The Return of Hans - A 150 Gallon SCA Mixed Reef Build

[hhaase]

Heaters and heater controller arrived. Plus a couple filter socks.

Nothing of consequence today at all, nope nope nope

[hhaase]

So, yeah, I saved the money on the wave pump in order to free up a few bucks and make the Profilux 4 happen. At the moment I'm mainly using it to monitor the included probes (Ph, Temp, Conductivity, RedOx), plus control the temperature. Next step is going to be sorting out some kind of stand for all of the electronics and getting them off the plywood base inside the stand.
I plan on adding a lot to it over time but I want to get used to the environment first before expanding into more critical elements. That and make I have a stable installation, I don't want to introduce un-necessary risk into the equation. Assuming things go well I'd like to eventually add the full gamut with Ion and Kh directors, Dosing pumps, and so forth. Baby steps though.

I also 3D printed a stand for the skimmer, added a pair of 200 watt heaters, and basically I can declare the filtration up and running at this point. I don't care for the NanoSea media reactor. The O-ring groove is in the lid, which makes it near impossible to get it lined up when closing the lid. I ended up gluing the o-ring to the lid just to get it to stay in place. I'll likely replace it at some point, but biopellets don't involve opening the reactor very often, so it'll be fine for quite some time really. Still a LOT of cleanup and tweaking to do under the cabinet but from a functional standpoint I've got everything running where I need it right now. Dosing containers can come later, as can the GFO.

Another thing I did was add another sheet of plywood across the entire back of the lower cabinet, and bolted it to all 4 off the uprights. I was worried about the lack of gussets on the stand, and wanted something to prevent it from flopping sideways. My own silly fault for forgetting them in the original drawing. All better now, and it gives me more mounting options.

All the numbers are stable, and within acceptable ranges for the basics. I haven't started monitoring calc, alk, and mag yet.

[hhaase]

Another big step from this weekend is that I finished up retrofitting the 2nd set of lights with the new royal blue's. Looks pretty good I think, not that I'm able to get an accurate picture of the tank. My camera does NOT do well with the brightness, and I've got to perhaps go with a tripod and HDR. Maybe a bit too blueish/white for my taste but I know these lights can grow corals from my past experience with this set. Plenty of height and PAR options in the tank for high, mid, and low light inverts.

The filter sock also did a stellar job clearing up the cloudiness within just a day. Flow looks great from the Jebao pump. No measurable ammonia or nitrites despite 2x daily feedings.

[hhaase]

I know it's early to introduce any livestock with only 2 weeks since I started the cycle, but the daily numbers have been pretty consistently good with very low ammonia and no measurable nitrites, so this Pocillopora Damicornis frag followed me home today. A cheap impulse buy, to be honest. I also haven't started testing Ca,Alk,Mag yet, so I'll get started on that pretty quick.

At least for the short term I'm going to Kalk drip my daily top-off. I felt my PH was a touch lower than I'd like, and even though it's just one frag I do have to worry about calcium consumption. Particularly once the coraline starts to kick off.

Took me forever to get a good photo of this sucker, but finally found settings that worked.

[hhaase]

I'm seeing about 1 gallon per day of evaporation right now, but it's also fairly humid too. Come winter I know that will ramp up considerably. I know I'll need to sort out my ATO situation at some point.

Originally I had planned on picking up at Tunze Osmolator, but now that I have the Profilux I'm thinking the existing computer could handle things. Unless there's a system to tie the Osmolator into the Profilux? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

[hhaase]

Happy to report that one week later that Damicornis is looking pretty happy. Polyps are extending nicely, no signs of stress or hitchhikers. I added a chunk of Monti Cap as well and for some reason grabbed a small capnella too. Hopefully that capnella doesn't get too crazy on me. I'll try and get some pictures of them posted tomorrow. Really finding it hard to get good photos of these things with the rock still so bleached white in color. Really screwing with the camera exposure.

