KrazyKuch's & Michika's 180Gal Tank Build

[Jason McK]

Looks Great. Love this thread.

My TMPCC did the same thing.

J

[michika]

Thanks guys!

So some somewhat big changes; I gave Kevin the go ahead to put a SMALL hole in the wall behind the tank. The room behind the tank is our "utility" room/storage/water making place. Over the next couple of weeks we are going to convert it to a water making place/ fish storage/dehumidifyer/ozonizer/misc. fish equipment storage aka a semi fish-room. We are also going to be making a few changes to how our top off is done, and possible even top off from the utility room.

The RKE is now running;
- top off pump
- kalk stirrer
- ozonizer
- skimmer
- ORP/ pH/ Temp probes

To add on;
- chiller
- heaters

We will need another power bar to do the lights. I am quite pleased though that we have not encountered any errors that I have seen in the DA forums. I still want to be able to sit down the play with the controller myself, as I have yet to do that, but things are seeming to be pretty intuitive, and the instruction manual is helping out.

The sump WILL be built either this weekend, or early next week. We finally have a space to build and dry the sump. The sump is what is holding up the remaining projects; skinning the tank, doing the final returns, and creating the storage shelving.

As well the beads in the ozonizer are exhausted already. The system was brought online on Sunday and they are needing a re-charge already. Melev from RC thinks its because of the high humidity where the ozonizer is located (under the stand).

[michika]

Ah! The cyano, its invading! And, its already established colonies!

I need to do some testing today, however I think when I do test I will find that my dKH/alkalinity is low. This was previously the cause of my other experience with cyano in our second tank, a 46g bowfront.

RKE is still running like a champ. I love it, even though I still haven't made time to play around with it and familiarize myself with it. From today at 6pm MST:
Temp 80.6
pH 7.98
ORP 371

The fish are grazing and generally being good. I have been keeping a tentative list of the length of the doctor tang. When I got it, it was 1" from nose to tail, today it is about half an inch, maybe less, smaller then the Naso tang. As of today the fish are:

Naso tang; 5"
Doctor tang 4.5"
Red Sea Sailfin tang 4.5"
Vlamingi tang 4"
Scopas tang 2.5"
Red Sea Raccoon Butterfly 1.25"
yellow damsel 1.75"
both small chromii are STILL 0.5" (been this small for at least a year)
mandarin (full size) 1.5"

I also happen to know that is Der_Iron_Chef's birthday today. I also happen to know he has a love of the Red Sea Sailfin tang, so some photos just for Drew on his birthday. I apologize for all the air bubbles in the water. The fish got a little on the excited side when I put the feeding stick in the water.

[michika]

I came home with another SPS colony and two more clams. The cyano was pretty bad this evening. I cleaned off the rocks, and I am preparing a WC for tonight or tomorrow. I am quite sure that there is a link to my low dKH.

My new (as soon as its emptied) dipping container for frags


A poor shot of the two new squamosas. They look amazing top down!


Our new SPS that we are calling "the bush", it has quite the growth pattern


And a close up. It got caught by a snail on the way down into the tank.

[Ephraim]

i remember seeing that "bush" at Red Coral a few days ago, that is a super odd growth form. Glad someone on here nabbed it, i am really curious to see how that thing is going to grow out.

[michika]

I am pleased to have got it. There were at least 3 other pieces that were in the running with it. I'm really hoping it will maintain its shape, and continue to colour up.

[michika]

I am officially done with Salifert's testkits. There is just no way to consistently get the same amount of fluid in the syringe to add solution #3. Sometimes I have a huge air bubble, and sometimes I don't. I think its screwing with my test results. I want a calcium monitor, and I am hoping DA will put one out soon, or I will pick one up from American Marine.

Speaking of the RKE we have found 2 bugs, but cannot locate the Firmware update on their website. Bug #1: if you don't touch the buttons or scroll through the screens fro an extended period of time, the buttons will forgot what they are supposed to do. E.g. you will push enter and the controller will take it to mean you are pushing up or down. Bug #2: it keeps randomly shutting off the skimmer for a few brief seconds before turning the pumps back online.

We need another PC4 to bring the lights under the control of the RKE, however I am in no rush. I would rather wait until I hear that the bugs have been worked out that are associated with MH ballasts.