# 50seven's 90G Ocean Oasis Build



## 50seven

OK, this is going to be a long-term project as I am a busy guy, but this is only the beginning.

We've been working on renovating our dining room/kitchen for the last while, and though it has gone slowly (as I do it all in my free time after work) it is beginning to take shape. The 35 Gallon will need to move in order to paint behind it, and we decided on putting in a built-in wall unit in the dining room. This will accommodate a larger tank (YAY! ) and give us some much-needed storage space. Hopefully my experience in cabinetmaking can help and inspire others when it comes to custom stands and aquarium cabinets.

The display tank will be a 90 gallon, 48" long x 24" high x 18" wide. I already picked it up from a user on the forums, but it will need some TLC to get it in DT condition. At least it has no scratches in it, but I'll have to do something about the silicone job- it looks horrible. 

I will now have room in the basement underneath it for a separate sump and refugium, and other equipment. It's right where my RO unit is, so that's nice and close.

Once transferred, I'll use my old 35 G tank as a refugium with a deep sand bed, and my current sump will be cleaned out good and have no sand or chaeto in it; maybe just a bit of live rock, we'll see.

Here's the preliminary plans:


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## PACMAN

Interesting build, Good luck!


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## J-P

that is going to look sweet when it is done.

Tagging along on this one


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## mrobson

cant wait to see how this turns out good luck


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## caker_chris

i will be tagging along for this one


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## sig

WOW... It is really going to be nice. I just do not like window there, but looks like you have no choice

you have very big wall there and for sure can go with bigger tank. It will save you time for next tank size increase 

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## sig

50seven said:


> OK, this is going to be a long-term project as I am a busy guy, but this is only the beginning.
> 
> I will now have room in the basement underneath it for a separate sump and refugium, and other equipment. It's right where my RO unit is, so that's nice and close.


Good idea, my tank in the living room is silent dead

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## 50seven

Thanks PACMAN, J-P, mrobson, and caker_chris. I hope all goes well, I'm trying to get the walls sanded and painted this week. I've been reading up on RC of builds like nineball and chingchai's reef tanks and I'm all fired up!

Thanks also J-P for the tank, I'll try to post some before & after pics once I get the tank cleaned up.


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## 50seven

sig said:


> WOW... It is really going to be nice. I just do not like window there, but looks like you have no choice
> 
> you have very big wall there and for sure can go with bigger tank. It will save you time for next tank size increase


LOL Greg, it's always about size, eh?  I'm lucky enough to go with this one, as I'm nearly tripling my tank size... once you factor in the other things in the room and the necessary functionality of the room, I think it's perfect.

Yeah, nothing can be done about the window; the house was built be a complete crackhead; that oddly placed window is very minor compared to what I've already had to deal with.


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## 50seven

sig said:


> Good idea, my tank in the living room is silent dead


Yeah this has been my dream from day 1 after seeing the fish rooms that some of these guys like nineball on RC has... makes life way easier for maintenance, quarantine etc.


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## fury165

Glad to hear about your new setup Kevin! Now find a way to keep those feather dusters out of it


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## explor3r

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! congrats Kevin you deserve it keep us posted.
That room is going to look great when the lights of the room are off but the ones in the aquarium on.


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## PACMAN

Once she's built, you're going to have to have everyone from GTAA over for dinner!


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## 50seven

fury165 said:


> Glad to hear about your new setup Kevin! Now find a way to keep those feather dusters out of it


Actually the feather dusters have really been under control in the tank, I'm really not sure why. They're still there, just not like a plague anymore. It might have to do with having too much flow inside the DT.


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## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! congrats Kevin you deserve it keep us posted.
> That room is going to look great when the lights of the room are off but the ones in the aquarium on.


Thanks Alex! I really am looking forward to the aesthetics of the room including the cabinetry.


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## 50seven

PACMAN said:


> Once she's built, you're going to have to have everyone from GTAA over for dinner!


LOL, I don't know if they'll all fit, but you never know!


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## 50seven

Drilled the tank last night, and thought I'd share some of the basics with the community. Like anything else, it's easy if you know how.

Here is the tank sitting at my in-laws, yes it's filthy, but we'll soon change that. The previous silicone job left much to be desired, so I started by scraping off all of the excess and cleaning the glass with silicone remover, then washing everything with vinegar.



















I'm doing my overflow in the middle of the tank; 1 1/2" bulkhead for the drain and 3/4" for the return line. Once I've marked the hole with a black sharpie, then I use a glass/tile drill bit first to drill out the pilot hole. The diamond hole saws usually come with a standard percussion concrete bit, which is useless for drilling into glass. It's important to use the same size as the pilot of the hole saw you are going to use. This is what works best:



















I keep the hole wet with some kind of oil; this time I used WD-40. It keeps the cutter head cool, keeps the glass shavings from flying around, and aids in the cutting making it faster and cleaner.










I do the same with the diamond hole saw. The pilot of the hole saw should fit right into the hole I made with the tile drill bit. I keep the drill RPM's low and the cutting surface well oiled.










To reduce mushrooming, once the hole is started, I drill part way from the opposite side as well, then move back to the original side and finish the cut, always keeping it oiled...










...and voila! 










Then comes the clean up. I love clean up- it's really not much work, and you get to think of the awesomeness of the job you've just done while you're working... 










...and ta da! 










Here you might also be able to see why I drilled in part way from the opposite side; I forgot on the larger hole on the right, and if look carefully you can see that the cut isn't quite as clean as the last one.










Now the bulkheads are installed and the tank is resting dutifully in my workshop to await the cabinetry to be built.



















Return line on the left, drain on the right. I might have to put a tiny air hole in the top of the cap of the overflow to make it work right; that's what I have now and it works fine and really makes not any noise to speak of. the return will have a tee and branch over and down into 2 flexible Loc-line nozzles.


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## J-P

ohhh ahh.. coming along nicely.

Quick Q:

Why did you drill the bottom and not the side?


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## tom g

*wow*

that tanks come along way from when it was posted online for sale 
love how u show the step by step im keen on this what size were the hole saws u were using and are they a special brand for drilling thru glass
cheers 
tom


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## 50seven

J-P said:


> ohhh ahh.. coming along nicely.
> 
> Quick Q:
> 
> Why did you drill the bottom and not the side?


I want to have the tank right against the wall, plus have all my plumbing accessible from top or bottom.

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## 50seven

tom g said:


> that tanks come along way from when it was posted online for sale
> love how u show the step by step im keen on this what size were the hole saws u were using and are they a special brand for drilling thru glass
> cheers
> tom


Thanks, yeah I've worked at it quite a bit, and I'm happy so far.

I must have failed to mention that the hole saws must be diamond hole saws. I've gotten most of mine from Princess Auto. Not the highest quality, but these things don't last forever anyway. The most important things to remember are 1) Keep the cutting surface cool and 2) Be patient. Don't push too hard and do keep the RPM's low.

You can use water to cool the drill, but oil works a lot better, though it is messier to clean up. Well worth it IMHO.

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## Chris S

About time for a bigger tank for you anyway =D


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## tom g

*tank*

its really neat how u are giving us a step by step , awsome for me as at some point id really like to make a tank similar to yours and would love to drill my tank and make a sump 
thank you 
tom


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## 50seven

Chris S said:


> About time for a bigger tank for you anyway =D


 Thanks Chris, you just want to sell me more fish and I just want to buy them, LOL


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## 50seven

tom g said:


> its really neat how u are giving us a step by step , awsome for me as at some point id really like to make a tank similar to yours and would love to drill my tank and make a sump
> thank you
> tom


No problem- it just seems that everybody is so terrified to drill through glass when it's really not so difficult. Actually easier than drilling though some tiles I've had to work with. If it helps someone, then it was all worth it!


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## PACMAN

lovin the build so far. be sure to continue with the wealth of information + PICTURES!!


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## 50seven

PACMAN said:


> lovin the build so far. be sure to continue with the wealth of information + PICTURES!!


Thanks! I'll try to do that; I'm a real DIY-er and will try to show the best I can.


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## 50seven

So last night I made up a weir box for my overflow; as the overflow is drilled from the bottom, the weir will also need to go all the bottom of the tank.

I was lucky to find a piece of black acrylic free from a friend who collects junk  it was just the perfect size! The first thing to do is to make sure that the corners are straight and square, or else the rest of the process will end up looking like crap.










I use a sharp melamine cutting blade on my table saw for smooth chip-free cutting of the acrylic.










The bar clamp on the tables saw fence holds a stop, to keep the acrylic from passing all the way through the saw.










This will stop it at precisely the same spot for every cut.










After each cut, the fence is move 3/8" to the left, and the cut is repeated










After a while, you begin to see the slots take shape.










When the cuts are done, I took my knife and gently shaved off the burrs left from the saw blade.










Very nice... now doesn't that look slick? 










Now the piece is ready to be folded...


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## 50seven

...Now I'm ready to bend it. I mark the distance out that I want my width to be. The acrylic will bend a bit longer than this, which is fine, as I have made allowances for that when cutting the original sheet to size, and will fine trim it later when I'm all done.










I use a strip of wood on either side, lined up with my pencil marks and then clamp it tight with bar clamps. This will decide where my fold will be.



















I use my heat gun on high setting, and move it quickly back and forth, right along the edge of my wooden guide. It softens the acrylic quite quickly, but my acrylic is only 1/8" thick. Both sides should be heated up, but concentrate mostly on the outside of the bend, as it needs to heat up to expand around the bend.










I had to quickly put the heat gun down, and grab my melted acrylic and flip it over. I push hard down on the bench, and fold firmly up and hold it in place.










The acrylic cools quickly, but its important to make sure its held square; a framing square is great for this. after about 60-90 seconds, I can take the clamps off...










...and repeat for the other side.










I heat the inside of the fold first, and then flip it and heat the outside until it bends on its own.










And then flip it over again and square up the corners.










I use a bit more heat on the corners to make sure all the fins are nicely straight and lining up










And run it through the table saw one last time to trim both sides to precisely the same width...










...TA DA!!! Finitos!


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## sig

WOW. Thank you very very much for the explanations. I am planning to do it and this will definitely help

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## 50seven

sig said:


> WOW. Thank you very very much for the explanations. I am planning to do it and this will definitely help


Great! Knowing that it's helped someone makes the work of posting up the photos all worthwhile. 

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## explor3r

You are the man Keving that box looks very good to me..Helps to have the right tools as you said one day...keep it up


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## TypeZERO

nice acrylic work 57! looks so professional daaayumm!


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## 50seven

explor3r said:


> You are the man Keving that box looks very good to me..Helps to have the right tools as you said one day...keep it up


Thanks, and if you ever need to use my shop, just give me a shout, it's open for you!


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## 50seven

TypeZERO said:


> nice acrylic work 57! looks so professional daaayumm!


Thanks! I really have to be careful, because I can so easily get impatient and want to speed along to the next step, and I really want this project to come out great on all levels...


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## fury165

50seven said:


> Thanks! I really have to be careful, because I can so easily get impatient and want to speed along to the next step, and I really want this project to come out great on all levels...


Well all I know is that it looks fantastic Kev - Mad Skillz!


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## PACMAN

man, great work on the acrylic!


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## sig

have a look on AP. There is almost identical set up for sale and you can show to wife how much you are saving doing it itself

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## 50seven

Had a bit of time to work on my plumbing, I'm doing it all in rigid PVC. I'll post up some photos later on...



sig said:


> have a look on AP. There is almost identical set up for sale and you can show to wife how much you are saving doing it itself


It's really not that bad a price that he's asking, though he might have to lower it to sell quickly. Nice cabinetry though, but I'm partial to painted white finish for our cabinets.


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## 50seven

PACMAN said:


> man, great work on the acrylic!


LOL thanks!

Seriously, a lot of it comes down to having the right tools and someone to give a little guidance. I'm fortunate to have a full service woodshop; but if you want to use it just let me know. If I'm working there myself I'm okay to share some of my tools


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## Fish_Man

Hey Kev,

That looks awesome!


