New JBJ 45 build, almost a year!

[ralquist]

Hi everyone!
Building my first saltwater tank, plan/goal is mainly soft and LPS with a few fish. Just getting the aquascape together for the most part. Everything is on hold until the replacement stand comes. Will add JBJ was very fast to get a replacement sent out. Can't wait for the process to start!
Build list so far:
JBJ 45 AIO w/ stand
AI Hydra 32 lighting
AI Nero 3
Carib Sea Life rock
Carib Sea Special grade sand waiting in bags!
BRS 6 stage RO/DI

Waiting a bit to get anything else that may pop up spending most of my time tweaking this aquascape. This is pretty current besides small adjustments to make sure the scraper gets all sides.


Thanks and hope for updates to come!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hi everyone!
Building my first saltwater tank, plan/goal is mainly soft and LPS with a few fish. Just getting the aquascape together for the most part. Everything is on hold until the replacement stand comes. Will add JBJ was very fast to get a replacement sent out. Can't wait for the process to start!
Build list so far:
JBJ 45 AIO w/ stand
AI Hydra 32 lighting
AI Nero 3
Carib Sea Life rock
Carib Sea Special grade sand waiting in bags!
BRS 6 stage RO/DI

Waiting a bit to get anything else that may pop up spending most of my time tweaking this aquascape. This is pretty current besides small adjustments to make sure the scraper gets all sides.


Thanks and hope for updates to come!

Aquascape looks great in your tank!!

 

[ralquist]

Been a while!
Equipment updates added:
-Replaced stock return pumps for 2 IM mightyjet dc pumps
-ATO
-MP-10
-Tunze comline skimmer 9004
-Jebao Wi-Fi doser
-Replaced filter socks with intank media baskets w/ pond matrix and filter floss
-INKBIRD heating controller
-Wi-Fi controlled power strips *so nice*
-Hannah checkers

Fish list:
2 black ice clowns
2 fire fish
2 purple fire fish
1 flame hawk
1 Midas blenny
1 coral beautie
1 mandarin
Lots of cabs and snails

Was struggling with raising the alk at first, as more coral was added all for reef has helps keep it stable. Ramped up dosing until I hit 5ml per day, now down to 4ml throughout the day alk staying about 8.9. Phosphate got as high as .30, my heavy handed feeding along with over feeding corals so I’m a work in progress and now about .20 and getting better also running chemipure elite to assist as I’ve slowed the heavy feeding. Also got some BRS GFO but have yet to try that, would like to give feeding less more of a chance before adding more chemicals. Nitrates have been pretty stable running 10-15, would like to get the down a touch.
Few algae outbreaks but always seems to fix itself if I don’t tamper with it so far…
I am using Red Sea blue bucket, 1.025 mix doing a 10g water change religiously, I think this is more than needed but I worry about changing. I would like to get down to about a 5g weekly.
Flow has been a slow ramp up, all pumps and powerheads are running about 80% (not constant). Kind of a delicate dance of not creating a sand storm or whipping my torch to death.
I said to myself I have to go slow, didn’t listen and I have no self control. I’ve gone to fast with live stock but it’s a fun journey! Coral has been a learning experience, lost a few to brown jelly, seems with anything some just don’t do well. Getting educated on critter ID on frags, dipping and cleaning frags is an art form! Seeing some good growth and pretty pleased with a hint of crippling anxiety that it will all crash and burn lol.

Lastly I will be cleaning those powerheads during the next water change!!
I will try and take some more good photos and maybe under the hood for the next update!

Thanks and have a great weekend !

 

[dangles]

You weren’t kidding about no self control! Lol

The tank looks great! Those Midas blennies are cool as hell aren’t they?!

 

[Uncle99]

Great work!
Beautiful

 

[ralquist]

You weren’t kidding about no self control! Lol

The tank looks great! Those Midas blennies are cool as hell aren’t they?!

They definitely have a personality, mine specializes in being a terror to the tank mates!

 

[dangles]

They definitely have a personality, mine specializes in being a terror to the tank mates!

Mine is a perfect gentleman! Except to my purple dart fish but even that is only occasionally.

 

[ralquist]

Update Time
Tried less feeding but my phosphate is now .54. So started running BRS High Cap GFO using their calculator (guessing my water total is about 38g) recommended using .3 cups. Started w/ 1/4 cup then topped off to 1/3 after the first week. Phosphate is now at .42, and not sure where my problem is.
-RODI unit filters are still looking good, TDS meter is running 9-13 in and 0 out. My mixing Brute is emptied and cleaned each week after use.
-Feeding TDO, PE pellets, spirulina flake food or 1 frozen Mysis cube 2x day. Different depending on the day. CUC get a broken up algae pellet once in a while. Corals get reefroids 2x a week with a little phyto mixed & redsea AB+ and are direct fed with some LPS pellets if I think about it.
-I noticed when I had my skimmer on 24/7 I would start getting some unwanted algae growth (dunno if this is related) So I have been running this at night mainly or not at all. Seems to keep the alage growth down. Using Micobacter 7, cap full after water changes.

