Smite's UNS 120s peninsula

OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So far so good. Going to let it sit for a few hours but its looking solid.

20201023_130426.jpg 20201023_130434.jpg
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My super custom and high tech radion hanging kit! ;)
20201023_150540.jpg

I like using aluminum L channel. 1) it's easy to manage cables 2) it's pretty easy and low profile way to add fans for cooling. 3) they will utilize the screws holes on the back of the radions 4) I've hung up to 5 g3 pros this way on my 180g, all off 1 radion hanging kit.

I spotted some rubber inserts at Ace. I may try to place those in the holes to reduce vibration noise.
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just put a cover on it and call it a coffee table. :p Good luck with the move, wish there wasn't a pandemic going on and I wasn't working the weekend or would be there helping. Have fun!
No kiddin! Looks pretty good under the 4k canlights ;)

I got my bro coming over to help move it out and the new one in. So far all the temp bins look pretty stable so I'm not too worried.
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The only thing more challenging than a tank upgrade is downsizing! Man this has been rough. 9am-2 am yesterday and still had stuff chilling in the temp tubs! Most the day today and it's starting to look like a reef tank. Just got the essentials hooked up so far. I'm burnt but everything looks unphased so far.

I grossly over estimated what I could fit in this system so I've been slanging coral all day. I still have lots to rehome but I'm getting there. Still a little cluttered and I want cutting all colonies and have them grow back naturally.

20201025_185809.jpg
20201025_190026.jpg
20201025_190224.jpg
20201025_190208.jpg
20201025_190217.jpg
 

dbleoh7

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Messages
208
Reaction score
66
Location
Florida Panhandle
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looks awesome. Much cleaner look than previous tank. How do you like the flow with the MP40s? Ever think about just using one Gyre?
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looks awesome. Much cleaner look than previous tank. How do you like the flow with the MP40s? Ever think about just using one Gyre?
Thanks and I agree.

I like the mp40s. I'm running them at about 50%. I have a gyre 250 I love their flow but the cleaning to keep that flow level is too much work. I have spare wetside for the mp40s, so easy to clean. I may add a gyre under the overflow to pick up the center of the tank better so I can run all pumps at a lower percentage. Then if its output slows it's not a game changer
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Final fish additions are QT'd and in the acclimation box. One is a little bit of a runt so hopefully he can hold his own and start doing well.

20201027_125757

I'm guessing its the white bottom reflecting light back up but man it is tough to get decent pictures so far. My phone did pretty well before.
 

mattzang

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
2,511
Reaction score
4,214
Location
redlands CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
man i love those sunsets

idk why i used to be able to take decent pics with my iphone, but my new tank under different lights just seems awful. even under whiter spectrum light it just picks up so much blue
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I accidentally broke my Geo618 manifold while trying to install a new uni-seal. So bummed, mine is the older type so I needed to purchase a new lid. It was tough to keep it from leaking before so it needed the rebuild but the lead times gonna make it tough to keep my parameters stable over the next few weeks.

I'm not going to have the room for a frag tank next to the sump. I've decided to run my chaeto reactor on this system so that I can use the first section of the sump for frags and added bio filtration. I've got a brightwell plate on the way, with MB7 and I'm going to run BioDigest for a few months to make sure I've got a good culture of bacteria going.
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
man i love those sunsets

idk why i used to be able to take decent pics with my iphone, but my new tank under different lights just seems awful. even under whiter spectrum light it just picks up so much blue
Same, the strange part is these are the same lights just different tank and now my pictures are all blue. I'm still on a s7 edge but it lets you shoot in "pro" and you can set the white balance at 10k. That'd get me real close before but not now? very weird!
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Final fish list:
Cleaner Wrasse
Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (transitioning)
Moyeri Leopard Wrasse
2 Davinchi x something-or-other clowns
4/1 Sunset Anthias
White tail tang - small
Bangaii Cardinal
 

minus9

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
5,358
Reaction score
6,383
Location
Los Angeles (SFV)
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Final fish list:
Cleaner Wrasse
Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (transitioning)
Moyeri Leopard Wrasse
2 Davinchi x something-or-other clowns
4/1 Sunset Anthias
White tail tang - small
Bangaii Cardinal
Nice list. The white tail is on my short list, but will wait until I re-home my yellow tang when it gets too big. Your sunsets look great. I love a lot of smaller active fish, instead of bigger fish. I also like fish that inhabit zones, which keeps the whole tank alive. Looks like you'll have plenty of activity.
Sucks about the Geo, hopefully you'll get it fixed soon? I love my Geo 618, although the new deltec automatic reactors look awesome, but I shutter to think how much they cost.
Tank is looking great, do you miss having sand?
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Nice list. The white tail is on my short list, but will wait until I re-home my yellow tang when it gets too big. Your sunsets look great. I love a lot of smaller active fish, instead of bigger fish. I also like fish that inhabit zones, which keeps the whole tank alive. Looks like you'll have plenty of activity.
Sucks about the Geo, hopefully you'll get it fixed soon? I love my Geo 618, although the new deltec automatic reactors look awesome, but I shutter to think how much they cost.
Tank is looking great, do you miss having sand?

The white tail has been on my list for years. I've tried 2 in the past with no luck losing both in QT and I'm extremely excited to see this fella be as healthy as it is. So far the sunsets are hiding in my CB maleficent rock, I'm not sure if its a flow issue (too strong) or if they are just that intimidated by the other fish's size. So far no aggression but maybe they are just that shy?

When I busted the reactor I was trying to install a new uniseal to replace the leaky one on the bottom. I heard the crack and stopped, looked where I had decide to hold the reactor still and could only laugh or I woulda lost it haha. I can't believe I chose to hold it by the manifold but live and learn and I was still exhausted from the weekend so I'm cutting myself some slack :) New replacement parts look like 2-4 week wait? I was going to get a new geo but it seems like such a shame considering the body is in perfectly good condition and the pump was upgraded to a sicce 1.5 recently. Plus they are built to order @ 4 week lead times.

I do miss my sand! BUT I'm amazed to see how much detritus has already blown to the back corners, something I may no have noticed with sand being there. My acros have browned noticeably, I'm going to be testing here soon to see whats up. Hopefully I'm not missing too much rock/sand for the fish I have. During the chaos I left my large bags of matrix that were in my sump in a bucket without a heater and no circulation. I stared long and hard at it but decided not to risk throwing it in the new sump. I should be getting a brightwell plate in the mail any day now, along with MB7 and my BioDigest bacteria.

I'm borrowing a par meter next week to see how much par I'm losing with this AA lid. I have a feeling its going to be a lot! Now I'm trying to decide Octo vs Clearview. Any input on that?
 

minus9

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
5,358
Reaction score
6,383
Location
Los Angeles (SFV)
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
The white tail has been on my list for years. I've tried 2 in the past with no luck losing both in QT and I'm extremely excited to see this fella be as healthy as it is. So far the sunsets are hiding in my CB maleficent rock, I'm not sure if its a flow issue (too strong) or if they are just that intimidated by the other fish's size. So far no aggression but maybe they are just that shy?

When I busted the reactor I was trying to install a new uniseal to replace the leaky one on the bottom. I heard the crack and stopped, looked where I had decide to hold the reactor still and could only laugh or I woulda lost it haha. I can't believe I chose to hold it by the manifold but live and learn and I was still exhausted from the weekend so I'm cutting myself some slack :) New replacement parts look like 2-4 week wait? I was going to get a new geo but it seems like such a shame considering the body is in perfectly good condition and the pump was upgraded to a sicce 1.5 recently. Plus they are built to order @ 4 week lead times.

I do miss my sand! BUT I'm amazed to see how much detritus has already blown to the back corners, something I may no have noticed with sand being there. My acros have browned noticeably, I'm going to be testing here soon to see whats up. Hopefully I'm not missing too much rock/sand for the fish I have. During the chaos I left my large bags of matrix that were in my sump in a bucket without a heater and no circulation. I stared long and hard at it but decided not to risk throwing it in the new sump. I should be getting a brightwell plate in the mail any day now, along with MB7 and my BioDigest bacteria.

I'm borrowing a par meter next week to see how much par I'm losing with this AA lid. I have a feeling its going to be a lot! Now I'm trying to decide Octo vs Clearview. Any input on that?
Matt is awesome from Octo, can't recommend him enough. He made my first lid and I had a little sagging issue a year or so afterwards and sent him a pic. He noticed something about the lid and without hesitation, he made me a new lid at no cost at all and shipped it to me. AAA+ customer service and the lid is super solid. I just swapped out the clear mesh for black (I get a little salt creep, but it's an easy fix and there's less glare with the black)
Are you dosing the liquid mud from shiners? It may help with the transition a little? Reach out to Andre on FB, he might have a few suggestions?
I wonder if there's a way to mod the Geo to the new design? Maybe just get the new style lid and you can drill out the main body and use a uni-seal like the updated version? I'm surprised he doesn't have a mod kit for these?
You can always do a display fuge / frag area with mangroves and put some miracle mud in there?
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Matt is awesome from Octo, can't recommend him enough. He made my first lid and I had a little sagging issue a year or so afterwards and sent him a pic. He noticed something about the lid and without hesitation, he made me a new lid at no cost at all and shipped it to me. AAA+ customer service and the lid is super solid. I just swapped out the clear mesh for black (I get a little salt creep, but it's an easy fix and there's less glare with the black)
Are you dosing the liquid mud from shiners? It may help with the transition a little? Reach out to Andre on FB, he might have a few suggestions?
I wonder if there's a way to mod the Geo to the new design? Maybe just get the new style lid and you can drill out the main body and use a uni-seal like the updated version? I'm surprised he doesn't have a mod kit for these?
You can always do a display fuge / frag area with mangroves and put some miracle mud in there?
Good to know, I'll be contacting Octo then.