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## explor3r

50seven said:


> Thanks, and if you ever need to use my shop, just give me a shout, it's open for you!


Thanks Kevin what if I need your car


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## 50seven

Here's what I've been up to the last few weeks...

First came up with a simple mock-up of my desired rockscape, using the kids' Play-Doh:










And then took some eggcrate and the hot glue gun and made up some frames. I had some small PVC pipe that I melted with the heat gun to make a skeleton of my central rock tower.




























Ahh, there's some nice gooey messy cement! Looks like fun... My mix is 3 parts crushed oyster shell, 1.25 parts Portland cement (because I found that last time my rocks were a bit on the brittle side IMHO). After the cement is mixed, I add about 2 parts rock salt (I used half and half of water softener salt and road salt)










And I trowel it on to my frames. Once cured, these will be hard as a rock with no flex.




























This is fun...  Putting cement around the skeleton was harder than I anticipated. I ended up forming small chunks around a leftover pipe and then once dry I would glue them onto the skeleton, and then fill in the spaces with more cement.


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## PACMAN

cooooooolllll. can't wait to see the finished product!


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## Riceburner

Good work. Great having the right tools.


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## 50seven

Today the mighty Aphrodite and I spent the afternoon clearing out the basement, pulling out old mouldy drywall and mouse-infested insulation. Yuck! But it's all for the best, because now I can start working on my new fish room in the basement. We moved some of our storage around, got rid of a pile of junk (I love throwing stuff out, it makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside ) and even got a thinned out coat of paint on the block walls. The sump & refugium stand is starting to take shape. I'll have to snap some pics and put them up tomorrow.

Here's another shot from working on this very tedious tower rock thing:










These are from yesterday. Almost there; I'm really happy with how this is turning out. I'm gonna finish it off this week with a special surprise,* never before seen on GTAA* ......


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## 50seven

PACMAN said:


> cooooooolllll. can't wait to see the finished product!


Thanks, I was really unsure at that point, but kept on going because I had to see it through. 



Riceburner said:


> Good work. Great having the right tools.


 Yes, I try. Tool budget maxed out for another year...


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## teemee

question for you - i saw that you're using road salt - are you not concerned about the chemicals in it? Is this what you used last time?


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## 50seven

teemee said:


> question for you - i saw that you're using road salt - are you not concerned about the chemicals in it? Is this what you used last time?


That questions come up before... I'm not concerned at all, as it's what I used last time. Really it's just crushed rock salt, looks identical to the cheap unrefined water softener salt only the grains are smaller. As I understand it, it comes directly from the salt mines and is crushed to different sizes for different uses. At least that's the stuff we sold when I worked for Co-op. Yellow bags called "Saf-T-Salt", I think Home Depot still sells it. Avoid anything like that Alaskan Ice melter stuff, yeah it's got chemicals all right.


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## explor3r

Keving you are the man!!!!! thats a very nice piece I bet is going to look great in your tank.


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## caker_chris

this should look great when your done.


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## sig

WOW. I think you should start to supply local stores with these structures. I am first to buy 

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## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Keving you are the man!!!!! thats a very nice piece I bet is going to look great in your tank.


Thanks Alex. I really need to get this set up because I'm getting good growth on my SPS so I am totally psyched. Which also means I need more frags... 

I also got a couple of SUM's browned-out SPS the other week and they are coming in nicely with some nice colours. I got a good deal on that one


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## 50seven

caker_chris said:


> this should look great when your done.


Thanks! If it turns out as good as what's in my mind, then it will be worth it. I partly got some of my inspiration from seeing the rock formations that Chingchai on RC had in his tank when he first started it up, the other part came from the seat of my pants as I messed around with the concrete. One more batch goes on tomorrow I hope, and then begins the underwater concrete curing stage...


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## 50seven

sig said:


> WOW. I think you should start to supply local stores with these structures. I am first to buy


Actually Greg I got the idea from the very first time I ever stepped into SUM. Ken had a pile of plaster castings for exactly the same thing, and I was like "I can do that!"  So began my Google search for "DIY Live Rock" and I saw Garf's site and a pile of YouTube vids....


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## J-P

looks like a superhero punch!

Seems to be progressing nicely. Well done!


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## 50seven

J-P said:


> looks like a superhero punch!
> 
> Seems to be progressing nicely. Well done!


LOL Thanks! You are gonna regret selling me that tank by the time I'm done, heh heh heh!!


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## J-P

Nope... I'm walking in your shadows.... a friend gave me his 55  I will be using that as my sump.


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## Holidays

That's awesome, your fuge and sump is in the basement so no hauling buckets up? How about actually making it like in wall? and a little room inside to do cleaning. I don't know if its possible in your house or if you even like in wall aquarium but I do. yeah...one of these days in wall Aros and stingrays tank with a switch that I can just simply flip to pump water in and out of the basement to do a lazy water change


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## 50seven

Holidays said:


> That's awesome, your fuge and sump is in the basement so no hauling buckets up? How about actually making it like in wall? and a little room inside to do cleaning. I don't know if its possible in your house or if you even like in wall aquarium but I do. yeah...one of these days in wall Aros and stingrays tank with a switch that I can just simply flip to pump water in and out of the basement to do a lazy water change


Yeah I'm hoping to rig up something like that for as you say, lazy-man water changes  I have all the water stuff right beside it so I hope to rig up something with some old pumps or what not.


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## 50seven

Found some pics from a few weeks ago. Here I was siliconing the tank seams and gluing on the weir box; thought I'd show how I use masking tape to get perfectly straight and uniform joints. We do this a lot at work with bathtubs and such.

It might be a bit hard to see, but at least you get the idea. Carefully put the masking tape down, covering what you don't want to get silicone on. Squirt in the silicone, and slick it either wet or dry, and remove the tape immediately. Makes a perfect seam every time. I find the biggest key is putting the right amount of silicone in the joint before you slick it. Too much will make a mess as it blobs out; too little means you keep having to add more. Practice makes perfect. Do the back seams first so you're better at it for the front


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## 50seven

Been working on the stand... Here's how to make an old Ikea shelf hold up half a ton  Basically add a lot of beefy lumber and bracing.

More pics to follow...


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## 50seven

Yes, there is water in it!!! The doors I hope to get all made over the Christmas holidays; I really just want to get the tank plumbed so it can start cycling. I'm hoping to make the best use of SUM's boxing day sale this year 




























Here's the evidence from cleaning out the basement. This place was pretty nasty. After these shots I also got up a coat of paint, but the brick really drank it in but it's still an improvement.



















Built a simple shelf to hold my sump and 120 gal. fuge.



















I started filling it with RO water even before I had finished drilling the tank, LOL! Space on the left is for an 8" DSB; space on the right is for a pile of live rock.










I don't know exactly how this will work out, but I thought this platform might help the LR stay cleaner and allow for better water circulation.


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## PACMAN

pretty cool setup you have in development over there!


Keep up the good work, and keep updating!


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## Chris S

Looks really good bud, did you use cement and eggcrate? If you did, you let it cure before putting in the tank, right? =D

Again, I like the setup!


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## explor3r

Kevin everything is looking great, you killing me with your woodwork so fantastic...I can trade you work for frags for a future 240g proyect coming soon...


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## altcharacter

I thought it was supposed to be a 360g project Alex? Like you told me...go big!!!!!


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## teemee

I love the rockwork, and can't believe you're building the tank!
And really can't believe that Alex is going to start yet ANOTHER tank!!!


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## carmenh

They're just trying to keep us awed and entertained with awesome build threads


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## teemee

carmenh said:


> They're just trying to keep us awed and entertained with awesome build threads


well, it's working...


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## 50seven

PACMAN said:


> pretty cool setup you have in development over there!
> 
> Keep up the good work, and keep updating!


Thanks! Sometimes it's hard to get done any other [important] work around the house... 



Chris S said:


> Looks really good bud, did you use cement and eggcrate? If you did, you let it cure before putting in the tank, right? =D
> 
> Again, I like the setup!


 What?!?! I'm supposed to cure it? What is it sick from? 

Pretty much cured for a month, half the time under water, half dry. Basically the same as when I started my 35G. I'll probably get a bit of fluctuating pH while it cycles (hopefully start that next week  ) but really it's not going to be an issue by then IMHO.


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## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Kevin everything is looking great, you killing me with your woodwork so fantastic...I can trade you work for frags for a future 240g proyect coming soon...


Thanks, I'm happy so far... gotta finish the plumbing this week so I can start the cycle.

Let me know your plans, we can work something out. you can do the rough carpentry which you're quite good at now... I can do the fancy finishing stuff, whatever. 



altcharacter said:


> I thought it was supposed to be a 360g project Alex? Like you told me...go big!!!!!


I've found that the dimensions are as crucial to the perception of the size of a tank almost more so than the actual gallons. Like a 35G cube looks WAAAAAAAY smaller than a 35G regular tank like mine.


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## 50seven

teemee said:


> I love the rockwork, and can't believe you're building the tank!
> And really can't believe that Alex is going to start yet ANOTHER tank!!!





carmenh said:


> They're just trying to keep us awed and entertained with awesome build threads





teemee said:


> well, it's working...


 Yeah seriously, who needs to watch _Tanked_?!?!


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## Chris S

50seven said:


> Thanks! Sometimes it's hard to get done any other [important] work around the house...
> 
> What?!?! I'm supposed to cure it? What is it sick from?
> 
> Pretty much cured for a month, half the time under water, half dry. Basically the same as when I started my 35G. I'll probably get a bit of fluctuating pH while it cycles (hopefully start that next week  ) but really it's not going to be an issue by then IMHO.


Hah, you are fine, I'm just giving you a hard time. As long as there is no cement on your silicone that is


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## 50seven

Had a good day on Sunday, but spent most of the time with the mighty Aphrodite redoing the subfloor in our living room. Not a lot of time left for the aquarium, but at least I got a bit done:

Trying to make a hole in the floor under the cabinet... not so bad until you have to chip out a tile, and then go through 2 inches of concrete in a radiant heated floor and then cut through the plywood.










Forgot my chisels at work, I ended up breaking one of my screwdrivers before I went to borrow a chisel from my father-in-law. Made a mess but that's what the shop-vac is for.

Then I started to do the plumbing but I gave up being too tired and making too many mistakes that I have no business making...  Got some more PVC fittings today and the RO is working overtime making water, so hopefully by week's end the tank will be ready to cycle.


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## Fish_Man

That's all I have to say Kev.


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## 50seven

Fish_Man said:


> That's all I have to say Kev.


LOL thanks! 

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## 50seven

So, it's official! 










Yes, that's brand new RO saltwater in there! Got all the plumbing done up on the weekend just as the tank reached the full mark.

Took some LR and sand out of my old sump and put it in the tank...

I didn't have any dead shrimp to cycle with, so I tossed in a few xenia clippings. If they survive, then all is well, if not, it will just help the cycle. There's still no lights for is, so I'll have to get that going later on this week.

Now, off to dig out the old ammonia & nitrite test kits...


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## sig

WOW. NIce wall. Will you move in LR from the old tank. I afraid with current setup you will not have enough place to attach corals

I think Alex will have empty frag tanks soon 

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## explor3r

That looks fantastic Kevin you are an artist!!!

I bet you are having so much fun with all these proyects and the results are amazing, that wall looks crazy with a good imagination like yours once you get the corals placed and your tank mature is going to look like from another world.

Keep the pics coming!!!!!!...Hey Kevin I think Greg is going to need lots of frags too with so many tanks he gets


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## 50seven

sig said:


> WOW. NIce wall. Will you move in LR from the old tank. I afraid with current setup you will not have enough place to attach corals
> 
> I think Alex will have empty frag tanks soon


Oh yeah, I'm bringing over all the old LR and corals from my 35G. Not quite sure how I'll stack it all, but I want it to be very sturdy. I was going to make a tower structure for the left side as well, but realized that a lot of my corals are not coming off of the rocks that they're on, so I'd be best to incorporate them into a new structure built once I start moving things over from the old tank.


