Ron Reefman's new 90g build

[Ron Reefman]

Far be it from me to disappoint!

The beach just after sunrise. Not littered with 'stuff' and not many people giver 45 degree temps!

Elaine getting a photo of the birds. She has become quite the painter and birds have been some of her best work. She sold 7 out of 8 at the Pine Island Art League annual sale.

There were several spots along our 3 mile walk where there were quite a few scallops washed up. Those further up the beach had been out long enough that they were dead. Some more recent arrivals were still alive and would snap shut if you stepped anywhere close by.

A typical scallop.

And a couple of the live ones in the 16g holding tank. For anybody who sees this and doesn't know, those shinny spots all along the opening of the shell are the scallops many eye!

Eyes are in both the lower and upper shell.

Then there is this unusual (to me) barnacle. I believe the crab carapace is a blue crab. This big boy is about 1.25 to 1.5 inches in diameter.

If you look really close, you can see a small barnacle (typical of what we see on shells here) on the right side of the big barnacle with the filter feeding structure (fan) sticking out.

 

[SMSREEF]

So Cool!!!
I had no ideas scallops had eyes like that.
The beach looks amazing this morning too.

 

[crusso1993]

Far be it from me to disappoint!

The beach just after sunrise. Not littered with 'stuff' and not many people giver 45 degree temps!

Elaine getting a photo of the birds. She has become quite the painter and birds have been some of her best work. She sold 7 out of 8 at the Pine Island Art League annual sale.

There were several spots along our 3 mile walk where there were quite a few scallops washed up. Those further up the beach had been out long enough that they were dead. Some more recent arrivals were still alive and would snap shut if you stepped anywhere close by.

A typical scallop.

And a couple of the live ones in the 16g holding tank. For anybody who sees this and doesn't know, those shinny spots all along the opening of the shell are the scallops many eye!

Eyes are in both the lower and upper shell.

Then there is this unusual (to me) barnacle. I believe the crab carapace is a blue crab. This big boy is about 1.25 to 1.5 inches in diameter.

If you look really close, you can see a small barnacle (typical of what we see on shells here) on the right side of the big barnacle with the filter feeding structure (fan) sticking out.

Thanks for sharing, Ron!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Today I tore down my 16g holding tank, cleaned everything and put it all back together along with black sand, new saltwater and a top off pump and heater. I need the heater about 3 weeks of the year spread out over January thru March. BTW, I've read some about black sand having some metals in them that are attracted to magnets. So I washed the sand (it was SUPER clean) and I waved a very powerful magnet through it while washing it and nothing stuck to the magnet. So RFAs will start moving over to the new RFA breeding tank tomorrow. YEAH! ;Woot;Woot;Woot;Woot

I've also finished cleaning algae off the rocks and coral in the new 90g DT and also finished processing them through a hydrogen peroxide dip. The DT is a disaster in terms of placement. Hopefully tomorrow I can get started on that after I get all the easy RFAs out of the sand in that tank and move them over to the breeding tank.

 

[crusso1993]

Today I tore down my 16g holding tank, cleaned everything and put it all back together along with black sand, new saltwater and a top off pump and heater. I need the heater about 3 weeks of the year spread out over January thru March. BTW, I've read some about black sand having some metals in them that are attracted to magnets. So I washed the sand (it was SUPER clean) and I waved a very powerful magnet through it while washing it and nothing stuck to the magnet. So RFAs will start moving over to the new RFA breeding tank tomorrow. YEAH! ;Woot;Woot;Woot;Woot

I've also finished cleaning algae off the rocks and coral in the new 90g DT and also finished processing them through a hydrogen peroxide dip. The DT is a disaster in terms of placement. Hopefully tomorrow I can get started on that after I get all the easy RFAs out of the sand in that tank and move them over to the breeding tank.

Like you, I've heard mixed things about black sand in a reef. What brand/ kind of sand are you using?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Like you, I've heard mixed things about black sand in a reef. What brand/ kind of sand are you using?

I got 2 bags of this and I'm quite happy with it so far. The few RFAs in the new tank already look spectacular!

 

[Ron Reefman]

I just received my shipment of 10 sexy shrimp and 5 porcelain crabs which I intend to be a big part of the CUC in the RFA breeding tank. I have 35 RFAs in the tank and most are in PVC end caps. I was impressed with how Blue Zoo packed them. Every tiny shrimp and small crab in it's own double bag. Heck, even the Reef Nutrition was sealed in a double bag! I'm currently acclimating them and everybody is alive and moving around.