[hhaase]

I'm already annoyed with daily water top-off's, so I ordered the stuff I need for integrating an ATO into the system. I really like the concept of the Avast Marine ATO controller, so I ordered one of them and an aqualifter pump. I'll have to put a reservoir near the tank temporarily but I have plans for later to use my bigger remote tanks.

-Hans

[hhaase]

Good weekend for the tank. First pair of fish went in yesterday. Percula clown and a firefish goby. The goby is proving devious to get a photo of, but the clown found a spot he likes that's pretty photogenic. I like the brighter orange and more traditional Percula coloring to any of the current clowns du jour with the extensive white areas. He's eating regularly and showing no signs of stress. The goby is equally looking well 24 hours after being introduced. Tougher to get food to the Goby but it does look like he's picking pellets off the sand, and he does eat when he can see the food floating down.... assuming I didn't spook him into a hole. I'm probably going to have to find something that will pick the leftovers off the sand pretty soon if I don't want problems to develop. Maybe a serpent star? Always liked those and had good luck with one in my previous tank.


Only photo for today is the clown, I'll try and get some later tonight after the tank lights are off. Still having trouble reliably getting good photos.

[hhaase]

Noticing the Monti is looking a bit bleached around the edges. I had been dosing kalk for a bit, but cut that off when my calcium tests were through the roof. Unfortunately I am left with being alkalinity deficient in the tank. Only 9 dkh at the moment, and Ph is just a hair lower than I'd like as well. So I started dosing the alkalinity part of the 2-part as of today. I'm sure it will take me a while to dial in the dosing. Starting with 1 cup of baking soda per gallon of water in the mixture, 15ml of mixture twice a day. The monti frag was also big enough that I split it in two. One piece went higher in the tank, the other went lower, to try and find what it wants for lighting.

ATO is also running with a temporary setup. The Avast pressure style sensor is feeding water level info to the Profilux, and an aqualifter pump provides the water as needed. Until I get confident in the system I'm only feeding water from a 5 gallon jug next to the sump. This way if things go haywire I don't have much risk. The only issues I'm having so far is running out of water in that jug. Assuming it keeps working well, I'll order a second powerbar to put in the water room, and connect the aqualifter to the lower tank. That will probably end up being my RO/DI tank since it's mounted lower and I don't have to worry about accidentally overfilling the sump due to a siphon.

[Dukeman]

Just read all your posts - very cool... great work and attention to detail.
Keep the updates coming - I am like you looking to start again after a long break from having a tank. Things have changed so much in the last 10years since my last 5ft tank.

I am starting small first with a small tank and ramping up. First buy is a Rob-tank control system - DIY kit. The small stand will be on the opposite wall to where my big tank will go.. similar dimensions to your tank. This will make the transfer easy in time.

[hhaase]

I'm trying to find a serpent star locally, with no luck. I'll keep looking and there are a couple places left to check.

Rock is starting to get some color to it, maybe, hard to tell. But there are a couple spots suggesting that coraline is starting to grow.

[hhaase]

Found that serpent star, and a cleaner shrimp, at a local shop. Cleaner shrimp was over-priced but the serpent was under-priced, so I'm ok with what they cost me as a pair. Acclimating them now with the dripper, photos tonight sometime.

I'm also going to tweak my lighting a bit more too, everything is just so washed out and pale, like it's being over-done. First step I think will be pulling the lens kit off these lights, I don't know if I need the dense focus that the lenses give. I'll also pull back a bit on the lighting time too I think. If those don't work I'm also going to look into changing up the lighting mix as well. At current it's an even mix of royal blue and white LED's. I'm sure things have changed a bit in the past few years on recommendations to get better color out of corals.

-Hans

[hhaase]

So far they seem pretty happy. The serpent star seems to have claimed the same hidey-hole as the firefin goby, so I'm a bit worried how that might play out.

