AstroReefer's 425XL build

[CDavmd]

Everything is starting to flourish. Corals are growing and coloring up nicely. Fish are healthy and the system is now hitting 10 months....getting to that steady growth stage.

 

[CDavmd]

Some random “blue” light shots:

 

[Crabby48]

Great photos! Tank is looking amazing. I love how the aquascape looks with corals filling In. Very nice growth!

 

[CDavmd]

Great photos! Tank is looking amazing. I love how the aquascape looks with corals filling In. Very nice growth!

Thanks bud!

 

[CDavmd]

Another disaster.....over the past month Acropora's are all going south. STN!! I've started a separate thread on this:

STN decimates my thriving reef!

The title says it all. Why did this happen??? several factors at play but I have been unable to reverse it and at this point I am losing every single Acropora in my system :( Utter frustration! So to start- I am not a new reefer and I have been at this hobby for a many years. I've mainly kept...

www.reef2reef.com

Just want to cry some days

 

[itsdantheichiman]

Just read through your entire build thread, was heart broken to see this last post. You've done great work, am planning on using many of your plumbing ideas in my new 425xl build next month! Im sure you will get through your acro troubles!

 

[CDavmd]

Just read through your entire build thread, was heart broken to see this last post. You've done great work, am planning on using many of your plumbing ideas in my new 425xl build next month! Im sure you will get through your acro troubles!

Thank you. I really appreciate the sentiment. I’m slowly trying to get things back on track.
Good luck with your build. Reach out if you have any questions.

 

[Shanepaddock33]

Well after many many months I’m back to my long postponed build.

Life gets in the way...the tank build had to go on pause. It’s still going to go slow but I’m trying to find some time to keep it moving. I'm on call this memorial day weekend and its rainy and cool outside. What better thing to do in between pages and calls to the hospital than work the plumbing lol!

I put more thought into my manifold all these months. The previous mock-up was too complicated and was not going to accommodate the reactors and such. Now that I finally have all the equipment I gave it a few more iterations. Really wish I had room for the 525 in my House, the 425’s sump space is just short of ideal.

In any event after many hours and iterations I think I have something that works. I put the flow meter in line after the pump. This really simplified the terminal return plumbing where I was trying to install it previously.

I'm also thinking I might feed the pax bellum off of the exit line from one of the reactors. I put a flow meter on this so I can dial in the appropriate flow for the chaeto. Doing it this way avoided the need for another gate valve which I am having a hard time fitting in while keeping things clean, workable and uncluttered. Still need to add unions here and there but I wanted to see how things were fitting.

I am including two ball valves as you can see- one will shut off flow to the tank and the other when open will divert the flow back to the sump. I'll use this to recirculate the sump flow through the socks while stirring things up and thus cleaning the sump. I'll probably put a union on that down spout which will allow attaching things like an emergency extra reactor, a barbed connector with vinyl tubing, etc...

It still needs a bit of tidying up and making sure everything lines up appropriately but here is the dry fit. Excuse the props keeping it all up.

What did you use for the 1inch to 3/4 on the return into the tank

 

[CDavmd]

What did you use for the 1inch to 3/4 on the return into the tank

I used Broadfields modification. I think he put it on the first page of his build since it was so frequently asked. Basically a 1 inch slip to 3/4 thread fixture. Wrap 6-10 of plumbers tape on the threads and screw into the Red Sea part. Hope that helps.

 

[CDavmd]

I used Broadfields modification. I think he put it on the first page of his build since it was so frequently asked. Basically a 1 inch slip to 3/4 thread fixture. Wrap 6-10 of plumbers tape on the threads and screw into the Red Sea part. Hope that helps.

 

[riguy314]

Hi there - amazing build thread. clean and neat. sorry to hear about the STN. hope you can bring them back! I hope you don't but I am trying to clean up my wiring and will need to "borrow" a few ideas. your tank is amazing.

 

[CDavmd]

Hi there - amazing build thread. clean and neat. sorry to hear about the STN. hope you can bring them back! I hope you don't but I am trying to clean up my wiring and will need to "borrow" a few ideas. your tank is amazing.

Thanks!
PM sent

 

[drawman]

Your build looks great! I'm curious what light did you use for your sump?

Also were you able to combat some of the STN issues?

 

[CDavmd]

Your build looks great! I'm curious what light did you use for your sump?

Also were you able to combat some of the STN issues?

Thanks!

I used Armcoast lighting RGB strip led's. They stick on easily and I can adjust the colors with the controller.