Later this week a shipment of CUC for my 90g DT will arrive from Reef Cleaners and some of the ceriths will go in the RFA tank to help keep things clean.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well, it's been a while since I've done an update. And today's up date is the start of a serious change to the 90g DT. I've been fighting an algae issue since I set this tank up. So today I'm going to prep for and possibly finish making a serious change in my 90g DT.

I did a 3 level egg crate platform in the tank when I set it up. It seems the weird algae I have, which likes to grow under the rocks and out of the light, also likes to grow on and through the egg crate.

So I'm going to pull all the rocks out (they all have corals growing on them) and put them in a Brute full of week old saltwater. Then I'll decide what I'm going to do about the egg crate platform. The top layer is definitely going away. I may keep the lower level or the 2nd level. Then I have a bunch of bigger live rock that has been curing for months in a Brute. So I'll build a new rock structure in the tank. Then I'll pull coral covered rocks and set them on the new structure. Any rocks or frag plugs that have algae attached will get cleaned, maybe treated with a spray of H2O2, and maybe quarantined in a holding tank to be sure the algae doesn't grow back.

I'll take photos of before, during and after. I hope this goes smoothly!!!

 

[jtl]

Ron, I never had major algae issues with any of my tanks but I believe that frequent maintenance is the best preventative. I always designed my rockscape so that I had good access to all places for cleaning, whether that be brushing/scraping or vacuuming. Cleaning was done on a weekly basis so nothing got too far out of hand but on rare occasions it was necessary to do a H2O2 dip on selected corals. I also always vacuumed the sand bed. I was amazed at how quick algae could start to grow. Good luck and I hope all is well.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi John. The algae I have isn't serious and is kind of slow glowing. But it only grows under rocks and it mostly (80%) grows where there is good flow under the rock because it's sitting on the egg crate.

I have lots of big rocks that are good quality, so I'll try for something a bit different than what the last experiment was. Actually it was more that I was getting tired of seeing the egg crate in the tank. I think I did the platforms too big which made it hard to get it all covered with rocks. So I'll down size or eliminate the egg crate and use more rock.

BTW, the shop doing the work on my Miata finally spent several hours on the phone with Innovative and they got my boost controller working! Now we are back to fine tuning the ECU for diveability. They just sent a data log to Moto-East yesterday. For about the 4th or 5th time in this 3+ year long saga, I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed that it's not another headlight on a locomotive headed my way! ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

 

[jtl]

Hi John. The algae I have isn't serious and is kind of slow glowing. But it only grows under rocks and it mostly (80%) grows where there is good flow under the rock because it's sitting on the egg crate.

I have lots of big rocks that are good quality, so I'll try for something a bit different than what the last experiment was. Actually it was more that I was getting tired of seeing the egg crate in the tank. I think I did the platforms too big which made it hard to get it all covered with rocks. So I'll down size or eliminate the egg crate and use more rock.

BTW, the shop doing the work on my Miata finally spent several hours on the phone with Innovative and they got my boost controller working! Now we are back to fine tuning the ECU for diveability. They just sent a data log to Moto-East yesterday. For about the 4th or 5th time in this 3+ year long saga, I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed that it's not another headlight on a locomotive headed my way! ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

I hope You will bring it up to Venice to break it in. Sounds like an excuse for lunch and a beer!

 

[Ron Reefman]

I hope You will bring it up to Venice to break it in. Sounds like an excuse for lunch and a beer!

Count on it!

I'm helping a young man up north who is kind of new to the hobby. He just told me his parents (retired) just bought a house in Venice!

 

[Ron Reefman]

OK, so here is the start of the process. I'm not happy with the 3 level platform I made. I think it's too big and the top level is too high. It also seems to attract algae! Because I've been fighting the algae almost since I set this tank up, I never did a rockscape that I would have called finished. This is what the tank looked like at the start of the day today.

Front

Left side

Right side

I brought in 2 Brute garbage cans. The gray one had 20g of new saltwater. I put about 8g of it into a 10g tank sitting next to the 90g DT (not in this photo) and left 12g in the Brute. Bigger rocks with corals attached would go in the brute and small rocks with corals, frag plugs and delicate sps corals would go in the 10g tank.

The green one had 20g of old saltwater, a big return pump circulating water and about 75 lbs of cured rock that had been in there since before I put together this tank at Christmas of 2019.

 

[Ron Reefman]

In this photo from the original build, you can see the 3 levels.

After all the corals and rocks were out, I pulled out the egg crate platform. I cut off the lower level, then shortened the legs of the middle level by about half. So the platform was just an inch or two off the sand. Then I took the tall center level and cut those legs about in half. This is how they looked in the tank.

