homer1475's 80 gallon build

[homer1475]

Got off of work last night and decided to go for a drive to some of the "local" LFS's for a green mandarin.

My typical LFS is closed on Tuesday this summer as they are renovating the strip mall hes located in so I did not go there. I did go to 3 other LFS in the Syracuse area and no one had a green mandy.

All was not a lost cause though. While I could not find my green mandarin, I did see some very nice corals(price was way overblown in my eyes) at one store. Just an example of the over inflated prices, orange plate coral typically for around 60 to 80$, they had listed at 140$.

At any rate, I did pick up a nice ultra plate from another store. Red body, green tentacles, and an orange mouth. When my lights come up, I'll post a couple pics.

[ReefWreak]

Nice! Make sure to leave lots of room for it. My plate started pretty small, maybe 3" in diameter, now it's about 6-7"? it takes up the entirety of the "lagoon" in my rocks so there's almost no room for my clam or other LPS that don't like light. I'd like to frag it at some point, but no room to store frags of it.

Also a tip for it, if possible, place it where you see extra food land on your sand bed, after feeding. Mine is right in the center, so when I feed too much mysis, and some sinks, it almost always ends up on the plate, which I think is why it's grown so much.

[homer1475]

I have 2 other plates and they love it right in the front corner of my tank.

My only problem with one of them, my starry blenny thinks its his personal toilet. While the plate eats most of it(), some of it lays on it and it has started to grow a bit of algae on some of its plates.

[homer1475]

First one is my green plate, second is my original orange from the biocube. You can see the algae on its plates, does not look healthy at all. Third is the new one. I have to move it as that area is way to small for it.

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[homer1475]

FWIW, Tapatalk is great for uploading photos.

[ReefWreak]

New one looks great! Very nice find!

Feed them directly more! I think they'll heal and deepen in color.

[soulpatch]

I have always liked plate corals. Just not enough room for me to put them in my tank (I know I know I have a 150 so should have room but I dont)


Homer - You and the wife making any trips down my way this fall? Be cool to meet up and show you some good LFS around the area...

[homer1475]

Yeah the cell phone pics do them no justice for sure. The green is a nice deep green, not all washed out like in the pic(sort of almost looks bleached). The new one has a deep red base, bright green tentacles, and a neon orange mouth. They get fed nearly every day as I make sure to drop a few pellets on them when i feed the fish.

The orange is still orange so its not dead, but I rarely see its tentacles anymore, and I feel thats why the algae has taken a foot hold. Of course the blenny using it as a toilet isn't helping it either.

We might be making a trip. We could always plan something for fall as I'll have more time off. It's not like it's that far of drive lol.

[homer1475]

Got my other light and pump in yesterday so today having the day off from work and its raining, great time to get my ATS up and running. I'll post some pics later on when I have it all up and running.

I've had it kind of running for the last three nights just as a test to see if everything was done right(not properly plumbed, only one light, etc). The only issue I'm running into is the splashing sound from the drain. I think I could put a gate or ball valve on the drain and it would then create the full siphon I'm looking for and be dead silent, but I would have no way to turn the valve once installed.

[homer1475]

Pics from tapatalk

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[homer1475]

Interesting how tapatalk posts pics....

Anywho, got the ATS all installed. Yay me!

First pic is of it all installed. Doesn't leave me much room to maneuver in my sump, but I can get to everything without having to pull it out. The 2 part containers from soul are missing in those pics and makes it even fuller in the stand.


Next pic is just how simple the plumbing for it was.

Third is the inside of the box with the screen. The back light I screwed through the acrylic and used plastic screws and wingnuts to hold it in place. The front light I have just resting on the acrylic ledge so I can move it to look in on the screen.

I did fully clean out my sumo while I was at it. I must have took about 3 pounds of GHA and detritus out of there. I also noticed that the marine pure plates I used are super crumbly. I probably removed a couple MM from just using the shop vac to remove the algae. I may just remove them, but I have noticed 100's of pods crawling throughout them now that the algae is gone. Pod breeding ground is a decent use for them. lol

I'm very curious to see how this affects the tank algae as there is still plenty of that.

Bought a hanna PO4 meter to try out the hanna line of testers. I got it for free from BRS points, so thought why not, as everyone swears by the PO4 kit.

[ReefWreak]

I like it!

I can't wait to see the (disgusting) green pastures it produces.

Did you buy the low range Phosphate or Phosphorous? The Phosphorous reads lower than Phosphate, but I guess once you're at 0.02ppm only crazy people keep watching the levels.

You should also have taken sump before and after pictures! Hopefully nutrient levels don't rise as a result of the removed algae, but even if they do, it'll grow back. That's the danger with using algae to remove nutrients, that when you finally do remove it from the tank, if you don't remove it a section at a time instead of all at once, you can get nutrient levels bouncing around.

[homer1475]

I bought the low range phosphate. I can't see needing readings lower then .02 so I saw no need for all the math and the phosphorus kit.

As I was cleaning up my sump I was thinking I should take a couple "before" shots, but after my hands were all water I was not touching my phone.

