Finally Upgraded-Pics Included!!!

[Leviathan]

Thanks K9,

That is one of the things I am looking forward to most.

[Leviathan]

Hey everyone,

Thought I would give a small update, everything is going great with the new setup, I am very happy with how its all come together. I was having some problems with my sixline wrasse, who went on a rampage after the move. I tried to wait it out and give him some adjusting time, but he kept getting worse, so I ended up having to evict him. However when I took him up to the LFS to trade him in, I found a jewel! This has got to be the biggest most colorful Purple Firefish i have ever seen. It had been special ordered for a customer who at the last minute ( while I was in the store ) decided againt getting him. I would like to introduce my newest fish inhabitant, and hopefully long term resident.

[Leviathan]

I got a small frag order through Reefstuff.com

I ended up getting three:

Green Purple rim Monti cap.
Pink Stylophora pistillata
Pink/Red Porcillopora sp.

and they sent a FREE green Acro. bushyensis.

They have all acclimated well to the lighting and are starting to grow. Especially the pistillata and cap.

I wont post them all but wanted to share the pinks!

Stylophora:

[Leviathan]

And yes I went a bit crazy with the super glue on this one accidently. I had to take it off its plug to get it where I wanted, and squeezed the glue a bit to hard when attaching it.

Not to worry though, it has already begun to encrust over the glue at the base, this picture is from 2 days after I got the frags, as is the picture above.

[beaver]

great set up good job keep it up

[melev]

Nice clean shots!

[Leviathan]

Well.........

The mag12 just wasnt giving me the kind of flow that I was hoping for. I was going to add an additional magdrive of a smaller size to the sump and hard plumb another return over in the far right corner. However I believe that my drain will not be able to compensate for the extra flow, and I will be just asking for a flood.

I decided to go ahead and add 2-Maxijet1200's to the display.

Thankfully I was able to hide them behind the aquascape and up close to the overflow, so for the most part they are not very noticable.

Now with them installed, I have right at 16x's turnover of the total water volume ( sump included ) or 20x's turnover sump not included ( display volume only )and feel much better about the increased current throughout the system.

All in all I was not as dissapointed with having to have them in there as I had thought I would be.

[melev]

When hobbyists want to increase flow yet not affect the drain/sump setup, they install a closed loop. So if you end up not liking the MaxiJets in there, that is your next option.

[Leviathan]

I have considered that also Marc,

The MJ12's are strictly temporary for the time being as a semi quick fix.

They gave me the desired flow increase I was looking for, and will serve the purpose until I can construct a more permanant solution.

[Leviathan]

Well this morning was a un-welcomed suprise.

I got up to the most horrible sound coming from the living room ( where the tank is located ) and before I could even get my eyes fully adjusted I realized I had what i thought was a major problem.


For the last 2 weeks I have had a VERY sick puppy and have pretty much focused all of my attention on his health and care. With the exception of toping off and cleaning the glass I had neglected my normal equipment check ( understandably considering the gravity of my pups health )

Anyhow,
During this time, the 100 micron bag I use to counter micro bubbles ( which is installed on my drain ) became filled with gunk for lack of a more appropiate word. At some point in the night water stopped passing through it and the sump slowly started filling up the display past the point of capacity. Luckily I have it setup so that if this ever happens flooding is minimal. Id say about 2-3 gallons ended up on the floor. No equipment was damaged and there was just enough water in the bottom of the sump to not let the magdrive burn up.

SO!

I advise anyone using micron filter bags ( Make sure you keep an eye on them, and keep them clean!!!!! )

[srfndoc]

Just a heads up, I use the 100 micron bags but I leave the top of the bag open so if it becomes clogged it will just spill over in to the sump. That way I can be lazy and not have a flood on my hands.

Glad to hear it wasn't too bad, tank looks great by the way. Also, you may want to look at the SEIO pumps instead of the maxijets. They push a ton of water but with a very soft flow pattern and very low electrical usage.

-Todd

[Leviathan]

Todd,

Thanks for the advice, thats exactly what I did.

I am hoping that the Maxijets are temp. as I am going to incorporate another smaller magdrive into the loop at some point very soon.

[Tarasco1]

I like micron bags since they trap detritus, but I do get annoyed by having to maintain them. It seems like I'm always cleaning them out...

[srfndoc]

Originally posted by Tarasco1
I like micron bags since they trap detritus, but I do get annoyed by having to maintain them. It seems like I'm always cleaning them out...

Amen to that. It seems I'm constantly changing them out. If someone came up with another way to polish your water/trap detrius that required no maintenance and was cheap I would buy it in a second. I have three of them and rotate each week but it's still a pain.

