Randal's 150 gallon upgrade

[bknapp]

If you need some extra water come by and I'll give you some.

 

[kingrl2]

If you need some extra water come by and I'll give you some.

Thanks Brandon, that's really kind of you... I really appreciate it. I should have plenty made up this evening when I get home though.

 

[kingrl2]

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Woohoo! Looking lovely!

 

[heathd.hd]

Great build. Looks 2 clean and not alive yet! Lol

 

[kingrl2]

Woohoo! Looking lovely!

Thanks Brad, I'm starting to get stoked.

Great build. Looks 2 clean and not alive yet! Lol

Yeah, I still have a few more things to install in the sump like the auto top off and such, but it's getting there. I'll be using my spare time in the next few days to remove the rock work from my old tank and cleaning it before putting it in the new tank. I just ordered some Seachem Stability to kick start the cycle, should be here Friday.

 

[revhtree]

Nice setup and progress!

 

[kingrl2]

Nice setup and progress!

Thanks Rev

 

[11f150]

Just went through your build, looks nice. Good job!

 

[kingrl2]

Just went through your build, looks nice. Good job!

Thanks man, it's getting there.

 

[kingrl2]

OK, I have got to do better at updating this. Let's see...where do we start?

Over the past year I let the tank cycle and then moved all my fish over from my 75 gallon tank. Right after the swap over, thanks to an ice storm and temps dipping into the single digits outside, we had a power outage that lasted two days. I lost almost all my fish. Since then, I have purchased a huge 13,000 watt generator so that shouldn't happen again. I eventually replaced most of the fish, along with a few new ones. I have installed two Jebao RW-15's and then upgraded the old Odyssea metal halide/pc lighting with two Evergrow 165W WIFI LEDs. It was at this point I decided I was ready to try my hand at coral. So, on one of our Nashville Predator weekend trips (we love watching the Preds play), we stopped by Emerald Bay Old Hickory and bought a torch, a green finger leather and a small frag of purple monti (thanks Sean and Andrew). I've been maintaining calcium/alkalinity/magnesium with water changes, but my calcium is staying pretty low at 320. So...today my Kalkwasser starter kit from BRS arrives and I will begin trying to figure out how to increase my levels to where they should be and then maintain those numbers through my auto top off. This is the part I have been looking forward to the most, as I think testing the water and then figuring out the proper way to maintain those parameters sounds like an ever evolving puzzle with the rewards being a beautiful showpiece tank for my family and I to enjoy. I love those kind of challenges.

As you can see, I'm still here and I'm still maintaining/growing my tank slowly. I still read the boards and follow most things going on with the club and the people in it, but I haven't made it to any club meetings yet. If all goes well, that will change Sat. I have high hopes that my wife and I will be able to make the 2.5 hour trip to Nashville and meet everyone in the club and perhaps join. I already have our calendar marked for the big frag swap in April and I can't wait.

Here are a few pics of what the tank looks like now, along with a few of it's inhabitants.

 

[R_C]

Look great!!

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Looking really good! Love that butterfly

I'd warn you about raising calcium and alk via kalkwasser. You'll want to RAISE them via 2-part solutions or water changes first, then MAINTAIN with kalkwasser.

 

[kingrl2]

Look great!!

Thanks R_C

Looking really good! Love that butterfly

I'd warn you about raising calcium and alk via kalkwasser. You'll want to RAISE them via 2-part solutions or water changes first, then MAINTAIN with kalkwasser.

Thanks Brad, one of my favorite fish is the Moorish Idol but with it's low survivability rate in aquariums, I'm a little scared to buy one... but this guy looks like his first cousin.

The BRS kalkwasser starter kit includes Calcium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate and a Magnesium mix to do adjustments and then the kalkwasser to maintain your parameters. Should be fun.

 

[bknapp]

Looking good! Like the rock work. I agree with @Defective_Weeble on two fronts, raise your calcium and alk with a two part solution then maintain with kalk and that butterfly is sweet.

Oh, and Go Wings!

 

[kingrl2]

Looking good! Like the rock work. I agree with @Defective_Weeble on two fronts, raise your calcium and alk with a two part solution then maintain with kalk and that butterfly is sweet.

Oh, and Go Wings!

Thanks Brandon, I started slowly upping my parameters this weekend. I should have them where I want them today and will start using Kalk in the ATO this evening. Keeping fingers crossed that everything goes smooth.

Oh, I don't mind the Red Wings so much (unless they are playing the Preds), I have a buddy that lives in Detroit that is a big fan.

 

[kingrl2]

So I started dosing 2 part this weekend to get my parameters up to where they should be. Over 3 days I dosed 800ml of calcium chloride solution and 26 oz of magnesium mix solution. I haven't done anything yet with Alkalinity because I'm not sure I'm getting reliable results with the red sea test. When I am performing the test, the color goes from blue to an almost clear green color to a pale orange and it just gets a little darker as I add more reagent, it never gets red. I thought it was very hard to get a reliable result, at what shade of orange do I stop? Then I found these two videos.

One shows the the color change exactly the way mine behaves...


and the other video shows what apparently is the correct way the test is supposed to behave...


According to the videos, I have a bad alkalinity test kit and I need to contact Red Sea for a replacement. Has anyone else seen this before? I guess I'll call Red Sea this evening and see what they have to say. I'll post back here what I find out.

Anyway, before dosing, my calcium was 320 and my magnesium was 1160. Last night my parameters where, calcium 400 and Magnesium 1360. I use a 5 gallon jug for ATO, so I added the suggested minimum kalk ratio of 1/2 tsp per gallon to the container and hooked it up. I'll test again tonight to see how things are going.

 

[kingrl2]

So I sent an email to Red Sea this morning with pretty much exactly the safe information I posted above. It took less than two hours to get a response that they are sending me a new reagent. That's pretty good support if you ask me. I'm looking forward to testing my alkalinity and verifying my actual numbers. Until then I'll just keep dosing kalkwasser and keep an eye on my calcium to adjust.

 

[DawgDiggity]

Love the fish selection! Looks like a great start, all the best with maturing that tank!

 

[kingrl2]

Added a few more coral this weekend.