IM SR-60 - 1st Build!

[Res_Ipsa]

Quite a night! My big hermit finally made a home in a great shell and the RFG’s are on! Very cool watching the alternating flow pattern up at the surface!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Not to be outdone by the flow upgrades, I've added my first R2R livestock order to the tank courtesy of @Reefer40b aka Hidden Treasure Corals. Pieces were all packed and shipped well and arrived intact save for one small branch of the purple madness. Did a Bayer pest dip and double saltwater rinse but corals were totally pest free under close inspection. Not even a lone copepod or isopod to be seen.

Pieces added to the tank were:

ORA Purple Stylo
WWC Aqua Delight
HT Pinky Millipora
HT Purple Madness Tri-Color
Tyree Rainbow Stylo
HT Blue Ice Tenuis
Blue Pearl wall hammer

Fingers crossed that they survive in a relatively young (3 months) tank! Parameters holding steady with pH at 8.3, alk at 8.2, calcium at 450.

 

[cancun]

Not to be outdone by the flow upgrades, I've added my first R2R livestock order to the tank courtesy of @Reefer40b aka Hidden Treasure Corals. Pieces were all packed and shipped well and arrived intact save for one small branch of the purple madness. Did a Bayer pest dip and double saltwater rinse but corals were totally pest free under close inspection. Not even a lone copepod or isopod to be seen.

Pieces added to the tank were:

ORA Purple Stylo
WWC Aqua Delight
HT Pinky Millipora
HT Purple Madness Tri-Color
Tyree Rainbow Stylo
HT Blue Ice Tenuis
Blue Pearl wall hammer

Fingers crossed that they survive in a relatively young (3 months) tank! Parameters holding steady with pH at 8.3, alk at 8.2, calcium at 450.

Nice haul! [emoji16]

 

[Res_Ipsa]

RFGs are still being tweaked but very happy with them on initial impressions! This hammer coral looks great with the random flow bouncing off the glass.

 

[BeejReef]

Looks like you're off to a really strong start! Was glad to see a nitrite spike can happen. Getting over the hump on that myself. Keep us posted on those SPS!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Update: the tank seems to be in a nice maintenance rhythm with socks changed 2x a week and a 5g water change on the weekend. Diatoms and algae are well under control from the CUC but a single dead hermit crab was found a few days ago. No idea why it died.

Corals are showing good polyp extension and the branching hammer now covers its whole space!

Unfortunately the new MP-10 I installed was 10-12 decibels louder than my current MP-10 so I had to remove it and send it back to Ecotech. I’ll update here if they’re able to help fix the issue.

The RFGs from @Vivid Creative Aquatics are still working well and the corals love the flow! Unfortunately one is still creating vortexes even after trying to fix the alignment and lower it as much as possible in the tank.

Here’s a quick shot of the RFGs on the hammer as well as how the other corals are doing. Everything looking healthy!

Video filtered via TruVu lens.

 

[BeejReef]

Tank looks so nice, po lil hermit thought he was in heaven

Great hammer. Really shows the flow.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Update: The tiniest Walt Disney acro frag went into the tank today! Fingers crossed it survives and thrives along with the tank! The frag came from a local reefer who was also kind enough to break me off a piece of some green plating monitpora. Need to figure out where to place that in the tank....

Hanna ULR Phosphate checker came in today as well. Looking forward to seeing where my PO4 is at.

Nitrates have climbed from 2.5ppm to 10ppm in the 10 days since I removed the Purigen from my system. As I don't want them higher than 10ppm, I added the Purigen back into the sump.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

It's been interesting learning how to use the Hanna ULR PO4 checker. Precisely following the instructions seems to be more important than other tests I've been used to. First result was 0.45 ppm phosphates! Whoa! Second test was 0.20 and third test was 0.14.

I'm glad that the numbers are not as high as I initially thought. I'm prepping a larger water change for this weekend so hoping to get that phosphate at or around 0.1 ppm.

I'll also be picking up a couple more pieces of montipora to grow out so stay tuned for those to get into the tank.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

MP-10 came back from Ecotech today and went back on the tank! They honored the warranty and did a feee repair despite my purchasing the powerhead new, in the box, but secondhand; I just had to pay for shipping one-way.

I’ve noticed a few more hermit carcasses in the tank. I think they may be fighting and killing each other; I’ll keep an eye on those guys.

@Hanna Instruments ULR phosphate checker is working well and is giving consistent results in the 0.14-0.15 ppm range! I did a 20g water change today so hopefully that will keep everything happy.

I also got my first diffuser in for the XR15s. I put it on to see the comparison between the diffuser and non-diffuser light. The diffuser light is MUCH more pleasing to the eye and the disco ball effect much less noticeable. I took a short video (no filter) to show the light as it reflects off the sand.

