19Mateo83’s 5 & 14 gallon builds

19Mateo83 · Mar 12, 2023

I’m thinking after I build a 3” filter across the back I will be left with about a 11 gallon display. Should I go for a 185 gph or 251 gph return pump. The 185 would give me over 10x turnover rate. I feel that would be sufficient to run a tank but I like the 20x turnover rate of the 251 gph. What do you all think?

19Mateo83 · Mar 13, 2023

Whelp…. The bleaching is finished and It has been rinsed twice in distilled water. It still smells of chlorine so now we let it dry and wait. As much of this 20lbs as possible will be used in my up coming 14 gallon cube build. I miss being able to buy live Tonga rock… it has sooo much more surface area and character that you just can’t find in LFS rock today. I can’t wait to get it rolling, my plan is to get it cycling in a 5 gallon bucket while I build out the 14.

The little 5 gallon is rocking and rolling right along. It now has ceramic bio media added in the back. It has cycled. The ammonia came and went, nitrates are there but at a almost un noticeable level (super light bio load). The clown is healthy and eating well. I also got a killer deal on a bit of GSP, a tiny ricordia and a zoa frag so I figured why not give them a try. Everything is doing great so far.

19Mateo83 · Mar 15, 2023

Live rock is bubbling away in its bucket. Sitting at 1.026 and 76*. I also added a bit of turbo start 900 to the mix. The black acrylic for the back of the tank arrived along with the return pump. Still waiting on silicone, weld on 3, lock line fittings and heater. I also have a spectral X controller and proper arm for the A80tb on the way. Luckily I’m in no rush, the 5 gallon is doing rather well aside from the tail rot on the clown. (He’s in quarantine getting treated). I added some zoanthids and clove polyps from @Queen City Corals The little piece of purple Monti cap and the trumpet came from another LFS. The trumpet is in pretty rough shape… but… It was in the $10 area. I bought it for the zoanthids that were growing with it but I’m still going to give it a chance. Here it is tonight.

Queen City Corals · Mar 15, 2023

19Mateo83 said:
Live rock is bubbling away in its bucket. Sitting at 1.026 and 76*. I also added a bit of turbo start 900 to the mix. The black acrylic for the back of the tank arrived along with the return pump. Still waiting on silicone, weld on 3, lock line fittings and heater. I also have a spectral X controller and proper arm for the A80tb on the way. Luckily I’m in no rush, the 5 gallon is doing rather well aside from the tail rot on the clown. (He’s in quarantine getting treated). I added some zoanthids and clove polyps from @Queen City Corals The little piece of purple Monti cap and the trumpet came from another LFS. The trumpet is in pretty rough shape… but… It was in the $10 area. I bought it for the zoanthids that were growing with it but I’m still going to give it a chance. Here it is tonight.

The tank is looking great! I'm happy to help you fill it up, I love those QCC Ares' Fury Zoas they are one of my favorites! I can't wait to help you fill-up the new tank once it's ready!

19Mateo83 · Mar 15, 2023

@Queen City Corals i just ordered two more from your website for pick up Sunday

19Mateo83 · Mar 18, 2023

Here we are tonight.

19Mateo83 · Mar 19, 2023

Water Parameters this afternoon.
temp-78
Sg-1.026
Ph-8.0
Kh-8.6
Ca-370
Mg-1140
Po4-<.03
Nh3-0
No3- still waiting on new test kit.

19Mateo83 · Mar 19, 2023

@Queen City Corals i noticed the Duncan I got from you will snatch food pellets out of the water column. What do you use in your store to feed the lps and zoas?

19Mateo83 · Mar 22, 2023

Todays tests results
1.026
No3 - 2
Po4 - .3
I added a trochus snail today also.

