Rocketman's 370g 5'x5' Square Build

Discussion in 'Show Off Your Fish Tanks!' started by rocketmandb, Jun 17, 2013.

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  1. scajeo

    scajeo Sea Dragon

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    Port Orchard, WA.
    Holy SNIKIES Batman... er Rocketman. I just read every page and wow what a beautiful tank.

    Did you ever put anything over the top for your jumpers? Any new pictures to show off how everything has settled in and grown?
     
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  3. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

    Joined:
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    Sorry for the lack of updates (and pics). My lack of posting here does not betray a lack of progress on the aquarium, just an inherent busy schedule.

    First, some pics. I took these last night with the blue/purple lights on:

    This is the view from the front entry area:
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    I'm calling out some things I'll explain below:
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    From the "front" of the tank:
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    So what's been happening:

    Corals In General:
    This has been a weird time for my corals. Some are just absolutely exploding while others are either stagnating or actually dying off since the move. I essentially lost my two favorite acro colonies (see below), my favorite millie colony and one of my other favorite acro colonies is only now starting to grow again. I've got a chalice that has just started bleaching after growing well for months. But on the good side, my montipora setosa continues to thrive. I mean this big blob of orange is just so cool. My staghorns are growing out of control too. I've got this one teal one with sky-blue new growth that is the king in this regard. The zoas in my avatar started as the 1/2 dozen or so you see there, but have been multiplying massively. There are easily a couple hundred now. My LPS are multiplying and happy.

    In the numbered pic above:

    1) This is this tiny piece of growth that is ever so slowly getting larger. One night when viewing the tank like this (night mode), I saw this little glow. This is one of my favorite lost acros. A tiny amount survived and it is making a bid to come back. (Matt, this is from the colony I fragged to you). I'm hoping it makes it and will be stronger than ever (survival of the fittest).

    2) These are the comeback pieces of my second favorite lost acro. So maybe they both aren't lost after all.

    3) This is a really cool blue tipped frilly acro that had stagnated since the move. It is finally starting to grow again. The blue growth seen here is just from the last few weeks.

    4) There are two #4s. These are both pieces of that teal stag I mention above. The one you can barely see on the top right is trying to reach the surface.

    5) The monti setosa.

    6) I actually don't know what this coral is. If you were to look at one nub, you would think it was a stylo, but it doesn't grow like most stylos - it's too branchy. Regardless, this guy has been very happy too. I will be fragging him in the next couple days.

    7) This is another stag (a pure blue one). Always a slow grower, it has been happy since the move.

    Other stuff:

    Kalk Reactor:
    So my kalk reactor has been giving me fits. The design of the reactor has been working wonderfully. In fact, it's much easier to deal with than my last design. The issue is (I should say continues to be since it screwed me on my last one too) is the RO water feed pump. I have been patently unable to find a reliable pump. I've tried BRS dosers, I've tried Aqualifters, a few others - most dosing pumps are too expensive or unreliable or both... Inevitably the pump would fail, I wouldn't notice, my calcium would drop and my corals would suffer. So finally I said f@&k the pump! I now have a nearly perpetual supply of RO water that I am gravity drip dosing through the reactor. I'll draw the feed system out in another post, but it has been working nearly flawlessly and maintenance-free for a few months now. I'll also explain the "nearly" part as well. Regardless, I am EXTREMELY happy with the system.

    Dinos:
    I've been dealing with a bout of dinoflagellates lately. Yes, I let my phosphates get high. I do not yet have a fuge and this is hurting. It is on my todo list. Anyway, I sped up the kalk drip to raise Ph and I got a phosphate reactor running with Aquamaxx Phosphate Out Pro (GFO). This is another post I owe this community (and Matt, and Aquamaxx), but long story short, this sh!t rocks! It is expensive, but it is the best GFO (by far) I've used. Again, post coming on this, but between the awesome GFO and higher kalk dosing, the dinos are slowly receding.

