Soulpatch's 150 SC build

[JonezNReef]

I will be doing ttm for all of my fish and wasn't going to put them into the display for atleast 2 months. But with your advise I will hold off for 3 months.

[soulpatch]

DOS ordered and should be here tomorrow though it is a few weeks from being set up with the kitchen going. Hoping I have the sump tomorrow as well though who knows with Trigger...

all fish are still alive in the tank though one cardinal looks a bit off. Hard to describe but looks pale so guessing something is still in the tank. I have the summer to let this go and perhaps when I have more time I will attempt to set up the biocube as a long term hospital tank to allow the 150 to go fallow for a bit. Just not sure I can catch the darn fish.

Frag swap happening this weekend so hopefully I will pick up some goodies. Looking for some colorful sticks, more ricordea, perhaps a clam, and whatever else catches my eyes. With Reefapalooza next month I am sure to have quite a few additions in the tank...

[soulpatch]

So hit a frag swap and grabbed a few things. Teaser pics for now till things open and I can break or the good camera















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[mav3rick478]

Ugh going fallow is so ungodly slow and long but worth out in the end. I did it with my tank after an ich outbreak, even added an extra week for good measure. Been disease free ever since even while not quarantining, knock on wood.

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[ReefWreak]

Nice haul. Finally got your gold torch, a year later I'm sure yours will grow 3 times faster (or more) than mine!

Are those two gorgonians I see?

[soulpatch]

impressed you could tell the first was a gold torch. Also got:

2 gorgs
Jason fox stag
Jason fox monti
pearlberry
tri color valida
duncan

[soulpatch]

So my 2 cardinals were starting to look a bit haggard this weekend. I imagine they will probably succumb to whatever is in the tank shortly. My wrasse is still looking and eating great though. I wish I could catch the bugger to get him in another tank but he is crafty. I have tried a fish trap, nets, clear plastic boxes, net on string, food in box, and more to no avail.

At this point I guess I have to let this all run its course. I hate to lose fish but in a way if it is going to happen I would rather it happen so I can begin the process of being fallow for the rest of the summer.

I guess on the plus side my monthy coral budget has ballooned and hopefully by end of summer I can have this tank a bit filled out with some good pieces. I would love to be one of the guys next summer with frags to sell at the local reef swap.

That gold torch and pearlberry in my tank are looking awesome.



As to equipment my sump shipped Friday. I was expecting to have it on Friday but that wasn't to be. My DOS should be in today.

Plans for tank in coming weeks:

Replace sump and relocate items in stand to better accommodate the larger sump
Potentially move ATO container outside of stand for easier access OR I need to move my apex outside the stand to gain the few inches for the new sump
Run 3 lines to tank through wall for RODI, salt water drain, fresh saltwater (This is for my AWC and I thought I shoudl add another line while I am at it to more easily refil my ATO container.)
Plumb 75 Gallon drum for recirc and top off from current mixing station
replumb mixing station with more valves so no more flipping nozzles off of pump

[mav3rick478]

Can I see some new picks of your pearlberry, mine turned green but was brown when I got it. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough lighting but it doesn't look like it's receding or anything.

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[lennyd19]

Just looking for your insight on the AWC. I have pretty much the same set up as you with the storage tank and DOS. What is you plan to keep the NSW at the right salinity? Thanks.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by mav3rick478

Can I see some new picks of your pearlberry, mine turned green but was brown when I got it. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough lighting but it doesn't look like it's receding or anything.

I can once the wife breaks out her DSLR so I can get a decent pic. It is in an area in the tank where the cell does not do it justice.

Originally Posted by lennyd19

Just looking for your insight on the AWC. I have pretty much the same set up as you with the storage tank and DOS. What is you plan to keep the NSW at the right salinity? Thanks.

I plan on having the tank sealed and as such evap should be a minimal issue. That said if anything it would drift up slightly in the holding tank but the amount being changed should be minimal enough that it shoudl not drift the tank much. I will of course be monitoring it as it kicks off. I can likely code around it and have the ATO pump in to replace an amount I pull out once a day/week should I drift at all to mitigate the drifting.

[ReefWreak]

Originally Posted by mav3rick478

Can I see some new picks of your pearlberry, mine turned green but was brown when I got it. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough lighting but it doesn't look like it's receding or anything.

