Our New Living Room Mixed Reef

[AlanM]

Yes, Rob Gunnett gave me a sweater box filled with old sand and muck from his decade old system that he was taking down at the time. I just stuck it in my sump and ignored it for the most part.  I attribute a huge part of the success of my 75 gallon tank to that box of stuff.  It's a point of view that Paulb preaches on here, but I do believe starting a system with all dry is tough and the more diversity you can get in there the better.  Even pests seem to kind of go in cycles. 

 

tpallas, for my pico I would love some real, from the ocean, rubble, sand.  I don't have opinions on the places you mentioned.  I always wanted to start a tank from Tampa Bay Saltwater, but Richard doesn't seem to be in business during COVID.  Those companies have minimums which I wouldn't meet from my pico, but if you do decide to order sand and rock I'd pay you in advance for the ability to come with a small bucket of new saltwater to get some broken up chunks and/or sand if you wanted to add a few pounds to your order.

[tpallas]

 

5 hours ago, AlanM said:

i always wondered if purple pvc primer would work and look good and be safe on dry rocks.  The solvent is very highly volatile, so I'm sure it wouldn't stick around, and whatever the pigment is, it seems to stain clothes very effectively, from my experience.

 

I saw on Reef2Reef where someone was doing just that. The result wasn't half bad. What I'm using is this product from Addictive Reefkeeping. I've used it on a nano tank and it hasn't killed anything yet. It's a very watery consistency so it just flows into the rock and doesn't clog up the pores etc. 

 

https://addictivereefkeeping.com/product/8oz-purple-reef-safe-colorant-for-dry-rock-aquascape-touch-up/

 

2 hours ago, YHSublime said:

If you're going to keep the rock contained to your refugium, just let it roll and don't worry about what comes in on it. 

 

Something that Alan did and I slightly did for my nano, was add as much biodiversity into the tank at the beginning. I think Rob gave Alan a container of sand and miracle mud and all sorts of refugium stuff from several service tanks (or maybe his own) and I think that was a tremendous idea. 

 

I personally got a bunch of pieces of live rock or scoops of sand from other peoples tanks I trusted while I was just completed cycling. It took 3 years, but I think I'm at a stage now where I would consider my tank to be established. If I don't clean the glass, it's coraline spots in 3-5 days. 

 

Re: flow. 

If you're planning for SPS, I don't think you can have enough flow. On my 3' x 12" wide and tall tank, I'm running x2 MP10's ramping up to the highest settings throughout the day. I'd encourage you to also plop x2 MP40's on there like you originally planned. 

 

You're right, the MP10s maxed out aren't really where they need to be. My tank is 3' but wider and taller so definitely need more power. I did go ahead and pull the trigger on 2x MP40s last night, looking forward to testing the 4 out.

 

1 hour ago, AlanM said:

Yes, Rob Gunnett gave me a sweater box filled with old sand and muck from his decade old system that he was taking down at the time. I just stuck it in my sump and ignored it for the most part.  I attribute a huge part of the success of my 75 gallon tank to that box of stuff.  It's a point of view that Paulb preaches on here, but I do believe starting a system with all dry is tough and the more diversity you can get in there the better.  Even pests seem to kind of go in cycles. 

 

tpallas, for my pico I would love some real, from the ocean, rubble, sand.  I don't have opinions on the places you mentioned.  I always wanted to start a tank from Tampa Bay Saltwater, but Richard doesn't seem to be in business during COVID.  Those companies have minimums which I wouldn't meet from my pico, but if you do decide to order sand and rock I'd pay you in advance for the ability to come with a small bucket of new saltwater to get some broken up chunks and/or sand if you wanted to add a few pounds to your order.

 

Yeah TBS would be my first choice. The next highly rated source seems to be KP Aquatics (https://www.kpaquatics.com/product-category/aquacultured-live-rock/). Gulf Live Rock gets mixed reviews. This is the source I'm lookin at for live sand (https://www.liverocknreef.com/catalog/florida-live-sand-and-crushed-coral-substrates/florida-live-sand-sold-by-the-pound-7929.html), I will probably order 20 lbs as that's the minimum and would give a pretty deep sand bed. We can definitely do a group order and let them know we're looking for nano pieces. I'm targeting towards the end of the month, I should have the tank up and running and cycling this week, want to give some time to establish some bacteria before adding the live rock.

