Mikes 375/ 700 total gallons!!

am3gross · Nov 11, 2020

Well, I have gotten so much accomplished the last few days! Finally starting to fill it up. Should be running 100% come Friday morning. Just in time to maybe hit some of the local LFS's to start picking out the new inhabitants. QT is ready to go as well. It has been a crazy and busy ride thus far!

am3gross · Nov 15, 2020

Well its been a great weekend! Finally got the tank up and running, all parts of it! I have a 375 display with a 75 gallon sump and a 40 gallon fuge. All running tests have been completed and shutdowns and restarts are flawless thus far. Skimmer is alive and is pulling thick foam. Now its time to get thru the cycle and let the fun begin. I already have ammonia registering so it should not be to long from here. Just have to have some patience! I am going to call 14 Nov 2020 the official birthday of my reef since that is really when it all came together and started working as 1 unit!

Now where I am going to need some help. Humidity.... It has obviously raised the humidity in the room. I have a window right next to the tank. My 1st thought is to vent the humidity out the window. I was thinking about getting a fan and just exhausting it out. Should I go this route or could I go and just by a dehumidifier?

Thoughts?

Snitch · Nov 16, 2020

Take this with a grain of salt, I've never had to deal with a tank of that size - but I think I would probably look into a dehumidifier. Remember Sean? The guy that partnered up with Chief back in the day - he had a large system in his home - something like a 180 or a 220 that was moved to Chief's place as a display in his entryway - anyway, this thing was rusting the AC system out of his house, you could see rust coming from the vents all around the house, especially where the tank was. I don't know if it ever caused an issue, but I do know large tanks can eat a house from the inside out.

am3gross · Nov 16, 2020

Yeah, I knew I would have some issues with it just did not know how bad it would really be. I have a little bit to figure it out though. I ran the lights the past few days just to see how bad it would really be and well, I got to see. It is not terrible, but it is noticeable. I will shut the lights down since I am going thru the cycle anyways and research my way out of this predicament. So far I have seen where individuals have done the fan/vent out the window, a dehumidifier, and cover the tank and use a chiller. Also seen where people put special equipment on there house ac units, which is really expensive and not looking to go that route.

I do remember Sean, barely. LOL! I wish we could all get back together! That was some fun times.

revhtree · Nov 17, 2020

Mike looking good bro!

am3gross · Nov 18, 2020

Having some set backs here.

INKBIRD was not online this morning. Found the surge protector that I had it plugged into malfunctioned. Not good. INKBIRD is still working as it should but maybe I should not have 2- 800 watt heaters plugged into it and maybe that has caused the malfunction. For now I will unplug 1 heater and use a 2nd smaller heater going to a different circuit.

2nd malfunction was the booster pump for my RO unit. It is no longer coming on. A quick call to Bulk Reef Supply and they gave me the information for the manufacture who has a 2 year warranty on there product. A call to them and I was able to get the pump shipped out to them on my dime and see if they will warranty the pump and then send me my repaired pump or a new one all together. Either way they quoted me 2 weeks of down time. Hopefully it will not be longer then that. This pump was less then 2 months old, and about 450 gallons of water ran thru it.

On a positive note, I am now showing some nitrites. So the cycle process is coming along!

am3gross · Nov 22, 2020

ok, ok, ok!!!

New INKBIRD controller delivered tonight, have 1 heater plugged into each one, hopefully no more issues, and this way I get double the reassurance the temp is correct as they are within .3 of each other. That I think will be a win!

Also, bought a dehumidifier from the Home Depot. Not excited about spending 250 bucks for that but for the most part, it has taken out the humidity in the room when the lights are on. There is no more moisture on the windows, so for now I am calling this a win as well, even thou the unit does put out some heat. I think it will be fine for the winter months. We will see about the other months.

I also added some hardy fish. I got a black and white stripped Damsel and a Yellowtail Damsel. Also put a Coral Beauty in the QT to see how that tank will fair as well. If all goes well I will start adding the fish this tank was made for. So far my list is (I want to get all of these fish small, so hopefully the temperaments will be minimal).

Achillies
Powder Blue
Purple
3 Yellow
Mimic
Anthias
some kind of Wrasse, (no sand)

That is all I got planned for now, after these will be some nice sticks!

am3gross · Dec 12, 2020

Ok, so today I made a modification to the setup. Kind of. My skimmer came with a float switch that shuts the pump off if the cup gets to full. well i drain my skimmer cup into a container outside the tank. makes cleaning and emptying everything much easier. Well I got the idea and I don't know if it has been shared before so I thought I would. I got a bucket from Home depot, and drilled holes in it. Took the float switch from the lid on the skimmer cup and put in the lid for the bucket. Now when the bucket is full it will shut the switch and shut down the skimmer. Op check went well. Hope this helps some one!

GBRsouth · Dec 13, 2020

am3gross said:
Ok, so today I made a modification to the setup. Kind of. My skimmer came with a float switch that shuts the pump off if the cup gets to full. well i drain my skimmer cup into a container outside the tank. makes cleaning and emptying everything much easier. Well I got the idea and I don't know if it has been shared before so I thought I would. I got a bucket from Home depot, and drilled holes in it. Took the float switch from the lid on the skimmer cup and put in the lid for the bucket. Now when the bucket is full it will shut the switch and shut down the skimmer. Op check went well. Hope this helps some one!

