drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Slowly but surely color is starting to come back in the corals. Here's a few pics from tonight.


0.000109 Leagues under the sea.




Tri-Color Acropora is starting to show some nice color on the new tips it's growing.




Purple Staghorn is showing some color in it's tips.




Top down of the same Purple Staghorn.




Top down of the electric blue Acro. Hasn't quite returned to it's electric glory yet, but it's making progress.




Here's an Acro that should be purple but because of the nutrient issue it turned blue/green. Hoping in time the purple will return.




This is a different frag but the same coral as above. You can see how the tip is coloring up to it's former purple color.




The top down pic doesn't show it's pinks very well but the tabling acro is coloring up nicely.

[psteeleb]

very impressive Brett
great pictures and good to see those colors coming out

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

very impressive Brett
great pictures and good to see those colors coming out

Thanks Pete.


This guy has been hanging out in the sump. Do you know what it is? I was afraid to move it up to the display for fear he would mow something down.

[psteeleb]

looks like a stomatella snail, a nice find
they mostly come out at night and are great reef tank as they are herbivores that will help control micro algae growth

[iwishtofish]

I'm glad to see that the corals are coming around. Everything is looking beautiful!

Care to share what's on your wish list? Any particular fish or corals?

[Taqpol]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

looks like a stomatella snail, a nice find
they mostly come out at night and are great reef tank as they are herbivores that will help control micro algae growth

+1

[110galreef]

Everything appears to be doing great. Colors look good, and appear to be getting better!

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

looks like a stomatella snail, a nice find
they mostly come out at night and are great reef tank as they are herbivores that will help control micro algae growth

Perfect. Yeah, the pics online I looked at definitely matched. In the tank you go little buddy!

Originally Posted by iwishtofish

I'm glad to see that the corals are coming around. Everything is looking beautiful!

Care to share what's on your wish list? Any particular fish or corals?

Thanks iwish. I wouldn't mind adding a Green Coris Wrasse or maybe a Potter's or Leopard Wrasse. I don't have a DSB so I don't know how happy they would be and I really need to add a screen top to the tank openings before I think about adding any wrasses. Definitely on the project to-do list.

Originally Posted by Taqpol

+1

Originally Posted by 110galreef

Everything appears to be doing great. Colors look good, and appear to be getting better!

Thanks 110g. Tank is looking better and better every day. Not quite the intense color the original frags had but they are making progress.

[110galreef]

FYI...on wrasses, I have a few that liketo burry them selves at night: melanarus and divided wrasse, and I too have the SSB of like 1/2"-3/4" and they do just fine!

I plan to add a few more soon as well

[dzidek]

great tank!!!
It took me a while to get to the last page

[cromedogg33]

Brett, I wouldn't worry about the sand as much as I would the top. I've lost a scott's and a lineatus.

Lets just say no more wrasses until I figure out my top.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by 110galreef

FYI...on wrasses, I have a few that liketo burry them selves at night: melanarus and divided wrasse, and I too have the SSB of like 1/2"-3/4" and they do just fine!

I plan to add a few more soon as well

Cool! Have you had any wrasses that have jumped? And/or do you have a screen top on your tank?

Originally Posted by dzidek

great tank!!!
It took me a while to get to the last page

Thanks for taking the time dzidek. Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by cromedogg33

Brett, I wouldn't worry about the sand as much as I would the top. I've lost a scott's and a lineatus.

Lets just say no more wrasses until I figure out my top.

Woah Josh, sorry for the losses. Please tell me the Scott's wasn't $250 either... What are you going to do for the top, a mesh screen?

[cromedogg33]

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a screen. I like coral more than fish so I'm having a hard time giving up some par that I feel screens take away. It might be minimal so I'll look into it.

On a side note since we have the same overflows, I would look into covering those

I woke yesterday morning to about 10g of water on the floor in my basement (luckily it's concrete) and my tank overflowing. I had a massive turbo snail crawl all the up into my drain pipe and slow the flow down enough to overflow. Just food for thought.

[110galreef]

Josh and Brett,

In regards to my experience and the wrasses I have had:
Blue Cleaner Wrasse --Labroides dimidiatus 1yr
Divided Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon bipartitus 1yr
Melanurus Wrasse---Halichoeres melanurus 1yr
Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon meleagris 6mos..(died on me??)
Sixline Wrasse----Pseudocheilinus hexataenia 2 yrs and mony other in multiple tanks.....

I have never used a net nor had any jump. Maybe I am lucky or maybe they are not likely jumpers???

I plan to replace the dead leopard wrasse, as well as maybe 2-3 more wrasses. The net for me will not be added.