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## 50seven

explor3r said:


> That looks fantastic Kevin you are an artist!!!
> 
> I bet you are having so much fun with all these proyects and the results are amazing, that wall looks crazy with a good imagination like yours once you get the corals placed and your tank mature is going to look like from another world.
> 
> Keep the pics coming!!!!!!...Hey Kevin I think Greg is going to need lots of frags too with so many tanks he gets


Oh yeah, it's all fun, Alex! I'm really looking forward to how this tank is going to fill out. I already think that it was worth the time it took to build the arch tower; once I get the lights hooked up I'll take some better photos.

I'll be switching over all the T5 fixtures out of the 35G for now, and in the meantime I'll be working on a mean DIY LED fixture with an eventual Arduino control. I know some guys in school for electronic engineering and stuff so I'll get them to build me the module. 

Don't worry, I won't _completely _empty your frag tanks, LOL


----------



## explor3r

Any updates, stop slacking!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Any updates, stop slacking!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 I've been working on it, just no time to upload the pics yet- my hands are dripping wet, I'll wreck my keyboard!


----------



## disman_ca

Awesome thread to follow. At least I'm not the only person from the area who is a regular visitor at SUM.


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Any updates, stop slacking!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Found a pic from a couple months back... There was still a mirror hanging on the wall and we were trying to see how the wall unit would look with the crown on top...










Hey, who's that good-looking hunk?!?!


----------



## 50seven

disman_ca said:


> Awesome thread to follow. At least I'm not the only person from the area who is a regular visitor at SUM.


It's amazing how I can always plan my route to conveniently go right by there


----------



## 50seven

These were taken just before Boxing Day...cycled and ready to go!


----------



## Chris S

You guys just come because of my good looks and charm, I know.

Looks great though, but I'm sure it looks different now =D


----------



## 50seven

Chris S said:


> You guys just come because of my good looks and charm, I know.
> 
> Looks great though, but I'm sure it looks different now =D


 I thought it was the high I get from breathing in all the salt water flavoured air. I'm getting trippy just thinking about it.

I was cleaning out my cell phone and found a pile of pics that my son took on boxing day... we took some of these guys home... 














































Tell Ken "you're welcome" for the free advertising 

.


----------



## explor3r

Wow your tank look much bigger than a 90g, the back wall is just beautiful and well done I really like it..Great job Kevin.
Ohhh you look good in the picture too what a poser


----------



## altcharacter

totally poser


----------



## 50seven

Was asked some questions about my light from my old 35G, which I have now switched over to my 90G:

Basically I have the cheapest T5 fixture available out there... I bought three plain T5 strip lights from Home Depot, tossed the bulbs and got real ones from SUM. I really like the KZ 14,000 K lights, and have a Fiji purple and an Actinic bulb; they give good colour, and the corals like it. Seeing as each strip is worth about $25 or so, and I can put each strip on a separate timer switch, I got good value for my $ and a customizeable fixture.

It has served my well for the last year and a half, the only issue I had was cooling, which before I put in a fan in my old 35G hood to keep the heat down, I lost a few bulbs due to overheating. I thought it was the ballasts that blew, but turned out not to be after I replaced 2 of them (which required modifying the fixture, and I never bothered to put it back to the way it was)

Here it is all freshly assembled on my new tank:


----------



## sig

where is the images ?

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> where is the images ?


Are you using the government computers again


----------



## sig

I have special permission from the government to access just your images 

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## altcharacter

yes pictures please


----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> I have special permission from the government to access just your images





altcharacter said:


> yes pictures please


Very odd... not sure why the pictures aren't showing up.  anybody else having the same issues?...

Private image hosting

Private image hosting


----------



## 50seven

Here's the brains and guts of my system:

The 120 Gal refugium now has a good sized colony of chaeto, plus bristleworms and pods; algae growth on the glass is slowing down, which is good.

I really like having the sump completely free of anything live- it just makes it easier to keep clean. I know my Coralife skimmer is underpowered for a 90G tank, but I will say that it runs a lot better now that it is inside the sump. I can skim a lot wetter and get a lot of crap out of the water. Maybe in the future I'll upgrade my skimmer, but for now I'll run with what I got.

BTW I really need to Python out the bottom of the sump- it looks kinda dirty... 

The return pump is a used Posiedon PS3 pump; I get lots of flow even with about 8 feet of lift. I set up a system with the ball valves that makes the system able to prime with only one person. I can't say how many times I goofed up with the plumbing and had to re-cut and replace a whack of fittings. Nice thing is I can just pop a valve and drain off some water for a water change. I'm still working on getting some hose set up for the new water to go back in via pump, making my WC's a more simplified process.





































Private image hosting


----------



## altcharacter

Aquarium porn!!!!!


----------



## explor3r

120 gallon refugium nice!!!!! for sure you have some room to mount some frag racks and grow your own frags to sell or trade.
Keep it up Keving and keep the pictures coming...............


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> 120 gallon refugium nice!!!!! for sure you have some room to mount some frag racks and grow your own frags to sell or trade.
> Keep it up Keving and keep the pictures coming...............


Yeah, this was the 120 Gal. that I got for free from a guy in Oakville who was moving and he had to get rid of it right away. I took out about 150+ pounds of sand and crushed coral. Maybe it's a bit overkill, but it will really help with stable water conditions 

Was quite a job to wash it all, but it's done now, fuge is full of life. Poked around in the night with a flashlight, found a ton of pods scooting around. I think I'll be heading to SUM this weekend for a pair of mandarin


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Aquarium porn!!!!!


You better believe it! This baby's a well-oiled machine!


----------



## 50seven

Here's my first FTS since adding my fish and corals. Sadly, most of my SPS RTN'd after the first week.  I think my Alk is still a bit off from the concrete curing... I've begun doing regular water changes to try to get it good. I'll just be patient; I still have a ton of softie frags floating around that need to be glued down.

I'll give it time until i see everything spreading like weeds again. Come late spring, I'll head down to Alex and empty his frag tanks 

On the plus side, all the fish are getting along swimmingly (pun intended)  I was concerned over my new Flame angel and CB angel getting along, but no issues. My tang especially seems happy to have some room to roam.

Now to get those doors painted and put on the cabinet...


----------



## disman_ca

Fantastic tank! Can't wait to see how it progresses along. The rock is awsome too. Thanks to you, I'm going to try and make my own this spring.


----------



## sig

WOW. Big improvement since my last visit.
Good luck

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

disman_ca said:


> Fantastic tank! Can't wait to see how it progresses along. The rock is awsome too. Thanks to you, I'm going to try and make my own this spring.


Great! I'm honoured to be an inspiration!

My only regret is that I didn't make a tower rock structure for the left side- I thought that I would use my old coral-covered rock to build a structure, but it's not quite working the way I hoped. I got a nice cave structure now, and the fish love it, but it doesn't quite inspire me yet. Maybe later I'll go back in and rearrange things aqain...


----------



## TypeZERO

Very nice and clean looking Kevin. I don't think that 120 is overkill, bigger is better. Your going to have very stable water!


----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> WOW. Big improvement since my last visit.
> Good luck


LOL yeah, the sand was pretty crowded with all those rocks


----------



## 50seven

TypeZERO said:


> Very nice and clean looking Kevin. I don't think that 120 is overkill, bigger is better. Your going to have very stable water!


At first with that volume of water I couldn't keep up the temperature with the heaters I had, with the sump being in the cool basement. Fortunately I found 2x 200 watt heaters for 13 bucks on eBay... happy with them so far. I got a digital temperature display too that I have stuck on top of my overflow so I can easily monitor the temperature; so far stays within about 0.5 degrees Celsius.


----------



## TypeZERO

Wow I have never considered the temp difference of the basement. For sure multiple heaters for redundancy is the way to go.


----------



## PACMAN

What a beauty of a tank already!


----------



## 50seven

TypeZERO said:


> Wow I have never considered the temp difference of the basement. For sure multiple heaters for redundancy is the way to go.


Yeah, my basement's a dungeon. I'm also hoping that in the summer time it will help to keep the tank from getting too warm.



PACMAN said:


> What a beauty of a tank already!


Thanks for the compliments.


----------



## explor3r

Ohhh Keving Im so jelous in a good way, do you only have one koralia in your tank for water movement? I dont have to tell you but you know you need more than that now koralia came with a wave controler very basic but very nice and cheap, I just got one for my SPS frag tank and is not too bad...


----------



## vs5295

Hey , how did you do your rocks ? Artifical or real rocks ? , very interested as they look very nice!


----------



## ameekplec.

Nicely laid out system! I'm super jealous of all you guys that have basements.

The layout in the main tank looks really great - I really like all the open sand you've got going on there!


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Ohhh Keving Im so jelous in a good way, do you only have one koralia in your tank for water movement? I dont have to tell you but you know you need more than that now koralia came with a wave controler very basic but very nice and cheap, I just got one for my SPS frag tank and is not too bad...


Actually I have it turned off right now. I had it off when I moved all my rock in and just never put it back on yet. I get a lot of water movement from the return pump as it is. I've never had good success in my tank when I had too much flow...

I have another couple powerheads that I can throw in if I need more flow.

I'll look into the wave controller you mentioned...


----------



## 50seven

vs5295 said:


> Hey , how did you do your rocks ? Artifical or real rocks ? , very interested as they look very nice!


DIY "Aragocrete" FTW! 

I have some more detailed photos of the building process of the rocks further back in the thread, but here's my how-to guide. It will help you to come up with a recipe if you choose to make your own. I did find it fun, though it was a lot of work. But it was rewarding too, as I got to be in complete control of the final look of my aquascape.

DIY Live Rock how-to guide

Post up if you need help finding the supplies


----------



## 50seven

ameekplec. said:


> Nicely laid out system! I'm super jealous of all you guys that have basements.
> 
> The layout in the main tank looks really great - I really like all the open sand you've got going on there!


 I don't think the people in the unit below you would have the same appreciation for a sump tank...

Thanks, I got some of my inspiration from chingchai at RC
DSPS tank from Thailand (1000 gallon+)


----------



## explor3r

I think is time for an update


----------



## liz

Just read through the thread - awesome job - well done!


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> I think is time for an update


Oh-Kay, I suppose I could oblige you.... 

FINALLY got around to finishing my salt water mixing barrel. I'm not sure how big it is, maybe 25 gallons? should be enough for 1 or 2 water changes, but mostly is to make my water changes much easier to do - with the flick of a switch and the turn of a valve.

My 5 year-old son saw me leak testing it in the kitchen and saw the water coming out of the outlet and asked where the water was coming from to fill the barrel? So I say "from the pipes! water comes from pipes, right?"


----------



## 50seven

liz said:


> Just read through the thread - awesome job - well done!


Thanks Liz! Though I'm still bummed at losing a few really nice SPS,maybe in the summertime I'll try a few new frags before I go for big colonies again. My birdsnest took a bit of a hit too, but is starting to recover.


----------



## explor3r

Wow you are so creative Kevin, thats why I enjoy so much reading and following your builds with lots of pics that is what we demand
Keep it up!!!!!


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Wow you are so creative Kevin, thats why I enjoy so much reading and following your builds with lots of pics that is what we demand
> Keep it up!!!!!


Thanks Alex- I hope to inspire all who dare to brave the world of DIY 

I know somebody else was posting some thread about advice on how to build/set up a mixing station... can't remember who it was. This one was quite simple. I got the barrel for free from my brother-in-law who used to work at a pharmaceutical company and they had these barrels coming out the wazoo. The rest is a couple bulkheads from MOPS and a whack of PVC fittings from Lowes.


----------



## 50seven

Update time!

This week I finally got the doors made up and painted. I had some Ikea doors from the original cabinet, but needed to make up a few more matching ones for the top of the aquarium and for the units where I had modified the original cabinets. Not too hard from some scraps of MDF and then paint them all nice glossy white in the spray booth.


----------



## 50seven

And while I was in the shop I was also building a shelf for my QT to sit on; not sure when I'll have time to install this...  I also want to be able to select my QT to run either independently of the main system (as it is set up currently), or in line with the same filtration system and sharing the same water. This way I can get the new fish used to the new tank water once the quarantine period is over, before they go in the DT


----------



## teemee

can't wait to see this finished!


