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Disaster's 80gal + 15gal SPS Reef Tank


disaster999

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My 5+ year old RODI unit served me pretty well over the years but its showing signs of "age". The waste water line kept dripping even when the water tank is full. I changed out the auto shutoff valve thinking my old one was bad. It worked for a while, but the leak started coming back again. I was pretty fed up so I started looking for an upgrade. I found a vendor selling a unit which only has the high pressure pump and a 75gpd RO membrane. Its significantly cheaper than a full RODI unit and I can just swap out my existing canisters to the new unit. It seems like a pretty good opportunity to upgrade my RODI from a 75gpd to a 150gpd and save some water as well so why not.

 

I got the unit, installed everything (with a lot of cursing cuz I ran out of teflon tape, used electrical tape instead, obviously didnt work, bought teflon tape, took everything apart, applied teflon tape, did a test run, and it still leaked, took everything apart AGAIN, wrapped more teflon tape, installed everything again, seem to be holding) and tested to make sure everything worked. Pump is working perfectly, hit its advertised 80psi. The pressure sensor and shutoff solenoide is working and its pumping out a lot of filtered water. I let the system run for a while, I think it took less than 30 mins to fill back up 3.5 gals of water which was pretty impressive.

 

I went to check up on the unit again making sure nothing is leaking and still operational. I noticed that the unit would start and stop constantly and my waste water line is constantly dripping. Pretty bummed out at this point...just going through every possible area that could of leaked and checked it. Then a thought came up and I thought the old RO membrane canister is old and worn so I unhooked that canister and only ran with the new one, but the same thing would happen. Scratching my head at this point...I remember the kit have a check valve which I didnt install, my old one didnt come with one so I thought I didnt need it. Put the check valve back in and vola, it solved the problem.

 

I think whats happening is the pressure built up in the lines is forcing water back through the RO membrane draining out the waste water line. Pretty sure that was what was happening before and explains the constantly dripping waste water line. Probably didnt even need to get a new unit, but oh well, think of this as an upgrade...

 

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  • 1 month later...

My tank has been on the back burner for a while, been pretty busy with another hobby lately and havent really done much to the tank. Heres the culprit....

 

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I have been regularly changing water every 1-2 weeks and keeping the overall system relatively low nutrient. I still cant get rid of this brown fuzz and cant help to think my rocks are still leaching something into my tank. My SPS has really changed colors. The blue acro I have is starting to have this really transparent color to it now. I also picked up some Indonesian corals from a shop which is pretty much just brown sticks and thought I'll give one a try and see if i can bring back some of its color. Colors from my light is completely different than what they had in the LFS. Interested to see what color this turns out.

 

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Im getting lazy and using this nikon point and shoot I won at a raffle. Its a nice little camera that takes decent shots. Ill break out the bad boy when i fill my tank

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

As much as I like the natural look of the sand bed, its creating a pretty big problem for me right now. I think its mostly due to the fact that Ive been reusing my sand over the course 4-5 tank overhauls. Despite the fact I rinsed the sand the best I can, nutrients are still building up and Im getting lots of annoying cyano patches only on my sand.

 

It seems like a waste just throwing the sand away, but for the sake of my tank, I think this is the best action for now. How do one completely clean their sand so it strips all of its nutrients???

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jedimasterben

As much as I like the natural look of the sand bed, its creating a pretty big problem for me right now. I think its mostly due to the fact that Ive been reusing my sand over the course 4-5 tank overhauls. Despite the fact I rinsed the sand the best I can, nutrients are still building up and Im getting lots of annoying cyano patches only on my sand.

 

It seems like a waste just throwing the sand away, but for the sake of my tank, I think this is the best action for now. How do one completely clean their sand so it strips all of its nutrients???

A weak acid. Bleach it or use very, very strong hydrogen peroxide.

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I was thinking about H2O2 as well. I can get some pretty strong concentration which should do the trick.

 

I dont think ill go with acid bath, it probably would dissolve all my sand, haha.

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some top down shots...the SPS have colored up REALLY well

 

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this piece was brown when I bought it

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and of course my invincible clam

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Its definitely still there, but not as bad as before. If you see the FTS I posted 3 weeks ago, theres still a bunch of brown fuzzy shit on the overflow which I have scraped off since then.

 

Im hoping removing the nutrient filled sand would help a bit.

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SPS looking good. I must be sleepy though cause my first though on the two different pictures was - how in the world did you manage to raise your rocks off the sand? and then realized... There is no sand.

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Great colors on the SPS! So how long has it been for some of those brown pieces to color up?

Thanks. That coral, which I said it colored up, I had it for about 3 weeks before I noticed the color change. The others are taking a bit longer.

 

SPS looking good. I must be sleepy though cause my first though on the two different pictures was - how in the world did you manage to raise your rocks off the sand? and then realized... There is no sand.

Haha, thanks. I think in some shots Ive siphoned the sand from under the rocks so it creates an illusion that its floating.

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  • 4 weeks later...

anyone know this tank?

 

FTS2_zpsb2687587.jpg

 

For those who dont, this belongs to a very skilled reefer Andrew, or better known as V1...Rotate. He is featured in the latest issue Of the Reef Hobbyist Magazine.

 

http://reefhobbyistmagazine.com/magazine-all-tiled-q1-2015.html

 

Unfortunately, hes moving back to his home town and have pretty much sold everything. All his corals, fish, and equipment have pretty much been sold out (mainly because they are 1/10th the price when new). All but his tank and stand.

 

This tank measures 65" long, 22" tall and 26" deep. It has a custom back wall with light blue to blue fade from top to bottom. It has low iron glass on all 3 sides and drilled for double drain and return. The tank comes with a custom white piano finish stand and have dedicated space for dosage pumps, cable management trays and a shelf the left side accessible from the outside for all my reefing supplies. It also comes with removable doors, the sump, ATO reservoir and plumbing for the whole tank.

 

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With these dimensions, not a whole lot of people have the space for it in Hong Kong. Also he needs this tank gone by mid March so not everyone can immediately take this tank off him.

 

Why bring him up? Well, I just so happen to be moving as well mid March. My brother is looking in buying a tank to house his goldfish since the new place doesnt have a pond. The place Im moving to can house this massive tank. And the most important point? This setup is DIRT CHEAP. This whole setup, tank, stand, sump, ATO tank, and plumbing, costs less than $400. If my family gives me the green light I would be transferring all my stuff to this new tank, And my brother will get my old tank for his goldfish.

 

This is a win win situation for all since buying a new tank would cost more for my brother, I can split the cost with him and we both get an upgrade, and Andrew dont need to worry about throwing this beautiful tank away.

 

Lighting a 65" tank would be a problem since my light is only 30" long and lights a 40" tank perfectly. I may or may not extend my light to cater for this long tank. Just have everything centered and leave the edges darker.

 

Stay tuned if we decide on this route.

 

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