Mallard's Elos 70

[Mallard]

I've been out of the hobby for about 2+ years now. I tried a pico tank but it just wasn't enough and had a lot of limitations, so back in August I decided to finally get back into the hobby by ordering a new Reef Savvy 60 gallon cube. I "thought" I'd be able to hold out for my tank sometime next year. A couple months later, I figured I'll just get a frag tank to hold me over. Unfortunately, I suck at trying to be thrifty and was going to be spending a quite a bit on all the parts and pieces. As I was looking for a good deal to come up, I found an Elos 70 local that came up for sale and I was all in.

I purchased the tank, stand, sump, skimmer and RK Elite unit. Now it's time for everything to get a good cleaning and putting everything together. Had to buy a few replacement parts but everything is coming together. I plan to have a mixed reef of high end corals.

Equipment so far:

• Elos System 70 Tank - 55 Gallon
• Elos System 70 Stand
• Elos 500 Sump
• Reef Keeper Elite
• Ecotech Vortech MP40w (upgrade coming)
• Reef Octopus XP1000SSS
• Ecotech Radion Pro
• Eheim Return
• Finnex Titanium heater
• Tunze ATO

Upgrades or Equipment left to purchase:

• Biopellet reactor
• Maybe upgrade the return to a Red Dragon
• Maybe upgrade the skimmer to BK Mini

I already purchased 50 lbs of Marco Rocks that is currently soaking in RODI water and 80 lbs of Tropic Eden reef flakes.

I'll post some photos of the tank so far but I'm excited to be getting back into the hobby

 

[acmonster]

Subscribed! Let's see some pictures!!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Oooh subscribed as well!

 

[TJ's Reef]

Sounds like a great score, looking forward to seeing some pics or progress here.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Mallard]

Alright so here is the stand. Not sure who painted it...

 

[Mallard]

And here is the tank and sump

 

[Usctom]

Nice setup. What kind of corals you thinking of keeping.

 

[Mallard]

It'll be a mixed reef. So probably high end SPS, LPS and paly/zoa's. If it looks good, it'll have a place in my tank

 

[Mallard]

Today I'm giving the tank, skimmer and pumps a vinegar bath. Hopefully get off this nasty green algae that came with the tank and soaking 50 lbs of marco rocks.

 

[Usctom]

It'll be a mixed reef. So probably high end SPS, LPS and paly/zoa's. If it looks good, it'll have a place in my tank

Nice. I have the same problem. I like everything and most of it is expensive

 

[Mallard]

Well making some progress. I had a Vortech from a build a few years ago, turned in on earlier this week and it was so loud. Took it apart and soaked it in vinegar. Sounds much better now.

Although, I'm having a tough time getting caked on algae off the glass and what appears to be calcium deposits on the return and overflow. Does anyone have any ideas on getting it off?

 

[Mallard]

I had read some horror stories with using Macro rocks and phosphate. I let all of my new rocks soak for 24 hours in rodi water. Tested this morning and it came out to 6 ppb or .0186 ppm. So looks good. I'm assuming the phosphates that did exist were from rinsing out the buckets with tap water and other means. However, just to be sure I'll be soaking the rocks again overnight and test tomorrow. Fingers crossed

 

[Mallard]

Bubble King acquired! I put a pre-order in for the new Bubble King Double Cone 150 from premium aquatics. Perfect timing and they have an amazing deal for the pre-order. If you're interested, definitely check it out.

I'll be doing an unboxing and review once they make it stateside .

 

[Saulsa]

Great start. Those Elos make Such a beautiful small setup.

 

[akma]

Nice and good equipment list so far. let me know how the radion pro's work for you. I had the Gen2, but wasn't happy with the colors and the shadowing it gave me on my tank so I went back to T5's.

 

[Mallard]

Yeah its an awesome tank. I really like the rimless look. Unfortunately, the tank and stand were in pretty rough shape when I picked them up. Nothing structural or scratches but the tank was filthy and stand was very poorly painted. The tank is currently running in a deep vinegar bath to remove all the old calcium deposits and gunk that was left over. Not a bad thing I guess. Gives me time to acquire all the pieces and parts.

I have found that the overflow is fairly noisy however. I figure it'll break in once I'm running saltwater but gotta do something. I found a thread on RC about creating a full siphon with a couple of elbows and a coupler. Hoping that helps out, I have a 1/2" elbow in it right now and it's made a huge difference but absolutely not what I want to do once I have livestock in the tank. I'm actually using the elbow to raise the water level to get rid of some calcium that's caked on.

Also, after cleaning the wetside of my MP40 it was still pretty loud but I found a thread where you can replace the dryside bearings and it makes a huge difference. That'll be this weekend.

Just glad to finally be back in reefing and have the wifes approval

 

[Lacktaters]

Bubble King acquired! I put a pre-order in for the new Bubble King Double Cone 150 from premium aquatics. Perfect timing and they have an amazing deal for the pre-order. If you're interested, definitely check it out.

I'll be doing an unboxing and review once they make it stateside .

That looks like a very nice skimmer! I almost jumped on that preorder the other day to replace my BK Mini 160 that's moving over to the new build, but I got a screaming deal on an almost new Alpha 170. Can't wait to here how you like the Double Cone.

 

[Lacktaters]

I noticed your earlier post about wanting a red dragon return. I'm not sure how you feel about cutting a corner, but I've been real happy with a $150 Laguna Max Flo 1350 return pump with the $20 stand from socaltropicalfishoutlet. It's the same askol motor block used in the red dragon pumps and ATB's return pumps, reliable, efficient, runs absolutely silently, and would be more than enough pump for your 55 gallons. I added a couple $5 Laguna push fit connectors when I ordered the pump from Amazon: 0.75" threaded to tie into my plumbing and a 1.25" threaded into a 90 on the inlet to help prevent micro bubbles.

 

[Mallard]

I don't mind at all. Thanks for the heads up as I actually have a huge order in with Mike. I'll see if he'll be able to add one. The Eheim is looking a little shabby.

I noticed your earlier post about wanting a red dragon return. I'm not sure how you feel about cutting a corner, but I've been real happy with a $150 Laguna Max Flo 1350 return pump with the $20 stand from socaltropicalfishoutlet. It's the same askol motor block used in the red dragon pumps and ATB's return pumps, reliable, efficient, runs absolutely silently, and would be more than enough pump for your 55 gallons. I added a couple $5 Laguna push fit connectors when I ordered the pump from Amazon: 0.75" threaded to tie into my plumbing and a 1.25" threaded into a 90 on the inlet to help prevent micro bubbles.

 

[Mallard]

I've made a bunch of progress and I'll post pictures tomorrow. Painted the inside and outside of the stand, cleaned the tank and sump, added in the floor. Tomorrow I will begin aquascaping and hoping to have it salty by next weekend.

I might not end up getting the new double cone... I got an AMAZING deal on a BK Mini 180 that'll be delivered on Monday. If it's everything it's supposed to be, then I have no reason for the double cone.