UNS R120 First Reef Tank Build

[Marc G-L]

I am awaiting delivery of my R120 this week. I also built a HNSA and have Tampa bay sand and large amounts of Ulva macro algae waiting till after the tank is cycled. Like you, I will be dosing coopepods and phytoplankton before adding crittersand coral.

 

[Sharbuckles Reef]

Exciting times! What day will the tank arrive?

 

[Marc G-L]

Uncertain, but I can't wait to rejoin the reefing community!

 

[Seregus]

Hey! Nice setup, following up. I have UNS R150 in a progress of starting up. Based on answers from UNS both R120 and R150 fit Red Sea Reefmat 500 series with adaptor you can buy additionally from UNS dealers.

 

[de312]

Do you have any photos of how you plumbed the UV? Thanks!

 

[Marc G-L]

No UV for me. I'm going the full biodiversity route backed up with a great NSA coral arrangement, Phyto, pods and amphipods. Balanced feeding and micronutrient supplementing once a week. I also have 10 different macro alages between the fugue and DT. So far, nuisance algae is waning, zoa's grown fast in the past ten days and when Lights are out a flashlight to the glass and tank yield a variety of interesting creatures. No signs of disease, everyone seems to have found their space. Fingers crossed it remains that way as I introduce mare life to the tank.

 

[mjk42]

Do you have any photos of how you plumbed the UV? Thanks!

Here are some pictures of how it’s set up. Flexible plumbing and I have the UV unit just outside of the sump between tank and wall. Hydros flow sensor on the return line. I decided on the one chamber inflow outflow which isn’t ideal but I didn’t want to put the UV return line into the display tank. Honestly can’t tell you if it has worked but what I can say is that I had a very minimal if any “ugly stage” and have not had any fish disease to date

 

[de312]

Here are some pictures of how it’s set up. Flexible plumbing and I have the UV unit just outside of the sump between tank and wall. Hydros flow sensor on the return line. I decided on the one chamber inflow outflow which isn’t ideal but I didn’t want to put the UV return line into the display tank. Honestly can’t tell you if it has worked but what I can say is that I had a very minimal if any “ugly stage” and have not had any fish disease to date

Awesome thank you, Im trying to see how I could fit one in my upcoming R120. And you have the return of the UV just going back into the return chamber?


The flow meter is for dialing in the flow of the UV right? Different flows = different purposes?

 

[mjk42]

Here are some pictures of how it’s set up. Flexible plumbing and I have the UV unit just outside of the sump between tank and wall. Hydros flow sensor on the return line. I decided on the one chamber inflow outflow which isn’t ideal but I didn’t want to put the UV return line into the display tank. Honestly can’t tell you if it has worked but what I can say is that I had a very minimal if any “ugly stage” and have not had any fish disease to date

Awesome thank you, Im trying to see how I could fit one in my upcoming R120. And you have the return of the UV just going back into the return chamber?


The flow meter is for dialing in the flow of the UV right? Different flows = different purposes?

Yes I use the manifold output for the inflow to the UV and used a return hose back to the same return pump chamber. I use the flow meter to set the flow target for ich and it also by default gives me a data point to monitor my return pump itself because I don’t have another flow meter on the output or return of the tank. My flow for my UV is 150-130gph to give a high dose for ich. Flow has decreased slowly since my setup and this summer I will do the deep clean of the pumps etc to boost it back up.

 

[Marc G-L]

Did you use any clamps on the lines to and from the UV to prevent them from popping off some time in the future?

 

[mjk42]

Did you use any clamps on the lines to and from the UV to prevent them from popping off some time in the future?

Yep. Hose clamps on each connection. You can see them in the pics.

 

[mjk42]

I figured this would be a good time for a general tank update. I certainly have a way of picking the most stressful "relaxing" hobby haha. The tank has been up and running 7 months now and I have had some good successes and some challenges for sure.

