rosslonghorns 180 Gallon Journey Blog

[rosslonghorns]

Well after a few years without a tank, the wife finally gave in and we decided to purchase a tank.

The last tank we owned was an Oceanic 58 gallon but after a move, we ended up tearing it down and giving majority of the livestock and equipment to a friend that also had a 58 gallon going.

After much discussion, we decided to go bigger and fell in love with the 6ft footprint so we could keep tangs. We ended up picking up an acrylic tank we saw on craiglist.com that was 135ish gallons (6ft x 18" x 24"). Once we got it home and began work on cleaning it up, we saw that it was very scratched. For some reason we decided to venture off to a local LFS to get some ideas for stock and found an Oceanic 180 gallon on consignment that we couldn't pass up.

We purchased it, which also came with Oceanic sump, maxi-jet pumps, Euro Reef Skimmer, and external return pump.

Added a picture of the leak test. We also sold the external pump and decided to go with a Mag 9.5 for return.

The journey has begun!

[rosslonghorns]

After the leak test, everything looked good. It was time to put the stand in the final resting spot and make sure everything is level. I probably over did the number of shims, but I wanted to make sure all the weight was evenly distributed since the front part of the aquarium needed to be raised up.

We're using Reef Crystals salt and used 5 bags of Caribsea fine sugar sand (~150lbs). My friend was upgrading to a 90 gallon and he gave me a 5 gallon bucket of live sand that I used on top of new dry sand.

It took almost three days to get the entire tank filled up so we could turn on the return pump and check for final leaks.

Equipment so far:

Aquarium / Stand

Mag 9.5 Return

Oceanic Sump

Two Ebo Jager 250 watt heaters

I still have to clean up all the maxi-jets and the Euro Reef.

[rosslonghorns]

Well it took quite a bit of scrubbing and vinegar, but was able to get all the Maxi-Jet 1200's clean and the Euro-Reef CS 8-1.

It was a tight fit between top of stand and top of sump, but was able to get it squeezed in and all setup.

I have four Maxi Jet 1200's on the Algae Free Magnets. I plan on ordering the Sure Flow Maxi-Jet mods to add to them along with Tunze ATO.

[rosslonghorns]

Ok, it has been just about a month since the last update, so decided to provide a quick snapshot.

I ended up venturing into SA and stopped by Wolf Reef. I walked away with just over 100 lbs of rock.

I also ended up ordering some supplies, major items including four new Maxi-Jet 900's with Sure Flow Mod Stream Kit. I hooked up everything and used the original magnets to mount them. I also picked up the JBJ Quadro Wavemaker that I will use to control the four Maxi-jets. I retired all the Maxi Jet 1200's since I read many issues running them with the mods. I will use them for misc items like mixing saltwater, water changes, etc.

I also picked up the Tunze ATO and after some frustration, finally got it setup. I ended up trashing the mounts and used epoxy to attach mount to magnet. This allows me the freedom to relocate the float switches anywhere easily.

I also finally made a decision on my lights. I ended up going with two Lumen Bright pendants with 250 watt 12k Reeflux bulb. I thought I would have an issue only using two on the 6ft tank, but it ended up turning out nice. I ended up going with the pendants because I wanted an open top tank. Got them hung and above the tank and got through the cycle.

With everything steady and cleared up, I stopped by a local reefer, Princer7, and she hooked me up with quite a few frags. I got them all mounted and placed within the aquarium.

Just Rock:

Right Side

Left Side

[rosslonghorns]

Well the wife made a big deal about the two black hanging pendants and as a result needed to re-engineer the hanging system. I was planning on building an aluminum rack and putting an oak veneer that I would stain to match the stand.

Well after price checking everything, I ended up going with some 1x2's to build the framework and added the veneer oak. I also added space to mount two 48" VHOs in the future for actinic supplementation if needed. All in all, it turn out better than expected. I only need to add a piece of moulding to fill the gap in the middle. It is currently drying from stain and will glue it on in a few hours.

I also like that now I can hang the entire unit from two points, instead of the four points I had before (two for each pendant).

We also added our first fish, it was a powder blue tang. We're regretting it now since we read it should be placed in the system as the last tang, but it looks so unhealthy when we purchased it and within a few days has really turned around. We will have to add any future tangs that are much larger than him.

[rosslonghorns]

Well here is an update:

So far we have in the tank: Power Blue, Scopas, Naso, Scooter Blenny, and two O. Clowns. We have been looking at the Lyretail Anthias for some time and finally decided to take the plunge. Our LFS that we frequent had a few so we picked up one male and four females (2/10/09). Everything was going great and they were eating the DIY fish food along with frozen mysis.

