Geezer's Reasonable Reef Build

[reefgeezer]

I finally got started on my new build. The old (and I mean old) 75 was just too ugly due to the abuse I'd given it over the years. My new tank isn't much bigger, about 90 gallons, but it sure looks a lot better. Here's the new set-up.

[reefgeezer]

The first post was a test my memory of how to post pictures. As you can tell, my photography skills are sketchy at best. I'll try to get some better photos before posting any more.

In the meantime, here's the plan.

The tank is an 88 Gallon DFW Reef Ready. It doesn't have starfire glass or fancy hidden overflows, but its price was "reasonable" and it seems pretty well built. It is on a DFW black oak stand and added a matching 12" canopy to house the lights.

The center overflow box has DIY dual 1.25" Durso style drains. The flow through them is low, 450-475 gph, so noise isn't an issue. A single return line is positioned in the center of the overflow box.

A DIY 16" X 24" acrylic sump with a simple skimmer & return bay sits inside the stand. It houses an old 6" ID Reef Octopus recirculating skimmer, a NW150 or something like that, and its Sicce supply pump, a Sicce return pump, and ATO controls. There's room for a GFO reactor and its supply pump when needed. The ATO is gravity fed from a 35 gallon Brute. It is solenoid and float switch controlled with a float valve back-up.

Current inside the tank is handled by two Jebao RW8's and an old MP40 that you can see in my picture. I don't know how much flow I'll need, but these should suffice for quite a while.

Lighting for now is two RapidLED Onyx dimmable fixtures, totaling 56 3w LEDs, that are mounted about 10" above the surface. I don't see a need to dim or modify their color at this point so I haven't added any dimming controls yet. I do plan on adding some T5 fixtures eventually to reduce shadowing.

As you can see, the tank is bare bottom. ~60 lbs. of dry Fiji Rock that has been power washed, bleached, acid bathed, and rinsed are stacked in the tank. A few fiberglass rods and some epoxy putty stabilize them. I have 35pt ASW in the tank and am monitoring phosphates. Yea, I know, I should have done this outside the tank, but I didn't have space. I'll have to make do.

A LitremeterIII and two remote dosing pumps will eventually provide two-part and some Balling method trace elements. They aren't needed for now, but I have them when needed. I have a BRS dosing pump & timer to provide a carbon source when needed.

I don't plan on using lighted or dark refugiums, DSBs, ATSs, or other nutrient control methods other than carbon dosing and GFO... and some water changes.

Now it's time to be patient. That part sucks! I'm hoping posting more pictures with long explanations and making everyone comment might help pass the time!

[reefgeezer]

Man... the patience part sucks. It's worse when a failed short cut makes you have to wait even longer. To keep the story short, I ended up having to take all the rock out of the tank for treatment with Lanthanum Chloride. I've spent the better part of 4 months depleting the phosphates bound in the rock and cycling the tank. Not that it should have taken that long. I worked on it in spurts once fishing weather arrived.

It's all good now though. I have a tank that is well cycled; runs very low in phosphates (~.05 ppm) without any GFO or anything else; and is home to one very well QT'd Blue Chromis and a few Red-legged Hermit Crabs.

I think the rock formation looks better than they did the first time around. Good thing too... I was getting tired of messing with that rock!

[kmbyrnes]

Hang in there, it'll be worth it in the end.

[sirreal63]

Starting over is always a new adventure. :-)

[reefgeezer]

So fishing season is coming to an end. I've had some time to evaluate my progress on the tank.

To keep it short, once I finally conquered my phosphate issue, I cycle the tank with ammonium chloride and added a few fish: a Cole Tang; a Blue Damsel; A couple of Tuxedo Chromis; and a Canary Blenny.

Here's a picture of the current set-up.

[reefgeezer]

The tank is running pretty well. I have no issues with phosphates. I run about 1/8 cup of High Capacity GFO in a small reactor with <100 GPH going through it, but the last time I changed it was 2 months ago and phosphates are staying around .04 ppm. Nitrates have also bottomed out. They show 0 ppm per a new Salifert kit. I do have a little hint of green turf algae showing up on the rocks that keeps the Cole Tang fat & happy, and a very slight bacterial bloom that keep the water slightly cloudy. I think that might account for some of the nitrate reduction.

