March 2015 Tank of the Month!!!

[AZRippster]

Elliott,

Absolutely Beautiful!!

If you wouldn't mind providing more details on the equipment and application of your scratch removal process it would be greatly appreciated. My wife and I have a 450 acrylic bull-nose that has aquired some over time I would like to remove. I already the commercial grade air compressor, but the rest of the hardware and process eludes me.

Thank you!

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by AZRippster

Elliott,

Absolutely Beautiful!!

If you wouldn't mind providing more details on the equipment and application of your scratch removal process it would be greatly appreciated. My wife and I have a 450 acrylic bull-nose that has aquired some over time I would like to remove. I already the commercial grade air compressor, but the rest of the hardware and process eludes me.

Thank you!

thanks AZRippster, much appreciated!

the details of the scratch removal process can be found on my build thread page 6, post 137:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...elliott&page=6

for your bullnose tank you will need to use a small buffing wheel, I would try cutting one down to around 2-3" diameter so you don't high center the buffing surface going around the curve

good luck

[finrod2]

Hey Elliott, Great tank, congrats on TOTM! Can you tell me more about your quaranteen setup. What sort of filtration do you have on the tanks? Also your experence with CP and doses you used. Thanks
Mike

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by finrod2

Hey Elliott, Great tank, congrats on TOTM! Can you tell me more about your quaranteen setup. What sort of filtration do you have on the tanks? Also your experence with CP and doses you used. Thanks
Mike

thank you Mike!

There are 2 separate QT systems, each with it's own sump, skimmer ( Super Reef Octopus SRO-5000INT 10”) and live rock. There is a 150g system between the two tanks on the wall which are divided into cubicles for isolation of fish. There is another 180g on a stand for large fish with floating trays for coral QT. The floating trays are fed DT water that then overflows to the sink drain. Both the 150g and the 180g run Chloroquine Phosphate continuously, dose is 40mg/g. The CP appears to stay in the water column for quite some time. It inhibits algae growth and I've not seen any algae for many months, and without adding any additional CP. However I have no way of measuring the concentration of CP. One downside of CP if your tank is lit is a growth of some strange red stuff, not sure if it's cyanobacteria or a type of red algae, but it's very difficult to get rid of. The only way I have found to rid the tank of it is to shut off the light or add some bleach and reboot the system. I use very little light and manage that way.

Chloroquine Phosphate is great for fish QT's in my opinion. Treatment is very effective for Ich and Velvet, it takes just a single dose, does not interfere with bacterial filtration, there is no algae to clean, no levels to check and it lasts a long time. I have had great success with it, and it's not nearly as toxic (to fish and humans) as copper. If other disease is seen I usually dip: fresh water, formalin, antibiotics, etc. Most fish stay in QT for 30 days, or longer if sick.

Newly acquired coral goes in it's own tray after dipping in Bayer weed killer, then dipped again and transferred to a new tray every 5-6 days for three cycles, then to the DT. I inspect between cycles with magnification. I add a little bleach to each tray after each use to kill any algae growth and possible pests. The trays are very easy to use and clean, handy to inspect corals quickly and since they use the same water at the DT they are already acclimated. I used to have a frag tank but it was too much work to keep clean and did not provide isolation of new corals.

Happy Reefing!

[finrod2]

Elliott, Who is your CP source. Looking for someone that I can rely on being a quality product and not contaminated.

I'm moving to a larger tank this summer but plan to keep my existing 240g in place for a while to medicate my 30+ fish who have had a low grade crypto infection. I'm taking my coral out and running on my new tanks separate system. Hopefully once I treat and quaranteen for another 8-12 weeks all will be good.

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by finrod2

Elliott, Who is your CP source. Looking for someone that I can rely on being a quality product and not contaminated.

I'm moving to a larger tank this summer but plan to keep my existing 240g in place for a while to medicate my 30+ fish who have had a low grade crypto infection. I'm taking my coral out and running on my new tanks separate system. Hopefully once I treat and quaranteen for another 8-12 weeks all will be good.

sounds like a good plan Mike

I've used fishchemicaldotcom for years without a problem. A chemist on this forum recently tested their CP by spectral analysis and confirmed its pure

[AZRippster]

Elliott,

Thanks so much for the info on the scratch removal process. Also, thanks for the suggestion regarding my bull nose tank. I have been pondering that one as it could be real easy to create high and low spots.

RB

[animalkingdom]

First off very nice tank. It shows a great deal of planning and intricate thought and the result is a great looking tank.

I am curious as to how you match the skimmer ATO with saltwater and evap ATO with fresh water. Could you explain this? From most setups I am familiar with their is only one point where the water level fluctuates leaving only one place for a float controller. How do you isolate these two events to replace saltwater for the wet skim and freshwater for the evap? Thanks a bunch

[animalkingdom]

Please ignore my previous question, I see it has been answered in a previous post.
Thanks!

[MidwesternTexan]

This System is Off the Hook.

The niceset I've ever seen/read about.

Congratulations!!

[hedgedrew]

finally at last !! been waiting for you well deserved talk soon

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by AZRippster

Elliott,

Thanks so much for the info on the scratch removal process. Also, thanks for the suggestion regarding my bull nose tank. I have been pondering that one as it could be real easy to create high and low spots.

RB

my pleasure!

Originally Posted by animalkingdom

First off very nice tank. It shows a great deal of planning and intricate thought and the result is a great looking tank.

I am curious as to how you match the skimmer ATO with saltwater and evap ATO with fresh water. Could you explain this? From most setups I am familiar with their is only one point where the water level fluctuates leaving only one place for a float controller. How do you isolate these two events to replace saltwater for the wet skim and freshwater for the evap? Thanks a bunch

thanks so much animalkingdom! Ok, I read you 2nd post, all good!

