Gilroy 425g Build Thread (All Apex, all the time)

[justingraham]

Yea well some of us don't have the Phillips hook up yet. Have you done any test with the PMK to compare both of the lights pars?

 

[Terence]

Not really. As I know par from both is more than adequate.

I did do some par measurements on the Philips and found over 200 at the sand (~37" from the light) at 100% and that was not center of the tank either. Other measurements I noted a few pages back. At 80% most of my corals halfway down were not happy.

I think you could get the CoralCare lights if you wanted. You would just have to run a dedicated 220 line like I did.

 

[justingraham]

Thanks Terrance

 

[Terence]

With the addition of a Christmas wrasse I adopted from our office tank that is getting an overhaul, I am now up to seven wrasses in the tank (in order of appearance):

- Melanarus
- Flame Male
- Flame Female
- Tonozukai
- Carpenters
- Tonozukai #2
- Christmas

Other fish/inverts:
- Hippo Tang
- Purple Tang
- Diamond Goby
- Yasa Hashe Goby (I know he is in there - just haven't seen him in six weeks)
- Yellow Tang
- Yellow Tang
- Convict Tang
- Green Chromis (last survivor of the original five that were the first "canaries")
- Sunset Anthias
- Male Black Occelaris Clown
- Female Black Occelaris Clown (misbar)
- Bellus Angel - female
- Five (now very large) skunk cleaner shrimp
- Five Emerald Crabs
- Lots of snails and hermits

And for 2017:

Coming soon (from LiveAquaria.com):
- Large Borbonius Anthias
- Powder Blue Tang (I know, I know - but I am counting on a great healthy one from LiveAquaria)
- Fowleri Tang
- Metallic/Magnificent Foxface (because I am starting to see valonia)

After that:
- Bimaculatus Anthias Trio (thanks for the upstage @Brad Syphus )
- Other Genicanthus (Masked, Watanabe, etc.)
- Achilles (yes, I know, but I have always wanted one)
- Desjardinii Sailfin Tang

I know that's a lot of tangs, and they will certainly, jocky and fight, but I love them, and the tank is big - so wish me luck.

 

[Fishlee]

You'll love the Achilles. I just got one for Christmas and it got bullied for the first 3 days by the yellow and hippo. But now they are all friends and eating and swimming together

 

[Black Pearl]

Are you planning on adding the rest of these Tangs to your DT at the same time?

 

[Black Pearl]

The PB and the Achilles will prolly be a war zone, Mortal combat. Love the Fowleri, have had bad luck with the though, but it may have been the supplier

 

[Terence]

Are you planning on adding the rest of these Tangs to your DT at the same time?

The powder blue and the Fowleri will go in at the same time.

The Achilles later.

I have a LOT of swimming room in this tank still and a good amount of caves and swim throughs. There will be skirmishes, but it will be easy to get away. My other tangs grapple from time to time, but nothing too serious. No one has any set territory.

 

[Black Pearl]

Right now I've got Desjardini sail fin, Purple,blond Naso in DT.I have an AT, Chevron,Naso and Lavender in QT, all ready to come out of QT and be added to DT, I've been hesitant to say the least. I'm gonna have to bite the bullet soon, probably when I've got a few days off in a row so i can intervene if necessaryLOL

 

[Terence]

My feelings are it has a ton to do with two things: the size of the tank and the ability to swim continuously and navigate obstacles without slowing down much. So, if it is a tank crowded with rock and coral, it could be a bloodbath as the fish can get cornered too easily. The second thing is the health of the fish. If the fish have been in QT eating and getting strong and happy, they will not be as easily bullied.

 

[Brad Syphus]

A little more inspiration.

 

[reefsolution]

Just getting ready to return from MACNA. Coming home with a few great corals we had at our booth and also some fish as well.

I will update the thread soon with some pics.

Hi Terence nice build! im taging on you post and in the same time im rebuilding my 500 right now I have some question on Apex and Etheral i dont want to hijack you tread so if you or someone gould give me some tip on combo apex ethereal https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sh...installation-and-question&p=110560#post110560

 

[Terence]

Great looking set up - I just commented on your thread.

 

[Terence]

So a little bit of activity on the tank this weekend.

First off, I bought and put together a nice 2x3 cubby bookcase to put under the tank in order to better organize all the crap that we use to take care of our beasts. Foods, test kits, glue, towels, it all adds up and it was looking like a disaster. At some point in the near future I will wrap the right side and the canopy with some wood to match my interior, but for now I just had to clean things up.

Next up was the ongoing nightmare of all these test kits in disparate boxes. Every one a different size. Every one a total PITA. I had to find a solution. I had been thinking about it for a long time and when I was at Home Depot getting the bookcase, I saw something and just like the cartoons, a light went off over my head. There on the aisle was a nice, rugged, 10-compartment storage "briefcase" by Milwaukee. This thing is perfect. It has removable compartments, it's stackable, and it has a rubber seal to keep out moisture. And, it was only $20! When I got it home I immediately started going through all the test kits, throwing out old ones and removing the boxes from the ones I wanted and put them into the individual storage areas. Again, one of the really nice features is that each area can be individually removed. So for testing you can open the briefcase, pull out the couple of tests you want to do, and everything stays neatly together on your counter until you need it. I think I am going to get another one of these for foods, small (JG) plumbing parts, etc. Get one of these, you won't regret it!

Now, I picked up a few more tests from saltwateraquarium.com: A new Hanna Checker for Phosphates (their 736 ULR checker that measures in ppb), a new nitrates test from Red Sea - the Pro version - it has much higher precision, especially on the low scale. The third new test I got is Potassium from Salifert. Potassium seems to be all the rage right now and many claim that proper potassium is necessary for the bright coral colors we all love.

