Bruttall's 96x24x31 300gallon glass cage

[Bruttall]

My yellow wrasse jumped, he'd been in there for about 8 months with no tops on my tank, and found him the other day behind the tank all dried out. So I ordered a DIY screen frame kit from amazon and some clear netting. Note to self, I should have ordered 2 screen frame kits!

 

[Bruttall]

Added the Mimic Tang. So far he's made himself at home with the others.

 

[Mwatts12]

Good job. Tank looks great man.

 

[Bruttall]

After telling myself for over a year I can't afford it, don't need it, I can do everything the Apex will do manually, I got the Brain, Brick and older DOS station for $400 yesterday. I still need the probes etc but I did not think it was a terrible price.

So far it is just adding the LaCl dilution, (20ml LaCl/1480ml RO/DI water+, to my sump to control Phos. Will start adding Reef Complete for Calc later this week once I nail down the dosing amount.

No probes included due to it being used and I guess you can't let the probes dry out or they don't work anymore, so I am looking for probes for the unit now. Mainly temp, salinity and PH/DKh probes I think to get started.

 

[Bruttall]

So, The Apex is pretty nice I have to admit. I like it. The version I have does not have the 4 FMM ports in the head unit, so I am assuming I got an AP2. That's ok. Setting this up and programming it has been a lot easier than I anticipated at first, once I got used to the language/terminology they use, this is a breeze. And the Charting for Parameter testing is top notch, even the manual input parameters. I even ordered the MXM module so I can attach my Mobius stuff to the unit. Should be here in a week. Got my fuge lights on timers, dosing module works great and seems super accurate. Skimmer, UVLight/Pump all hooked up, not I just gotta figure out a way to hide those dang cords!

 

[Bruttall]

Couple of new things going on, and it has been a while since I updated this thread. I have been expanding my Apex unit, I now have the XMX and FMM modules attached with a optical level sensor in my Skim Locker. I had issues with the skimmer going into overdrive and boiling water out of my system, then my ATO would kick in and end result was my tank got desalinated to below 1.015 on 3 occasions. Of course this lead to die offs in my corals.


Had an issue with jumping fish, I lost a sand sifting goby, and nearly lost a mystery wrasse, so I made some net lids with a DIY Screen frame kit and clear mesh from amazon.



Removed the large green toadstool leather I had, it's at my buddies store for sale along with a 12inch x 8inch Zoa Colony on a marco rock arch.
Started adding about 12 gallons of new salt water into the tank every week. I'm working towards getting a second apex doser to automate this process but it's kind of silly that people think a $300 item with NO warranty and used is worth $250. Sorry but to me it's a $100 gamble on if it will last a year or not. Anyways I'll buy new before used for more than half what new costs.

Recent picture.

 

[Bruttall]

 

[Bruttall]

Been doing some expanding, mostly with a Neptune Apex system. Yeah I know I need to hide all those wires, but I am LAZY@!!!

Also set up that 75g aqueon tank I had and made it a New Salt Water reservoir for the daily water change. Moved the ATO back into the RO/DI Reservoir after I installed a Optic sensor in my Skimmer overflow to shut off skimmer if Skim Locker gets full. Add a Quiet Drive DOS to my existing for the water change. Picked up a second Power Brick for the APEX (used without a mounting bracket so got that on order now) working on getting all my stuff connected to it so I can monitor power usage etc but I am not in that huge of a rush to know so I am taking my time. <-- That's the Lazy Excuse btw. Plan to have it all connected and maybe even do something about all those cords/hoses by Halloween.

And yes I did use those End Tables for a Tank Stand again!! They held up that 125g when I used it for a QT tank!!

So the Fish Room:

 

[Bruttall]

Some new shots I took this morning.

 

[Bruttall]

King George

 

[Bruttall]

 

[Bruttall]

Skimmer I rebuilt. Twin 3/4 inch Mazzei Venturi's powered by a jebao dct-8000 to recirculate the skimmer and another jebao, dct-6000 running at 30% provide flow thru the skimmer.

