Terry's 180 SPS Peninsula Upgrade

[Terry4505]

Hello I read ur whole thread yesterday nice build so I have questions for u as I planed my build with some of the equipment u got rid of
One why did u he rid of the wavs u said u liked them then they were gone
Two why u get rid of the vectra?
Three ur return piping I see is connected with two penductors on the end why did u do the piping that way and how did u decide to hold it up.
I think that's all the questions I can at least remember
Great build very beautiful

I did like the WAV pumps, but they were a bit loud, and with the peninsula, pushing the water away from the overflow led to a buildup of surface scum at the far end, hence the return plumbing and the penductors. They push the water towards the overflow.

I got rid of the vectra because it wasn't enough for my system once the sump moved to the basement, and with the return pump in the basement, there was no need for a "silent" pump. I recently upgraded my Jebao DCS 9000 to a DCT 15000 and it is more than enough pump to move water from the ground level of the basement up about 12 feet and through my manifold. I've had good luck with Jebao pumps.

Beautiful project. Tank shows excellent dynamics. I decided to also dispense NO3: PO4-X from the Red Sea.
What is now the parameters of the system and how many doses you daily NO3: PO4-X?
Merry christmas and a happy new year.

I am dosing 17 mls daily of NO3PO4-X via my dosing pump.

My parameters have been a bit all over the place as my ALK consumption has dropped (not sure why, maybe high nitrates..?)

PH- 8-ish
ALK- 9.6 (trying to get it back under 9)
Cal- 440
Mag- 1300 (always low...)
PO4- .06 (too high)
Nitrate- Dark Pink on Red Sea test kit, which goes up to 4 ppm

 

[29102016]

What a stunning tank! Wow!! Hats off to you sir!!!!

 

[MRRBW]

Just finished reading the whole thread. Great build so far and I enjoyed reading it all and watching the videos. Great adaptations as you developed your system. What was the original light fixture that you have adapted?

 

[TNT32D]

Very nice build! I really like the fixture. May I ask what you are using on top of the bottles for your dosinging lines?

 

[Terry4505]

Just finished reading the whole thread. Great build so far and I enjoyed reading it all and watching the videos. Great adaptations as you developed your system. What was the original light fixture that you have adapted?

-I don't remember the exact brand of fixture. It was a MH/T5/LED moonlight combo.

Very nice build! I really like the fixture. May I ask what you are using on top of the bottles for your dosinging lines?

They are 1/4 push connect fittings from BRS. They did a video on how to DIY dosing containers where they showed them.

January Update:

I am going to shoot a quick update video, hopefully tomorrow, but until then... The tank is doing well. I was struggling a bit with high ALK. I screwed up doing Kalk to my system and the Alk shot up from 8-ish to 10-ish. And in my low-nutrient system, there were some detrimental effects. My green cap took the worst hit. I fragged off a few pieces, but they too have some RTN. I cut back on the Kalk, and my two-part dose, and the Alk is now sitting at 8.5 tested daily with both Hanna and Red Sea. It takes me about 2 minutes every morning to test, but I think it is worth it. I want to get out ahead of any problems.

With the Alk going down, I've noticed an immediate improvement in coral health. Which could also be due to adding a 72" Reefbrite Tech (blue) fixture and 2x 36" Reefbrite XHO fixtures to the tank. They were used, and available. So I made them work. I connected the 36" fixtures with a small piece of threaded rod, and zip-tied them to my canopy. The Tech fixture came with mounting legs, which I screwed into the ends of the canopy. In a week, I have seen crazy changes in the corals. Coloration is improved, growth tips have exploded on almost all of the SPS. My purple Milka Stylo, which had turned light pink with the alk raise, is back to its deep purple color.

I don't know if the Kessils and T5s just were not enough, or the extra pop from the Reefbrites made the difference. I haven't adjusted the photo period for the T5 or Kessils in a long time, but whatever it is, it seems to have worked.

The fish and corals look as good as they ever have in this tank.

From the living room side:

Left end

Middle:

Right side:

End shot:

Kitchen side:
Right end (with lots of reflection from the window)

Middle:

Left side:

The Reefbrites:

FTS:

 

[Terry4505]

Update vid:

 

[Aleks]

Hello. I also use a carbon dosing method of the Red Sea.
I want to ask you - are adding to the bacteria or not? Posted in the Red Sea, but no answer. What do you think? I'm adding 4 ml. on the day the Red Sea carbon. Thank you.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Update vid:

Love the video!

 

[Clayton Jessup]

Tank looks amazing Terry , one day I will get there lol [emoji23]

 

[haanstang]

Awesome build. Great thread. Working on a similar build

 

[haanstang]

Are you happy with the placement of the overflow box? And with the water level in your DT?
And did the level change when you got the new return pump
I have the 9000 right now like you had previously and not sure if I will need a bigger return pump until I get the tank wet.

 

[Terry4505]

Update time:

 

[Husker]

I'm following along. I'm thinking of doing a very similar peninsula tank, except only 5' and 150 gallons. Taking some inspiration, as there aren't many peninsula tanks out there.

 

[justin.k.nelson]

looks really nice man. I love how clean your canopy looks.

 

[Terry4505]

looks really nice man. I love how clean your canopy looks.

Thanks!

With the tank in the living area, it has always been really important to try to keep things as clean as possible. The stand and canopy are painted the same color as the walls (it's light grey, looks white in the pictures), which helps it blend into the room.

Tank is doing really well. PH and Alk have stabilized and coral growth as really taken off. I upped the Kalk dose a bit to keep up with ALK demand. I still test the Alk daily with the Hanna Checker.

Fish and corals are doing well.

 

[justin.k.nelson]

I forgot if you use one or not, but do you use a Calcium reactor? I'm using a Geo reactor but I seem to constantly have tweaking issues with mine. I was thinking of adding a Kalk reactors to still offer some alk and ca in case my calcium reactor goes wonky on me and help with keeping the pH higher at night.

 

[Terry4505]

No calcium reactor. I dose two-part via a dosing pump (like 25 mls/day) and offset that with Kalk dosed via dosing pump (like 200 mls per day, spit between a bunch of doses). Almost like using Kalk in ATO, but I don't like having the Kalk dose dependent on evaporation.

 

[RickG]

You just made a two hour wait at the airport bearable lol. Just read the whole thread, great tank and crazy progression since the beginning. Keep up the great work brother

 

[Terry4505]

Thanks!

I cannot believe how far the tank has come in a year and a half. I am excited to get started with project "Finish the basement, add gigantic in-wall tank with crazy fish" My wife is a saint.

 

[Aleks]

I've got problems with the dosing PO4NO3 have losses among corals, carbonate, I fell down to 5.6 and I think that would try another liquid carbon Brightwell .Reef BioFuel
I dosed 4 ml. daily. What are the opinions?
And you add there any bacteria in the tank?