[melev]

I don't use anything.

[guitarfish]

Leviathan,

Read through the whole thread, your 90 looks cool. I have the 75g version the the megaflow. It’s my first RR tank, so I can’t compare it to anything, but I really don’t like the overflow because it protrudes into the tank quite a bit and IMO uses a lot of space. You have 65lb of rock in a 90g (plus water in sump) – that’s a lot less than the 1-1.5lb people usually recommend. By comparison, I have 95lb in my 75. (Maybe that’s why I’m complaining about the lack of space). Anyway, what’s your rationale for less rock? I have all mine in there hoping to keep nitrates out (but they're always 5 or so).

I use a MAG 9.5, and have a MJ1200 on each side of the tank behind my rock, so I wasn’t surprised when you did the same.

Regarding the micron bags, I don't use anything. When I designed my system, I planned on using a filter sock, and something discouraged me, saying it would trap pods, plankton, and other beneficial stuff. So, I don't use anything like that, and surprisingly the tank is pristine, no detritus blowing around.

I do have a small amount of micro bubbles, but I can live with it. I have a baffle-less sump which is probably the main reason why.

Anyway, keep updating this thread, it's a good one.

[Leviathan]

guitarfish

My main reason for using the amount of rock in the display that I did, was 65 lbs was enough to put it plainly. The old rule of thumb that most use saying 1-2lbs per gallon really isnt accurate IMHO. It isnt the amount of weight that helps the filtration, its the amount of surface area on the rocks. Therefor if the rock you have is very porus you have to worry less about the total weight. I have never been one to fill my tanks all the way up with rocks. I just have never liked the appearence of it. To me 65 was a perfect amount with the mix of Kaelini & Carib. I used. I will at some point add probally about 15-20lbs more into the sump but at this point I am in no real big hurry.


Reguarding the micron bags, the ONLY reason I use one is the micro bubbles that my drain causes. I have three of them that ( usually with the above exception ) I change out every three to 5 days. It has the added benifit of stopping the slight gurgling sound the drain was causing, with it no bubbles at all and dead silent.

I at first was worried about the overflow,,,especially in this new AGA design, but to tell you the truth, after painting the back black it next to vanished and it really didnt impair my aquascape in the least. In fact I found it to be a usefull tool to help keep the rocks off the back glass as much as possible.


Chris

[guitarfish]

Thanks for the explanation. You did a nice job with your 90, I hope it continues to progress nicely.

[Leviathan]

Thanks for the compliment guitarfish

[Leviathan]

Well its been 2 months since my last update so figured I would share the current progress to date.

Not to much inhabitant wise has changed.
Currently my frag list consists of:

Green Monti dig
Purple Monti dig
Pink Monti cap
Purple rim/green Monti cap
Blue tip Acro
Green Acro
Blueish/green Pavona
Bright orange Monti dig
Pink Cat's Paw

A orange Fungia from my old 75 gallon
and my gold Squamosa ( also from my old system )

I have been trying to just let things get a foothold and begin to grow. One thing I have stuck to is patience in my stocking of this system. I decided not to long ago that with the exception of the Fungia, no other coral will be added that is not SPS.

I finally decided on what to do to add some more flow. After thinking on it long and hard I decided that the MJ1200's didnt look as bad as I had thought they did in the beginning. So today I added a third and put them all on a Natural Wave wavemaker, set on a 30 second pulse. I am VERY happy with the chaotic/increased flow that has been accomplised by this new hardware addition.

I will be taking some updated pictures in the next couple days and posting them.

As it is now, I will probally wait a few more weeks before my next frag order.

Anyhow thats how it stands to date, stay tuned for pics soon.

Chris

[mr294]

Looking forward to updated pics! I really like the way the aquascaping turned out.

[K9]

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for new pictures! Glad to see this thread got re-born . Sorry to hear about your sick puppy as well . I'm a dog person myself (if it isn't blatently obvious ) and always hate to hear about sick pups. Not to get off thread topic, but what breed is the pup?

[Leviathan]

Thanks for the responses.

K9 he was a 6 year old Chiuahah, that was determined to have congestive heart failur several months ago. He lost the battle with it and died in my arms a month ago on the 13th. I had had him since he was 5 weeks.

[K9]

Very sorry to hear about the loss . They sure are cute little buggers too. Unfortunately, CHF always has a poor prognosis for recovery. My mom lost her last cat to the same thing.

At least you still have that nice tank going to help keep your spirits up! Hang in there and focus your energy on the tank and it will help keep you happy (and busy!). Take care.

[Leviathan]

Thanks K9,

yes the tanks whats been keeping me both busy and sane since this happened.

Anyhow, pics to come!