Time for an upgrade: Progress is slow

[HippieSquirrel]

Current FTS: (updating as progress is made)

 

I started reefing a little over a year ago, I’ve learned a lot, had plenty of failures and successes but I believe I’ve learned from most of not all of my mistakes.  My first tank was a trial of sorts and I feel that it’s run it’s course, pico tanks just weren’t my thing so when I realized I had the space for a larger system I started planning.  

 

This is roughly what I decided I wanted to do differently:

- legit QT

- sump

- fuge

- change maintenance habits: vacuum sandbed, test more frequently/have monitors to do that for me, wc on a more consistent schedule

- apex

 

This started 4 months ago? 

 

And this is my progress lol

 

The stand finally got set up a week ago so now I can actually start working on some stuff.  

 

 

The tank on the right is gonna be my “QT” I will have dedicated separate tools and such so that proximity shouldn’t be an issue and this way I can enjoy that tank too.  Maybe I’ll turn it into a frag tank at some point.  It’s a Waterbox 15 AIO with stock return, 50w or 75w eheim, mp10 from old 20g, and a nanobox led.  I’ll be transferring some live rock from my tank to seed it and soon after all my critters so I can shut down my old tank.  

 

Obviously tons more more to do and I don’t even have a display tank yet!! I’m working backwards and it’s kind of bugging me but I needed the QT set up to shut down my old tank and rearrange some furniture.  The current plan is something like a 80g shallow, the UNS 120S (~70g) is probably what I’m going with but I am looking at custom tanks so I don’t have to drill it myself and can get a slightly larger/longer tank for the same price but I’m not sure that route will pan out. 

 

So I still need: 

- a tank!!!

- apex + a few modules

- skimmer

- a hanger for the lights 

 

This is still gonna be a long build but I’ll be showing steps of the actual set up, I won’t really be listing all the equipment till it’s finalized unless there’s questions.  

[Dantrasy]

That’s some serious looking gear. 😁

 

[Tigahboy]

Impressive equipment stockpile!  Is that the Trigger Systems Triton Sump v2?  I really want that sump as well for my new build.  It seems really impressive.  Looking forward to seeing what the display ends up being.  You definitely have a lot of room to work with with that stand.

[HippieSquirrel]

4 hours ago, Dantrasy said:

That’s some serious looking gear. 😁

 

 

4 hours ago, Tigahboy said:

Impressive equipment stockpile!  Is that the Trigger Systems Triton Sump v2?  I really want that sump as well for my new build.  It seems really impressive.  Looking forward to seeing what the display ends up being.  You definitely have a lot of room to work with with that stand.

 

Haha I think I might be overcompensating this time around 😂.  My 20g was pretty bare bones.  

 

Yes it is! The triton 26 v2, I haven’t had a sump before but I’m pleased with the construction and I think it’ll work well for my purposes, I got it 50% on BRS when they had a sale though.. not sure I’d pay full price.  My only concern is the size of the fuge area.. might need to be beefed up depending on my bioload. 

 

I’d love to do a 6 foot tank and max out the space on the stand but it’s on the second floor and I do have to worry about weight... it’s on a load bearing wall and it’s centered over a dividing wall so it shouldn’t be an issue but I don’t wanna push my luck.  Still waiting to hear back about an estimate for a 5 foot 🤞

[HippieSquirrel]

This little eviota goby I have is bulletproof.  Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures cause he’s so shy but I have presumed him dead about 5 times in the ~year I have had him.  The most recent was yesterday when moving the inhabitants of my 3g to the Waterbox.  I saw him once when I removed the rock and then when I couldn’t find him I assumed I freaked the poor thing out and it jumped.  8 hours later he’s perched on the rock in the cube without a care in the world.  I assume he swam into a crevice and I carried him inside the rock lol.  I’m genuinely surprised he didn’t die from stress and shock.  I probably won’t move him from the cube, I lost him repeatedly in 3 gallons let alone 15 or 60!!!!

 

So far I’ve moved:

Red neon eviota

3 hermits

Handful of zoa/paly frags that we’re browned out in the pico (already starting to color and open up.. thanks nanobox)

 

In other news, I’m debating going with a tank: 72x18x12 high.  The 5 foot was not typical for their tanks and therefore was 2x the price.. unfortunately 72x18x18 is a bit too large.  I am worried about the 12 inch height but I figure people make those 12g bookshelf tanks look amazing with only 10 inches to work with so it should be alright.  When I get to sps I guess it’ll just mean I have to frag more which isn’t the end of the world.  Also I can have more sandbed for tons of rock flower nems... that’d be amazing.  

