Bpb

The mail man cometh!

Well.....tried sliding the sump off the dolly it was on and it took a tumble onto the concrete. It’s toast. Question. What are everyone’s thoughts on using my 75 gallon acrylic tank as a sump? It was a planted fw tank so I did dose it with CSM+B which contains a fair amount of copper. Does copper ionically bind to acrylic and leech back out? Is it worth risking?

That it is. Would have replied earlier but for some reason tapatalk wont let me log into the forum. Been a slow process getting the stand sanded down.

You grow table acros better than the ocean does! You have to tell me your secrets! Is it your salt? What salt are you using Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Tank is used but less than 1 year old from brand new. Only moving occurred from packing crate to original owners stand, then from that stand to my car/house where it sits inside the garage Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Challenge accepted. I’ll do super frequent updates that way it seems like it’s moving along but nothing will really actually be happening Question. As long as the tank is staying on a flat level surface is there any risk to it sitting in the garage for a year or more? Is that enough time to dry rot the silicone? Should I use the tank as my rodi waste water container that way it doesn’t dry out too much? I worry NOT setting it up and having it sit in the elements will ruin it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Couple SUPER rough pics of what I’m working with. Here is the stand as I received it It’s a very tall stand at 44” I believe, which means I’ll want to keep the aquascape on the low side of things to avoid looking up and under my sticks too much. I’d probably like the aesthetic of a shorter stand to look down into the tank more than straight on, but not so much so that I want to disassemble the frame and cut the legs shorter. It is your standard “rocketengineer” frame using 2x6 for the top portion to eliminate the need for center supports, though I’ll likely add them on the rear to help with lateral stability of the stand The panels are tongue and groove pine that are removable on the front and both sides which I LOVE. No hinges, and easy access all over the sump. The color matches most the furniture in my house but I have already removed most the panels and began sanding them down for a refinish in a very different direction. I’ve seen a lot of attempts online to do this style finish and most look embarrassingly bad. Hopefully I can be one of the good ones. I’ll be siliconing the bottom joints in the stand and coating it with white appliance epoxy to prevent any moisture from soaking into the wood whatsoever. I’ll be able to keep the inside sprayed clean with water to avoid dust, salt creep, and mildew from compromising the integrity of the wood. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Ha ha!!!! It does feel a little like that. Friendly competition. Who can take longer to get their build up and running Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

So this will probably go down as the longest build thread timeline from origin to fill day, but why not. Figured I’d go ahead and secure the lot, as it were. A little history of this build. Most of you are familiar with my 90 gallon build. The tank has been through its ups and downs and it is by no means actually finished. As luck would have it, roughly a year or so before our tentative move out timeline my tank finally is REALLY hitting its stride and I’m generally very happy with growth and color I’m getting. But man oh man I am feeling cramped with that tank. It’s just a little too small. Budget being what it is I’m just not in the market for a big tank, money or time wise. I had set 180 gallons as my absolute maximum tank I would attempt, and even that is a little big. I’ve taken a friend up on a generous offer on a very gently used 150 gallon tank and stand. We unfortunately won’t be moving for another year or more, and I can’t see any good reason to break down my humming along 90 gallon and set up a big heavy tank, just to take it back down in a year. But, didn’t want to pass up on a tank with these dimensions at this price. So it will hang out in the garage and I’ll slowly clean it up and do some work on the stand since I’ve got plenty of time. Here are the stats SCA 150 gallon rimless eurobraced low iron glass 60”x24”x24” Custom stand 60”x24”x48” SCA glass 6 chamber sump Red pvc and schedule 80 fittings All other equipment from my 90 gallon will convey That’s all for now. I’ll update more shortly with some pictures Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hey man the fruit stand look is highly desirable. A true coral showcase with everything on dosplay Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Good to know. Hoping my own tank will survive for a year in the garage while we wait to move. Man I can’t wait to see this build keep going. What will you be choosing for rock and sand? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

How long did you have the tank sit in the garage for? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Dude! I was just wondering how you and your fam were doing the other day. PM me your number I’ll shoot you a text Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks! Gonna be sad to see that one go. Bubble coral was the first coral I saw before I was even in the hobby that caught my eye and had to have one eventually. It’s grown quite a bit but it’s all flesh. It inflates about 10” across but the skeleton is the size of a golf ball Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks man. There’s a guy that had probably 150-200 pounds of Tonga shelf and otherwise flat-ish plate types pieces. All very light and porous. Almost like plate shaped pukani. Crashed his 300 gallon tank and pulled all the rock. Drove 10 houses down and got the pick of the litter so I’ll take my time making it look good. Thinking I may go with HDPE 1/2” boards on the bottom so I can basically have the rock touching at only a couple small points rather than creating a base rock foundation. I feel like that will be better for long term health and detritus control. I don’t want to do a pvc structure or anything like that. But basically have upside pyramid shaped rocks cemented to the bottom of each stack to have only 3-4 small points touching and essentially have the rocks all elevated 1-2” off the sandbed. Sams Club chef cutting boards are 20”x18” food grade HDPE and only $8 a piece. Though I feel like bald sand spots would look ridiculous with a big chunk of white plastic exposed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