I don't have anything consuming alk or calcium, not even coralline since I started the tank with acid bathed rock, so those levels are remaining stable. If I never have any coralline I'd be happy! I have the rock stacked & secured with epoxy to make a lot of surfaces to accept corals. My first coral, a cheap Zoa Colony) was placed in the tank a week ago. It's doing fine. The plan is to have Zoa's, Blasto's, and a bunch of SPS in the tank.

Here's a closer picture of the rocks... kinda old school, but I like it.

[reefgeezer]

Oh... I forgot. I also had to put a couple of Clowns in for the Grandkids!

[reefgeezer]

I added a Flame Hawk to the group but lost my Canary Blenny. I just couldn't get him to eat. Nothing much else has changed.

Phosphate & Nitrate remain almost undetectable but I still have issues with sheet algae on the glass and rock. I also think my cloudiness problem is a persistent algae bloom rather than bacteria. I think the algae issues are likely hiding nutrients from my tests. I've been a little lazy on my water changes. Looks like it's time.

I know the tank is new and algae is to be expected, but I think I'll add a little vinegar. Maybe I can encourage some bacteria to out complete the algae for nutrients.

[Fiver]

Nice, clean tank!

[reefgeezer]

Originally Posted by Fiver

Nice, clean tank!

Thanks. It's pretty new though. The current in the tank keeps detritus from collecting on the bottom and there's no coralline growing so it stays pretty clean. The little bit of green sheet algae that is growing on the rocks doesn't show up when the lights are on so it's not quite as clean as it looks in the picture.

[reefgeezer]

I started manually dosing a little vinegar to help clear the water and possibly fight the light but persistent sheet/turf algae problem I'm having. Just a week of dosing a very small amount has been enough to clear the water.

Set up my Litremeter III to deliver vinegar to the sump and prepared 25 gallons of ASW for a water change tonight. I'm hoping I can stem the algae in short order. Yea... yea... It's a phase... but I hate algae! I also added some more Red-Legged Hermits to clean-up in & around the rocks.

I'm adding easy corals now. I dipped a few Zoa & Monti frags without killing them (yeah!) and added them to the tank to make sure the system is ready. They are doing fine. Now I need some Zoa and Monti frag packs to populate the lower reaches on the rocks! Time to check the sale forum.

[reefgeezer]

I set up my Litremeter to deliver a daily 200mL dose of a kalkwasser & vinegar solution. In round numbers, the solution is 3500 ml Kalkwasser to 250ml of vinegar. The daily dose delivers about 14 ml of vinegar per day if my math is right.

The solution was a requirement because my Litremeter won't deliver less than 50 ml per day. I'll may break out the old BRS dosing pump and a digital timer if I decide to carbon dose on a permanent basis. That'll leave all three Litremeter channels for two-part + trace elements dosing to come later.

I wonder if there is some chemistry I'm missing though that reduces the carbon content in the solution. Anybody have an opinion?

Everything looks good so far. No bacterial blooms or pH spikes. The test corals & fish look good. The Urchin I put in a couple of weeks ago is even starting to get active. After about 2 weeks of dosing, I can't see any reduction in the green algae, but the water is clearer and it doesn't appear that the algae is spreading. That's a start I guess.

[reefgeezer]

I've tested sporadically throughout this build but never did a battery of tests. I did one today...

Phosphate: .03 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Calcium: 470 ppm
Magnesium: 1450 ppm
Alk: 7.0 dKh

The system is a little too low in nutrients and the Alk is a little low for my liking. Everything looks good though. The Monti Cap I put in hasn't changed. Color remains good and the white growth ring seems to be stable. The Zoa colonies I added are doing ok. They are opening but aren't huge & spreading yet.

Here's some pics from today.

