150G Planet Aquarium Rimless

[MySonWantedAHamster]

I always enjoy reading everyone's build threads, and since I'm upgrading my BioCube to a new Planet Aquarium 150G Rimless I thought it would be good to document my own progress. I ordered the tank through one of my LFS back in December and they delivered it yesterday. The prep work and anticipation of the new tank has to be half the fun. Looking forward to getting this thread caught up on what has been done, and migrating everything over to the new tank (with the exception of my aiptasia and bubble algae collection...)

Here's a list of specs/equipment I plan to use out of the gate:

Display
Brand	150G Planet Aquarium Rimless Mega Matrix
Dimensions	60x24x25
Overflow	Internal
Powerheads	AI Nero 5 x2 (x3 currently)
Stand
Planet Aquarium	32" Classic White
Sump
Brand	Tideline
Dimensions	36x18x15
Skimmer	Reef Octopus Regal 150-INT
Return Pump	Neptune Cor-20
Heater	Finnex 300w x2
Heater Controller	Ink Bird
Dosing	Red Sea ReefDose 4
ATO Reservoir	Tideline 10G ATO
ATO	Apex ATK
Lighting
Brand	Red Sea ReefLed 160s x2
Controller
Brand	Neptune Apex
Tank Cover
Brand	DD JumpGuard Pro (DYI)

Columbus is fortunate to have several good LFS. Matt's Coral is definitely on that list. They made the move-in look easy.

 

[Slayyyter]

Holy cow that's awesome cant wait to see the progress

 

[BriansBrain]

I always stop in to Matt’s when I’m in Columbus. Definitely a top tier LFS. Best of luck. Love my Planet Aquariums system

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I always like going into their store. They have a nice clean layout/display for everything. And Matt was really helpful during the whole ordering process. Talked through the pros and cons of different tanks, equipment, etc... This was a big purchase for us; he treated it that way.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

On to the Aquascapting:

I picked up around 130 lbs of foundational (50 lbs) and regular reef saver (80lbs) rock from a couple different LFS in late December while the tank was on order. I have to say that I’m not sure if I have the artistic knack for aquascaping. My wife and I glued, epoxied, and mortared rocks on and off throughout the month of January. It was a fun process, but not sure I’ll be doing this for a living anytime soon.

We followed many reefers’ advice of setting up a PVC model of the tank to visualize it a little better and put it on a 6 foot folding table.

Captain obvious, but cover the table; we definitely dripped some glue along the way. We started out with cardboard but switched it out to a sheet of Silicone Moisture Barrier underlayment that I had left over from the vinyl plank flooring I installed for the tank. This stuff is like a thick paper. It was easy to work with, held up great, and worked much better than cardboard.

After one of the larger rock structures broke when I was rotating it, we decided to make a series of smaller structures that could placed together. The epoxied joints held up fine. It ended up being a weak point in the rock that ended up snapping. We glued (Glue Master Medium seemed to work best), epoxied ( Instant Ocean and Two Little Fishes), and mortared (E-Marco 400) a lot. I'm pretty sure we used around 20 tubes of epoxy, a couple bottles of glue, and 4 bottles of instaset, and even some extra mortar around the base.

In the end, this is what we came up with. There are five individual pieces ranging in weight from 10 – 35lbs. The top platforms are 12”-15” in height which should give plenty of space for some upward growth. We also have a few small free standing pieces that still need to be added around the base giving more caverns/hiding spots for the fishes.

 

[Slayyyter]

On to the Aquascapting:

I picked up around 130 lbs of foundational (50 lbs) and regular reef saver (80lbs) rock from a couple different LFS in late December while the tank was on order. I have to say that I’m not sure if I have the artistic knack for aquascaping. My wife and I glued, epoxied, and mortared rocks on and off throughout the month of January. It was a fun process, but not sure I’ll be doing this for a living anytime soon.

We followed many reefers’ advice of setting up a PVC model of the tank to visualize it a little better and put it on a 6 foot folding table.

