RL 120Gal Reef build

[Rlreefing]

I have already built the tank but I would like to share some of my experience with you I have been in the hobby for 8 years and have had multiple tanks and multiple builds. This will not be my last or biggest.

 

[Rlreefing]

The current stock in the tank is; naso tang, tomini tang, 2 gladiator clowns(ORA) and melanurus wrasse. 2 cleaner shrimp, snails, scarlet crabs, blue leg crabs.

 

[Rlreefing]

The tank is custom drilled 120 with 4 1" bulkheads and 2 3/4" bulk heads. Currently one of the 1" bulkheads acts as my return while the rest are drains with 90 deg fittings with strainers attached. The tank sits on a custom made wood stand with an overall height of 80" (including the tank). The main display is currently lit with 2 AI Primes. Additional flow is handled with 2 MP10w. A box fan is trimmed into the back of the hood for as needed cooling.

I am fortunate enough to have a dedicated room for filtration and storage.
The sump is a 50 gal stock tank from tractor supply. I run a RowapPhos, carbon and UV sterilizer. The return pump is a Reef Octo Varios-8 and the skimmer is a Reef Octo 2000 SSS, I have the neck cleaner installed and the waste is exported to a old coral pro salt bucket(1-1.5gal) with the skimmer float switch installed on the lid.

I supplement with BRS calcium, Alk, and mag on a Jabo-4. I hand dose red sea trace

I have an apex classic controller that helps automate the system a little. I/O breakout, temp, PH, WXM

The system also includes a 17 gal fresh water holding for top off, 30 gal independent tank for quarantine, The RODI is set up with a normal closed solenoid that is controlled by the apex with float valves in the fresh water holding tank.

Outside of the tank room I have a duel tub sink with a sprayer and more storage for plumbing and miscellaneous parts and supplies.

 

[Antics]

Looking good!

 

[Rlreefing]

 

[raylinds]

Great looking tank!

 

[Rlreefing]

As I mentioned before, I am fortunate to have a separate room for filtration. It is not the nicest of fish rooms but it serves as a place to get the rest of the filtration out of the main house. It is also a nice place to go sit on a bucket and contemplate the next build. When I get a wild hair I will do more about cord management, but out of sight out of mind.
I am not sure of the reason but I do have some issues with alk precipitation at the dosser intake side of the line. I have replaced the head and the line(standard air line). although I have not researched a fix and it does not cause me much concern for any other aspect than I do not like the little bit of waste it creates. The jugs are being reused as I am like to reuse as much as possible and refill them with the BRS alk and calcium.

 

[Rlreefing]

I have been having issues with the tank not skimming the surface water they way I prefer. I had the wet side of a hang over the back drain from my first 120 build that I was able to retrofit. I drilled a hole in the back of the plastic and slipped it over one of the 1" bulkheads and reinstalled the 90 deg pipe and now the water is the correct height and is skimming the surface water.

 

[Rlreefing]

I have taken the initiative to move the fan on the hood from the back to inside the hood and secured a backing to the hood to prevent fish from jumping out. I have also included a Hydor powerhead to increase flow in the display tank.

 

[Rlreefing]

I have been worried about not having enough holding capacity in my sump while the tank is shut down and when we get power failures here in Southwest Florida.I also have been having issues with the protein skimmer not pulling enough which may have been due to water height on the unit. Therefore, we purchased a 100 gal stock tank and that is now the new sump. I know, I know, I could have built a nice sump or just paid for one to be built, But i enjoy the stock tanks and there is no reason to get a show style sump if it is in the fish room out of site. I had just helped my brother-in-law pick up a 150 gal that he is currently using to house his fish while he is building his next tank out (hope to see the progress on his thread) and decided to just do it. My wife was not keen on buying a 300 gal stock tank as she thought it may be too big (I do have space limitations). I have also removed the 29 gal QT tank. That will be replaced with a modest 10 gal system soon. We have also built a DIY algae/ chaeto reactor. (I have changed the dirty filter socks that are shown).

 

[Antics]

Nice! How much was the increase in water volume?

 

[Rlreefing]

Nice! How much was the increase in water volume?

There was not actually any increase of water volume as the inner diameter of the tub increased the height of the water on the skimmer. I do plan to increase the water volume by 50 gal., add rock, build an insert to keep additional chaeto and other algae from free floating.

 

[Rlreefing]

Lately I have been changing up some of my maintenance schedule to be more active with nutrient output. I place a reactor with led lights wrapped around it and that has turned into a failure as I do not really have the drive to set a lighting schedule. I have been changing filter socks every 2 days and water changes every 5 to 7 days (5 gal). This seems to keep my cal and dkh in good parameters( I use red sea coral pro salt).

I added a copperband butterfly, this has been interesting as the Naso tang was relentless in chasing it. It was to the point that I thought that it was wearing the copperband out to the stressing point. At the advise of my brother-in-law I placed a mirror on the side of the tank and that reduced the aggression. I thought this to be weird behavior for the Naso as they are claimed to be peaceful fish.

I have also been adding a bunch of new corals and they have been flourishing

The color is not great, I am going to invest in some lenses for my camera and look into some for my brother-in-law as well as he is got a nice camera setup for taking pictures.

 

[Rlreefing]

I have taken the plunge to test out and try the new X-1 on my system. I currently have two and I have to say that these are the easiest pumps I have set up and used. I am always a proponent for budget reefing. With a price tag of$59 USD these pumps are the cheaper options with Bluetooth technology. If you look at the dosing pumps on BRS and other sites there is no mistaking that even if you buy 4 individual pumps you are still coming out ahead of the cheapest x4 head pump. There could be better software integration such as having it talk to multiple devices with the ability to share its information.
I use various platforms to control my tank depending where I am, but I read another reefers review stating that if power goes out that the pumps do not have internal memory and need to connect to the Bluetooth device. I live in Florida so it is only a matter of time before I can test this, but I have also implemented a dedicated old iPhone 6 to operate all the tank systems, including Bluetooth.

Below are pictures of the X1 un-boxing and it set up in the tank room

I also got rid of my 29 gal quarantine tank.

 

[Rlreefing]

I have been busy with life and it has been hectic at the house with a new baby. We have made some improvements with the tank, small minor changes, adding sand and live stock. see the below video for the most current view of the tank.

 

[Rlreefing]

It has been a while since I have posted. Life is busy. We have improved the stand. It was a necessity with a walking toddler who loves tank stuff as much as dad. New doors and canopy access. We have been trying AB+ for the corals and it seems to be doing a nice job with the corals. We are also trying vibrant for pesky hair algae. The tomini tang has been fast at work eating other algae that has formed on the sand bed. The sump light was a cheap eBay black box that had taken lots of abuse and started to consent us as a fire hazard, so we bought a cheap led grow light (Amazon) and it works great. Temporarily moved Cheato to a bucket that has rock getting conditioned to protect from the vibrant.
New additions:
20lb sand
2x gorgonian corals
Leather coral