Bakbay's 450g - Final Upgrade?

[Devaji]

what a beautiful system. love the angels & tangs.
I want to finish out my basement and move the fish from the 200 peninsula FOWLR into a 500 gal system like this.

this is very inspirational!

 

[bakbay]

what a beautiful system. love the angels & tangs.
I want to finish out my basement and move the fish from the 200 peninsula FOWLR into a 500 gal system like this.

this is very inspirational!

Thanks - it’s been a fun build. More importantly, I got to spend many hours of quality time with our oldest son, who is way more creative and smarter than me! This build’s credit goes to him as well.

I was reading yours earlier — love the aqua scape! Having a big system is cool but presents its own challenges — everything is just bigger! I try to keep it as simple as possible — less is more. Looking forward to see your build soon.

 

[bakbay]

First water testing
Alk: 8.9
NO3: 1.75
PO4: 0.87

Looks like I need to dose LC to bring down phosphate given all these fish. I’ve been dosing PhosphateRx on another tank for years without any issues. Hope this one will be the same!

A natural way is to fire up the Adaptive Reef ATS-300 for both N&P control. I just don’t like to clean the mesh very week/two.

What do you guys think?

 

[danreef55]

I would go with the natural solution being ATS

 

[bakbay]

I would go with the natural solution being ATS

hmm - I’ve found it to be a slow process (weeks) to build up the turf. It’s kinda bulky and yet another device I have maintain. With LC-based solutions, just a few drops (okay, 40) of PhosphateRx will last me 3-6mos. I can even auto-dose Phosphat-E in small amount.

 

[bakbay]

While I wait for the Maven, I need to get the Trident (currently used by the frag tank) working across the room. Hoping to get a long 1Link cable and we get auto water testing for the incoming SPS colonies. I can’t dial in the CaRx without daily testing Alk and I’m too lazy to test with Hanna!

 

[danreef55]

While I wait for the Maven, I need to get the Trident (currently used by the frag tank) working across the room. Hoping to get a long 1Link cable and we get auto water testing for the incoming SPS colonies. I can’t dial in the CaRx without daily testing Alk and I’m too lazy to test with Hanna!

I think the maximum length of 1Link cable is 20'

 

[bakbay]

Current pH inside the reactor is high on purpose. Once I know my alk consumption, I’ll increase CO2 to get down to 6.5ish and we should be good for a year! Ha

Currently Alk consumption may be low: 1/3 of the rocks have coralline algae, 3 large colonies, and a few frags.

 

[bakbay]

I think the maximum length of 1Link cable is 20'

I believe it’s only 10’, which should work — just move the Trident next to the sump for now.

Another alternative is the Aquabus (which I have) but need a stupid Neptune proprietary 24V power supply due to its small form factor - painful. Going with a long 1Link saves me $10 and not having to run power. I'm trying to limit small devices in the system.

 

[bakbay]

Fish Update: everyone is doing well — eating like pigs. However, 3 Hippo tangs have some levels of ich, likely due to stress? They are running around and eating like normal so hope this will go away soon. I do have UV light running though in hopes of controlling any free floating nasties.

If I have to quarantine & treat some fish, it will be very challenging to catch anything in this tank!$&@

 

[Devaji]

Fish Update: everyone is doing well — eating like pigs. However, 3 Hippo tangs have some levels of ich, likely due to stress? They are running around and eating like normal so hope this will go away soon. I do have UV light running though in hopes of controlling any free floating nasties.

If I have to quarantine & treat some fish, it will be very challenging to catch anything in this tank!$&@

Sorry to hear about the hippos, hopefully it goes away.
That’s one of my fears about a monster tank.

 

[bakbay]

Woke up this morning to a small leak from the CaRx — +1 for the $15 drip tray!! Just use my non-superhuman strength to tighten the lid some more. Hope that this will do the trick!

 

[bakbay]

Bottom of the tank with CaRx - I will do some wire management and label everything later. Need to finalize the setup first…

 

[danreef55]

Check this out.

M210 Handheld Label Maker

 

[bakbay]

Current view of the fish room — the other side is still a mess so not fond of showing it! lol

 

[bakbay]

And before you judge — that UV on the floor is awaiting a bulb replacement. Everything will be hidden when we’re all done.

 

[bakbay]

I got a long 1Link cable this afternoon so wired up the Trident next door for water testing. The Trident’s result is close to Hanna so ain’t bad - as long as things are within range, I’m happy!

Just got back from a wedding so literally no reefing the second half of today.

 

[bakbay]

I suspect that Ca & Mg are bad readings — new salt shouldn’t be this high, low; respectively. Anyway, will adjust via Alk tomorrow

 

[bakbay]

Day 2: Alk is holding steady at 8.9 dKH, if you trust the Trident.

 

[bakbay]

Made a two-headed frag of the Dragon’s Soul torch - so far so good. Hope the angels will leave it alone.