Project 105 is ALIVE!

[tredreef]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting on here and I thought I would make it a introduction/ show off of my tank build I have titled, Project 105.

The tank is an Oceanic 105 gallon ultimate series on a basic Oceanic oak stand that I have done some modifications to.

The sump is a 30 gallon long (36 x 12 x 15) and i have used 20 inches of it, or roughly 15 gallons for a refugium.

I have used the Herbie overflow design to bring water down, and a Eheim+ 5000 for my return (this will be changed out for a more high pressure pump later.)

My lighting is a duel T5HO retro kit for my actinics, and 2 250 Watt Coralife 20,000K metal halides. (In the pics I only have one of my halide bulbs.)

I am using a BRS dual media reactor that I have modified into a reculating reactor for use with bio pellets. The media of choice here is the THRIVE Bio Pellets.

I will be dosing the system with a 2 part solution until I have the needed money to purchase a good dosing system, in which time I will be switching to the full line of THRIVE products.

My goal for this tank is to be a SPS dominant tank with rare or the nicest looking corals I can find. This may be a long process, but the best things come over time.

I look forward to all of your suggestions and support as I move along with this build. And I hope everybody enjoys this build as I have thus far.

[cdrewferd]

I like the rock work you did.

[tebstan]

Originally Posted by cdrewferd

I like the rock work you did.

+1

What are your plans for fish?

Can you show us the bio pellet reactor? I've been using the BRS pellet reactor and have been happy with it. I'm wondering what you did with the dual, for flow?

[jayk198030]

Project 105 Alive..... Bank account soon to be dead..LOL

looks like your off to a good start. rock looks great

[tredreef]

Originally Posted by tebstan

+1

What are your plans for fish?

Can you show us the bio pellet reactor? I've been using the BRS pellet reactor and have been happy with it. I'm wondering what you did with the dual, for flow?

I plan on a few of my favorites for fish, (powder blue & brown Tang, maybe a blond naso) and then I would like to get a healthy selection of different wrasse.

Also I would really like a pistol shrimp with a watchman goby. ( is this ok in a DSB like mine?

I will have some pictures of my reactor up later tonight I hope, I used a MAG2 for circulation, and it feeds off my main circulation pump (EHEIM+ 5000) for a feed. I have the return line plumbed directly into the skimmer with a ball valve for the effluent control.

Thanks for the good questions.

[tredreef]

Originally Posted by cdrewferd

I like the rock work you did.

Thanks a lot; it took like no time at all. I think that is because I have spent so much time looking online and learning from videos.

But I may have just gotten lucky.

Thanks again.

[tredreef]

Originally Posted by jayk198030

Project 105 Alive..... Bank account soon to be dead..LOL

looks like your off to a good start. rock looks great

Thanks for the compliment;

and yes while one is alive the other is dead...... dead as a door nail.

cant wait to progress though.

Thanks again.

[Reefmaster08]

Looks good.

[tredreef]

So as of today it will be 1 full week that the system has been up and running. I am seeing quite a bit of diatoms building on my REAL REEF rock and also on the BRS ROCK. Most of the Diatoms have bloomed in the refugium where it is a live DSB. The rock in the refugium and also in the display are turning green.

As requested above I have also attached a few pictures of my BRS duel reactor that I have modified into a recirculating biopellet reactor.

Thanks for all the support and compliments.

[tebstan]

Cool

[tredreef]

So the cycle is over! and I have my first inhabitants in my tank.... other than algae.

I have added a small cleanup crew (about half of what I should have.) And I have moved some live rock down into the refugium.

I have yet to get any cheato, but I do plan on it. I just need to be careful where I get it from because I have checked with some of the places around where I live and there was some less desirable algae mixed within the cheato.

I have also added a USED Coralife chiller to the system. It is in a temporary location now, until I can relocate it to my utility room.

I have decided that I will be replacing my circulation pump with a better External ONLY pump. Any Suggestions? I need about 1500 - 2000 GPH before head pressure. I have roughly 15 - 20 ft. of head pressure now. but will try to reduce that when the new pump goes in.

Other than that I am excited to get some corals and fish in the tank (budget dependent of course .)

I look forward to comments and suggestions.

[ReefBeforeGirls]

Others have mentioned, but I have to say it myself - Rock work looks great!! - I see so many spots for SPS.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Also I can't help but notice your hydrometer. Have you considered investing in a refractometer? In the past, I've had issues with relying solely on a hydrometer.