----------



## 50seven

teemee said:


> can't wait to see this finished!


Yeah, just working on putting up all the pictures I've been taking...

I was kicking myself the other day when we met at SUM- I still have your specimen jar and I had it with me in my van, forgot about giving it to you! 

Here it is all together, the mighty Aphrodite is sooo very pleased, and so am I!!


----------



## teemee

OMG - forget contracting - you should start up a business making custom tank cabinetry! Looks AMAZING! Thanks for holding on to the specimen bottle. Hopefully I'll remember next time we run in to each other!


----------



## explor3r

Nice very nice Kevin, what else can I say....


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Nice very nice Kevin, what else can I say....




...will trade skillz for frags!

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


----------



## explor3r

50seven said:


> ...will trade skillz for frags!
> 
> Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


Sounds good to me: Come give me a visit whenever you are around


----------



## 50seven

Just got a new refractometer, one of the $20 ones off eBay. Very nice piece, happy with it so far. Clear lines when I make readings. No more guesswork, yay!!! 

Does anybody know if you can use RO water to calibrate it or does it have to be distilled? 

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


----------



## Chris S

You can't use either to properly calibrate it, you need 35ppt solution.


----------



## TankCla

50seven said:


> Just got a new refractometer, one of the $20 ones off eBay. Very nice piece, happy with it so far. Clear lines when I make readings. No more guesswork, yay!!!
> 
> Does anybody know if you can use RO water to calibrate it or does it have to be distilled?
> 
> Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


Few days ago I calibrated my refractometer with RO water and was off by 0.002 when I used calibration solution 35.

Look here.


----------



## sig

WOW. what a hands god gave you. very very nice

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

TankCla said:


> Few days ago I calibrated my refractometer with RO water and was off by 0.002 when I used calibration solution 35.
> 
> Look here.


Thanks! I hope to see you at Alt's BBQ on Saturday 



sig said:


> WOW. what a hands god gave you. very very nice


Thanks for the kind words Gregory! I see He has given you creative hands too, I will have to stop in at your place sometime once your new tank gets established


----------



## 50seven

*Ka...boooooooooooooom!*



I nuked my frag tank boo hoo hoo!!!!!!!!  

But it was my own fault; I have no ATO on my frag/QT tank, so every couple days when I'm down checking the sump and cleaning out the skimmer, I'll flip on the tap from my RO and top it up manually. That was on Friday.

Yep, 2 whole days of fresh water and a flood in the basement = epic death for poor tiny frags  at least it was mostly GSP and a few other softies that I didn't have time yet to find homes in my DT, though I did lose a couple nice zoos that I wanted to keep... There were even little dead bristleworms and amphipods floating about, poor guys!

oh well, $h!t happens, and humans make mistakes. At least my brain doesn't run on Windows Vista, that would be disastrous on a continual basis.


----------



## do_0b

50seven said:


> I nuked my frag tank boo hoo hoo!!!!!!!!
> 
> But it was my own fault; I have no ATO on my frag/QT tank, so every couple days when I'm down checking the sump and cleaning out the skimmer, I'll flip on the tap from my RO and top it up manually. That was on Friday.
> 
> Yep, 2 whole days of fresh water and a flood in the basement = epic death for poor tiny frags  at least it was mostly GSP and a few other softies that I didn't have time yet to find homes in my DT, though I did lose a couple nice zoos that I wanted to keep... There were even little dead bristleworms and amphipods floating about, poor guys!
> 
> oh well, $h!t happens, and humans make mistakes. At least my brain doesn't run on Windows Vista, that would be disastrous on a continual basis.


thanks a bummer...sorry about your frag tank 

i also one time forgot to turn off the ro unit when refilling my 5g reservoir for top off and caused a mini flood which messed up my hardwood floor sigh


----------



## altcharacter

This is God's punishment for not helping us with my tank.


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> This is God's punishment for not helping us with my tank.


Ahhh! Noooooo! Have mercy on me! Please tell me what I must do to atone for myself! 

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


----------



## explor3r

Ohh sorry to heard that but u know where to come for frags no visa required


----------



## 50seven

Been a loooooong time since updating...

So I decided to try out the cheapo Home Depot epoxy, to see if it would be marine safe. After repeated uses in small amounts, I used about an entire tube on the weekend with no negative effects in the water quality. 

This stuff (sells for about 5.99 at HD):










So go ahead and use it up, boys and girls- Oatey's Fix-it Stick epoxy: 50seven certified reef-safe! 

Anyways, I wanted to get up some kind of tower structure/ arch for the left side of my tank, not 100% sure what I wanted, but thought I'd mess around with some extra LR from in the sump. Here's what I came up with (the new white rock part):

I also got a bunch of my corals of the bottom and the glass got a good scrubbing as it REALLY needed it.

I'll post a few more pics tomorrow, but I gotta hit the hay......


----------



## explor3r

Wow Keving your xenias are really growing and your birdnest as well, keep it up and give us more pics..


----------



## 50seven

I'll be going out of town for a couple months; so I'm just putting all things in order, good cleaning, tune-up, and good sized water change as I won't be able to maintain the tank.

Took a few decent shots, but should have waited for the "snow" to settle after cleaning the tank and stirring up the substrate.

Great shot of my female lyretail anthias:










My clown is now hosting my GSP 










My normally reclusive serpent sea star was out for a stroll after feeding mysis into the tank:










Random shot:


----------



## sig

50seven said:


> My clown is now hosting my GSP
> /QUOTE]
> 
> Poor clown  Even for him life is not sugar (expression)
> 
> *100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

So this update comes as I'm working on a building project out in the Ontario wilderness, away from my tank.  The mighty Aphrodite is doing a good job of keeping the fishies well fed and the glass cleaned (I hope) 

Anyways, I brought with me some extra LED's that I had saved up that I had left over from some kitchen accent lighting projects, as well as some blue and UV ones that I had picked up over the last few months.

This project had started back around Christmas, but I just never had time to work on it until now. I've been asked by a few to do a build thread on it, so I decided to add it to my tank's thread instead and keep all the epic DIY-ing in one epic thread 

I decided to try to make my own LED fixture after I started working with them at work and had a lot of fun with them. Once I decided on the size of my fixture, I lookead at the outrageous price of the heatsinks out there, and they didn't have the perfect size, so... I got 2 plates of 4" wide aluminum at 3/8" thick and marked them with a punch in a diamond grid for drilling, and then spent a long time with the drill press drilling out all the holes.



















After a few test holes, I ended up going a big bigger than was recommended by my Starret tap drill guide, but when I tapped them and tried a screw, the fit was perfect. otherwise I'd have to manually tap over 200 holes. Not going to happen. This way I could power tap them all. I got my screws from Sayal, and the taps from eBay for like a buck. Not the quality for steel, but worked perfect for the soft aluminum.



















I initially was going to do a 67% - 33% like the AI Sol, but after more reading and playing around, I ended up with a ratio closer to 50-50 There's space for 104 Star LED's on my fixture. The base is 3/8" thick aluminum and will be covered with heatsinks on the top side. I'll be making a case for it all with fans to move air to keep it all cool.

In the next 2 pics I have the bulbs on lowest power level. There are currently 48 Blue, 36 White, and 6 Ultraviolet. I have a few more blue and red that I will still be hooking up when I have time. I'm working on a case for it now. So far I'm happy with it. Quite bright when I crank up the power


----------



## Tim

what make are your blue and UV LED's?

I will be interested to see what the total cost comes to, and see how it compares to those LED lights coming out of China (the reef central monster thread)


----------



## cablemike

50seven said:


> Been a loooooong time since updating...
> 
> So I decided to try out the cheapo Home Depot epoxy, to see if it would be marine safe. After repeated uses in small amounts, I used about an entire tube on the weekend with no negative effects in the water quality.
> 
> This stuff (sells for about 5.99 at HD):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So go ahead and use it up, boys and girls- Oatey's Fix-it Stick epoxy: 50seven certified reef-safe!
> 
> Anyways, I wanted to get up some kind of tower structure/ arch for the left side of my tank, not 100% sure what I wanted, but thought I'd mess around with some extra LR from in the sump. Here's what I came up with (the new white rock part):
> 
> I also got a bunch of my corals of the bottom and the glass got a good scrubbing as it REALLY needed it.
> 
> I'll post a few more pics tomorrow, but I gotta hit the hay......


That epoxy is totally safe but one thing it does do is get hot. I used it on acro frags before and the tissue near the epoxy rtn'ed


----------



## altcharacter

For some odd reason I can never see your pics Kev


----------



## Tim

altcharacter said:


> For some odd reason I can never see your pics Kev


I can't see his pics either when using mozilla. Use Internet Explorer and you can.


----------



## altcharacter

Sorry for the language...but fuck that! IE is pure retarded


----------



## Tim

altcharacter said:


> Sorry for the language...but fuck that! IE is pure retarded


ha well don't shoot the messenger


----------



## 50seven

Tim said:


> what make are your blue and UV LED's?
> 
> I will be interested to see what the total cost comes to, and see how it compares to those LED lights coming out of China (the reef central monster thread)


I got them from eBay. similar rating to the Cree's but less than half the price.

Not sure what RC thread. Can you link it?



cablemike said:


> That epoxy is totally safe but one thing it does do is get hot. I used it on acro frags before and the tissue near the epoxy rtn'ed


Thanks, that's good to know. I've used it on SPS but haven't come across that. I'll be careful.



altcharacter said:


> For some odd reason I can never see your pics Kev


 Then you are seriously missing out. My pics are epic!


----------



## Tim

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2110092

a pretty long discussion. There is someone here who bought them, a new member here nynick I believe.


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Sorry for the language...but f**k that! IE is pure retarded


+1

(Just mind the language, this is a family-friendly site  )

I use Chrome FTW. I figure if Google rules most of the internet anyways, might as well use their browser  Actually it's fast and friendly, works every time with every site and all that. The download is free and fast.

Google Chrome Browser - Get a fast, free web browser


----------



## kamal

50seven said:


> +1
> 
> (Just mind the language, this is a family-friendly site  )
> 
> I use Chrome FTW. I figure if Google rules most of the internet anyways, might as well use their browser  Actually it's fast and friendly, works every time with every site and all that. The download is free and fast.
> 
> Google Chrome Browser - Get a fast, free web browser


Did you get paid for that endorsement lol


----------



## altcharacter

I would never use Google Chrome. Just do a bit of reading about the browser and (depending on your ethics) you'll probably stop using it also. 

Sorry for the language! But I did give a warning!!

Either way you should put your pictures up on a web browser friendly website instead of a IE friendly site.


----------



## kamal

I use firefox with great results


----------



## 50seven

kamal said:


> Did you get paid for that endorsement lol


LOL, no I just like to use it. Skynet is watching anyways, so why not be a part of the new generation of hunter-killers  Yes, I'm in denial. I love it's features but back in my mind I'm afraid of what Google is doing with my information. Firefox was good, but I wasn't impressed. I'm thinking of giving Opera a whirl, shy of installing Linux on my machine.



altcharacter said:


> I would never use Google Chrome. Just do a bit of reading about the browser and (depending on your ethics) you'll probably stop using it also.
> 
> Sorry for the language! But I did give a warning!!
> 
> Either way you should put your pictures up on a web browser friendly website instead of a IE friendly site.


I host my pictures on my personal server, that might be why there's a problem.  I never have any problems with them, so I'm not sure what the solution would be. I'll have to check with my tech support people.


----------



## cablemike

I'm a Google slave, between my galaxy nexus and my transformer tablet I haven't even touched a PC in over a year. They seem so primitive and it takes forever to do anything.


----------



## altcharacter

You could always run two different partitions on your HD and then use a different boot for each OS. But that would be overkill 

I'll just come over to see your tank....easier


----------



## TankCla

I find an interesting feature on Chrome. You can use it on your phone, tablet, computer, laptop under you gmail account and have one web page opened on one device and transmitted onto the other devices al well. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## 50seven

Update:

Day 40 in the bush.... Between putting together a solar array and watching Stargate SG-1 DVD's, I've continued the work on my LED fixture...