New house hopefully before too long. Learned a lot about what we can afford and what we need so it has adjusted our search a bit. Hopefully within the year though. Looking like we will be moving into a move in ready or older house rather than a custom build. Pricing in this area is ridiculous (similar to Austin actually) for custom builds so we have basically bowed out of that dance. Anyhow. Came across a deal I absolutely couldn’t refuse on this tank so I jumped on it. It’ll sit in the garage until we move though. I’ve never moved a tank this size and it was brutally heavy and challenging to do without suction cups and only 2 people. I don’t want to set it up only to have to drain it a year later. What a pain. I’ll give it a good cleaning though. The stand is coming too but I have to wait till Monday to get that. Going to sand it down and refinish it. Tank is a sca 150 gallon with sump and plumbing. Stand is coming on Monday. Ran out of time and moving help so I’ll have to go back for it but I’m stoked! I’ve been feeling so cramped with this 18” depth. Glad to get some leg room in the tank finally. Allow me to do something besides a rock wall I actually already have my rocks for this tank as well as 10 pounds of eMarco cement which I will take my time building. Going for a very open Tonga shelf scape with very Little Rock touching the substrate and leaving room in front and behind to maximize flow. Doing all dry rock start and dosing a ton of bacteria for a quick cycle. So sick of aiptasia and discosoma mushrooms. I’ll be glad to be done with them forever! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

So I’ve happened upon this big guy! Didn’t have time to get the stand (would take multiple trips and didn’t have the help I needed) but I got the tank and sump home. Never owned anything this size but I’m already loving the depth compared to what I’m used to. It’s fairly new but freshly drained so there’s detritus and tube worm skeletons all over. Gotta get it cleaned up! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I’m still here! Been a while since I’ve gotten anything new. Still have all the same old stuff. I’ve gotta get this out. I hate GFO. There. I said it. The reactor is annoying. My sump isn’t built to run one easily. Stand too crammed. Takes an hour to remove it and clean it every few weeks. Clogs too fast. Not much to like about it. So....I haven’t been using it. And my PO4 slowly crept up to 0.17 ppm before I decided to act. I’ve given Lanthanum Chloride a try in the form of Phosphate RX dripped into a 10 micron sock. Good lord almighty this is so much easier than GFO. One week in. And I’ve been able to slam my phosphates down to 0.05 ppm. I think I’ve got some bound up in the rocks because it took quite a bit before it started working. I’ll continue to test every couple days and drip it as necessary. Definitely sticking with this PO4 control method. Colors and growth are excellent. Calcium reactor really chewing through media. I’ve gone through roughly 1/3 of my full to capacity GEO 618 reactor in just 6 months. Can’t imagine going back to 2 part at this rate. Loving the new bulb combo. I just need to continue to love it and stop changing it. Big big news coming tomorrow hopefully. I’ll update again when I’m able! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks. Very very happy with the colors of about half the specimens. The other half that I’m not showing off just tend to stay an olive brown/drab color and aren’t doing much besides growing. Maybe it’s just not in the genetics. They can’t all be confetti I guess Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Took a few new top downs. Lol my tank is so boring compared to yalls. I never get anything new. Just tracking my own growth on my dozen or so specimens I seem to be the only person on the planet that cannot grow green slimer. Six plus months. Nothing. Just stays the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

No problem at all! I’ll check you out on fly trap. My CP’s all went belly up this summer with the rest of my plants unfortunately. Broke down my planted tank as well. Two toddlers has served to be a bit much for me to manage along with multiple hobbies. Downsized just to the one reef tank and that’s it. I do intend to revisit CP’s as soon as things chill out a bit though. I think part of my waning interest in that hobby was a lack of a truly teeming online community for it. You can spend all day wasting time between 5-6 reef forums Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Night time side shot. Love the new bulb layout Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yeah my only guess is maybe some form of metal or trace element buildup. I don’t see any bursted magnets or anything. Parameters are stable. 7.8 dKH 450 ppm calcium 1600 ppm magnesium (salt batch was high) 5 ppm NO3 0.07 ppm PO4 Numbers pretty much don’t move from there. I can nudge nitrate and phosphate just by how much I feed. I keep those levels with fairlynheavy feeding so if I miss a feeding or something they won’t bottom out. Only thing I can come up with is some sort of metal buildup from foods or something. No matter. Water changes are easy enough for a tank this size Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Two failed experiments in the books. No water changes and Reef Brite t5ho bulbs. I really wanted the no water changes to work. It works so well for some. Despite measurable parameters being well within appropriate ranges and stability, at about month 3 I started getting some system wide brittle tissue on sps and even some tip burn despite no alkalinity spikes happening in even long term memory. Back to 10-15% a week and stuff has already recovered about 80% I’d guess. Secondly. I’m off the Reef Brite t5ho bulbs. 2 months in and 3 of 4 have already burned out. Back to ati. I suppose sometimes you do get what you pay for Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

That’s gold, Jerry! GOLD! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro