Mike's 260g Rimless Build

[MBSL55]

And here are the pictures of the ATO container (16" x 26" x 18.5") which holds about 30 gallons of top off water, the sump/fuge that measures 41" x 26" x 15" (about 70 gallons total), and the ATO container that is actually internally partitioned into 3 sections with Alk and Ca holding about 5 gallons ea and Mg holding about 3.5 gallons:

 

[jeffthomas]

Following along. Looking really nice!

 

[bensreeftank]

looks awesome going to follow your progress for sure.

 

[MBSL55]

Thanks all! So the last post was how the tank was pre-MACNA.

I ended up picking a TON of frags at MACNA along with the ATI Powercone 200iS skimmer, which was definitely needed, and a bunch of livestock from the Boyd setup.

I probably went a little nutty at MACNA with running around and helping out with setup and teardown and ended up getting sick so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped the week after. Here's how it went:
----------------------------------------------
ATO and doser worked fine while I was at MACNA but I do need to get my back-ups in place again (break out box, PM2, etc.) just in case. Once that is done I can probably start figuring out where to put everything and do some editing on duplicate and unwanted frags/colonies.

My existing livestock is happy as can be . . . in fact, better then I've ever seen. My cynarina is also a lot redder now . . . back to as red as when I got it. It faded to more of pinkish color under the AI Sols in my previous tank but the added spectrums from the Vega LEDs may have given that particular coral a boost. I've also read that red acros don't do well under blue/white LED combos so we'll see how the frags I got do . . . if I can figure out where they are.

Top off Components: PM2, ATO, Breakout Box 1:

1. JBJ normally controls top off and is tied to an aqualifter with the programming done so that it turns off the JBJ for a minute every hour. I read that sometimes the JBJ and aqualifter don't get along so a reset of the JBJ is needed. This ensures it is automatically done every hour.

2. Two additional float switches have been mounted in the sump. One above, and one below the switch that controls the JBJ. If a leak develops and the lower switch is triggered it will shut the JBJ off. If something gets clogged or the JBJ switch fails, the higher float switch will also shut the JBJ off.

3. The Salinity Probe will also tell the Apex to shut off the JBJ should salinity deviate in the wrong direction.

Thus, it will take 3 simultaneous failures for the ATO to dump all of the ATO contents into the tank.

Skimmer:

Replaced the TS-300 with the ATI PowerCone 200iS. I don't have the airflow meter hooked up yet as I still need to get the power supply for it. I like this skimmer. Definitely quiet and lower profile so it will be much easier to empty the collection cup and do maintenance. Being able to remotely adjust the pump is an added bonus and once the air meter is hooked up I can tell if it needs regulation.

Lights and Livestock:
I've finally had a chance to place some frags where they need to go . . . I should have done this earlier as my snails decided to bump a few into each other. There are still a few duplicates or ones I'm not sure of on the sand bed. Lights are set to 60% now and set to auto acclimate over a 1 month period. If I notice any negative effects, I will extend the acclimation period.

Fish are in QT and need to find homes for the non-reef safe fish.

QT System:

So the master plan to QT everyone and everything was a big FAIL after I got to MACNA. Frags were dipped and went right in as some of them were poorly bagged or some had already started bleaching. Fish, however, are sitting in QT and will remain on observation for about 6 weeks before going into the main tank.

The QT system is getting there. I used a spare 40B, leftover Tropic Eden Reeflakes and some old sand from my previous tank, a bunch of leftover live rock, and the large HOB fuge that was on my old tank. There is also a HOB AquaC Remora Pro with Mag 3 from my old tank on the QT system. I just have an older Aquatic Life PC fixture over it which is fine for the fish but I would like to eventually add a Vega so I can acclimate any new corals while in QT.