Captain obvious, but cover the table; we definitely dripped some glue along the way. We started out with cardboard but switched it out to a sheet of Silicone Moisture Barrier underlayment that I had left over from the vinyl plank flooring I installed for the tank. This stuff is like a thick paper. It was easy to work with, held up great, and worked much better than cardboard.

After one of the larger rock structures broke when I was rotating it, we decided to make a series of smaller structures that could placed together. The epoxied joints held up fine. It ended up being a weak point in the rock that ended up snapping. We glued (Glue Master Medium seemed to work best), epoxied ( Instant Ocean and Two Little Fishes), and mortared (E-Marco 400) a lot. I'm pretty sure we used around 20 tubes of epoxy, a couple bottles of glue, and 4 bottles of instaset, and even some extra mortar around the base.

In the end, this is what we came up with. There are five individual pieces ranging in weight from 10 – 35lbs. The top platforms are 12”-15” in height which should give plenty of space for some upward growth. We also have a few small free standing pieces that still need to be added around the base giving more caverns/hiding spots for the fishes.

It seems like you do have the artistic knack for aquascaping as that looks really good

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Live Rock

To supplement the 130lbs of aquascape, I picked up 30 lbs of live rock from gulfliverock.com about a week ago. I ended up using air cargo because the temperature at the time was dropping into single digits. Daniel @ gulfliverock.com called me @ 1:30 PM on a Tuesday to let me know he was taking the rock to the Tampa airport; it landed in Columbus @ 6:30 PM. By 9:00 PM it was in 10 gallon holding tank; pretty awesome when you think about it. I ordered mainly small pieces so I can add some into the main display. What doesn't fit/work with aquascape I'll add to the sump.

This is what it looked like when I opened the box

There was definitely some life on the live rock. I've found red crabs, bristle stars, feather dusters, worms, and pretty sure a mantis



I've spotted what I think is Majano, and I'm pretty sure the popping sound I keep hearing is a pistol shrimp. I've never heard one before so it's either that or the cheapo tank is about to bust...

Also, I have no idea what this is... I'd love to know if you know what it is.



So, definitely some pests to deal with before the rock goes in the new tank. My wife always laughs at how stressed I get over the handful of aiptasia I can't seem to get rid of in our BioCube, and she reminds me they've yet to bother any corals unlike our RBTA, Favia, and even some Birds Nests that are currently at war...Oh well, at least the rock looks nice.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Friday update… The aquascape has been slowly cycling over the last two weeks with some ammonium chloride and some Microbacter7 while I've been scrutinizing the gulf live rock for anything unwanted (like the mantis shrimp I can’t seem to catch). I used the time to play around and organize the new equipment. So many great post/examples out there on control panels; most of which are beyond my skill set, but I took a stab at it.

I was a little limited on space outside the stand to add an additional cabinet so I incorporated the board in the stand. I put together a 24”x20” board that could fit through the cabinet door and anchored it to the cabinet wall

While testing out all the equipment, I ran into a bunch of issues getting the Apex and the app connected, bouncing between the Apex hotspot, 2.4,and 5 channels. I ended up throwing in the towel after a late night of troubleshooting and added some Cat 5 to the adjacent wall since the network closet is close by. Everything worked great after hardwiring it.

If there’s anything that gives me anxiety, it’s wire management…

After several evenings, a bunch of industrial Velcro, zip ties, and cable clips I finally got everything to fit. It's tight for sure. I added a 4" platform to raise the control board off the cabinet floor, and used metal snap hook to anchor to the control board to the cabinet. I did this this way so I can disconnect it and slide it out for maintenance when needed. Not optimal, but not too horrible either. I also added a panel to the back of the stand to mount the doser and some wire pass throughs for the control panel. I'm pretty glad the organization part is over.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looks fantastic!! Following!!

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Looks fantastic!! Following!!