Great idea, but I would still have another float switch for the skimmer cup too. (In case the line to the bucket gets blocked.)

am3gross · Dec 18, 2020

Well, today has been a good day! I finally put my "Dream Fish" in the tank. An Achillies Tang and a Powder Blue Tang! And I am happy to report that they are getting along great thus far!! There has been zero aggression showed towards each other, which excites me to no end. Hoping that it continues to go this way. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow when the day lights come on.

am3gross · Dec 30, 2020

Well here it is, my 2020 full tank shot. Hopefully 2021 will be better!

i_declare_bankruptcy · Jan 1, 2021

wow that thing is huge! following!

am3gross · Jan 2, 2021

Well I have been working my fish list. So far this is what I have

Achillies tang (Display)
Powderblue tang (Display)
Scopas tang(QT)
Clown tang(QT)
Kole tang (QT)

3 Dispar Anthias (QT)
Blue Chromis (Display)
Black and White Chromis (Display)

Want to add:

Purple tang
Yellow tang
Coral Beauty

Need to add sand 1st as I am currently bare bottom, so if I add sand I will do:

Mandarine Goby
Diamond Goby
Wrasses TBD

Thoughts??

am3gross · Jan 6, 2021

Tank Update!!!!

Well I have added the apex to the system. Hook up was pretty straight forward. I have the full Apex, with all the probes, EB832, EB8, EB4, and the ATK.

Programming it has been extremely difficult for me, but thank god for this forum because they have been able to walk me thru the entire process and coding thus far! I am learning so much, hopefully I will be able to pass down some knowledge to someone else!!

UPDATE on the fish!

The Scopas Tang (Dr. S) has been added to the display. I added him at night hoping that it would ease the transition. The last 2 days have been a bit rough but things are starting to calm down between them. The Achilles Tang (Ripken) and the Powder Blue Tang (Alomar) did not care for him not one bit. I am pretty sure they have worked out the pecking order now thou as there are only a few flare ups between them now.

The ones that are in the QT are infected with ick. So the copper treatment has been started. I feel like the ICK came in on the Kole Tang (Batman) and I am sure he infected the others. They are all getting the treatment as we speak, I am sure the Clown Tang (Joker) and the 3 anthias (Curly, Larry, and Moe) will be good as they are all just as active and eating everything I put in the tank!

am3gross · Jan 12, 2021

Well, the list of things that I need to buy for this dream build is coming to an end, The resent acquisitions have been the Full Apex, EB8, EB4, AFS, AFK, Trident and at the end of this week I will be adding at least 1 dos to start dosing CAL and ALK. I truly believe that while building this dream system of mine was fun, adding all the coral and letting it mature into a full blown reef is going to be an epic ride! I will post updates as more corals arrive! For now thou we sit back and see what our numbers look like to see what and if we actually need to dose anything. My current levels as of noon today are ALK 9.2, CAL 507, MG 1442, and my PH which I have been trying to get to rise is 7.94. Temp is 78.4

am3gross · Jan 19, 2021

Well its been a great day! I was able to get my hands on a few fish! Coming soon to the display will be...

Black leopard wrasse
Christmas wrasse
Chevron tang
Purple tang

Also added sand to the display to make life for the wrasse a little better. While I was in there I made a cover for the overflow box to try and keep the wrasse from making that jump!

I have a shipment of corals coming in tomorrow so once the storm from adding sand dies down I will snap some shots of everything!

Also got some not so good news today, but we will take it and go with it. I will be heading to Bahrain for some job related stuff and will be gone for 5 months at least. I am hoping that I will have everything ironed out and that everything will be easy peasy for the wifey to keep it going.

So prepare your self for some pictures, coming in hot!!!

Mike

am3gross · Jan 20, 2021

Got my order from Punisher Corals today, They look amazing!! Even had a freebie in there!!!! As soon as the water clears and they start to open up, I will post some pictures!!!

X-37B · Jan 21, 2021

Nice system!
Im looking to upgrade my 120 to something your size soon.
Im in the planning stages now.

What is your experience with glass cages?

I prefer a rimmed tank like my 120 nano, lol, and I dont need low iron glass. Yours looks similar with the glass bracing.
I will run a MH light system just like my 120, check build thread, as the mounting system works well for my needs.
Did you have it shipped?
I am in the freight business and know how hard shipping can be on any type of glass.

am3gross · Jan 21, 2021

I am happy with Glasscages.

I did have it shipped and when you go thru the process you getting the shipping quote right then, which is super nice, get all the financials out of the way at one time.

am3gross · Feb 7, 2021

Well the Kole, Chevron, and Purple tang all made it out of QT and are in the display! Absolute amazement with all the tangs that are in there. I currently have:

Achillies Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Kole Tang
Scopas Tang
Purple Tang
Chevron Tang

also have none tang fish which are:

Blue damsel
Black and White stripped damsel
Black Leopard Wrasse
Xmas Wrasse

They are all getting along for the most part, which I am really surprised about, but they have all figured out the pecking order and know who is number 1. There is the usual hit and run, but that is very far and few in between.

I have a Powder Brown tang that is in QT now but I have not decided if he will make it to the display or if he will be one of the frag tank occupants.