300 dd in-wall build

[jdiefenbaugh]

Any updates? Good looking tank!!

Thanks for following. Not much positive at this point, unfortunately. Tank did great for first 3 months, then started the general decline of the inverts. Long story short, don't buy these heat exchangers. It worked flawlessly, but ended up leaching very low-level amounts of metals into the tank. I caught it early on, and lost maybe 3 frags, but things have been slow to come back to 100% normal. I added some more SPS 4 weeks ago, and they are doing fine, but I'm guessing it'll be 6 months before the initial 30 frags really get back from the contamination. I have added a few fish, and have more in QT, currently. All fish are doing very well.

Moving forward, I will still likely go back to a heat exchanger, as I plan to upgrade in 5-7 years. I have looked into PVC/HDPE options, or going with a professional grade titanium tube/shell Hx, they're just a larger investment.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

I figured I would update the current stock list, and also what's been grinding out in QT. Bought a couple boxes of fish for myself for Christmas recently.

And took a few pics.

C. isosceles, lost his pintail after being moved in, but everyone playing nice now.

Hard to believe this guy has grown this much since July. At 2.75", he is the boss of the tank.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

4 months, guess I should do an update. After pulling the heat exchanger and adding a titanium heater, all SPS continued to very slowly just waste away. I have been pretty much at a loss as to why. There has never been any algae, nearly every square inch is covered in coraline now and parameters continue to test spot on. Finally, I think I found the smoking gun

Was starting to make some noise, and I don't even know how it was spinning. This thing is so far gone, I can't believe it. Not sure if I'm more annoyed or relieved at this point. Just hoping to be able to continue on with the tank now.

 

[mrpizzaface]

4 months, guess I should do an update. After pulling the heat exchanger and adding a titanium heater, all SPS continued to very slowly just waste away. I have been pretty much at a loss as to why. There has never been any algae, nearly every square inch is covered in coraline now and parameters continue to test spot on. Finally, I think I found the smoking gun

Was starting to make some noise, and I don't even know how it was spinning. This thing is so far gone, I can't believe it. Not sure if I'm more annoyed or relieved at this point. Just hoping to be able to continue on with the tank now.

Is it safe to assume the heat exchanger wasn't leaching metals into the tank? I am considering installing one on my current build.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Is it safe to assume the heat exchanger wasn't leaching metals into the tank? I am considering installing one on my current build.

I honestly don't know, but my guess is no, or at least not yet. There wasn't any corrosion or anything on the Hx, and the manufacturer insisted it was 100% titanium. I really miss having it, just so much better than a standard heater in every way.

 

[McPuff]

I honestly don't know, but my guess is no, or at least not yet. There wasn't any corrosion or anything on the Hx, and the manufacturer insisted it was 100% titanium. I really miss having it, just so much better than a standard heater in every way.

Shoot! I was going to ask to see how you plumbed it into your water heater. This is something I've been considering for a few years and have a good friend that just did the same. What type of exchanger did you buy? I'm guessing the hx wasn't leaching, but the magnet was the sole source. Did you send in a sample for ICP testing? Probably a good idea.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Shoot! I was going to ask to see how you plumbed it into your water heater. This is something I've been considering for a few years and have a good friend that just did the same. What type of exchanger did you buy? I'm guessing the hx wasn't leaching, but the magnet was the sole source. Did you send in a sample for ICP testing? Probably a good idea.

It was just a standard titanium tube and shell Hx. The plumbing is easy, the supply comes off the closest hot water supply and returns to the cold water intake on top of the hot water heater. Basically just recycles the hot water. I'm sure the vortech was the issue, I've never seen one that bad. I did get an ICP test done and now I'm questioning those results. All metals came back at zero, but I consistently got .8-.12 copper levels on my hanna checker.

