Reef Journal - 80 gallon shallow

[Intheflesh]

This build began in October of last year. I intend to take pics once a week or bi weekly. I am going through an algae outbreak right now. I am dosing Zeovit, and didn't realize that my Zeobak (bacteria cultures) has gone bad. Phosphates and nitrates are probably sky high. Will report back tomorrow or Saturday with actual readings. Anyways, onto the thread:

Day 1: Oct 2, 2015

So right now I have a 36x18" tank. "oh, a 2x4' wont be much bigger." Well, I was wrong.

First impressions: Sloppy silicone job, will need to go over it with a razor. Nice beveled edges. Seems like its built like a tank (no pun intended). The overflow is sort of intrusive on the eye. I wanted to buy a non-reef ready one, but its not available rimless. The overflow has an adjustable weir with set screws to adjust the water level in the tank, which is pretty nice.

Also, I started working on the stand. i ran out of pocket screws at 10:30 last night so production halted.

Day 2: Oct 3,2015

So last time I left you, I had a top and base.

I am using 1x6 for the legs, but I don't have a miter saw to make good cuts. i tried cross cutting a 6' long stick on my table saw with no luck. The legs were all crooked. Boo.

Some quick thinking and I made this jig below, and just used a rotary saw. I cut one end so it was square, turn the plank around, then cut it again, this time with a spacer, and now I have 2 nice square ends on both sides and I am able to cut the same length consistently:

An hour later, I am here:

tah-dah!

Since this is just a basement tank, I will not be painting, staining, or 'finishing' the stand with any fancy wood work. I siliconed the floor, and will seal the whole thing with poly tomorrow.

 

[Intheflesh]

Day 53:

Still no live stock other than the fish from my 50 gallon. Hair algae and aptasia outbreak.

I figured I would post some updates. Tank has been up, running and cycling for 2 months-ish right now. The tank is on its own circuit breaker. I am going to have an electrician Friend com over and install another dedicated circuit.

I have a bad bryopsis outbreak that seems to be contained to one rock. Going to take that rock out and nuke it this weekend. Also have a ton of aptasia. These pests were present in my old tank. I fgured this would be a good time to try to eradicate the problems.


Full tank

A friend got my this submariner as a joke gift. Of course it is going in the tank.

yPretty sure that is bryopsis and not hair algae

Sump area:

And mess of wires:

Cleaning up the wiring is my goal for this week. I also have a 25 cube build going on at the same time. That one is up and running (heater and a powerhead), but has a lot more work- need to install sump, set up ATO, a few external switches, run a long wire to connect it to the apex downstairs, and program the apex.

 

[Intheflesh]

Over the winter, I didn't do much work on the tank. On Feb 22, I started the "14 day zeovit cycle". I was able to get my Nitrates down to undetectable and phosphates in the .02 range (Red Sea Test kits). I didn't have any corals, so I wasn't too particularly concerned with the levels dropping so quickly. My idea was to do an aggressive 14 day cycle using the max recommended dosages, then once the levels go down to where I wanted them, switch to the min dosing levels and see if I can maintain the ULN.

Here's what my Dosing schedule looks like right now:

Reactor: 1L of stones, 80 L/hr flow
Zeostart 3 - 6 mL Daily (smells like vinegar. I believe it is just a carbon source)
Zeobac - 3 drops daily for 2 weeks after a stone swap, then 3 drops 2 times daily. (Bacteria cultures)
Spongepower - 4 drops twice weekly (food for filter feeders, feather dusters, sponges, etc.)
Zeofood - 3 drops twice weekly (bacteria food, amino acids)

So the 14 day cycle brings us to Mid march. I knew I would be leaving for Florida for vacation soon, so I haven't added any livestock just yet. I did upgrade my skimmer to a Vertex omega 150 at this time. I just maintained my daily dosing schedule, and weekly water tests and bi weekly w/c's.

When I got back from Florida, I ordered a calcium reactor - Skimz duo113. It has a self feeding recirculating pump, so no need for an additional feed pump.

 

[Intheflesh]

Let's fast forward to Day 204 (holy slow build batman). The first corals go in.

