My new Infinia Reef 150.4

[GrandmaReefer]

End of week 6!

I spent yesterday without power for 14 hours. I ended up powering the pump and one heater using an inverter powered by my son’s car. Lol.

But all is well, which is good because I had an order arriving! Added 5 blue reef Chromis - 3 of which are so tiny I was afraid they’d get lost in that big tank.

My parameters are stable-ish. Just working on dialing in my dosing (2 part, Reef Fusion) via a 4 head simplicity pump.

Gave in and purchased an apex pm and salinity probe (glad I did that!) and then moved most of my core equipment to a power bar so I can automate a bit more. Still frustrated by the apex optical sensors - I don’t entirely trust them.

I am seeing film algae on the glass and the back of the tank - but the CUC is keeping most of it clean for me, and the conch and watchman keep the sand turned over quite nicely.

My sump, on the other hand. Wow. It’s ugly in the fuge! But the chaeto is doing well and my nitrates have been stable at 2ppm. I’ve moved to testing once a week now so we’ll see what Saturday brings.

I’ve seen signs of cyano in the skimmer chamber but it’s always gone within hours.

I gave up on filter socks and replaced with cups. I’m using polyfil and changing every 3 days or so.

co2 scrubber is keeping my ph around 8.3-8.4.

I’m still pleased with the results of the Lasse method so far. I haven’t seen any ugly (except in the sump) and the tank seems to have settled into a nice rhythm quite quickly, even with the power disruption yesterday.

I won’t be adding more livestock for a while - still deciding what I want and I want to give the existing crew time to settle in while I dial in dosing and make sure it stays stable.

Now I’m just waiting to see some coraline start growing. Weird thing is that I have a couple snails covered in it, but I’m not seeing it on the rocks or glass yet.

 

[JFinlay]

This has been one of my favorite builds to follow along on, thank you and great job so far!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

This has been one of my favorite builds to follow along on, thank you and great job so far!

Reminded me I should do an update! Forthcoming!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

End of week 8!

My belief that the power outage would not have an impact was sadly mistaken.

My poor tang couldn’t take the stress, and every reef Chromis fell, one by one. So it wasn’t until this week that I tried adding some new livestock - a Tomini Tang and 3 firefish.

Still working on getting dosing to even out parameters. It’s close but not as even as I’d like. The Apex absolutely helps with this! I can’t wait til the Nitrate/Phos tester comes out!

I’ve had to start dosing phosphate and increase feeding reef rounds to raise nitrates. Both bottomed out and I saw signs of algae growing pretty fast. I’m testing every morning and manually dosing as needed (for now). In the last week I’ve raised phos to 0.03 and nitrates are between 5 and 10. CUC mowed down the algae covering the back of the tank wall and the tang enjoys grazing everywhere else.

I also reduced light on my five to 6 hours at night, and the signs of cyano have disappeared.

I’m really happy with where the tank is right now - and am planning how to move livestock from my 50 so I can tear it down.

 

[aquaman67]

Sorry to hear about your losses but glad that it didn’t get you down.

Everyone is going to experience losses at some point.

The tank is looking good and can’t wait to see more.

 

[GrandmaReefer]

Today I finished moving the last of the livestock from my small tank, including a couple rocks with some zoas and GSP (in the back, I want it to climb the wall). Much happier with the aquascape with the arches over the open space. Gives the tangs a nice run from back to front horizontally but lots of cover and places for coral.

While doing the move, I found both of my peppermint shrimp - thought I’d lost those! Moved an emerald crab with GSP rock too.

stocking list as of now:
3 clowns
3 fire fish
1 diamond watchman
1 clown goby
1 solar fairy wrasse
1 flasher wrasse
1 4 yr old pajama cardinal
1 tomini tang
1 scopas tang

2 peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 purple urchin
More than enough CUC

I’m not sure how much longer the cardinal will last, but he’s been with me for 4+ years now. He’s huge - almost as big as the tomini. Very little aggression - the fairy wrasse harassed the flasher for a couple of days but stopped. The fire fish apparently had a falling out - 2 hang together and the third hangs with the flasher now.

Scopas is about 2 years old. Seems much happier in the bigger tank. He seems to be comfortable already - and the tomini doesn’t seem to be interested in fighting. We’ll see over the next few days.

I still have a couple conchs and a carpet nem in the small tank. Can’t convince the nem to let go yet - no rush. I’ll get him moved eventually. The big tank is just going on 3 months now. My sump is looking … seasoned. Had one algae outbreak a few weeks ago but the CUC took care of it right quick and now they’re on top of it.