Still need to setup a sump for the QT so I can get that Mag 3 and skimmer out of there and also hook up the chiller for the QT. Also need to hook-up the Bubble Magus triple doser for the QT system once I get that sump in place as well as a JBJ ATO for it. The original plan was to use a spare Apex Lite system I had to control the system. That plan also went away after I traded that and a little cash to one of the local guys that won a TV from MACNA but really wanted the Apex. Considering the wife really wanted another TV, I made the sacrifice as I can just get another Apex Lite later if I feel like I really need it for the QT system.

Other Equipment:
At some point I need to setup the WXM module for the Apex/Vortechs. I'm still considering adding a third MP40 but am on the fence on that one.

So I figured I would be able to run with the fuge on the 260g to take care of phosphate export until I heard the wife giggling by the tank. Apparently, she decided it would be good to see which food samples from MACNA the fish really like. She has been feeding them like crazy for the past few days and I actually got a phosphate reading of 0.01 on my Hanna checker. Well, whatever makes her happy and take interest in the tank is fine with me so I ordered up a Phosban 550 to run GFO and Phosban 150 for running carbon. I needed to get those anyway and was hoping to score a couple at MACNA but that didn't happen. I'm still hoping my fuge will take care of most of the phosphate export and the GFO will just be to finish things off. Hopefully the new skimmer will also help in removing stuff from the water column.

I did take some quick pictures. Things are looking a little funky as the lights were already out and then I turned them on for the pictures, I haven't cleaned my glass in a couple of days, and I suck at taking pictures:

 

[MBSL55]

The week after MACNA (Monday, Oct. 8) saw a few updates:

Main System Updates:
Frags were still being relocated to where they need to go and figuring out how much room to leave for growth. The Phosban 550 reactor came in earlier than expected so I got that online. I followed Marc's instructions from a Reefaddicts and also ran about 5 gallons of RO through to rinse out the GFO. The 550 definitely has more capacity than I need but I think the 150 would have been too small. The 550 has a nice small footprint and seems to working well. The manifold feed from one of my return lines works great and my theory that I would get some back-siphoning that would keep the reactor going in a power out situation worked out as expected. Hence, I'll have one return pump going in a power outage situation but the reactor(s) will still be running via gravity feed thanks to the check valve on the second return line.

The skimmer was still breaking-in and not completely consistent yet but I had it dialed in pretty well so far. I like the remote pump control on the Powercone 200iS and I still have a gate valve available on the outlet to fine-tune if needed. The Powercone uses a relatively low water level so I need to raise it about 1.5" so I used some spare flex tubing until I got a skimmer stand from Marc at our most recent local club meeting.

My wife noted that water changes take a lot less time with the manifold outlet for water changes. All I do is set the Apex to a feed mode where the appropriate equipment is off except the return pump that goes to the manifold with the water change connection. Unplug that return pump and wait a few minutes for water to back siphon through a return line to fill the sump up to within a couple of inches of the top. Close the valve to the chiller, connect my water change hose, open that valve, and plug in the pump again until the return section is empty. Close up the water change valve, open the chiller valve again, and then fill the sump from another trashcan with my new saltwater. Plug return pump back in and cancel the feed mode. While things are pumping away, I empty out the skimmer and clean out the collection cup. It takes more time think of what I did and to type all that up than to actually execute it for a 20 gallon water change.

Additional Equipment:
I should be getting my Phosban 150 this week for running carbon. I should also be getting my second Breakout Box and reed switches for wiring up the cabinet lights to activate automatically when the appropriate doors are open. No more reaching into the stand to find a switch on a light! Once that goodness arrives, I should be done with wiring and hooking things up for a bit.

I also went ahead and ordered another MP40W ES (from a fellow R2R member) to put on the center section of the back wall so I can experiment with different flow and then setup my WXM Apex module to control all three MP40s. Because I want to maintain some lower flow sections, a fourth MP40 would be too much internal flow I think.

