joro
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Posts posted by joro
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Sorry for the lack of updates but it's been a busy, stressful, and amazing time getting the tank setup - all in one! We received the tank last Wednesday, May 31st on a huge trailer. While the trailer was huge, the equipment they used - what was essentially a pallet jack - was not and I stood by with anticipation the entire time as I was sure (a) it was going to topple over or (b) all the up/down motion was going to bust a seam or worse break the glass. I was pleasantly surprised after it was down to inspect it with zero signs of damage, maybe I was being a helicopter tank parent
Thursday, June 1st, was "the day." We hired WAMAS sponsor Capital Aquarium to perform the install and they did not disappoint. I must have counted 10+ guys here that picked the tank up in what seemed effortless, put it in place, and plumbed it. They did a fantastic job with all components and I was especially impressed with the plumbing where they took what was my chicken scratch diagram and turned it into not only a reality but an improved design!
We started filling the tank using all the RODI we had hoarded in the previous weeks and after a day or so noticed the floor settled, meaning the tank was now unlevel and noticeably so, particularly on the long sides where you could see a visible slant to the water. To compound issues, there was a leak in the main drain line of the bean animal overflow which prevent us from running everything (although not that we would want to with the tank being unlevel). Again, Capital Aquarium was amazing to work with bringing out another group of guys and lots and lots of trash cans to drain down the water so they could re-level everything. Despite what turned into a full days' effort, we now have a perfectly level tank and couldn't be happier with how everything turned out!
While all this was going on, I took the opportunity to prepare the tank for the cycle which included installing the final components in the sump (e.g. skimmer, ZEOvit reactor, fuge lighting and algae, etc). I absolutely love the Reef Octopus combo with the skimmer, neck cleaner, and waste collector all working in tandem to reduce the chores. Also, the Kessil H380 is blowing my mind (just looking at the pH stableness the past two nights) and I would say it makes the equipment, piping, etc just glow beautifully when it's on
As part of the preparations, I also released the first "episode" of JORO's Reef on YouTube which is focused on how I rinsed and prepared the dry sand for installation. The results after putting in the tank were pretty incredible, especially as this was my first time using dry sand for a build. I encourage you all to take a look and let me know if there is any other topics you'd like me to cover going forward!Finally, we're now in Day 3 of the ZEOvit cycle so not much going on. Capital Aquarium is currently QT'ing our batch of tangs (Achilles, Blonde Naso, and Purple) and I'm going to stop by this weekend to check them out. I'll also end by saying that officially it's my birthday and undeniably one of the best with the new tank, toys, and support from everyone! Looking forward to documenting this journey!
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Just had my 336G Miracles Tank moved in today (3/4" glass and dimensions of 72" by 30" by 36") and I can tell you it was a heavy mother! It took 8 people to move in, so you'll definitely want a small army. Good luck with the move in!
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Welcome and my family is also in the "Lake Ridge" portion of Woodbridge!
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This is a little bigger than what you were looking for but here's what I ordered for my saltwater mixing station about 2 months ago. They also offer free shipping even for these large items which was also very fast - I think I had it in 2-3 days from ordering.
https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/064724-norwesco-65-gallon-vertical-storage-tank.html
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Quite a few updates to cover tonight! First, the newly added Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse has recovered beautifully and is not shy at all. In fact, since he's been out all day, I've seen the other fish out more frequently as well so definitely a win-win despite the initial worries! He's also a little pig at feeding time
Since we started this build the house has been a battlefield of boxes, miscellaneous plumbing parts, etc many of which have flooded over the utility room / fish room since then. Last weekend I wanted to get organized once again which included building a new shelving units to replace the larger open rack we had previously but which no longer fit in the space. Everything turned out very well although I still have an extra piece or two laying around which is never good
While the organization was occurring in the basement, I also got the huge order of plumbing supplies in for the main tank. I decided to match the color scheme of the mixing station (red pipes / grey Sch 80 fittings) and then use all gray in the overflow itself. I'm pretty sure a small plumbing supply shop in American shut down the day they fulfilled this order but I figured it would be better to have more parts than not enough, heck I can always return them!