The STN basically killed all my SPS except for my Oregon tort, Garf Bonsai, and my birds nests. I finally killed off the Ostreopsis Dino with the UV only to be replaced by Amphidinium on the sand. That has finally gotten under control and next came green cyano. I tried the Cyano treatment from Triton but it did nothing. I finally resorted to chemiclean and that killed it off. Things look reasonably stable right now and the surviving corals are growing and look good. There are some"scabs" of encrusted SPS here and there where the colonies used to be. They seem to be growing back...time will tell.

 

[drawman]

Thanks!

I used Armcoast lighting RGB strip led's. They stick on easily and I can adjust the colors with the controller.

The STN basically killed all my SPS except for my Oregon tort, Garf Bonsai, and my birds nests. I finally killed off the Ostreopsis Dino with the UV only to be replaced by Amphidinium on the sand. That has finally gotten under control and next came green cyano. I tried the Cyano treatment from Triton but it did nothing. I finally resorted to chemiclean and that killed it off. Things look reasonably stable right now and the surviving corals are growing and look good. There are some"scabs" of encrusted SPS here and there where the colonies used to be. They seem to be growing back...time will tell.

Been there with the ostreo so I know how you feel. Good luck on the bounce back!

 

[CDavmd]

Slow and gradual recovery. Seeing good polyp extension and early growth of remaining survivors.

current look of the tank:

 

[MikeYasin]

Congrats! Did you ever get to the root cause?

 

[CDavmd]

Congrats! Did you ever get to the root cause?

Kinda.....so to recap:

1. During the initial setup I kept lights out for 4 months then gradually brought them online. Rock was a combo of marco rock and seeded with 10 pounds of ocean live rock from KP aquatics.

2. I was very slow and gradual in introducing livestock. I went through a very minor diatom breakout early on and never had much turf algae. I did notice these non-motile brown-gold structures on my sand when looking under a microscope. ( I think they were an encysted version of Dino's waiting for the opportunity).

3. All was good, growing, and thriving as you can see in my earlier photos on this thread. Then came ich and I went fallow for close to 80 days.

4. During Fallow period I ghost fed and never saw a bottoming out of my nutrients (may have at some points between testing but I was testing weekly). The corals really took off during this time and everything looked great.

5. Re-introduced the fish slowly. Just prior to doing so, I decided to adjust my rock scape and add a bit more sand. (I THINK THIS WAS THE TRIGGER).

6. I noticed a few days later some gold brown on the new sand area. I thought initially diatoms but when I finally looked under the scope they were a mixture of small cell amphidinium and Ostreopsis!! Around this time I also noted some green cyano in the rock crevices and starting to show up on areas of the sand. This is when the STN first showed up. Little by little it spread from one SPS to another and I lost hundreds of dollars worth of sticks!

7. I went through the usual iterations: siphon, make sure nutrients were up, fed more, dosed nitrate, add UV, increased flow, bacteria, dosed silicates....you get the idea. (Yes I had previously dealt with Dino's in my old system which had been online for over a decade and started with ocean live rock. It was after an overdose of NOPOX. Took me closed to 9 months to beat them).

8. I also tried the new Triton STN-X and Cyano treatment. In my experience they did nothing.

9. After a couple weeks the Ostreopsis under the microscope was gone (UV did its trick)- the small cell type persisted.

10. I tried the Dr. Tims recipe for Dino's with the blackouts, refresh and waste away. Things would look good then they came back.

11. I tried the increasing O2, bacteria, vodka method....same result....they came back after an initial improvement.

12. I finally said screw it and did a 4 day black out with chemiclean followed by dosing a variety of bacteria: Ecobalance, MB-7, MB clean, and Fritz-turbo start.

13. This really improved things. Cyano gone and has not come back. Small Cell amphidinum significantly less but still shows up after 7-10 day.

14. Surviving SPS started showing recovery. Interestingly it was the oregon tort that did the best. My purple tip turaki, birds nests, slime ball, all the LPS, Monti's, and zoa's weren't bothered by all the goings on. I've also noted little plaques of SPS where the nice colony/frags were in the past. I think some are starting to come back. Fingers crossed.

15. Due to my work obligations at the hospital with the COVID outbreak....I had little time for the tank. Other than feeding it was neglected. The small cell persists at a very low level and does not seem to be bothering the corals.

16. About 10 days ago I had time to do some sand bed cleaning, blast the rocks, remove dead coral skeletons, and open up the rock structure a bit. I was surprised how much detritus was in the deep areas of the rock given I have two Wav's and a gyre going pretty strongly. Nevertheless I cleaned things up and decided to give the new temperature craze a chance.

17. I increased the temp to 82.5-83 degrees. Its been at this range for about 3 days. Dino's may be receding but its too early to tell. My fish look more active and hungrier, corals all look good and my remaining SPS are showing some massive polyp extension. My tank is clearly enjoying the higher temps. Back in the day when I ran MH on my old system the temp was always 80-82 and things did great. I think I'm going to leave things were they are.