Pink birds nest, Rainbow Birdsnest, ORA birds nest, Red planet, Lime in the Sky, Green slimer, German Blue Digi, Orange Digi, tricolor valida and some encrusting Monti.

Here's a few awful pics that I took last night. As I mentioned earlier, I have been dosing a bad batch of Zeobac, so that's why I'm having an algae outbreak. I have a new bottle coming in on Monday, along with new t5 bulbs.

Birdsnest #1:

Bird's nest #2

Bird's nest #3

Slimer

Lime in the Sky/Blue digi

Valida:

 

[Intheflesh]

Orange digi (extremely blurry, sorry)

Full tank:

Well aware that my pics are awful. I plan on taking pics of the tank once a week or every two weeks in order to document the growth and tank progression.

My mail goal for the weekend is to increase my Calc Rx output to get my alk a little more stable. I've lost 0.7 dKh over the last week even with the reactor running. hopefully this will be a quick easy fix.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I am always jealous of people who have stand building skills.
Are you planning to keep it bare bottom?

 

[Intheflesh]

Thanks! Building a stand like this is simple. I don't have the skills, equipment or know how to build a 'furniture' stand.
This is my basement man cave tank. Gonna stay bare bottom, and the stand will stay exposed for now. Maybe if we finish the basement I will finish the stand to be more pretty, but that's it for now. I am inspired by tanks with minimal rock. I'm hoping to here a year from now:

The tank is a mess right now. Hoping to clear it up over the next few weeks. Tonight is W/C night, and Monday I have a new bottle of Zeobak coming in, so hopefully that will help.


I did some water tests last night (4/28/16):

pH: 7.8
pH2: 6.5
Alk: 7.4 dkh - Up from 6.8dkh 3 days ago. will test again before w/c tonight to see if it is still rising (Hannah Checker)
NO3: between 0-1 ppm (NYOS)
P04: .75 ppm (NYOS)


Also I'm not sure if I did an Equipment list yet:
Tank - Deep blue professionals
Stand - DIY
Sump - Custom from local acrylic shop
Heaters: 3 x 150 eheim
Return: 1260 eheim
Circulation: RW4 x 2, Tunze 6105 x 2
Skimmer: Vertex Omega 150
Zeo reactor: Aquamaxx 1 liter, sicce silent pump
Calc Reactor: Skimz CM113, Carbon Doser Regulator
Lights: ATI Power module, 6 x 36 watts. 2 coral Plus, 2 Aquablue special, 1 actnic, 1 purple plus
Controller: Neptune Apex


That's it for now.

 

[Intheflesh]

Weekly update. I want to try to do these on Fridays, but I am busy tomorrow night.

So a few changes this week:
20% W/C
New light bulbs
Calc Rx adjustment
New batch of Zeo Bak.

Phosphate still around .075 ppm (NYOS), and nitrates 0-1ppm (also NYOS). My Alkalinity was a solid 7.72 (Hanna checker) last week. Since the addition of the corals, I have been measuring a constant .11 dkh reduction everyday this week. (Measuring daily). i'm not sure if the Calc Rx isn't keeping up with the demand, or if these are just fluctuations within the margin of error of the test. I think I will not change anything, and just wait 5-7 days, and see if the alk drops by a calculated .5-6 dkh.

So, how are the corals doing? I've noticed a lightening of the colors. Unfortunately, I lost one of the birds nests to RTN. I'm seeing good polyp extension, and can see new growth on the remaining 2 birds nests. I can see the green slimmer starting to encrust over the epoxy which is nice.

Birdsnest #1

Birdsnest #2. White tips (I assume new growth), and lightening of colors compared to last weeks pic. I did put new bulbs in, so I wonder if theres slight bleaching.

Birdnrest #3 White tips-new growth. Same lightening of colors

 

[Intheflesh]

Green Slimer. No significant changes. Appears to Be encrusting over epoxy

Red Planet - staring to notice green base, with red tips.

german blue Digi and Lime in the Sky. Starting to pale out, but good polyp extension

And lastly, my encrusting digi. Not sure of the name. Seems to have developed a more vivid coloration since last pic. purple with light blue polyps. When cleaning my tank I found a single head of Trumpet that I though I lost. I just put it on the rock to see what happens.

tricolor valida - no sig. changes, other than lightening of color