On the equipment front, also got a shipment of 32x brand new filter socks from BRS which I'm excited to try out! I put them through an initial two-cycle wash with bleach and they are ready for use once everything get's setup!
This weekend was scheduled for water changes on both of our existing tanks and it dawned on me that this would probably be the final water change we perform on the Reefer 170. As those that have been following this thread know, the Reefer's inhabitants will be the first ones in the new tank after it's cycled. A bittersweet moment for sure, despite me hating the maintenance on such a small tank when it was good, it was really good. Although after carrying 3 5-gallon buckets of freshly mixed water up the stair, that became an afterthought
And finally, I've saved the best for last! The tank/stand cleared US Customs today and is in transit!!!! Delivery is scheduled for next week and it's so exciting to see light at the end of the tunnel at least for everything to be in our house. It came on a good long weekend as well since there is still a few odds and ends that need to be wrapped up, new apex modules installed (including the new ATK!), and of course lots and lots of water to be made. Look forward to sharing some additional updates this weekend as we finalize the remaining components and get ready to put water in this tank!
On a sorta unrelated note, our dog does not approve of all the buckets of water
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Stopped in today and the pics don't do these justice, some very nice colonies (both small and large)
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Just a few incremental updates thus far this week as we prepare for arrival! One of the more pressing tasks was modifying a section of our house's DWV (drain-waste-vent) plumbing with the goal of creating a separate run which I could use to dispose of water I remove during water changes. The job itself was pretty easy but finding ABS plumping was a pain the butt. I ended up having to order it online to get the fittings I wanted but it all turned out alright. I also made a rookie mistake in spilling the ABS Cement and now we have a nice stain on dryer
Any tips on how to get it off the dryer (if possible) would be much appreciated!
On a higher note, this morning I received one of the fish I've wanted for a while which is a Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus solorensis) from DD. This guy is absolutely stunning but unfortunately he looks like he took the shipping a little hard. I'll give him some TLC the next day or so and hopefully it's just temporary stress from the journey. With him arriving all of our current tanks have reached full capacity fish-wise, so no more additions on that front until the new tank arrives and is cycled
Hope everyone has a great weekend! -
Good evening reefers! My apologies for the lack of updates but outside of getting new gear in the past few weeks, there hasn't been much in the way of "major updates" until today
Before I get to that, let's talk about what's been going on the past few weeks...Let's start with our existing tanks. While the new tank will be substantially larger in every way, that also means we'll be getting larger (and more aggressive in a few cases) fish that could cause problems with our current inhabitants. As a result, we've been contemplating the past few weeks on what was going to make the "cut" and we decided that it was best to part with most of the fish in our smaller Reefer 170 setup which were, well, small enough to become snacks for some of the others. Among those we sold to WAMAS members were two snowflake clowns, a Helfrichi Firefish, and a Male Mandarin. Of these, the Mandarin was probably the hardest to part with. The Mandarin was a Biota Captive Bred who we had since he was tiny - literally a half an inch in length or less - and had grown significantly into a beautiful fish that was eating frozen food regularly. We just couldn't keep in him in good conscience and I'm glad to know he'll go to the WAMAS member who will undoubtedly enjoy him just as much as we did.
On the equipment front, still a lot of odds and ends coming in every few days but probably the biggest addition is a second DOS / DDR combo set which will allow us to dose 2-part, magnesium, and have a 4th pump for whatever we decide to do with it. I also purchased a Tunze Osmolator though I'm hoping that Neptune releases or includes me in the NSI beta for their Auto-Top Off Kit (ATK) before everything in installed so I can use that. I'm also contemplating the FMK but still on the fence on whether I'd get much use out of it day to day.