However as how much a typical net setup that BRS sells can't affect PAR all that much. But just one more thing I don't feel like hassling with.

[Taqpol]

For anyone interested in tops that don't trap humidity/block light, these guys are clear and have 1/4" openings. Comes with a DIY kit for making everything.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...6-5-x-6-5.html

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...ting-kits.html

[cromedogg33]

Interesting you haven't had jumpers, I've had a 6 line for close to 3 years now who hasn't jumped but had a scotts/lineatus/lawnmower all jump. Let's just say I would have paid the 20$ for a DIY screen rather than buying those fish again.

Brett, If I can reccomend a wrasse...the lineatus was absolutely spectacular.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by cromedogg33

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a screen. I like coral more than fish so I'm having a hard time giving up some par that I feel screens take away. It might be minimal so I'll look into it.

On a side note since we have the same overflows, I would look into covering those

I woke yesterday morning to about 10g of water on the floor in my basement (luckily it's concrete) and my tank overflowing. I had a massive turbo snail crawl all the up into my drain pipe and slow the flow down enough to overflow. Just food for thought.

Wow, that's a little scary. I got rid of all my large Turbos so I only have some Trochus and maybe 1 or 2 Astreas at the moment. Overflow lids are on the growing to-do list. I've been thinking about how I would make the screen top and also cover the overflows. I was planning on buying some black acrylic and making some covers for the two corner overflows. My Durso's are taller than the tank rim so I'd need to cut a couple of strategically placed holes to accommodate those. But then I run into an issue on how to address the screen tops over the covered corner overflows. The corner overflows have a radius to them so bending the screen frame to match that radius is probably not going to work. Still researching how to do it cleanly...

Originally Posted by 110galreef

Josh and Brett,

In regards to my experience and the wrasses I have had:
Blue Cleaner Wrasse --Labroides dimidiatus 1yr
Divided Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon bipartitus 1yr
Melanurus Wrasse---Halichoeres melanurus 1yr
Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon meleagris 6mos..(died on me??)
Sixline Wrasse----Pseudocheilinus hexataenia 2 yrs and mony other in multiple tanks.....

I have never used a net nor had any jump. Maybe I am lucky or maybe they are not likely jumpers???

I plan to replace the dead leopard wrasse, as well as maybe 2-3 more wrasses. The net for me will not be added.

However as how much a typical net setup that BRS sells can't affect PAR all that much. But just one more thing I don't feel like hassling with.

Why do you think they only lasted ~1yr? Was it a feeding issue you think? I dig the wrasses though.

Originally Posted by Taqpol

For anyone interested in tops that don't trap humidity/block light, these guys are clear and have 1/4" openings. Comes with a DIY kit for making everything.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...6-5-x-6-5.html

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...ting-kits.html

That's exactly the material I was planning on using Alex! Just trying to figure out a way to do the left/right corners where my overflows are located. Making it radius around the weir is posing a little bit of an issue...

Originally Posted by cromedogg33

Interesting you haven't had jumpers, I've had a 6 line for close to 3 years now who hasn't jumped but had a scotts/lineatus/lawnmower all jump. Let's just say I would have paid the 20$ for a DIY screen rather than buying those fish again.

Brett, If I can reccomend a wrasse...the lineatus was absolutely spectacular.

Your Lawnmower Blenny jumped??? I agree, the Lineatus is one of my favorite wrasses. I also really like the Melanurus Wrasse too. Both have great color. I'm more of a coral guy too so I'd probably be happy with a green coris or similar.

[Taqpol]

That netting I linked looks fused together at the vertice of every square, I would think you would be able to cut little holes in the screen to let the standpipes poke through without hurting the tension or strength too much.

[110galreef]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Why do you think they only lasted ~1yr? Was it a feeding issue you think? I dig the wrasses though.

I should have been more clear. These are all wrasses I HAVE / had. The one's with 1 yr means I have had 1 yr and are still with me! Was just stating that I have had for a while and no jumpers!

In regards to my experience and the wrasses I have had:
Blue Cleaner Wrasse --Labroides dimidiatus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Divided Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon bipartitus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Melanurus Wrasse---Halichoeres melanurus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon meleagris 6mos..(died on me??)
Sixline Wrasse----Pseudocheilinus hexataenia 2 yrs and many other in multiple tanks....AND COUNTING!!

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Taqpol

That netting I linked looks fused together at the vertice of every square, I would think you would be able to cut little holes in the screen to let the standpipes poke through without hurting the tension or strength too much.

OK cool. I might be able to add an 1/8" piece of black acrylic on to of that too, to block out the light in my overflows as well. Don't know if my halides will warp the acrylic though...