[clydog]

did you run full lights while cycling? is that pukani rock? if it is pukani did you cook it to get the phosphates out.....also what photoperiod do you run now

[tredreef]

Thanks for the compliment, yes SPS was a huge factor in my rock work. I planned and imagined what I would want for a long time before starting the rock work. Even after I received to rock, I think I spend an hour just looking at the 3 base rocks to decide how I wanted them to be placed.

The dimensions of the tank at 48x18x32 roughly 105 gallons. with a 40 gallon long sump.

Regarding the hydrometer (hurts to say) yes I know they are not the most accurate, although I fond mine is within .001 from what a goon refractometer reads. This said I do have a refractometer coming, I just cant trust the hydrometer for ever.

thanks again.

[tredreef]

Originally Posted by clydog

did you run full lights while cycling? is that pukani rock? if it is pukani did you cook it to get the phosphates out.....also what photoperiod do you run now

No, Yes, No, 10 & 8. HA HA. Did this answer your questions??

No I did not run full light cycles during the cycle. I began running the halides (other than for pictures) about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks into the cycle.

Yes it is Pukani rock, and some Reef Saver, and some Real Reef for a seed.

No I did not "cook" the rock which is most likely why I have so much green algae (from the phosphates,) BUT, my bio pellet reactor has kicked into gear with the THRIVE bio media, and the phosphates and nitrates have QUICKLY come down.

My photo-period has been as of recent 10 hours actinic, and 8 hours halides. Although recently I did have a heat issue with some early summer weather and I did not yet have my chiller, so the halides went off for a while. But now I have a chiller and I will be back to a normal Photo-period.

My questions to you; how do you"cook" the phosphates out of rock??

[tredreef]

I have little white critters on my glass. COOOOOLLLL.

Im getting excited now that the cycle i over and done.

My perameters are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 1ppm nitrate.

My PH and Salinity were a bit low, 7.5 and 1.019 respectively, so I added some of the SALINITY brand salt. That has buffered my PH up to 8.1 so I am comfortable that I could bring the fish from my other tank over this weekend.

Also my phosphates were at about 18ppm and my alkalinity is at about 7dKH which is low.

I will be getting some additional test kits this weekend hopefully, and they are;
- Potassium
- Calcium
- Refractometer (MAYBE)

The funds are a big factor here.

[tredreef]

Hello everybody.

It has been a little while since my last post so I though I would update you on the tank.

So the latest on the tank;
I have transfered most of my live stock from my modded biocube 29. This consists of a Rusty Angel, two purple fire fish, and one maroon clown (female). Also I picked up a Yellow Tang for algae control.




Also I had a few pieces of coral, a frogspawn with about 6 heads, a white tipped torch coral, a pink bubble coral, a few red mushrooms, and some zooanthids. I also picked up from one of the local shops a ORA green birds nest. It is already showing signs of growth. I have it placed about middle of the tank, should it be up higher? 250W Halides.



- This is shortly after adding, so it is a little miffed.


Everything had acclimated nicely and then the other day randomly both of my fire fish died, I think it was from being picked on by the angle, but I'm not sure.

I am having a brown diatom issue that does not seem to be getting better, but not worse. I do think this could have been from a bacteria bloom due to the bio-pellet reactor coming to life, and having the effluent feeding to heavily.


- This is from about a week of medium dry skimming.

- And a clean refugium waiting for some mangroves and macro-algae

I also had to add a chiller to the mix due to some early summer like weather.

[FriedaTakaha]

I have spent so much time looking online and learning from videos.

[MaxxedMan]

Holy resolution, Batman!

[tredreef]

Originally Posted by MaxxedMan

Holy resolution, Batman!

Yeah I'm not sure why the images have posted so large.

[tredreef]

So it has been more than a year since I started this tank. I have loved and hated every minute of it. I have had many ups and downs with the system, most notably was a massive crash at the beginning of 2013. The tank was really starting to look like something to admire when it had a massive hydrogen sulfide introduction from my biopellet reactor pump going out. when this happened the pellets stopped tumbling, but my effluent line kept running, so as the hydrogen sulfide built up, it was taken straight into my tank for all havoc to be done.

So now it is roughly nine months later and I have taken a little update video. Mostly the video was for my Rose Bubble tipped anemone, but I show a little of the rest of the tank too, with a FTS in there too.

Here is the link to my YouTube page, I don't know how to post the video directly to the thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDsrnkVxCic

[tredreef]