Elos 120 Build

[Jordania89]

So I picked up a beautiful Kole Tang yesterday. I know I really shouldn't be dumping fish straight into the dt. I live in a small apartment and haven't got a quarantine going yet, so much money has been going into the main tank. But I will set one up very soon to avoid gambles like these.

I would take photos of him but he's hiding in the rockwork. Did some research and apparently kole's are quite shy for the first couple weeks. Gonna go to the store tomorrow and pick up some brine and algae sheets.

[Jordania89]

So tank is doing great so far! The carbon and gfo has really taken care of all the algae, none to be seen. The handful Of caulerpra algae I bought last week has easily doubled in size. Really happy with the kessil lamp so far.

Really love my omega skimmer, its pretty silent, no microbubbles, and produces a steady stream of gunk. It fits nicely in my sump's first compartment.

Picked up a few fish:
1) A red sea desjardini sailfin tank. Its a juvenile, and has a beautiful yellow/orange coloration, and cute orange lips like a blonde naso. If I take good care of him he should grow into a beauty.
2) (already mentioned) A nice fat kole tang. He was pretty shy in the store, cowering in a clay pot. But caught my eye because he was in such a healthy condition. Hes around 5", nice a fat, with amazing color. I never thought of buying a kole, but he was striking so he had to come with me. I can already tell hes gonna be the big man in the tank, already makes the sailfin know who's boss. Though is is still very shy and enjoys his cave but slowly coming out more and enjoying the tank.
3) 4 Blue Green Chromis, which I have added singularly since three weeks ago. Doing well though.

They are all eating, the chromis eat absolutely anything. The desjardini only takes to live brine shrimp, and starting to get a little interested in red algae sheets. The kole really only snacks on the rocks. I'm a little alarmed, and will being going to the lfs tomorrow to pick up a combination of foods. frozen, pellet, liquid.


Will post pictures soon when I get my dosing system going.

[Jordania89]

So I bought a few sps frags yesterday. And with this momentous occasion I setup my dosing equipment! My alkalinity and calcium was only a little low, so I have started dosing 40ml per day of ESV B-Ionic alk and calcium.
Doser Setup.jpg

Im dosing alk from 7pm to 5am in 9 doses and dosing calc from 9am to 4pm in 9 doses. If my pH rises above 8.30, my alk dosing stops. And there is a four hour gap between alk and calc dosing to ensure no precipitation. In a couple days i'm going to see where my levels stand and adjust where necessary.

Here's a photo of the refugiums progress also:
Refugium.jpg

[Jordania89]

Loads of posts this past week, so much has been happening. So basically, since I setup the web interface for my apex controller the browser has been showing information incorrectly, or doesn't show it at all.

I was eager to get my wxm module going, so I called neptune systems. First off, great bloody customer service, I guess you get what you are paying for. Neptune, connected to my laptop virtually using teamviewer and began to troubleshoot and debug my controller. And after an hour long ordeal, we got everything running smoothly.
I don't know what the real cause of the problem was, but it definitely was a communication problem with my interface and modules. There was some debugging, re installing firmware, and updating flash so everything was aligned and running smoothly. The guy helping me was patient enough to walk me through a few things. I'm a tech savvy guy, but nothing beats someone literally moving your mouse and showing you where things are. Go neptune!
So everything is just peachy. I have my master vortech on the current schedule:

If Time 08:00 to 10:00 Then Lagoon
If Time 10:00 to 12:30 Then ReefCres
If Time 12:30 to 15:00 Then Tidal_Sw
If Time 15:00 to 17:30 Then NutTrans
If Time 17:30 to 18:45 Then Tidal_Sw
If Time 18:45 to 20:00 Then ReefCres
If Time 20:00 to 03:00 Then Lagoon
If Time 03:00 to 05:00 Then Constant
If Time 05:00 to 06:00 Then Slow
If Time 06:00 to 08:00 Then Pulse

My slave mp40 is running antisync until 18:45, then goes sync until 6:00am where it returns to antisync. I'm going to see how my fish and corals react to the changing flows. But its a nice feature. I'm looking forward to the day when I can connect my radions also (hint hint neptune).

I'm also experiencing a higher pH, its around 8.37 right at this moment. I know its due to the dosing I have begun, so i'm going to watch it closely. Any advice to keep it down?

[Jordania89]

Here's a couple pics I took on my phone:

20130418_192332.jpg
20130418_192411.jpg

[Bandomo]

Tank is coming along nicely. Whats your take on the Vertex Omega, lots of mixed reviews? Have you dialed yours in properly yet, from the pics it doesn't seem like its pulling much.

[Jordania89]

i'm happy with the omega so far. I let the skimmer cup get around 70% full and then give it a good clean. I do this every 3-4 days. I would say thats pretty good considering my current bioload is quite small, im running a refugium and carbon/gfo. So overall, I guess you could say theres room for improvement. But you would have to spend alot of extra $$ to get you higher performance I figure.