So I've been looking into a refugium for my setup, AIO space really has my hands tied. I've looked at the HOB vs a reactor style. Due to the way it mounts on the back panel, it would interfere with my light bracket so this isn't an option with only about 8-9in of space on each side of the AI mount in the center. Running another pump into one of the chambers is for a reactor looks like an option but living in an apartment I worry about water. So lastly I've stumbled across some old threads here on turning one of the compartments into a makeshift refugium. Ordered a budged amazon ACKE LED grow light, plan to cut a section of the black covering in the back of the tank velcro the light to the back and place some chaeto in the inTank media basket... Who knows but it will all show up tomorrow and I'll take some photos once I get it all hooked up!

 

[dangles]

Update Time
Tried less feeding but my phosphate is now .54. So started running BRS High Cap GFO using their calculator (guessing my water total is about 38g) recommended using .3 cups. Started w/ 1/4 cup then topped off to 1/3 after the first week. Phosphate is now at .42, and not sure where my problem is.
-RODI unit filters are still looking good, TDS meter is running 9-13 in and 0 out. My mixing Brute is emptied and cleaned each week after use.
-Feeding TDO, PE pellets, spirulina flake food or 1 frozen Mysis cube 2x day. Different depending on the day. CUC get a broken up algae pellet once in a while. Corals get reefroids 2x a week with a little phyto mixed & redsea AB+ and are direct fed with some LPS pellets if I think about it.
-I noticed when I had my skimmer on 24/7 I would start getting some unwanted algae growth (dunno if this is related) So I have been running this at night mainly or not at all. Seems to keep the alage growth down. Using Micobacter 7, cap full after water changes.

So I've been looking into a refugium for my setup, AIO space really has my hands tied. I've looked at the HOB vs a reactor style. Due to the way it mounts on the back panel, it would interfere with my light bracket so this isn't an option with only about 8-9in of space on each side of the AI mount in the center. Running another pump into one of the chambers is for a reactor looks like an option but living in an apartment I worry about water. So lastly I've stumbled across some old threads here on turning one of the compartments into a makeshift refugium. Ordered a budged amazon ACKE LED grow light, plan to cut a section of the black covering in the back of the tank velcro the light to the back and place some chaeto in the inTank media basket... Who knows but it will all show up tomorrow and I'll take some photos once I get it all hooked up!

I started using the InTank refugium basket too. It has worked decently well for me with a small modification. I have been putting mine in “sideways” after cutting the bottom to allow flow through that way. Putting it in the right way resulted in too much algae growing on the acrylic face, blocking light from getting to the chaeto. I’ll try to take a video later tomorrow to explain better. But overall it’s a decent solution for AIOs.

 

[ralquist]

I started using the InTank refugium basket too. It has worked decently well for me with a small modification. I have been putting mine in “sideways” after cutting the bottom to allow flow through that way. Putting it in the right way resulted in too much algae growing on the acrylic face, blocking light from getting to the chaeto. I’ll try to take a video later tomorrow to explain better. But overall it’s a decent solution for AIOs.

Thanks that’s very good to know, a video would be awesome! I’m at the mercy of Amazon for my light so hoping to have it done and able to get some chaeto by Sunday at the latest! The inTank baskets I have is the media ones, see there is another specific refugium. They look pretty similar, plan on trying it on the 1st or 5th chamber would still allow me to run filter floss in the top compartment of the basket. 2nd chamber is the skimmer and 4th has heaters and chemical media bags.

 

[ralquist]

Pretty happy with how everything turned out for the most part

. This light is being held with Velcro and seems to get pretty hot but will look at better mounting options. Only irritating thing is the 2nd pic… the vinyl wrap was not placed even so this bleeds light into the display. Not really sure what I can use for this so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dangles]

Thanks that’s very good to know, a video would be awesome! I’m at the mercy of Amazon for my light so hoping to have it done and able to get some chaeto by Sunday at the latest! The inTank baskets I have is the media ones, see there is another specific refugium. They look pretty similar, plan on trying it on the 1st or 5th chamber would still allow me to run filter floss in the top compartment of the basket. 2nd chamber is the skimmer and 4th has heaters and chemical media bags.

InTank Fuge Caddy Mod

youtube.com

This video was shot right before I cleaned the caddy and the tank glass.

 

[ralquist]

InTank Fuge Caddy Mod

youtube.com

This video was shot right before I cleaned the caddy and the tank glass.

Thanks so much for that! I get completely get what your talking about, that’s some smart thinking sir!

