Mike's 150 Tall

sp1187

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Greetings,
This is my build I started a year ago when I ordered the glass box from the local LFS and a local tank builder.

Display Tank: 150 gallon Tall (48" L x 24" W x 30" D) in wall.

Plumbing Out: Reef Savvy Ghost 21 Overflow
http://www.reefsavvy.com/product/21-ghost-overflow-2to3-week-lead-time

Beananimal

DIY Sump: 55 gallon Petco special. Divided into 5 chambers.

Filtration: 5 MarinePure Ceramic Bio Blocks (8" x 8" x 4")
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/marinepure-ceramic-biomedia-plate.html

Santa Monica SURF4X UAS
http://www.santa-monica.cc/SURF4x-f...tra-light-for-higher-nutrient-water_p_73.html

Return Pump: Sicce SYNCRA SDC 9.0 (1000-2500 GPH)
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syncra-sdc-9-0-controllable-pump-1000-2500-gph-sicce.html

Power Heads: 2 Maxspect Gyre 230 with Controller
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/xf230-gyre-pump-with-controller-2300-gph-maxspect.html

Lighting: 2 AquaBeam 2000: 30 Watt Reef White NP (Nature Prefect) Ultima
2 AquaBeam 600 Ultima: 12 watt Reef Blue (adding 2 more of these)
AquaRay Lighting Smart Controller 8
TMC LED Mounting System
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquaRayLEDLighting.html#2000

Water: 5 Stage Premium Plus 150 gallon/day + an additional DI canister
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/5-stage-premium-plus-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html

Reef Crystals Reef Salt

Stand: DIY

Scape: DIY
pvc & 2 part putty Free Form Habitat Black
https://www.smooth-on.com/products/free-form-habitat-black/
 
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sp1187

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ghost overflow in side glass
ghost alteration.jpg


plumbing color coded so my son can tell me what's doing what while I'm away.
plumbing.jpg
 
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sp1187

sp1187

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lighting
tmcmodularrailsystem.jpg



so being a toolie ( I design automotive fixture tooling ) I didn't like the design for the light mounting.
with cables #3 mounted as they are, and then mounted to the ceiling, you can't adjust the lights front to back relative to the tank. also the cable clamps made it difficult
to adjust the height of the lights. I made angle brackets and attached them to the tie bars #1 and ran the cable clamps #3 off those. I connected the cables to plastic chain
which goes to eye hooks in a plate which is attached to unistrut (think garage door track) that is attached to the ceiling beams.
the lights are now adjustable right/left in the rails #4, front/back to each other in #1, adjustable up/down with the chain and front/back to the tank with the unistrut.
light asm.jpg
 
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The scape was one of my favorite parts of the project.
My goal was to hide everything that isn't natural to the reef (overflows, power heads, returns, heaters).
I hate seeing wires, heaters, pumps & plumbing.
Facing the tank from the front, the overflow is mounted on the RH side glass and wont be visible once the trim is finished.
There are 2 Gyre 230' mounted vertical in each back corner side glass.
The 1" return is in the top rear left corner.
The 300W EHEIM JAGER AQUARIUM HEATER is in the back LH corner.
None of it is visible.

The scape is a pvc "skeleton" with a 2 part putty called Free Form Habitat Black.
This one didn't make it in to the DT but will give you the idea.
IMG_0458.jpg

IMG_0463.jpg
 
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sp1187

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Tried this since I have no live rock in the tank.

coralline.jpg



CORALLINE ALGAE & NITRIFYING BACTERIA:
  • Unique 2 in 1 formula contains both live coralline algae spores and active nitrifying bacteria.
  • Every bottle includes 7 separate species of coralline, this maximizes the color variations and varieties that will populate throughout your tank.
  • Purple Helix blend algae strains are highly epiphytic stains that will help to outcompete other nuisance algae and diatoms.
  • Effective in improving water quality by controlling ammonia and nitrite levels.
  • Aids in rapidly establishing your tanks biological filtration using fresh multi-strain bacteria bottled on the day that it is shipped.
  • 100% all natural formula. No sulfur, copper, or phosphates.
  • Highest concentration of beneficial nitrifying bacteria which remove harmful nitrogenous waste.
  • Establishes a natural organic balance in your aquarium.
  • Helps cycle new fish tanks and eliminate new tank syndrome.
  • Safe for use in all reef tanks and with all species of fish and coral.
So I contacted them and told them I was still cycling and they said no problem, that their product would assist with the cycle do to the nitrifying bacteria.
When the product arrived these were the parameters required for it to work...

Tank Requirements for Optimal Growth


Temperature: Between 78-82 degrees It is Important that temperature remains as stable as possible.

