Salty's "new" 125

[Salty Cracker]

Okay, month later and everything is still alive, bacteria blooms are mostly gone, so might have to seriously consider moving the livestock over. Big bag of suck is that most of the liverock left in the main tank needs bleaching, and I'm really hesitant to bring colonies over to the new tank for fear of unwanted hitchhikers. Aiptasia in the main tank is literally out of control now that I've stopped battling it, so between that and the stupid paly infestation, I don't think much, if anything, will be coming to the new tank except frags.

Hydro wise, it's definitely showing up on my bill now, running 2 tanks. So far there's a jump of approx $150 a month. That's a hell of a lot, thanks wynne.

 

[Canadianeh]

are you running just T5 on both tanks? How many hours your light is on on the new tank?

 

[Salty Cracker]

No no, I run just LEDs, the T5's are just something extra, but I don't want to pay for 2 full setups (that's the biggest problem right now, once I "move" all the sps in the old tank is doomed, so into the bleach bath it goes...

 

[Salty Cracker]

Okay, so now there's 7 fish in the new tank, basically 3 months of just staring at the tank, and letting it ferment. There was a HUGE HA bloom, likely from the "new" liverock, but that's gone, and GFO has been running on it for a month or so. I haven't been skimming at all, just letting what it in there percolate, and doing water changes every few days.

Just hooked up one of the last 3 lights from the old tank. Really sad seeing it in such sad shape, I should take a photo of the aiptasia insanity going on in there. The trick will be catuching the coral beauty, the firefish and the flame hawk. I may well have to remove every rock to get them.

Tank stand is slowly progressing too, 1" solid soft maple, it takes forever to get the angles and cuts correct. Once it's done I'll stain all the pieces and do final assembly. Slowly but surely, It will be interesting to see what horrific problems lie ahead in the next year or so as the tank matures. Hopefully they water changes will keep things purring along.

Pics will follow, not much to take a pic of until all the electronics come over from the old tank.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Really hard to take a pic, as there is a big mix of lighting, the full spectrum on the left so far, and just blues on the right. But...everything alive and I can take my time setting it all up the way I want it

 

[Luke.]

Love the skull that's so sick !

 

[Nick James]

I really like the rock work! Awesome job Glen!

 

[vdubz]

That chalice is a beauty! Nice pics Glen!

 

[Salty Cracker]

It's been pretty happy since I moved it, but it is an extremely dangerous specimen. The sweepers are 2-3" long at night and it can sting almost anything.

There is a yellow one in there too, that likes the new water conditions, growing for the first time in years as well.

 

[Shooter000]

That yellow/orange chalice has gotten even brighter than before, looks killer bud

 

[vdubz]

I was talking about the yellow one at first but, wow! That purple with orange eyes is killer too!

 

[shamous113]

Lastly, anyone know the technique for pool-chlorine bleaching of liverock?? There's about a billion paly's out in bins that need to be neutralized before I'll even look at the rock. Man, they must be pissed off after being left out all night, just oozing pure toxic sludge hoping for one last victim.... ??

Here is the reef central thread, I did a 1:20 ratio because the chlorine from the pool store is 12% vs 5% from the grocery store.

 

[Shooter000]

Just use bleach at 10:1 ratio, soak for a day or two, run some Ro water for a few days, set the rock out to dry, once fully dried bleach is rendered harmless as the chemical compound changes, you will smell clean rocks and that's it, start cycling

 

[Salty Cracker]

Thanks guys, just waiting for the sun at this point I guess. I plan to cycle the rock in the sump once it's been treated, then add to the DT.

Running 2 canisters of GFO on the tank now, going back to ultra low nutrient, as I had the best results with sps that way (lps has to be hand fed in ULN systems).
Shooter thinks this was aiptasia burns, but WOW, almost ended up going into the doc because they just wouldn't heal. Scabbing up now, but I feel like a leper.

 

[Salty Cracker]

The HA outbreak I had in the tank when I was cycling, from using old liverock, was insane, so I may even run the rock in a tub with a skimmer and some gfo for a while. Amazing just how much old organic matter can be in the old rock.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Trying to get the wiring together. All of this stuff was shoved under the old tank like spaghetti. Hard to imagine I didn't electrocute myself. It's 90% running, so just a matter of the final tweaks and then some cable management. I guess they call this an expensive/difficult hobby for a reason.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Okay so new controller on the way, and most of programming done. Here's a list of what's been installed in the new build:

2x DC return pumps (one as backup)
Tunze wavebox (nano wavebox as backup)
Vertech mp10 behind rockwork
124 CREE LED's with 8 drivers (whites on dimmable) Rapid LED dimmer controller.
2x 48" T5 (Purples)
3x 10" fans for light heatsinks
1x spotlight LED fixture (extra light for frag racks)
1x slimline led fixture (for sump)
Reef Octopus Skimmer
2x phosban reactors (currently running gfo in both)
Vertex pellet reactor (running 1 hour on, 6 hours off, less than 1/4 cup of pellets)
Neptune Apex Legacy (ORP PH TEMP and breakout box) hardwired to home network
APC ups 1500 power supply backup for DC pump and heaters.
2x BRS dosers for alk and calc (may add one into the mix for Mg) controlled by Apex
DIY ATO (controlled by Apex)
3x 300W heaters (Controlled by Apex)
4 stage RO/DI

I'm getting another algae bloom on the substrate from the new lighting, but should pass quickly. Otherwise all is well. PH steady at 8.2-8.4 ORP at 306 temps at 78 (may drop that to 76).

 

[Salty Cracker]

Thanks guys, just waiting for the sun at this point I guess. I plan to cycle the rock in the sump once it's been treated, then add to the DT.

Running 2 canisters of GFO on the tank now, going back to ultra low nutrient, as I had the best results with sps that way (lps has to be hand fed in ULN systems).
Shooter thinks this was aiptasia burns, but WOW, almost ended up going into the doc because they just wouldn't heal. Scabbing up now, but I feel like a leper. View attachment 13349

Jesus, the hand burn came back with a vengeance last night, so off to the walk in clinic today, got a prescription for some sort of steroid cortisone or something like that. I tell you if I didn't hate aiptasia before , I sure do now.

 

[Shooter000]

Hope your ok dude..

 

[Salty Cracker]

Some pics. Not much in there, going very slowly this time around, watching for the emergence of any aiptasia and/or palys from the old tank. So far so good. Lots of "green" on the pieces I have put in, which is new growth (awesome), and PE is very good on almost everything. Only stock loss was a peppermint shrimp, so that's pretty awesome.