I made a nice case out of acrylic; my aluminum frame fits it like a glove 

So far it will be controlled by a pair of electronic dimmers (with battery backup  ) and manual dimmers. Eventually I hope to make this an Arduino controlled setup, but that's for later.

I have three dimmers (fourth is on it's way) for each lighting channel, White, Blue, Red, and UV. Once I get it on the tank I'll mess around with the right colour and intensity.


----------



## altcharacter

pictures or it didn't happen


----------



## 50seven

Argh! Seems like Dave can't see my privately-hosted images, there must be a failure of the internets....

try this?

Privately hosted files

Privately hosted files

Privately hosted files

Privately hosted files


----------



## 50seven

or this:





































(linked from the GTAA vBulletin gallery)

Let me know if there's anyone who can't see the pics, I want to get this issue resolved.


----------



## altcharacter

Very nice work Kev! Only thing missing is a disco ball and possibly a beer tap.
you guys doing airsoft while you're up there?


----------



## 50seven

OK, so the gallery feature works fine... I'll have to look into that problem with my hosting tonight. 

Actually no, that is a real rifle. I hear the wolves every night almost and they come very close, so I keep it around just in case.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## zk4444

altcharacter said:


> pictures or it didn't happen


Hey altcharacter, what kind of browser do you use? I'm always able to view his pics fine with chrome, ie, ff, etc.


----------



## altcharacter

we use FF but for some reason the page won't load. Says no such file so I don't think it's the browser.


----------



## 50seven

There's got to be some weird setting in my server, because I installed a brand new copy of Opera on my own computer and I can't see the privately hosted ones. 

I'll look into it as soon as I can because it's by far the easiest way for me to post my pics. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## caker_chris

altcharacter said:


> Very nice work Kev! Only thing missing is a disco ball and possibly a beer tap.
> you guys doing airsoft while you're up there?


are you guys into AIRSOFT?


----------



## J_T

caker_chris said:


> are you guys into AIRSOFT?


Its what I use to discourage the squirrels from hanging out on the balcony. I also, get them out on the power line.

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 50seven

caker_chris said:


> are you guys into AIRSOFT?


Yep, fun stuff! I haven't played much lately, maybe one game in the past year; I really should go again and discover muscles that I didn't know I had.



J_T said:


> Its what I use to discourage the squirrels from hanging out on the balcony. I also, get them out on the power line.
> 
> Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


That is both mean and funny at the same time. I respect nature, but it must learn it's place. It is more fun to shoot at people though 

Up here the squirrels pretty much keep to themselves, but the chipmunks are totally cute. a pair of them were eating out of our hands, but then the both drowned in a couple buckets of water we had on the jobsite. I felt so bad for them. 

Tonight around the campfire we had this doofus rabbit circling around and around us and went right through the middle of us. He must have been high on meth or something. Nature is all around us up here, it's pretty cool.

The bears and wolves are out there though. A couple local guys came through today and showed us some pics from their trail cam a few weeks back of a momma bear and her cubs. They are usually afraid of people, but when there's food involved or you go near the cubs, they are unpredictable. Hence the 7.62mm semiautomatic rifle


----------



## altcharacter

We still need to go to the range so I can show you how to properly shoot!
We should also do a GTAA airsoft game with Salties vs FW's.


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> We still need to go to the range so I can show you how to properly shoot!
> We should also do a GTAA airsoft game with Salties vs FW's.


Sounds like a fun idea!

BTW I messed around with some settings and stuff. Dave, go back in the thread and see if you can see the pictures now. LMK


----------



## altcharacter

Yeah the pics are coming up now Kev, what was it? Also, with a arduino controller can you put it on a timer/dimmer?


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Yeah the pics are coming up now Kev, what was it? Also, with a arduino controller can you put it on a timer/dimmer?


Syntax error (in other words, I was typing the link wrong )

You can do ANYTHING with an Arduino. I would use it so that I could put the moonlight on a lunar time cycle, ramp up and down the dimmer automatically over an hour or two for realistic sunrise and sunset, make thunderstorms, etc.


----------



## altcharacter

I wanted to put my LED's on a arudino and I think I'll just get my brother-in-law to do it. Yes, i'm that lazy.

As one of my friends use to say when he worked in tech support "We've found the problem with your computer. We believe the problem is between the keyboard and the chair."


----------



## 50seven

Made up a refugium light....

-AMD CPU cooler from my junk bucket
-Scraps of 3" ABS pipe
-A 20 watt driver leftover from a work project
-20 Watt ~6500K cool white LED from eBay, $10
-A cut off power cord from some device, also found in my junk bucket

Draws about 15 watts at 120 Volts, as opposed to 28 watts of my old 100 watt equivalent CFL


----------



## zk4444

bravo 57, very nice!


----------



## disman_ca

wow, very nice indeed, very creative.


----------



## 50seven

zk4444 said:


> bravo 57, very nice!





disman_ca said:


> wow, very nice indeed, very creative.


Thanks!  I try very hard! And ten bucks for a LED fuge light, not too bad...


----------



## Shoryureppa

50seven said:


> Hence the 7.62mm semiautomatic rifle


Dang that is a huge bullet, same as a Kalashnikov


----------



## RoyalAquariums

Very nice DIY fixture


----------



## 50seven

Shoryureppa said:


> Dang that is a huge bullet, same as a Kalashnikov


Exactly the one! 7.62 x 39mm


----------



## 50seven

RoyalAquariums said:


> Very nice DIY fixture


LOL thanks! It's kinda ghetto, but it works!


----------



## explor3r

Keving you are so creative, we all love when you come with things like that so then we can copy you


----------



## J_T

50seven said:


> LOL thanks! It's kinda ghetto, but it works!


It becomes ghetto when you give it racing stripes! Till then I prefer the term "functional"

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


----------



## zk4444

50seven said:


> LOL thanks! It's kinda ghetto, but it works!


I didn't find it ghetto at all -- I thought it's such a clever idea especially seeing the guts and how it's put together, and it looks pretty slick all at the same time.

57, these awesome DIYs you have should really be cross-posted in the DIY section for all to see.


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Keving you are so creative, we all love when you come with things like that so then we can copy you


 If it were any other way then I wouldn't be doing my job! I love to be an inspiration.



zk4444 said:


> I didn't find it ghetto at all -- I thought it's such a clever idea especially seeing the guts and how it's put together, and it looks pretty slick all at the same time.
> 
> 57, these awesome DIYs you have should really be cross-posted in the DIY section for all to see.


Thanks  I'll work on that sometime when I have some spare time...


----------



## 50seven

So............ I finally got my LED fixture hooked up this week, and I am LOVING it!

Especially under blues, the colours are just insane, and the moonlight I added is great too. I really learned a lot with this build, so much from my high school electronics course is coming back to me, though I'm sure if an engineer took it apart he'd laugh his head off 

The digital timers are great, they keep time even if the power goes out.

The pics really don't tell much, it's hard to get accurate colour representation with the LED's, especially under blues. most of the time it just washes out.























































(forgive the hammer, he was tired after a long day of waving at passers-by)


----------



## sig

looks like you achieved all what you wanted with this beauty tank and now it is time to go bigger 

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> looks like you achieved all what you wanted with this beauty tank and now it is time to go bigger


 I was wondering when you were going to say that!


----------



## explor3r

50seven said:


> I was wondering when you were going to say that!


He is the one who needs to upgrade right Kev..

Your tank is looking amazing and mature, as well I see your corals are growing like crazy...nice


----------



## tom g

*hey*

hi there kev your tank looks awesome i love that pic of the hammer


----------



## cablemike

You finally hooked it up. Looking sweet buddy. Can't wait to see this in person..


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> He is the one who needs to upgrade right Kev..
> 
> Your tank is looking amazing and mature, as well I see your corals are growing like crazy...nice


Yep, I'm really happy with the system now, but more importantly, so is the mighty Aphrodite  A lot of those corals thanks to you 



tom g said:


> hi there kev your tank looks awesome i love that pic of the hammer


Thanks Tom! LMK how those frags are doing!



cablemike said:


> You finally hooked it up. Looking sweet buddy. Can't wait to see this in person..


Thanks for the compliment Mike! I have a couple more birdsnests that might be needing trimming in a few months again...


----------



## zk4444

57, that looks great. I might get some teal birds nest just so I have an excuse to checkout the 90g! 

-zk


----------



## 50seven

zk4444 said:


> 57, that looks great. I might get some teal birds nest just so I have an excuse to checkout the 90g!
> 
> -zk


It's hitting the glass now so I'll have to frag it again... maybe tonight if I get time, though I feel kinda lazy 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## zk4444

Awesome, no prob just lemme know when you get a chance -- I exit at brock/407 after work almost daily except fridays


----------



## jkoot

late to the game and just went through every page...

AWESOME!

amazing build/DIY!!!


>jason


----------



## 50seven

...Tossed the my phone into the tank for some fun. No, don't worry, it was in a ziplock bag.  Some of the video came out pretty good; I'll have to edit it up because there's a lot of blowing around in the current, being hard to hold on to the camera. Here's some lo-res stills that kinda give a unique perspective from _inside _ the tank, an angle I don't get to see much.


----------



## explor3r

Lol I hope you checked the bag for leaks before you did that.
You seem to have a xenia farm going on there my friend


----------



## altcharacter

I think the xenia in Kev's tank is the best part, it flows very well towards the top.


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Lol I hope you checked the bag for leaks before you did that.
> You seem to have a xenia farm going on there my friend


I just used a brand-new bag. If anything happened to my phone, I would have blamed Ziploc 



altcharacter said:


> I think the xenia in Kev's tank is the best part, it flows very well towards the top.


Fortunately it remains localized on the front and sides of the overflow box, and seldom spreads to other spots in my tank like I had with my old 35G. I really like it there.


----------



## 50seven

My tomatoes laid eggs on Sunday. Even though they've laid eggs nearly a dozen times already, this was the first time I actually saw it happen! Mommy was so preggo and ready to pop... saw them gearing up for it all morning, both of them biting and cleaning the side of the overflow weir box that they had chosen.

Finally began laying the clutch around 1. The female would swim around a bit, her belly fat as can be and her abdomen protruded about 4mm. Then she would swim vertically down right against the overflow and deposit a few eggs. The male was right behind her and swam in rapid circles fertilizing the eggs. This continued for about an hour until a mass of eggs about 2" high x 1.5" wide was laid. The only thing missing was David Attenborough narrating the whole thing...

All zillion babies now doing well, guarded fiercely by Poppa.

Apparently one of them is supposed to be named Nemo...


----------



## explor3r

Congrats!!! now that makes you a grandfather
Kevin that is cool you got to see that happening I hope you manage to keep the babies alive so I can buy babies from you


----------



## Flexin5

that's cool. are you going to raise them?


----------



## smcx

That's awesome! I hope my cinnamon clowns mate.


----------



## liz

Congrats. grandpa!!


----------



## 50seven

liz said:


> Congrats. grandpa!!





Flexin5 said:


> that's cool. are you going to raise them?


LOL  I'm going to have to attempt it after all this encouragement....

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## PureHash

50seven said:


> Seriously, a lot of it comes down to having the right tools and someone to give a little guidance. I'm fortunate to have a full service woodshop; but if you want to use it just let me know. If I'm working there myself I'm okay to share some of my tools


Carpentry is one of the best skills one can learn. I'm very thankfull to my woodshop, and all of the great furnature that has come from it 

Kinda bummed that my tablesaw, and router table is at my cottage though.. Makes it difficult to do anything...


----------



## explor3r

Any updates? get busy


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Any updates? get busy


 I cleaned the glass, does that count?


----------



## FragCave

50seven said:


> I cleaned the glass, does that count?


No it does not, we demand pictures


----------



## 50seven

*Lazarus fish!!!*

So, I was poking around in my sump the other day, and saw some fish swimming around, and was thinking, I don't have any missing fish???