    Quick Disconnects:
    I found these amazing PVC quick disconnects. I have them attached to my main utility pump then the other ends on my RO tank, the drain on my saltwater changing tank, etc. Very reliable, easy to connect and durable. Will post pics soon - also going to use them on my new GFO (and other media reactor) super large 50 micron prefilter that I will be installing soon (so much to do).

    Lights:
    I just drilled holes through the wall behind the lights and reran the wiring through grommets. No more wires dropping down behind the dank.

    Water Flow:
    Matt turned me on to the Maxpect Gyre pumps. I got one for Christmas and absolutely love it. I will be buying another soon. So much better than my Vortechs.

    Frags:
    I just got a frag rack that I found the perfect spot for. First frags go on it in a couple days.

    Fish:
    So one of my female Anthias and the male made the move OK. I've tried adding more females with no success. They either don't acclimate or the jump - I'm not adding any more. My Flame Hawk has basically disappeared. I see him maybe once a week. I guess he's found independence in his new pad and doesn't need to cater to me any more. Some people questioned how all the tangs would work out. They are all quite happy and not messing with each other much. My potters is fatter than ever and clowns dopier than ever.

    More to come... but overall things are good and lots still to do.

    EDIT: I should also mention that my reverse superman montis and a monti that looks like a dulled down version of a reverse superman (kind of ugly, actually, but what are you going to do?) are taking over their respective areas of the tank. I'll get daylight pics of those.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2015
  4. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    Hey bud, I saw a new-ish protocol on treating dinos you can research. It involves dosing 10mL/gallon 3% HCl for a number of days combine with a 3 day blackout. I saw a guy work it on a sps and zoa tank and it was amazing, I mean his tank was SLIMY and it was eradicated. Alot of people have been having sucess with HCl these days, and I know alot of speakers at MACNA this year use it for dipping coral in conjunction or in place of Bayer. Food for thought glad to see everything is looking good!
     
  5. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

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    I posted this on my kalk reactor thread, but figured I'd repost here.

    Here is what my system looked like originally:
    [​IMG]

    Basically the Kalk RO feed and ATO were completely separate. This necessitated periodic refilling of the Kalk RO feed tank and constant monitoring to make sure the pump hadn't failed. When I finally had enough with crappy pumps, I made the following change:

    [​IMG]

    So what I did was to run a drip line from the Kalk RO feed tank to the Kalk reactor. I regulate the flow rate with a drip valve. The Kalk RO feed tank is now tied into the ATO. Basically, when the ATO float switch fires, it fills the Kalk RO feed tank. This tank has a bulkhead that allows overflow to the sump. As such, there is always water to drip as long as I keep my 250 gallon RO holding tank filled.

    The only issues I've run into with this is that the slow drip causes a build up of Kalk at the end of the tube that drips it to the sump. It can clog so periodic maintenance (~once every 4-6 weeks) to keep it clear is necessary. If I had a more vertical drip tube, it wouldn't be an issue, but I'm not changing it. I just look in every once in a while to make sure it's dripping. If I see a drip, I move on.

    Overall I've been very happy with this set up. It is as close to maintenance free dosing as I've found.

    My next endeavor is to see if powder dosing of other additives is viable.
     
  6. APC

    APC Gigas Clam

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    Atlanta, GA
    Wow, great update! Sounds like things are really going well!
     
  7. CBSurfrider

    CBSurfrider Millepora

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    Indialantic, Fl.
    Is there a like button for the entire thread? I absolutely love this tank. I just ordered replacement bulbs for my UV and once they are in I have a Powder Blue in qt at my LFS waiting on his new home.
     
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  9. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

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    Some more pics. I took these with my iPhone 6 and they came out OK - the weird thing is that blues just get super-saturated.

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    DSC reef, 1.0reef and CBSurfrider like this.
  10. chris adams

    chris adams Purple Tang

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  11. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    Is that a branching galaxia?
     
  12. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

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    It is some form of Galaxea, but I don't know exactly which.