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jlanger's Reef Build: Episode II - The 120gal Strikes Back (1 Viewer)

Great update, tank looks like it's maturing. Fish look great as well.
I've been on R2R watching controller threads because I just setup my apex, seems there's quite a few of the connection issues recently. I know this doesn't help you identify a specific problem but maybe there isn't anything wrong on your end? Just anecdotal.
121 times in 24hrs is too many.
Contacting your ISP may not be a bad idea I've had to have my settings reset before for various reasons.
 
Justin715 said:
Great update, tank looks like it's maturing. Fish look great as well.
I've been on R2R watching controller threads because I just setup my apex, seems there's quite a few of the connection issues recently. I know this doesn't help you identify a specific problem but maybe there isn't anything wrong on your end? Just anecdotal.
121 times in 24hrs is too many.
Contacting your ISP may not be a bad idea I've had to have my settings reset before for various reasons.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, we haven’t been having any issues with any of our other wireless devices finding the signals; dual band router (2.4/5 GHz).
 
I know you have had some recent set backs, but it looks like things are looking up. The pics of the Tusk are great:
 
Also, out of curiosity, how much of the substrate are you cleaning each time? I am current siphon-cleaning the top 1” of about 75% my tank at each cleaning.
 
Leicester56 said:
Also, out of curiosity, how much of the substrate are you cleaning each time? I am current siphon-cleaning the top 1” of about 75% my tank at each cleaning.
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Just about all of it.
The media creates a bed about 1" deep and up to 2" deep in some spots; which is only a few pieces thick in most places. Using my Python gravel vacuum tube, I stir the bed right down to the glass. Since the media is so large, it settles right back onto the glass while the detritus stays suspended in the water column. The tube is 24" long, so it doesn't quite make it into the tightest of spaces so those areas don't get completely cleaned; although the media does get jostled enough to release some detritus.
 
So what is the verdict thus far? Are you pleased with your choice of substrate? Any drawbacks?
 
Adam G said:
So what is the verdict thus far? Are you pleased with your choice of substrate? Any drawbacks?
Click to expand...
I'm liking it thus far.

The benefits as of now are the ease of cleaning and that the Vortech pumps have a tougher time blowing the media around than smaller grained sand.
One drawback is that if I wanted to add a sand dwelling wrasse, it might not work. I'm not sure if a wrasse would appreciate the openness of the media as opposed to the complete coverage by typical sand. Another drawback could be that food does get "trapped" easier with the openness of the media. I've seen pieces get stuck in the media, but I also see the tangs and the tuskfish foraging through the media looking for food.

I will say that it's probably not for everybody.
It does have a definite appearance that differs from conventional substrates. The thought has crossed my mind that if I wanted to add a smaller sized media to the substrate, I could take more ReBorn and break it into pea-sized pieces; but that's not a concern at this time.
This substrate may also inhibit other small sand-dwelling creatures from being included in this system. Small bottom dwelling gobies and hermit crabs will have a difficult time dealing with the large media. Since I have a tuskfish, neither of those options are present in my system so I don't mind.

And... If I would've had an aragonite sand bed when I was dealing with the bacterial/algae issues, I think it could've been much worse.
 
Sometimes it's the little things that matter most.

A couple of night's ago, I stopped by Tim's (zoolan70) house to take some photos of his tank, coral and fish. In doing so, I managed to bring home some frags of the corals that I used to have in my original 120gal setup. Mostly montipora frags, but there were a couple of other corals that made it "home". One of those other corals being a small colony of duncans that came out of my tank over a year ago.

In addition to adding the duncans to the new tank, I also moved my original True Percula Clownfish into the new 120gal tank.
What happened immediately was one of the small things that matter most.

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This clownfish was one of the first fish we purchased when our son wanted a saltwater aquarium for his room over ten years ago. He has been residing as a bachelor in the 32gal Office System; his mate ended up going blind and couldn't eat unassisted and I eventually pulled her out. Since I want to add some new clownfish into that tank, I was going to sell the percula clown. But after realizing that he is over ten years old and one of the reasons I returned to the hobby, I couldn't part with him so I moved him into the big tank.
Watching the clownfish dive right into the duncans reminded me of a picture from 2013 when the clownfish would sleep in the duncan colony. The same fish in the same duncans.

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The new duncan colony has some growing to do before it becomes a secure home for the clownfish, but I'm sure he doesn't mind. I'm really glad that I didn't rehome the fish.

As for the other fish in the 120gal...
The two tangs are inseparable and doing just fine; still small and adorable.

