Just read through your build thread and wow. What an amazing looking tank and love the finished look of the wall unit. Look foward to following along on the updates.
Maroun.c 400 G build thread
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Thanks BarbH.
Build is still slower than I would have wanted but I'm hoping that in 2-3 weeks from now my SPS wills tart moving in and the tank will be a bit more interesting finally.
couple of small updates.
- Added one more Tunze 6105, this one came with the wideflow housing and the 24V jumper upgrade.Like the softer and wider flow which does not blow sand 7 feet away. Guess i'll upgrade the old one I have. Will still add one more 6105 and an MP60.So far tank is running on 2x 6105 and one MP40 with 2 returns of a total of 8500 LPH it
- My RBTA split coupe of week back. for the first time I didn't lose any of the clones.
The Bubble tips continue to roam on their island and don't seem to want to settle. This could have been triggered by the continuous changes in flow (experimeinting with different PH positions...) and the split... so far I got 2 RBTAs and one greeen. Still on the look for a couple of nice BTAs especially a yellow with purple tip one.
-Tank was supposed to start from frags or mini colonies that remain from my old 150 G, however when the 3 years old Monti of fellow reefer Pierre777 couldn't support its weight any more and broke one layer he offered me a small frag
Pics of it in his tank from around Jan 2011
http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/PierreTank/RC 2011 tank pics/DSC_3645.jpg
Nov 2011
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/mcaqua150g/Pierre/DSC_8536.jpg
On pick up day (sorry bad quality phone pics)
the fallen piece
and the little frag I got (around 24 inch 60cm long)
and in my tank still got to fix it.
Installed my 1 HP Resun chiller in the attick and it proved to be a huge struggle for it to fit. still struggling with overheating of the attick so will work on its ventilation with directing the air flow to the attick towards the chiller and the airflow out from behind the chiller but at least I got my tank temp back to 80 F. should be adding another 1 Hp chiller (Aquamedic Titan 2000) for back up next month hopefully.
Plans for the coming couple of weeks will be to start moving SPS in and working on coral positioning.
Build is still slower than I would have wanted but I'm hoping that in 2-3 weeks from now my SPS wills tart moving in and the tank will be a bit more interesting finally.
couple of small updates.
- Added one more Tunze 6105, this one came with the wideflow housing and the 24V jumper upgrade.Like the softer and wider flow which does not blow sand 7 feet away. Guess i'll upgrade the old one I have. Will still add one more 6105 and an MP60.So far tank is running on 2x 6105 and one MP40 with 2 returns of a total of 8500 LPH it
- My RBTA split coupe of week back. for the first time I didn't lose any of the clones.
The Bubble tips continue to roam on their island and don't seem to want to settle. This could have been triggered by the continuous changes in flow (experimeinting with different PH positions...) and the split... so far I got 2 RBTAs and one greeen. Still on the look for a couple of nice BTAs especially a yellow with purple tip one.
-Tank was supposed to start from frags or mini colonies that remain from my old 150 G, however when the 3 years old Monti of fellow reefer Pierre777 couldn't support its weight any more and broke one layer he offered me a small frag
Pics of it in his tank from around Jan 2011
http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/PierreTank/RC 2011 tank pics/DSC_3645.jpg
Nov 2011
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/mcaqua150g/Pierre/DSC_8536.jpg
On pick up day (sorry bad quality phone pics)
the fallen piece
and the little frag I got (around 24 inch 60cm long)
and in my tank still got to fix it.
Installed my 1 HP Resun chiller in the attick and it proved to be a huge struggle for it to fit. still struggling with overheating of the attick so will work on its ventilation with directing the air flow to the attick towards the chiller and the airflow out from behind the chiller but at least I got my tank temp back to 80 F. should be adding another 1 Hp chiller (Aquamedic Titan 2000) for back up next month hopefully.
Plans for the coming couple of weeks will be to start moving SPS in and working on coral positioning.
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maroun.c
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An overdue update.