Originally Posted by 110galreef

I should have been more clear. These are all wrasses I HAVE / had. The one's with 1 yr means I have had 1 yr and are still with me! Was just stating that I have had for a while and no jumpers!

In regards to my experience and the wrasses I have had:
Blue Cleaner Wrasse --Labroides dimidiatus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Divided Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon bipartitus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Melanurus Wrasse---Halichoeres melanurus 1yr AND COUNTING!
Leopard Wrasse---Macropharyngodon meleagris 6mos..(died on me??)
Sixline Wrasse----Pseudocheilinus hexataenia 2 yrs and many other in multiple tanks....AND COUNTING!!

Oh hahahahahaha! Thanks for clearing that up. I was getting worried that these wrasses are a lot harder to keep than I thought. Haha

[Lynnmw1208]

nice update! those corals are coloring up nicely! just a suggestion, have you tried the red sea coral pro tests yet? I found the API to be too wishy washy for me. I always got mixed results. I use the rsc pro test kits for calcium, alk, mag, nitrate and phosphate. They just seem to be more accurate to me. API always said 0 nitrate and red sea tells me 0.375-0.625 depending on how I feed.

I can't wait to see this mod on your reactor! That is the one I wanted to get for my tank

[dthelen]

Anything new with the sump/ room any new picks on that?

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Lynnmw1208

nice update! those corals are coloring up nicely! just a suggestion, have you tried the red sea coral pro tests yet? I found the API to be too wishy washy for me. I always got mixed results. I use the rsc pro test kits for calcium, alk, mag, nitrate and phosphate. They just seem to be more accurate to me. API always said 0 nitrate and red sea tells me 0.375-0.625 depending on how I feed.

I can't wait to see this mod on your reactor! That is the one I wanted to get for my tank

I'm planning on trying the Red Sea Kit when my API runs out. Needed something fast and it's what the LFS had available this time. I have the Alkalinity and Phosphate Checkers from Hanna so I'll probably just do the Red Sea NO3 kit when I need to replace. That's pretty cool they are that accurate even for a color style test. Good to know, thanks! Still gathering parts for the reactor mod. I'll update as progress is made.

Originally Posted by dthelen

Anything new with the sump/ room any new picks on that?

I have a couple of new things I'll be adding shortly so an update is in order. I also need to make a mounting plate for one of my Vortech Battery Backups that's been sitting on the floor for the last year. Might have some time this weekend to finish that little project up. I'll get a new sump room video up once I get these couple odds and ends taken care of.

[Heliman]

Well Brett, I have finally come to the last page !! I have read with immense interest everything that has happened over the long time that your project has been maturing.

If ever there was a "Set-up bible"...your thread must qualify.

After many years of having various set-ups parked somewhere within a house, and having all the restrictions that this implies, I have finally got my new home which had a fish-room designed in from the get-go !

As you can imagine, a lot of what you have shown us here will be used as the basis for creating my own long awaited dream set-up.

I noted the early problems you had with what appears to have been a bacterial bloom, despite your totally new and squeaky clean set-up being virtually devoid of introduced "nasties", nutriments and/or toxicity....or was it ?

I have a theory...and it is only my own theory so I dont want to create any hostility, but I am interested to know what others think. I will soon have a chance to test it, and will report back...sometime after my initial set-up decides what it will do as it cycles.

Having spent many years as a research chemist in the Thermoplastics area, and I have a Chemistry Degree, I think there is an issue in new set-ups that may be contributing to problems despite all the usual testing we do that does not seem to indicate that any of our "critical parameters" are discrepant.

Any brand new set-up is made of virgin, unused products...glass, PVC tube, HDPE, Acrylic etc etc. I know for sure that most of these products would be considered inert and non-polluting. But I also know what a bewildering array of chemicals get added to raw mixes to enable them to be moulded, extruded, blown and all the other post-treatments that result in pipes, fittings and the like. Additionally, there is always a tiny amount of unreacted monomers (UM) in all of the "plastic" materials we used. By human food standards and legislation, all of these chemicals are safe and minor.

But are these tiny amounts non-toxic for fish and other marine organisms ?

So we have a cocktail of chemicals in our new equipment...plasticisers, mould release agents, flow enhancers, lubricants and many more. Many of these chemical additives are Glycol based but in any event are mainly organic (carbon based) compounds. I stress again that these are NOT toxic in any human sense. But what happens when we start pumping warm sea water around our new system...... minor amounts of these residuals will slowly leach into our water, aided by fast flows increasing the dialysis affect.