Overall opinion of the UNS reef system is excellent. Thank tank is very well built and the sump has been very easy to use and set up. The return pipe valve is VERY sensitive so sometimes it has been a challenge to adjust to get my fluid level correct for my ATO etc. I have found that after each water change I usually have to adjust some. I am happy with my equipment selections and have not had any issues with the return pump, wave pumps or skimmer. The Hydros system overall has been excellent with a few exceptions that coding/setting up programs for how you want things done could certainly be better explained (see my thread about wave schedules for on example).

The Wins:
- the "ugly stage" for me was basically non existent. I have had some patches of GHA that I have to keep up removing but nothing out of the ordinary. I have to guess that this is really the result of the live sand and live rock I have in the sump that set me up for success. I also dosed pods a few times as well as phyto so maybe this helped as well
- the fish! Everyone is happy and healthy. Clowns x2, one spot fox face, tomini tang, lawnmower blenny, diamond watchman goby, flame angle, royal gramma and long nose hawk fish. Still want to add a melanurus wrass and a yellow tang at some point but no rush
- torches and hammers seem very happy with good polyp extension and color

The Losses:
- STN of all of my SPS "trial" acros and birdnest. I really have no clue why. My chemistry seems good and overall stable with dKH- 9, PH 8.1-8.3, Ca 1430, Nitrate ~7 and phos 0.02-.04. I test 2x per week and have not had drastic swings. My flow seems pretty powerful? PAR was 250-300 measured with a PAR meter and the light spectrum seems to be a standard blue heavy balanced spectrum.
- along the same line I have had random other coral death the has changed my metal state hahah. 2 favia growing great and one dead. Acan one dead and one fine. Candy cane (supposed to be bullet proof?!?) one fine and one slowly dying since I got it despite no placement etc.

The Villains:
- Bernie the emerald crab was caught in the act of trying to take a tasy bite out of a blasto. Sentenced to sump jail
- Peppermint shrimp. Monsters that ate hammers and picked on a torch causing it to spontaneously combust... Caught after much frustration and returned to the LFS...

Hitchhikers:
Porcelain crab came with the live sump rock! fun to check him out with his little filter feeding hands
MANTUS SHRIMP- I could make and entire post about this guy. After hearing plenty of gun shots from the tank and reading the Tampa Bay Saltwater website I was on the hunt. Spotted him and had a mild heart attack as I envisioned him eating all of my fish and breaking my thumbs. Well he proved much smarter then the peppermint shrimp and has no interest in the bottle trap or net. He punched a pair or my metal tweezers and ran away laughing at me. After a bit more research he is a Florida mantis shrimp and will max out at a few inches. I have admitted defeat and he is now part of the family. His name is John Dillinger and he happily excepts scallop chunks once a week as bribery to not kill my fish....

Next steps:
I sent of a reef moonshine/ oceamo

 

[mjk42]

 

[mjk42]

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[jrloyd]

I figured this would be a good time for a general tank update. I certainly have a way of picking the most stressful "relaxing" hobby haha. The tank has been up and running 7 months now and I have had some good successes and some challenges for sure.

Overall opinion of the UNS reef system is excellent. Thank tank is very well built and the sump has been very easy to use and set up. The return pipe valve is VERY sensitive so sometimes it has been a challenge to adjust to get my fluid level correct for my ATO etc. I have found that after each water change I usually have to adjust some. I am happy with my equipment selections and have not had any issues with the return pump, wave pumps or skimmer. The Hydros system overall has been excellent with a few exceptions that coding/setting up programs for how you want things done could certainly be better explained (see my thread about wave schedules for on example).

