Mike’s 750 Gallon Tank

[mikeintoronto]

Some questions for you. 1st, thanks for the pictures of the UV. You talk about your bout with parasites,

Did you have the UV set up at the time or was it a later addition?
How do you find your pod population? Does the UZ wipe them out? ( I have a Mandarin Goby and want to make sure he stays fed.)
Do you have a refugium? If so what kind of algae's are you growing? (might be getting ahead of you here, as there has been no mention of this, if its part of your story, and you have not got to that chapter yet, just tell me to be patient, lol)

I am really liking this thread! Keep it up!

Yeah you’re getting ahead
UV doesn’t actually kill the pods, it just sterilizes them, so that’s not really a concern. People have asked me the same question before.
Regarding parasites, after the first loss I added the sterilizer. The tank had gone through its fallow period so there were no ich/velvet parasites in the tank at that time. The UV is just a safeguard. The tank has been parasite-free, as far as I can detect, since then. I follow a pretty rigorous QT so I’m pretty confident the fishes go in without parasites.

Here’s the refugium part:
Refugium:
The refugium is a true refugium so it’s a place for small animals to live and reproduce, not a chaeto tumbler. It doesn’t grow macro algae except a small clump of rubbery algae. It has a DSB and a few rocks. Right now, a wrasse lives in there because there is no more sand in the DT.

Much of the additives are dosed into this volume, just because it’s easier.
It’s still lit with a red LED but the light is cheap and the diodes are going out. It has about 50% left so I’m thinking of adding one of the spare Radions to light it and grow some corals out in there.

If I could do it again: This is another easy to change tank so there are no regrets. I did a lot of changes through the years to get to this point so I think I’m okay with it. I might have bought a slightly longer tank.

 

[rocket098]

Unreal and very informative please keep going

 

[mikeintoronto]

Control:
I use a full Neptune Apex to monitor and control the system. I won’t get to into it too much because I don’t really do much out of the ordinary. It has a Trident to monitor the alkalinity, etc.


My Parameters:
I try to keep the following parameters if I can:
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 400-500 (it’s based on whatever the alkalinity is)
Magnesium 1350-1450
pH 8.2
Temperature 75F
Nitrate 5-10
Phosphate < 0.1

I can’t think of anything else to add right now. Here’s my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikes_750gallon_reef/?hl=en

 

[rocket098]

How did you dial in the alk dosing. I’m close but number still fluctuate about .15 daily

 

[mikeintoronto]

How did you dial in the alk dosing. I’m close but number still fluctuate about .15 daily

It just takes some time. I started off by setting the bubble count and then changed the flow until I got it right. The Apex also keeps it in check.

The frag tank with no reactor, the Apex controls it with controlled dosing. I use All For Reef for that.

 

[DesktopReefer]

This is a thing of beauty. It’s always been a dream to have a mega tank but with a small kid running around and a wife that couldn’t care less about reefs it’s not in the cards anytime soon. Maybe a retirement present to myself?

I’ll be following along on this one. Best of luck!

 

[mikeintoronto]

This weekend I got a few corals from Reef Raft here in Canada.
TSA Grape Ape


RR Blue Magic


Aussie Table


They’re just in the grow out.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Awesome system!

 

[BILLYO382]

All fishes are given a formalin bath. They then go through 14 days of copper and 14 days of separate observation before I add them to the tank. Certain sensitive species like wrasses are not treated with copper but go through 30 days of observation. Anthias and chromis also get treated with metronidazole for 14 days.
Near the end, all fishes get two doses of prazipro. I can get more into my QT if it’s of interest.
I had a number of issues before I developed my quarantine practice. I lost all of my fishes very early to velvet. Thankfully they were still awaiting transfer to the tank in a big trough so the tank was parasite free, but they were all together.

If I could do it again: I would have developed a better QT system to start. Then again, everything I learned about good QT is due to the losses early on. I also wouldn’t have bothered trying less common anthias species.

Nice build, i have some questions about your QT system. I tried to pm you but doesn't look like I'm able.

 

[o2manyfish]

Beautiful system. I just approved the CAD Design for a tank of the same dimensions - just out of Acrylic. Mine is going to be up against a wall. I have the top built to support my fat butt so I can lay across the tank to reach the back of it.

If you are thinking about the Abyzz pumps - Don't hesitate. I run 2 and they are amazing pumps. If you can afford it they are worth the money.

For flow in the tank, try getting a Panta Rhei 63. I have one on my current 560g which is 120x30x36t - It's a peninsula style and it pushes water down one side of the tank and around the otherside. Good flow for 20' of water movement. Again a pricey pump - but it will let you remove alot of the eyesore pumps you were mentioning by only having one larger pump to hide.

 

[iReefer12]

Mike, can you send me a DM, I have a question about this build, would be super helpful to be able to ask you. Cheers

 

[ethridge78]

Awesome build

 

[1000rrstunna]

How was your miracles experience. I’m currently working with them. And about to buy.

 

[1ocean]

Macro Dosing:
Korallin Calcium Reactor + Carbon Doser
Avast Marine Kalk Stirrer

The main source of alkalinity control is the calcium reactor. It’s dialed in to keep the CO2 solenoid on all (most) of the time but the Neptune Trident shuts off the solenoid if the tank alkalinity is too high or the chamber pH is too low. I run the alkalinity at 8.0 – 9.0 (target is 8.5). The CaRx is fed via a PMUP. The water first enters through an RO canister with a mechanical filter to keep debris out. On the terminal end I just use a valve to control the drips. I was using a Kamoer STP to control the drips but its really noisy, it couldn’t add enough effluent, even at max, and it required a lot of tube replacement. I might find a new pump to control the flow at a later date but I’ll drip for now.
The CaRx used to be fed via the manifold but flow was impacted when the pump got dirty. The CaRx has a release on top for excess gas so I run a line to the sump where I get about 1 drop per second. This keeps the gas out. It also helps bleed out if the chamber fills with air.
I also dose kalk via a kalk stirrer. I evaporate about 5 gallons a day so the stirrer has 4 gallons of water run through it and the ATO covers the remaining freshwater. The kalk is delivered at night so the pH doesn’t drop much at night but the water level is a bit higher than the ATO sensors in the morning until it evaporates down.
I also dose All For Reef. This only kicks in when the Trident reports an alkalinity lower than 8.5 so a container of AFR lasts a really long time.

Other Dosing:
I dose Acropower. I used to dose RS AB but after the Tropic Marin scare, I decided to change to a more trusted brand. Nothing wrong with AB, and I still use it on the 220, but AP is really good too.
I also dose Aqua Forest Component A, B, C. Do they even make this any more? I bought it a while ago so I’m trying to use it up. I’ll have to run another ICP test to see if things have changed.
I recently started dosing Flatworm Stop. Its pricey since I need 1000 mL a month so there will probably be a time when I stop, or just use a bottle a few times a year.

Other Reactors:
I run a biopellet reactor 24/7. I’m not running it for nitrate control but instead, I run it to feed the coral the bacteria it produces. I think it was a Lou Ekus video where he discussed how the coral can eat bacteria to get their phosphate since they don’t absorb it very well. The effluent doesn’t go to the skimmer to filter it out like normal, it just feeds into the refugium.

Depending on needs I could also run carbon or Rowaphos or something, so I have extra reactors.

All of the extra reactors are fed via the manifold.

thanks for the idea of the bio pellet reactor to feed corals. I think I may add a small one to my 300 for this purpose...