On livestock, we've made made a few coral additions over the past few weeks though unfortunately we've also had a few losses. The challenge we have right now is that we want the stability of the 90G but don't have the quality lighting we have on the Reefer so the latter has become the de-facto holding tank for all coral additions. I will say that the losses have been minimal - a milli and a ricordea mushroom off hand - but the ones that have been stable are impressive. I can't wait to have all these under "proper" lighting and flow in the new system. With the recent downsizing of the Reefer I've also been on the lookout for a few fish I know we want in the new system, particularly wrasses. Nothing has been added/purchased to date but we'll see what happens in the coming weeks
On the new tank, we've been getting shots of the progress and it's making us even more excited for the finished product. We're still looking at a late May ship date which should put it here right before my birthday (June 9) which will be awesome!!!
Finally, and perhaps the biggest news to date, we just received our custom SS-48 sump from Synergy Reefs and I don't know that words could possibly express how pleased we are with this purchase. First, receiving this shipment today made this whole adventure "realer" than it has been to date which is awesome but second, and not least, the craftsmanship, attention to detail, and little touches are second to none. I now know why everyone sings their praises and I'm fortunate to say I'm part of the "club" now!!! Also, I realized tonight that the sump is the same size as our 90G "big" tank, it's crazy to think that our sump for the new system is the same size as our largest tank today - this was a crazy perspective I didn't consider until tonight when I was admiring it
I'll try to post more updates in the coming weeks but likely it will be a little quiet until the new tank is in, which is of course when all the fun begins!
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It's been a busy week here as the contractors took over to build the load bearing wall, reroute existing electrical, install new 20A circuits, and other miscellaneous tasks! A few pics of the before/during/after are below and while there still is some small work I have to do (e.g. installing shelving, figuring out what to do with some power bricks, etc), it all turned awesome! For those that are interested, our structural engineer's report gave us the option to build a load-bearing wall that spanned the 3 floor joists or install 2 "lolly" columns with steel plate footers. We originally planned to go with the steel columns but after deciding we much preferred the "finished" look of a wall, it was much easier (and cheaper) just to build the load bearing wall instead.
We also had an interesting discovery in one of our walls, a vintage Budweiser beer can which was released at some point in the 80's based on it being an aluminum can. Our house was built in the early 80's so presumably the workers enjoyed it while building which may explain some of the house's "features" like un-level floors
We also have some new inhabitants in both of our existing tanks!
As we get closer to the delivery of the new tank, we want to begin stocking up both fish and corals (primarily the latter given size constraints) so we can make some instant impact with the new tank. Our Reefer 170 has the better lights of our existing tanks, so we decided to use this as a coral holding tank and just this week purchased some new zoas and this beautiful short tentacle plate coral which has been on my "wish list" for a while. On the fish front, we found a tiny Hippo Tang at our LFS - probably about an inch long - which we've put in the Reefer temporarily to grow out in the coming weeks before she makes it into the new tank. The first day or two was shaky but since then she's been eating algae off the clip and actively feeding at chow time. I also, unfortunately, haven't been able to get a good pic to date. 
One of my "must have" fish in the new tank was a trigger - I've always loved the swimming motion and personality of these fish - and I found a beautiful one on DD which I just had to have. He's a Red Tailed Trigger - AKA Sargassum Trigger - and he/she has been doing great since we go them this morning. The trigger didn't eat tonight - but man is it thick and healthy - so I'm not too concerned with the missed meal tonight. Oddly enough, when I first put it in the tank he went straight to our cleaner shrimp and started getting cleaned (including his mouth
), so hopefully that's a good sign that long term he won't harass the CUC too much.
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I think he said hes seeding with rock from his 90. I may be wrong though.
I'm going back and fourth on this so not sure. For the initial cycling of the Marco's Rocks though, my plan was to use the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro Kit which is essentially the same as the bacteria in a bottle though more advanced. Once we get to the new DT, I'll definitely be using all of the Marco's Rocks (or most of it), possible some of the LR from the existing tanks, and fresh live sand.
With all that rock, it might be fun to try your hand at chiseling some caves. I tried with mine but instead just cracked the rock in half.
That's what I'm planning on doing with a few pieces, hopefully I don't crack them!
