apocolypse now

Cream white rose

NED

oh...and @crusso1993 if you think ive forgotten...

Dooooood! So many things to comment on in your update. Suffice it to say I am stoked that things turned around for you and am diggin' the new layout and setups you have now! Also, you know I'd normally tease you about the selfie but, to be truthful, it's cool to put a face with the name.

I hope your tanks continue to thrive. I also hope you and @Dyanna Diaz are doing well and staying healthy.

RIBS!