Lo and behold, it was a mckoskers wrasse, a pretty little guy, that I put in my tank over *4 months* ago and lost a few days later, though the body was never found. I was quite surprised to see him alive and well after all these months. I presume he must have been feasting away on amphipods in the weir and overflow box...

Needless to say, he belongs where he can be seen and appreciated, so here he is, back in the DT


----------



## explor3r

Great you must be so happy to see him after that long, what pleasant surprise.
I see you spa are growing a lot


----------



## Flexin5

that's a pretty fish


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Great you must be so happy to see him after that long, what pleasant surprise.
> I see you spa are growing a lot


Yeah tank is doing well... and that red-green birdsnest you gave me a while back has grown quite a lot!!! It's about the size of a small lettuce and I've already fragged it a bunch of times!



Flexin5 said:


> that's a pretty fish


You betcha! It's a mccosker's flasher wrasse that we got at SUM's Boxing Day sale. We were pretty bummed to lose him but are happy now that he's back!


----------



## 50seven

A few more random pics...

The central pink birdsnest is from sweet_ride; the red w/ green tips is a frag from that little stick Alex gave me about 9 months ago


----------



## fesso clown

looks great!
Happy for you and your wrasse!


----------



## Toofem

*Tank looks amazing*

Do your clown eggs hatch and grow?? soooo cool!!!!


----------



## 50seven

Toofem said:


> Do your clown eggs hatch and grow?? soooo cool!!!!


I tried that first batch, but was unsuccessful. When things get not so crazy at work I plan to try again. My spawning tank is ready to go and my pair of tomatoes lay a fresh batch of eggs every 2-3 weeks.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 50seven

My tank is a disgrace. I went away for two weeks this spring and my nephew overfed the fish something fierce. Hair algae got established andd I've not been able to get control of it since. Even though nitrates and phosphates test at 0, there's gotta be something in there. I spent a while manually removing it, but it came right back.

Lawnmower blenny did nothing, neither did a lettuce nudibranch.

So after some reading and brain-picking... Turned my white LED intensity down and picked up a Phosban 550 reactor and a tub of RowaPhos.

I'm hopeful that this will help to bring my tank back to its former beauty...

Photos:


----------



## teemee

that kind of sucks... It happens. 
I'm about to go away, and am worried!!!
I am pre-portioning EVERYTHING!
I had the hair algae problem over a year ago...
Nothing was working for me either.
I would get a bunch of turbo snails, and just wait.
sometimes its just a matter of time.


----------



## smcx

I was having the same problem. Turbo and mexican turbo snails ftw


----------



## explor3r

Thats disgusting  I was about to bump your tread and see whats going with you, just put it this way....it gives you something to do keep you busy..
My yellow tang would clean all that algae in 1 day, I can rent him to you if you like


----------



## 50seven

teemee said:


> that kind of sucks... It happens.
> I'm about to go away, and am worried!!!
> I am pre-portioning EVERYTHING!
> I had the hair algae problem over a year ago...
> Nothing was working for me either.
> I would get a bunch of turbo snails, and just wait.
> sometimes its just a matter of time.





smcx said:


> I was having the same problem. Turbo and mexican turbo snails ftw


Last time I had turbos, they all commit suicide by keeping on jumpin off the rocks and landing upside down until they died.  Maybe it's time to try them again...



explor3r said:


> Thats disgusting  I was about to bump your tread and see whats going with you, just put it this way....it gives you something to do keep you busy..
> My yellow tang would clean all that algae in 1 day, I can rent him to you if you like


Yeah, tell him to talk to my YT. I guess I feed him too well. I've drastically reduced the feeding, and I've got another big WC in the works for this afternoon. I'm also rigging up an algae turf scrubber, so expect some more pics tonight.


----------



## fiftyfive

reduce lighting period, feedings and allow phos to work it's magic. +1 eplor3r, my sailfin tang keep algae at bay


----------



## 50seven

fiftyfive said:


> reduce lighting period, feedings and allow phos to work it's magic. +1 eplor3r, my sailfin tang keep algae at bay


Funny thing was when I was scubbing the algae off the rock this week, pieces were floating around and the tang was going nuts for it. Lazy bum, making me do all the work...


----------



## 50seven

So I managed to put together an algae scrubber. Built from a few leftover pipes from a job and some fittings from Lowes. The screen is needlepoint mesh. Water flow comes directly from the overflow, so no additional pump was needed. we'll see how it works...




























and here's hermie taking a ride upon the stars.... 










Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Bayinaung

damn how does the algae scrubber work?


----------



## 50seven

Bayinaung said:


> damn how does the algae scrubber work?


I don't know yet. All the info I've read says that a properly set up one can get the DT algae free in about 8 weeks.

I'm just starting to see the algae spread on the screen, so I figure it will need another few weeks to spread completely. I'll update with pics as it goes in case anyone else wants to try it out.

I'm going to try to make it to SUM or NAFB this afternoon to see if I can grab some Mexican Turbos...


----------



## Flexin5

I think it works because the algae grows on the scrubber so lower phosphates and it keeps the DT tank cleaner. just another place for it to grow really, but i've never used one so don't quote me. lol 

looks like your taking care of it pretty good tho, should be gone soon. when i had GHA in my 10 gallon, reducing lighting, manual removal and scrubbing down the rock with peroxide worked for me. good luck!


----------



## 50seven

Flexin5 said:


> I think it works because the algae grows on the scrubber so lower phosphates and it keeps the DT tank cleaner. just another place for it to grow really, but i've never used one so don't quote me. lol
> 
> looks like your taking care of it pretty good tho, should be gone soon. when i had GHA in my 10 gallon, reducing lighting, manual removal and scrubbing down the rock with peroxide worked for me. good luck!


Yeah, pretty much if it's written somewhere, I'm doing it. Anything to banish the ugly...

So here's the scrubber at the end of week #1:


----------



## ameekplec.

You can also crank up your Mg - 1200 usually does the trick. The hair algae doesn't tolerate the high magnesium levels well and dies back and you can get it in control that way. Once it gets established, it can use up all your nitrates and phosphates so you'll test 0's across the board despite it still being a problem.

The ATS will probably help a little - not much more than an extra half scoop of phosban though probably


----------



## 50seven

ameekplec. said:


> You can also crank up your Mg - 1200 usually does the trick. The hair algae doesn't tolerate the high magnesium levels well and dies back and you can get it in control that way. Once it gets established, it can use up all your nitrates and phosphates so you'll test 0's across the board despite it still being a problem.
> 
> The ATS will probably help a little - not much more than an extra half scoop of phosban though probably


Good point. I'll look into the magnesium...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 50seven

So....



I'm still alive... sort of. I'm about ready to close down this miserable tank, having had a horrible summer battling this disgusting outbreak. Lost all my SPS. Softies mostly okay but for a few zoos. I'm giving it until the new year- If I can't clear it up by then, then the tank is going out. 

About two months ago the hairy green algae morphed into a dusty rusty algae. It's weird stuff, it looks like living rust particles in the water. Looks like a combination of built-up detritus and hair algae, but reddish brown. I'll try to get some pics. Could it be the iron in the GFO??? 

But- I may have caught a break. I did another major clean about a month ago, and afterwards found that things looked to be improving. I had had my refugium recirculating, but disconnected from the DT and sump for the duration. But once I hooked it back up, things went downhill again. Fast. 

This had me scratching my head. Until I poked around in the refugium, and noticed that the magnet on on of the powerheads had completely exploded and was almost completely rusted out in the water, leaching who-knows-what. Add to that the remains of a disintegrated drywall screw in the sandbed, I may have a variety of unknown elements in my water. 

The refugium is now disconnected and will be shut down and restarted once I confirm that it is the culprit. Done another scrub/siphon in the DT and a good-sized water change again tonight. Hopefully I'll see an improvement over the next few weeks.

Also this past year I've been using H2Ocean's reef crystals formula. I will say that I am not happy with it and don't recommend it.  Making a new batch of salt always ends up with a layer of scum on the surface and funny brown mineral deposits on the side of my mixing pail. I wonder if it could be part of my tank's problem. But since I can't rule that out, I won't be buying that stuff ever again. Going back to my worry-free homebrew of IO regular salt and Kent essential reef elements added in.


----------



## tom g

*hey*

Welcome back kevin....I sure hope u don't pack it in, cause I know
I am where I am because of guys like you.so hang in there trust me.my tanks gone from great to worse to even worse....sometimes u have to go back to basics and start from scratch .remember the rule of KISS keep it simple stupid. ..u are far from that kevin...just a si MLK ple analogy a old mechanic mentor use to guve to me when I would
Screw things up.hang in there let us know if u need anything
Cheers 
Tom


----------



## explor3r

Im sorry to heard that Kevin Im sure you can win this battle and if you need something please let me know.
This info is good because it helps everyone to prevent this happening since you telling us your story so thanks for sharing and good luck!!!!


----------



## kamal

80% water changes wow, how often do you do changes Sig?


----------



## sig

kamal said:


> 80% water changes wow, how often do you do changes Sig?


for the 25G without skimmer - 5G weekly

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## kamal

so a 20% weekly water change. I thought you meant you change 80% (20g) of the water every week.


----------



## 50seven

Thanks for the kind words, guys. 

Yes, I'm trying for a 5G WC twice a week or 10G every week. But when I take water out of the tank, I siphon it from the DT and scrub and suck out any loose strands of algae. I THINK it's receding, but it's hard to tell.

Has anyone seen this kind of rusty algae phenomenon? Not finding much info on the Google. It's not cyano, diatoms, or regular brown hair algae. Maybe it's just the high concentrations of iron in the tank...


----------



## 50seven

I promised some pics of my algae....

If anyone has any knowledge as to what these varieties are, I would be glad to know.

I was doing some reading, and wondered if the problem is really GHA or rather lyngbya. Hence the deeper look. The long stringy things are the hair algae. the little star puff things are, from what I can tell, the rusty particles. I need to get a better pipet to get a better sample of the rusty stuff to be sure.


----------



## altcharacter

This really sucks Kev! If there's anything I can do to help give me a shout.

If it's just algae then you might want to do a 3 day blackout on the whole system. I just did one on my tank for 2 days and it really helped quite a bit.


----------



## WiseGuyPhil

Hey Kevin, Sorry I caught on to this late, if you need anything stored let me know. I have a fully setup quarantine system that is well maintain. 2 25gal tanks.

Could it be Bryopsis algae? It can turn brownish red when it traps crap from your tank. If you can ID it as that, come over an I give you some Epsom salts. Additionally go grab some Kalk and I can explain how to battle it. 

One more thing, if it is... turn off your algae scrubber right away. You are just forcing more of it to grow in your tank.


----------



## rickcasa

50seven said:


> Also this past year I've been using H2Ocean's reef crystals formula. I will say that I am not happy with it and don't recommend it.  Making a new batch of salt always ends up with a layer of scum on thzxe surface and funny brown mineral deposits on the side of my mixing pail. I wonder if it could be part of my tank's problem. But since I can't rule that out, I won't be buying that stuff ever again.


Yeah what's with that? It's disgusting and looks like bath water. My first and last bucket for sure. However I cant say that it's had a negative effect on my system though.

Sorry to hear about your issues. I remember your fuge was so alive and filled with such diverse forms of life. Tough to replace a biological powerhouse which took you years to establish.


----------



## 50seven

Thanks Dave, Phil for the offers of assistance.

ATS is disconnected. It's part of the refugium. I won't be trying it again until this whole situation is resolved. Not sure about scrapping it yet; guys on RC swear by it.

I have seen a noticeable decline in the red rusty stuff on the GHA. I assume it was from the iron in the water, and I can't imagine it didn't act as a fertilizer of sorts...



rickcasa said:


> Yeah what's with that? It's disgusting and looks like bath water. My first and last bucket for sure. However I cant say that it's had a negative effect on my system though.


Good to know...


----------



## WiseGuyPhil

ATS are great so I would agree with not scrapping it.