I killed my last phone that way. Thought my hands were dry when they apparently weren't, used my phone to access apex fusion, little while later it acted all weird and just up and died. So no more phone near the tank except to take pics. lol

While the ATS gets up and running, the algae in the tank is running rampant(with no light in the sump it's not growing down there anymore). Cleaned it up a bit yesterday, but GHA just keeps coming back.

Got some new test kits in the mail the other day and some of my older kits(yet not expired) apparently were reading a little low. Hanna is saying 0.00 for PO4 which I know is not right as I have plenty of GHA soaking it up. NO3 is at 2.5 per salifert, and the big three remain constant - ALK 8.3, CAL 430, MAG 1350

With all that being said, I have lost one head of my original octospawn, and my frogspawn does not look healthy either. No idea why either? They have been in the same location since I put them in the tank and they were always open and happy. Other then a possible rise in nutrients(which the euphyillia should like), literally nothing in my tank has changed. So this one has me puzzled.

Does not look like BJD as it just closed up and never reopened. No oozing, no brown substance, nothing out of the ordinary. The 2 hammers I have in close proximity are fully open and look quite happy, so I'm really baffled on this one.

[kallan]

Homer, I'm jealous!!! I feel like I will never get my tank setup! My kitchen remodel has turned into a nightmare. The granite install is horrible, so I am considering taking them to court...since they don't care to make things right.

Also, when attempting to lift this tank up onto the stand from the floor, I got a compression fracture!!! I guess I am not as invincible as I thought I was. I will definitely get help besides my husband from now on. Ouch, it hurts.

I will be using the chinese pump that came with the system for now. It has a metric screw in graduated piece that I will clamp 3/4" hose on then another graduated screw in to receive the other end of the 3/4" tube before it goes 1". Hope this won't restrict the pump too much. These graduated thingys are smaller than 3/4". Can't figure out another way with this pump.

[homer1475]

I hate the hose barb fittings!

If you go to your local lowes or HD you can buy spa flex(flexible PVC hose that can be glued just like regular PVC) and a couple fittings that will screw right into the stock pump.

Let me see if I can find the photo of my original plumbing with the original pump.

[homer1475]

This is the original pump just not in my tank, it's on my mixing station. never mind the silicone, I cracked the body from dropping it. You can see I have 2 regular PVC fittings screwed into the pump though.

[kallan]

Homer, Is the fitting that goes directly into the pump a screw in piece? How did you find a 1" fitting with 1/2" threaded male to fit in the pump since the threads are metric? CMC plumbing said it was a proprietary fitting and I am stuck with it. Did you glue it directly onto the pump itself?

Sorry for my confusion.

[homer1475]

Forget the actual size, but yes, some teflon paste and a screw in fitting.

They may be metric, but what I found at lowes screws in just fine and it doesn't leak.

I took the pump with me to lowes to see if I could find one to match. I think I have a bushing in it to go from 1/2" to 1" I can't remember exactly, but it works perfectly fine for my needs. If I remember right it did leak a bit, but it was in the sump and submerged so no big deal. Although where I use it now I used the same fittings and it doesn't leak.

[soulpatch]

Can also buy metric to standard fittings from brs amongst other places

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[homer1475]

Thinking back after I posted.....

Yes a 1/2" screw in adapter, then a bushing that slides ontop of the screw in fitting and makes it 1".

If I'm right, it's one of these:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/LASCO-1-2-i...dapter/1067455

And one of these:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/LASCO-1-in-...ushing/3371598

These may not be exact, but I remember finding the exact ones for the pump at my local lowes.

[homer1475]

Today is WC and maintenance day.

Cleaned my ATS for the first time, I'll post pics from my phone in the next post.

I do have one odd thing going on and I'm not sure why. Both my octospawns and my frogspawn all are receding. One of my octo's has lost a head, my other is so far receded that I barely see it, and 2 heads of my frogspawn are receded, and the other 2 are tiny.

All parameters are in check and they have been in the same location since I set the tank up a year ago. The odd part is a I have branching hammer and a wall hammer above and below the octo's and frog are both of them look as happy as can be. I still can't seem to keep acans either. They don't die, but they wither away and show just a bare minimum of color.

I really think its my black box lights being to bright and I can't lower them any more. I may have made a poor decision in going with 2 300W fixtures. I may either try just using one fixture and centering it over the tank, or go to a tried and true 4 or 6 bulb T5 setup as it would be cheaper then purchasing a name brand LED.

Any idea?

[homer1475]

So pics of the ATS cleaning first, then my poor October and frog, with the hammers above and below looking great.

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[soulpatch]

Those reversing heads make sure to watch for brown jelly....

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[homer1475]

Forgot to post parameters.....

Salinity 1.025
temp 77.5 to 78
Alk - 8.5
Cal - 420
MG - 1350
lights are 2 300W black box 7 inches off the water running 30% blue and 15% whites for 12 hours with 6 hours peak and 3 hours ramp up and a 3 hour ramp down.

and they never change even on a WC now.

[homer1475]

I've been watching for anything gooey or slimy looking thinking the same Soul, but I have not seen any of that. They just recede. All other corals look great and are growing with the exception of both Octo's, the frog, and any and all acans I put in there. I've even moved one of the octo's(the worst of the 2) down onto the sand thinking either light or flow might be an issue as both are lower on the sand.