Achilles, Acro, and a Decade of Dreaming

[Frosty Latte]

Set up the calcium reactor with the pH pegged at 6.3, and the tank is at 8.3. Kinda impressed how stable both are with just some flow management through the calcium reactor. Ordered a new pump as this one from FBM is loud, and very hot. Water inside of it is probably +90F. It’s hot to the touch.

Ozone after one night with the filter socks back made the tank incredibly clear. Looking forward to this in the future. Ordered a dehumidifier/dryer beads for the ozone and going to make a canister for that side, and the skimmer side top for carbon. The skimmer is struggling to skim now. Unsure if it’s the ozone or the tank water is so clean there isn’t anything left to skim.

Took some fun photos after the lights turned off with just the moon lights on. Enjoy

 

[thomas_neil]

Excited to see what you turn yours into. It’s for sure been a journey trying to get this to be stable.

My basement is still a work in progress for sure. Needs some light and a ceiling

Also want to run a separate electric line for the tank, but I’m out of space in the breaker…

I ended up painting my ceiling black. I did add a dedicated circuit for my tank, had to get a piggy back breaker because my panel was out of space as well.

I have everything I did to my basement in preparation for the tank in my build thread. Still need build out the fish room and stand though.

 

[Frosty Latte]

I’ll have to check out your basement build then @thomas_neil

 

[Frosty Latte]

So this morning I was looking through my charts, and made some changes to the tank.

I changed the ATS from 10-6:30 to 8-5:30 to see if we can slow the diurnal pH swings a bit.

I changed the UV 80 and UV 40 from 12-midnight to 8pm-8am to see if we can change the diurnal pH swing.

I changed the temp from 76-77 to 76.8-77.5

I changed the calcium reactor from 6.25-6.35 to 6.3-6.35

woke up dreaming of how to make a great skimmer lid to capture off gassing. I know a bit about canister filters for cars so going to use that knowledge and make something cool.

 

[Frosty Latte]

This is my before charts. I’ll post an after in a day or two to see the direct effects of the changes.

 

[Frosty Latte]

I also added 4 cups of salt to raise the salinity last night.

 

[Frosty Latte]

Got the reefbot set up. Did the first Nitrate test. Confirmed 0 which was same as the salifert test.

The ozone is doing wonders and the water is so clear.

I’ve got a few other ideas of some custom DIY stuff I might try to make this weekend.

Planning on going to DTC this weekend to see what other fish they have. I want to start adding fish faster since the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate is all reading 0 so I can feed more, and not swing it the wrong way too fast.

I’m not sure what I’m doing so right for pH, but it’s doing well.

 

[Frosty Latte]

Reefbot from FBM isn’t giving me any readings and I’m not sure why. The attached photo is what I’m seeing. Any idea how to fix this?

 

[Frosty Latte]

Added a dryer to the ozone.
Hung them on the wall.

Changed the calcium reactor pump out with a new one.

Hooked up the reefbot, but can’t get it to do anything other than make noise.

Took a fun top photo.

 

[Frosty Latte]

So I think I fixed the reefbot. Pretty sure one of the valves wasn’t opening when it was time to pull water from the tank. Swapped the clean air one too just in case it was a problem as well. I’ll keep ya updated. Might need a new pump head too.

 

[Frosty Latte]

Added my 2nd auto feeder today. Didnt realize that it needed a controller outlet, and I’m basically already maxed out… it’s always one more thing I swear

I also added 2 more bags of special grade aragalive sand last night.

I added another gallon of ARM to the calcium reactor, and a bag of two fishies magnesium. So far it’s been 14 hours and it’s taking a long time to get the pH in the reactor to get down to the 6.35 set point.

The new pump is much quieter, and the calcium reactor is far less hot. I’m glad I swapped it.

 

[4FordFamily]

So how do I eliminate fish smell from the protien skimmer?

Typically mine don't smell unless I dump them. But the best way is to store them in a canopy or a room where it doesn't matter if they smell (where my 500G skimmer is).

Great build thread, by the way! I cannot wait to check back!

 

[Frosty Latte]

Typically mine don't smell unless I dump them. But the best way is to store them in a canopy or a room where it doesn't matter if they smell (where my 500G skimmer is).

Great build thread, by the way! I cannot wait to check back!

Problem was my skimmer is too tall to go under, and now I hard plumbed it behind the tank

I’ve got a couple ideas on how to solve it. Once I get some more of my basement finished I’ll start making some cool DIY stuff for all the problems I’ve found and created.

 

[Frosty Latte]

Bought a few small fish in prep for next weeks big haul coming in to Detroit Reef Club.

Powder Blue Tang
Hippo Tang
Leopard Wrasse
Yellow Wrasse
Lawnmower Blenny

I’m worried for the leopard wrasse as she just came in yesterday. Going to do my best to help her get eating.

 

[Frosty Latte]

5 tangs in one tank and they are all doing fine. It’s weird to see how they are all friendly, but I think the amount of food, space, and their small size has something to do with it.

Posted a parameter pic from the Neptune. The new ARM in the calcium reactor is making it take longer than expect to get back to 6.3

My pH is higher than ever and not so sure why that is.

Reefbot still isn’t working… going to put some time into it and see what else the problem might be.

 

[esquare]

Awesome Tank! What are the dimensions?

 

[Frosty Latte]

Awesome Tank! What are the dimensions?

Thank you

300 gallon tank, with 75 sump and two 10 gallon RO.

Tank is 96x30x24 tall (inches).

Sump is 60 inches long.

 

[esquare]

Thank you

300 gallon tank, with 75 sump and two 10 gallon RO.

Tank is 96x30x24 tall (inches).

Sump is 60 inches long.

Wow, that's a huge tank. Looking forward to watching its progress.

 

[Frosty Latte]

Wow, that's a huge tank. Looking forward to watching its progress.

It felt smaller on the Facebook post, but when he used a forklift to move the tank I know I messed up

 

[esquare]

It felt smaller on the Facebook post, but when he used a forklift to move the tank I know I messed up

LOL