As for the iron, I have heard in the past that this can be a problem with ferric oxide. My recommendation is to get some carbon and run in continuously to remove impurities. You can also use scrub pads to help with this.

http://www.bigalspets.ca/carbon-pad-18-x-10.html


50seven said:


> Thanks Dave, Phil for the offers of assistance.
> 
> ATS is disconnected. It's part of the refugium. I won't be trying it again until this whole situation is resolved. Not sure about scrapping it yet; guys on RC swear by it.
> 
> I have seen a noticeable decline in the red rusty stuff on the GHA. I assume it was from the iron in the water, and I can't imagine it didn't act as a fertilizer of sorts...
> 
> Good to know...


----------



## sig

what is the ATS?

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## 50seven

Algae Turf Scrubber

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 50seven

Update:

So I've been fighting a losing battle... with a lot of WC's and mechanical removal I can keep it in check, but not win over it. VERY frustrating, and tempting to quit the hobby... Yes, that bad. 

I've been finding my phosphate level is hanging around .25 ppm, which might not seem too bad, but sustained, it is simply a consistent food source to the algae, which just won't go away. Faithful changing of GFO & GAC just hasn't been enough to make any visible impact. 9 months like this is enough.

So, I decided to buy one of these:










Actually as much as it might be fun to have one of these, I couldn't find any in my price range...

So I opted for the next best cure for my tank- Lanthanum Chloride  Found some great reading on RC; I'll be sure to post my results as they become manifest. First dose was Thursday night; so far so good, but I'll be keeping a close eye on everything.


----------



## sig

50seven said:


> Faithful changing of GFO & GAC just hasn't been enough to make any visible impact. 9 months like this is enough.
> 
> .


I am glad to hear that you are not given up. continue to update,. It is not much what we can do, but we are with you....

Just one comment - "changing of GFO & GAC" is not to fix the problem, but to prevent it 

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----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> Just one comment - "changing of GFO & GAC" is not to fix the problem, but to prevent it


I've come to realize that is only so true


----------



## sweet ride

sorry to hear that Kev, glad to hear that you are staying in the game. 

are you just chasing your phosphate number or is it because of the algae in the system? have you tried does bio cubes? if you can remove some of the rock work you should give them a good scrub and a nice rinse in fresh clean salt water.

good luck and keep us posted.


----------



## 50seven

The problem started in April 2013... and I tried pretty much everything, including removing, scrubbing and rinsing all the rock. Hence the nuclear arms race. 

I think the phosphates are stuck in the rock and sand, and then never got out completely so just kept feeding itself. It initially started from an entire tub of NLS pellets being fed in a period of 2 weeks from an inexperienced tank sitter. It just snowballed from there.

If the lanthanum works as touted on RC, I should be out of the woods in a few weeks; in which case I'll post up a series of before and after shots.


----------



## Bayinaung

well let's see how bad your problem is... show us a FTS and some of the algae growth. 

I think my own problem came with too much light and tank being too hot that might've caused phosphates from rocks to get released.


----------



## Flexin5

you can't quit, you have a sticker on your car! lol 

sucks to hear, i'm sure you've tried everything but some ideas i came across when i had bad GHA in my 10 gallon

-tank blackout; i guess you can house your corals and fish in the sump or something with light, or someone else's tank

-0 tds nice and clean RO/DI water, couple of big waterchanges

-manual removal, pull the rocks out and scrub them down with hydrogen peroxide (this did the trick for me) 

i guess aside from that you could always pull out all the sand, wash it or add new sand...or just leave it bare bottom. anways, good luck! i'm sure you'll get rid of it sooner or later.


----------



## 50seven

Flexin5 said:


> you can't quit, you have a sticker on your car! lol


  One of the things that kept me going...

Day 6 of lanthanum chloride... Clear water and no new algae growth... Keeping my finger crossed.


----------



## 50seven

Bayinaung said:


> well let's see how bad your problem is... show us a FTS and some of the algae growth.


I think I have a few shots... will have to look them up.


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## PACMAN

50seven said:


> I think the phosphates are stuck in the rock and sand, and then never got out completely so just kept feeding itself. It initially started from an entire tub of NLS pellets being fed in a period of 2 weeks from an inexperienced tank sitter. It just snowballed from there.


Good lord


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## disman_ca

Its the first I've heard of lanthanum chloride. Interesting idea I hope it works out without ill affects.


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## 50seven

disman_ca said:


> Its the first I've heard of lanthanum chloride. Interesting idea I hope it works out without ill affects.


Third dose going in the tank tonight. Full lighting and feeding the tank since I started a week ago and no new algae growth. Keeping my fingers crossed...

There's a monster thread on RC about LaCl that I'm still reading through that has a wealth of clinical testing and results from various peoples tanks. The guy who started the thread asking the question ends up being the Guinea pig, doing his own experimentation and becomes the resident expert!

www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Bayinaung

let's SEEEEE the algae problem!!! lol

dude did you cure the rocks before you put them in the tank?


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## 50seven

Bayinaung said:


> let's SEEEEE the algae problem!!! lol
> 
> dude did you cure the rocks before you put them in the tank?


This was a couple months ago, just before I finally lost all my SPS  This stuff was on everything.




























Dude, I MADE the rock. The few pieces that I brought into the tank from my old 35G were healthy and clean of pests, but could have already had a bit of PO4 built up in them from being in that tank for a year and a half. All the sand was washed and rinsed.


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## Bayinaung

wow now I can see what's distressing you so much. it is all over literally. that sux all that SPS gone. how much algae's left? I guess you could keep lettuce nudi then. or a couple of them. have you tried that? or those blennies that eat them.


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## 50seven

Yep, tried them both, no joy. 90% of what you see for GHA is now gone. I wish I would have known about this stuff a long time ago...

The phosphate removal abilities of LaCl extends to being able to draw the built-up phosphates in the LR. Most people find that once the initial problem has been dealt with over the course of 3-4 weeks, treatments only need to be repeated every 3-6 months. Some form of reactor media should be used for regular maintenance however. I'll continue running small amounts of phosban and GAC to keep things at bay. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Bayinaung

What is the temp in your tank? I found hair algae blooming in my tank when my tank temp had been running at 82F due to a faulty heater for a few days. I cut the temp back to 78F and turned down the lights. That seems to have worked for the last few days. I'm not seeing hair algae growing anymore. In fact they seem to have disappeared.


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## 50seven

I use a digital controller, set at 78° F as per Philippe Cousteau who says that is what the ideal temperature of the reef in the wild should be.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## sweet ride

didn't realize it was that bad. when you get things levelled out hit me up and I'll give you a hand stocking up your SPS again.


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## 50seven

sweet ride said:


> didn't realize it was that bad. when you get things levelled out hit me up and I'll give you a hand stocking up your SPS again.


Thanks Ian, that's real nice of you. I'll be sure to come by. I was looking over photos of how my tank was a year ago and its really quite depressing. But thanks to my great friends in the community it will soon be but a memory. And a lesson too for the future.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## altcharacter

Kevin I have some frags with your name on them. Whenever you are In my neck of the woods give me a shout


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## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Kevin I have some frags with your name on them. Whenever you are In my neck of the woods give me a shout


Awesome, Dave! What a relief it is to know I've got some great friends out there


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## TankCla

Hi Kevin
Sorry to drop like this in the middle of the topic (to many pages in this thread, and to lazy to read them all), but have you considered dosing vodka? If yes, ignore my question.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/
http://www.melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html

I like to share a drink with my fish buddies from time to time


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## 50seven

Yes, but I see it as more of a maintenance type solution. I might do it once I've solved the immediate problem, but I'll use a dosing pump for sure, cuz I'm too lazy to do it every day

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## TankCla

It might help with your problem, by increasing the bacteria in the tank. That will consume nitrates and phosphates, and will be skimmed away.

I have a nitrate problem, and in 4 days of vodka dosing, my readings are at half.
About dosing pump, for vodka, I don't think you will need it. My daily dosage is 0.2ml and when you get to bigger quantities, you can drip it from a small container.


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## 50seven

Do you just dump it straight into the sump?

Seriously considering it as soon as I've pulled out most of the Po4 that have been absorbed into my LR.

Hooked up my refugium again last night. About a month ago I tore it down, washed the rock, vacuumed the sand and rinsed my chaeto. Went through a mini cycle but all looking good and water is clean now. 

Sucked a few pesky strands of dying GHA out of the DT, washed all the skimmer out completely, changed the filters/medium. Feeling good about the tank for the first time in 9 months 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## liz

Great to hear that the tank is coming to together for you!
Any updated FTS?


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## TankCla

50seven said:


> Do you just dump it straight into the sump?


With a syringe directly in the sump. 0.2 ml is just a few drops. You don't want to overdose with vodka. Your fish can go in alcoholic coma. 
Read a lot before beginning. Overdose can deplete your water of O2 and kill your fish/corals.


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## Bayinaung

Sugar also works like vodka, and cheaper. You'll find stringy messes within 24hrs from bacterial growth. 

If you've been reading the other threads on hair algae, you may want to cure your rocks. all of them. There are some peeps who are selling live rock cheap right now. buy theirs, cure them for 6-8 weeks and do a rescaping of your tank after that process. 6 weeks isn't much compared to the pain of a year you've gone through.


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## altcharacter

He can't add live rock to his DT since he made his own rock work. You should really read up on the thread


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## 50seven

Thanks for the input guys. But I think the lanthanum is turning out to be all it's purported to be. The main thread on RC shows evidence that it can pull the nutrients right out of the rock, in essence cooking the LR right in the tank. 

I tried almost everything, and this was my last ditch attempt before throwing in the towel. Boy am I relieved. For the first time I'm showing firm signs of beating this pest for good. Anyone looking for a miracle cure for GHA should really look in to this. 

I'll keep you updated on my progress, and I'll try for an FTS tonight. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## sig

TankCla said:


> It might help with your problem, by increasing the bacteria in the tank. That will consume nitrates and phosphates, and will be skimmed away.
> 
> I have a nitrate problem, and in 4 days of vodka dosing, my readings are at half.
> About dosing pump, for vodka, I don't think you will need it. My daily dosage is 0.2ml and when you get to bigger quantities, you can drip it from a small container.


don't waste a vodka  consume by yourself. Few shots and you see how beautiful your tank 

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----------



## 50seven

sig said:


> don't waste a vodka  consume by yourself. Few shots and you see how beautiful your tank


That was my biggest fear dosing vodka at this point. I'd get discouraged with the results and then end up taking Sig's solution...

Current FTS:


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## Bayinaung

is that a coral colony at the upper left?


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## altcharacter

Kevin I have seen your tank in its glory days and to see this picture is a bit depressing. I can't even imagine how you felt with all the GHA taking over.

Well, it's time to rebuild!!!


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## 50seven

Bayinaung said:


> is that a coral colony at the upper left?


It's a massive Kenya tree 



altcharacter said:


> Kevin I have seen your tank in its glory days and to see this picture is a bit depressing. I can't even imagine how you felt with all the GHA taking over.
> 
> Well, it's time to rebuild!!!


I played my way through FarCry 3. It helped to vent the frustration 

Yeah... I was looking over some photos of a year ago this time and yeah... it's pretty depressing. But hopeful too, as this photo is still worlds better than the tank was a month ago.

So I lost 75% of my zoos and all my SPS except for an invincible encrusting coral on my rock. Yes, I see colourful acros and birdsnests in my future...


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## teemee

Hey Kevin,
I have a small zoa colony for you.
Come by and pick them up


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## TankCla

I will frag my birdnest and bring some with my first trip to Toronto. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fesso clown

I think it's looking pretty good Kevin, just a wee bit empty. It's hard to see the GHA. What ever you are doing seems to be effective.


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## 50seven

teemee said:


> Hey Kevin,
> I have a small zoa colony for you.
> Come by and pick them up





TankCla said:


> I will frag my birdnest and bring some with my first trip to Toronto.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks! You guys are too kind 



fesso clown said:


> I think it's looking pretty good Kevin, just a wee bit empty. It's hard to see the GHA. What ever you are doing seems to be effective.


Yup. Only a few strands of GHA hanging on. I think I'll wait a month or so before I add any new corals though.


