08trdoffroad's Rimless 60 gal Mixed Reef Build

[JoJosReef]

Been 48 hrs since my last alk test, so I tested tonight.

Down about .5 dKH since the last test. The tank appears to be consuming about .25 dKH per 24 hrs right now. Setting up the BM single head doser with AFR.

These are the instructions for a starting dose for AFR:

"Start with a daily dose of 5 ml of All-For-Reef per 100 liters (26 US-gal) of aquarium system volume. Increase the daily dosage – by continuous control of the alkalinity – weekly by 2.5 ml per 100 liters (26 US-gal) of aquarium system volume, until a constant carbonate hardness of 7 to 9 °dH is reached.

Do not exceed a maximum daily dose of 25 ml of All-For-Reef per 100 liters (26 US-gal) of aquarium system volume."

So my starting dose is 15 ml. How many times a day should I spread it out? 3 doses of 5 ml? 5 doses of 3 ml? 15 doses of 1 ml?

Mine asks how many doses and total daily volume, so I just did 8 doses 50mL and it divided it up evenly through the day.

 

[skey44]

Oh my, that's concerning. I'm dosing about 50mL in a volume of about 30-35 gal...

I think you should be ok. I was listening to a podcast with a Tropic Marin big wig and he said that was a conservative maximum number.

 

[JoJosReef]

I think you should be ok. I was listening to a podcast with a Tropic Marin big wig and he said that was a conservative maximum number.

Well, I've been steadily increasing well over their maximum for almost a year, so presumably not reaching toxic levels of anything, knock on driftwood.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Tonight's test results!

8.4 dKH

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

My Aquarocks order came!

Now I can get my frags off the sand bed and give them a solid base to settle in on!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Welp....I think my A360X died today. Noticed the tank had a very very unusually purple look to it. Started messing with it in the app and it looks like I have lost my Royal Blues....

@JoJosReef are your noops as purple as they look in the pictures or is that just an issue with spectrum and the camera? Really leaning towards getting 2-K7 Pro's from @Zach B but i like a pretty blue spectrum like AB+ and 14k Phoenix DE MH at peak intensity of my lighting schedule.

Or maybe 3-24" quanta helix light bars 2-meso blue and 1-reef crest...

Or a reefi Uno Pro...

Or a used gen 4 or 5 xr30 (if i could get one for under 500)...

Ugh...lighting is so overwhelming to me!

Maybe I will just bust out my old MH/T5 combo and hang it over the tank...lol. no messing with spectrum, need more par, lower the light, need less, raise it...lol

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Put my spare AI Prime on the tank to hopefully keep things alive while I decide what to do moving forward...

Might just give up and stop dumping money into the hobby...

 

[skey44]

I can help. Measure everything you can for now…

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

I can help. Measure everything you can for now…

?

 

[mch1984]

Rock came in!! LFS called this morning to let me know it came in. Cruised over on lunch and picked it up!

I searched all over the net and could not fins these for sale. So here is the caribsea item number if anyone else is interested in picking one up!

Here is a link to the coral tree on aquacave. Found it quickly with the item number now.

CaribSea LifeRock Coral Tree

CaribSea LifeRock Coral Tree Real aragonitic base rock, not cement, no curing. Extensive macro and micro-porosity infused with spored bacteria for outstanding biological performance. Clean and safe for all fish and inverts, environmentally responsible each piece being very unique. Shipping...

aquacave.com

I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread; I'm doing a 40-gallon cube and couldn't decide what to do with the scape. Something like this is perfect. I have tons of rock and plenty of base pieces to put one together myself. Plus I have Marco cement coming. I love cube tanks! Following along.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread; I'm doing a 40-gallon cube and couldn't decide what to do with the scape. Something like this is perfect. I have tons of rock and plenty of base pieces to put one together myself. Plus I have Marco cement coming. I love cube tanks! Following along.

Thanks for following along! Welcome aboard!