Originally Posted by MidwesternTexan

This System is Off the Hook.

The niceset I've ever seen/read about.

Congratulations!!

I appreciate your kind words MidwesternTexan, thank you!

Originally Posted by hedgedrew

finally at last !! been waiting for you well deserved talk soon

thank you so much hedgedrew, I really appreciate it!

I'm looking forward to your "ocean" reef build

[ssc]

Congrats the tank is amazing

[artisson62]

this tank is very beautiful I congratulate the people who owns it

[Elliott]

from Eric, larger FTS

DSC_0329 by ..:.. EZ ..:.., on Flickr[/QUOTE]

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by ssc

Congrats the tank is amazing

thanks ssc, much appreciated

Originally Posted by artisson62

this tank is very beautiful I congratulate the people who owns it

many thanks artisson62 !

Originally Posted by zxfgg

Holy Cow! The density and variety of life in it is just amazing.

much appreciated zxfgg! thank you

[Reefermadnessny]

Absolutely gorgeous, I'm beside myself...

Quick question about your wet skimming/constant water changes. What method are you using to get an exact 1:1 ratio of water skimmed out to new seawater replaced? Meaning, how do you get an exact volume replacement of the water the skimmer is overflowing out? And how do you compensate and calculate for the salinity increasing due to evaporation if there is constant tank water exported from the system?

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by Reefermadnessny

Absolutely gorgeous, I'm beside myself...

Quick question about your wet skimming/constant water changes. What method are you using to get an exact 1:1 ratio of water skimmed out to new seawater replaced? Meaning, how do you get an exact volume replacement of the water the skimmer is overflowing out? And how do you compensate and calculate for the salinity increasing due to evaporation if there is constant tank water exported from the system?

thank you Reefermadnessny, greatly appreciated!

so, as skimmate is removed from the system a float switch is activated in the sump which replaces the lost volume from a fresh sea water reservoir, so not much change in salinity occurs from that exchange

the evaporative loss is replaced by RO/DI, as an estimate, which in my system is about 10 gallons per day, in divided doses throughout the day, this needs to be adjusted periodically to correct deviated salinity readings, however it has rarely required adjustments, maybe once a year

[Reefermadnessny]

Originally Posted by Elliott

thank you Reefermadnessny, greatly appreciated!

so, as skimmate is removed from the system a float switch is activated in the sump which replaces the lost volume from a fresh sea water reservoir, so not much change in salinity occurs from that exchange

the evaporative loss is replaced by RO/DI, as an estimate, which in my system is about 10 gallons per day, in divided doses throughout the day, this needs to be adjusted periodically to correct deviated salinity readings, however it has rarely required adjustments, maybe once a year

Ahhh, I see okay. I was looking to do a similar method in my much much smaller system but I think I would run into much more problems with the salinity. In a 1600gal. system, your margin for error is much higher. I'm trying to find a creative way to do this...perhaps a pinpoint salinity probe that can auto activate a top off pump?

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by Reefermadnessny

Ahhh, I see okay. I was looking to do a similar method in my much much smaller system but I think I would run into much more problems with the salinity. In a 1600gal. system, your margin for error is much higher. I'm trying to find a creative way to do this...perhaps a pinpoint salinity probe that can auto activate a top off pump?

if your tank is sitting in an temperature controlled environment then your evaporate rate will remain fairly constant, so replacing evaporate loss can be done reliably using a fixed volume per day

then set your skimmer to produce more skimmate volume, connect a float switch in your sump to a sea water reservoir to replenish the lost sump volume caused by the increased skimmate

this should work in any size tank, providing there are no wide swings in air temperature/humidity that would change the evaporate rate

salinity probes are notoriously inaccurate, I use mine as a guide but it fluctuates a lot, even though the actual salinity stays stable, so I would not use a probe for this purpose

[rt67ghy]

Congrats Elliott. It's a truly gorgeous tank and very inspiring.

[jacksoncm]

Seriously awesome tank.

[Kahuna]

Haven't been surfing here lately, been travelling too much.

Sir, your tank leaves me speechless. As an engineering manager and a long-time gearhead and controls engineer, I've seen things here that are just, well, ingenious, especially the fish feeder.

I'm used to using VFD's but on three-phase power. I assume these are single-phase 220V drives?

I've seen some really beautiful tanks here and am fortunate to live near someone who has a large tank and has been a wealth of knowledge for me, so I'm sure that the people in your locality look to you as a serious asset for knowledge.

Stunning tank. Ingenious equipment setup. Has given me some new ideas.

Well deserved accolades.

Best,

Kev

[Elliott]

Originally Posted by rt67ghy

Congrats Elliott. It's a truly gorgeous tank and very inspiring.

thank you rt67ghy!

Originally Posted by jacksoncm

Seriously awesome tank.

much appreciated jacksoncm!

Originally Posted by Kahuna

Haven't been surfing here lately, been travelling too much.

Sir, your tank leaves me speechless. As an engineering manager and a long-time gearhead and controls engineer, I've seen things here that are just, well, ingenious, especially the fish feeder.

I'm used to using VFD's but on three-phase power. I assume these are single-phase 220V drives?

I've seen some really beautiful tanks here and am fortunate to live near someone who has a large tank and has been a wealth of knowledge for me, so I'm sure that the people in your locality look to you as a serious asset for knowledge.

Stunning tank. Ingenious equipment setup. Has given me some new ideas.

Well deserved accolades.

Best,

Kev

thanks so much Kev, quite the compliment from a controls engineer manager!

yes, the VFD's are 220v single phase

[aprilschutt]

I just read through your post about your tank. Very inspiring. Beautiful! I'm wondering what the name of the coral or maybe its an invert is that is purple and has the picture of the clown hidden in it. Its beautiful!

Thanks!