I played with rocks from the Brute to surround the new smaller egg crate platform.

This is all rock from the Brute and no coral. The next step was to pull the bigger rocks with corals on them and add them to the rockscape. A few of these rocks didn't get used as they have too much algae attached, so they stayed in the Brute. Then I worked with the smaller rocks, frag plugs and the lps and sps coral (I only have a few).

 

[Ron Reefman]

There are frags that have algae on the underside of the plug and they went into the Brute with the other algae challenged rocks!

This is basically what I've ended up with. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's Way, WAY better than what I started with!

The rock at the left front corner has some corals sitting on it for now. But the rock has some big deep holes and I'm hoping that some day I'll be able to get a few fancy RFAs to sit in those holes and look flashy at the front corner!

One of my sea stars was very confused with all that went on today.

Tomorrow I'd start working on the rocks and frag plugs that have algae. Once they are cured of their disgraceful behavior and are algae free, they will go in the tank as well. I'll probably do a little shuffling and minor rearranging. But for the foreseeable future, this is my tank!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Looking good! I'm expecting a Reef Cleaners order tomorrow. Been buying from John for years!

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's been a month and the tank is starting to look better. Corals are opening and the algae seems to be under control... for now.

I've been doing more beach walks to get out of the house and still be away from people (social distancing). Yesterday I collected a couple of cute small sea hares. More info and photos here:

Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

North Scotland... man I bet the water is cold. Did you take any photos? Do you have a tank for local stuff that needs cooler water? The only place I ever saw in Scotland was Loch Lomond. Back in 1972 a friend an I bought Triumph Bikes in London, went to the TT Races on the Isle of Man and then...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Ron Reefman]

Wow, it's been too long since I've up dated anything here. So starting today there will be a lot more. I'm changing the way my leds are mounted with custom made DIY units. I'll be making a screen cover for the tank as I had a fish go 'tile surfing' a couple of nights ago. And I want to do some updates on coral growth, macro algae in the sump and spawning of a RFA in the 16g breeding tank.

Lets start with the led fixture mounts first. I like the legs on my Reef Breeder Photons. They are sturdy and adjustable. But I want to add a screen cover and it's not easy to build around with the 4 brackets that the legs mount into sitting on the side of the tank.

You can see how much of the side glass is used up by the brackets the legs fit into.

So I went to a shop and had some polished aluminum bent into an 'L' shape and holes drilled for the tank mount or for mounting into the wall behind the tank.

I had to go custom because the front fixture is too far forward for any of the commercial units. Those are the brackets you see at the back of the tank in the top photo while I was doing a test fit.

I intend to mount them to the wall using spreader bolts. But I also have some plastic mounts that can attach to the back glass that Current USA was kind enough to send me at no charge. THANK YOU!

The inside of the 'U' fits over the edge of the glass and the long plastic bolts hold it in place. The aluminum brackets I had made mount to the outside of the 'U' with the short plastic screws. But my tank is so close to the wall that there isn't enough room for the plastic bracket with the aluminum bracket attached to fit between the back glass of the tank and the wall! Oops!

Here is a view over the top of the tank. I'm using the Photon's thumbscrews and running them through the aluminum bracket and threading them into the top of the legs. Eventually I will cut off the end of the leg with just one hole and use it as a nut that is fitted inside the track for the legs. I'll end up getting longer bolts for the top so I can put about a 1" to 2" spacer between the fixture and the aluminum bracket. There are 2 fans (one on either side of the bigger fixture that are under the bracket. The spacers will give the fans room to 'breath' and I think the fixtures being dropped a bit off the brackets will look better. I also think the spacers at the front edge of the fixture will be 1/2" to 3/4" shorter than the ones at the back of the fixture. This serves two purposes. Having the fixture tipped a bit makes it easier to look at and not get the 'glare' from the leds directly in my eyes. It also helps get the light into the tank at a bit better angle so I get less shadow under overhangs.

 

[JR Bodyman]

Looking forward to your build Ron. I’ve never attempted to build an aquarium but now you got me thinking. I’ll be watching any progress pics!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Looking forward to your build Ron. I’ve never attempted to build an aquarium but now you got me thinking. I’ll be watching any progress pics!

Small tanks are easy to build with a minimum of tools and just one person. The bigger tanks require more clamps (and maybe bigger clamps) and 2 people to handle the bigger and heavier glass panels.

It's really more about getting the glass cut by a company that does good work. My last build the glass had to go back because they didn't even get straight edges! Then comes taking your time and test fitting. Then a bit of confidence helps. Having the right tools (mostly clamps) helps. And finally knowing a few simple tricks. And I'm always willing to share!