If I had it to do over again, I would go the route you are and use shelf and base rock to build something similar on my own. I suspect I could have done it for less than I paid for the pre assembled piece from Caribsea!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

ALK test results from tonight!

Holding steady where I want it (between 8-9 dKH)

 

[mch1984]

Thanks for following along! Welcome aboard!

If I had it to do over again, I would go the route you are and use shelf and base rock to build something similar on my own. I suspect I could have done it for less than I paid for the pre assembled piece from Caribsea!

For me, it's just an attempt at using what I already have. I previously had a 90-gallon tank, plus I have some from my dad's old tank. So, I don't want to spend money on a pre-built structure. Plus, building it is more fun.

 

[mch1984]

Put my spare AI Prime on the tank to hopefully keep things alive while I decide what to do moving forward...

Might just give up and stop dumping money into the hobby...

Youll regret that, just like I did...now I'm back again.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Youll regret that, just like I did...now I'm back again.

Yeah, yesterday was a rough day. I have some stuff going on in my personal life that I am having a hard time with. When I made that post, it was the frustration from that situation spilling over into my reeding hobby.

I think I have narrowed my light search down to either 2 of the NP k7 pros, or a reefi uno pro 2.0.

The k7s are appealing because when I change to a different (rectangular) tank in the future, I can use them to light it. But the Reefi is tempting just because of its raw power. I would never run out of light on this tank with it.

 

[mch1984]

Yeah, yesterday was a rough day. I have some stuff going on in my personal life that I am having a hard time with. When I made that post, it was the frustration from that situation spilling over into my reeding hobby.

I think I have narrowed my light search down to either 2 of the NP k7 pros, or a reefi uno pro 2.0.

The k7s are appealing because when I change to a different (rectangular) tank in the future, I can use them to light it. But the Reefi is tempting just because of its raw power. I would never run out of light on this tank with it.

I understand that, that’s what my fishing hobby is for. Having a bad week, disappear on a kayak by yourself fishing. Great therapy.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Test results from last night...doses 15 ml of RFB to bring ot up to mid 8's.

Tank kinda got put on the back burner the last few days while I dealt with a mess.... my main water line coming into the house split and started flooding my basement. I found wet carpet Monday night while picking up toys in the basement before putting the kiddos to bed. Had the city come out and shut off the water and called a friend who is a plumber for help. He was out of town but lent me some tools and gave me some sound advice on where to start digging. His advice was right on the money and I found the leak right against the foundation where the pipe enters the house. It was a lot of labor, but I made the repair myself for around $100, and got the water back on last night. Now just trying to get the carpet and the basement dried out. Here are a bunch of pictures a long the way.

Water back on and the flow rate stayed zero, indicating a successful repair.

 

[mch1984]

Test results from last night...doses 15 ml of RFB to bring ot up to mid 8's.

Tank kinda got put on the back burner the last few days while I dealt with a mess.... my main water line coming into the house split and started flooding my basement. I found wet carpet Monday night while picking up toys in the basement before putting the kiddos to bed. Had the city come out and shut off the water and called a friend who is a plumber for help. He was out of town but lent me some tools and gave me some sound advice on where to start digging. His advice was right on the money and I found the leak right against the foundation where the pipe enters the house. It was a lot of labor, but I made the repair myself for around $100, and got the water back on last night. Now just trying to get the carpet and the basement dried out. Here are a bunch of pictures a long the way.

Water back on and the flow rate stayed zero, indicating a successful repair.

Always nice when it’s something you can just do yourself. Glad it worked out.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Always nice when it’s something you can just do yourself. Glad it worked out.

Definitely. It saved me thousands of dollars!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Lost my Royal Gramma for some reason. My wife text me yesterday afternoon and said it didn't look well. By the time I got home from work it was upside down in the back corner on the sand barely breathing. It passed during the night. It was about 5 years old, so maybe old age?...idk