Dan's 177g build

[Dlefty]

Hi my name is Dan. I have been a long time reef hobbyist since 1994. I had a Clarity Plus 65 acrylic tank that was a great tank but as of late last year it began to bow in the back wall. I wasn’t looking for the expense but knew that with this hobby you will end up disappointed if you try to cut corners.

This is a long post, so I have broken it up and will be posting more over the next few days.

I began the quest of finding out what would I be happy with for the next 10-15+ years. I really liked the Red Sea Max S 650. There were a couple of things that didn’t work well with my current setup. I have a pump room with a snapper reeflo pump, chiller and protein skimmer that I would be keeping. I looked a little more and found Derek with Miracles Aquariums. I ended up having him build a tank that was: 60” X 24" X 28-1/2”, 3/4" glass all around, Starphire front and ends, tempers back with 2 notches 2 return holes, 1-3/4" black back external overflow with three drains for 1-1/2”, Eurobraced. The tank was shipped to me in about 3 months time. I am very happy!! Thanks Derek!

Here are a couple of photos of the 65g tank:

 

[Dlefty]

Here are some pictures of getting the tank off the pick up and into the garage.

 

[Dlefty]

The tank weighed about 500 lbs empty. Thank god for big friends! more later....

 

[CJBuckeyes]

Nice looking tank!

 

[Ridem32]

Agree very nice tank.

 

[mckinleyw]

Nice tank

 

[Dlefty]

Thanks guys!

So going back to when it was being built I had to concentrate on lights, stand, and sump. I decided to go with two Orphrek V3+ setups. Scott talked with me for quite some time before I decided. They were coming out with the V3+ in the end of May. He was a true hobbyist and I miss him since he is no longer with Orphrek. I couldn’t get a phone call in to them after I had some questions upon receiving the V3+’s. Now that Scott is gone I was told only to ask them by email and am currently having trouble communicating via email . Not a good selling point… But I overlooked that and am happy so far.

 

[Dlefty]

As for the stand & canopy I chose to have Tony from Newburgh, NY build it. He is a craftsman who works building sets for plays down in NYC. He builds stands and canopies for aquariums on the side. He spent a lot of time finding out what I liked and turned out a finished product that can’t be beat! He even came to my house which is 45 minutes away to mount the V3+’s in the canopy. His prices are very reasonable and has done work for many manhattanreefs.com forum members and can be contacted at [email protected].

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Very nice so far!! Welcome!

 

[mckinleyw]

Looks good

 

[Dlefty]

Thanks Rev! You've got a BUILD that is incredible and I haven't got it all read yet...

 

[Dlefty]

The sump I went with was a Trigger Systems Emerald 39. I drilled three 1 1/2” return holes in the right hand side. I used PVC flex (x3) that exits the stand and goes through the wall to the pump room. Two of the PVC flex get combined into a 2” input to a Reeflo GOLD - Dart/Snapper Hybrid and the other goes to an Iwaki 70RLT pump. The output from the Dart/Snapper pump goes through a manifold that separates the chiller/UV line and ultimately gets recombined into a 1-1/2” PVC flex that goes back to the tank. The Iwaki that I used on my Clarity Plus tank pre 2009 now powers the protein skimmer. But it is very loud and runs hot compared with the Dart. The output of the protein skimmer is plumed with hard PVC which goes to the left rear side of the sump.

The protein skimmer was upgraded from a ETS 500 downdraft skimmer to a Lifereef VS3-30. The ETS was a good skimmer in its day but I really like the skimming capabilities of the Lifereef. All around it’s a better shimmer! Jeff from Lifereef was very informative on his products and I would recommend him to anybody.

I had a 1/4 HP chiller from my old tank which I planned on using but 2 months into the new system and it gave up. So I replaced it with a Penguin Chiller that was 1/2 HP. Also added a Jebao STU Stainless Steel UVC Clarifier (55-watt). The chiller is strong and I hope that it cools many years to come.

 

[Dlefty]

Back again... On the overflow of the tank I used the Bean Animal style. The result was quiet but not silent. I feel this is do to the sump. In having three inputs to the sump in one small area it creates a lot of back pressure and noise. In having two 1-1/2” PVC flex coming from the tank getting cut down to 1” and 1 1/4” hard PVC to 1” from the PS line is a lot to ask for a system to be silent.

