empresto Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 Most Recent FTS September 11th, 2023 Current Equipment Tank 18.1 Gal AquaMaxx Stand/Cabinet Handmade Maple Cabinet Sump Standard 10 Gal DIY Overflow Eshopps Eclipse S Display Lighting Radion XR15 G5 PRO Sump Lighting $25 Amazon grow light led panel Flow Current USA eFlux Flow Pump 1050 GPH Current USA eFlux Accessory Wave Pump 660GPH Vortech MP10QD Heating BRS InkBird Clone with one 100W BRS Titanium heating element Controller DIY RPi 3B based controller Details Windows 10 IoT Core UWP App based RPi Model 3B 7" touch screen Writes details of its operation to a SQL Server database via a web API running on a local server in my house. Phone App for checking status and making notes of tank interaction (feeding, WC, etc) Functions Temperature Recording Sump Light Control Dosing ATO Email Alerts for Temperature and ATO operation Auto Water Changes (Just place buckets, plug in the pump for the new water bucket, and press 'Change Water' to change 1.5-3 Gals of water depending on setting) Dosing 2x BRS 1.1ml/Min dosing pumps connected to the DIY controller ATO 1x BRS 1.1ml/Sec dosing pump connected to the DIY controller 1x Optical liquid level sensor connected to the DIY controller Current Stocking Fish Clownfish Royal Gramma Yellow Watchman Goby Orange Spotted Goby Inverts Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp Tiger Pistol Shrimp Feather Duster Worm 2x Trochus Snails 2x Nassarius Snails Asterina Stars Limpets Coral Orange Montipora Capricornis Purple Montipora Capricornis Green Montipora Capricornis Montipora Danae Bubblegum Montipora Digitata Purple Gorgonian Green and Red Favia Green and Purple Favites ORA Ponape Birds Nest ORA Pocillopora Purple Stylophera Green Astreapora Purple Pavona Watermellon Mushrooms Green Richordia Mushroom Blue-Purple Chalice Green Octospawn A Random Acro Frag (a Jason Fox something or other...) FTS November 20th, 2022 FTS July 23, 2022 FTS June 20, 2022 FTS October 4, 2021 FTS January 24, 2019 Day Night FTS August 23, 2018 FTS March 29, 2018 Tank and Stand March 29, 2018 So, after 6 months of getting settled after a move and lots of planning and designing, I'm finally getting started on setting up the tank my wife bought me for my birthday! The equipment I plan to use: Display - AquaMaxx 18.1 gallon cuboid with Eshopps Eclipse S overflow (drilled through display) Sump - DIY standard 10 gallon retrofit using Plexiglas and silicon Display Lighting 2x - Current USA IC Marine 18" with Loop Controller Radion XR15 Pro Flow - 2x Current USA eFlux Wave Pump 660 gph Return - Current USA eFlux Return Pump 1050 gph Biological Filtration - LR in sump and display as well as chaetomorpha in the sump Controller/ATO/Dosing - A Raspberry Pi based controller I built that has: Built in ATO Temperature monitoring and heater control Sump light control Automatic water changes Email and text alerts Scheduled dosing Parameters logged to a MS SQL Server Database with options for hand entry of log items Phone app to connect from anywhere to see what's going on with the tank I'm building myself a custom stand for the whole setup to live in/on. This has been the biggest holdup of getting this going since one of my income streams is my wood shop, so paying customers come first in the project queue You can check out my other work at www.PrestonWoodArts.com . I'm currently almost ready to start applying finish to the main cabinet (minus doors). Here is a shot of the main cabinet structure in my shop. And here is the tank sitting on the cabinet top when I was measuring for the wholes for the return and overflow plumbing. Here is the sump that will go in the bottom of the cabinet on a sliding shelf to allow better access for maintenance. The middle section of the sump will be the macro refugium. I'm excited to add water to this system, but I still have my plumbing and cabinet finishing to do. But, like all things in reefing, nothing good happens fast! 1 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 Finally got the main cabinet work done and did my plumbing today (minus the one elbow I'm still missing, but that should be arriving from BRS tomorrow)! But, using some temporary parts, I was able to start water testing the setup. Pre-Plumbing Freshwater Leak Testing Now to get all the systems installed and the cords tended. Then, time to get live rock and sand after the new year! 2 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 Thanks! Still needs its doors, but I've had a few too many other projects in the shop to get them done yet. Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Well, still no doors on the cabinet, but I've had a chance to get to the LFS. Got some nice live rock, sand, and the start of a cleanup crew. I think I've come up with a decent scape. There's a bit of algae on the nicer piece of rock, but that's pretty normal for a fresh tank in my experience and the cleanup crew seems to be enjoying it. Also found this little guy on the rock with all the coralline algae. Not sure if it is a type of anemone or something else. Sure is interesting... I think discovery is my favorite part of this hobby. 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 You’ve built s really nice system for yourself @empresto! The peninsula style overflow is a favorite of mine, clean look. Love the open aquascape, isn’t it incredible all the life that comes out of that rock? I think that may be a hydroid on your rock, search the forum here for that term 1 Quote Link to comment