Thanks you

 

[stefan09w]

Looks great so far! I also bought a 150g planet aquarium from Matt at Matts Corals. I will be following along to watch your progress.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

A couple Friday (actually Saturday now) updates:

I didn’t give much thought to everything that was running through the same 15 amp circuit the tank is using in our basement/family room until looking at the Apex energy charts. In addition to the tank which is around 1000w currently, we have a couple TVs/entertainment systems, the kid’s Xboxes, my work from home office equipment, etc.. I had a dedicated 20 amp circuit/GFCI outlet installed for the tank. Most of the equipment will run through this outlet. The Apex heartbeat feature is a nice to have in the event the GFCI ever gets tripped. It was $270 installed in case anyone was wondering what something like could cost.

I thought this was interesting

I picked up an Apogee USB PAR meter during the President’s Day Sales that were going on. I wanted to map out the PAR for my current corals in my BioCube (Steve’s LEDs) as I really had no idea other than assuming I’m running somewhere in an acceptable range. Interesting comparison with the Steve’s LEDs vs ReefLeds 160s x2. Obviously it’s tough to get the X,Y,Z-Axis in these pictures, but see what you make of these results.

Here are the settings I’m running at:

BioCube Steve LEDs settings:
Channel 1 (Blue): 90% (3675/4095 = .897)
Channel 2 (White): 25% (1015/4095 = .247)

ReefLeds 160s x2
20K setting (Blue 100% / White 50%)

(Picture blow is not the same settings listed; it's 100% white / 0% Blue just so I could photoshop in the values)

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Just came across this (what I think is a) porcelain crab in the live rock. I've been scoping this live rock out daily for the last month and it's the first I've seen this guy. Live rock has been half the fun of this new tank.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

A couple updates

The tank has completed the initial cycle. Ammonia and Nitrites are being converted quickly. Took the about a month total. I did a couple of water changes to bring down the nitrates a bit. The nitrates have been holding steady around 5-12 ppm (NYOS) , however; alkalinity was really low on my initial tests (6.1 dkh). I dosed a few times this week to bring it up to 8dkh. We'll see if it holds.

All the live rock has been moved to the new tank (except for one piece). Some in the sump and some scattered one the backside of the aquascape. I’ve been adding some phyto and occasionally some tiny pieces of frozen food for the crabs, brittle stars, pods, macro algae and whatever else made the trip with the rock.

One major victory this week - I finally caught the mantis shrimp in the live rock. I hadn’t seen him in a couple weeks, so I was isolating the live rock by moving pieces to the sump of the new tank trying to listen/zero in on which rock he was living in. Finally spotted him, and now he’s enjoying a life of solitude in a 10 gallon tank. Not sure what to do with him though. I’ll probably leave him on the doorstep of the LFS. Until then, I guess I’ll keep sacrificing some small snails to keep him fed.

Next step is to get a functional mixing station without flooding the laundry room...

 

[Brian24540]

Amazing work!

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Amazing work!

Thank you Brian

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

A couple tank (accessory) updates. Made some progress on a mixing station, and added a DIY top to the tank. I have to say all those mixing station threads out there with pictures/details really made the process a lot easier.

In my case, I was strapped for space for the mixing station, so I went with a vertical layout. I built a 3’ x 2’ x 5’ stand. The containers are 20 gallon Tamco holding tanks with pre-installed bulkheads.

The top container is the RO/DI tank and can gravity feed into the saltwater mixing tank or to a spout to fill a bucket/jug. The saltwater mixing tank can also open up to use the same spout to fill a bucket or jug. I used camlock fitting to connect a hose and pump water directly to the tank which is about 15 feet away from the mixing station.

Mistakes were made… Forgot to put a collar on before gluing

Having never glued a piece of PVC or done any type of plumbing, believe me when I say I had every towel out of the linen closet ready for a flooded laundry room. Luckily, only a small drip from the threads of the union connecting the pump. An extra half turn took care of the leak.

