oh207 65g Tank Thread

[oh207]

Hi MR,
I figured it was time to start my own tank thread and post updates. This is a 65g Deep Blue Reef Ready tank. The tank was setup in April 2013 and I've been gradually working on it since then.
I plan to add posts in chronological order to document some of the changes I've made since setting up the tank.

 

[oh207]

I used 50lbs of base rocks to start the tank along with arogonite sand. I didn't wash the sand, so the thank was cloudy for over a week.
I was very worried at first. Back then I didn't know of forums such as MR or RC. So I googled and learn as much as I can. Lots of others were complaining of the cloudiness and while some report that its clear in 2-3 days, mine went 7 days without clearing up. I couldn't see the back glass after 7 days. I was worried and wanted to take out everything and start over.

I decided to let the tank sit and took the family on a trip to AC.

 

[oh207]

Came back from AC and found this! It was all clear.

 

[lnevo]

Very nice! Have the same tank. Following along!

 

[oh207]

So I had a rough start with the sump. I got a Wet/Dry sump with bioballs. Its a long story...the short version is that I didn't fully research my options. Also, I wasn't sure if I was going with a freshwater or saltwater setup. All I knew was that I wanted a tank. I had a 125g Koi tank and 2x55g tanks with Oscars and cichlids when I was in High School/College. I always wanted a saltwater tank, but figured it was too difficult.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

get rid of the bioballs

 

[oh207]

Very nice! Have the same tank. Following along!

Thanks for the follow. I realized we have the same tank and I've been following you as well.

 

[oh207]

get rid of the bioballs

Hi - I've since gotten rid of the bioballs. In fact, I've gone through 3 sumps since April. I was told by the LFS that I can take out the bioballs and add a piece of LR in there. I tried that for a week but that didn't last too long...stay tune for more updates.

 

[oh207]

In May I took a trip to vacation home in Florida and by cuz who has a saltwater setup took me around a few stores in Orlando. By this time I didn't discover any of the numerous stores that are on Long Island and the 5 boroughs.

We visited Ocean Blue Aquarium in Orlando and I was amazed. These guys had 50 Radions all synced and showed be a demo of equipments and their setups.

Being a techie, I was sold. I purchased a Radion, a MP-10, a SeaSide Aquatics skimmer rated for 150g, and a NEW Sump!!!

Then I had to figure out how to get all this equipment back to NY. It was a lot of fun explaining to the the JetBlue guys at check-in what I had in the boxes.

 

[oh207]

Came back to NY and Switch out the old Wet/Dry for the new sump. Setup my new skimmer, and installed the Vortech.

 

[oh207]

Mounting the Radion. I didn't want to use a hanging kit and wanted to keep my canopy. I learned that most saltwater tanks should not have a top. This is to allow for gas exchange.
So I decided to mount the unit inside the canopy. Its about 8" from the water line. I think the recommended height is 9-12 inches.
Went to True Value and got these fence brackets for $0.49 each.

 

[oh207]

Had an algae bloom. Green hair and brown hair. Had to cut down on the light schedule and intensity.
I was running the Radion at 100% for 12hrs/day!

I cut it down to 60% at 9hrs/day.

Programming the unit was easy. All I needed to do was swing the bracket to the side.

 

[oh207]

For the first 3 months I was doing a 10g water change every 2 weeks. I was also purchasing ready mix water at the LFS at $20/container and RODI at $3 gallon for top-off.
I wasn't ready to start mixing my own. But decided to get a RODI Unit, a 200g box of IO salt, and picked up a few items from MR members.
Oh, by this time I had discovered MR.

So I got another Vortech (MP40), RODI 4-Stage Unit, 2x20g tanks for making/mixing water, and a few other pumps for mixing and draining water.

 

[oh207]

Found BRS Supply online and after much research I decided that I need to get a GFO/Carbon Reactor. So I place an order for a BRS Deluxe reactor, carbon, GFO, and few other items.
The shipment arrived and I wasn't pleased. The GFO container cap had broken during shipment and spilled out into the box. To make matters worse, the box was brought into the house and pulled across the carpet!!!
I contacted BRS and they immediately replace the container of GFO. I was happy again and have since placed numerous orders from them.

 

[oh207]

Was getting tired of GHA, so I went to PetsWarehouse and picked up 10 Mexican Turbo Snails. The GHA had no chance. Also got a CUC package of 100 assortments of snails, and a few crabs from Reef2Go.

 

[oh207]

Livestock!
First, I will admit that I made some poor choices in stocking fish and did not fully research my purchases. This is indeed the case for the 2 butterfly fish. I got them when they were the size of a quarter, but they have quadruple in size and has eaten and entire colony of green palys which probably had over 75+ polyps.
Here they are enjoying half a sheet of seaweed.

 

[oh207]

Also got an Apex back in August and hooked it up. It came in very handy when NYC had a couple of heatwaves this summer.
I have an Azooo fan over the DT and a regular clip-on-fan over the sump. The DT fan kicks on at 79.5 and the sump fan kicks on at 80.0. The Apex also controls my heater. With this I was able to stabilize the temperature.

The Apex also helped me to discover an issue with my pH that I probably would never have found. Each time I do a water change, it drops my pH by just over a point!!! But it will gradually go back up. I would not have noticed this because I only test water params before a bi-weekly water change. I still haven't figured out how to match pH for the water change as yet. Thats a separate thread.
I also have it setup to send me email alerts and I also have one of the EB8 connected to a computer UPS just in case of power failure. I still need to review the settings and set things to turn off in case of a power failure. Will do so before the winter starts.

 

[oh207]

Last update for the night. I've finally caught up with the present and only after this recent addition to the system that I felt it was time to create a tank thread. So I decided to post it all in one day/night.

A few weeks ago I discovered CustomKing and his wonderful work.
So I reached out to him and presented him with my request to make a custom sump with a fuge. The sump I had was 24"x9"x16". I barely got it into the stand. But I was never pleased with it because it doesn't have an area for a fuge.
I provided Jeff with my measurements and he sketch out the details and a week later my sump was ready. Today I took out the old sump and added the new one, after much difficulty. And having to move the stand a few inches to get it in was the easy part. New sump dimensions, 26"x12"x16".
I got some fancy probe holders and most importantly a small area to grow some chaeto!
The fuge area is empty for now. I'm thinking of adding Ecosystem Miracle Mud in there to start. Will be looking for some Chaeto in the next week or so.
Shots of the new sump.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

tank is coming along nicely!

 

[oh207]

tank is coming along nicely!

Thanks. I still have some work to do. I disconnected the Carbon/GFO reactor to get the new sump in. I'm thinking of leaving it out for now and see what happens.