 

[McPuff]

It was just a standard titanium tube and shell Hx. The plumbing is easy, the supply comes off the closest hot water supply and returns to the cold water intake on top of the hot water heater. Basically just recycles the hot water. I'm sure the vortech was the issue, I've never seen one that bad. I did get an ICP test done and now I'm questioning those results. All metals came back at zero, but I consistently got .8-.12 copper levels on my hanna checker.

Very strange. My take on it is that SPS are dumb that tend to die off for no reason at times. :0) Are all of your trace elements low/depleted? Mine definitely were/are. Working on that now (Reef Moonshiners).

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Very strange. My take on it is that SPS are dumb that tend to die off for no reason at times. :0) Are all of your trace elements low/depleted? Mine definitely were/are. Working on that now (Reef Moonshiners).

Everything came back in the green except nickel, vanadium, and molybdenum, and I'm not gonna dose those. I used to make 30k gallon saltwater batches in my PA days, and the amount of vanadium would fit in a small vial, lol.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Quick update, added a new 8" stacked calcium reactor from Bill Wann, but unfortunately it leaks badly from the lid. Needless to say it has been a struggle to get it fixed. I was apprehensive ordering anything from him based on responses of people when they did have an issue. I ended up just shipping it to his front door with the hopes it will get repaired in the next 6-12 months . I have added a few more fish, and ended up rehoming the emperor angel, as he was just becoming too aggressive. I am likely to remove the Bella goby also, as it is getting too difficult to get him enough food with 20+ fish and counting. Planning on adding SPS again, as the couple remaining corals have colored back up nicely and seem to be doing fine, coraline has now covered almost every inch of the rock, and all parameters still testing where they should be. Quick video, at least the fish are looking good.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Grabbed a couple quick pics before work today

added 3 male P. parvirostris. Really like these guys, and super hardy.

About 10 more fish in QT right now doing well, and then I'll be mostly full on fish.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Added a powder blue tang and blue face angel this week, and they really took a beating during initiation. Things have calmed down, and just some minor posturing now going on, seems like everyone will be ok.

Added 10 small sps frags about a month ago, and seems like they are doing ok. Hoping the rusted vortech was the issue, and can finally move on with the inverts.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Corals still doing well, so will start loading up soon. Feeding time video

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Time for an August update…corals and fish are doing great, finally. Found a Hydra 64 to add above the lagoon tank, so should start adding some LPS and nano fish in there in the near future. Also went back to the original heat exchanger, and unplugged the conventional heater. One of the main reasons I wanted the heat exchanger was to have low watt heating capabilities during power outages, so my battery backup won't spend itself in a couple of hours. The angels haven't shown any interest in the sps, but the blue face does pick at zoanthids, which I don't really care about. I will have to get the camera out to take some coral pics, but so far so good.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I absolutely love your rock work... very natural looking. To me it looks like a rock wall gave-way and spilled down like an avalanche. Excellent!

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

I absolutely love your rock work... very natural looking. To me it looks like a rock wall gave-way and spilled down like an avalanche. Excellent!

Thanks a lot! It was really easy to aquqscape with the amount and rock I ordered, though. Marco base, shelf, and regular reef rock, and like 600 lbs. to pick through. I left room on the back of the scape as well to plant corals, as I want to upgrade when this fills up. Can't remember if I mentioned, but the background is just a vinyl cling, so even though only one side is viewable, it's really more like a peninsula tank inside of the fish room.

 

[Babado]

Tank is looking great! How are the P. parvirostris doing?

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Tank is looking great! How are the P. parvirostris doing?

Thanks! They are doing great, I actually wish I could have added some females when I put these in. They give an occasional look towards the others, but no aggression and everyone else leaves them alone.

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

photo dump from today

A. leucosternon

X. auromarginatus

yellow belly P. hepatus

some of the Pseudanthias sp.

P. navarchus

P. xanthometopon

sub-adult trying to be adult P. dispar

Euphyllia

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

As much as I hate frag tanks, at this point I'm happy to have a frag tank.