Mrpontiac80 ‘s 180 gallon build

[mrpontiac80]

Stunning!

Thanks! Little by little I’m getting there

 

[Fish Styx]

Thanks! Little by little I’m getting there

Yup, same here! I gather though, that you're loving that Planet build. I mean, aside from the additional size, that is.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Yup, same here! I gather though, that you're loving that Planet build. I mean, aside from the additional size, that is.

I do! I started with a waterbox rimless and for some time thought I’d like to stay rimless, but you know I really kinda like the trim. The water line is just behind it so it looks full and I don’t see the salt and or water stains on the glass above the waterline.
My lfs uses them so I’ve always known they look nice. But yeah, pleased as can be!

 

[mrpontiac80]

So I finally got another reefbreeders photon v2 pro in the 24” version and got them hanging this morning. Currently 18” off the surface of the water. Blues are all at 70% white at 15%, and red and green at 10%. I’m averaging par at 180-200 at the top of rocks and 90-100 at the sand. I will push the percentage up over the next few days and try to get around 250 average at the top.

Diatoms are still around but not horrible. My acros all have great polyp extension and I can’t complain about any corals yet. So that’s good.

I need or want more fish so that’s not too far away. And I probably should fire up my carbon reactor just because.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I put in my first reef cleaners order. I hear great things about them and John put together a custom recommendation for my tank. So hopefully by Friday I’ll have a ton of new inverts helping to keep this tank cleaned up.

I also decided to order a doser. I’m only wanting to dose All for reef right now so I picked up a Kamoer F1. I’ve never had a doser yet so that’s cool.

Still seeing diatoms but not much else…

 

[mrpontiac80]

A little update. My Kamoer F1 doser is doing awesome. It took a little bit to figure out how to set up a schedule but it’s easy once you understand how the schedule works. I’ve been dosing All Fir Reef for some time now by hand, but this auto stuff is nice. I also picked up a Simplicity dosing container.

My Reef Cleaners order came in too. Ironically the diatoms started fading enough to notice about a day before the new cuc arrived but they still have plenty of work to do.

My yellow tip acro has recently decided to explode in growth after months of very little to notice. Although the tips are white and not yellowing I’m happy to see it. Hopefully all the other acros follow suit.

my nitrates and phosphates have yet to be very much in this tank, but they nearly bottomed out last week so I’ve doubled my feeding and opened the bypass on my clarisea filter roller some. After testing today, I’m happy to see an increase.
And I’ve got 5 high end mystery SPS corals showing up tomorrow from Top Shelf Aquatics live sale this past Easter weekend.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Some new stuff in the tank this week.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Just a little update. The doser is awesome. The tank is stabilizing nicely and acros are showing growth! On the flip side, my fish have been quarantined but a couple of weeks ago, I noticed some ich on a couple. It must have come in on some new inverts recently added or new coral additions. But either way the fish are fat and happy and after a week it has cleared up. So I’m going to add a UV and try to keep it in check.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Thank you for the updates. Tank is looking great!

What is the flow in the tank? I think I see 4 gyre pumps?

Any issues with the pumps on the back wall?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Thank you for the updates. Tank is looking great!

What is the flow in the tank? I think I see 3 gyre pumps?

Thanks for checking it out! Flow in the tank is a octo varios 8 return pump set on level 3. There are 4 maxpect gyres consisting of 2 fx350’s on each long end and 2 fx330’s on the rear wall facing forward. All four are set to random forward and reverse at 20%.

 

[Zero_Cool]

How has cleaning the gyres been for you?

I just picked up a pair of XF280 (tank has 3/4 glass) and was thinking about putting them on the back wall. I have a canopy coming so that may be an issue with access to clean them.

 

[mrpontiac80]

20% doesn’t sound like much but those fx350’s will flat out move water

 

[Zero_Cool]

Good to know they can still be functional at the lower power %. I was also fearfull of blowing the sand away from the front glass if I put them on the back.

 

[mrpontiac80]

How has cleaning the gyres been for you?

I just picked up a pair of XF280 (tank has 3/4 glass) and was thinking about putting them on the back wall. I have a canopy coming so that may be an issue with access to clean them.

I have been using gyres since I started the hobby a little over 2 years ago. I don’t think they are too bad personally. I have found that running them in reverse at 100% for just a min or two now and then dislodges a bit of gunk and allows for longer time between cleaning.
I just pop the inside unit off and into a 5 gallon bucket and break out an old toothbrush to clean them up every few months. The main thing is to align the parts up properly when reassembling

 

[mrpontiac80]

Good to know they can still be functional at the lower power %. I was also fearfull of blowing the sand away from the front glass if I put them on the back.

Mine does blow one area at the front. But it’s not too bad.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Thank you for the info. Keep the updates coming - always nice to see others successes.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Got the UV set up with temporary power just to check for leaks and such. I think it will be ok but I’m out of places to plug in more power until I upgrade my power bar.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Just some pics of how things are going!

 

[mrpontiac80]

Just a lot video of the tank as the lights are starting to dim tonight

 

[mrpontiac80]

The lights just kicked up so it’s pretty blue, but I got a great price on a new bounce mushroom yesterday so I had to get it.