[hhaase]

Removing the lens kits looks SOOOO much nicer, I'm glad I did it. The lighting is much more even and pleasant looking, plus removing the bright spots on the rock doesn't hurt my eye any longer. Hopefully the corals respond well to the change.

-Hans

[hhaase]

I'm tired of buckets for water changes. So I've started to order parts to semi-automate the system. I also want to start using my larger water tank for ATO, instead of a 5 gallon can that I have to drag around to fill every three days.

The biggest piece for that is another powerbar for the Profilux, so I can mount it in my water room. This way I can control the ATO pump over there. It'll also give me some additional expansion room in the water room for other stuff as well.

I've also got a pair of Hygger ATO pumps on the way. I know they're not a high-end brand, but they're set up like sump pumps in that they can draw water down extremely low in the sump/change tanks to maximize my water change volume. I'll keep looking for a more reputable pump with a similar setup, but these will work for now. I'll use one to pump water out of the sump into the nearby sink, and another too pump the water from the mix tank to the sump. Eventually I'll tie these into the profilux but I do need to do some plumbing changes under the sink to make this happen. One step at a time.

I also need to swap which tank I'm using for which type of water. Currently the upper tank is the RO/DI tank, since I can just open a valve and water flows out through a hose. But I need to make the lower tank my RO/DI tank, to prevent it from siphoning into the sump. This means I also need yet another pump for pumping water OUT of that when I need to move it around. I'll still use the aqualifter for ATO purposes I think. I do have a Lifegard pump already for just that purpose, I just need to plumb it in. I'll start working on that today I think.

-Hans

[hhaase]

With the reduced lighting, photos are definitely easier. Turn off the blue's, and I can get some decent photos. These are just quick IPhone snaps to show the current condition of a few things. The corals are slowly gaining some color since I removed the lens kits, but still pretty pale looking. Going back to the original photos of the Damicornis, it's still got a long way to go.

The good news is the Monti, Damicornis, and Kenya Tree are all giving me very good polyp extension, and I do see signs of growth on both of the SPS. So I really needed these photos more to keep a record of their color and size, so that I have a reference point in a few weeks to see how they are doing. It is nice to see the Monti encrusting around an area that I broke off a frag. Time will tell on these.

Also, my serpent star finally came out after a few days of hiding, and I got a good snap of him for the first time. The cleaner shrimp has found a nice spot too that's easy for me to see, and he's acting nice and happy too, but I didn't grab a photo of him today. Makes me happy that I haven't lost a single frag, fish, or invert on this tank yet.

[hhaase]

A little Favia followed me home today, we'll see how the colors look in a week or two. I also grabbed a nice picture of that happy little shrimp. Some nice dark purple coraline on the frag plug of the favia, hopefully it'll start spreading soon.

I also did some research and figured out my Pocillopora Damicornis is likely a Pocillopora Acuta, due to the dark rings around the individual polyps. A bit weird to have it mis-identified in the store as it was an ORA frag. I hope the colors keep coming back the way they have the past few days.

Today was a water-room day as well. I've got the upper tank now functioning as a salt mix tank, and the lower tank is now my RO/DI tank, with pump. It's not tied into the tank at all yet, but I am getting a lot of the background work done in anticipation of that. At least I now have hoses on my RO and Salt water tanks too, which makes it easier to fill the tanks/jugs.

[hhaase]

I wanted to grab some photos today to judge growth. It's only been a couple weeks so I didn't expect to see much. But the Favia and Montipora are definitely growing. Unfortunately, the photos were terrible again, so not worth showing.

The Favia is actually starting to 'turn the corner' in a few places to start growing down the side of the frag plug, were previously there was room all the way around it on the top of the plug. Color also is pretty much right where it was, it hasn't bleached out at all, so I'm guessing it enjoys the conditions.

The montipora doesn't seem to have gained any color, but it is definitely growing as well. This is good considering it still hasn't gained back any color. Hopefully it'll start darkening up again soon too. It's my first Monti, so I'm not sure what to expect in its growth patterns.