I do believe that this is where a lot of the initial issues arise in new set-ups...maybe your Yellow Tang problem ?? and the first Anthiad ??, maybe this added chemical loading also fuels bacterial growth.

So...what to do...firstly, I will soak my whole new system in fresh RO/DI water and let it sit, with circulation for at least 1 week, then I will re-fill with RO/DI water and add the same amount of common human grade table salt (Iodine free) to make similar density to NSW. I will heat this to 84 degrees and circulate it for another week. I will empty this out and then consider adding rock, sand and "real" water, hopefully all/most of these additives will have leached out. Arguably, I have no way of knowing what leached out of the pipework....but know that whatever it is, it is likely to be undesirable.

Anyway, thanks again for your meticulous description and method, beautifully done.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Heliman

Well Brett, I have finally come to the last page !! I have read with immense interest everything that has happened over the long time that your project has been maturing.

If ever there was a "Set-up bible"...your thread must qualify.

After many years of having various set-ups parked somewhere within a house, and having all the restrictions that this implies, I have finally got my new home which had a fish-room designed in from the get-go !

As you can imagine, a lot of what you have shown us here will be used as the basis for creating my own long awaited dream set-up.

I noted the early problems you had with what appears to have been a bacterial bloom, despite your totally new and squeaky clean set-up being virtually devoid of introduced "nasties", nutriments and/or toxicity....or was it ?

I have a theory...and it is only my own theory so I dont want to create any hostility, but I am interested to know what others think. I will soon have a chance to test it, and will report back...sometime after my initial set-up decides what it will do as it cycles.

Having spent many years as a research chemist in the Thermoplastics area, and I have a Chemistry Degree, I think there is an issue in new set-ups that may be contributing to problems despite all the usual testing we do that does not seem to indicate that any of our "critical parameters" are discrepant.

Any brand new set-up is made of virgin, unused products...glass, PVC tube, HDPE, Acrylic etc etc. I know for sure that most of these products would be considered inert and non-polluting. But I also know what a bewildering array of chemicals get added to raw mixes to enable them to be moulded, extruded, blown and all the other post-treatments that result in pipes, fittings and the like. Additionally, there is always a tiny amount of unreacted monomers (UM) in all of the "plastic" materials we used. By human food standards and legislation, all of these chemicals are safe and minor.

But are these tiny amounts non-toxic for fish and other marine organisms ?

So we have a cocktail of chemicals in our new equipment...plasticisers, mould release agents, flow enhancers, lubricants and many more. Many of these chemical additives are Glycol based but in any event are mainly organic (carbon based) compounds. I stress again that these are NOT toxic in any human sense. But what happens when we start pumping warm sea water around our new system...... minor amounts of these residuals will slowly leach into our water, aided by fast flows increasing the dialysis affect.

I do believe that this is where a lot of the initial issues arise in new set-ups...maybe your Yellow Tang problem ?? and the first Anthiad ??, maybe this added chemical loading also fuels bacterial growth.

So...what to do...firstly, I will soak my whole new system in fresh RO/DI water and let it sit, with circulation for at least 1 week, then I will re-fill with RO/DI water and add the same amount of common human grade table salt (Iodine free) to make similar density to NSW. I will heat this to 84 degrees and circulate it for another week. I will empty this out and then consider adding rock, sand and "real" water, hopefully all/most of these additives will have leached out. Arguably, I have no way of knowing what leached out of the pipework....but know that whatever it is, it is likely to be undesirable.

Anyway, thanks again for your meticulous description and method, beautifully done.

Thank you for the kind comments, Heliman. The only bacterial bloom I had was during the fresh water testing phase of my tank, I believe this is the one you were referring to. I let the system run with tap water for a few days to test the plumbing of the system. During this time there was a fairly large bacterial bloom of some kind, possibly fueled by the organics in the tap water and/or feed by the toxins in the new plumbing - who knows...

I did however, drain the system, cleaned, let dry, and refilled with saltwater and let cycle for a few weeks before adding the Yellow Tang. I believe the stress to the Yellow Tang and the loss of the Anthias were directly related to the initial Lyngbya bloom. That stuff let off an incredible amount of toxins that irritated the gills of the fish in the tank during that algae cycle. Could the cycle have been fueled by organics in the new plumbing, possibly, but I would have no idea how to measure or calculate that. All I knew for sure was the Marco Rock I used was leaching a large amount of phosphate that was feeding the Lyngbya.

Please update me on your progress with your new build. I would love to see the data you collect on this subject. The rock you use will possibly negate a lot of cycling issues though, so just take that into account along the way. Thanks for posting!