I also found it to be rather concentrated. DIY phosphate on the other hand, I felt like I was dumping buckets of the stuff in.
Mehaffy's 1100+ gallon Plywood display in North Alabama
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Update time. I have a few things going on right now that are keeping me busy wit the tank. Its kind of crazy because I have been keeping a reef tank for about 20 years and I still seam to be learning every day.
I had been going back and forth on the Hypo Salinity idea but I am moving forward and will have salinity down by Monday. You know how hard it is t get salinity down to 1.009 in an 1100 gallon tank. Maybe the benefit ill be the massive water exports will also help bring down Phosphate.
I have started adding Nitrate but I think I will stop that until I bring the salinity back up to normal levels.
One exciting thing I ordered 100lbs. of live rock from Gulf live rock. In hindsight I should have ordered a few hundred lbs. months ago. This stuff is awesome. loaded with life. Clams, brittle stars, macro algae, corals, pods, sponges, and I'm sure a lot of good bacteria. I have it in a 40 gallon breeder with circulation heat and light until I bring the salinity back up to normal as I sure don't want to kill off the good stuff.
This weekend I am starting the build on counter top space for at least 3 QT tanks and I am going all out on Biosecurity as I never want to see ICK or Velvet again. I am doubling up on all equipment like refractometer glass cleaners test tubes. So that I have DT stuff and QT stuff all separated. Well enough for now below are pics of the rock. I will get more later of them in the tank.
I had been going back and forth on the Hypo Salinity idea but I am moving forward and will have salinity down by Monday. You know how hard it is t get salinity down to 1.009 in an 1100 gallon tank. Maybe the benefit ill be the massive water exports will also help bring down Phosphate.
I have started adding Nitrate but I think I will stop that until I bring the salinity back up to normal levels.
One exciting thing I ordered 100lbs. of live rock from Gulf live rock. In hindsight I should have ordered a few hundred lbs. months ago. This stuff is awesome. loaded with life. Clams, brittle stars, macro algae, corals, pods, sponges, and I'm sure a lot of good bacteria. I have it in a 40 gallon breeder with circulation heat and light until I bring the salinity back up to normal as I sure don't want to kill off the good stuff.
This weekend I am starting the build on counter top space for at least 3 QT tanks and I am going all out on Biosecurity as I never want to see ICK or Velvet again. I am doubling up on all equipment like refractometer glass cleaners test tubes. So that I have DT stuff and QT stuff all separated. Well enough for now below are pics of the rock. I will get more later of them in the tank.
Good luck on the hypo. It is my preferred method for QT, along with h2o2 of velvet presents itself.Update time. I have a few things going on right now that are keeping me busy wit the tank. Its kind of crazy because I have been keeping a reef tank for about 20 years and I still seam to be learning every day.
I had been going back and forth on the Hypo Salinity idea but I am moving forward and will have salinity down by Monday. You know how hard it is t get salinity down to 1.009 in an 1100 gallon tank. Maybe the benefit ill be the massive water exports will also help bring down Phosphate.
I have started adding Nitrate but I think I will stop that until I bring the salinity back up to normal levels.
One exciting thing I ordered 100lbs. of live rock from Gulf live rock. In hindsight I should have ordered a few hundred lbs. months ago. This stuff is awesome. loaded with life. Clams, brittle stars, macro algae, corals, pods, sponges, and I'm sure a lot of good bacteria. I have it in a 40 gallon breeder with circulation heat and light until I bring the salinity back up to normal as I sure don't want to kill off the good stuff.
This weekend I am starting the build on counter top space for at least 3 QT tanks and I am going all out on Biosecurity as I never want to see ICK or Velvet again. I am doubling up on all equipment like refractometer glass cleaners test tubes. So that I have DT stuff and QT stuff all separated. Well enough for now below are pics of the rock. I will get more later of them in the tank.
Rock looks great. If you run into a mantis, bobbits, or some oddity and don’t want it, let me know. I have a 7’x3’ tank filled will all kinds of “pests” or not reef safe stuff.
OP
OP
So I have been trying to drop Salinity but with 1300 gallons to dilute this is quite the challenge. So today I just ordered a new BRS 200GPD RODI to go along with my 150GPD unit. this should do the trick. I decided to pay extra for 2nd day air shipping so that I receive it by Friday. I have been changing out all of the water I can make but so far in 5 days only lowered from 32 to 23.
My Clown Tang is now has ICK also so I really need to get the salinity down.
My Clown Tang is now has ICK also so I really need to get the salinity down.
Welcome to big system woes. And not being funny here. It sucks. The best investment I ever did was order a blue marlin rodi system. 1000 gpd at 85-90 psi is the best thing since sliced bread.
Hope it all works out and you get it to hypo quick enough for the fishes.
OP
OP
Thanks I sure would think this will get me over the top. I sure never thought I would need more than 150GPD.
I am still in love with the tank.
I didn’t either until a runaway dosing pump. Luckily had a lot of water made and was able to call friends who had water made. After that, ordered a huge rodi and never looked back lol.