 

[Bruttall]

 

[Bruttall]

Been working on my cable mess last few days, getting it a little more Hidden since I doubt anyone would mistake it for Organized

Also added a Kalkwasser Reservoir, I can make 25 gallons at a time. Used a small, 540gph Jebao pump to keep the water moving slightly, it has done a great job of keeping that Kalk at 12.3PH while not stirring it hard enough to drag the sediment off bottom of reservoir. Also started to organize my dosing lines. I am using 3/8's OD hard acrylic tubes going into the water with a 3/8 to 1/4 plastic push-loc air line fitting. Makes it easy to replace the flex tubes from the dosing heads.

Before;


After;


Coming soon OZONE Generator is being incorporated into the Skimmer Air feed by this weekend. Getting away from the Carbon as I do not change it out regularly enough.

The 2 smaller PVC pipes above the Doser's are for Air, one is Fresh Air Intake for the skimmer, other is going to be Skimmer Exhaust as soon as I hook up the Ozone Generator and the large 3 inch hole is going be for a Bathroom Exhaust Fan I will be installing in the next week or so just in case I smell ozone in the house.

 

[twentyleagues]

Been working on my cable mess last few days, getting it a little more Hidden since I doubt anyone would mistake it for Organized

Also added a Kalkwasser Reservoir, I can make 25 gallons at a time. Used a small, 540gph Jebao pump to keep the water moving slightly, it has done a great job of keeping that Kalk at 12.3PH while not stirring it hard enough to drag the sediment off bottom of reservoir. Also started to organize my dosing lines. I am using 3/8's OD hard acrylic tubes going into the water with a 3/8 to 1/4 plastic push-loc air line fitting. Makes it easy to replace the flex tubes from the dosing heads.

Before;


After;


Coming soon OZONE Generator is being incorporated into the Skimmer Air feed by this weekend. Getting away form the Carbon as I do not change it out regularly enough.

The 2 smaller PVC pipes above the Doser's are for Air, one is Fresh Air Intake for the skimmer, other is going to be Skimmer Exhaust as soon as I hook up the Ozone Generator and the large 3 inch hole is going be for a Bathroom Exhaust Fan I will be installing in the next week or so just in case I smell ozone in the house.

Wow! You did work! Looks great.

 

[Bruttall]

So I was surfing the Reef2reef, lol and I see this ad for Kalk stirrer, I click it and nice video sales pitch of a $250 item with a Max Tank Volume rating of 400g. Kalk powder needs replenished every 2 weeks with cleaning every month. Has a eye catching gimmick that "stirs" the Kalk slurry for you. You need something to PUSH new RO/DI into the reactor, like a peristaltic pump.

That got me thinking about what i spent on my Kalk reservoir.

$77 for my Reservoir off amazon
$67 For the pump to keep solution mixed off amazon
$20 for the plumbing

Needs replenished every 4 weeks with Water and Powder, cleaned every 6 months to remove sludge from bottom of reservoir. Still have to have a doser/peristaltic pump.

Quoted by @twentyleagues PRICELESS

 

[twentyleagues]

So I was surfing the Reef2reef, lol and I see this ad for Kalk stirrer, I click it and nice video sales pitch of a $250 item with a Max Tank Volume rating of 400g. Kalk powder needs replenished every 2 weeks with cleaning every month. Has a eye catching gimmick that "stirs" the Kalk slurry for you. You need something to PUSH new RO/DI into the reactor, like a peristaltic pump.

That got me thinking about what i spent on my Kalk reservoir.

$77 for my Reservoir off amazon
$67 For the pump to keep solution mixed off amazon
$20 for the plumbing

Needs replenished every 4 weeks with Water and Powder, cleaned every 6 months to remove sludge from bottom of reservoir. Still have to have a doser/peristaltic pump.

Needs a "Priceless" in there.

 

[Bruttall]

Needs a "Priceless" in there.

I fixed it so there is a Priceless now

 

[Bruttall]

Skim Mate from my Venturi driven skimmer. Put that Flashlight behind it so you can see how thick and dark my skim is.

 

[twentyleagues]

Skim Mate from my Venturi driven skimmer. Put that Flashlight behind it so you can see how thick and dark my skim is.

Nice. I went last weekend and got a new skimmer. I have had enough of the used eshopps' random acts of aggression towards me and the reef.