[reefgeezer]

Thought I'd document the state of my filtration and management system.
Nothing has changed from the original set-up except for the addition of the Litremeter for dosing kalk/vinegar. The reactor is also running now. I have about 1/2 cup of CAC and 1/8 cup of High Capacity GFO in the reactor.

I haven't tried to organize the sump area much but so it's kinda ugly, but here's a picture. Once I'm sure I like the system, I'll organize the cords & hoses.

[reefgeezer]

Crap! Right after posting the last picture the supply pump for my skimmer died. Quick trip to the LFS and a new 525 GPH DC pump is up & running. It's only money... right?

On the bright side, the new pump is dead quiet unlike the old one AND maybe the tank will run a little cooler. I even picked up a free Purple Monster Monti frag. It's a rescue so it's pretty ugly reddish-brown now. We'll see what happens.

[reefgeezer]

So, I replaced an old Mag 7 submersible pump with a 525 GPH DC submersible pump. I was hoping for a little drop in water temperature 'cause we all know mag pumps run warm. What I got was a surprise... the water temp has dropped 5 degrees F. I haven't made any other changes that would effect temperature.

If you are using Mag pumps and have temperature issues, it might be worth thinking about replacing them.

[sirreal63]

Completely true! I was able to remove my chiller a decade ago just by replacing Mag pumps with more energy efficient ones. Submerged watts add up quickly.

[reefgeezer]

It looks like I've got past the algae issue I started noticing over a month ago. Yea! At its peak, the fine green film-like algae coated the glass daily and clouded the water a little. It also covered the rocks with a fine green film that could only be seen in indirect light. Once the tank lights came on, it didn't show. The algae's only redeeming characteristic was that it was easy to wipe off of the glass. For a while I was wondering if I'd created a phytoplankton tank instead of a reef tank.

I dosed a small amount of vinegar, skimmed very wet, and used GFO in an attempt to slow the algae. I also wonder if the 5 degree drop in water temperature didn't help with this issue. I've already cut the vinegar dose in half. I'm going to evaluate how to proceed where carbon dosing and GFO are concerned based on nutrient testing over the next 30 days.

The corals I added are doing great. The Plating Monti is colored up well and growing like a weed already... well fast for an SPS anyway. The Zoas, while not as big as I'd like, are opening up and responding properly when fed. I don't think they care for the low nutrient levels and the bright light. The Zoas were aqua-cultured and transshipped form Vietnam. It might be that they need longer to adapt to aquarium conditions.

[reefgeezer]

Ran new bank of tests after a 10 gallon WC... no surprises...

Salinity:35 ppt
Phosphate: .07 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm (Salifert)
Calcium: 410 ppm
Magnesium: 1450 ppm
Alk: 8.0 dKh

The water has cleared and there aren't any algae issues the Cole Tang and the clean-up crew can't handle. The Zoas and the Monti Cap are doing great. The Monti is growing fast enough that I believe I can see change on a daily basis!

I've dropped the kalk/vinegar solution dosing to 100 ml per day. That's only about 7ml of vinegar per day. I'm not sure it's really needed, but it 's not hurting anything. Interestingly, even dosing 93 m/day of kalk (2 tsp/gal) I saw a ~60 ppm drop in calcium over 30 days.

I have made one troubling observation... My Cole Tang, while appearing otherwise healthy and eating like a pig, has started to lose color on his face. It doesn't really look line "Hole-in-the Head", it just looks like he's scraping the color off of his face. He does swim very quickly in and around the rocks and I suppose he could be crashing into them, but I really don't know what's going on. Nothing to do I guess but watch & see what happens. Does anyone have any ideas?

[reefgeezer]

The Plating Monti I started as a test piece is growing rapidly and has pretty good color. After moving them into weaker lighting, the Zoas are now appearing pretty happy. I have a some SPS frags set for delivery as soon as the weather breaks so I've been doing some testing and changing some things.