The Harlequin Tuskfish is doing well; growing some but still on the shy side.
I do notice the occasional empty torches shell every now and then, but I think he's picking them off if they tip over and cannot right themselves. The large rubble substrate sometimes causes the snails to get wedged upside-down and they cannot pull themselves back up.

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The Eight Lined Flasher Wrasse is still the boss; although it looks like he's seen some action lately from the tuskfish(?).
After I cleaned the glass, performed the water change and filled the tank back up, the wrasse was very belligerent with his reflection. He spent the better part of an hour flashing against the glass. His color was intense as he paced the glass and aggressively flashed the reflection. He would take short breaks as he huffed and puffed to catch his breath. He may have been irritated, but I loved watching his color changes and behavior. I need more wrasses!!!

I did manage to get one decent picture of him in his bright red glory!

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Some great pics, Jason. Glad to see things are going so well. Absolutely love the tusk and hope to see it in person some time!
 
Disclaimer... no photos; yet.

I have had a new Cor-15 water pump sitting on a shelf for last least a few months, I finally got around to swapping out my Cor-20 water pump that feeds my algae scrubber with the new Cor-15 water pump. I swapped out the pumps because the Cor-20 was running at it's lowest setting to properly supply water to the scrubber. I decided that I wanted some more flexibility with the water supply so downsizing the pump to the Cor-15 was an easy choice. Both pumps have the same dimensions and fittings so physically swapping them out was very easy. The "challenge" was having a water pump that doesn't have a power plug that plugs into the energy bar; power is supplied through the 1Link connection. When plugging into the 1Link port, power is instantly available so the pump turns on and this is where I get frustrated. Why does Neptune Systems have the pumps turned "on" when they get power??? I would prefer that I need to turn the pump on after the pump has power; a much drier application (if you know where that was going).
Regardless, the scrubber now has a smaller pump providing water flow; currently at 27%.
Sometimes, it's the little things... :)

And... now I have a back up Cor-20 return pump. :D
 
Yesterday was a good day. I finally received my new calcium reactor!
A couple of weeks ago, I placed the order for a new Geo's Reef CR618 calcium reactor along with the SMC415 secondary chamber. It arrived yesterday and once we got home last night, I opened it up, rinsed it out, performed a leak test, filled it up with TLF ReBorn media and installed it inside the stand. I am very impressed with the parts, workmanship and some of the details that make this a quality reactor. The recirculating pump (Sicce) is very quiet. The top of the inside of the chambers are flush so any gas that does accumulate gets pulled into the next chamber or exited the reactor. And the quick disconnect fittings are already 90° elbows, so I didn't need to use those I purchased for the old reactor. With all of these features, the reactor runs very quiet. The pump does chop up the CO2 bubble when added but since it's not pulling in the extra gas, you only hear the single bubble. NICE!!! Using a plastic screen to keep the media up off the bottom of the chambers is a much better option than the sponges in the last reactor; gas easily passes through and it won't be prone to clogging over time. Having two separate chambers works out very nice for fitting inside the sump. I have extra room in the stand for any future [mythical] additions to the life support system.

Here's the CR618 reactor, the SMC415 chamber (in back), the Kamoer FX-STP pump (under rear EB832) and the 5lb. CO2 tank with CarbonDoser regulator.

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Once I hooked up the CO2 tank and started up the reactor, I spent the night anxiously watching the pH level drop. I used the same settings from the first set up in hopes of it being relatively close to what I would need. Thankfully, that approached worked out very well.

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Here's what the [almost] completed life support system looks like inside my stand now.

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The Foursquare Aquatics APIS-300 Algae Turf Scrubber is working very well; too well, in fact. My nitrate and phosphate levels have bottomed out at 0ppm so my corals look very pale. I have reduced the photoperiod to 12 hours/day and I may start an alternating cycle to limit how much algae is produced. (I may swap out this unit for a smaller one when I get around to building those; coming up soon). I also opened up the valve on the protein skimmer all the way to "stop" skimming but still allow fresh air to still be added to the water. I have even dosed potassium nitrate every few days to see if that will boost the nitrate levels, but I'm not seeing much of an impact from those doses.

I haven't posted any fish pics for a while as I have been too busy to take any pictures of them. So here's one of the little Yellow Tang. (I still would like to name him "Threepio"; look at that eye!) For a little fish (~2-1/2" max), it is putting on weight and coloring up quite nicely.

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Shaping up to be a beautiful system! With that kind of filtration you can have a hundred fish!
 
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