Chiller installed and finally fixed the issue with the overheating attick, solved it by directing the airflow tot he attick directly into the chiller air intake ( so it runs much cooler than the room) and having a Turbine at the back pushing hot air out of the room directly. Will remodify when I add my 2nd chiller.
some coral addition
From my last trip to Dubai:
Blastos: Never had luck with those and I believe this will be my last one unless if I have success with it. So far looks good.
Acan
Micromussa
got me some nice Zoos will post some pics when they move to the display tank.
1st test SPS frags.
Courtesy of Pierre:
Green Pavona
A still unidentified accro that had a very weird growth pattern in my old tank and in Pierres.
Accro
Purple Tabling accro
Green Millepora
Chiller installed and finally fixed the issue with the overheating attick, solved it by directing the airflow tot he attick directly into the chiller air intake ( so it runs much cooler than the room) and having a Turbine at the back pushing hot air out of the room directly. Will remodify when I add my 2nd chiller.
some coral addition
From my last trip to Dubai:
Blastos: Never had luck with those and I believe this will be my last one unless if I have success with it. So far looks good.
Acan
Micromussa
got me some nice Zoos will post some pics when they move to the display tank.
1st test SPS frags.
Courtesy of Pierre:
Green Pavona
A still unidentified accro that had a very weird growth pattern in my old tank and in Pierres.
Accro
Purple Tabling accro
Green Millepora
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maroun.c
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Bluish stag in the back and my old red mille in the front:
Montipora confusa:
and a couple of green and yellow scrolls to replace the large colonies that got light burned.
Currently most corals in the tank are doing fine. Lost a few due to light burns (a very big green scroll, yellow one is on the way out as well, couple of chalices...) struggling a bit with some Cyano on the sand bed but it seems to be resolving.
Pagoda cup recovering:
Yellow scroll still looking bad
Other low light corals are doing good even in open areas:
Cynarina
Chalice
Lobo
Acan
Anemones Garden still wandering around
Zoos finally opened out of shade
and a Ricordea finally starting to open up
FTS for SEP
Montipora confusa:
and a couple of green and yellow scrolls to replace the large colonies that got light burned.
Currently most corals in the tank are doing fine. Lost a few due to light burns (a very big green scroll, yellow one is on the way out as well, couple of chalices...) struggling a bit with some Cyano on the sand bed but it seems to be resolving.
Pagoda cup recovering:
Yellow scroll still looking bad
Other low light corals are doing good even in open areas:
Cynarina
Chalice
Lobo
Acan
Anemones Garden still wandering around
Zoos finally opened out of shade
and a Ricordea finally starting to open up
FTS for SEP
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maroun.c
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Thanks Bige
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Thanks Revs girl
Had some time for some moonlight shots.
And my favorite two shots of the set
Had some time for some moonlight shots.
And my favorite two shots of the set
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maroun.c
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Thanks Bige,
Yes these seem to have made the move just fine. others werent'as lucky as I'm struggling with something with the new moved corals most probably light acclimation related.
Yes these seem to have made the move just fine. others werent'as lucky as I'm struggling with something with the new moved corals most probably light acclimation related.
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maroun.c
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Another revive of this thread!!!
Fish additions since last updates:
School of 15 Apogon leptacanthus which reduced to 10 in Quarantine and back to 5 upon transfer to the tank and have stayed at 5 since 7-8 months now. Got me 6 more couple of months back and 5 made it past Quarantine and were doing excellent, then I lost two on introduction, one that simply died the second it touched my DT tank water (even though QT water was the same as DT and that I acclimated...) Will be adding some more for my target of a schoold of 10-15)
Midas Blenny
Red Sea Lyretails. Initially started with 5 ones 3 of which had started transitioning to males when I received them, Luckily only one completed full transition to male. then I lost two of those. So got 5 5 new very small ones to try to establish a full school with a male, and 7 females with a visible pecking order. Seems its working fine so far with the make showing full dominance. Still waiting for better coloration on it.
