Sierra_Bravo's "What did I get myself into??" 120g in-wall build thread

[siggy]

Next tank I think I will do a little better with my rockwork. If I were to do it over I'd have used less rock, created more space in the middle and made the islands height's unequal. At this point I've got so many frags glued to it I'm not going to remove anything.

FTS with mostly blues/actinics:

Looking good. There will be a lot different view when the corals mature and create the unequal height you want.

Thats What I was thinking thats going to be awesome when they grow out...SHOOT it looks good now!

 

[McPikie]

Next tank I think I will do a little better with my rockwork. If I were to do it over I'd have used less rock, created more space in the middle and made the islands height's unequal. At this point I've got so many frags glued to it I'm not going to remove anything.

FTS with mostly blues/actinics:

Just read the build from start to finish. Hats off to you man. The planning, build and result all fantastic!!! You've actually made me want to rescape mine as you have soooo much real estate for coral there with quite a minimalistic look to it.

Bravo indeed.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Just read the build from start to finish. Hats off to you man. The planning, build and result all fantastic!!! You've actually made me want to rescape mine as you have soooo much real estate for coral there with quite a minimalistic look to it.

Bravo indeed.

Nice to hear your kind words - thanks very much. One of the unexpected benefits of doing this has been the interaction with other hobbyists. I had almost an aversion to anything "social media" related; forums were for neck-bearded individuals in their mother's basement and Facebook would expose way too many old skeletons hiding in the closet. . . Truth is I've enjoyed documenting my journey and reading about other's experiences as well. Post up if you redo your 900 - following.

 

[RoyinSpain]

Great thread and build, well done. It inspires me for my upcoming 400 litre(100USG) upgrade. I am also going to use the Synergy Reef Shadow overflow. I see you have stepped dowm the overflow's diameter a few times from the 1 1/2". What diameter have you gone down to? What real flow rate are you getting through the tank? I plan to push around 800 to 1000 US gallons /hour up through mine. Thanks!

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Great thread and build, well done. It inspires me for my upcoming 400 litre(100USG) upgrade. I am also going to use the Synergy Reef Shadow overflow. I see you have stepped dowm the overflow's diameter a few times from the 1 1/2". What diameter have you gone down to? What real flow rate are you getting through the tank? I plan to push around 800 to 1000 US gallons /hour up through mine. Thanks!

I have built-in 1" return connections on my Trigger sump, so they go from 1 1/2" to 1" rigid, continuing with 1" flex the rest of the way to the sump. Synergy recommends stepping down the diameter near the overflow box.

According to this calculator, http://www.calctool.org/CALC/eng/civil/hazen-williams_g , a 1" PVC pipe has a potential gravity flow rate of 2,520 gph if it has no slope (hanging 90 degres). I'm running a slower flow through my sump at about 450 GPH but that is being controlled by my pump volume, not restricted by the overflow diameter.

 

[leahfiish]

How do you like the TBS live sand? How many pounds did you use?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

How do you like the TBS live sand? How many pounds did you use?

I am very pleased that I went with TBS rock and sand and will do it again on the next tank. I know there are opposite opinions on live vs. dry, but for me it was very much worth it. The life, the diversity, having almost zero cycle, the cool (and uncool) hitchhikers, coralline everywhere - I loved it.

I went with his package recommendation of 1 lb per gallon, so 120#. I will say I think his rock recommendation is heavy - it's based on creating a wall aquascape I think, or may be based on his old rock before he started using Walt Smith 2.0 which is less dense. I went with 160 lbs of rock and filled my DT and still had a large portion left over filling 2/3 of the refugium.

I think the rock is more the attraction than the sand, however. If I was looking to cut costs I'd just get the rock. Also be aware the sand is real ocean-bottom, it's coarse and full of broken and empty shells, and is far from looking pristine like the stuff out of a bag. For me I like the natural look, but not everyone does.