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## Flexin5

wow! that treatment worked, and fast! good stuff


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## Mikeylikes

So was it a combination of LaCl and vodka dosing or just the former?


Way to hang in there Kev! Hope to see your tank back to its glory days. You certainly gave me inspiration for my tank build.


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## 50seven

Flexin5 said:


> wow! that treatment worked, and fast! good stuff


Yeah, it really surprised me. I didn't expect it to be that effective. Now that the GHA is all died off, I'm seeing that some of my monti cap colonies have a few splotches that have actually survived!



Mikeylikes said:


> So was it a combination of LaCl and vodka dosing or just the former?
> 
> Way to hang in there Kev! Hope to see your tank back to its glory days. You certainly gave me inspiration for my tank build.


Just the LaCl.

I'll consider trying the vodka once the tank is back to normal.


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## ameekplec.

Looks great Kevin. Come by when you're ready for some SPS. We'll get the clippers some exercise.


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## Mikeylikes

Forgot to ask where does one get this stuff. Hear it's hard to find.


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## 50seven

ameekplec. said:


> Looks great Kevin. Come by when you're ready for some SPS. We'll get the clippers some exercise.


Once again, everyone is too kind! 



Mikeylikes said:


> Forgot to ask where does one get this stuff. Hear it's hard to find.


Pool place. It's used in swimming pools. I have a 2L jug that will last me a century of algae outbreaks.  Cost me 30 bux


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## Bayinaung

50seven said:


> Thanks for the input guys. But I think the lanthanum is turning out to be all it's purported to be. The main thread on RC shows evidence that it can pull the nutrients right out of the rock, in essence cooking the LR right in the tank.


Hey dude, so this crap is working really good eh? DAMN I could've had this tank up back in spring if I'd known this, instead of the entire summer spent curing it with RO water.

My question IS... does it pull out other nutrients as well or does it just bind with nitrates and phosphates.. and once it binds them, where do they go? (i.e. algaes macroalgaes can be harvested, coraline sits in the tank until it dies and leaches phosphates back again).


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## Atlantus

Bayinaung said:


> Hey dude, so this crap is working really good eh? DAMN I could've had this tank up back in spring if I'd known this, instead of the entire summer spent curing it with RO water.
> 
> My question IS... does it pull out other nutrients as well or does it just bind with nitrates and phosphates.. and once it binds them, where do they go? (i.e. algaes macroalgaes can be harvested, coraline sits in the tank until it dies and leaches phosphates back again).


From what I've read, it only binds to phosphates. When it binds it forms a precipitate which needs to be filtered out.

The original poster in the linked thread would put a few millimetres of a diluted solution into a 10 micron filter sock under the inlet to the sump. Apparently it would clog in minutes with the precipitate.


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## 50seven

That's what I read. It binds to the phosphates and becomes some other inert compound. and yes it does clog the filter sock. But I find i takes more like a day to clog up. The solution I'm using is not pure Lanthanum chloride, but contains a combination of lanthanum compounds designed to cause less cloudiness in the water. I experience no cloudiness. Key is to keep skimmer running on maximum and keep changing the filter sock.


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## Bayinaung

wow awesome. I think I'm going to get me some of that and put it into my tank regiment.


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## 50seven

So... I'm starting to feel that I'm out of the woods! 

Signs:

-LPS opening up more and more every day

-clownfish breeding again- laid another clutch of eggs yesterday

-remnants of zooanthid colonies beginning to spread- I saw another one split into two heads

-all 3 of my monti-cap colonies have some surviving live tissue that is spreading and glowing like cray under the blue lights

-I grabbed a few SPS colonies from SUM and they aren't dead yet; PE was showing within 24 hours

-the gorgonian frag that Marg gave me back at the last BBQ has survived the entire ordeal and is also showing full PE

-my one pesky aiptasia that I never bothered to deal with is now buried under a wad of epoxy

-tomato clown now bites me when I don't let go of the food fast enough

Needless to say I'm feeling quite relieved and hopeful again. I'll see how the next couple weeks pan out before I add more coral.


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## kamal

Glad to see the progress

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


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## explor3r

There is always light at the end of the tunnel Glad to see things are improving and I did not see you last week


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## 50seven

You better believe it! 

Yeah I wanted to come by, but stuff came up and I ended up doing stuff with family. I totally dominated a game of Catan and got my ass handed to me by the mighty Aphrodite in Uno...

I'll still come by though. My apprentice has a tank to and he is itching to see your place too. Don't worry, I've still got your number


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## Bayinaung

Hey dude let's see the new corals! and the EGGS from your clowns!


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## george

Way to go on the return. And no pictures yet?


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## 50seven

Hallelujah! Tank is back and things are good  Grabbed some new zoos from Frag Cave last week and got around to finally attaching the base trim to the bottom of the cabinet. Here's some finished photos:




























The left side looked a bit bare to me...










So I added new rock tower to the left side so there's better places to put SPS. Looks better in person. The fish love it.


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## rburns24

The tank looks good and your cabinet making skills are awesome.


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## fesso clown

looks fantastic Kevin. Great recovery! What's that Orange fish? Anthia? Can't see it's tail...


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## 50seven

rburns24 said:


> The tank looks good and your cabinet making skills are awesome.


Thanks! 



fesso clown said:


> looks fantastic Kevin. Great recovery! What's that Orange fish? Anthia? Can't see it's tail...


Lyretail anthias


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## coldmantis

Man this thread is like a movie, great intro, a set goal, some sadness. Where's my popcorn?


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## 50seven

coldmantis said:


> Man this thread is like a movie, great intro, a set goal, some sadness. Where's my popcorn?


LOL and the best part- free admission!


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## liz

rburns24 said:


> The tank looks good and your cabinet making skills are awesome.


+1 - outstanding workmanship!


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## sig

welcome back 

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## noy

nice setup!


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## explor3r

Looking good, salt is on the air


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## altcharacter

Kev swing by my house when you get a chance and you can grab some frags


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## 50seven

liz said:


> +1 - outstanding workmanship!


Thanks!



sig said:


> welcome back


You said it brother!!!


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Kev swing by my house when you get a chance and you can grab some frags


Oh yeah!  I almost forgot about that... I was even near your place on Wednesday...

I'll call you when I'm next in your neck of the woods. Thanks again Dave. Hey, how did you make out with that closet?


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## Flexin5

this should be a lesson to anyone, there's ups and downs in this hobby, tank looks awesome now! good work man


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## Bayinaung

Hey 57, so how are you using the LACL now - was it a one time thing or are you adding it to the tank and in what amounts?


----------



## Bayinaung

50seven said:


> Once again, everyone is too kind!
> 
> Pool place. It's used in swimming pools. I have a 2L jug that will last me a century of algae outbreaks.  Cost me 30 bux


Hey dude, hope you're still around. what's the brand you got? thanks!


----------



## 50seven

Woah... I had no idea that it was a year since I posted last.  ...I'll have to post some photos of the DT to follow...

Last few weeks have been devoted to upgrading my refugium and its lighting. I got a pack of mangrove pods from Teemee and since I had nothing to place them in the tank with, I decided to make a planter box out of acrylic scraps.

The lighting in my fuge was bad, after over a year ago I dripped water into the driver of my 20 watt chip LED and burned it out. It was high time to fix it and get that Chaeto growing like a weed again...

I also picked up a pair of dosing pumps for $10 each and am going to now learn how to program an Arduino to control the whole shebang.

Pics for proof:

Planter box clamped and waiting for the Weld-on to cure:










Another box I built to house my new ghetto/DIY reefkeeper:










Controller box attached to the side of the refugium:










Top down view of the 120 gallon refugium. I have 3x 9 watt 7000K lights shining at the mangroves, and a 20 Watt shining down on the chaeto:



















Mangroves in the planter, in ~1" of gravel:


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## altcharacter

Very nice Kev! I'll have to swing by one day to see the setup and how it's doing


----------



## paulie

Holy man, what a saga!!

Glad to see you come out the other side of this outbreak.


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## teemee

i like your mangroves  make sure you spray them with f/w every couple of days and that they get a lot of light!


----------



## 50seven

altcharacter said:


> Very nice Kev! I'll have to swing by one day to see the setup and how it's doing


Any time you're up my way, just text. Door is always open. (As long as I'm home)



paulie said:


> Holy man, what a saga!!
> 
> Glad to see you come out the other side of this outbreak.


No kidding. Been relatively hair algae free for almost a year now. A couple tufts still hang on, but I just added a bicolor blenny and he's been picking it down. Taking a while to re-establish SPS, but my monticap and encrusting corals are growing steadily.

Added 2 more angels to the mix (angel fetish here) and al four are getting along swimmingly. Video for proof:


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## 50seven

teemee said:


> i like your mangroves  make sure you spray them with f/w every couple of days and that they get a lot of light!


Thanks Marg! Almost forgot! For light, I think they've got enough. The pics don't show it very good. How much/ how fast growth should I expect?


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## cica

Are those dosing pumps 6 or 12 volt ones, are they with gears or direct drive? Ebay or local buy?
BTW nice build, love the controller too.


----------



## 50seven

cica said:


> Are those dosing pumps 6 or 12 volt ones, are they with gears or direct drive? Ebay or local buy?
> BTW nice build, love the controller too.


Got it from Aliexpress.com. I can't get off that site... 

http://www.aliexpress.com....

I think the one I got was 6V. I have one that I've dialed down with a voltage regulator and will be turned off and on using an arduino-controlled relay, and the other will be controlled using a MOSFET. I've never programmed an arduino before, so I'm looking forward to doing some coding again. (It's been a looooong time)


----------



## cica

Looks like those are direct drive (the motor shaft drives the 3 rollers directly). That should be nice and quiet. I never programmed arduino either but I am planing to try it too. For now I have the controller that kapelan sells, I use that now.
Thanks for your reply.


----------



## explor3r

Wow Kevin I was wondering where you went if you were still a salty...well Im glad you are back and still rocking....


----------



## 50seven

explor3r said:


> Wow Kevin I was wondering where you went if you were still a salty...well Im glad you are back and still rocking....


Yes Alex, I'm still around! Not giving this hobby up, I just had to step back and stay a bit low maintenance for a while with all the busyness of work and home this past year. I hope I've found equilibrium... Tank is bright and beautiful, and the family is happy and healthy. No complaints here except for the cold weather to abate...


----------



## Sunstar

Yeah the cold weather can go get stuffed.


----------



## paulie

Cold weather? Where?

My ex wife and ex girlfriend are now besties. You wanna talk cold?!!?

Try picking your kids up when those two are together haha


----------



## rburns24

paulie said:


> Cold weather? Where?
> 
> My ex wife and ex girlfriend are now besties. You wanna talk cold?!!?
> 
> Try picking your kids up when those two are together haha


-
Sounds like you may not have had the best of luck with women at times, but you've got a 
pretty fair sense of humour .
-


----------



## 50seven

paulie said:


> Cold weather? Where?
> 
> My ex wife and ex girlfriend are now besties. You wanna talk cold?!!?
> 
> Try picking your kids up when those two are together haha


Ouch. That's gotta be rough... You have my sympathy.

Try to stay polite and friendly, and never raise your voice, even if they act like b*****s. Your kids will see this and will know that you are the better man. (said as someone who grew up in a broken & abusive home)


----------



## paulie

Haha they are all good. Just knowing that I only have to be there for 5 minutes a time is cool! 

They are after all lovely ladies.

Thanks for your advice tho guys.

They certainly aren't as bad as hair algae!! Where did you say you picked up the chemical 50seven?


----------



## 50seven

paulie said:


> They certainly aren't as bad as hair algae!! Where did you say you picked up the chemical 50seven?


Got it from Betz Pools in Stouffville. Called "phos cleanse" by the brand "Dazzle."


----------



## TankCla

50seven said:


> Got it from Betz Pools in Stouffville. Called "phos cleanse" by the brand "Dazzle."


I have a battle with my GHA for 6 months now. I would like to try LaCl3, but I am concerned about my live stock. Did you do the treatment with your fish and coral in DT?


----------

