Bakbay's 450g - Final Upgrade?

[TangerineSpeedo]

Just finished hooking up the 57W UV light - in from one pump, out to another, no feed pump needed - patent pending! lol I do have a flow meter but another point of failure - simply adjust the valve for now.

Oh yeah - that’s the float valve for the ATO. It’s currently on strike after filtering 450g all week!

I think I have one of those float valves if Amazon doesn't have them in stock

 

[bakbay]

I think I have one of those float valves if Amazon doesn't have them in stock

I have a Tunze & Avast ATO — both are now sitting in a container somewhere! I have one on the frag tank and now this tank — floaters are super easy to install (no stupid app needed), elegant, simple , and (knock on e-wood) extremely reliable!

Originally I was planning to use a 30g reservoir for ATO. Now I’m thinking of using it as a kalk reservoir instead. With a CaRx, I know that my pH will take a hit.

 

[Dmax]

Pics of the tank — lots of work ahead!

Curious how the cabinet attaches to the steel stand? Magnets on each panel or are they doors with hinges?
Trying to decide how to build mine and I like the way yours looks.

Thanks

 

[bakbay]

Curious how the cabinet attaches to the steel stand? Magnets on each panel or are they doors with hinges?
Trying to decide how to build mine and I like the way yours looks.

Thanks

Magnets on top with 2 little protruding pegs (feet) on the bottom for support.

Nice tank!!

 

[Dmax]

Magnets on top with 2 little protruding pegs (feet) on the bottom for support.

Nice tank!!

Very nice. I'm going to copy that on mine.

Appreciate that. Your setup as well.

 

[bakbay]

My son 3D printed some random flow generators last night — would be interested to see how they work!

 

[bakbay]

As part of the transfer tonight, I need to catch the big vlamingi from the Lagoon and move it into the big tank — all fish will go together to avoid bullying. Got him as a baby a year ago and now he’s already 6” (and growing)!

 

[bakbay]

Speaking of flow — need your help & input. The tank has two gyres and one MP60 on each side of the 8’ tank. I don’t like the MP60s sticking out like a sore thumb and I almost knocked it over last night. Therefore, I think that it will be more aesthetically pleasing, safer, and better flow to put MP60s lower in the back wall.

Question: the tank is a 36” wide. Any potential structural issues with MP60s hitting the glass at 70% Reef Crest mode?

 

[McPuff]

As part of the transfer tonight, I need to catch the big vlamingi from the Lagoon and move it into the big tank — all fish will go together to avoid bullying. Got him as a baby a year ago and now he’s already 6” (and growing)!

Vlamingi is the fastest growing tang I've ever had. They never stop eating.

 

[bakbay]

We are up & running!! Everything got transferred over - so far, no casualties that I’m aware of.

Thanks to everyone for your continued help & support! Still a long journey ahead but I feel that the heavy lifting (literally) is done. I’m super happy with the result.

 

[bakbay]

Got the basic life support going: returns, wavemakers, Hydros, temp, ph, etc. The skimmer is going to town with all the baddies from the before. I’m hoping to add some carbon and UV tomorrow.

Salinity is stable at SG 1.025. It was 1.029 yesterday ans 1.032 a few days before.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Speaking of flow — need your help & input. The tank has two gyres and one MP60 on each side of the 8’ tank. I don’t like the MP60s sticking out like a sore thumb and I almost knocked it over last night. Therefore, I think that it will be more aesthetically pleasing, safer, and better flow to put MP60s lower in the back wall.

Question: the tank is a 36” wide. Any potential structural issues with MP60s hitting the glass at 70% Reef Crest mode?

Probably not, you could check it with your hand. You want flow, not force. But with that size of tank you will probably will want to go with a Sea Swirl or equivalent on the back wall.

 

[bakbay]

Probably not, you could check it with your hand. You want flow, not force. But with that size of tank you will probably will want to go with a Sea Swirl or equivalent on the back wall.

Thank you. I’ve put the MP60s near the bottom, closer to the back wall, and they work wonders! Turns out that the RFGs are also working their magic since I got chaotic underwater tornadoes! So far, I’m very happy with the flow. My return is only at half speed since I need to distribute power to prevent tripping over a 20A ckt.

I actually have 2 sea sweeps + Jebao (might swap for Tunze later) but they are rather bulky tbh. However, when SPS colonies grow out, I can light them up for crazier flow.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I actually have 2 sea sweeps + Jebao (might swap for Tunze later) but they are rather bulky tbh. However, when SPS colonies grow out, I can light them up for crazier flow.

Funny, because when I wrote this, this was the reason why...

 

[bakbay]

Morning FTS and the 3 islands. Everyone is doing great!

 

[bakbay]

Now that the basics are done, these things are next:

1. Hydros final setup, cable management
2. Power distribution / testing: make sure we are on separate breakers
3. Tube clamps / spacers
4. UV
5. Carbon reactor
6. Calcium reactor (not needed yet but it’s VERY cool lol)
7. Kalk reactor
8. Water testing: Trident?
9. What else?

I put some “test” corals last night so will see how things go.

 

[Mschmidt]

could you, just for a moment put all the pumps on one end, crank them, and go for a swim? cuz that's definitely something I would do if that were my tank and before I had livestock in.

 

[bakbay]

could you, just for a moment put all the pumps on one end, crank them, and go for a swim? cuz that's definitely something I would do if that were my tank and before I had livestock in.

lol - our kids would have love it but we also have a well-maintained pool and only use it 3 times a year(at best?). Anyway, the flow on the gyres & MP60s are crazy -- seeing detritus on the bottom swirling & in suspension. Additionally, these pumps are very easy to clean too!

Will make sure things settle down and I'll be planting some SPS mini-colonies soon. Actually, I did put in a huge (8" x 6") Acropora colony last night. It's super resilient so hoping it will do well.

 

[bakbay]

UV up and running, along with Hydros automation. It was pretty easy to set up - thanks again for the suggestion, @Connor At CoralVue I got the protein skimmer sensor, 2 temp probes, pH, and ORP dialed in under 30min. Longest part was routing cables around the control station!

 

[danreef55]

bakbay,
you have made incredible progress. everything is looking great congrats!