 

[leahfiish]

I am very pleased that I went with TBS rock and sand and will do it again on the next tank. I know there are opposite opinions on live vs. dry, but for me it was very much worth it. The life, the diversity, having almost zero cycle, the cool (and uncool) hitchhikers, coralline everywhere - I loved it.

I went with his package recommendation of 1 lb per gallon, so 120#. I will say I think his rock recommendation is heavy - it's based on creating a wall aquascape I think, or may be based on his old rock before he started using Walt Smith 2.0 which is less dense. I went with 160 lbs of rock and filled my DT and still had a large portion left over filling 2/3 of the refugium.

I think the rock is more the attraction than the sand, however. If I was looking to cut costs I'd just get the rock. Also be aware the sand is real ocean-bottom, it's coarse and full of broken and empty shells, and is far from looking pristine like the stuff out of a bag. For me I like the natural look, but not everyone does.

Thank you. I haven't been able to find a lot of pictures of the sand, I can't quite decide if I would like it or not. I was originally going to go with TBS rock but got a good deal on dry rock locally, so I think instead I'm just going to supplement that with a few pieces of TBS and maybe the live sand. I am also considering putting as much TBS rock as I can fit into my sump but I feel like that might be a waste because it seems like some of the coralline, algae, sponges, and other live will die if there is no light? Thoughts on this?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Thank you. I haven't been able to find a lot of pictures of the sand, I can't quite decide if I would like it or not. I was originally going to go with TBS rock but got a good deal on dry rock locally, so I think instead I'm just going to supplement that with a few pieces of TBS and maybe the live sand. I am also considering putting as much TBS rock as I can fit into my sump but I feel like that might be a waste because it seems like some of the coralline, algae, sponges, and other live will die if there is no light? Thoughts on this?

Yes, you would have significant die off. I personnaly would not go to the expense of shipping it to put in my sump - you want to be able to see everything on it. If you still want TBS rock, use it in your display and put some of the dry in the sump where bacteria will colonize it without regard to light.

 

[leahfiish]

Yes, you would have significant die off. I personnaly would not go to the expense of shipping it to put in my sump - you want to be able to see everything on it. If you still want TBS rock, use it in your display and put some of the dry in the sump where bacteria will colonize it without regard to light.

I am local so I don't have to worry about shipping and that was a big part of why I wanted to go the TBS rock. I'll probably end up with just a smaller amount than I initially was planning. Thank you for your advice, and sorry for derailing your thread a bit.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I am local so I don't have to worry about shipping and that was a big part of why I wanted to go the TBS rock. I'll probably end up with just a smaller amount than I initially was planning. Thank you for your advice, and sorry for derailing your thread a bit.

No derail at all! Who in their right mind just wants to listen to me drone on. . .

 

[McPikie]

No derail at all! Who in their right mind just wants to listen to me drone on. . .

We don't

But we are happy for more pics

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Last Saturday I made a bone-headed mistake. I use dosers for calc and alk, but sometimes manually dose to get levels right. I was adding 200ml of Randy's two-part calc when my pH monitor went into alarm and I immediately knew what happened: I accidentally grabbed my alk solution instead of calc. pH went from 7.9 to 8.4 in seconds. Alk went from 8.7 to 11.

Almost a week later and I've had four corals affected so far, one fully bleached and died immediately and three damaged with RTN, those showing up over the last few days. The latest was this morning. I've been told it may be weeks before I know how much was really affected.

I created a separate thread on it with a coupel more details but wanted to document what happened in my build thread as well. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/oh-nooo-i-accidently-dosed-alk-instead-of-calc.453392/#post-5121449

Added 9-15

ORA Pearlberry added to list 9/18:

 

[nova65ss]

Bummer hope they recover!

 

[Janci]

A real bummer.
I hope all gets back on track soon

 

[McPikie]

Can you not do some water changes to get it back down?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Can you not do some water changes to get it back down?