I've seen green on pearlberry before, but only in one person's tank. He and I chalked it up to high nutrients in his tank, though he did skim heavily and run GFO, but I have seen true pearlberry go green. When I got a frag from his green colony, it turned back into white with blueish polyps like most of the pearlberry pics look like. Cool that you can keep it green.

FYI his green one was also under plenty of light and was growing nicely.

[soulpatch]

Mine is currently a green/white base with blue polyps. The green is much more visible then the white on the top side of the coral but it is a cool mix. I would be fine if it washed out a bit more to go white with blue polyps. That would make the PSU grad in me very happy but for now I like the mixture in the base with the blue polyps on the top.


As a side note. I need to start testing my calc and alk at this point. Chances are I will be starting Kalk again this week since making the move to the large tank. I need to ensure that these guys get all the stuff they need to grow out and not have me looking at so much bare spaces. Dosing saves me considerable amounts of money by not having to buy so many corals. HA HA.

I am on the hunt come RAP though for some more colorful sticks, some cool montis, ricordea, cool octospawn, perhaps a rock nem or two, a clam or two, and I really want a colony of something I can put in the middle of the tank on my arch rock. Dont know what yet though.

[mav3rick478]

Interesting info about the Pearlberry, unfortunately I haven't seen any polyp extension yet and have had the 3 frags for 2 weeks now. We'll see how they go since they are my first SPS in a mixed reef. I'll try and take some pics to show you what I got going on and to compare if they are doing ok.

[soulpatch]

Toys came in today...








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[homer1475]

Very nice sump! Does it have covers to cover the openings?

I'm finding now that its summer and the doors are open, I have black flies and mosquitoes floating in my sump since they don't have covers.

[soulpatch]

No covers but I also have never had an issue with things getting into the sump. The area with the socks or foam block has a cover to protect against splashing but that is it. Honestly with everything I have coming in and out of a sump the cover would be like swiss cheese.


I was measureing last night though and it appears I have to push my one reactor over slightly. Not a huge deal and easily done. Still concerned about being able to have the ATO and dosing containers in the stand by the sump. Not sure I will have the room for everything so I am contemplating either moving the ATO container outside the stand which gives me all the space I need or moving the apex out and redoing all of the wiring probably with the EB8s in the stand so I can still plug into them but everything else outside. Need to wait till I am ready to move in the sump to figure it out though.

For moving in the sump I need to drain as much water as possible, empty the current sump, take out the one stand brace, and swap the sumps quickly so brace can go back in fast. The new sump will get all new plumbing. The only thing that will remain are the bulkheads and 2 cepex valves. I will try to repurpose the other valves if I can heat them enough and pull out PVC currently bonded.

I might have to redo the plumbing in the overflow slightly as well. The new sump flips the drain and returns so I either have a cross in the pipes or move things to look better. If I were a betting man I would bet that my OCD would force me to redo everything.


I am super excited about the increased refugium space. I had it opened up by stealing some space from the skimmer section. I shoudl have added some space to the return pump portion though as I might be cutting it too close for my SP6. So there is a VERY likely scenario where I need to purchase another pump. I would LOVE it is Neptune had released their COR pump but as it is it looks like I will need a patch work solution for a bit. I will get another jebao if I need a smaller return to hold me over. I really want something I can integrate with my APEX and WAVs and the COR meets those needs should it ever come out....


One more upgrade coming - Apex display. I hate the current display and feel like it is so 1990s. You can't do a damn thing with it save for feed mode. Why should we be limited? So I am going to wire up a cheap tablet with Fusion on all the time so I can still see temps and such, access feed mode, but more importantly have full access to other items as well.

[ReefWreak]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

I was measureing last night though and it appears I have to push my one reactor over slightly. Not a huge deal and easily done. Still concerned about being able to have the ATO and dosing containers in the stand by the sump. Not sure I will have the room for everything so I am contemplating either moving the ATO container outside the stand which gives me all the space I need or moving the apex out and redoing all of the wiring probably with the EB8s in the stand so I can still plug into them but everything else outside. Need to wait till I am ready to move in the sump to figure it out though.

If you need to move the ATO to outside the tank, my friend here in Astoria had a really nice acrylic reservoir built for him at a pretty reasonable price, and it's huge, maybe 15-20 gallons, and fits right underneath a nice table he had, so it all looks like one furniture unit, just with a power cable and water line running to the tank from it. You could probably build a nice one as well, I'm just not sure if you have room next to the tank for one at all.