YaBoyLaj Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Love the tank! I definitely agree with the hydroid but could possibly be a ball anemone? Idk tho 2 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Thanks y'all! Building the thing has been as much fun as my last tank was on its own. I've had hydroids before, and they weren't nearly this big, but I suppose that's a possibility. But, with the behavior I've seen so far, I'm leaning toward ball anemone. It seems to like to shrink up during the day and then expand out like in the picture later in the evening. The tentacles look a lot like the light colored one at this link: http://www.melevsreef.com/critter/orange-ball-anemone Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Thought I'd give an update... Things are going well; I've now added some corals and fish and had to start dosing 2 part. Added GSP, a Christmas Favia, and a montipora Capricornus. Still not sure where to finally 'plant' the favia, but it sure is pretty! I'm already seeing good growth from all three of the corals. Here is a FTS from the beginning of this month. There is a bit of hair algae, but again, newish tank, and the sump is sure growing well, so eventually the 'display algae' should calm down. As for more mobile inhabitants, I added a Hi Fin Goby red-banded Pistol Shrimp pair (Bonny and Clyde) in late January and then this last week added a Mocha Ocellaris (Gerald). They have sure livened up the tank. 2 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 So, apparently 1/4" holes are still to big for a Hi Fin Goby to be safe. I have a screen top on my tank and any other hole is either occupied by a piece of equipment or covered with Plexiglas. But, despite my best efforts, I woke up this morning to find Bonny had succumbed to the temptation to carpet surf. Quote Link to comment
Lugmos12 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 you're not afraid of that algae? lol Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well, the algae is not my favorite part of the tank, that's for sure, but since that FTS I've cleaned the glass and the snails have been keeping the glass clean. The stuff on the rock has been a bit harder to keep short, but it's coming along. However, in conjunction with the macro algae in the sump, it keeps nitrates at 0... so that's a plus. Quote Link to comment
pal Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I would use a toothbrush or dental pick or maybe even peroxide on that algae on the rock,.before it becomes a headache Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Finally got the doors done for the cabinet! Still need to get the ebony pulls made, but sure looks a lot better in the room. While feeding Gerald, I found a baby trochus snail today. So tiny, maybe 3/16" in diameter. Also, an updated FTS. 1 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 Quick tank update. Added a small pincushion urchin a week ago. I've affectionately named it Shelly because it likes to wear shells If it happens to be the variant that grows to be huge, I have a great LFS that is always happy to help in the rehoming process. Also, amazing growth from my Monti. Cap. over that last couple weeks. Has probably added 3/16" to 1/4" all the way around and is beginning to encrust onto the rocks. Algae seems to be receding. Haven't really done much other than let it run it's course. The sump is slowly winning. New FTS; pardon the dirty glass. Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 On 2/24/2018 at 9:11 AM, empresto said: While feeding Gerald, I found a baby trochus snail today. So tiny, maybe 3/16" in diameter. Also, an updated FTS. Looks like a sundial snail (zoa eater). 1 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 I wondered that too when I first found it, but I've seen it on the glass as well and it doesn't have the funny cone-like trapdoor like a sundial snail. Also, it has the same foot and tentacle shapes as my adult trochus snails. 1 Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 Finally got around to setting up my frag and small fish quarantine tank. Had all the parts lying around, just needed to get it together, and since I plan to make a fish store run on Monday I figured it was time. Also want to get a couple more Monti Caps to add some 'shelving' to the valley between my live rock and want to avoid monti nudies. I found some on the monti frag I have when I first got it and managed to eradicate them before they took over the tank, but a good reminder why dipping and quarantining are so important! Quarantine Tank Just a 4 gallon cube with misc parts I had lying around. I built a little frag rack for the bottom out of some egg crate and fishing line. Weighted it down with a couple rocks. Otherwise, tank is doing great with not much to report! Clown is good, red banded pistol shrimp is bulldozing away in the sand, great coral growth, hermits do as they do, appropriate snail reproduction; all the good stuff. Auto-dosing seems to be working as planned and everything is stable as can be. Really hard to complain Quote Link to comment
Jeebusai Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Your set-up is really complex for a 18 gallon tank. Omg... camping here to learn more. Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 It's been a while since I last updated this thread. After getting the frag/quarantine tank set up, I made a trip to the LFS and got some new corals and a tail spot blenny that my wife promptly named Lenny the Blenny Frags in the quarantine tank. Got a pink birds nest, favities, a couple different stylos, another monti cap, and some blue-green sympodium. Added everything to the tank last week and so far everything seems to be settling in well. GSP has started growing out across the sand bed, so I'll need to cut that off before it makes the rocks I'm trying to keep GSP free. I also upgraded my fuge light to a more powerful grow spectrum which has done wonders in growing cheato and starving out the green hair/turf algae I've had since a while back in the display. However, now that it is dying off, there has been a new growth of some kind of red algae/cyano on the dying bits. I've pulled out the stuff I can grab, so here's to hoping that the rest will subside quickly. So far it looks promising. Tank parameters are still rock solid steady, and still testing as 0 for all the pertinent nitrogen compounds. I'll need to do a write-up soon on my DIY reef controller. Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 A bit before my last post I began reducing feeding to try and get the green mat algae I have to die off. All seemed fine, but then about 3 weeks ago my corals started to loose color. Couldn't find anything that was obviously off at first, but then testing with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR and the Red Sea Pro Nitrate kit revealed that I had gone nutrient deficient (PO4 ~.003 to 0 and NO3 undetectable). So, I started feeding more, which mostly just raised PO4, and once I found that the NO3 wasn't rising to match PO4 (as per the Redfield ratio) I began dosing KNO3 via my ATO water. I add about 1.4 grams to 3 gals of top off water and, with about 1.3L of evaporative a day this adds about 1.2 ppm NO3 per day to the tank. With the way the tank uses NO3, even with that kind of addition I still am only testing about .5 ppm NO3. PO4 is now staying around .043 ppm. So far so good; I've gotten the Monti Cap. that bleached completely to start coloring up again and all the other corals have been gaining lost color back as well. Also, my clownfish and blenny love the extra feedings 😉 During all of this, the algae hasn't really grown or shrunk and what I remove seems to stay removed, so hopefully I'm getting there with removing the algae! Quote Link to comment
BostonReef Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Really nice job DIYing it, especially with how it goes through a shelf to the sump, very cool. I’ll have to follow this along. At first I thought you did all that drilling and pipe work to connect to a HOB and was very confused until I saw that you drilled it in, that makes much more sense. Seems like you’ve got a good handle on overflow safety then, it’s hard to see but looks like one main drain, a tube for wiring, and presumably a return? I’d always want an emergency drain but it may well be stacked in there and just hard to see. Also cool that you do wood work and have reef experience.. I was thinking of a small stand to go next to my tank to house the power strip and accessories, and this post almost makes me want to have a mini quarantine drilled with a little sump that could double as a hospital tank if needed (or flank for both sides for symmetry, lol). If your company can do custom work like that I may be quite interested. I’m also looking to match the general look of the Red Sea black color, the sort of solid almost plasticy looking matte black it has, if that matters. Talking about the needs to a woodworker who also knows reefs would be particularly helpful, so if you’re available for a quote please do let me know! Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 10 minutes ago, BostonReef said: Really nice job DIYing it, especially with how it goes through a shelf to the sump, very cool. I’ll have to follow this along. At first I thought you did all that drilling and pipe work to connect to a HOB and was very confused until I saw that you drilled it in, that makes much more sense. Seems like you’ve got a good handle on overflow safety then, it’s hard to see but looks like one main drain, a tube for wiring, and presumably a return? I’d always want an emergency drain but it may well be stacked in there and just hard to see. Also cool that you do wood work and have reef experience.. I was thinking of a small stand to go next to my tank to house the power strip and accessories, and this post almost makes me want to have a mini quarantine drilled with a little sump that could double as a hospital tank if needed (or flank for both sides for symmetry, lol). If your company can do custom work like that I may be quite interested. I’m also looking to match the general look of the Red Sea black color, the sort of solid almost plasticy looking matte black it has, if that matters. Talking about the needs to a woodworker who also knows reefs would be particularly helpful, so if you’re available for a quote please do let me know! Thanks BostonReef! Yeah, it was fun building the stand and considering all the plumbing and space needs too (not usually something I have to think about when building furniture 😉 ) The overflow is the Eshoppe's Eclipse S, which has the main overflow pipe as well as a backup. Then the return is also piped up through the stand in that stack of pipes. So, below, from left to right: wiring tube, main drain, emergency drain, return. I am totally available for a quote! My company, Preston Wood Arts, is all custom built furniture designed by me and I would be happy to talk more about what we could build for you. Feel free to PM me with your ideas and thoughts and we can work up a design and talk details. Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 Quick update: Tank is doing well, corals have gotten 95% of their color back, and fish are great as always. I found the most interesting patch of coraline algae this evening. Was looking at the tank after the moon lights switched on and found a patch that is fluorescing bright red! Shine a flashlight on it or turn on the room lights and all you see is purple. Has anyone seen anything like that before? My camera won't take a picture of it. Quote Link to comment
empresto Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Wow, been a while since I posted. Sure has been a quick summer. Tank is doing great! Corals have grown like weeds and fish are doing well. Also, my wife gave me $100 to LiveAquaria for my birthday, so I have new life in the QT talk almost ready to be added to my display! I got a Purple Rimmed Danae Monti, Sanjay's Galaxy Astreopora, an ORA Shark Nosed goby, and an ORA misbar clown to par with my other, much larger, clown. If the pairing doesn't work out, I guess I'll have an excuse to turn the QT tank into another full fledged tank; what a hardship... 😉 Below is my latest FTS. Still have that annoying algae on the left rock, but it doesn't spread to anything other than the powerhead and the return pump nozzle, and pulling out the big patches is really easy. Sure wish the sea urchin would eat it, but it does add some nice movement to the tank. I'm about ready to frag off a couple parts of the larger corals to try and encourage them to grow in a direction I prefer. Wouldn't hurt if my LFS was interested in a trade! 2 Quote Link to comment
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