[AlanM]

Sounds great.  I'll go in on it with you if you're willing whenever you're ready.  

 

 

I don't think you have to wait any cycle time with your system to put in an order. The live rock comes with the bacteria on it already. 8)

 

It's still wise to wait a bit before adding livestock, though, even if you went with fully live rock and sand just to get used to running the system and how you'll do water changes and things like that.  Get used to moving buckets for a while before committing to life in it.

[tpallas]

Aquascaping is done. Here’s some pics of the painting process. Lots of happy trees. I tried to make different shades using water to get a two tone look.







And the final product:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AlanM]

Looks great!

[tpallas]

8 hours ago, AlanM said:

Looks great!

Thanks! 
 

Started the long process of Laing enough water. My wife’s darned cat chewed through the tubing so had to place a protective cover on all of it.

 

 

[howaboutme]

Rocks turned out really nice, great job! Would be great to get a top down view to see surface area for corals.

 

Isn't your wife's cat your cat?

Edited February 10, 2021 by howaboutme

[YHSublime]

1 hour ago, howaboutme said:

Isn't your wife's cat your cat?

 

The "what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours" concept doesn't really apply to animals IME. If it does, it's always "your dog" or "your cat" when it does something naughty, in this instance, "YOUR cat," or "her cat, not his cat." 

 

Make sense!? 

[tpallas]

Definitely not my cat

[VA Reefdog]

The rockwork turned out great!  Never seen the purple paint before-  what is it?

 

I had just watched my cats chase air-bubbles in the RO line to my top-off and after seeing your above pic-- I am trying to convince them it is not really their toy.

 

[tpallas]

11 hours ago, VA Reefdog said:

The rockwork turned out great!  Never seen the purple paint before-  what is it?

 

I had just watched my cats chase air-bubbles in the RO line to my top-off and after seeing your above pic-- I am trying to convince them it is not really their toy.

 

Thanks! Came from Addictive Reefkeeping. It’s a water-based pigment that dries waterproof.

[tpallas]

MP40s came in today:

 

 

Based on this layout, I’m thinking the MP40 goes center left and MP10 center right?

Edited February 11, 2021 by tpallas

[tpallas]

On 2/10/2021 at 5:00 PM, howaboutme said:

Rocks turned out really nice, great job! Would be great to get a top down view to see surface area for corals.

 

Isn't your wife's cat your cat?

 

 

[howaboutme]

24 minutes ago, tpallas said:

 

 

[tpallas]

After 6+ months - and 3 days of watching my 50 GPD RO DI - our tank is finally wet! 
 

[tpallas]

Kicked the cycle of with some Microbacter 7. I did order a small amount of live rock & sand for the refugium, so I will dose Turbostart when that arrives. As far as cycling goes I'm just in standby mode while I tinker around with the equipment. One last major hurdle is the controller board. I asked the tank builder to install a door on the left hand side of the tank so I could mount one. I feared I got a little too greedy with the sump size, as I have about 6 inches between the side of the stand and the sump. Also as you can see the state of the wiring is currently disaster-tier:

 

 

 

But, I found this YouTube video where this guy has a custom board built and the total thickness is 4". The board setup is also pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. So, I contacted the builder who is out in LA. He said since this video, the guy's tank leaked and ruined the board (it was made of MDF). Because of this he recommends plastic (he mentioned acrylic but I inquired about polycarbonate). Anyways as you can see from the video, he has the precise measurements of all the Neptune gear that I'll be using. So I've asked him to help me with cutting one out for me. It will need to be in 2 pieces as there isn't a large enough opening in the stand, but I think that will be OK. I am interested in the color scheme to match the Neptune orange/grey, with orange LED accent lighting tied to a magnet switch like the main stand area.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by tpallas

[AlanM]

It's cool, but I believe it's really unnecessary to have anything that doesn't have a user interface exposed out the door.  Do you really need to make custom holes for all of the modules, the battery backup, and the EB8, for instance?  How much controller porn do you really need on a daily basis? I feel he would be better served by putting all of that stuff in a watertight box with watertight grommets going into it for the cords and holes in the front of it for the things with buttons or displays.

