Reef tank build from day one

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

Ok so I think I have a problem. I added a camera to my sump for no other reason than it is possible. I have an addiction. Lol

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

So this week has been all about working with the skimmer to get it adjusted and broken in. I have been following the recommendations from simplicity for breaking them in. For a week it has been running and overflowing the cup. I tried adjusting the air, motor speed and skimmer height to no avail. At one point it was overflowing the cup on the lowest setting of the motor and the shallowest depth int he sump. I was stumped so I called simplicity and left a message with them looking for help.

They called me back that same day and after going over my trials they suggested I Set it to the lowest setting possible to wet skim, collect the skimmate and dispose of it. They stated I should easily be able to run it in 9" of water and on full without over flowing like it has been. They believed that something was in the water that was making it foam up and I should remove it. So I hooked up a hose to the cup drain to a bucket and let it run. I also hooked up my mini reactor with a mixture of GFO and carbon and ran that for a night. The skimmer calmed right down. I removed about 1.5 gallons of light but cloudy skimmate. It is now sitting in about 9" of water and is running full speed and the bubbles are just at the bayonet height. SO that is good, looks like there was something in the water that was removed and now the skimmer is good to go.

I also worked on the Apex setup. Added a small ball of Chaeto to the refugium and got my lights on a schedule. I am going to measure the PAR next week and adjust to the light level I need for the corals I will add in the future.

My Pajama Cardinals are doing great in QT. Active swimmers, alert and eating like pigs. They will be going in the DT in about three weeks.

andyg1960 · Nov 5, 2017

Looking really great! Are the P Cardinals from Fintastic?

Mandelstam · Nov 5, 2017

Enjoying the read! Looking really good! I really liked the hardscape after you changed it! It was the right move.

andyg1960 · Nov 5, 2017

bdejong1112o said:
Ok so I think I have a problem. I added a camera to my sump for no other reason than it is possible. I have an addiction. Lol

Putting it in there is not so bad. Obsessively staring at a screen watching your sump and ignoring your wife might cause a problem for you.....

Steadyreef42 · Nov 5, 2017

Do you have a picture of the new sump system? From the front

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

Here are a couple of pictures of the sump. Its a bit messy as a few things are still being worked on.
I built a quick PVC stand this weekend for the two DOS machines that I need for the Triton Method.
The plan is to put the bottles underneath and dose right to the fuge.
The water pitcher is to drain the skimmer cup into. It will randomly just overproduce and this allows it to go for quite awhile without having to drain it. I put a leak detector in the bowl its sitting in to shut off the skimmer if the pitcher fills up while I am sleeping, working or away.

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

Mandelstam said:
Enjoying the read! Looking really good! I really liked the hardscape after you changed it! It was the right move.

Thanks, I think so as well. The first one started to bother me as I looked at it every day. I knew after a few days that it needed to change.

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

andyg1960 said:
Looking really great! Are the P Cardinals from Fintastic?

No, for these a friend of mine and I went in on a buy from Saltwater Fish. I did talk to them first about it but they were a few weeks out from getting them in and I was on a schedule to have them in QT for the duration of cycling the tank.

Steadyreef42 · Nov 5, 2017

Awesome how you did this with the two tanks. I’m sure your refugium is going to be awesome

bdejong1112o · Nov 5, 2017

Egalindo2240 said:
Awesome how you did this with the two tanks

Thanks, I cant take full credit for the idea. I saw an example at the LFS where they have two fuge tanks feeding into a center one that has the pump and dosing tubes. I started with the same plastic totes they used but that didnt go well due to the small angle of the sides. This put stress on the second tank and cracked the side. See the pictures on page 2. So this time I opted to use two glass tanks so they aligned much better. It actually works better, I have more fuge volume and with the narrow tank it left room for the dosing pumps. So it was destiny for the other setup to not work.

bdejong1112o · Nov 8, 2017

So just some extra wring and setting up power on the power block of the Apex. Put the reactor on an outlet so that I an have it run on a schedule as needed.

I also watched some videos on programming and added some alerts and somecode ot the skimmer, power heads and return pumps for feed modes. I ordered up some new velcro strips since the command strips did not work well. On the hottest power brink the command strip adhesive seperated. I bought some rated for higher temp and remounted them.Lets hoe they hold better.

I also ordered up a few compact power strips what the heck the right number of outlets o clean up the combining of power cords for things like lights and power heads.

Chaeto is actually showing signs of growth. I amrunning 12 hours under the Kessel H380. I thought it was just me so I had my friend check as well Its gained some mass and is a nice dark green. Looks great and is tumbling nicelyin the tank. It has a lot of room to grow.

Lilmatty5dimes · Nov 9, 2017

Looks great so far. Following along.

don_chuwish · Nov 9, 2017

Dang there's a lot going on under that stand!

bdejong1112o · Nov 9, 2017

don_chuwish said:
Dang there's a lot going on under that stand!

Yes there is. Lol, its been fun putting it all togather under there. I used all the available space. I have an external cabinet next to the tank that holds the Apex, Energy bar, Light power supplies, ATO controller, Wireless module for the radions and the Ice cap for the one MaxSpect Gyre power head.

The large fuge and sump are to support the Triton Full Method. It also gave me the option to use some of the 40g tank for the ATO. I can go all week on one fill. I still ahve some clean up to do on the DOS install. I have the triton bottles onthe way and once they get here I will clean up the wires and cables in that area.

The first inhabitants were added tonight. They cleared QT with a clean bill of health. Good activity level, eating great and zero signs of any issues. They sure dont fill the tank up thought, they looked much bigger in the 20g QT tank, lol. There is 4 of them but the 4th is off to the side being a little grumpy. They already ate a meal in the new tank and are starting to explore a little more of thier new home. Feed mode on the Apex is super cool and everything shut down for feeding time and restarted in the right order once they were done. Super cool feature that was stupid simple to setup.

bdejong1112o · Nov 9, 2017

Some more pictures of the new tank additions. They are settling in great and exploring the whole tank as a group now.

bdejong1112o · Nov 11, 2017

So, not sure if this will work but going to put it out there and see.

http://dejongtank.ddns.net:9192/video/mjpg.cgi

This is a camera on my QT tank...

mta_morrow · Nov 11, 2017

bdejong1112o said:
So, not sure if this will work but going to put it out there and see.

http://dejongtank.ddns.net:9192/video/mjpg.cgi

This is a camera on my QT tank...

Works like a champ! Nice job on your setup! Following.

bdejong1112o · Nov 13, 2017

Diatoms... man do I have some diatoms. Started small but exploded today. I had started to add some clean up snails a week ago but may have to step it up a bit. I can always remove them later but by the looks of things they will have plenty to eat for quite awhile.

Funny part is nitrites finally dissapeared, nitrate fell and I just did a 25% water change this past weekend. Going to do another one this weekend as part of the cycle process. I hate diatoms, water is cloudy with them when viewed through the long end.

I did put a few snails in the fuge to help down there. I may run lights out for a few days to keep the snails active as they seem to stop when the lights are on.

bdejong1112o · Nov 15, 2017

Man these dino's are a bummer. The snails are making headway on the mess but the water is so cloudy with it. I hate the way the tank looks right now, makes me want to hide it in shame.

No stringy brown stuff and no green alge of any sort, just this btown crap. It is fun to see the path the one big turbo makes each morning. He has been running laps on the sand bed and hit ine of the bigger rock formations. Under the blue lights the newly cleaned off areas are brilliant white.

Should I jeep running the lights on schedule and should I do another water change this weekend? I read somewhere that people say not to do water changes while in the dino bloom phase as it may just keep feeding them.