We woke up to one dead anthia and also another one missing that I could never find. We weren't happy to see this, but pulled them out. It has been the first fish we lost since taking the plunge.

We added some carbon and started skimming wet.

[rosslonghorns]

Over the last week we ended up losing another Anthia and also our Naso Tang. Over the last two days, we started to notice that the Scopas was not eating any frozen food or Nori. This morning we woke up to find it was dead also.

Here is the total list of dead:

Three Female Anthia (one body was never found)

Naso Tang

Scopas Tang

Everything remaining is eating and looks great. The remaining two anthias are actually starting to put on some weight.

Remaining: Two Anthias, Power Blue Tang, Scooter Blenny, and two O. Clowns.

It looks like the one dead Anthia that was never found has caused a small spike because I'm starting to see some algae growth on the sand. We haven't seen this since the first month during the cycle. I have the skimmer set to wet and have been running two batches of carbon over the last two days. I will replace it every few days and hopefully the system will be able to equalize from the issues it has seen.

We don't plan to add anything else for at least 2-4 weeks. Also we have decided to only purchase fish from other reefers so we can ensure the health.

Overall the corals we obtained from Princer7 are all doing great and have seen some growth. Very exciting. We will get some updated pics within the next week.

I also moved my ATO container out from under the tank. I built a chest for it with the top to completely open.

Skimmer:

ATO Container / Chest:

[+mcallahan]

I've always liked to buy fish from other reefers vs. LFS as like you said, you can insure health. But...people don't always have what you are looking for!

I do like how RCA puts the date they got the fish on the tank so you can get an idea of how stress/healthy they are.

[rosslonghorns]

Well after completing a water change and running double carbon, I didn't lose anything else. I did get a diatom bloom on the sand and I'm guessing that is a result of not finding one of the dead fish.

Now everything looks okay and the algae bloom is beginning to recede. I will give it another week or so for the algae to disappear before trying to restock the tank.

I did end up picking up a Kalk Reactor and finally got my check valve in from Tunze and got it all setup. I have my Tunze ATO attached to it to feed the reactor. Overall I'm very happy with the result and not having to fill up my 5 gallon Kent Dripper is unbelievable. I love this thing! I will try to get pictures loaded.

Green Hair Algae

Full Tank Shot

[cmanning]

Tell us a little about your tank ? Are you running bare-bottom or DSB (deep sand bed)?

How much LR (live rock) and how old is it now?

It took us about a year to get our tank "right". Now it's been running well (various upgrades along the way)

for the last 3 yrs, but I do believe it finally stabilized well in the 3rd year.

(Didn't need to make the sandbed deeper, didn't need to add anymore rock, didn't need more equipment, etc, etc..)

[rosslonghorns]

I have a sand bed, it is around 4 inches deep. I also have about 100 lbs of live rock. Overall the tank is almost 6 months old.

Just shortly after this post I've had a massive outbreak of hair algae that I've been battling. I tried the AlgaeFix Marine and only after one dose, my SPS began to turn white so I stopped dosing and performed a 30 gallon water change. I have increased the volume of water changes. I was doing around 12 gallons every two weeks. I started last week with a 30 gallon change and will perform a 40 gallon change tomorrow. I plan to keep up a 40 gallon water change every week or so and I hope this allows me to beat the GHA.

[rosslonghorns]

It has been quite a battle since my last update. After the dead Anthia, this then fueled the next battle. Shortly after the last update green hair algae took over the tank. It got to the point I attempted to use AlgaeFix Marine, but after the first dose, the SPS corals began to turn white. I stopped dosing and immediately completed a water change and have since increased the volume and frequency of water changes. I just completed a 40 gallon one today and tried to siphon as much GHA out. Still overwhelming, but I hope to see an improvement. I will try to complete a 40 gallon change every two weeks. I hope this makes an impact.

I ended up purchasing a nitrate and phosphate kit, but they ended up undetectable. I'm assuming the GHA is consuming everything!

I hope with the water change volume increased from 12 gallons to 40 gallons and frequency from one month to every two weeks will help me beat this GHA. If not, I only see a break down occurring and exit from the hobby for some time.

Full Tank Shot an hour after completing the water change today. Note to self, clean glass next time! The algae was almost completely covering the sand bed, but was able to get most of it out. Please go away!