I haven't dosed that yet and you're right i should hit up Andre but he'll probably suggest a ICP test so I may as well get that in. Have you tried it yet?

That's not a bad idea. I was thinking maybe there is a way to extend the down tube a couple inches with an elbow or tee on the end so air didnt go directly into it. I've had mine stop running before, actually why I bought the sicce, and realized thats actually what cause it.

I'm tapped on room is the problem. I almost considered ditching the carx altogether and going with a dosing pump. I've got a large seaside chaeto reactor. The lamp busted when I bought it second hand so I replaced it with a RO LR 200 lamp but its shorter than the reactor. I'm thinking about adding some type of biofiltration rubble or cubes in that section since its not lit. Have you ran miracle mud? I was thinking about it but keep seeing mixed reviews.
 

minus9

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
5,358
Reaction score
6,383
Location
Los Angeles (SFV)
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Good to know, I'll be contacting Octo then.

I haven't dosed that yet and you're right i should hit up Andre but he'll probably suggest a ICP test so I may as well get that in. Have you tried it yet?

That's not a bad idea. I was thinking maybe there is a way to extend the down tube a couple inches with an elbow or tee on the end so air didnt go directly into it. I've had mine stop running before, actually why I bought the sicce, and realized thats actually what cause it.

I'm tapped on room is the problem. I almost considered ditching the carx altogether and going with a dosing pump. I've got a large seaside chaeto reactor. The lamp busted when I bought it second hand so I replaced it with a RO LR 200 lamp but its shorter than the reactor. I'm thinking about adding some type of biofiltration rubble or cubes in that section since its not lit. Have you ran miracle mud? I was thinking about it but keep seeing mixed reviews.
I do use miracle mud and like it. I just put it in some plastic storage containers, which makes replacing quite easy. Just pull out half and replace, pretty simple. Daiso Japan has a lot of containers to choose from and the container store is another option. I'm still thinking about making an acrylic container that is split into sections that fits tightly in my fuge, so I don't trap detritus below the containers, but the easy fix is a small powerhead that keeps detritus moving in my fuge, which gets picked by my skimmer in the next section or removed whenever I do water changes.
 
OP
OP
Smite

Smite

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
2,749
Reaction score
4,030
Location
Garden Grove
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I do use miracle mud and like it. I just put it in some plastic storage containers, which makes replacing quite easy. Just pull out half and replace, pretty simple. Daiso Japan has a lot of containers to choose from and the container store is another option. I'm still thinking about making an acrylic container that is split into sections that fits tightly in my fuge, so I don't trap detritus below the containers, but the easy fix is a small powerhead that keeps detritus moving in my fuge, which gets picked by my skimmer in the next section or removed whenever I do water changes.
I like that idea. How much are you running in your system? I've seen little tubs at Tong's, wonder how many I would need?


So far the tank has stayed between 78--79F. I got both my Vecton 400 UV and Reactor online in the last 24 hours and I've hit 80.9F. When I open the stand it feels pretty cool, makes me wonder if my convection attempt is working. I'm looking at wall mount options for fans or adding cross bracing to my current L channels so I can mount my 120mm Noctua fans to my light rack. I'll say my water was hazy before that UV and it's already clearing up pretty well.

I need to mount some type of top trim (out of rock) to my wrasse den, they have kicked about 1/2" of sand out of it already :p but found it in the first day. Both fit in there so far without issue but I'm maxed out for sure.

I killed 1 mp40 for a bit near the blue period tonight. All anthias came out from the rock and started swimming around. I think to get flow at the end of the 4' I'm needing to crank the mp40's up to the point where it's too turbulant in the first 1/2 of the tank. I'll be adding a gyre or preferably my Tunze stream 3 if it isn't to much of an eye sore or create additional heat.

My clowns and nem are going to a buddy's tank. Once that happens I'll be working on the final rockscape and I'll start placing acros in permanent spots.

Nitrates are 25ppm and phosphates .26 That's about where they were in my 180. So the browning isn't nutrient based.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 42 48.3%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 46 52.9%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 20 23.0%
  • None.

    Votes: 22 25.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 10.3%
Back
Top