19Mateo83 · Mar 22, 2023

Here we are tonight

19Mateo83 · Mar 31, 2023

Update time!

the tank has been running fairly well. The first round of uglies is here and I have a feeling it’s because PO4 & NO3 are at zero…. I’m having trouble raising them. The clown came out of his hospital tank a couple days ago and I added a black and gold chromis a few days ago as well. I’m hoping they, along with a little heavier than normal feeding will my parameters more where I need them. I’m also noticing my KH creeping down. Any suggestions on stabilizing it without changing out water?
FTS

Water Parameters tonight
Temp - 78
SG - 1.026
PH - 8.15
PO4 - 0
NO3 - 0
KH - 7.3
MG - 1140
CA - 360
NH3 - 0

19Mateo83 · Apr 2, 2023

Todays progress on the 14 gallon AIO cube. I did my acrylic work today. This is my first time trying solvent welding but I think it came out pretty dang good! I built in over flow safeties in the back and baffles like the Innovative Marine AIO. I plan on using a piece 1/2 diffuser grid to hold a bag of ceramic rings and the mechanical filtration (sponge/floss).

Once I was confident in my acrylic welds I dry fit it and masked off for my silicone lines. After carefully applying beads to the rear baffles, I slid it in place and did the front seams. Everything went exactly to plan! Now all I have to do is let the silicone cure out then install my return line bulkhead, the return line and the return pump and give it a test run. I also have a random flow generator nozzle for my return on the way.

19Mateo83 · Apr 3, 2023

Tonga Rock update!
this rock came out of my old tank that crashed about 12 years ago. It crashed from a combination of bubble algae and some sort of super invasive macro algae. The tank also had horrible phosphate issues as well. I wanted to make sure I got all the spores and organics out of them so I went the bleach route.
After bleaching for a week I let the rock air out and dry for a week. I then added de chlorinator and and let it sit for a couple days then did a 100% water change. I did this twice. Once I was confident all the chlorine was gone I added a triple dose of turbo start 900 bacteria to it. It has since been sitting in a bucket with a pump running at room temperature. I have only done 1 water change since adding bacteria, the water I put back in was from my 5 gallon pico. I have also tossed some small rubble rock from my pico in there too to help bolster the bio diversity. It has been circulating for 3 weeks like this. I finally did testing on the water tonight for the first time. I am actually pretty surprised at the numbers. I was expecting much higher!
Ammonia - 0
Phosphates - .25
Nitrates - 25
(All salifert Kits)
My target range is around 5-10 for and .1 for the phosphatesI will start doing water changes until they reach my desired levels.

19Mateo83 · Apr 3, 2023

@1epauletteshark I think you are the only person following this

I appreciate the likes though!

1epauletteshark · Apr 3, 2023

19Mateo83 said:
@1epauletteshark I think you are the only person following this I appreciate the likes though!

I love how it’s going so far

19Mateo83 · Apr 13, 2023

Due to an infestation of Dino’s in the 5 gallon I was forced to get the 15 up and bubbling. The rock work is not completed yet and there’s still plenty to choose from. I’m waiting for the water to clear before I get back into the stacking. Here’s tonight’s progress.

This is also a rundown test on my home made battery backup system. It’s a 18ah lifepo4 battery that runs to a 150w true sine wave inverter. It is kept charged by a battery tender charger and will all be run through a ac/dc relay so when the 120v ac cuts out the 12v dc energizes the inverter and away we go. For now I’m testing it only on my return pump. So far it’s been going continuously for almost 24 hours. Parts list is below.

19Mateo83 · Apr 13, 2023

I got 14.5 hrs running a 150w inverter running an 8w return pump. Not too shabby for just one battery.

19Mateo83 · Apr 14, 2023

I also have a Kessil a360x TB on the way for this one. Maybe a bit overkill but I already have the spectral x controller and an a80 won’t quite cut it. I want to be able to keep SPS happy in here too.

19Mateo83 · Apr 14, 2023

Aqua scape round 2

19Mateo83 · Apr 15, 2023

Final tweak on the rockwork. I added a platform that overhangs the right side a bit and started superglueing the top structure together. I also added my clown. I am still waiting on my a360x to arrive.