Originally Posted by soulpatch

One more upgrade coming - Apex display. I hate the current display and feel like it is so 1990s. You can't do a damn thing with it save for feed mode. Why should we be limited? So I am going to wire up a cheap tablet with Fusion on all the time so I can still see temps and such, access feed mode, but more importantly have full access to other items as well.

Not a bad idea. It's a particularly interesting idea now that they don't include a display with the new units, so a lot more people will be finding cheap tablets to mount next to the tank (or just to float around near it). Just wait and see what people are doing for new Apex setups.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

If you need to move the ATO to outside the tank, my friend here in Astoria had a really nice acrylic reservoir built for him at a pretty reasonable price, and it's huge, maybe 15-20 gallons, and fits right underneath a nice table he had, so it all looks like one furniture unit, just with a power cable and water line running to the tank from it. You could probably build a nice one as well, I'm just not sure if you have room next to the tank for one at all.

The more I think about this the more I am apt to move the apex. I can easily put a wall mount server box and have the modules in there to keep it clean. I can mount behind the stand and put on the hinges I already have so it can slide out for messing with it.

My ATO container is nice acrylic as I have the BAO one and I could put it in the biocube stand should I wish. The only benefit of putting it outside the stand is that I can fill it much easier THOUGH I am thinking of running third line with the AWC lines for RODI top off. So who knows what I will do yet. I need to finish the kitchen and have a free weekend to mess with the tank.

Not a bad idea. It's a particularly interesting idea now that they don't include a display with the new units, so a lot more people will be finding cheap tablets to mount next to the tank (or just to float around near it). Just wait and see what people are doing for new Apex setups.

The new units have a display but you need to purchase seperately now. It is no longer bundled and for the 150 I am sure they will charge for it you can have a nice tablet which can do a lot more and quite frankly look a hell of a lot better...

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

The new units have a display but you need to purchase seperately now. It is no longer bundled and for the 150 I am sure they will charge for it you can have a nice tablet which can do a lot more and quite frankly look a hell of a lot better...

The "new" one is exactly the same as the old with a change to grey plastic, and orange backlight. Instead of the black plastic and green backlight.

I've been thinking about a cheap 7" tablet constantly running fusion also. I was looking at the ASUS nexus 7 which can be had for under 80$.

[soulpatch]

Not dead but kitchen is taking all my time. Almost finished though then onto tank upgrades...






That's proof I'm doing something. Lol

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[lennyd19]

I have the trigger emerald sump I love it. Kitchen looks good but am here to see your tank. LOL! Just kidding can't wait to see the progress on the tank.

[JonezNReef]

Wow the kitchen looks awesome! I like the choice on cabinets too with the new appliances!

My wife is looking at the same fridge I think LOL. Will be in my best interest not to show her or that will be next on the list!


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[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by lennyd19

I have the trigger emerald sump I love it. Kitchen looks good but am here to see your tank. LOL! Just kidding can't wait to see the progress on the tank.

You have the emerald 39? If so what pump are you using for your return? I should have measured my pump or the return section when I had them move walls as I am seriously concerned that my Fluval SP6 will not fit in the return chamber.

Its not he end of the world as I wanted an apex compatible pump but I was holding out for more companies to come to the table with pumps before I made the switch. Regardless I need pump for my 75 gallon holding tank so I can move the SP to that if needed.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by lennyd19

I have the trigger emerald sump I love it. Kitchen looks good but am here to see your tank. LOL! Just kidding can't wait to see the progress on the tank.

I like the fridge but I wish we had gone with the smaller model which is not so deep. That way it woudl have been more flush with the pantry and had a better overall look.

I am hoping by the end of this weekend that I can have the back splash, paint, toe kick, and at least the starter moulding for the crown up. I fear that the sump replacement might get bumped another weekend as I REALLY want this kitchen done.

That said tonight is water change night so I will take some picks of some of the new goodies i have been adding. Just because I can't swap out equipment doesn't mean I cant add corals. HA HA. I need to stop now though so I can get Reef's frags in 2 weeks and whatever I find up at reefapalooza.

[mav3rick478]

Ahh good ole family fridge full of magnets, pictures and artwork!

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