I’m dosing 10ml of neophos daily, 5ml reef fusion 2, and 24ml Reef Fusion 1. Calcium rides around 440, alk hovers at 9.1. Phos is < 0.03 (salifert) and nitrates between 5-10. CO2 scrubber doing its job. Ph stays between 8.2 and 8.4.

Feeding 20ml AB+ and phyto daily. Mixture of LPS and softies.

I’m doing minimal water changes - usually only when I clean the sump out at the end of the month.

Added an MP10 a few weeks ago and then a Hygger on the back wall two days ago. The Waterbox design means one return is weak and it just wasn’t moving water well enough for me. I feel like the flow now is much better across the tank.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Today I finished moving the last of the livestock from my small tank, including a couple rocks with some zoas and GSP (in the back, I want it to climb the wall). Much happier with the aquascape with the arches over the open space. Gives the tangs a nice run from back to front horizontally but lots of cover and places for coral.

While doing the move, I found both of my peppermint shrimp - thought I’d lost those! Moved an emerald crab with GSP rock too.

stocking list as of now:
3 clowns
3 fire fish
1 diamond watchman
1 clown goby
1 solar fairy wrasse
1 flasher wrasse
1 4 yr old pajama cardinal
1 tomini tang
1 scopas tang

2 peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 purple urchin
More than enough CUC

I’m not sure how much longer the cardinal will last, but he’s been with me for 4+ years now. He’s huge - almost as big as the tomini. Very little aggression - the fairy wrasse harassed the flasher for a couple of days but stopped. The fire fish apparently had a falling out - 2 hang together and the third hangs with the flasher now.

Scopas is about 2 years old. Seems much happier in the bigger tank. He seems to be comfortable already - and the tomini doesn’t seem to be interested in fighting. We’ll see over the next few days.

I still have a couple conchs and a carpet nem in the small tank. Can’t convince the nem to let go yet - no rush. I’ll get him moved eventually. The big tank is just going on 3 months now. My sump is looking … seasoned. Had one algae outbreak a few weeks ago but the CUC took care of it right quick and now they’re on top of it.

I’m dosing 10ml of neophos daily, 5ml reef fusion 2, and 24ml Reef Fusion 1. Calcium rides around 440, alk hovers at 9.1. Phos is < 0.03 (salifert) and nitrates between 5-10. CO2 scrubber doing its job. Ph stays between 8.2 and 8.4.

Feeding 20ml AB+ and phyto daily. Mixture of LPS and softies.

I’m doing minimal water changes - usually only when I clean the sump out at the end of the month.

Added an MP10 a few weeks ago and then a Hygger on the back wall two days ago. The Waterbox design means one return is weak and it just wasn’t moving water well enough for me. I feel like the flow now is much better across the tank.

Looking great!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

Update!

I’ve finally got my dosing dialed in so alk, ca, and mg are stable. Alk varies between 8.7 and 8.9 and CA hovers at 460ish. Mg is high, nearly 1500, but the frogspawn and hammers appear happy with that so I’m sticking with it.

Struggling with ph. It’s ok - 8.1 to 8.2 - but I’m not seeing as good of benefits from the co2 scrubber as I was. Maybe the seasonal switch from heating to cooling? I tried a recirculating setup but didn’t see much of a bump. I’m not dosing heavy for alk so maybe that’s it. But definitely prefer stability over high ph so running as is for now.

No significant coralline growth - maybe the urchins are snacking - but I got lots of pods! The carpet nem I moved from the small tank is doing great so I take that as a good sign.

Stocking done. Ish. I want one more big fish but can’t decide if that’s a yellow tang or a blue throat trigger or a flame angel. Argh!

I’m running LPS/Soft on the Radions. No SPS right now - I just can’t seem to keep those alive.

Dosing phyto and AB+ daily, and hatching brine to feed 2x a day. PO3 steady at 0.03 (salifert) and NO3 at 10 (salifert). I have to dose 10ml of PO4 daily to keep it there - but between the cuc and the fuge the tank is pretty clean.

Trying my hand at Gonis. Got a short tentacle one that’s starting to encrust - it’s so cute.

I call this the second ugly phase - where you just wait for stuff to grow in. Still happy with the way it’s going. This is week 15 and the tank is in great shape!

 

[Solo McReefer]

Not satisfied with the RedSea E260 I’ve got running in my office, I bit the bullet and ordered the full Infinia Reef 150.4 Package.

It was delivered on Tuesday, and I’ve been working on the aquascaping and cabinet while I wait for the movers to come and bring the tank in next week. My son helped with the sump but that tank is a beast.

Building the cabinet was a 1000 times easier than theRedSea, even without written instructions (they’re all just pictures).

