95g Wave Front Journal

[jdeb101]

It sounds like your bulkhead is too large by maybe 1/4". It should fit nice and snug inside the bulkhead. You will get some water that still leaks, but it should be minimal. I refuse to glue mine, but I have never had any issues as far as excessive draining or floating!

Hmm not sure. I may just try making I snug with Teflon and see how it goes. I wouldn't say it's excessive at all, but if I lost power for a day I can estimate the overflow box would be drained. But I guess I'd have bigger problems at that point anyway.

 

[jdeb101]

Teflon appears to have helped at least with the pipe coming loose!

 

[jdeb101]

Went to Oceans in Glass yesterday and picked up 2X 40lb bags dead sand, 1X 20 lb live sand, and a 4lb piece of LR. Now just patiently waiting for my RO to make enough water to fill the tank and it feels like watching paint dry. lol

 

[jdeb101]

Let the cycle begin! Tank is finally running, ~130g total volume. I think it's time to upgrade my 30g brute mixing barrel to a water changing station! lol

 

[s_kelley]

What do you have planned? Gonna do something cool on the thicker/wider side?

 

[jdeb101]

What do you have planned? Gonna do something cool on the thicker/wider side?

To be honest I'm still not 100% sure.. LOL I'm a bit limited on what I can keep by the lighting I have (reefbreeders photon24), so SPS is out of question. I originally was thinking just softies and LPS, but I had a crazy idea tonight of maybe doing NPS corals.... hmmmm.... any ideas?

 

[jdeb101]

I thought an anenome would look really cool in here as well, but once again limited by my lighting...

 

[reefstarter]

Im pretty sure with that light you can keep most anything . I hear nothing but good things about them . even from LED skeptics been considering one myself . but haven't got the guts to pull the trigger on it

 

[jdeb101]

Im pretty sure with that light you can keep most anything . I hear nothing but good things about them . even from LED skeptics been considering one myself . but haven't got the guts to pull the trigger on it

It's a great light, just a bit undersized for this tank and also has 120 optics. I may consider trying a small frag or two of SPS in there just to see how they do, but we shall see.

 

[Sboarderk03]

Any progress on this bad boy, things are lookin real good, can't wait to see some fish in there. Where did you get those Union ball valves?? I need a couple of those asap!

 

[jdeb101]

Any progress on this bad boy, things are lookin real good, can't wait to see some fish in there. Where did you get those Union ball valves?? I need a couple of those asap!

Thanks! Tank has been cycling so nothing really new to look at. I did make some big purchases recently though, got an Apex and ATO. Been brainstorming ideas on where to set these up. I'll try posting more info soon once I actually stop thinking and start doing.

Oh and the union ball valves I think I got from Lowes in Woburn or possibly Home Depot.. one or the other. To be honest I kinda messed up on the plumbing and should have placed the blue valve before the other two. Oh well... luckily my pump has an adjustable flow rate (though it's dialed all the way down! )

 

[jdeb101]

So quick update on the tank..

Determined my test kits I was initially using were 2-3 years past expired ! So last weekend I went to LFS and had it tested and I got 0 across the board, and also got some new API test kits yesterday and tested 0 as well. I was at least expecting to read some nitrates, but I guess all the beneficial bacteria I added kept up with it. So since it appears to be through cycling I pick up a small cuc as well. What I'm currently dealing with is some nasty brownish hair algae!

Is it normal to see this type of algae during/immediately after a cycle? Should I just let it run it's course or should I take some action to remove it? FYI, I haven't done any wc's yet. What concerns me is this algae looks same as the algae I've been battling in my 40b for forever now. Not 100% sure, but it looks like it may be Lyngbia algae (see here: http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide).

 

[jdeb101]

A noob question for filter sock users... should I wash brand new socks before I put them in or are they safe to go right in? Also, is it safe to wash with laundry detergent (non-bleach)?

 

[Dekon]

I washed mine when I first got them, it just felt safer to me. When I wash mine I use bleach only, no detergent, no scented bleaches; then I run them through a extra rinse cycle. Before I hang them to dry, I make sure they do not smell of bleach. I have also heard of people hanging them in a window which gets a lot of sun as the sunlight will help to remove the bleach.

I also forgot to say I turn mine inside out when I wash them after the are dirty.

Awesome looking tank BTW.

 

[The Reef Pit]

Like Dekon said NO Detergent, I ran filter socks for a long time, Now I only use them if I have an algae issue, When I first bought mine I just soaked them in RO water than let them air dry, When I washed them (2 dozen at a time) Like Dekon said turn them inside out, But i would run another wash cycle after that not inside out, just water I didn't not take the bleach approach, After the wash cycle I would soak them in RO, then let them dry, and ready for use again. That is just they way I did it,, And your tank is starting to come along, looking good can't wait to see more.
Dom

 

[The Reef Pit]

as for the algae maybe some else will chime in, but if it were me, and it look the same as the other tank I would take a tooth brush to it now and keep up with it before it got out of hand, maybe run the light cycle a little less till it went away as well, Are you running carbon and or gfo ? Did you take any of the rock from the other tank and put it in the new tank?

 

[jdeb101]

as for the algae maybe some else will chime in, but if it were me, and it look the same as the other tank I would take a tooth brush to it now and keep up with it before it got out of hand, maybe run the light cycle a little less till it went away as well, Are you running carbon and or gfo ? Did you take any of the rock from the other tank and put it in the new tank?

The two tanks are completely separate and nothing at all from the old has been in the new. Not running carbon or GFO on either, and both tanks (as well as fresh RO) test negative for nitrates and phosphates. The brown stuff on the sand is even starting to look stringy now. I plan on doing a big 20-30g wc on Friday evening so hopefully that will help...

 

[The Reef Pit]

It could be what little nitrates and phosphate's that is in the water that algae is sucking it up, I mean the tanks to new to really tell, but if you have the same algae in both tanks, it's got to be coming from some were, Maybe try some carbon after the water change just to see if it keeps it at bay, Or try some NO3O4-X , I used it off and on for about two years, it well for me, Some times if I over feed (amino acid's , coral frenzy , or fish food) I get small algae issue's and I use that my protein skimmer goes it to over time. It looks like your clean up crew is trying to get at it, maybe tooth brush it some so they can keep working at it,, Keeps us updated..

 

[jdeb101]

Another update, did some work over the weekend. Did about a 25g wc and scrubbed some of the algae off rocks and vacuumed sanded. Looks a little better, but still ugly.

Anyway, the real fun stuff I did was this...

Right now I don't have any fancy programming done, mostly just have everything set to 'ON', except heaters are programmed to go on/off depending on temp. I'm having a lot of fun with this Apex, but there is a LOT to learn. Quite overwhelming to be honest!

I have a JBJ ATO that I really would like to hook up to this tank but just not sure where to keep an ATO reservoir. I don't have much room left in stand and don't want an unsightly reservoir sitting outside the tank. Therefore, I think my only option would me to drill a hole in the wall behind tank to the unfinished basement side and run a hose from a container in there to the sump....

Still LOTS of build going into this tank, but thats the fun right!? lol

As far as livestock, I'm pretty sure I want a pair of clowns for first fish but undecided if I want the ol classic ocellaris "nemo" or black clowns. I think some black clowns would look nice in a rose BTA.

 

[jdeb101]

First fish! Since I couldn't decide on what clowns I wanted, I got one of each! The black/white clown swims all over the tank exploring his new home, meanwhile the orange clown pretty much doesn't move from back corner of tank.