I have removed the GAC and filter socks from the system and did a 20 gallon water change in an effort to stem the Hole-in-the-Head symptoms being displayed by my Cole Tang. Thanks to the crew here at RC for helping me figure out what was going on. I've also started feeding Algae flakes soaked in Selcon. Damn Tang won't eat sheet algae even when I cut it up and soak it in Selcon, so I have to go with the flakes. I can't say it's helping, but it appears that it hasn't gotten any worse in the past two weeks.

I have reduced the Vinegar & Kalk dosing to 50 ml per day and am feeding heavily. Still, I have 0 nitrate and am seeing some phosphate rise slowly even with GFO. It's still low enough (.006 ppm max) but the trend is rising. Additionally, Alk is dropping an average of .2 dKh per day & calcium is falling slightly with the minor Kalk dosing.

I have a plan...

1. Dose potassium nitrate (stump killer) to increase then maintain nitrate at ~5 ppm. I hope this will allow the carbon dosing process to use a little more phosphate and provide enough nitrate to keep the corals happy.

2. Get rid of my Green Brute ATO storage vessel. Yea... I know... Dumb.
I mixed some ASW with water from this vessel and it showed about .008 ppm phosphate. I also mixed some ASW with fresh RODI water as a control. It showed basically 0 ppm (3ppb on my Hanna). The RODI water had only been in the storage container for a week. It holds about a month's worth of top off water, so the phosphate input could be a bigger issue over time. I've had this vessel for years! I've already bought a gray Brute to replace it.

3. Increase the concentration of Kalk in the vinegar & kalk solution so I can get a little more alk & calcium without adding more vinegar. There is a lot of vinegar in the solution so I can increase the kalk quite a bit.

[reefgeezer]

Got the potassium solution mixed. 100 grams of Spectracide Stump Killer in 500 ml of RODI water. Added 12 ml of the solution to the DT. Nitrate tested 2.5 to 5 ppm one hour later. We'll see how it goes.

[reefgeezer]

Tests Tonight
Phos .05 ppm... Go figure... Dropped a little bit but could just be testing noise.
Nitrate 2.5 - 5 ppm
Alk 9.9

[reefgeezer]

Tests & Observations Last Night

Frags coming today so I though testing might be a good idea.

Nitrate ~2.5 ppm
The color is much closer to the 2.5 than the 5 ppm color of the Salifert test kit. Same goes when looking through the side of the vial and comparing it to the 25 & 50 ppm colors. That tells me nitrates have dropped some from where I originally established them... without carbon dosing.

Phosphate <.01 ppm
I'm seeing some variability in my Hana ULR's results. I think the test vials might be getting scratched or hazy. I did three tests. Two were in the 2 & 3 ppb range but the first one was 97 ppb. This has happened the last couple of times I've tested. Doing three tests to come up with a reading I have confidence in sucks!

Alk 8.8 dKh

I'm not carbon dosing or adding any calcium/alk supplements right now. Nitrate & phosphates seem to be holding steady without carbon dosing and I want to get alk down to around 8.

I have noticed a slight increase in algae on the glass and a very slight green haze on the white rocks since increasing the nitrate levels. I imagine that where my nitrates/phosphate have gone. Right now, I'm not even running GFO.

Ca & Mg ok also

I finally got the Tang to eat some algae flakes. Soaking until absolutely soft in water & Selcon was required. He won't eat it if I just soak in Selcon. The Hole in the Head doesn't seem to be getting worse since I removed the GAC. Hopefully, I can get him to eat more algae and help him improve.

Oh yea... I had a minor disaster. While returning my skimmer back to the sump after cleaning, I bumped the side and partially broke a seam in the sump. It's a DIY sump and I obviously had not bonded that seam well. Long story short, I lost a couple of gallons of water that I soaked up quickly with a crap load of towels. Now I have a clean, repaired, and improved sump. I added a lip at the corners to ensure they wouldn't separate in the future. The tank ran without the sump for about 36 hours with no ill effects except a 3 degree temperature drop. I guess it was better that I broke it rather than have the seam break while I wasn't home.

[Reef noob_]

More pics please!


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