TRe's 82g build
- Thread starter TRe
- Start date
I have a hole drilled in the return section of my sump. I have that hole plumbed thru the wall going outside and it drains out on my drive way (I have a shut off valve on this line that stays closed unless doing a water change). On that same wall I have a 32g brute container sitting on the side of my house that is also plumbed thru the wall and into my display tank... In that brute container I mix my salt water (which my r/o unit fills automatically) Once the my salt water is mixed I flip a few switches turning off my return pump, skimmer, powerheads ect. and flip a switch turning on the pump that is in the brute container which pumps the new salt water into my tank. this is when I open the valve on the drain from my sump. The drain hole in my sump is right above the normal water level so as I pump the new water in the water level in my sump rises and the old water flows thru the drain out side on my driveway and as much water as I pump in the tank the same amount of water drains out of the sump. when all the water is pumped in I shut the valve back up and flip a few switches turning off the pump in the brute container and turning back on all pumps, skimmer, ect... My water changes consist of throwing in a few scoops of salt, letting it mix over night and flipping a few switches/ turning a shut off valve.... takes about 5 minutes and best part is no mess, no siphoning water, no lugging around my 5g buckets and all that good stuff
other automations are I dose my 2 part automaticly via dosing pumps which automates my cal/alk dosing which I used to have to do by hand every single day! also I have a float valve in my sump that when water evaporates it turns on an aqualifter pump and pumps the water into the tank (the r/o resivour is a 18g rubbermaid sitting right next to the brute container on the side of my house) the R/O resivour have a float valve aswell and is hooked up to my r/o unit and fills its self automaticly when it get low
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I have all my lights, heater, fans, ect hooked up to an aqua controller jr and if the temps get to 82 in my tank it will first turn on a fan and if the temp raises more it will shut off the metal halides. it also turns on the heater if the temp drops below 79 and as a safe guard it will also shut off the heater in case it gets hotter than 80
yea i got a heater but i only use it during winter... sucks cause the water heats up as the days goes on so i try to mix the salt in the evening and do my water change in the morning letting it mix over night.... if i dont do the water change by like 11am i ususally have to wait till the next day lol only flaw
Wow haven't updated this thread in a while! (didn't realized its been so long) The tank has had some ups and downs since the last update but I'm back on track and going stronger than ever!
I went on vacation back in Sept. and came home to ALL my SPS and most of my LPS completely dead! It was a combination of things that led up to this and it was bound to happen, The fact that it happened while I was away from the tank for a week made it way worse than if I was here and able to catch it...
I had 2 of the tubes on my r/o unit plugged into the wrong spots and it resulted in 200+ TDS, So every time my ATO turned on and every water change I did it just got worse and worse. Not only that but the container I was using for my ATO resivour was leaching something into the water making it 399 TDS!
On top of all that I was having a problem with my Mystery Wrasse. I bought a bunch of new snails and the Mystery Wrasse Kept knocking them off the glass and picking at them. It got so bad that every day I was having to flip back over like 3-4 snails for a few weeks leading up to me going on vacation. While I was gone he killed all but 2 snails (20+) The dead/rotting snails combined with the r/o problem resulted in Just about everything but my Zoos dead when I got home. Luckily all the fish were fine
It was kind of discouraging but after all the work Ive put into this tank, No way I was giving up! After figuring out the problem with the R/O unit I did weekly 30g water changes until things were back under control. I also used some Red Slime Remover since all the sensitive corals were already dead I figured I had nothing to lose...
I swapped out my modded Maxi-jets for 2 Tunze 6045's. The flow is about the same but the Tunze look much nice and take up like half the space! Also replaced my old hamilton 14k bulbs with EVC 20k's (They were cheap and give a great color!)
I also started using Bio pellets. I bought the reactor and pellets from Bulk Reef Supply. Supposedly the Bacteria that grows in the reactor consumes nitrates resulting in ZERO Nitrates! Unfortunately I did so many water changes before I started using the Pellets that when I tested my nitrates to see where I was at before starting I was already @ zero *crazysmil not sure if there working but its been 2 months lol... Nothing good nor bad has happened from using them so Im going to continue using them to see where it goes
Last week I finally stopped being lazy! I did my yearly maintenance and gave all the pumps, skimmer, reactors, ect. a nice vinegar bath. I also emptied out my sump and got out the shop vac to clean all the detritus that settled to the low flow areas of my sump
Ive already started adding SPS back and things are looking good! Ill try and get a few pics up today
I went on vacation back in Sept. and came home to ALL my SPS and most of my LPS completely dead! It was a combination of things that led up to this and it was bound to happen, The fact that it happened while I was away from the tank for a week made it way worse than if I was here and able to catch it...
I had 2 of the tubes on my r/o unit plugged into the wrong spots and it resulted in 200+ TDS, So every time my ATO turned on and every water change I did it just got worse and worse. Not only that but the container I was using for my ATO resivour was leaching something into the water making it 399 TDS!
On top of all that I was having a problem with my Mystery Wrasse. I bought a bunch of new snails and the Mystery Wrasse Kept knocking them off the glass and picking at them. It got so bad that every day I was having to flip back over like 3-4 snails for a few weeks leading up to me going on vacation. While I was gone he killed all but 2 snails (20+) The dead/rotting snails combined with the r/o problem resulted in Just about everything but my Zoos dead when I got home. Luckily all the fish were fine
It was kind of discouraging but after all the work Ive put into this tank, No way I was giving up! After figuring out the problem with the R/O unit I did weekly 30g water changes until things were back under control. I also used some Red Slime Remover since all the sensitive corals were already dead I figured I had nothing to lose...
I swapped out my modded Maxi-jets for 2 Tunze 6045's. The flow is about the same but the Tunze look much nice and take up like half the space! Also replaced my old hamilton 14k bulbs with EVC 20k's (They were cheap and give a great color!)
I also started using Bio pellets. I bought the reactor and pellets from Bulk Reef Supply. Supposedly the Bacteria that grows in the reactor consumes nitrates resulting in ZERO Nitrates! Unfortunately I did so many water changes before I started using the Pellets that when I tested my nitrates to see where I was at before starting I was already @ zero *crazysmil not sure if there working but its been 2 months lol... Nothing good nor bad has happened from using them so Im going to continue using them to see where it goes
Last week I finally stopped being lazy! I did my yearly maintenance and gave all the pumps, skimmer, reactors, ect. a nice vinegar bath. I also emptied out my sump and got out the shop vac to clean all the detritus that settled to the low flow areas of my sump
Ive already started adding SPS back and things are looking good! Ill try and get a few pics up today
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BTW I still have the stupid Mystery Wrasse, Therefor I haven't added any snails. Its kind of annoying because I find myself cleaning the glass manually what seems like every single day! Im going to get rid of him soon so I can get my cleanup crew back inline as well as a blood or cleaner shrimp and a few clams...
While taking pics of the tank last night I discovered that my pair of True Percs that have been with my over 3 year is FINALLY laying eggs! I threw the rock with the eggs in the frag tank but I dont really have time to try and keep the babies alive.... Any ways onto some pics!
Yellow Tort
Chilli Pepper Monti
Idaho Grape Monti
Meteor Shower cyphastrea
Ponape Birds Nest
Yellow Tort
Chilli Pepper Monti
Idaho Grape Monti
Meteor Shower cyphastrea
Ponape Birds Nest
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