abcha0s' 300G Ultimate Reef

Rbacchiega · #1 10-15-2010, 04:51 PM

we currently have about 60lbs dry rock in the display tank of our 75....and 3 lbs cured live rock from an established tank. It seems to be doing the trick...I threw in some scallop and saw an ammonia spike, but levels have gone back to normal. I imagine as long as you slowly add bio load to the tank, a minimal ammount of actual "live" rock would be needed. When I ordered from Marco rocks, they said all that was needed to seed the rockwork was a cup of establish sand or a few lbs of good rock from a fellow reefer etc.

abcha0s · #2 01-05-2011, 08:43 PM

So, I've made some significant progress on the tank. Everything got put on hold while we were doing some renovations in the basement, but I'm back on track. I've added a lot of new content with lots of pictures. Pretty much everything after post 18 is new.

Details (Black, Floor, HRV, Screen Top).......Post 17
Tank Leveling.................................Post 18
Water Prep and Salt Mixing....................Post 19

Aquascaping - Part II of III..................Post 22
- Building the aquascape

I'm hoping to have saltwater in this tank by sometime next week. There is no urgency on transferring live stock, so I will take my time cycling the tank and getting all of the equipment operational.

I am for sure buying LED lights. The leading contenders are Pacific Sun, ReefTech LED and Vertex. If you haven't seen my LED thread, take a look at some of the things that are going on here (Next Generation LED Lighting).

Thanks!

abcha0s · #3 01-06-2011, 06:18 AM

The tank is filling with ro/di as of 9pm tonight. At a rate of 100gpd, it should be full by Sunday afternoon.

lobsterboy · #4 01-06-2011, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abcha0s

The tank is filling with ro/di as of 9pm tonight. At a rate of 100gpd, it should be full by Sunday afternoon.

very nice Brad, any hints on the aquascape ?

abcha0s · #5 01-06-2011, 06:43 AM

Thanks John. There are pics of the aquascape here.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...t=66389&page=3

lobsterboy · #6 01-06-2011, 06:52 AM

very interesting with the pegs, and the rocks look great.

cant wait to see water and live stock in this beast.

abcha0s · #7 01-12-2011, 11:47 PM

I've made some progress...

* Added two buckets of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals - This raised the SG to 1.024 - I had expected to need more salt, but I guess I'm not complaining.
* Tunze Wavebox is working - I am getting a 1.25" wave - Not sure if that is good? - The wavebox is noisy! - Everything seems to suggest that it will quiet down at around the 2 - 3 week mark. I sure hope so.
* Skimmer is online - This is the Tunze Master DOC 9440 - It's rated at over 1000G for a FOWLR - Closer to 400G for a heavily stocked SPS reef. First impressions are good, but it's a quirky skimmer. I will have to keep my eye on it.
* Plumbed in two vertex UF-20 reactors for bio-pellets. I have 2L of pellets soaking in RO/DI now and I will add them to the first reactor tomorrow. I will add another 2L to the second reactor in a couple of weeks. I'm using a 50/50 mix of Vertex and NPX.
* I've got the sand in transit now - should be here soon.

I'm generally feeling good about my progress. I'm at the point where little things take a really long time to get done. There's still lots to do...