QT System:
I figured I should take a quick point and shoot picture of the QT as it sits:

It is a standard 40B with live sand, live rock, a CPR HOB fuge with sand and macro, and an AquaC Remora Pro HOB skimmer. The sand is new and seeded with a couple cups of live sand from my old 70g. The live rock is leftover from my cooking and curing process. The skimmer and fuge came from my 70g so basically I am using the same filtration from my 70 on a tank about 1/2 the size.

The stand needs to finished and I need to get some sort of basic sump in place. I'll re-use the overflow box and return line from my old tank and then then drop the skimmer and heater into the sump. There is a small 1/10hp chiller that will be connected in-line with the Mag 9.5 return pump that was on my 70g as well. I've got a Koralia from the 70g to provide some extra flow. Recycling my old equipment made setting up this QT system pretty easy.

I didn't want to skimp on the QT system and by using some of the same equipment, my QT also acts as a source of back-up components for my main tank. I've got a JBJ ATO and aqualifter to handle top off and another Bubble Magus triple doser setup for dosing. If I find a deal on a used Apex I'll probably get that too, just to have spare components and more control over the QT system. The doser will be necessary to maintain stable Alk, Ca, and Mg levels when I QT new corals (I probably have enough corals as it is, but y'all know how that goes when you see that piece you really want or someone offers you a great deal at a frag swap or . . .) For that reason, I also need to get another AI Vega to pop over the QT so that I can support corals and acclimate corals while they sit in QT.

I made the decision to go with an observation QT setup for a few reasons. First, I want to QT anything that goes in from this point forward whether it be new macro algae, a new fish, new SPS, or other inverts. I also did want to go through hyposalinity for fish which would entail keeping up on all types of filtration, ammonia control, and that would not be useful for inverts and corals. I also did not want to go with a copper treatments that would require constant monitoring of copper levels and that would also not be useful for inverts and corals. I think a more natural environment with lots of rock for fish to hide is also probably less stressful on them. Time will tell if this is a good approach or not. Obviously, if fish comes down with ich or something else while in QT I'll have to break out the other 40b to do hypo or copper treatment.

As of now, the fish in QT will stay there for a full 6 weeks to let ich manifest itself if it is present. So the new additions (tangs) will be able to go in around mid-November. This also gives me a chance to watch them and see how they behave and figure out what they like to eat and don't like to eat.

More UPS Goodies:

UPS, i.e. Santa in brown, just dropped off some cooling fans, second temp probe for PM2 and salinity probe temp correction, vortech foam covers, and breakout box for cabinet light switching.

Second Breakout Box is now in the cabinet along with the temp probe for the PM2 so that the salinity probe will be temperature corrected. I haven't had a chance to mess with the fans yet but that is lower on the priority scale. Once the reed switches come in for the cabinet doors and the third MP40 arrives I can finally be done with wiring stuff up!

Phosban 150 reactor arrived on Tuesday so I am finally running BRS Rox carbon. Two sets of sponges were not enough to keep the carbon from getting through so I stuffed a little filter floss at the top of the reactor. With the lower flow, I'm hoping the filter floss will last for about 2 weeks without getting too clogged up so that I can just change it out with the carbon.

A local club member stopped by in the evening and was kind enough to show me a few photography tricks and let me try out a couple of different lenses. For now, here is a better FTS:

Now, if you have managed to read through this novel of a build log you are caught up with where I am today. This ends the compressed timeline of what actually took about a month to accomplish. From here on out, I will make real-time updates as things progress.

Current list of action items include:
1. Install new skimmer stand
2. Install second Breakout Box and reed switches for cabinet lighting control
3. Finalize Apex programming for switches
4. Clean-up wiring
5. Wait for and install third MP40W-ES
6. Learn to use and program Apex WXM module
7. Get another AI Vega or two for the QT
8. Get sump for QT and complete QT build
9. Take some time to actually sit back and enjoy the tank
10. Take some better photos!

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

Sweer setup.............I'll be following along.

