Don’t be lazy. Get some of the recent pics uploaded. I can show you how. 😂

Ask Titus to make it easy for you :lol:

I did. 3 years ago. Lol.

I think someone is making excuses 😎

IKR.

I heared he's too busy growing snails. :biggrin:

Update time. Tank is cruising along. Added some Reefbrites.... wish the expensive SPS would grow faster. Forest Fire Digi grows like a weed, frags in front are for sale. Snails still multiplying like crazy.

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Had to get a new Apex head unit after the ethernet plug died on the old classic brain. Guess now I can run a Trident.

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Also grabbed an EB4 for the added Reefbrites.

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looking good buddy!

Tank is looking good.

looking good pretty cool aquascape

So, 2021 was seeing some good growth. Lots of healthy happy fish, and Trochus continued to multiply like crazy. Thanks to all those who came and bought some. Sometime during the beginning of the year the wife decided it was time to move to a new, larger house. Couldn't really argue that.

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Larger house = larger tank.

Around the same time I started to notice a few aiptasia. Since we were moving and I had to tear the tank down anyway, I didn't bother doing anything about it. It soon got out of hand.

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Needless to say, the aiptasia started stinging corals and fish. In my reluctance to do anything, I lost some livestock. Lesson learned. I began to remove the substrate to reduce the impact.

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In the summer I started to pull things apart. I am lucky to have reefing friends to help me out. Dave J was gracious enough to care for my remaining livestock during the move. The tank was definitely nasty.

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Yeah, you'd think that, but not in the plans. Lol

Over the course of last year I also developed a massive aiptasia issue. Almost got out of the hobby due to them because I had no clue what to do or how to deal with them. Then I figured I’d try something radical for fun. I had a jug of 35% hydrogen peroxide laying around that I use to treat algae in my pond. I decided to fill a needled syringe with it and inject the aiptasia with it. This was 100% effective and very satisfying. The aiptasia melt away from the inside out and liquify into water and oxygen. I did a few a day for a week and now they are all gone. If I ever see one again I just whip out the syringe and nuke it right away :twised:

EPISODE III : Revenge Of The Upgrade

So we moved from PoCo to Maple Ridge in September of 2021. Brand new house, double the square footage, but no chance of having a fish room below the display tank as I wanted. Oh well, guess it'll wait for the retirement house. Honestly, I was getting quite tired of having blaring blue light flood the living room while trying to watch tv. So I made the decision to have the tank downstairs next to an unused washroom I can convert into a fish room.

All my stuff sat for a couple months while we unpacked and did a few quick renos to make our new home functional.

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The new spot is the downstairs landing, right next to a washroom. Not enough room for a couch, but I can squeeze a chair or two in there.

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Rich came over and sprayed the back of the tank black, because he just couldn't stand looking at it anymore.

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Then started the task of putting everything back together.

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And here's how she sits today. Guess I should have cleaned all the glass for the pic.

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Major upgrades to follow. Convert the washroom into a fish room full of gear. Order a new sump from Concepts. Switch the current sump into a fuge. Build an electronics cabinet for all the electrical do-dabs. Automate water changes and dosing. We will see how far I get with all this.

Updates to follow, thanks for looking.

:pop2:

Ditto

Finally got around to starting the fish room. Automated salt water mixing station. Waiting on a new sump from Concept, then I can begin the UV addition and electrical cabinet. Tank had been dealing with massive amounts of ulva algae in the spring and summer. Beat it with Vibrant, but caused some imbalance and now dealing with cyano. Cyano starting to recede in the last 2 weeks. A lot more work to be done, thanks for looking.

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Nice. Now you just need a TV next to the Brute so you have something to look at while bathing :rolleyes:

That prefilter sure looks like it's pulling some nasties out of the source water!

It's about 2 years old lol. TDS is still 0 at the clean end.

Good to see you're keeping up with the replies to your thread !!!

Don't poop on me .... I know you're busy

looks good man liking the clean look. what's with the rock on top of the egg crate to give it more flow in the rock

I see what you did there.

Initially yes, however I had a problem with Ulva algae and that structure is long gone. Hopefully I can get some work done on the tank over Xmas and post some updates and pics.

I'd be curious to know what your NO3 and PO4 levels are - that is if you're still battling nuisance algae ...

Don't forget that I rid myself of all that junk, and removed both my GFO and Carbon reactors, by dosing the mentioned stuff

Not that I want to make things easier for you ...

So would I. Can you swing by and test please?

Major update and photo dump! Its been a while since I've posted but things have been moving along.

Got a new sump from Concepts. Thanks to Kay for receiving it at King Ed.
Decided to go back to socks because I find they are just easier to clean. Plus the motor failed on the fleece roller I was using.

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Power has gone out in Maple Ridge a lot more times than it did in PoCo, and I lost some livestock, so never again. Picked up a genny from Dave H.

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Did some more plumbing on the w/c station, although its not complete yet.

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Added a couple shelves and some decoration to the fishroom.

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Started the plumbing on the UV. Wanted a bypass for ease of maintenence, and a drain.

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...and mounted it to the wall. Screwed up one pipe cut and it's a little crooked. My OCD is making my eye twitch.

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Started the drawings for the new electrical cabinet...

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...and began to build the boxes.

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Upper and lower box.

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Time for paint.

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Install lower box, then upper box.