18. I have some Garf Grunge on the way and plan to setup a small refugium from the left over top off water reservoir where I will seed pods, etc.

Sooo, there you have it.....things are looking much better but still not done with the war. Hopefully I can get this to finally resolve soon. I'll give it a few months before trying to replace some of my sticks again.

Thanks for looking!

 

[drawman]

Kinda.....so to recap:

1. During the initial setup I kept lights out for 4 months then gradually brought them online. Rock was a combo of marco rock and seeded with 10 pounds of ocean live rock from KP aquatics.

2. I was very slow and gradual in introducing livestock. I went through a very minor diatom breakout early on and never had much turf algae. I did notice these non-motile brown-gold structures on my sand when looking under a microscope. ( I think they were an encysted version of Dino's waiting for the opportunity).

3. All was good, growing, and thriving as you can see in my earlier photos on this thread. Then came ich and I went fallow for close to 80 days.

4. During Fallow period I ghost fed and never saw a bottoming out of my nutrients (may have at some points between testing but I was testing weekly). The corals really took off during this time and everything looked great.

5. Re-introduced the fish slowly. Just prior to doing so, I decided to adjust my rock scape and add a bit more sand. (I THINK THIS WAS THE TRIGGER).

6. I noticed a few days later some gold brown on the new sand area. I thought initially diatoms but when I finally looked under the scope they were a mixture of small cell amphidinium and Ostreopsis!! Around this time I also noted some green cyano in the rock crevices and starting to show up on areas of the sand. This is when the STN first showed up. Little by little it spread from one SPS to another and I lost hundreds of dollars worth of sticks!

7. I went through the usual iterations: siphon, make sure nutrients were up, fed more, dosed nitrate, add UV, increased flow, bacteria, dosed silicates....you get the idea. (Yes I had previously dealt with Dino's in my old system which had been online for over a decade and started with ocean live rock. It was after an overdose of NOPOX. Took me closed to 9 months to beat them).

8. I also tried the new Triton STN-X and Cyano treatment. In my experience they did nothing.

9. After a couple weeks the Ostreopsis under the microscope was gone (UV did its trick)- the small cell type persisted.

10. I tried the Dr. Tims recipe for Dino's with the blackouts, refresh and waste away. Things would look good then they came back.

11. I tried the increasing O2, bacteria, vodka method....same result....they came back after an initial improvement.

12. I finally said screw it and did a 4 day black out with chemiclean followed by dosing a variety of bacteria: Ecobalance, MB-7, MB clean, and Fritz-turbo start.

13. This really improved things. Cyano gone and has not come back. Small Cell amphidinum significantly less but still shows up after 7-10 day.

14. Surviving SPS started showing recovery. Interestingly it was the oregon tort that did the best. My purple tip turaki, birds nests, slime ball, all the LPS, Monti's, and zoa's weren't bothered by all the goings on. I've also noted little plaques of SPS where the nice colony/frags were in the past. I think some are starting to come back. Fingers crossed.

15. Due to my work obligations at the hospital with the COVID outbreak....I had little time for the tank. Other than feeding it was neglected. The small cell persists at a very low level and does not seem to be bothering the corals.

16. About 10 days ago I had time to do some sand bed cleaning, blast the rocks, remove dead coral skeletons, and open up the rock structure a bit. I was surprised how much detritus was in the deep areas of the rock given I have two Wav's and a gyre going pretty strongly. Nevertheless I cleaned things up and decided to give the new temperature craze a chance.

17. I increased the temp to 82.5-83 degrees. Its been at this range for about 3 days. Dino's may be receding but its too early to tell. My fish look more active and hungrier, corals all look good and my remaining SPS are showing some massive polyp extension. My tank is clearly enjoying the higher temps. Back in the day when I ran MH on my old system the temp was always 80-82 and things did great. I think I'm going to leave things were they are.

18. I have some Garf Grunge on the way and plan to setup a small refugium from the left over top off water reservoir where I will seed pods, etc.

Sooo, there you have it.....things are looking much better but still not done with the war. Hopefully I can get this to finally resolve soon. I'll give it a few months before trying to replace some of my sticks again.

Thanks for looking!

I'll be curious to see if the elevated temp helps. I'm pretty much doing the same thing as the grunge by adding Florida keys sand and mud. Good luck!

 

[MikeYasin]

Good luck- I had some ostreo a few months back- took my OP and Home wrecker before I got it under control. I used UV, water changes, Vibrant and had to frag a couple of others that started STN at the tips.

things are stable now for three months, everything is fully healed, and I have my heart set on a couple of very nice stIcks, but I think I’ll let things simmer for two more months before I pull the trigger.