[tpallas]

55 minutes ago, AlanM said:

It's cool, but I believe it's really unnecessary to have anything that doesn't have a user interface exposed out the door.  Do you really need to make custom holes for all of the modules, the battery backup, and the EB8, for instance?  How much controller porn do you really need on a daily basis? I feel he would be better served by putting all of that stuff in a watertight box with watertight grommets going into it for the cords and holes in the front of it for the things with buttons or displays.

100% unnecessary! But if that was the yardstick I’m using I’dve been up and running a while ago. Pretty much for the porn aspect TBH. although I do want a waterproof box on the backside to protect the connections as you suggest. When you say user interface do you mean a GUI or just access to the connections? I do plan on putting an Amazon tablet in there.

[YHSublime]

Well, my tank is boring these days, I'll just vicariously live through yours I guess. 

[AlanM]

17 hours ago, tpallas said:

100% unnecessary! But if that was the yardstick I’m using I’dve been up and running a while ago. Pretty much for the porn aspect TBH. although I do want a waterproof box on the backside to protect the connections as you suggest. When you say user interface do you mean a GUI or just access to the connections? I do plan on putting an Amazon tablet in there.

 

I really do think he did a really nice job, just not one that I would have chosen, heh.

 

For user interface I meant something with buttons you might expect to push or need to look at to see a display.  On his panel I'd keep his toggle switches (which are just inputs to the Apex breakout box, I think), the battery voltage display, and the iPad accessible and put everything else inside a box, including the EB832 all modules and the Vortech controllers.  He has a way to access the box anyway with those flip hinges if he ever wanted to unplug or replace something.  He doesn't need to look at his fancy Neptune-stickered extension cords each day, lol. He's controlling the vortechs with the Apex, and if that fails he will have bigger problems than needing to get immediate access to change his vortech modes.  I suppose seeing the vortech lets you see the color and therefore what mode it's in as verification, though.  Maybe that could be accomplished with a light pipe.

 

Also, I guess I'd have the tablet on the outside of the door rather than on the inside, or maybe have it in a slot that charges it and lets you pick it up and remove it to see the status if I wasn't keeping it permanently on and facing out showing the status at a glance.  Actually, on the side of the hood would be better.  Is he planning to sit criss-cross on the floor to use that iPad?

[tpallas]

So in the spirit of our conversation, today I mounted a lot of the Apex components and associated wire management on a “temporary” basis. Given how much work I’ve put in, how much there is to go, and how satisfied I am so far, maybe the controller board project is more of a long term thing! Given the sheer magnitude of crap I am squeezing into a 3 foot stand, plus more things in the works, this may be better. I just think I need to mount an exhaust fan or something like that to keep the humidity down?

 

 

 

[tpallas]

Also spent some time programming the Apex, but that’s going to be an ongoing project! Vortechs are dialed in OK - the MP40s are set to wavemaking mode and the MP10s to reef crest.

 

[Aquastudent]

This is coming along nicely! I love the aquascape you did. Looks like a great combination of space for fish to swim and corals to grow. 

 

The purple paint also gives it that established look. Excellent job with the two-toning. It really looks much more natural!

 

Improvement on the cable management part too! It'll be nice when you get together that full on board but I think getting it functional is an important step... more important than making it pretty at least. I just finished with some initial organization on my setup...

 

Waiting for the RO/DI to drip away is brutal, isn't it?

 

So excited for the next steps in your tank!

 

[YHSublime]

Looks real clean. You're really using every inch of space!

[AlanM]

Yeah, I’d worry about humidity and salt spray.  A skimmer can really put it into the air in an enclosed stand, as can a durso carrying down bubbles and popping in the sump.