[HippieSquirrel]

Moving day was stressful but everyone got moved over after about 4 hours of spills, torn gloves (I’ll be investing in a pair of heavy duty long rubber gloves), and a few choice words thrown around.  I will say having a plan written out was key for me.  I didn’t think moving all the inhabitants from my 20g high to the WB15 would be that difficult but removing all critters from established tanks isn’t easy.  I was concerned about a few who didn’t take to being ripped out of their home so well initially but 16 hours later everyone seems unphased by the move!! 😊

 

 

 

Slightly worried about the amount of live rock, most of the stuff in my old tank was too nasty and infested to keep but I got one ~4 pound rock that seemed the least infected and a bunch of larger rubble I’m guessing I’m at ~10 pounds but I’ll be doing weekly waterchanges so hopefully all will be well.  Might look into adding something to the back chamber anyone out there who adds marine pure blocks back there?  I feel like anything will just be a detritus trap... 

 

 

And this little guy is flirting with death 😱 glad I woke up in time to turn the mp10 off till the guard I ordered arrives.  Not entirely sure I need the mp10 anyway now that I’ve seen the tank without it on.... might not get turned back on!

 

Still working on figuring out the custom tank, may have found a local place to do a 72x18x12” tall... if that falls through I believe I will be going with glasscages. Timeline is obviously pushed back a bit but I’d rather take too long than rush the build this time!

[HippieSquirrel]

😍 wish I was home playing with these.. arrived just before work. 

[HippieSquirrel]

Alright its official.  The final most important piece of the puzzle is on the way.  No custom tank, no crazy unique dimensions but I decided I would rather stick to the original plan and go nuts way in the future when I have more space and a bigger budget.  This is taking way longer than I originally planned but work/life has been a bit busy lately.

 

Going with a seapora 80g rimless reef ready - 48x24x16" just ordered it last night.  I will be designing some riser to set the tank on and allow room for plumbing instead of putting holes in the stand.  Thinking high density foam or wood if that wont work, guessing I'll only need 2-3 inches of clearance for a couple 90 degree elbows.

 

Now for the fun part.. cleaning organizing and mounting all the gadgets and electrical.  Oh and finally mounting the lights.

[ef4life]

Can’t wait to see it, I really like the dimensions of those 80s

[HippieSquirrel]

Working hard on getting this ready, the original plumbing plan wont work for this tank I've gotta go with a herbie overflow.  I also have to hang the light from either the wall or the ceiling now.  The aquatic life fixture is rather heavy so I'm gonna have to put some thought into that one...  

 

Space under the stand is more cramped than I thought, after fitting plumbing in it will be difficult to fit equipment so I will have to come up with a mount on the side of my desk for all the controllers and what not.  

 

Definitely underestimated the amount of effort a build of this size would entail but its getting there.  Slowly 😅

 

 

I decided to get a used camera recently to both try a new hobby and be able to take decent pictures of my other hobbies haha..  Still gotta figure out how to edit, which lenses to use, what aperture and shutter speed mean etc. but I think these are an improvement over my usual phone pics.  There's a macro lens on the way that I am super excited about!  Just a few I shot while messing around/learning how it worked:

 

 

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Next hiccup discovered.  Electrical!  Turns out I probably will pop the breaker the room is tied to when everything is plugged in.  Working on figuring out installing either a 20 or 30 amp circuit dedicated to the tank.  Unfortunately the breaker box is in the basement (2 floors down) and on the opposite end of the house 😂.  Currently the plan is to try and run the wire up to the second floor using existing conduit and then over to the other end through the attic. 

 

The rough estimation of amperage is about 4x as much as my 20g which is something I wasn't counting on.  Live and learn I guess.  Tempted to get the tank cycling using just the gyres, ATO, and heaters but I need to make sure I can get an outlet there or the whole thing needs to be moved.

 

Macro came - I think I'll need one with a longer focal length but this was still cool to play with:

 

 

Couple extras:

 

These mushrooms pop up occasionally and only last <24 hours - kinda neat, not sure what species.

[Brock0019]

nice looking setup! are you going to drill the stand for the overflow on the main display tank? I assume a Herbie overflow is In that corner

[HippieSquirrel]

On 6/17/2019 at 5:06 PM, Brock0019 said:

nice looking setup! are you going to drill the stand for the overflow on the main display tank? I assume a Herbie overflow is In that corner

Thanks!  Originally I wasn’t planning on it, since I knew I’d be moving in the next couple years but as that may be happening sooner rather than later.  I may wait and see how it ends up at the new location if that would be a better option.  It is drilled for a Herbie overflow.  

 

However as of right now nothing is getting done because I underestimated the capacity needed to run the pumps and lighting, the difference between this and my old 20 gallon is too much when everything else in the room is considered and adding a new breaker and outlet is rather difficult considering the breaker box is two floors down and on the opposite end of the house...  life is also busy at the moment so as much as it pains me to have all the equipment sitting there collecting dust it unfortunately is looking like this project will have to wait until I move 😥.