Inspecting the new commers:
One more flasher wrass: Not really lucky with those as I've had two loose body mass and wither away even after initial treatment against internal parasites.
Fish additions since last updates:
School of 15 Apogon leptacanthus which reduced to 10 in Quarantine and back to 5 upon transfer to the tank and have stayed at 5 since 7-8 months now. Got me 6 more couple of months back and 5 made it past Quarantine and were doing excellent, then I lost two on introduction, one that simply died the second it touched my DT tank water (even though QT water was the same as DT and that I acclimated...) Will be adding some more for my target of a schoold of 10-15)
Midas Blenny
Red Sea Lyretails. Initially started with 5 ones 3 of which had started transitioning to males when I received them, Luckily only one completed full transition to male. then I lost two of those. So got 5 5 new very small ones to try to establish a full school with a male, and 7 females with a visible pecking order. Seems its working fine so far with the make showing full dominance. Still waiting for better coloration on it.
Inspecting the new commers:
One more flasher wrass: Not really lucky with those as I've had two loose body mass and wither away even after initial treatment against internal parasites.
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maroun.c
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And a 2nd leopard wrass (Macropharyngodon Ornatus)I also scored in Holland. This one arrived the day before I was flying back so was a bit worried of flying it agian in 24 hours time. Still it made the trip back and Quarantine fine and wasn't harrassed by my existing one.
Also got a Melanurus from the same trip which made it fine and settled for a couple of weeks in the tank before going crazy on my clams. Was a bit of a disappointment as we don't get those frequently. Especially that these are used for pest control around clams as well!!!
WEirdly it's been since June in my Nano Cube which has a clam as well and it didn't touch it. So might try reintroducing it when I have a few days at home to keep a close watch on it.
My old Maroon clown pair has officially retired to the sump and soon to their specific tank after becoming too aggressive. Replaced them with a pair of Platinums.
When released it took the larger one a few days to go to the Anemone island
Having watched a pair of Maroon clown interaction for the last 14 years, platinums are way too "Soft" in comparison. with the little ineraction I got to see, the female seems to charge at the male from below wheras my maroon female would mostly charge from above pinnign the male to the rocks or sand...
The male was allowed into the Anemone island few days later, unfortunately the day after i was watchign the tank and specifically the clown pair head to the anemones at lights off time, turned on my flashlight to check on them 1 min after lights turned off, to see the male suddnely twitching close to the anemones and it died few minutes later. that was the first sudden fish death I ever saw.
Few months later, chose the smallest nice looking platinum I could find and placed it in an acclimation box for a week, initially above the anemone island and couple of days later just in front of the anemones.
Release went fine with little interaction and the male immediately showing submission
Also got a Melanurus from the same trip which made it fine and settled for a couple of weeks in the tank before going crazy on my clams. Was a bit of a disappointment as we don't get those frequently. Especially that these are used for pest control around clams as well!!!
WEirdly it's been since June in my Nano Cube which has a clam as well and it didn't touch it. So might try reintroducing it when I have a few days at home to keep a close watch on it.
My old Maroon clown pair has officially retired to the sump and soon to their specific tank after becoming too aggressive. Replaced them with a pair of Platinums.
When released it took the larger one a few days to go to the Anemone island
Having watched a pair of Maroon clown interaction for the last 14 years, platinums are way too "Soft" in comparison. with the little ineraction I got to see, the female seems to charge at the male from below wheras my maroon female would mostly charge from above pinnign the male to the rocks or sand...
The male was allowed into the Anemone island few days later, unfortunately the day after i was watchign the tank and specifically the clown pair head to the anemones at lights off time, turned on my flashlight to check on them 1 min after lights turned off, to see the male suddnely twitching close to the anemones and it died few minutes later. that was the first sudden fish death I ever saw.
Few months later, chose the smallest nice looking platinum I could find and placed it in an acclimation box for a week, initially above the anemone island and couple of days later just in front of the anemones.
