New 305 Gallon Build

[t5Nitro]

Sdot, you've got me looking at these Advanced Acrylic sumps and I'm thinking this REF#S150 model would fit in my stand perfectly. If I get out the PVC cutter and start chopping pipes off I could make this work...









:p

 

[Zotmurse]

How long is your media lasting you? As far as I know its similar to our medical grade co2 absorbent like you'd see at anesthesia stations. They don't last long! What kind of turnover are you experiencing in your tank? I don't have a pH monitor for my tank but I'm always wondering what its sitting at.

I have a 60gal. My pH was sitting at 7.8-7.95 before scrubbing, now it’s at 8-8.15...
Media exhaustion primarily depends on how much CO2 you have in the room. I live in a newer, well-sealed home, so my ambient CO2 is pretty high. That being said, I’ve been running my first load of soda lime for nine days and it’s still going strong. It looks like it’s about 80% saturated at this point.

 

[Sdot]

How long is your media lasting you? As far as I know its similar to our medical grade co2 absorbent like you'd see at anesthesia stations. They don't last long! What kind of turnover are you experiencing in your tank? I don't have a pH monitor for my tank but I'm always wondering what its sitting at.

Mine last between 8-11days... i track it through my apex. I recently picked up the icecap large co2 scrubber...its tiny! Its replacing the BRS dual media reactor repurposed for Co2 duties.

 

[Sdot]

Reef is looking awesome bro!

Thanks bro! Still have lots of work however..... most of my attention is on the Magnificent anemone.

 

[Sdot]

I have a 60gal. My pH was sitting at 7.8-7.95 before scrubbing, now it’s at 8-8.15...
Media exhaustion primarily depends on how much CO2 you have in the room. I live in a newer, well-sealed home, so my ambient CO2 is pretty high. That being said, I’ve been running my first load of soda lime for nine days and it’s still going strong. It looks like it’s about 80% saturated at this point.

Same story here

 

[Sdot]

Sdot, you've got me looking at these Advanced Acrylic sumps and I'm thinking this REF#S150 model would fit in my stand perfectly. If I get out the PVC cutter and start chopping pipes off I could make this work...









:p

They are amazing!! Well built and nice looking. The separate fuge is a game changer for me.. I can literally dial how much or little i want to use it. And because its controlled via a gate valve taking it offline, for feeding, maintenance or whatever is painless.

 

[mclayj]

Incredible system. I just read through the entire thread as I am waiting on a 48” 120G Miracles tank and Advanced Acrylics PVC sump combo. I went with a 30” sump and 10” fuge. The sump is larger than the largest system I’ve kept previously Haha And like you it will be my first time plumbing. Do you have any plumbing suggestions now having used the systems for a few months? Thanks,

 

[Sdot]

Incredible system. I just read through the entire thread as I am waiting on a 48” 120G Miracles tank and Advanced Acrylics PVC sump combo. I went with a 30” sump and 10” fuge. The sump is larger than the largest system I’ve kept previously Haha And like you it will be my first time plumbing. Do you have any plumbing suggestions now having used the systems for a few months? Thanks,

Thanks bro... really appreciate you going through and reading my journey. Tips: dry fit as much as possible and make sure you really really glue and check all the joints. I had to cut out my manifold because it was leaking and that's no fun once the tank is up and running. By extra pieces....seriously you will thank me later. lastly use this opportunity to plan and use this forum as a sounding board.... people are really helpful here.

 

[Nigel35]

Beautiful, Beautiful Tank! Enjoyed reading through your build thread so much! Keep up the good work!

 

[Sdot]

Beautiful, Beautiful Tank! Enjoyed reading through your build thread so much! Keep up the good work!

Hey thanks for tagging along. I appreciate all of the kind words, and it has been a journey!!

 

[Sdot]

Family!! Longtime!! I haven't been consistent with my build thread (sorry :p) ...you know getting a difficult sea anemone healthy again (Heteractis Magnifica), finally solving my elevate tin problem and getting my tank stable again. Now that I'm on the other side of those issues here we go.

My tank is no where near the glory it once was..... but it will be. The elevated tin took a toll as documented previously on a lot of my colonies, most died. Trident automated dosing..... OMG, why did I wait so long to use this!? Its not perfect, but its pretty amazing. My test coral experiment is working as well (add a coral and if it survives for more than a month or so, add another). My growth, color, and polyp extension are all good, so ill be adding more corals soon; stay tuned for that.


