1370 gallon propagation system

marcoss · Sep 22, 2015

I see. Thank you for writing back. That is such a massive project. I love the use of the warehouse space. Cheaper leases and no carpet to ruin. Good luck with everything!

Reefer93105 said:
The purple rocks you see are Walt Smith man made cultured live rock from Fiji. They mix it with an oxide to make it purple. The rest are premium Fiji branch and base dry rock. You can see the pic where the whole sump was full of foam from the curing. I used natural live sea water from UCSB since I live in Santa Barbara. Lucky me I guess. Made many trips back and forth to get 1300+ gallons. Truck payload safely transported between 150 to 175 gallons max. I'm letting the system mature more before I add anything. Though there are a bunch of pods already. While I let this system sit, I'm working on my 300g that I just got back from repair.

Ginu · Oct 9, 2015

Very nice, but have to ask, how do you feel about the car being in the middle with all that salt around?

Reefer93105 · Oct 9, 2015

Ginu said:
Very nice, but have to ask, how do you feel about the car being in the middle with all that salt around?

Oh the car is no longer there. It's back in my garage. It was only there temporarily. Here it is. A well preserved 1974 W114 280C with 56,000 original miles.

Ginu · Oct 9, 2015

Very nice, I had a feeling it was a vintage

Mr. Brooks · Oct 9, 2015

I'm glad you moved your car. That thing would get destroyed being so close to so much saltwater. Everything gets splashed with saltwater eventually.

Have you had a chance to use your eggcrate racks? I'm thinking you might want to add some support to the middle sections. In my experience that stuff is very flexible. You start adding colonies it's going to start sinking.

Are you setting up a full on retail business? Online? What's the plan?

I'm in Simi Valley. I'm building a 390 display. I plan to do one big coral purchase every 2 to 3 months so I can quarantine larger batches all at once. I might want to check out your selection once you get things up and running.

Reefer93105 · Oct 9, 2015

Mr. Brooks said:
I'm glad you moved your car. That thing would get destroyed being so close to so much saltwater. Everything gets splashed with saltwater eventually.

Have you had a chance to use your eggcrate racks? I'm thinking you might want to add some support to the middle sections. In my experience that stuff is very flexible. You start adding colonies it's going to start sinking.

Are you setting up a full on retail business? Online? What's the plan?

I'm in Simi Valley. I'm building a 390 display. I plan to do one big coral purchase every 2 to 3 months so I can quarantine larger batches all at once. I might want to check out your selection once you get things up and running.

It will be retail and online. Still have to set up my 300g quarantine tub. Just finished moving in my repaired 300g at home. Will be adding more fish to the prop system soon. Only have a 5" sailfin tang in there and it's doing well. Some test corals are in the system too and seems to be doing fine. Going to visit another wholesaler and see their selection.
As far as the eggcrate. There is ample support. There are large monti cap colonies in there and it's holding up so far.
Looking forward to see and meet you when the shop is fully running.

BkReefBaby · Oct 10, 2015

I'm loving the build thread it's pretty amazing

KWSanders · Oct 10, 2015

Reefer93105 said:
It's a 1974 MB 280C beige cream color. Original 55,000 miles, original shiny paint, no cracks on the dash, and good seats. That car's been in the family since it was bought brand new in '74. Just needs minor exterior cosmetic work. Missing some trim and the hood star. Also need to get a few dings out. Other than that, the car is in good shape. No one really drives it. Last time I took this car for a cruise is almost 4 years ago.

aren't you concerned about the salt in the air that close to the car ?

Mr. Brooks · Oct 10, 2015

He moved the car.

Reefer93105 · Oct 14, 2015

Been awhile since I posted pics. Been very busy. Here are the progress I made so far.

-Carbondoser CO2 regulators are installed at home and at the prop system. I just ordered PVC needle valves to adjust the feed to the reactor better. Too much feed pressure and the CarbonDoser can't release CO2 bubbles properly. I have to crank up the CarbonDoser's low pressure guage all the way to 15psi.

-Refugium tub is done. No chaeto yet. Using a PAR38 5000K LED bulb.

-Quarantine tub in place. Using an old ASM G3 skimmer with sand and live rock rubble. Lights are Kessil 350, 350W, and MarsAqua. I have to still build a frag rack for the quarantine tub.
Also build an overflow box of some sort for the skimmer or just use my old CPR backpak w/ overflow box to get the film floating off the water surface.

-Livestock wise. I placed my sailfin tang along with two damsels in the system. All are doing good for two weeks now. There are some test corals in there too and seems to be doing fine.
My large JediMindTrick suffered a long Bayer bath and it pretty much turned brown on me. All the slime came off. If the color comes back then I guess the system is coming along good.

-Current water parameters still need fine tuning to my liking though. [email protected], CA@550, MG@1300, K@320. Salinity at 1.026 and phosphate at 0.18. The phosphate is coming down from .40
two weeks ago.

-Need to build a PVC hanging frame for my filter socks. Currently using my ghetto milk crate. LOL

Aussie paul · Oct 14, 2015

dang that's a nice build good job pity I live in Australia I'd love to see it up close

Reefer93105 · Oct 16, 2015

Aussie paul said:
**** that's a nice build good job pity I live in Australia I'd love to see it up close

Thank you. Glad you like the build. You are not missing it. You have the GreatBarrier to the East and Indo to the West. I should envy you being close to both. LOL.

Reefer93105 · Oct 16, 2015

Added 18 fishes to the system yesterday. 6 kole eye tangs, 5 six line wrasses, a four line wrasse, naso tang, purple tang, 2 yellow tangs, powder blue tang, and a red tail trigger. Wanted a a male crosshatch trigger but it's a little too big for my liking. Maybe next time when I find a smaller one. Will also add an achilles tang, black long nose, and a gem tang if I find healthy specimens. Also added 2 cleaner shrimps. So far all are happy when I checked today. They are all shy and are still adjusting to their new home. Phosphates are coming down too. Tested today and it's at .16 from .18 yesterday.

Reefer93105 · Oct 16, 2015

Finished the PVC and eggcrate frame for the filter pads.

Reefer93105 · Oct 30, 2015

Starting to stock up. The WWC bounce collection is actually in my 300g at home for observation. It will be transfered to the prop system in the future. Some pics of fishes and corals added lately.

Reefer93105 · Oct 30, 2015

Starting to stock up.

Reefer93105 · Oct 30, 2015

Fishes and acans.

sharkboy99999 · Oct 30, 2015

Is that a super man Milli?

Reefer93105 · Oct 30, 2015

Stocking up on dry goods too. Need to get more livestock and dried goods.

Reefer93105 · Oct 30, 2015

sharkboy99999 said:
Is that a super man Milli?

Are you trying to compare it with ProCorals Superman? If so, it's similar. Not sure if the one I have is a millie at all but the colors are very similar. I also have a PC superman at home. Come to think of it. No it's not a milli.