On a side note, contractor is here today doing Day 1 of the work including building the load-bearing wall, running new electrical, etc. Starting to come along (pics to follow)
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I sorted out the rocks today (I purchased about 150 lbs of "standard" and 50 lbs of "prime cut" which is basically rock with the bottom sawed off so it sits flush) and must say I'm pretty impressed with the assortment. This is the second time I've order from Marco's Rocks and they definitely delivered the type of pieces I requested. I'm going to load these up in the trash can for tomorrow to begin the cycle!
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I've never put sand in the fuge but I have experimented with different things in the tanks I've had. In the 90G, I ran bare bottom with live rock + macro algae and in the Reefer I ran marinepur spheres both with equal success. I'm in the process of building our new tank and what I've chosen is the thick marinepur bricks + macro algae as the perfect combination.
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How is the return going to be plumbed? I have a miracles tank and in my opinion they drilled the return to low on The overflow box. And they didn't drill the glass part of the overflow box, only the teeth area above it, causing issues with the bulkhead getting a proper seal.
I don't know if you could see the drawing a few post ago but essentially the returns, will come out of the sides of the overflow box. I needed to leave about 4" +/- on each side for the MP60's so they adjusted the box accordingly. I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying about they didn't drill the glass for the return? Do you have a picture by chance?
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I just realized I said Herbie in an earlier reasponse, it will be a bean animal style overflow just to be clear!
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Lights are in and man, are these things beautiful and powerful! I have cheaper LEDs on my 90G and the AI Hydra 52HD on my Reefer and wow, these are going to be an insane upgrade to both. I also got in the rocks - all 200 pounds of it
- and miscellaneous items such as Breakout Boxes, Heaters, and a Coral Viewer.I wanted to get everyone's opinion on what to do next with the rocks. I went with dry Marco's Rocks and I was thinking about "cycling" the rocks using the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro Kit in two heated trashcans with no lights. My thought is these rocks would basically cycle over the next 6-8 weeks so by the time the tank is ready and full, it will basically be live rock. Thoughts or recommendations on this approach?
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Here's the initial tank design if it's of interest!
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Not sure if you put this in but are you doing for the overflow box and return? Herbie or something else.
And 3/4" glass? Rimless or euro
I'll be running a herbie, just internally since we wanted it as flat against the wall as possible. 3/4" inch starphire glass on the 3 display sides and euro-braced. I really wanted rimless, especially after having a Reefer tank for a few months but none of the tank builders I spoke with felt comfortable with rimless at this size which I respect. I'd rather deal with the aesthetics of a perimeter eurobrace then dealing with a seal breaking after a few months because there wasn't enough support
From what I've seen on other forums as well, Miracles does a really nice job with the eurobrace in polishing it up, chamfering the edges, etc so maybe it won't be as bad as initially though. -
Will you be going with Miracles overflows or having them drill it for something else?
The internal - Miracles - overflow because we want it to be as flush against the wall as possible.
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does the tank arrive yet?
Not quite yet, should be here we're assuming in early June but maybe a bit sooner. Waiting to get an update from the aquarium manufacturer on how the process is going but we got a ton of stuff to do before then anyway!
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Lots of updates (both good and bad) since our last post but perhaps the biggest update is that we're currently building our dream tank in which we will consolidate this one in the coming weeks Yiu can follow that build here on WAMAS or on my blog (links in signature).
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Sounds like you'll have your own quarry by the time you're done.
Isn't that the truth! I need to figure out how to store it as well since I would like to "cycle" the rocks in advance
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Whoa! That's a lot! Is this live or dry?
Dry and we over-ordered a little bit to get some variety and provide options. We also have probably another 90 pounds of so of "live rock" from our existing tanks that we'll move over as well.
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We got rocks in transit, a whole lot of rocks
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Just to confirm, we don't need to bring anything to trade right? We can just buy frags?
Reef A Palooza NY - WHO IS GOING?
in Blue Ribbon Koi
The wife and I will be there!