Test Coral added: 10/24/20.. Also if you know what kind of acro this is, please chime in!!

Same Coral 11/11/20:

Lastly, here are my current parameters (the below numbers are averages other than PH and Salinity):

PH: 8.1 - 8.4 (Daily Cycle)

ALK: 7.15
CAL: 419
MAG: 1255

PHOS: .03
NITRATE: 10 PPM

Salinity: 1.025

 

[t5Nitro]

Great tank and nice aquascape. Im finding difficulty placing powerheads in my tank. The low lying rock structure is where its at!

 

[Sdot]

Great tank and nice aquascape. Im finding difficulty placing powerheads in my tank. The low lying rock structure is where its at!

Thanks bro... that can be difficult, what I find solves that issue is having pumps on the opposing side move water in a manner that causes the current to crash into each other. That pretty much eliminates most if not all dead spots, I think that's also part of the success with acro's as well. My goal is to make sure their polyps are moving most of the time.

 

[X-37B]

Thanks bro... that can be difficult, what I find solves that issue is having pumps on the opposing side move water in a manner that causes the current to crash into each other. That pretty much eliminates most if not all dead spots, I think that's also part of the success with acro's as well. My goal is to make sure their polyps are moving most of the time.

Very nice system!
Cant wait to see it filled in.
In my 120 I have 2 powerheads on the back wall and 1 on each end.
Back wall is on/off every 10 seconds. Side are on all the time.
Great random flow with low rockwork too.
I do not run a fuge but I would set one up like yours if I went that route.

 

[Nigel35]

Thanks For the update! Looking Great!

 

[Sdot]

Thanks For the update! Looking Great!

Thanks brother... its coming along.

 

[rds85]

I might have missed the post, but did you find the source of tin? Are you still dosing NO3? The tank could use a few more fish instead :cool:. Joking.. kinda. Tank looks great! The Mag looks way better, amazing nem sometimes I wish I got one instead of a gig.

 

[Sdot]

Hey Fam, latest updates.... we added more coral! Tank is rocking so far. One great thing about covid.... I get the opportunity to really log and study the data on my tank and its paying off. I think I'm pretty dialed in, and with the generator on standby...within the next few months this tank should be outstanding. Here are the latest pix.

One last thing..... dosing phyto plankton is also a game changer.....everything just looks better since I've starting dosing it. My pods have exploded to the point where fish are eating them out of the water column....love seeing anthias chase them down. The dots you see on the glass (1st pic) are all pods....at night its a snow storm.

 

[Sdot]

I might have missed the post, but did you find the source of tin? Are you still dosing NO3? The tank could use a few more fish instead :cool:. Joking.. kinda. Tank looks great! The Mag looks way better, amazing nem sometimes I wish I got one instead of a gig.

Yes sir...it was water from a LFS, I distill my own water at this point and it working pretty dang good. I am still dosing sodium nitrates...that's working great as well. I think I have lost a couple of years worrying about my Mag Anemone.... but the colors....WOW. The camera doesn't do it any justice.... its deep purple with pastel blue tips. I got waaaay more than I bargained for...and thanks to @ca1ore I still have it...I thought it was dead during the 1st few days of treatment, and was going to throw it out......sigh.

 

[rds85]

Yes sir...it was water from a LFS, I distill my own water at this point and it working pretty dang good. I am still dosing sodium nitrates...that's working great as well. I think I have lost a couple of years worrying about my Mag Anemone.... but the colors....WOW. The camera doesn't do it any justice.... its deep purple with pastel blue tips. I got waaaay more than I bargained for...and thanks to @ca1ore I still have it...I thought it was dead during the 1st few days of treatment, and was going to throw it out......sigh.

Oh I believe that. It's one of those animals that causes anxiety! Cipro to the rescue.

I could be totally of base here... but are most of your colonies SPS wild/maricultured? Just the growth pattern and thickness/density of branches look extremely "natural" . All I mean by that, is that they look exactly how they grow in the wild when I dive and IMO sps in reef tanks from frags seem to base out then neck up before branching out. Either way they look great and I was curious where you are getting them from? Now a days the $200+ for a 0.5" frag is foolary!