I’ve got a controller board on the way because honestly, my biggest complaint so far is the lack of space under the tank but it’s forcing me to be more thoughtful about cord control. My RedSea is a mess.

I’m looking forward to building out a new reef and can’t wait to get started!

Christmas in February

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update!

I’ve finally got my dosing dialed in so alk, ca, and mg are stable. Alk varies between 8.7 and 8.9 and CA hovers at 460ish. Mg is high, nearly 1500, but the frogspawn and hammers appear happy with that so I’m sticking with it.

Struggling with ph. It’s ok - 8.1 to 8.2 - but I’m not seeing as good of benefits from the co2 scrubber as I was. Maybe the seasonal switch from heating to cooling? I tried a recirculating setup but didn’t see much of a bump. I’m not dosing heavy for alk so maybe that’s it. But definitely prefer stability over high ph so running as is for now.

No significant coralline growth - maybe the urchins are snacking - but I got lots of pods! The carpet nem I moved from the small tank is doing great so I take that as a good sign.

Stocking done. Ish. I want one more big fish but can’t decide if that’s a yellow tang or a blue throat trigger or a flame angel. Argh!

I’m running LPS/Soft on the Radions. No SPS right now - I just can’t seem to keep those alive.

Dosing phyto and AB+ daily, and hatching brine to feed 2x a day. PO3 steady at 0.03 (salifert) and NO3 at 10 (salifert). I have to dose 10ml of PO4 daily to keep it there - but between the cuc and the fuge the tank is pretty clean.

Trying my hand at Gonis. Got a short tentacle one that’s starting to encrust - it’s so cute.

I call this the second ugly phase - where you just wait for stuff to grow in. Still happy with the way it’s going. This is week 15 and the tank is in great shape!

Your tank is doing well! Can't wait to see the goni in a few months from now!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

End of week 20. I just got some cephystrea and Duncans in. My alk is higher than I like - running 9.5 - 9.8 but ca and mg are stable as heck. Can’t seem to get my ph beyond 8.1 despite running two brs co2 scrubbers. Runs 8.04-8.12 every day. Hmmph. Pretty sure it’s because I’m not dosing any alk. Just doesn’t need it. Which seems weird because I have to dose ca.

I’m auto dosing CA (40ml) and Phos (10ml) at this point and manually dosing mg if it gets too low. Trying to maintain a good 3:1 between mg and ca.

Phos and NA still doing great at .1 and 10-15 every day. I’m feeding phyto, AB+ every day and add some gonipower every other day. Running my radions on stock lps/softie setting. Tons of pods. I had amphipods jumping off my filter media when I changed it this morning. Freaked me out. lol. chaeto is growing good in the fuge.

Everything but my acan lord seems happy. Can’t figure that one out yet. I’ve got a carpet nem from my old tank that moved into a cave and seems happy there.

All in all, everything and all the fish seem really happy. I’m just watching things grow now!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

Six months in!

Alright. The tank has now been wet for 6 months. It’s stable and most corals are growing. Not happy my ph stays between 7.8 and 7.9 but everything seems happy with the stability so I’m not chasing.

I’m going to lose one Goni, and we’ll see if the other rallies. They’re notoriously difficult to keep alive so I’m not surprised. Had to try though cause they’re so cool.

Lost a firefish and a wrasse. Not sure about why the wrasse disappeared but the firefish was bullied so I’m guessing the other two ganged up on him.

Not in a hurry to replace either. The tank is doing well at current stocking levels so why mess with it?

I hear my pistol shrimp but have only seen a glimpse of him once since moving him from the old tank. He’s huge. At least 4 inches when he went in.

All in all pretty happy with the tank at the moment. Have a few more corals coming next week - softies and an Aussie teal Duncan.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Six months in!

Alright. The tank has now been wet for 6 months. It’s stable and most corals are growing. Not happy my ph stays between 7.8 and 7.9 but everything seems happy with the stability so I’m not chasing.

I’m going to lose one Goni, and we’ll see if the other rallies. They’re notoriously difficult to keep alive so I’m not surprised. Had to try though cause they’re so cool.

Lost a firefish and a wrasse. Not sure about why the wrasse disappeared but the firefish was bullied so I’m guessing the other two ganged up on him.

Not in a hurry to replace either. The tank is doing well at current stocking levels so why mess with it?

I hear my pistol shrimp but have only seen a glimpse of him once since moving him from the old tank. He’s huge. At least 4 inches when he went in.

All in all pretty happy with the tank at the moment. Have a few more corals coming next week - softies and an Aussie teal Duncan.

Looking good!!