EXT 170 Build

BubblesandSqueak

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2023
Messages
1,245
Reaction score
1,807
Location
Maine
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Not much to report. Tank looks good. All the cleanup crew are doing their job, lol. I am going to get 5 peppermint shrimp this week.
Saw one aptasia yesterday.

The ext 50 has arrived! I put the stand together yesterday. I need to order some 8020 for the frame behind the stand. It will be similar to the 170. The light bar will be holding 2 xr15 gen 5 blues.
Also need to shim one side of the stand to make it level.
Need to order Tunze ato and ato res. Also Aqualogic temp controller, and heater, and a couple ADJ strips.

I may put 2" euro bracing on this system to match the 170. The real reason is I do not like rimless tanks. Yes they look good but the tank is in a corner and past rimless tanks spill alot of water when working in them, at least for me.
Skimmer is pulling some nice skim, lol.
20240423_141757.jpg
20240424_070855.jpg
wow, another IM. I like the white over the black. has a cleaner look. My house it blends in with all the white molding. My doors are a little squeaky now though.
 
OP
OP
X-37B

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,203
Reaction score
15,969
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I setup my Lifegaurd reactor with phosgaurd and some carbon on top. Po4 was .47 and this morning was .34 so going in the right direction. Once it gets to .1 I will take it off line and monitor.

All the rocks are almost completely clean thanks to the cleanup crew.
The hermit crabs have eaten many of the astrea snails.
I did add 10 more Trochus as I prefer them, have 20 now.
Found one dead turbo snail and one dead peppermint shrimp.
Fish are just now starting to come out of the rock work.

I put in a fresh cut blue stag as a tester. The frag came off a big piece of a colony a person traded at a lfs. Its a little rough so we will see. This lfs is closed 3 days in a row and turns off all light for 3 days, what?
I put a mad rack in until I can get the frag system up and running.
I also put a nice piece, small colony of Jacko lantern lepto, a little bigger than a golf ball in. The small frags, less than finger nail size, were $40, what.

Orp just hit 300 this morning so I increased shut off to 350.
Eventually I want to get it to 400.
I have noticed my 9430 skimmer is producing lighter skim now that the orp is increasing.
I have not seen any bad algae yet. The cleanup crew is working well.
Did see some brown on the back wall but removed with the scraper.
I have never ran ozone from day one and it looks like its keeping the uglies at bay. Time will tell.
Tank is getting clear but this system may always have some debris visible due to the sweeps and the 6255's. On the lowest setting they move an incredable amount of water.
Im going to get the Calcium Reactor up and running today but no co2 until its needed. Never ran a Geo before but its pretry straight forward as im goimg to be pulling through with the Kamoer.

Alk is starting to go down.
Was 8.2 since startup and this morning its 7.8. I will start dosing esv when it gets to 7.5 which is going to be my target.
7-8 will be my range.

20240427_152220.jpg
20240427_153133.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
X-37B

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,203
Reaction score
15,969
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just got the 818 setup and running with no co2.
Pulling with the Kamoer sure makes it easy.

The hose you see in the pic is the output from the ozone reactor.

Couple pics with my other filter. This is what the real colors look like

20240428_140205.jpg
20240428_140005.jpg

20240428_135543.jpg
20240428_135538.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
X-37B

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,203
Reaction score
15,969
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I did a WC at 10%/15g's one day shy of two weeks.
Po4 down from .5 to .23 using phosgaurd.

Looks like tank is useing .3 alk a day now.
Down ro 7.5. If its down tomorrow I will start dosing esv to keep it between 7-8, 7.5 target.

I removed the 3 orange tree sponge they were getting worse not better.
Blue stag dead, damsel and 6 line stuck in powerhead.
Small fish are going to have a tough time if they get close to a powerhead. One small Falco hawkfish and 4 damsels now.
The 2 red sponge are looking good.
Also have 12 bivalves.

One piece of hard coral that had the top smashed during transport lools like it may recover. Not sure the type. It is in the firs pic getting 280 to 300 par at that spot running at peak, red 30%, white 40%, the rest 60% for 7 hrs.

Couple others showing the good job the cleanup crew is doing to the rock and the red sponge.
20240429_171602.jpg
20240429_172219.jpg
20240429_171522.jpg

20240429_171441.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
X-37B

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,203
Reaction score
15,969
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
nothing else crawled off? I'm still finding new crabs. Must have had some eggs in there. More food :)
Have only seen 3 hermits that came with the rock.
I ordered some bergia as I can see 4-5 aptasia.
No other crabs seen. I do see the 8 emeralds I put in all over the rock.
Also saw a hermit in an astrea shell. I have seen them eating those type of snails.
 

BubblesandSqueak

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2023
Messages
1,245
Reaction score
1,807
Location
Maine
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Have only seen 3 hermits that came with the rock.
I ordered some bergia as I can see 4-5 aptasia.
No other crabs seen. I do see the 8 emeralds I put in all over the rock.
Also saw a hermit in an astrea shell. I have seen them eating those type of snails.
I still have a few porcelain crabs in there too.
 
OP
OP
X-37B

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,203
Reaction score
15,969
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This morning I saw a mantis shrimp. Need to find a bottle to trap it. Its small about 1.5".
Calcium Reactor was reset last night to 25mlm, and 30bpm.
This kept alk steady at 8 over night.

I will test effluent later tonight at 24hrs.
Getting green algae on the glass with po4 now at 0.15. No3 still at 5.
ORP now at 315 this morning.

I will be working on the ext50 the next few weeks to bring it online.
 

BubblesandSqueak

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2023
Messages
1,245
Reaction score
1,807
Location
Maine
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This morning I saw a mantis shrimp. Need to find a bottle to trap it. Its small about 1.5".
Calcium Reactor was reset last night to 25mlm, and 30bpm.
This kept alk steady at 8 over night.

I will test effluent later tonight at 24hrs.
Getting green algae on the glass with po4 now at 0.15. No3 still at 5.
ORP now at 315 this morning.

I will be working on the ext50 the next few weeks to bring it online.
I still hear my mantis but haven't seen it in a while. let me know how the bottle trap works. I need something safe otherwise I'd do that mantis trap.
 

Form or function: Do you consider your rock work to be art or the platform for your coral?

  • Primarily art focused.

    Votes: 15 7.9%
  • Primarily a platform for coral.

    Votes: 34 18.0%
  • A bit of each - both art and a platform.

    Votes: 125 66.1%
  • Neither.

    Votes: 9 4.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 6 3.2%
Back
Top