Unexpected upgrade...

[jhuntstl]

I cracked the top corner of my tank last night. I'm no glass expert. I don't think it's an emergency situation, but it's definitely not good. I had been planning an upgrade, but with no set schedule in mind. Well that has changed.

I ordered a 30x30x18 70g acrylic cube today. I'll hopefully build a stand this weekend. My plan was an oversized stand and sump DIYd out of PVC sheeting. I wanted room for a bucket refugium and a section for frags. Stand will be approximately 60x30x42 if I stick to the plan.

I'm in the market for....

a good skimmer rated for 100+ gallons
return pump, preferably DC
maybe a sump if I don't DIY
fuge light
another 15-30 lbs of rock
prob a bunch of other **** I'm forgetting...

 

[smoothdog]

Congratulations? That sucks about the crack, but at least you can move forward with your upgrade...

 

[jhuntstl]

Congratulations? That sucks about the crack, but at least you can move forward with your upgrade...

Haha, thanks. Congratulations are appropriate. Not exactly the time-line I was going for, but it will all work out.

The idea was to source and build this slowly. Be more methodical and grab deals as they pop up on the used market. But it is what it is.

I'd prefer to buy as much used as possible. If anyone has any of the equipment listed, I'm a recently motivated buyer. I've seen some nice stuff come and go on the marketplace.

 

[mdb_talon]

Oh that stinks! Good about the upgrade though.

I will check my closet tomorrow i think i have a working seaside aquatics CS180 skimmer in there that is in good shape but cant remember i may have gotten rid of it. I definitely got rock(dry) if needed.

Also of you want to borrow a sump until you get one built I got one recently with a tank. Dont really want to sell it because eventually plan to use it on a different tank. Not sure specs on it....it is small but was used on a 30x30x24 so it should hold the water you need i would imagine. Can get a pic and dimensions tomorrow if interested.

 

[jhuntstl]

Thanks @mdb_talon! That looks like a nice skimmer. If it's available, I very well may be interested.

I was thinking of ordering 5-10lbs of Florida aquacultured, but the rest would be dry. Let me know what you got.

I really appreciate the sump offer. There's a lot of cheap temporary options out there though. I think I'll manage. Hopefully I can pull off a DIY...

 

[jhuntstl]

Anyone use the rubbermaid stock tanks? Kinda hard to beat.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rubbermaid-structural-foam-stock-tanks-50-gal-capacity

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rubbermaid-structural-foam-stock-tanks-100-gal-capacity

Didn't dawn on me until yesterday that I have a good spot for a sump directly below my tank in the basement. Would simplify a lot of my plans. Stand would be easier to build with no sump considerations. There would be a floor drain right next it. RO station is right there too. Don't have to worry about any of it looking clean and tidy.

Any downsides I'm missing? Obviously I'd need a bigger return.

 

[smoothdog]

I love my basement sump! As you've stated, about the only down side is the power requirements and cost of a pressure rated pump, but in my opinion, it's well worth it.

 

[jhuntstl]

I love my basement sump! As you've stated, about the only down side is the power requirements and cost of a pressure rated pump, but in my opinion, it's well worth it.

I grabbed the 50g from Tractor Supply out in High Ridge. Its kind of shallow at 12" for a sump, but its very wide and accommodating to just about whatever I want to put in there. I built a stand for it and got it sitting up at an easy working level. Has to pump straight up about 8ft before fittings are used to split it off to the opposing 3/4" returns.

Don't think I'll have any issue fitting a fuge, skimmer, and frag section in this thing. $70 is feeling pretty good to me.

 

[jhuntstl]

It is done. Kind of. Still way more work to do. Check my build thread if you're interested in more details!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jhunts-30x30x18-sps-shallow-cube.878139/

Can't wait to find a permanent home for all the frags I got from @Ultraman and @smoothdog! Dave yours have been on the rack ever since the swap and it's been killing me.

 

[smoothdog]

Looks great man! Can't wait to see it with all the corals in it.

 

[smoothdog]

Strong work man! Tank and stand look great. I like how you stacked your sump area to compartmentalize everything. Looks like a great use of that space.

 

[jhuntstl]

Strong work man! Tank and stand look great. I like how you stacked your sump area to compartmentalize everything. Looks like a great use of that space.

Thank you smooth! It was all very improvised, but is working out so far. I'm happy with the sump area. Just need to tidy it up and get things more organized.

 

[carmodpg]

Looks great! I just upgraded myself! Got a bigger tank and a fish room behind it so I could make it look like it was in wall.
really wish my other tank didn’t crash 2 weeks before the transfer to the new tank. I have a lot of rock to fill now.

 

[Ultraman]

Looking good, Joel! I’ve been preoccupied lately and haven’t posted much. I’d go basement sump in a heartbeat. Fun place to hang out too.

 

[jhuntstl]

Man this stinks making this update.