Skimmers Pros:
1) nice and quiet, good foam production.
2) absolutely no microbubbles
3) quality construction

Skimmer Cons:
1) I would like a finer air adjustment
2) maybe a little more skimmate (but still very happy with it)

I'll see how the skimmer holds up for the next year. If my corals are growing fine and dandy then I see no need to upgrade.

[chepa]

Hi J! I am new to RC very impressed with your build and am planning on doing an identical build
Can you please tell me the size of PVC you used for the drain
And return and what bulkhead sizes did you use? , specifically how did you
Plumb the bulk heads with the drain and return tubes?,
Thanks
Chepa

[Jordania89]

No problem Chepa, I had similar problems figuring out drain sizes etc. It was my first time doing hard plumbing; it's tricky at first but if you take your time and plan the system out then you will be fine. First off, your doing the right thing by researching and planning ahead. It will save you tons of time and heartache. First off, here's a few golden rules that I picked up.

1) Do not greatly reduce your drain size, keep it as big as possible (i.e. If you have a 1.5" drain, then use 1.25 or 1" or larger). This will help prevent backups and gurgling noise.
2) Use union fittings everywhere you can. This is crucial. It will allow you to make changes on your system in the future, do maintenence/cleaning, and dissemble the tank without breaking out a hacksaw
3) Frequently use ballvalves (some ballvalves have union fittings already attached which is handy. But they are expensive, I just used ones from homedepot). You will notice on my plumbing that I have ball valves on my drain and return. This allows me to adjust the flow in my tank perfectly, and dial in the flow so noise can be reduced. Note: never place a valve after a reactor, uv sterilizer, or chiller, as the back-pressure caused by the valve could damage your equipment.
4) Get hold of some PVC pipe cutters (hacksaw will take years, and make a mess). And pick up pvc primer & glue, and some teflon tape for threaded fittings.
5) Flow chart, flow chart, flow chart. Create a detailed flow chart with your whole system laid out. Its a good way to figure out all the fittings you need, and track inventory for the build.
6) Take a look at how plumbing fittings work, I asked a guy at Ace hardware and he walked me through everything and told me tips. You should do this b/c sometimes there are more elegant solutions to problems when you get a third opinion.

Now, to answer your questions. But a word of warning. Do not go out an buy all your pvc until your positive on your tank drain/return sizes (but if you're getting an elos 120 then your fine!).

A) Drain Size = 1.5" ----> reducer----> 1"PVC
B) Return = 3/4"
C) Bulkhead Sizes = Elos tanks come with preinstalled bulkheads. My return was a 3/4" threaded hole, and my drain was a 1.5" slip (no thread).
D) How did I plumb the bulkheads? Well basically the tank came with preassembled bulkheads. So all that I need to do was finding the correct fittings and plumb them in. I plumbed my drain first because it was the biggest and required a little fiddling.

In addition, my sump was unique because it had two drains, and a refugium drain. So I had to divert my drain flow to my refugium chamber & main drains. This took planning, but my thread covers some details.

I tryed to keep my build thread detailed as possible but If you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask! If your in the Miami area I could always help!

[Jordania89]

Oh last thing chepa, I just wanna double check my drain bulkhead in the morning for you. It may be 1.25", though im quite sure its 1.5" but I just want to be sure.

And if you're thinking about similar equipment, then go with a Teco chiller. Don't get an ecoplus like me. I saved $200 bucks going for a cheaper chiller and already thinking about getting a teco instead. My ecoplus is a little loud when it comes on, and sometimes makes a loud thudding noise. Not to mention its a little unstable at keeping a accurate temperature. I think because its not soley designed for aquarium use and its not high quality...Though if you're putting your chiller in another room or just keeping soft coral then I wouldn't worry.

[chepa]

Thank You very much Jordania89
I am getting the exact tank Elos 120, will be in next month, I am transferring all the stuff from a 1 year old 60 gallon cube, so i am actually picking up the stand tomorrow and plan to do the majority of the plumbing before I get my tank,the new tank is going in the same spot as my old tank ,so unfortunately it is going to involve transferring and holding all tank contents for a day while I wet test the tank , I figured if I have the stand pre plumbed it would save me lot of time and unnecessary moving the stand and tank.
I used to live in the 305 ! Until 5 years ago,now I live in NJ(will not need a chiller)
Can't thank you enough for the info, it will allow me to get a head start on the plumbing

[Jordania89]

There have been a few developments:

1. The display and refugium had a red slime bacterial outbreak. I tried to not treat it and see if the tank would pull through. It didn't. And came at a price, it killed most of my caulerpra algae in the refugium and began to smother my zoas and brain coral. So I treated it using ultra reef products red slime remover, I did one dose, and pretty much killed all of it within 48 hours. My brain is struggling to recover. Zoas are back in action

2. Unfortunately I have been losing fish the last couple months. I bought 2 bengai cardinals, 1 of them mysteriously died overnight to find him on the intake grill of the mp40 in the morning (the other cardinal is doing great, nice and fat). My midas blenny jumped onto the carpet. And my most recent purchase - a pair of sunburst anthias, they entered the tank and went straight for the rocks. Didn't seem them until they were dead 3 days later.