[AndrewT]

throw some vodka in there. When i started my 55 it was in horrible shape. the person who had it never even ran a skimmer on it. I had cyano and gha. I started dosing vodka a few months in and it completely did away wiith my cyano and gha. There are also several other pros to dosing as well.

[Rjohn]

Test your magnesium. I started adding Kent Tech-M and my gha cleared up in a few weeks.

[rosslonghorns]

I was intentionally raising mine to 1600 for some time, but I was using an ESV product, not Kent Tech M.

[+Daniel]

Hey buddy, doing water changes that huge and that frequently will drive you nuts. I mentioned this in your forum thread and you said you had tried

Mexican Turbo Snails? I wish I had taken pictures, but my tank was covered in thick GHA and BHA, but those snails completely cleaned things up. Are your snails even eating the stuff?

[rosslonghorns]

Well it is about time for an update. The wife and I were thinking about downsizing but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

I have been battling the hair algae for almost two months now. With the use of AlgaeFix Marine and increased my water changes of ~40 gallons every two weeks, it looks like I may win the battle. I do have some diatoms (I believe) breaking out, but I think this is due to my bulbs being just over 6 months old.

A buddy of mine was breaking down his tank so I was able to inherit some LPS. As a result, things are starting to fill up in the tank. I look forward to some extended stability and hopefully begin to see some growth.

Full Tank

Right Side of Tank

Left Side of Tank

What is the red coral on the far left side?

[JamesL]

Very open design, I like it.

The red coral looks to be a type of brain coral, very nice looking one at that.

[rosslonghorns]

After working with a local business, I finally was able to get my hands on the new Reeflux 20k bulbs. I will be replacing both bulbs on my 250 watt SE halides. They're currently the Reeflux 12k bulbs, but after reading some different discussions and reviewing the actual PAR output from the bulbs, I've decided to try them out. From the stats, the PAR is greater on the 20k versus the 12k. Also since I only use my actinic VHO bulbs one hour in the morning and evening to simulate dawn / dusk, I thought it would be a good idea to try these.

I got them on and wow, they're brighter and the color is very crisp. I will give them a few more days to burn in prior to taking pictures.

Now need to go adjust my timers down to let the corals acclimate.

[princer7]

How are the new bulbs doing for you? I thought about repacing my 12Ks with these but chickened out this round of bulb replacements.

[rosslonghorns]

How are the new bulbs doing for you? I thought about repacing my 12Ks with these but chickened out this round of bulb replacements.

I'm very happy with them thus far. They're definitely brighter than the 12k from my point of view, but I don't have a PAR meter to confirm measurements. The color is very crisp but per my eyes, it does look less blue than the 12ks I had.

[rosslonghorns]

Well I have had my new skimmer running for about a week now. It is a VERTEX IN 280 skimmer. It is the biggest one that is offered with this line. I was originally planning on getting the Vertex Alpha Cone 200, but during the order process I found out they were back ordered for a few weeks plus I was hearing some mixed reviews. I ended up going with the IN (also $300 less than the Cone) and was aware of the dimensions, but it is much different in person. I was shocked at how big the skimmer was. The body is 10" diameter and I had a bit of trouble fitting it into my 58 gallon sump. After some wiggling and wrestling it fit and got it running.

This is replacing my Euro-Reef CS 8-1 that had been running on my aquarium since setup with no issues. I decided to upgrade since my stocking of the tank had been growing.

No shots yet of the skimmer running, but just finished cleaning out the cup today. I will let it completely break in for another week. So far so good. My wife was already complaining about the smell during the collection cup cleaning (more than before!).

For amusement, I do have some new out of box pictures with a 12oz coke can for reference.

[cmanning]

Nice size skimmer!! You should post pics when in action and producing "the funk" --- foaming action. Looks like your tank is fixing to get a good cleaning .

[+mcallahan]

I think I have the 180 (8") body and they are beasts of skimmers. IMO, it pulls out just as much junk as my Euro-Reefs so I'm not so sold on the "bubble plate" marketing, but it is a lot quieter than my EuroReef.

[rosslonghorns]

I think I have the 180 (8") body and they are beasts of skimmers. IMO, it pulls out just as much junk as my Euro-Reefs so I'm not so sold on the "bubble plate" marketing, but it is a lot quieter than my EuroReef.

Yes I have noticed that the Vertex is very quiet compared to the Euro-Reef. I like that feature! I'm still letting it break in but it seems to be pulling out the same / more than the Euro-Reef, but I've only had one cupful thus far. Time will tell. The water looks a bit clearer!