*d2mini's 200g Reeftastic Reef - Part Deux!*

[d2mini]

Great build thread, love the quality of your pics!

Thanks!

That is insane growth!
What were the nitrates at when you put the Cheato in?
Where are your phosphates?

Nitrates were about the same, basically immeasurable.
Phosphate test says .055 but i don't trust that low hanna tester as far as I can throw it. Might be higher, might be lower.

 

[d2mini]

Finally got the Mangrove Tank set up.
It's the last piece of the puzzle!
Plumbing is now DONE! :tea:




Specs:
Glass Cages 18x18x16 tall.
24 lbs of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud
60 lbs of Caribsea Special Grade Arag-Alive Sand
200w Fluorescent with Daylight Spectrum bulb
I happened to have this fixture from my previous build. Will eventually look for something a little smaller/cooler.
4 Red Mangroves
2 Banggai Cardinals


My goal is to have at least one good tree going.
The Banggai Cardinals will go in tonight along with one of my giant red brittle stars.
And that will finally empty the holding tub!


Laying in the mud...

Sand...

Finished plumbing and filled with water.
Ended up with 7-8" of substrate at the tallest area.

It's not the prettiest setup with the plumbing and overflow but it's in the fish room.
I just want a bigass tree like Julian Sprung!
But I was going for more of a planted tank look and didn't want 6" or more of nasty substrate up agains the front glass.


These propagules are always so short. Might end up having to float them for a bit until i get some strong roots.
We'll see how it goes.

 

[143MPCo]

Looks great, one question for you, why Fiji Mud as opposed to other brands?

 

[Snitter]

Awesome build. Should do a video tour of the awesome fish room.

 

[d2mini]

Looks great, one question for you, why Fiji Mud as opposed to other brands?

Because it actually comes from the ocean floor in Fiji, supposedly full of micro organisms and trace elements.
I haven't done it yet but I'm going to mix the mud and sand together a bit. The mud by itself is soooo dense, nearly like clay.
And mixing it will get a lot of the good stuff to the roots of the mangroves without having to wait a couple years for roots to get down there.

Awesome build. Should do a video tour of the awesome fish room.

Thanks! And yes, I do need to get a video done at some point.
Been waiting for the room to be relatively complete.

 

[143MPCo]

Ok, thanks for that info, I was going to go with miracle mud, interested to see how it works for you... Thx again!

 

[gtbarsi]

With a HOB overflow aren't you worried about potentially flooding the tank if the siphon ever breaks?

 

[d2mini]

With a HOB overflow aren't you worried about potentially flooding the tank if the siphon ever breaks?

It's a LifeReef overflow. The siphon never breaks and always restarts. Every... single... time. :hippie:
I'm running one on the Mangrove Tank and one on the Frag Tank.
Now a clog, well I suppose that's a risk with any single drain.
I still need to get leak detectors for my profilux.

 

[gtbarsi]

It's a LifeReef overflow. The siphon never breaks and always restarts. Every... single... time. :hippie:
I'm running one on the Mangrove Tank and one on the Frag Tank.
Now a clog, well I suppose that's a risk with any single drain.
I still need to get leak detectors for my profilux.

Cool, I never really looked at HOB overflows much since everyone always suggested that they were not safe, but given what I see here (dam the design changes that allows it to be safe seems simple) I would agree that it is safe with the exception of the single drain aspect. Do you mind sharing why you went this route instead of a drilled overflow?

 

[d2mini]

Do you mind sharing why you went this route instead of a drilled overflow?

Because even if I drilled, which I was going to initially, I was still going to just have a single drain.
I already have too much plumbing under there and enough bulkheads in the sump's top.
The flow to these tank is pretty low, too.
So since aesthetics wasn't really a concern for stuff in the fish room, i figured this was the easiest option and I wouldn't be married to a specific placement.
I didn't have to worry about drilling the tank (and deciding where to drill), didn't have to get an overflow made, then attach the overflow, etc.
All i had to do was drill a single hole (for each tank) in my stand to run the plumbing to the sump.

 

[d2mini]

Pic time!


Here's a shot of the business end of the completed fish room...

Here's "Mangrove Hill"...

And here's the chaeto ball from hell. :lol:
19 days and counting.
And yes... it's still rotating!

 

[Lord_Spice]

That's a beast!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

That chaeto ball is huge! I love the mangrove hill!!

 

[gettaReef]

Wow! I love love your room there. I think I'm going to copy your chaeto tank and add it to my system. I think ill get the same light fixture and try to spin it like you've been doing.

 

[msderganc]

Looks great!

 

[BayouCityReefer]

Amazing build ,it's one of a kind. Katy Reefers ROck! I have chaeto envy now.

 

[Diesel]

Mmmm, what you got in QT?

 

[d2mini]

That's a beast!

Ha! It is.

That chaeto ball is huge! I love the mangrove hill!!

Thanks!

Wow! I love love your room there. I think I'm going to copy your chaeto tank and add it to my system. I think ill get the same light fixture and try to spin it like you've been doing.

heh heh, cool.

Looks great!

Thanks!

Amazing build ,it's one of a kind. Katy Reefers ROck! I have chaeto envy now.

lol, thanks man.

Mmmm, what you got in QT?

I did have a powder blue that didn't make it 48 hrs, unknown reasons. Was perfectly healthy in store for weeks.
And an orange back fairy wrasse that is now in the display.
But I think I'm going to call it an OT instead of a QT. O for Observation.

 

[Dextereef]

Wow very cool. I'd love a fish room of that magnitude some day.

 

[Diesel]

I did have a powder blue that didn't make it 48 hrs, unknown reasons. Was perfectly healthy in store for weeks.
And an orange back fairy wrasse that is now in the display.
But I think I'm going to call it an OT instead of a QT. O for Observation.

LOL, my bad.
First of, my QT System is foremost first a OT system.
When no signs of illness of any kind within 2/3 weeks it will go in the DT.
At the same time I try to teach the fish tricks as in roll over, no jumps outside the edge of the tank and follow the leader, not to mention my wide collection of fishfood that it need to get used too.
Two OT (observation tanks) 20 gallon tanks for the OTTM (observation tank transfer method) and when have any other illness it will go into the 40 QT.