The Wins:
- the "ugly stage" for me was basically non existent. I have had some patches of GHA that I have to keep up removing but nothing out of the ordinary. I have to guess that this is really the result of the live sand and live rock I have in the sump that set me up for success. I also dosed pods a few times as well as phyto so maybe this helped as well
- the fish! Everyone is happy and healthy. Clowns x2, one spot fox face, tomini tang, lawnmower blenny, diamond watchman goby, flame angle, royal gramma and long nose hawk fish. Still want to add a melanurus wrass and a yellow tang at some point but no rush
- torches and hammers seem very happy with good polyp extension and color

The Losses:
- STN of all of my SPS "trial" acros and birdnest. I really have no clue why. My chemistry seems good and overall stable with dKH- 9, PH 8.1-8.3, Ca 1430, Nitrate ~7 and phos 0.02-.04. I test 2x per week and have not had drastic swings. My flow seems pretty powerful? PAR was 250-300 measured with a PAR meter and the light spectrum seems to be a standard blue heavy balanced spectrum.
- along the same line I have had random other coral death the has changed my metal state hahah. 2 favia growing great and one dead. Acan one dead and one fine. Candy cane (supposed to be bullet proof?!?) one fine and one slowly dying since I got it despite no placement etc.

The Villains:
- Bernie the emerald crab was caught in the act of trying to take a tasy bite out of a blasto. Sentenced to sump jail
- Peppermint shrimp. Monsters that ate hammers and picked on a torch causing it to spontaneously combust... Caught after much frustration and returned to the LFS...

Hitchhikers:
Porcelain crab came with the live sump rock! fun to check him out with his little filter feeding hands
MANTUS SHRIMP- I could make and entire post about this guy. After hearing plenty of gun shots from the tank and reading the Tampa Bay Saltwater website I was on the hunt. Spotted him and had a mild heart attack as I envisioned him eating all of my fish and breaking my thumbs. Well he proved much smarter then the peppermint shrimp and has no interest in the bottle trap or net. He punched a pair or my metal tweezers and ran away laughing at me. After a bit more research he is a Florida mantis shrimp and will max out at a few inches. I have admitted defeat and he is now part of the family. His name is John Dillinger and he happily excepts scallop chunks once a week as bribery to not kill my fish....

Next steps:
I sent of a reef moonshine/ oceamo

This might be a dumb question, but I’m going to ask it anyways….Let’s say it’s time to shut off your return pump to clean it, what happens to the water level in the sump? Will water backflow through he pump in to the sump? I assume the sump will not overflow but I’m trying to figure out in my head what happens. If it does backflow to the pump could you put in a valve to prevent it? Thank you, I’m enjoying your thread. Will order mine in the next couple of months.

 

[Seregus]

In almost every tank water will backflow through the return pump. Installing one way valve is not a 100% solution - it might fail plus will restrict the flow.

Also does it matter if water goes from return or drain? Most important is for your sump to be able to fit all this water.

So far on my R150 without a skimmer it runs perfectly normal and can fit 10-15% after everything is shut off. With skimmer will be a bit less, but I assume way enough.

 

[jrloyd]

In almost every tank water will backflow through the return pump. Installing one way valve is not a 100% solution - it might fail plus will restrict the flow.

Also does it matter if water goes from return or drain? Most important is for your sump to be able to fit all this water.

So far on my R150 without a skimmer it runs perfectly normal and can fit 10-15% after everything is shut off. With skimmer will be a bit less, but I assume way enough.

Thanks. I really just do not want an overflow but I have no idea how much returns to the sump. I also didn’t really know if it is returning from the return or the drain once the pump shuts off. I was mostly just asking how much the sump fills if you shut the pump off. Sounds like it should be good to go then. Thanks for the info.

 

[Marc G-L]

I have no skimmer but a fair amount of rock, and ceramic media and Ulva and Codium macro algae in my UNS 120 sump. I turned off my return pump to see how high the water got and did the same before and after in the DT, making water levels w/ tape. Now I have solid reference points.

I have Sicce pumps but haven't figured how to shut the off during feedings w/o hearing loud draining noises and the a flood of air bubbles when restarting. Anyone have a solution for that?