Salinity: 1.026 (Must remain stable, cannot fluctuate more than 0.001 in 24 hours)

PH: Keep a stable pH level between 8.1-8.3 (always test at the same time of day)

Calcium: >440mg/L

Ammonia: As close to 0 ppm as possible

Phosphates: < 0.25 ppm

Nitrate: < 5 ppm

Alkalinity: Keep a stable KA level of 2.8 meq/L for alkalinity or carbonate hardness (the concentration of carbonate and bicarbonate). Your level can be +/- up to 0.14 meq/L. Having a correct KA level in your tank has a stabilizing effect on your pH

Lighting: Lighting is key. The intensity, or “PAR” level, of your lighting shouldn’t be too high and the duration of your photo period should be somewhat close to the natural duration of the sun. Your aquarium shouldn’t receive full intensity or “noon” lighting for 10 hours because that is not natural and it will bleach out corals and the coralline will not grow. Coralline Algae LOVES Actinic and blue spectrum lighting. In the beginning we advise to lengthen the time that your actinic only lighting stays on by an additional 1-3 hours daily.


I run my tank temp 75-76 always.
I'm not using, nor will I ever use, an ATO so my salinity will fluctuate more than .001 over 24 hours periodically.
My Nitrates are usually pushing 15-25ppm

I had zip zero nadda no coralline growth until I started adding frags that had coralline growing on them and I got some scrapings from my LFS.

Grade Fail.


.


 
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sp1187

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I love seeing tall tank builds. Your scape adds a lot of layers to the look and I enjoy seeing I'm that because it makes the tank look Uber realistic.

Looks really nice so far!

Thank you. I'll post up current pics tomorrow.... I mean today. Geez... 2:00Am????
 
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A word about the filtration.
There is NO reef rock, live or dry, in this system.
The scape is not porous, but it is hollow (pvc) so there is a huge amount of surface area for bacteria.
The sand bed is 80 lbs. of Aragonite Dry Sand.
As listed above the sump has 5 Marine Pure Bio Blocks. I ordered 6 from BRS. They arrived 4 broke. BRS had 4 new ones shipped out that day.

I don't use a skimmer. I didn't in my previous tanks and I don't intend to with this build.
I decided to go with an algae scrubber.
Originally I was going with one of the waterfall types, but the seller I was dealing with couldn't produce his product because:
A. I was sick
B. I was on vacation
C. I'm working 12 hour days on my real job
D. My acrylic source sent f'd up acrylic

I told him thanks, but you can remove me from your list. I wasn't out any down payment, it was just an aggravating set back.

So I started researching again and found Santa Monica Filtration.
I decided instead of the waterfall design to go with a floating surface ribbon scrubber... the SURF4X.
No brackets to mount. Low profile takes up less space. You do need to buy an air pump for it.
Easy to clean. And it produces!
I feed 3-4 cubes daily.
This is one week produce.
The container is 13" x 9" x 3".

UAS 1 WEEK.jpg
algae.jpg

The light green algae is kinda unusual as it is puffed/hollow. Anyone else seeing this?

My Foxface Lo loves this stuff!

Air pump runs 24/7. LED's run 10 hours opposite of DT lights

So I purchased this, along with an Aqua Logic Digital temp Controller, from Marine Depot.
I wanted to have it shipped to my parents house as they are retired so the package wouldn't be sitting out on a porch.
After multiple failed on line purchase attempts, I tried to contact someone through MD's on line chat. After a 30-45 minute wait
I disconnected. After a 20 minute wait on the phone I was told by them, as a first time buyer I couldn't make a high dollar amount
purchase and have it shipped to a differing billing/delivery address. This was to protect me against credit card fraud. Really??
(I asked other reefers on some FB sites and was told MD had not done the same with them.)
So my options were, have it shipped to my address and let it sit out, risking theft, or use paypal.
So I go through paypal, and do to a problem with MD's website the purchase is made twice. Yep, they hit my credit card twice.
After another 20+ minute wait on the phone the next day I was told they couldn't immediately refund my credit card until it cleared their system.
That took 4 days.

The temp controller didn't work correctly. Instead of going on hold for 20+ minutes I called Aqua Logic direct and explained my issue.
Very nice people at Aqua Logic. They didn't wait for me to send it back. They had a new one out that day, with a shipper to send the defective
one back.

I had one issue with the SURF4X. One of the plastic rings on the bottom the air line runs to popped off.
I msg SM here and Brian(?) got right back to me. It was an issue with the cement they had used in the past.
Cleaned off the old glue, and some pvc cement and an hour later I was up and running.

Grades:
BRS - Pass
MarinePure Ceramic Bio Blocks - Pass.
Marine Depot - Fail.
Aqua Logic - Pass.
Santa Monica Filtration - Pass.
That other guy - Fail.
 