Release went fine with little interaction and the male immediately showing submission
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maroun.c
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Tank is approaching 2 years since the start, but I'm not yet satisfied with how slow things are going and the fact that I'm struggling with tank maintenance. This is mostly due to a crazy travel schedule and having to maintain the tank, Frag system and the nano cube.
So I came to the conclusion that that I will have to connect all three systems to minimize all the separate testing, Water changes dosing... this should increase my water volume considerably but on the other hand I'll loose the safety of a back up system.
So Phase two of the build is just starting:
My To Do list:
-opening a window and a couple of vents in the basement for more airflow through it. which will minimize humidity and increase natural cooling in summer.
-Opening in the basement wall with a stand for 2x1HP chillers, This way the hot air exhaust will be directed outside of the basement and they'll also act as fans when runnings taking out hot humid air from the basement with fresh new air coming in from the vents in the opposite side
-DIY larger sump in the basement, this will be bigger than any tank I have built myself so far. will correct a couple of things I don't like in my current sump. This will also decrease the water surface in the DT tank cabinet, and make it easier for the Dehumidifier, and airflow out, to deal with humidity.
-Moving the frag tank stand next to the new sump and maybe restarting the frag tanks from scratch as corals weren’t happy in the last period and I can’t pinpoint a reason.
-moving the cube and connecting it to the new sump as well.
-Add a new oversized skimmer to deal with the growing bioload. That I believe should make the larger difference as my current Hurricone CAT1 skimmer is struggling with the bioload.
-Finally-Drilling the floor of the house to pass new tubing to the basement: Can't imagine how happy the wife will be on drilling day!!!
2x1.5 inch drains
2x 1 inch returns
Electrical with control from tank electrical board, so I can control things from upstairs without having to be in the basement.
So I came to the conclusion that that I will have to connect all three systems to minimize all the separate testing, Water changes dosing... this should increase my water volume considerably but on the other hand I'll loose the safety of a back up system.
So Phase two of the build is just starting:
My To Do list:
-opening a window and a couple of vents in the basement for more airflow through it. which will minimize humidity and increase natural cooling in summer.
-Opening in the basement wall with a stand for 2x1HP chillers, This way the hot air exhaust will be directed outside of the basement and they'll also act as fans when runnings taking out hot humid air from the basement with fresh new air coming in from the vents in the opposite side
-DIY larger sump in the basement, this will be bigger than any tank I have built myself so far. will correct a couple of things I don't like in my current sump. This will also decrease the water surface in the DT tank cabinet, and make it easier for the Dehumidifier, and airflow out, to deal with humidity.
-Moving the frag tank stand next to the new sump and maybe restarting the frag tanks from scratch as corals weren’t happy in the last period and I can’t pinpoint a reason.
-moving the cube and connecting it to the new sump as well.
-Add a new oversized skimmer to deal with the growing bioload. That I believe should make the larger difference as my current Hurricone CAT1 skimmer is struggling with the bioload.
-Finally-Drilling the floor of the house to pass new tubing to the basement: Can't imagine how happy the wife will be on drilling day!!!
2x1.5 inch drains
2x 1 inch returns
Electrical with control from tank electrical board, so I can control things from upstairs without having to be in the basement.
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maroun.c
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Wanted an even larger sump but this is the maximum size that would fit through the basement door. 1.6x1.6 steel tubing. sump will sit on lower level with middle support foot. upper level had to be unsupported in the middle, or else I would lose around 4 inch of sump width along the length and it would not be possible to pull the sump out . Doubnt it can hold an additional tank on top but might just use the steel to cover the sump with a wood cabinet or maybe go with a very shallow frag tank on top when I need more frag tank space.
Coated with 3 layers of Epoxy paint.
Coated with 3 layers of Epoxy paint.
