My BC29 HQI Build.....Let the adventure begin

[Bigboosting]

Three weeks ago I started up my new tank and so far I'm happy with how it’s turning out.

 

I started with about 20lbs of dry ecorock from BRS, 20lbs of black live sand, and about 2 lbs or so of live rock from my LFS to hopefully seed the tank. Tossed a fresh shrimp in for 3 days to kick off the cycle and three weeks later it’s close to complete.

 

As of today:

Temp 79

SG 1.026

Ammonia aprox .15

Nitrite aprox 1.0

PO4 .12, I think this is coming from the LFS rock as there were no measureable PO4's until I added the live rock. I'll slowly pull out the LFS rock when the cycle finishes.

pH probe not hooked up yet

Haven't tested Nitrate, Cal, Alk, or Mg yet. Waiting for the cycle to finish first.

 

My goal is to house a couple picasso clowns, another undecided fish or two and I want to fill in the rock some nice SPS up top with some zoas and maybe a couple ricordias down low....

 

 

Lighting:

Stock 150W bulb, might switch to a Phoenix 14K

--Thinking about adding a MLC for the reefkeeper to add a moonlight

 

Flow:

Two Koralia nano 425's on wavemaker mode

MJ1200 in chamber 3

 

Filtration:

Filter floss in InTank media basket

Aquaticlife 115 skimmer in chamber 1

BRS 5 stage 75GPD RODI unit

---will probably add Carbon and or GFO

 

Controller and misc:

RKL w/ temp, pH, 2 PC4's, SL1

ATO with dual float switches, one setup as an alarm for safety

100W Eheim heater in chamber 2

BRS jugs containing Alk, Cal, and Mg mixes

2 BRS dosers

 

Still cycling, ugggghh I'm impatient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JDK]

Looking good. Love the black sand!

[Rollenbor]

It looks great. Nice start.

[Bigboosting]

I've noticed a problem with my InTank media basket. All I have in it right now is the filter floss on the top level. After about a day the water backs up in the basket and overflows rendering the floss useless since most of the water is flowing over.

 

The filter floss is not dirty or clogged. Are there different types of floss and maybe the one I have doesn't flow well?

 

Any ideas?

[louy99]

make sure your return pump is working well, if it slows down or gets clogged, chamber 2 and 3 will flood to the top

[Bigboosting]

make sure your return pump is working well, if it slows down or gets clogged, chamber 2 and 3 will flood to the top

 

The return pump is fine. The only thing filling up is the media box. That overflows into the rest of chamber two which has its water level about 3 inches lower than overflowing level in the media basket that is also in chamber 2.

 

I'm leaning towards the floss not allowing enough water flow through it.

 

I bought my floss from Petco.....Are there different types of floss? Higher flow options?

[Basketball Prodigy]

love the hqi tank. lookin good

[lostmindedv]

I bought my filter floss from Intank Media basket and have never had a problem with it. I'm sure that some LFS other than Petco have the same filter floss as Intank that you could get locally. If not, definitally take a look at Intank, they have all kinds of supplies for the HQI!

[Bigboosting]

I bought my filter floss from Intank Media basket and have never had a problem with it. I'm sure that some LFS other than Petco have the same filter floss as Intank that you could get locally. If not, definitally take a look at Intank, they have all kinds of supplies for the HQI!

 

My LFS here is somewhat iffy. I saw InTanks filter floss, guess ill order it since I know that will work.

[Bigboosting]

Ammonia and Nitrites have been at 0 for 2 days now...cycle complete. I did a 50% water change and Nitrates now read about 2.5 says Salifert.

 

I'm going to go get a hardy fish tomorrow and test over the next few days and make sure I don't get another ammonia spike.

[ez2rock]

My in tank is doing the same thing. It's also causing a gurgling sound that is really pissing my wife off. I have tried two different medias on top. I guess floss is next!

[Bigboosting]

My in tank is doing the same thing. It's also causing a gurgling sound that is really pissing my wife off. I have tried two different medias on top. I guess floss is next!

 

Update with pics to come

 

I added two fish and a cleaner shrimp and all is well so far, they all eat and seem happy. The Aquaticlife 115 skimmer broke in after a week and is starting to pull some nice crud out, Ill get pics of this later.

 

This morning I noticed I was getting the infamous diatom outbreak so I ordered a CUC from reefleaners.org which will be here Wed.

 

All parameters are inline

S.G. 1.025 (refractometer)

Temp 80 (RKL)

pH 8.2 (RKL)

Cal 450 (Salifert)

Alk 11.4 (Salifert)

Mg 1300 (Salifert)

Ammonia 0 (API)

Nitrite 0 (API)

Nitrate 5 (Salifert)

PO4 .03 (Hanna)

 

For the last few weeks I have added 1/2 tsp of kalk to my ATO water and that has kept the chemistry really stable and the pH perfect. I have several frags coming in the mail tomorrow so I'm sure I will need to adjust the kalk amount once they start to grow. I also want to allow the alkalinity to lower to around 9.5 or so and then keep it stable there.

 

PICS SOON

[Bigboosting]

As promised

 

 

Decent FTS with cleaner shrimp and a shy guy in the background

 

 

 

First corals. THANKS to TENOR for some great frags

From left to right:

Vivid Rainbows, Purple Hornet, Rasta, Red Hornet, Ultra AOG

 

Good shot of the diatoms, CUC arrives tomorrow

 

I just emptied the collection cup, but you can see the bubbles and the nasty grime at the top of the cone

 

This is how the rear cover sits with the Aquticlife 115 skimmer in

 

Another view of the rear cover

[Tenor]

Wow. You did a great job, zoas open right up.