 

[cdrewferd]

Tank looks very good.

 

[Titus]

I was out at MBSL55's house last weekend and saw this tank in person. INCREDIBLE.

 

[MBSL55]

Thank you all!

@Titus: Didn't know you were on here as well. So is the wife still encouraging you to do a massive upgrade after seeing my tank?

 

[Titus]

Thank you all!

@Titus: Didn't know you were on here as well. So is the wife still encouraging you to do a massive upgrade after seeing my tank?

Yes, but I have since realized that it is also a negotiation tactic that she pulled from MY playbook. See, I had been trying to talk her in to the in-wall tank for years. When she started asking about redoing the flooring in the house, I told her we could do the floors if we did the In-Wall at the same time. Now she wants a kitchen remodel and I was not too receptive. After seeing how nice your tank was, she decided to package it with the kitchen to see if I would bite. I think I will eventually bite, but it is going to take a few years for the savings account to recover from this years deal. LOL

 

[MBSL55]

Time for the update from the weekend. I had a LOT of non-aquarium stuff going on this weekend so I didn't get to work on nearly as much as I wanted.

Here's what I was able to accomplish:

1. Install new skimmer stand.
This was pretty much a no-brainer and didn't take too long. My skimmer is now dialed in as well. I'll be looking into a skimmer swabbie soon to help the skimmer run at peak efficiency between cleanings.

2. Install second Breakout Box and reed switches for cabinet lighting control.
This took a fair amount of time. First, a picture of all the stuff:

Digital Multimeter to test how far away the magnetic reed switches need to be before they trigger, the five reed switches, a grounding bar, and a bunch of sprinkler 18-10 wiring. Solid core wire but it also has ten conductors so that is perfect for the five pairs I need for the 5 switches.

Next, noting the wires, what switch they are connected to, and assigning a "ground"

One of the things I picked-up when doing custom home audio installations was that you can use a power drill to make a braided pair of wire very quickly. Simply insert the ends of the wires into the drill, hold on to the other end, and run that sucker until you get a nice braided set of wire:

Installing the switches and testing activation before screwing them in place:

In hindsight, I should have painted the switches before installing them. Oh well, yet another thing that will need a little touch-up paint later. It took a couple of hours to get everything wired together and tied into the breakout box.

I just realized I should have taken a picture of where the wires go in to the breakout box and I'll do that later as I used a grounding bar. If you use a breakout box, then you know there is one one ground point. Trying to fit 5 or 6 wires into that ground point is pretty hard unless you are running some really thin wire like Cat5. I'll try to add a picture later.

Programming the Switches:
This is taking more time than I had expected. Quite simply because I am not good at programming and have to try to make the Apex recognize an "and" statement so that it turn on the cabinet light when either of two doors is open and only turn the cabinet light off when both doors are closed. After futzing with it last night and not being able to get the coding right, I emailed Neptune today and they responded in short order with the basic programming I need in order to setup the proper virtual outlets to make this work:
[FONT=&amp]
VO_Door1
Set Off
If Switchx6_1 Open Then On
If Switchx6_1 Closed Then Off


VO_Door2
Set Off
If Switchx6_2 Open Then On
If Switchx6_2 Closed Then Off


DoorLight

Fallback On
Set Off
If Outlet VO_Door1 = On Then On
If Outlet VO_Door2 = ON Then On
[/FONT]
I will give this a try tonight and see if it works.

Oh, and happiness in getting the third MP40W ES in today!!! I think that will take care of just about all the wiring I'll need, except doorbells to activate feed and maintenance modes, to so I can start cleaning-up the rat's nest.

ETA: I installed the switches on the bottom as I have some magnetic door "buttons" for lack of better term at the top. Normally I would not run wiring on the floor or base of anything but in this case, they are just switches that carry no current and if they get shorted out, it won't be the end of life.

 

[KoleTang]

Nice setup!