OP
OP
Tonight on the way home I bought some 2x4's (What a deal only $6.00ea.) so that I can start building my QT tank area. I am starting with 3 tanks 2-20 long and a 40 breeder. I may add a couple more 20 long as I really like that size. After I get through this Hypo time I will be quarantine everything I get. Coral Inverts and fish. Ill get some pics this weekend as I start building.
OP
OP
Next thing I need to find are 100+ gallon holding tanks so that I can make a mixing station. The Brute trash cans are great but I need more volume.
This is the brand of my 100g storage. It’s about 63” tall with a screw on lid and the main lid bolds on and off to allow access to clean.
my only complaint is having to crawl in it and scrub when I clean it vs something smaller I could just reach in.
my only complaint is having to crawl in it and scrub when I clean it vs something smaller I could just reach in.
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GBRsouth
Valuable Member
Google "cone bottom batch tank with lid" you'll find some roto mold tanks with metal frame stands that the whole lid can be removed for cleaning and you can choose a size you can just reach in to scrub it.
OP
OP
Ive been working to lower my salinity to go HYPO but just have not been able to produce enough RODI. So I ordered an additional 200GPD RODI from BRS. It arrived today and is hooked up so I should be producing close to 350GPD. I think this will get me where I need to be. I would also think that these large water changes I'm doing will help to lower the phosphates.
OP
OP
As of this evening my Salinity is at 1.009. Officially in Hyposalinity for the next 35 days. So if all goes as planned I will start raising salinity back up on March 6th.
The extra 200GPD RODI was absolutely necessary to get this done.
I also did some work in the fish room this weekend working on the QT area.
I'm happy with the way its coming together. I will have 3 20 gallon long tanks on this shelf and then just see how it goes from there. I also have a 40 breeder but not sure yet what I'm doing with that. For now it is holding my live rock I bought from Gulf live rock until I bring the Salinity back up and then its going into the display.
The extra 200GPD RODI was absolutely necessary to get this done.
I also did some work in the fish room this weekend working on the QT area.
I'm happy with the way its coming together. I will have 3 20 gallon long tanks on this shelf and then just see how it goes from there. I also have a 40 breeder but not sure yet what I'm doing with that. For now it is holding my live rock I bought from Gulf live rock until I bring the Salinity back up and then its going into the display.
A system like that is really tempting.
Looks like more than doubling the output did the trick. Do you have a booster pump? I guess technically you could have just bought the RO membrane and hooked it up in parallel. Kept the pre filters and split it off before the membrane and then combined it again before it went through the DI.Ive been working to lower my salinity to go HYPO but just have not been able to produce enough RODI. So I ordered an additional 200GPD RODI from BRS. It arrived today and is hooked up so I should be producing close to 350GPD. I think this will get me where I need to be. I would also think that these large water changes I'm doing will help to lower the phosphates.
OP
OP
I did that with the original 75GPD RODI I had when I filled the tank but at that time I was not in a hurry. So now I have 2 RODI units and each has 2 membranes running in series. The way BRS sets these up is that the waste water from the first membrane goes to the input of the second membrane
OP
OP
Day 3 of Hypo only 32 days to go and all seams to be going good. PH is holding above 8 between 8.1 and 8.2 Fish have no signs of ICK and are all eating great and acting normal.
OP
OP
So far Hypo is going smooth. All fish are looking great eating well and getting fat. All of the algae in the tank has died off and it appears that most of the coraline is gone so that will have to grow back after Hypo.
So for now I'm working on getting Phosphates down and keeping salinity steady at 1.009. I have the QT area looking good and really like the new set up. The tanks are more at eye level with some counter space to work on along with shelves above and new lighting.
In the below pick the tank on the right has the few corals that were in the DT along with as much of the CUC that I could catch. These will go through a minimum of 45 day fallow. I have noticed a couple of snails in the DT that are surviving so maybe Hypo does not kill them.
Hypo does seam to have killed off my POD population but I do have a lot in with those coral and also have a 40 breeder that has the gulf rock I bought that has PODs so when Hypo is over I should be able to reseed them quickly.
So for now I'm working on getting Phosphates down and keeping salinity steady at 1.009. I have the QT area looking good and really like the new set up. The tanks are more at eye level with some counter space to work on along with shelves above and new lighting.
In the below pick the tank on the right has the few corals that were in the DT along with as much of the CUC that I could catch. These will go through a minimum of 45 day fallow. I have noticed a couple of snails in the DT that are surviving so maybe Hypo does not kill them.
Hypo does seam to have killed off my POD population but I do have a lot in with those coral and also have a 40 breeder that has the gulf rock I bought that has PODs so when Hypo is over I should be able to reseed them quickly.
OP
OP
Very nice build very nice quality woodwork
Love your plywood build! Here is one of mine!
365reefing
Community Member
Thanks!
My heart stopped when I got to the leak picture of your build! I had that same thing happen to me when I built one in high school! It was next to my bed and woke me up at 1am to water gushing out the bottom of the tank in a similar fashion! Mine was due to a lack of a center brace in the stand!
learn something new with each build!
My heart stopped when I got to the leak picture of your build! I had that same thing happen to me when I built one in high school! It was next to my bed and woke me up at 1am to water gushing out the bottom of the tank in a similar fashion! Mine was due to a lack of a center brace in the stand!
learn something new with each build!
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