I ran the nitrates test first. On the low range. It was bright purple and over the end of the color on the wheel which means it was higher than 4ppm. No kidding. My prior NYOS test showed between 10-12. So I then did the test again, this time with the instructions telling me to dilute 15:1. To my surprise, my Nitrates still were way up on the scale - between the last two color values - so my nitrates are actually around 48ppm! This goes to show that you sometimes need to switch things up and try some different tests. I am going to try again in a few days. My sulphur denitrator still hasn't settled in yet - the ORP is still coming down slowly but at about 400 now, down from 440. I hope it starts doing its thing soon!

The Phosphates test is where the good news was. I had run the other Hanna checker for some time and while I had a run where my phosphates were .08ppm, The ULR test I did today came up at 0. Seems strange to me that it would be clear down to nothing so we will see again in a few days. That said, my chaeto and other macro algaes are now taking up about 20% of my 4'x7' sump - so anything is possible!

Potassium was next. In all my reefkeeping years I have NEVER tested for Potassium. Justin Credible swears by it, and he and Mark Callahan (Mr SaltwaterTank) are doing a webinar on this I guess. So I thought I would give it a shot. Bizarre test process, but not too onerous. End result - my potassium was 360, about 10% lower than NSW (natural seawater). Now, how bad is that? I have no idea - maybe one of you can tell me your experiences with testing and supplementing potassium.

Here are some pics to go along with this tome. Oh, and one extra pic of my 6" monster scoly getting ready to feed in my 10g office tank!

 

[s2nhle]

Wow, what is that?

 

[s2nhle]

Very organized.

 

[revhtree]

Hi Terence nice build! im taging on you post and in the same time im rebuilding my 500 right now I have some question on Apex and Etheral i dont want to hijack you tread so if you or someone gould give me some tip on combo apex ethereal https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sh...installation-and-question&p=110560#post110560

Welcome and make sure to share your build thread here!!

 

[revhtree]

So a little bit of activity on the tank this weekend.

First off, I bought and put together a nice 2x3 cubby bookcase to put under the tank in order to better organize all the crap that we use to take care of our beasts. Foods, test kits, glue, towels, it all adds up and it was looking like a disaster. At some point in the near future I will wrap the right side and the canopy with some wood to match my interior, but for now I just had to clean things up.

Next up was the ongoing nightmare of all these test kits in disparate boxes. Every one a different size. Every one a total PITA. I had to find a solution. I had been thinking about it for a long time and when I was at Home Depot getting the bookcase, I saw something and just like the cartoons, a light went off over my head. There on the aisle was a nice, rugged, 10-compartment storage "briefcase" by Milwaukee. This thing is perfect. It has removable compartments, it's stackable, and it has a rubber seal to keep out moisture. And, it was only $20! When I got it home I immediately started going through all the test kits, throwing out old ones and removing the boxes from the ones I wanted and put them into the individual storage areas. Again, one of the really nice features is that each area can be individually removed. So for testing you can open the briefcase, pull out the couple of tests you want to do, and everything stays neatly together on your counter until you need it. I think I am going to get another one of these for foods, small (JG) plumbing parts, etc. Get one of these, you won't regret it!

Now, I picked up a few more tests from saltwateraquarium.com: A new Hanna Checker for Phosphates (their 736 ULR checker that measures in ppb), a new nitrates test from Red Sea - the Pro version - it has much higher precision, especially on the low scale. The third new test I got is Potassium from Salifert. Potassium seems to be all the rage right now and many claim that proper potassium is necessary for the bright coral colors we all love.

I ran the nitrates test first. On the low range. It was bright purple and over the end of the color on the wheel which means it was higher than 4ppm. No kidding. My prior NYOS test showed between 10-12. So I then did the test again, this time with the instructions telling me to dilute 15:1. To my surprise, my Nitrates still were way up on the scale - between the last two color values - so my nitrates are actually around 48ppm! This goes to show that you sometimes need to switch things up and try some different tests. I am going to try again in a few days. My sulphur denitrator still hasn't settled in yet - the ORP is still coming down slowly but at about 400 now, down from 440. I hope it starts doing its thing soon!

The Phosphates test is where the good news was. I had run the other Hanna checker for some time and while I had a run where my phosphates were .08ppm, The ULR test I did today came up at 0. Seems strange to me that it would be clear down to nothing so we will see again in a few days. That said, my chaeto and other macro algaes are now taking up about 20% of my 4'x7' sump - so anything is possible!

Potassium was next. In all my reefkeeping years I have NEVER tested for Potassium. Justin Credible swears by it, and he and Mark Callahan (Mr SaltwaterTank) are doing a webinar on this I guess. So I thought I would give it a shot. Bizarre test process, but not too onerous. End result - my potassium was 360, about 10% lower than NSW (natural seawater). Now, how bad is that? I have no idea - maybe one of you can tell me your experiences with testing and supplementing potassium.

Here are some pics to go along with this tome. Oh, and one extra pic of my 6" monster scoly getting ready to feed in my 10g office tank!

Genius idea on the 10-compartment storage "briefcase" by Milwaukee!

 

[wowkingjames]

Enjoy the thread, I'm going to Home Depot to buy the 1o compartment storage.

 

[Terence]

I will have some info about my installation of the upcoming FMK product soon. It is working awesome so far but installing it was not pleasant due to my own stupid plumbing shortcomings. Let's just say check-valves are a PAIN!