Great work organizing the chords. I know from experience how long that takes to do properly :wink:

Maybe I missed it. But what did you do to make the bulkheads stop leaking?

 

[MBSL55]

Thanks! If I really wanted to do the wiring correctly I would be using a false wall along with a lot of split loom and color coded labeling. I am just going for functionality this time around.

I ended up fixing the lakes by using Blue Monster Teflon tape and redoing all of the threaded connections.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MBSL55]

BWAHAHAHA!!! Programming code worked!

Here's the picture of the breakout box and grounding bar:

And here's how I'm using my breakout boxes:
Breakout Box 1:
1 - Sump Low Float Switch - shuts off ATO
2 - Sump High Float Switch - shuts off ATO
3 - Feed A Doorbell
4 - Feed B Doorbell
5 - Feed C Doorbell
6 - Feed D Doorbell
(doorbells not installed yet)

Breakout Box 2:
1 - Door 1 Reed Switch
2 - Door 2 Reed Switch
3 - Door 3 Reed Switch
4 - Door 4 Reed Switch
5 - Door 5 Reed Switch
6 - Open (May use for "Get Cold Beer" function)
I'll need to work on getting some servos tied up to the fridge door and a robotic arm to bring the beer to me . . . don't expect an update on that one for a while

Flow:
I just finished setting up the 3rd MP40W ES and I think I'll just be sticking with 3 of them instead of adding a fourth. I like having a low flow area for the bubble coral, cynarina, and other low flow things. The third MP40 is offset toward the right of center where most of the SPS are located. I'll post an updated FTS shot when I'm done with some other tasks.

Wiring (i.e. the Rat's Nest):
This is something I have NOT been looking forward to. Now that all the electronics, pumps, etc. are in place, it is time to start sorting through the massive rat's nest that has built up. I did keep things relatively organized in the stand itself but excess wire has just been sitting behind the stand.
Here's the disaster as it stands:

At least I have one of the harnesses done for the majority of the run:

And here's part of the electronics bay that can be greatly improved in terms of how wiring is routed:

Yes, that is a Vortech controller just dangling

I am going to wait until this weekend when I can devote a few solid hours to sorting all this fun stuff out. That means unplugging, looping, and routing the wires for two temperature probes, a pH probe, ORP probe, and salinity probe in addition to routing and organizing all the AC wiring into a separate harness and then dealing with the float switch wires, Vortech driver wires, and Vortech power supplies.

This is just what I plan on doing for some functionality and some level of organization that I can live with. If someone really wanted to improve on this, all harnesses would be split loomed and labeled, separate harnesses would be run for probes (i.e. easier to replace a probe or switch without having to take apart every harness), switches, etc. All probes and items that would be sensitive to interference would be run away from any AC power cords, shielded, and would only cross power cords at 90 degree angles. False panels and walls could be built to hide the actual wiring harnesses in the stand. That said, I am not going to spend an entire weekend or longer doing all of that . . . at least not yet. Maybe if I get REALLY bored I'll go back and do some of those things, which won't be too hard at that point, or if I have to replace a bad probe or switch at some point down the road.

Parameters:
I am happy to say the water is clearer with the carbon reactor and my latest test results from this weekend for the big ones I've been watching are:
Alk - 9.5
Ca - 420
Mg - 1400
Phos - 0.00

Everything is looking great in terms of water quality and I'm keeping up on my water changes. I've increased Ca dosing by 35ml per day even though the BRS calculator says I need about 70 more per day. I'd rather take it slow and make sure I'm not over-shooting and then get a bunch of precipitation. I did add some Ca to boost my levels back to where I want them (440 or so). At some point I'm going to start a "you know your tank is too large when . . ." thread as boosting Ca by 20 ppm required about a little over HALF A LITER of Ca.