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Plan out the door, drill, and paint.

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Install and begin to populate.

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Added a 6 plug outlet on an extension cord fed from the furnace room. Its on a dedicated circuit and can easily be unplugged and run from the genny when needed.

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Recent full tank shot. Parameters are stable and colour is good, although this isn't the best picture. Still plenty of work to do within the tank, but I am wanting to get the hardware upgrades done first. Hoping the new sump and plumbing can get done this coming weekend. Then all the electronics can be moved into the new cabinet. Thanks for looking.

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Wow Buddy Nice Work !!! Some great thinking/planning "inside" the box going on here. I really like the cabinet boxes

I agree with your move back to socks. Did you go with 7" ?

Thanks dude. I definitely love the building and hardware part. They're just 4 inch socks.

Really nice work, love the electrical box and UV

someone was busy

The Myth, the Legend, the GOAT, BBlinks came over to help plumb the new sump. Added a new Fluval SP4 for the return.

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Got the new sump done in a couple of hours. I can't stress enough how helpful the Canreef community is on the west coast.

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Doser, containers and ATO will all be moved in the future. Added a 1" flow sensor to the return just because. Still need to bring the UV online.

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Began stacking rejuvenated Siporax that was pulled from the old tank 2 years ago.

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Added the Borg Cube to the sump, on top of the existing Siporax.

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Started to get some RTN on the Loom, cut it off hoping to halt the decay. It worked for a few days but it continues to erode. Started to scratch my head and figured a bit of testing was in order. Phosphates through the roof. Figure the rejuvenated Siporax was still holding PO4 within, even after boiling, acid and bleach baths.

TEST, TEST, TEST... and always make small changes!

Doing a w/c today, and more testing later tonight. I've got Phos Down ready to go if needed. Ordered a bio pellet reactor from BRS.

Thanks for looking.

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The phos I guess went up holy crap take your time using phos down or phos ban good luck my buddy well down looks sick bro. I need to redo plumbing for my tank and since I am upgrading to a 180 starfire I will redo have a manifold and have one pump run all

It never ends!

Thanks!

Yup, slow changes for sure. Multiple water changes incoming. Keep us posted on your upgrade Skimmer!

Using the same one I bought for my 54 gal corner with a 40 gal sump it’s about 90 gals
Reef Octopus elite 150 int 6” it’s over kill for my 90 but it’s good for the 180 it has a DC pump got it off reef central from a fried. For 150 US it’s a 800 dollar skimmer good find

It’s coming a long nicely and I see you’re taking your time to do it right.

Waiting for more updates

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!
Got a bunch done over the Xmas break and even had time to visit Adam at Frag Garage in Victoria to pick up some coral.

So let us continue with the upgrade porn. After discovering the ridiculously high PO4 I did a much needed water change.

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Drains right into the tub.

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Then filling up the tank with new water. Currently using Red Sea Blue, but I may change to Tropic Marin because all the cool kids are doing it.

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Time to relocate the ATO to the fishroom. Started by drilling the tank.

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...And fitted a bulkhead.

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Needed to beef up the base of the water change station so I added 3/4 ply.

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Time to clean up this mess. Was going to have the Apex control the water filling and auto water changes, but after speaking with some reef Jedi's, they saw no real benefits from auto water changes.

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Finished product minus the brute that sits in the front. Added a 6 gang plug to clean up the electrical and hopefully protect it a bit.
The ATO gravity feeds directly into the sump (through the wall) where I installed a float valve in the return section.
One line goes to the Brute, not shown, and one line feeds to the tub if I want some RO.

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More progress on the Apex cabinet coming soon.

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Thanks for looking,

EDIT

Found some more pics for the ATO so I may as well upload them while I'm still motivated, lol.

New float valve in the sump.

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ATO line hugs the wall and around through the wall into the fishroom.

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Some close ups.

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The completed product, plus a shut off that still needs to be added for better accessibility.
Currently seen mixing water.

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I will leave you with an Apex cabinet tease.

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Nice work Warren, well thought out.

Two snow days in a row. Spent a few hours shoveling Tauntaun poodoo yesterday, and planning to spend time today on the build. Lets get into the progress.

Had the water change titanium heater explode on me for unknown reasons.

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No idea what happened, but apparently these heaters are packed with sand, and it ruined a full bucket of NSW.

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Gave everything a good clean and made another batch for the next water change.

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Finally hooked up the Trident, after sitting in the box for 382 days.
Mounted a second doser that will be used for more additives.

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Time to clean up this mess. Had to add a PM2 because the temp probe cable was too short to reach the Apex head unit and then tuck away nicely.
Need to figure out the main power cable as all the conduits are full.

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It blows my mind how many wires we have to deal with in this hobby. I've done my best to organize them, leaving enough slack to allow the door to open. I don't think anyone can really eliminate the rats nest of aquarium wiring. Added a magnet to help the door stay closed. The only things left to add are 6 more power blocks for the new light fixture (which is the next big hardware upgrade)... and possibly an exhaust fan in the roof of the cabinet.

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Really happy with the final product. Adding more dosing lines today.
Why don't I have an Eb832 you say? Because they look horrible, seem to be Neptune's number one failing product, and my Eb8 continues to work without issue (fingers crossed).
Plus I wanted to keep the look consistent.

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Thanks for looking.