 

[TheWB]

Tank is looking good. I have the diffuser on my XR15 and I agree it makes a big difference, at least to my eyes. Are you happy with the waterline in the SR60? The one thing that bothered me about the SR series was that the water level looks so low. I have the Lagoon 50 which has the same height of 16 inches but the water line sits higher. I thought it was going to be too low so I got a pair of InTanks fish guards to raise the level a bit. I ended up not using them at all.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

@TheWB If I could have my cake and eat it too I’d like to have about 18-20” of water height versus the 14” from the SR60. But I do like the build quality and design. Years down the road I suspect it will become a frag tank or a QT after I get some experience and move into my next house.

 

[TheWB]

@TheWB If I could have my cake and eat it too I’d like to have about 18-20” of water eight versus the 14” from the SR60. But I do like the build quality and design. Years down the road I suspect it will become a frag tank or a QT after I get some
experience and move into my next house.

Sounds like a good plan. I like the shallow depth myself, I just wish that water line was about an inch higher. There are a couple of threads floating around here where people modified the overflows to get it to sit a little higher. That won’t matter to you at all if you go frag tank with it.

 

[neoGeorge]

Not thrilled about finding this bubble algae on my frag. Manually removed and used a stiff bristle brush to get what I could see off. Anything else to do?

I've had great luck with emerald crabs eating bubble algae.

 

[neoGeorge]

Adventures in maximum flow continue with today's shipment of RFG nozzles!

Looking forward to your report on these RFG nozzles - I purchased one but haven't installed it yet...

 

[neoGeorge]

MP-10 came back from Ecotech today and went back on the tank! They honored the warranty and did a feee repair despite my purchasing the powerhead new, in the box, but secondhand; I just had to pay for shipping one-way.

I’ve noticed a few more hermit carcasses in the tank. I think they may be fighting and killing each other; I’ll keep an eye on those guys.

@Hanna Instruments ULR phosphate checker is working well and is giving consistent results in the 0.14-0.15 ppm range! I did a 20g water change today so hopefully that will keep everything happy.

I also got my first diffuser in for the XR15s. I put it on to see the comparison between the diffuser and non-diffuser light. The diffuser light is MUCH more pleasing to the eye and the disco ball effect much less noticeable. I took a short video (no filter) to show the light as it reflects off the sand.

Looks like the diffuser helps keep glare out of the viewer's eyes as well as distributing the PAR better...

 

[Hallowhead]

Looking great! I will be following along

 

[Ej Chavex]

UPDATE: Sicce pumps were plumbed in and tested tonight. The stock pumps used a 1/2” ID hose to a double 1/2” Y-split. The larger Sicce pumps utilize a 1” to 3/4” step down outlet so I found a couple 3/4” to double 1/2” Y-splits to install. Hopefully this will decrease some of the flow restriction to better utilize the higher flow rates of the pumps.

The custom stand is nearly done from a local woodworker and being stained tomorrow.

RODI production has been good and I’ve managed to store 25gal to prep for cycling next week. I need to grab some ammonia, but also bought some nitrifying bacteria in a bottle to populate the tank. The plan is to do a fishless cycle inside my house.

I also snagged a Tunze osmolator ATO from the R2R forum and will be getting that set up once the tank is on solid ground.

The gear list and supplies keeps growing but after dozens of hours on R2R and YouTube, I’m feeling pretty optimistic that this tank will be up and beautiful real soon.

Santa and his elves will be moving and installing this tank Xmas night to surprise our kiddos (they have been sending letters to Santa everyday asking for a fish tank ). Then, we’ll aquascape, mix up some salt, and start dosing ammonia.

More pictures and updates to come!

Where

@Haggisman14 and @JBKReef - Thanks for the support , we really appreciate it.




Given the return pumps you installed, the 1/2in RGFs would be a great choice and could easily fill that tank with randomized flow. 1/2in Lo-line may be compatible with the the stock fittings on t hat tank. It's hit and miss - sometime it's perfect and other times it a bit loose. If you do decide to give the Random Flow Generator nozzles a try, then you'll want to take a look at the 19mm to 1/2in loc-line Slip-Fit drop adapters. They are designed to replace the stock adapter and will directly fit the 1/2in RFG nozzles.

I'm needing these for my SR80 build I'm definitely gonna order some.

 

[Ej Chavex]

Adventures in maximum flow continue with today's shipment of RFG nozzles!

What size lock line did you get?

 

[Res_Ipsa]

@Ej Chavex - I bought 19mm to 1/2” loc line slip adapters then the 1/2” nozzles. Also, not sure meant by asking “where?”

Good luck on your SR 80 build! The tank has been pretty fun to work with.

I took out one of the filter socks and am using that space to keep my chemical filtration and bag of carbon. Not sure what I’ll use that chamber for permanently.