Livestock:
So, this past weekend I ended up picking up a small Naso Tang and juvenile Powder Blue Tang after doing a little horse trading with some of the livestock I was trying to move out (MACNA raffle items that were not reef safe). The Naso Tang is eating well, fat, and happy. I've also kept one of the Caribbean Blue Tangs. I'm also picking up a Blonde Naso Tang tomorrow from a local member who is not having good luck with it and her other fish.

The Powder Blue was on my list and I happened to find a small one at a LFS. According to the employees, he had been there about a week and did not show signs of ich but was looking pretty thin. The employees were willing to feed him for me and I saw he would take very small pieces of mysis shrimp but was much more timid than the other fish in his tank. I decided to take a chance on him and tried about 6 different pellets and flake foods, PE Mysis, Cyclopeeze, and Nori. Didn't touch any of the pellets or flakes. He does eat a little mysis and Cyclopeeze but not a whole lot. He didn't touch the New Era mini Grazer either that all my other fish like to go after so I was getting a little worried. Tonight, I was happy to see that he is grazing on some Nori I stuck between some rocks so I have high hopes for him and hopefully he will get nice and fat while sitting in the QT system.

All of these guys are really small, as in the largest one is probably only 3" and my existing Clownfish and Royal Gramma in my 260 are larger than some of these guys. So far, there has been no aggression at all toward each other. In fact, they are all buddies and kind of hang out together. Hopefully the Blonde Naso will join the group tomorrow and act the same way as no one fish seems to have territory that it is defending and everyone is getting fed a lot. That will make for a total of four more tangs and that will also be the end of my fish additions for this tank unless I decide to try to raise up a healthy Achilles Tang one of these days. Because of the new additions to the QT system, I need to reset the time they all need to stay in so now I'm looking at end of November, basically Thanksgiving, before they can go into the 260. I'm definitely not going to cut that short given what I've read about Powder Blues and their propensity to get ich.

QT System:
I was able to trade some of my remaining spare live rock to a fellow member for a 20g tank that will be the sump for the QT. I think my immediate goal for this week and on into the weekend will be to get the sump online for the QT so I can run the chiller for the QT, dosers, and move the skimmer and heater down into the QT as well as add mechanical filtration.

I think that's it for now!

 

[bige]

It's awesome! Stop. No don't stop.

 

[SUPPOReefer]

Great build. I.just got.to the plumbing on my new.280. Thanks for.all the tips.

 

[MBSL55]

Thanks!

@Bige: It is tempting to stop and just let it be but there are a few more things that need to be tweaked and cleaned-up. I have a feeling I'll be doing a fair amount of that as I notice little things that can be improved.

@SUPPOReefer: Glad some of the tips will help. I found it is cheaper and easier to learn from the mistakes others make so I'm trying to make sure I include all my little screw-ups during this process :bigsmile:

Need to crash for tonight but I have made some progress on finishing-up the QT system. I'll try to get some updates posted later in the week.

 

[coraltastic]

Wow great build.

 

[MBSL55]

Thank you!
--------------
Let me start this update with a very simple statement:

I HATE ICH!!!

So I was checking on everyone in the QT tank last night and doing the evening feeding when I noticed one of the fish broke out in ich . . . badly. So, I stayed up until about 3:30 am dropping salinity levels down to get close to hypo salinity levels. I am now at 1.013 and will drop it down to 1.009 tonight.

So, it looks like my fish QT theory will be put to the test: I am hoping that some of the sand and rock will stay live with minimal die off as the rock is all originally bleached and acid washed and the sand bed is new. I figure the macro should survive hypo treatment too so that I'll have some bio filtration and I also figure the sand, which is Tropic Eden Reeflakes that is supposed to be pure aragonite, will also add some buffering to deal with lower Alk & pH that you typically get with hypo.

I will update the log with how all this goes but it now looks like closer to Christmas before everyone can go in to the main display. I figure a timeline of 6 weeks after no visible spots before I can bring my salinity back up to normal levels over the course of a week plus an additional week of observation after that for a total of 8 weeks minimum. If spots appear, the process and time starts over.