Salt mix has its own dKH level to consider as well. I use Instant Ocean and it runs 11 dKH. From what I read I could have used muratic acid to bring it down but that adds its own problems. I took the advice several people gave to let it come down slowly. It took two days to get back to under 9 dKH.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Excuse the whiny post. I've taken one major hit after another in the last six weeks and it's left my head spinning. I'm not discouraged, but to say I'm unhappy right now is a major understatement.

It started early August with my A/C going out and the tank temp getting to 83 degrees for half a day. Shortly thereafter I discovered ich was in my display tank. A few weeks ago I committed a very stupid error mistakingly adding alk to my tank instead of calcium and creating a very large alk spike, which has so far claimed eight corals.

To top it off, for the last two weeks I've had to be away on business and just returned only hours ago. I have a loving wife and two great kids but they just are not suited to manage the tank when I'm away, despite my efforts at training and leaving a very detailed checklist. My daughter stepped away while filling my 7 gallon ATO reservoir and flooded the house with 20 gallons of RODI. My frag rack was knocked off its magnets and no one noticed right away, knocking over a tort colony along the way. In trying to recover the frags that fell behind the rocks my SC Orange Passion is MIA. Three Cariberryi anthias I had in QT passed because the ammonia badge wasn't monitored.

Prior to this six weeks the tank was looking the best it ever had. Since then, in total I have lost or am losing due to the alk spike and being away:

• ASD Rainbow millie
  
• Vivid Rainbow Delight
  
• Sniper's Blue Bubble Yum
  
• ORA Pearlberry
  
• YG Yellow
  
• Hyacinth table
  
• FT Glacier millie
  
• SC Orange passion
  
• A beautiful Boom Corals wild acro
  
• Gig 'em Purple Orchid tort
  
• Three Cariberryi anthias
  
• My patience.
  
• My mind

I have not yet inventoried my DT fish. I did a large water change and am going to bed. I'll come up with a plan tomorrow.

 

[mmw64]

Sorry, this hobby is not for sissies! Hang in there, it WILL get better.

 

[Janci]

Excuse the whiny post. I've taken one major hit after another in the last six weeks and it's left my head spinning. I'm not discouraged, but to say I'm unhappy right now is a major understatement.

It started early August with my A/C going out and the tank temp getting to 83 degrees for half a day. Shortly thereafter I discovered ich was in my display tank. A few weeks ago I committed a very stupid error mistakingly adding alk to my tank instead of calcium and creating a very large alk spike, which has so far claimed eight corals.

To top it off, for the last two weeks I've had to be away on business and just returned only hours ago. I have a loving wife and two great kids but they just are not suited to manage the tank when I'm away, despite my efforts at training and leaving a very detailed checklist. My daughter stepped away while filling my 7 gallon ATO reservoir and flooded the house with 20 gallons of RODI. My frag rack was knocked off its magnets and no one noticed right away, knocking over a tort colony along the way. In trying to recover the frags that fell behind the rocks my SC Orange Passion is MIA. Three Cariberryi anthias I had in QT passed because the ammonia badge wasn't monitored.

Prior to this six weeks the tank was looking the best it ever had. Since then, in total I have lost or am losing due to the alk spike and being away:

• ASD Rainbow millie
  
• Vivid Rainbow Delight
  
• Sniper's Blue Bubble Yum
  
• ORA Pearlberry
  
• YG Yellow
  
• Hyacinth table
  
• FT Glacier millie
  
• SC Orange passion
  
• A beautiful Boom Corals wild acro
  
• Gig 'em Purple Orchid tort
  
• Three Cariberryi anthias
  
• My patience.
  
• My mind

I have not yet inventoried my DT fish. I did a large water change and am going to bed. I'll come up with a plan tomorrow.

Sorry about all this trouble and loss of corals and fish
Unfortunately most of the mistakes in this hobby are due to human error. Luckily with a clear head you'll find a way to get this sorted.
Before you start, please get back first:

• My patience.
• My mind

Good luck!