-Hans

[hhaase]

A bit of long term water testing results.

My dKH is staying pretty much right at 8.5 with the current dosing schedule, which is a good sign. Calcium is really not being consumed at all yet, the last couple of tests came out at 460ppm. So it's down from that 520+ peak that I saw a while back while I was dosing Kalk but seems stable now. With the low stocking of stony corals and no coraline growth yet I'm not surprised. I still have no need yet for calcium dosing.

But I just can't get the Ph levels to rise above 7.8 at all. I'm probably not going to chase it though, since it's extremely stable. When my dosing tank runs empty though I may try converting my baking soda into soda ash instead. Might be the better choice for this tank.

I also added a sarcopyhton about two weeks ago, and I have a feeling it's going to be a strong grower. I'm going to try later today to get some new photos and a whole tank shot. But in general the livestock all appear to be doing well. I'll continue the trend of slowly adding livestock and have a few other thing I'm looking for at the local shops.

-Hans

[hhaase]

Happy little toadstool. May not seem like much, but it's grown a pretty good amount in just a few weeks. Pretty surprising for a $20 Petco purchase.

[hhaase]

I finally hard-plumbed the sump to my change water tank and to the house drain. so water changes are now just a case of plugging and unplugging pumps. I'll have the Profilux control it all in the future but I want to make sure a few things are taken care of first, mainly getting a good functional siphon break between the change tank and the sump. Now I can easily do 15 gallon changes without having to lift a bucket, assuming I have the change water ready of course.

The only oddity right now is that if I shut the main pumps off, it really takes a lot of time for the overflow to find a working level. I'm assuming the drains are all slimed up now so flow rates are different than when I first set things up.

I picked up a second power bar for the profilux as well. This one will mount in the water room to control the feed pump for water changes, and the ATO pump from the bigger tank. I haven't hooked it up yet though, I need to get a longer network cable to reach it.

-Hans

[ausndani]

Any updates?

[Axel33]

Originally Posted by hhaase

Happy little toadstool. May not seem like much, but it's grown a pretty good amount in just a few weeks. Pretty surprising for a $20 Petco purchase.

Is it a brown toadstool?

[hhaase]

Originally Posted by Axel33

Is it a brown toadstool?

Yep, your bog-standard toadstool mushroom but with really long polyps it seems. Pretty much doubled in size since I put it in the tank.

More updates to come, been busy over here the past few weeks with a lot of things.

-Hans

[hhaase]

I'm still struggling with pale colors on my montipora. It's an extremely pale pink, almost white, but obviously growing and with good polyp extension. The Damicornis did get some color back, and the favia really hasn't changed at all since I put it in. I need to track down the cause and address accordingly. But I don't want to change things without confirming the cause.

I'm suspecting low nutrients, for many reasons. One is the pale color I mentioned, along with near zero growth on my kenya tree. Though that piece does seem healthy. I also have no coraline growth yet, and really haven't had any kind of algae in the tank to be honest. I'd have expected to see something at this point, but I only have very little bits of brown snot so far. That and my skimmer really isn't pulling anything either. So it's time to start routinely testing nitrates and phosphates, which I've been lazy about. I've really only been checking the alkalinity and calcium, occasionally magnesium.

I had been using Instant Ocean, and had it on subscription via Amazon, but for some reason it hasn't been available in the 50lb bags, so I'm going to switch to reef crystals. This should, in theory, have more trace elements and vitamins in it.

There are some other options I am considering as well. One is dialing back the lighting period, which I think I'll do either way. I'll cut about 30 minutes off to see how that works.

Another thought is the biopellets. I know they can be overly effective and I don't have much of a bio-load in the tank. So they might just be over-consuming nutrients on me. So I may pull some out of the reactor. Have to be careful adjusting biopellets though as it can cause a big shock to the tank if you add/remove too much at a time.

-Hans