Standard 120 build thread

[X-37B]

Let us know what you find.

Just checked effluent from carx. It is only .03 higher than tank.
So some po4 is comming from it.
Tanks running high for me at .153 with no issues.
Effluent is .184.
I will check again when it drops below my max target of .1.

 

[X-37B]

27 month update!.
I just did a 12 gal WC.
I will be doing this once a month now.
The tank looks noticably better after one.
I was doing a WC every 2 months
For a while now but I just like what the tank looks like after one.
Was going to upload a video but youtube would not upload.
Here are a pic from both ends.

 

[X-37B]

Newest piece of equipment.
This lifegaurd medium top flow reactor replaced the undersized aquamax that could not keep up.
The info says it holds 450ml but it really holds 750ml of media easily.

 

[X-37B]

I picked up this used 24x20x18 tank with 1/2" acrylic, corner overflow, and 3 sides and bottom made with black acrylic.
I drilled the back for a standard return.
I am going to plumb it into my 120 for about 30g's extra volume.
This should give my system around 150g's total.

I plan on running 3" sand bed and having it be a refugium with all the stuff I cant keep in my 120.
The goal is to do away with po4 reducing media.
Current no3 level is 4-5, and po4 <.1.
Without phosgaurd po4 will rise to .3ish. No issues running that level but my system just looks better, more color and polyp extension below .1 po4.
Eventually I will run it opposite the 120's light schedule.
I will most likely run my 150 halide since I have it sitting in the closet.
After a 3" sand bed thier will be 13" of water to the surface.
Should be online in a week or two.

 

[X-37B]

No light hung yet but its wet and not leaking, lol.
2 pieces of live rock from my frags sump.
80lbs sand for 3" bed. A 50/50 mix of sugar and aragonite live.
I hid the sand line and waterline with black pvc.
Currently just running return off main for flow. I dont want alot of flow so we will see.

 

[t5Nitro]

Looking good!

Remind me which ballast you power your halides with? I'm looking at the lumen bright mini single ended reflectors to run 20K radiums, 250 watt. Looking for a reliable combination.

 

[X-37B]

Looking good!

Remind me which ballast you power your halides with? I'm looking at the lumen bright mini single ended reflectors to run 20K radiums, 250 watt. Looking for a reliable combination.

I run an electronic ballast on my frag system which has a 250 watt mogal 14k phoenix bulb.
On my 120 the lamps are 250 watt de so I run m80 magnetic ballasts.
I actually prefer the mogal look over the de 250's and any electronic ballast will work.

 

[t5Nitro]

You think I can get by with 2 of the lumen bright mini reflectors (think they're 16x16") over a 4 ft tank? Might need some supplemental LED bars over the sides. New tank will be 3ft wide.

 

[X-37B]

You think I can get by with 2 of the lumen bright mini reflectors (think they're 16x16") over a 4 ft tank? Might need some supplemental LED bars over the sides. New tank will be 3ft wide.

My upgrade will be 72x36x22.
I plan on using hamiltons 20x20 mogal reflector. Same reflector I run on my 36x24x12 frag system.
I would look at that reflector and 400 watt bulbs.
The 250's and OR3 bars would work well though.
I will be running 2 Ushio 600 watt 7K bulbs. I will suplement with OR3's, 2 blue sky and 2 blue plus minimum, to get the color I want.
I have a thread where I ran the 600 over my frag system. I stopped the test because the corals and coralline algae were growing to fast and went back to the 250 which works well in the 12" tank.

 

[X-37B]

Here is my remote fuge today. The cheato has got to go. Not really good for a display fuge as pieces are everywhere.
I am going to put 3 more bunches of red macro when I remove the cheato.
Also looking at a few different macros to add.
Currently running my old 2 channel black box at 25% on both channels. May change to the 150 MH down the road.
There is a 3" sandbed but I put some black pvc to hide it and the waterline.

 

[James_O]

Tank looks amazing! The fuge is also awesome. Did you get any more macro’s?

 

[X-37B]

Tank looks amazing! The fuge is also awesome. Did you get any more macro’s?

I plan on picking up 3 more red next week. Its 4hrs away in Hayward but a store that knows what its doing.
Also looking to pick up some blue online soon.
Im gun shy on online orders. I only placed 2 so far and both sps arrived late and dead. Think I will deal with west coast shipping for the near future anyway.
As soon as I get the red I will post as the chaeto is going away.

I am using 1/2 the gfo I normaly do and po4 was .040 today.

 

[X-37B]

Feeding time. Time for 4 cubes and some pellets. My convict tang is getting big. So are the 6 blue green chromis.

 

[X-37B]

Just put in 2 new 14k phoenix bulbs. Originals were in just short of 14 months.

 

[X-37B]

Well the new bulbs are noticably brighter than the 14 month old ones.
1st pic yesterday
2nd pic toady
I did not even clean the glass, lol.
And a few random pics with the new bulbs.
I will take another FTS in 2 weeks after they burn in to compare.

 

[fishguy242]

Well the new bulbs are noticably brighter than the 14 month old ones.
1st pic yesterday
2nd pic toady
I did not even clean the glass, lol.
And a few random pics with the new bulbs.
I will take another FTS in 2 weeks after they burn in to compare.

STUNNING...;Wideyed
Looks like i have some catching up to do here...

BTW.. .Happy B'day ,from your friendly neighborhood R2R B'day "stalker??" ...

 

[X-37B]

STUNNING...;Wideyed
Looks like i have some catching up to do here...

BTW.. .Happy B'day ,from your friendly neighborhood R2R B'day "stalker??" ...

Thanks! Tanks rolling along nicely.
Hoping to eliminate the po4 reducing agents down the line.
Picked up 3 more bunches of red macro yesterday for the remote fuge. I am going to leave a small ball of cheato. If left alone it does not come apart much. I will just learn to deal with it. Also just starting to trim/frag some of the stags as they are encroaching on others. Frag tank is filling up as I got a couple more wild frags yesterday also.

 

[ying yang]

Hi and just read all 5 pages,interesting read and lovely looking tank you got.
Got some good ideas that may implement as my my first tank keeps progressing ^_^

 

[X-37B]

I got some more red macro algae.
2 bunches of ogo and one bunch of dragons breath.
I kept a softball size ball of cheato.
The macro is visibly growing quite well.
I was changing my blend of gfo, phosgaurd, carbon, every 3 days to keep po4 at <0.1.
Its been 5 days since last media change and po4 was 12-.037 today so the macro is working alot faster than anticipated.

 

[X-37B]

Couple pics I just took.