Prior to transferring the 4 fish (RIP Tailspot Blenny) from the BioCube to the new 150 we put together a DIY screen (JumpGuard). A miter saw and a wife that teaches fractions all day are really helpful when doing multiple cut-outs around lights and the overflow box. My only gripe with the JumpGuard is the mesh comes folded up as opposed to being rolled. The creases in the mesh make it difficult to get a nice tight look. I already bought some replacement mesh and spline to rescreen. We’re going to try and iron the mesh between two towels to try and get the creases out. Given the necessity of the cover its nice. It fits flush across the top and the mesh is lightly recessed below the rim; pretty low profile.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Just a few updates...

All original fish and coral have been moved to the new tank, and picked up some new SPS frags along the way. The SPS have been looking good; most LPS and softies have been doing ok as well. The light on the sandbed is pretty strong, so I have been tucking some of the LPS under overhangs and moving to the outer edge of the tank. I have been running the acclimation setting on the ReefLed 160s for a while now with the end goal to get them to 100% Blue and 40% White; just about there. I’m also knee deep in the ugly stage. Hair algae has covered the back glass, the dry rock aquascape has gone through multiple blooms of algae, diatoms, and some furry stuff that I’ve never seen. It’s hard to believe there are over two dozen coral, 4 fish, and tons of inverts in this picture; still looks pretty empty…

Tank parameters have been pretty stable although phosphates have been trending up while nitrates have been trending down.

PH – 7.97 – 8.15
Alkalinity – 8.4
Calcium – 430
Magnesium – 1400
Nitrates – 1ppm
Phosphate - .04ppm

I’ve repurposed my BioCube as an observation tank for newcomers. We picked up 3 Dispar Anthias (Wyatt, 2, & 3 for the Ozark fans..) and a BiColor Blenny. One of the Anthias passed around week 3. It’s color was always a little muted compared to the others and never seemed quite as active. I never saw any visible marks, breathing issues, etc. So I wasn’t really sure what to treat. The poor guy just typically hung out near the bottom of the tank, came out only occasionally to eat, but would never swim very long in the current like other two. They have been in the tank for close to 6 weeks now.

Finally, we rehomed our mantis shrimp that we’ve been hanging onto since February. Took him to the LFS and one the younger guys that worked there snatched him up and said he would take him home and put him in a dedicated tank.

 

[dangles]

Heyyyyyy Matt's Corals! LOVE them!

How's your tank? I am considering a Planet Aquarium 120.

Crazy you found a mantis shrimp!! Are you happy you went with the live rock? I was under the impression it prevented a lot of uglies, but it sounds like you still dealt with them?

Did you order the stand from Matt's too?

How do you like the sump?

Is there anything you'd do differently if you had it to do over again?

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Heyyyyyy Matt's Corals! LOVE them!

How's your tank? I am considering a Planet Aquarium 120.

Crazy you found a mantis shrimp!! Are you happy you went with the live rock? I was under the impression it prevented a lot of uglies, but it sounds like you still dealt with them?

Did you order the stand from Matt's too?

How do you like the sump?

Is there anything you'd do differently if you had it to do over again?

Hey Dangles, Yeah I can’t say enough good stuff about Matt’s Corals. Matt and the staff are always extremely helpful. I really like the Planet Aquarium tank and stand (ordered the tank, stand, and sump from Matt’s). They delivered and did the initial tank setup for what I would consider a very reasonable price in the grand scheme of things. If I remember correctly, PA actually extends their warranty if you use their stand. The Tide Line sump has worked well for me too. I like the design; has two filter socks room for a decent size skimmer, another chamber for live rock and media and finally the return pump.

I would absolutely use live rock again although I did keep it in a holding tank for some time to try and weed out anything problematic (like the mantis). In hindsight, I’m sure I didn’t have enough Live (20%) vs dry rock (80%) to effectively bypass the ugh-lies mixed with all fish and coral (and over-feeding feeding) I moved in early on. I’m embarrassed to say my tank still hasn’t found that sweet spot yet; lots of ups and downs still (self-inflicted no doubt).

I’ll be sure to check out your build thread for whatever tank you go with.