On the plus side, I suppose this is why I have a QT to begin with . . . so that I don't have to deal with these types of fun things in my main display tank. Still, this is going to be a pain. I'll test water daily for ammonia as the process gets started and see how much buffer I'll need to try to maintain pH. Given the situation, I think an Apex is warranted on a QT to help monitor and keep pH inline.

QT Equipment:
I guess it is a good thing I made getting the QT in better shape a priority. Earlier this week, I was able to install the sump, move equipment into the sump, and install the ATO. I've also pretty much got the doser installed and will just be using it to add some Alk to help maintain pH once I have an understanding of how much drop I get. The ATO will be critical to maintain the proper salinity for effective hypo treatment. I'll post pictures when I get a chance to later. For now, I need to make sure everything is ship shape when I get home

I also ordered a couple more Vega fixtures although they really won't be needed for a while as I won't be able to add any inverts to QT for quite some time unless I setup a separate coral QT tank . . . hmm, now there's an idea for that spare 40B!

The one piece of equipment I would install if I truly had unlimited funds available to me would be some type of camera system connected to a microscope or something with enough magnification so that I could see the Ich parasite as it releases new tomites into the water and watch them explode from osmotic shock . . . did I mention how much I hate Ich???

 

[MBSL55]

Hypo Salinity:

Okie dokie, salinity in the QT is now where it needs to be, 1.009, as measured by my Hanna digital refractometer. If it is within the budget, I highly recommend this piece of equipment. Calibration is quick and simply as you just use RO, it can read in ppt, S.G., and PSU. It literally takes a couple seconds to power up, another couple of seconds to calibrate, and then a couple of seconds to get your reading. It also has temperature compensation built in to boot:

Updated QT Setup:
So here's the updated QT tank with the HOB overflow box added. It also has an AquaticLife PC fixture on it for now, Large CPR Aquafuge 2 HOB fuge, fuge light, and Koralia for flow:

The rest of the equipment now sits under the stand with a 20g tank as a sump:

There is an AquaC Remora Pro skimmer, Finnex heater, Mag 7 return pump, and ATO float switch in there. The Mag 7 needs to be replaced with a Mag 9.5 as the chiller only takes 1/2" lines and results in a lot of pressure loss coupled with head loss. I'll replace the little 100w heater with a larger one once I switch out the PC fixture for a Vega or two as I'll have very little heat being added to the system. The little 100w barely keeps up now at times. The skimmer is still running just to add some O2 to the water even though it won't collect skimmate under hyposalinity conditions. I will also be adding a mesh filter sock with filter floss and carbon to the drain line.

You can see the left side of the stand has a small 1/10hp chiller tied to it with a built in temperature controller for the heater. The heater itself also has a digital temperature control with a remote temp probe. The inside of the stand has a JBJ ATO mounted on the back along with a Bubble Magus triple doser on the right with the slimline Alk, Ca, and Mg containers below it. I still need to hook those up tonight as well. To the right of the stand is your standard 5g jug with an aqualifter pump connected to the ATO.

Most importantly, my QT inhabitants seem happy and unaffected. Here they are getting some Nori that I put between a couple of rocks:

The Blonde Naso was covered in spots yesterday and looks almost clear today. It also is much happier and swimming around more and not hiding nearly as much. I'm hoping those little ich Tomonts are hiding the sand waiting to release tomites tonight that will then gloriously explode in the hyposaline conditions. I did notice a couple of spots on the Powder Blue so feeding time is a great time to check everyone and see how they are doing.

One other thing I am doing is keeping any equipment used with the QT tank separate and physically away from my main display tank. That means feeding strainers, test tubes, droppers, and anything else that gets wet. No point in going through all this only to transfer something to the main tank!

I'll do some water testing tonight to establish some baseline parameters and then setup some Alk dosing to help with pH stability too and will update this log as things progress.