I had an Octopus by Aquadyne running my old tank. It was a good system for its day. I got in the late 90’s and it ran my lights, temp, ph, orp, & salinity. Other than the probes it is an X12 system so it communicates wirelessly. It can be temperamental at times and confusing to run through the display. Contact me if your interested in this because it’s for sale as well as the ETS downdraft skimmer, Iwaki 40RLT and a Max 4 (Gen X) A40LX.

 

[Dlefty]

Anyway getting back to my new tank, I decided to buy a Neptune Apex gold system. It is awesome! I now have complete control over my tank anywhere there is a cell signal or wi-fi. I also have the DOS system which I use to dose Calcium & Alkalinity. I use a breakout box that with a Trigger System 10 gallon ATO reservoir, a couple of level switches & Aqualifter pump that keeps the system stable. I also have the breakout box hooked up with a couple of door switches that turns on LED light strips so I can see in my stand. I have the pumps, chiller, UV sterilizer, & protein skimmer hooked into the Apex system via X12. So far it has worked flawlessly. I use the WAV powerheads and am happy with them.

more later....

 

[mckinleyw]

Anyway getting back to my new tank, I decided to buy a Neptune Apex gold system. It is awesome! I now have complete control over my tank anywhere there is a cell signal or wi-fi. I also have the DOS system which I use to dose Calcium & Alkalinity. I use a breakout box that with a Trigger System 10 gallon ATO reservoir, a couple of level switches & Aqualifter pump that keeps the system stable. I also have the breakout box hooked up with a couple of door switches that turns on LED light strips so I can see in my stand. I have the pumps, chiller, UV sterilizer, & protein skimmer hooked into the Apex system via X12. So far it has worked flawlessly. I use the WAV powerheads and am happy with them.

more later....

Wow im hopeing toupgrade this year to the new apex with the wav included. I love my gold though. It will probably end up on a seahorse tank in the near future if i can afford a full newstyle apex.
You shouldnt have any problems with your apex, since you have prior knowledge with controllers.

Cant wait to see more!!

 

[Dlefty]

Here are some shots of my stand and sumps today. It has taken me a while in organizing all the wires! I am very happy with the way everything turned out with the Apex & other electronics

 

[prsnlty]

Looks great! And what a beautiful stand and canopy!

 

[Dlefty]

Back again

I started out by using bags of Tropic Eden live Reeflakes and & live Miniflakes. All the fish, rock and corals were transferred over a long weekend. I used two bottles of Dr. Tims All in One. It seemed to work as for the first month to two months I had no algae growth.

The fish that were transferred were:
purple tang, 6 line wrass, green chromis, banggai cardinal, true percula clownfish, & a green mandarin. All except the mandarin are doing great. The mandarin died last month and I am unsure why but have a couple of theories. I have added since last summer 3 green chromis, copperband butterfly, and red tailed trigger.

I have been fighting an algae bloom since last fall. I've tried the H2O2 for 10 days last month and then switched to Vibrant. I am on my 9th dose and it helped initially but the cyano/spirulina has gotten stronger. I started back the H2O2 again on the 18th. I still am dosing the Vibrant too. I had been using Reef Crystals but am going to switch over to RPM next weekend. It will be 3 wks since my last water change.

Here are a some photos when the tank was in its early stages and shot of it now

 

[prsnlty]

It's gorgeous Dan!

 

[Dlefty]

Well I thought I would give you an update sooner but as usual life gets in the way. I have been fighting this cyano & spurlina and who knows what else since last fall. It has only gotten worse. I cut back the Vibrant to once a week. I started dosing again the H2O2 on the 18th of January. That didn't help. I changed salts to RPM and made one water change since. The corals really liked the change. But I've still got this green stuff I can't seem to put a dent in it....

I did a small separate test in a glass of H2O2 and sand with algae. 48 hrs and nothing. It took about 4-5 days for the algae to disappear. But still nada in the display tank...

I began to use Red Slime Stain Remover by Ultra Life Reef Products. I have used this stuff years ago. I had good luck with it but I am still unsure it will cure my problem. It's a pain because it makes your skimmer go nuts! I began on Saturday by running a test in a glass with a mat of algae. The glass is still green :mad: but I decided to go ahead and dose the DT tonight. I attached an air pump with an air stone and turned my skimmer way down. I might adjust my lights too. We will see...

The first three shots are prior to the dosing of red slime remover.