The strange part is that my parameters are great, corals are showing good growth and other fish are healthy too. My theory for all this death could be two fold: my tank is rimless, i can't stop the jumpers, and more importantly, there is a lot of light entering the tank which spook the fish. this is not a tank for shy fish.

3. I have switched to a combination of different media filtration. In my left reactor I am using carbon/gfo and a zeolite blend. In my right reactor im using NPX bioplastics (I created a plastic screen with a dremel tool to increase tumble in the reactor). My caulerpra algae is nearly none existent, and has not been doing very well. This could be due to either low nutrients in the system, overly intense lighting, or some kind of bacteria/parasite preventing growth.
Bioplastics.jpg
Carbon-Zeolite Filtration.jpg

I'm waiting on my LFS to get hold of some chaetomorpha, when they get it in i'm going to grab a ton of it and stuff it in the refugium. Hopefully that will kick start some growth. I really want my refugium running as it provides a nice safety net for phosphate and nitrate spikes.

Here's some tank shots. I will post more in the next thread. Sorry for the photo quality, its really old digital camera. I'm investing in a new camera soon.

Full Tank Shot.jpg
Acros.jpg
DSCN3965.jpg

[Jordania89]

Here's a couple more pics, again, sorry for the quality.

Full Tank Shot - May 21, 2013
Full Tank Shot 2.jpg

A clean skimmer is a happy skimmer
Skimmer.jpg

Sailfin, golden torch, zoas, pulsing xenia, encrusting montis
Golden Torch and Sailfin.jpg

Deresa Clam
Derasa.jpg

Monti, pink/orange hammer, acro
DSCN3964.jpg

[Charley Diesing]

Nice looking tank, nice looking gear. subbed.

[chepa]

My tank is finally up and running ! The transfer did not go as planned, noticed the drain , had a very slow leak after adding saltwater( after 48 hours of wet testing) , the1.5 inch threaded male adapter leaked at insertion into the tank so I fitted the flexible elos tubing it came with into the drain section , not ideal since it makes an s shape curve , but it works ,doesn't raise the water level in the tank at all and is still silent,allows a little flexibility. All my old Rock /sand /water are from my old tank in along with additional dry rock so that I don't get much of a cycle , the fish are in another tank for now and will go back in a couple of weeks after I am sure I did not set off a mini cycle during the transfer , and the fish at this time would compound it , will be plumbing a mixing and water change station next week ,
Thanks and good luck!

[Jordania89]

I think it looks great. I really like your drain setup. I feel the flexible tubing will work just the same as pvc. The aquascape looks good so far too. keep me posted with the updates!

[Jordania89]

Here's a few tank shots I just took with my iPad.

photo (6).jpg

Tank Shot 1 - June 2.jpg

photo (1).jpg

photo (4).jpg

photo (5).jpg

got a few more sps frags today including a green pavona, red planet, pink lemonade, and a red digitata. Will keep the updates coming.

[Jordania89]

Here's a small update guys. hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=012QG4ZvHSw

[jbraslins]

Awesome. Your setup really turned out nice. Luv the aquascape. I am heading on a trip for a few weeks, and once I get back its gonna be time to fill my tank and finally start it. Yours continues to inspire.

[Dongil]

Beautiful tank!

[Jordania89]

thanks guys. I'm liking the progress on the tank thus far. I really like how the sandbed has naturally sloped due to the vortechs.

I'm having good growth on all corals except the purple milli (which is showing tissue necrosis) and the green staghorn acropora. I can't figure out why the milli is dying on me, i might move it to a different location, as it is getting quite blown around in its current spot. The staghorn has receded very slightly on the largest branch and growth has stalled, but still keeps its bright green color all the way to the base.

[Jordania89]

i know i haven't posted in a while but heres a short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg9KOdpJYE0

no new corals and everyone is doing great

[ojonas81]

Looks great. How is your Copperband behaving with the SPS? Always liked that fish but heard it may nip at SPS and that it alsy may be a finicky eater.

[Jordania89]

Yea the copperband is definitely the most finicky eater in my tank, since arriving in my tank hes lost a bit of weight and tough to get him gain it back. The problem is trying to teach him to eat out of the water column; hes always scouring the rocks and sandbed for food which is slim-pickings. Over the last few weeks he has started to take interest in the fish food, but so far he only goes for bloodworms.
I haven't had any problems with him with picking at my corals, he doesn't have the slightest interest which is good. I saw a video of a guy online feeding a delicounter clam tied to a rocks. Think I'm gonna give that a try!

[agent1923]

Looking good. I have a 120xl myslef which I purchased aroudn march this year but not much time unfortunately. Would have liked to document he build out here.