 

[ralquist]

Update
Refugium is running but not seeming to help much. Chaeto has doubled but wasn’t much to start with. Still have hope but nitrate 31.8 & phosphate is .33. Dkh 8.4, cal 420, mg 1200. This was done right before weekly water change. I’m going to cut out reef roids and the other stuff.
Added VCA return nozzles and a few corals.
Added 2 more pieces of broken shelf rock I had soaking in ro for a while. Got everything glued for the most part today which turned into all day but no more frag racks!! Will have to play around a bit w/ some. Also got a 45 deg single frag mount from oceanboxdesigns. Just to give my torches some room and I’m pretty happy with it so ordered some more. Everything’s pretty ***** from moving all day but here’s what I’m working with.

 

[ralquist]

 

[dangles]

Maybe do a few big 30-50% water changes over the next week to get the numbers back in range and see if they go back up after that?

Are you observing after your feedings to see how much food is left?

How often are you changing your mechanical filtration?

You may also consider changing out the GFO more regularly. I believe it gets spent pretty quickly. Obviously that won’t help your nitrate though.

You could get a clam if your lights are strong enough. I have read the hippopus variety are the best of the clams at filtration (but I think they all do strong work in that department).



Good news is that the tank still looks really good

 

[ralquist]

Thanks @dangles !Very interesting, I’ll have to do some more research on those I’m worried about size lol.
With the feeding, I’m going to have to do better may try and measure it out. Might try a pill holder ‍.
So did a 10g water change, pretty close to a 30% yesterday. 24hr post #s Dkh 8.4, phos .16, nitrate 25.8. Might plan on the same 10g Monday, Wednesday, and back to normal Saturday.
Interesting my phosphate came down that much.

Another thing I’ve been tracking has been my pH. Normal daytime is 7.8 with a rare 8 with an API test, night seems to drop to 7.4, been tracking this for about a week or so. On the fence about running kalk, I’ve got everything needed to dose but it seems a bit overwhelming. I’m concerned because it seems I’ve finally gotten my AFR dose dialed in ish.

So the back has 5 compartments, I am running filter floss in the baskets(left to right), 1side has the refugium with filter floss above. 2 has heater and ceramic media. 3 return. 4 skimmer, realized I’ve been turning it off in the evenings when adding phyto and not turning it back on. Believe this is happening more than I realize. My filter floss had been every other day but going to do 1x day going forward. 5 has filter floss, gfo & carbon, and cermic media. I feel like the filter floss is really allowing quite a bit getting caught up and building up on/in the ceramic media.

My GFO is 2 weeks old, will plan to swap it during one of the water changes this week.

Just at the end of typing this I did have a bit of a nasty situation this last Wednesday. Shipping issue with some coral, delayed a day in the Midwest heat. Mushrooms and a leather, everything got dipped and mushrooms did great. The leather had some areas of concern, within a half day it was losing tissue. Got it out asap and added a little carbon in the return just to be careful. That may have something to do with it but no telling.

 

[dangles]

Depending on your floss, it could be letting a lot of particulate through. That might be at least part of the nutrient problem. When I switched from socks (200 micron) to floss (500 micron) my nutrients went up, as well as the particulate matter floating around in the water column.

From what I understand, yes clams get big (although there’s one variety that tops out at 6”). But they grow pretty freakin slow. Even the maximas only grow a few inches a year.

Forgetting to turn the skimmer back on might also be working against you lol

Just keep in mind that if you change a few things at once, you’ll never really know which was responsible for improving the problem. Not that you can’t do that, just something to factor in. If you’re not seeing a nuisance algae outbreak, I’d go slow. Just change one thing at a time and give it a couple of weeks to see what happens.

 

[ralquist]

Depending on your floss, it could be letting a lot of particulate through. That might be at least part of the nutrient problem. When I switched from socks (200 micron) to floss (500 micron) my nutrients went up, as well as the particulate matter floating around in the water column.

From what I understand, yes clams get big (although there’s one variety that tops out at 6”). But they grow pretty freakin slow. Even the maximas only grow a few inches a year.

Forgetting to turn the skimmer back on might also be working against you lol

Just keep in mind that if you change a few things at once, you’ll never really know which was responsible for improving the problem. Not that you can’t do that, just something to factor in. If you’re not seeing a nuisance algae outbreak, I’d go slow. Just change one thing at a time and give it a couple of weeks to see what happens.

Thanks so much for the advice! Believe I’m going to just be hyper diligent on making sure very thing is on and floss changed daily. Do the extra water changes and see if it lowers and gets stable.
I’m def looking into a clam!
As for nuisance algae I’ve got a little hair algae in the back around the refugium but been keeping it pretty clean.

 

[dangles]

Thanks so much for the advice! Believe I’m going to just be hyper diligent on making sure very thing is on and floss changed daily. Do the extra water changes and see if it lowers and gets stable.
I’m def looking into a clam!
As for nuisance algae I’ve got a little hair algae in the back around the refugium but been keeping it pretty clean.

I’ve been told that any algae in the fuge is good algae. I have a few different algaes growing in mine