I've been enduring some tough times ever since the transfer. I actually temporarily moved everything back to the AIO. I drained the 30x30 and it's refilling now. I couldn't watch my SPS stn/rtn anymore. I've lost 8 so far. 5 acros, 2 stylos, and a birdsnest. As of today, this is the first morning I haven't looked in my tank to see that dreaded bright white amongst the darkness.

I can't pin point a simple explanation for my troubles. My nutrients were usually .15ish po4, 5-20 n03. They were lower than usual the day of the transfer(basically NSW), but I can only think of one acro that had been showing any signs of stress. I matched all parameters(alk, ca, mag, salinity, temp, n's and p's) and made the transfer. Most parameters were spot on or very close. I reused as much water as I could and rinsed the sand in clean saltwater to be reused in the fuge. There was no ammonia spike that I registered. I was dosing 1ppm NO3 daily right off the bat since I had tested them at 2 or below before the transfer. I did spike po4 fast than expected. .02 to .1 in less than 24 hours. PO4 spikes had never been an issue for me in the past. The transfer was fast. My scape is glued, so nothing was out of water for more than 10-20 seconds.

I have quite a few theories on what could have gone wrong, but @SaltyT suggested it may have been a bacterial infection that took hold in their temporarily vulnerable state. No fish or invert deaths, strictly SPS. I'm leaning strongly towards this being the culprit.

My monti caps were about the only ones that seemed mostly unaffected. Digis I think are going to hold on. Couple pocillipora that I bet will be fine. My more mature, better encrusted acros are hanging in there. Most of the newer ones are long gone. ASD rainbow, contest coral, and the stylocoeniella is still kicking though @smoothdog. I'm going to feel like a real sack of crap if I lose what I got from the get together.

This has basically been one giant kick in the you know where. Humbling experience, but I'll rebound better than ever.

 

[jhuntstl]

If anyone is looking to lose some established biomedia from an SPS dominated system, I'd be very interested. My biggest concern moving into this new build was thinning out my established bacteria. It is a large jump in surface area and water volume. After draining and not saving the sand this next go around, I feel like I'll be moving back even further.

 

[smoothdog]

Sorry to hear this man. Tank swaps can be rough. Sounds like you did everything right though. Did you try adding any commercial bacteria to supplement the declined natural bacterial? I've always done this in the past and had good success. I could spare a small piece of rock from my sump, but keep in mind that this may be throwing fuel on the fire. I know there are planaria, cotton candy algae and bryopsis in my system, but they are all controlled due to having a balanced system. You'll probably find that other successful tanks have similar minor nuisances that aren't a big issue. Throwing a random rock in your tank may just cause another huge issue at this point. You know the mantra, nothing good happens .... I'd personally just keep an eye on things and make sure params stay in check at this point and maybe add some Dr Tims or Nitrobacter to boost the beneficial bacteria levels.

 

[jhuntstl]

Sorry to hear this man. Tank swaps can be rough. Sounds like you did everything right though. Did you try adding any commercial bacteria to supplement the declined natural bacterial? I've always done this in the past and had good success. I could spare a small piece of rock from my sump, but keep in mind that this may be throwing fuel on the fire. I know there are planaria, cotton candy algae and bryopsis in my system, but they are all controlled due to having a balanced system. You'll probably find that other successful tanks have similar minor nuisances that aren't a big issue. Throwing a random rock in your tank may just cause another huge issue at this point. You know the mantra, nothing good happens .... I'd personally just keep an eye on things and make sure params stay in check at this point and maybe add some Dr Tims or Nitrobacter to boost the beneficial bacteria levels.

I had seeded the tank 5 days prior with some established bio media, 10lbs of aquacultured rock, and a small amount of MB7. I had all of this down in the sump. Everything I'd read suggested bottle bac was unnecessary in this situation, but it probably wouldn't have hurt to use something more potent like fritz turbo.

I've seen most pest algae come and go in my tank as well, so I aint scared! I believe a healthy, diverse bacteria population and a strong CUC(especially pods & amphipods) is generally all you need to keep that stuff in check. I planned on getting a bottle of turbo start 900 today. That's what I used to start the AIO. But I hear ya. The tank is vulnerable and susceptible to losing the balance it previously had achieved. Introducing something new could make it worse.

I really appreciate the advice.

 

[jhuntstl]

Got everything moved back today. They were in the dark for a few days. Let's hope I have a better week. Not exactly scaped yet.

So after a day or two or two of drinking my misery away after losing so many coral, I decided to take this as an opportunity to improve. The sump room I had chosen was convenient for a lot of reasons, but really wasn't the best location.

This weekend I started work on a different sump room and did quite a bit of demo. I've sealed off the other room and will continue to make this half of the basement as proper as I can afford for a real fish room. I'll be tearing down the rest of the drywall and removing the framing. Most all of it has sustained water damage. I've also uncovered quite a bit of foundation repair that's needed. I'll likely cover the walls in insulating foam and maybe plywood once all repairs have been made.

Maybe this was all for the best..? The future looks exciting, that's for sure.

 

[Ultraman]

Lots of potential down there!