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So the lights have just come on.
When researching the lights I needed something could produce on a 30" deep tank.
I went with 2 Reef White NP Ultima's.
"is an over all deeper penetrating 20K reef aquarium light, which consists of (4) 10,000K extremely high output NEW patented Ocean White XT-E LED, (2) "Fiji Blue" XT-E LEDS (deep blue), and (4) NEW "patent pending" NP full spectrum Blue ("Nature Perfect" from Osram Oslon) LED emitters"
"These have two different channels. Daylight can be controlled separately from the NP Blue emitters (with the use of a controller or unplugging one lead)."
"The overall color balance of the "Reef White Ultima". When fully on, it replaces a 20,000K light.
It is ideal for a deeper penetrating light in a marine reef aquarium up to 30 inches in specimen placement."

light.jpg


and 2 AquaBeam 600 Ultima: 12 watt Reef Blue (adding an additional 2 soon).
ReefBlue.jpg


I'm a Metal Halide guy back in the day. I don't like the blue only look full time. I used to scuba dive (retired PADI instructor) and
I can't remember a single dive where everything was bathed in blue. I like the shimmer, because that's what it looks like under the waves.

Light cycle:
2000 NP:

ON - 14:30
RAMP UP - 120 minutes
MAX LEVEL - 4.5 hours @ 95%
RAMP DOWN - 120 minutes starting at 21:00
LIGHTS OUT - Zero @ 23:00

AQUABEAM 600
ON - 14:30
RAMP UP - 90 minutes
MAX LEVEL - 7 hours @ 95%
RAMP DOWN - 90 minutes starting at 23:00
LIGHTS OUT - Zero @ 00:30

The controller has some other options.
Clouds: This is kinda cool as the tank will shade right to left (or left to right depending what channels your lights are plugged in to) like clouds are passing over.
Storms: You get one random "lightening" storm per day.
Moon cycle. You can program a 30 day lunar cycle. I don't.

Lastly there is a 5 year warranty with on line registration. Two years with out. I didn't see any of the other companies offering 5.
 
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Now for the good stuff. :)

Current Live Stock

Fish
(all fish were purchased "small")
(all fish pics are internet stock photos as my photog skills aren't so swell yet)

Blue Green Chromis school of 5
blue green chromis.jpg


Black Combtooth Blenny
black combtooth.jpg

cool fish. very active. it's days are numbered though. it likes to include in it's diet the wife's fireworks clove polyps, the monti, and the occasional zoa.

Watchman Goby/Pistol Shrimp pair
watchman goby_pistol shrimp.jpg

sadly the Watchman has gone missing. when the Pistol shrimp would go on "walk about" after the lights were out and didn't come back to their spot, the goby would act lost. it would end up near
the overflow and eventually in to the sump. the last time it, got out of the net and I don't know where it ended up. if it jumped out of the sump, between the wall, I have no access. :(

Scooter Blenny
scooter blenny.jpg

After I bought this fish, an internet friend corrected me on it's name, Ocellated Dragonette. I thought , by the name, feeding would not be a problem. Wrong.
(The wife wants a Mandarin and I told her no because of the feeding requirements.
As stated previously I had seeded the tank with a pod order from Algae Barn.
I added subsequent seedings, but they either didn't reproduce like I had read, or this guy and other tank inhabitants wiped them out. We tried multiple times to
catch it so we could return it back to our LFS. Sadly we couldn't. It died.

Pigmy Possum Wrasse
pigmy possum wrasse.jpg

I have a zoa nudi problem. ( I don't QT or dip, and I will continue not to, so save those suggestions. I don't have the space. Lol... I wouldn't still if I did).
Bought this fish to take care of that issue.
This guy lasted 3 hours and ended up dying. I did a solid acclimation. He'd been at the LFS for over a week, so not sure what stressed it.
LFS surprised me with a full credit, which I didn’t expect. Support your local LFS.

Six Line Wrasse
six line wrasse.jpg

Trying this fish for my pest problem.

Ocellaris Clown Fish 2 Tank Raised
ocellaris clown.jpg


Pajama Cardinal 2
pajama cardinal.jpg


Banggai Cardinal 2 Tank Raised
Banggai cardinal.jpg


Lamark Angelfish
lamark.jpg


Foxface Lo
foxface lo.jpg


Lyretail Anthias 2
lyretail anthias.jpg


Lyretail Damsel (Scissortail Damsel)
lyretail damsel.jpg

very active. Non-agressive. We had 2, but the Combtooth Blenny killed 1. :mad:

black combtooth.jpg
 
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Love the custom rock work.. Have you used the product in the past? Got a new FTS?

Thanks. This is the first time I have used it, but the suppliers website states it is being used by professional zoos and aquariums.
Sorry, FTS?
 

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