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maroun.c
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Sump was next
Went with a simple sump designl. Water goes in from left to right. 1st is Skimmer partition which will become a frag or fuge area afterwards as I'm upgrading to an external skimmer. Next partition will be a DSB and a Fuge. Yep that's right I still believe in DSB at least remote ones so I can take it out or restart it if needed. after that is a second set of baffles and the return area with 2 outputs of 2 external return pumps. reactors will be placed in this partition or maybe on top of the sump Stand.
Got two sets of baffles with 5 cm separation between the baffles for slower water flow which give more time for bubbles to burst.Reason for this is that I expect to run around 20000-25000 LPH through it as it will be handling the DT, Frag tanks system, Cube tank and potential additional Tanks.Also will have water draining from tank to the basement so around a 5 meters drop.
Sump should be able to handle around 230 litres of water draining back to it when return pumps are turned off and that should be enough for all the water in the piping and tanks.
Wanted to go even larger but the limiting factor was the stand size we could fit through the basement door, Ended up with a 68x28x20 or 160G Sump.
Most important is that it's another DIY project and the biggest glass tank I've built myself so far.
installing the baffles
The finished product
In place
Water Testing done and filled with new saltwater to startup the cycle.
Went with a simple sump designl. Water goes in from left to right. 1st is Skimmer partition which will become a frag or fuge area afterwards as I'm upgrading to an external skimmer. Next partition will be a DSB and a Fuge. Yep that's right I still believe in DSB at least remote ones so I can take it out or restart it if needed. after that is a second set of baffles and the return area with 2 outputs of 2 external return pumps. reactors will be placed in this partition or maybe on top of the sump Stand.
Got two sets of baffles with 5 cm separation between the baffles for slower water flow which give more time for bubbles to burst.Reason for this is that I expect to run around 20000-25000 LPH through it as it will be handling the DT, Frag tanks system, Cube tank and potential additional Tanks.Also will have water draining from tank to the basement so around a 5 meters drop.
Sump should be able to handle around 230 litres of water draining back to it when return pumps are turned off and that should be enough for all the water in the piping and tanks.
Wanted to go even larger but the limiting factor was the stand size we could fit through the basement door, Ended up with a 68x28x20 or 160G Sump.
Most important is that it's another DIY project and the biggest glass tank I've built myself so far.
installing the baffles
The finished product
In place
Water Testing done and filled with new saltwater to startup the cycle.
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Glass build quality wasn't bad for a basement sump that would not be seen frequently:
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Looking great and I love the fish selection. Love schooling fish!
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Thanks, cant wait for a few more cardinals for a more pronounced schooling look.
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Final basement plans:
Frag Tanks and Cube which were on the right side of the room had to be moved to the opposite side. This was a good chance to workout all the electrical and tubing mess that occurred with the addition of the cube and additional frag tank to the initial single frag tank.
Frag Tank and Nano Cube moved to position.
This is still a temporary setup and a new electrical panel and hard plumbing will be added soon to connect the frag tanks and Cube to the sump.
Frag Tanks and Cube which were on the right side of the room had to be moved to the opposite side. This was a good chance to workout all the electrical and tubing mess that occurred with the addition of the cube and additional frag tank to the initial single frag tank.
Frag Tank and Nano Cube moved to position.
This is still a temporary setup and a new electrical panel and hard plumbing will be added soon to connect the frag tanks and Cube to the sump.
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Had 2 openings made in the wall above the sump with sliding glass installed.
Also added a couple of smaller vents on the opposite side of the basement and this way I have natural airflow even without fans. Will install glass covers on them to control how much air exchange I want.
Will add a stand on those brackets and place the 2x1 HP chillers in front of the opening so that when they're running they will take hot air from the room to the outside. Still debating how to close it with sliding glass and still be able to close it in the winter time with the chillers in front of it.
Also added a couple of smaller vents on the opposite side of the basement and this way I have natural airflow even without fans. Will install glass covers on them to control how much air exchange I want.
Will add a stand on those brackets and place the 2x1 HP chillers in front of the opening so that when they're running they will take hot air from the room to the outside. Still debating how to close it with sliding glass and still be able to close it in the winter time with the chillers in front of it.
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