New Elos 120 build

[someguy]

My "fish room" - currently consists of spare SW tank:



Controllers mounted on door of cabinet:



FTS with sump:



FTS:

[someguy]

Edge of tank. The workmanship of the Elos tanks is great. Smooth seams, beautifully bevelled edges:



Current inhabitants:

[hillegom]

Things look good. Nice and slow, as you are doing.
I would use that "spare" tank as a quarantine.

[ensquire]

Very nice setup.

[fishytime]

sweet lookin tank fursure

[staceyd72]

Hi Art,

Very ice setup, looking forward to seeing it grow out.

Any idea what's the difference between the Elos starphire glass and 'our' starphire glass? Also, the back pane is starphire?

[someguy]

Originally Posted by staceyd72

Hi Art,

Very ice setup, looking forward to seeing it grow out.

Any idea what's the difference between the Elos starphire glass and 'our' starphire glass? Also, the back pane is starphire?

My understanding is that Starfire is just a brand name for a type of ultra-clear, low iron glass. In reality there are many makers of this type of glass. Elos uses a their own brand, but they are essentially comparable.
Yes, the back pane is also clear, low iron glass, so the tank could be used as a peninsula or even in the middle of a room.

[someguy]

Originally Posted by hillegom

Things look good. Nice and slow, as you are doing.
I would use that "spare" tank as a quarantine.

Thanks for the comments. The whole QT issue was a tough one for me. My instinct was to QT properly, but after talking with Wendel and having him essentially QT my fish, I figured it at least minimizes any potential issues. If the worst happens, I have an extra 55 gal tank hanging around empty that can quickly become a hospital tank, and I can make lots of SW very quickly.

I have a few other issues I'm currently working through as well:

1) lights - I really like the AI system. It is completely controllable with it's own controller, so I don't have to purchase a third party controller just for the lights. The problem right now is that there is a spotlighting effect, although in real life it is not as obvious as the photos make it out to be. Adding a third module will help, and eventually I'll get a better mounting system that will also allow me to raise them further off the water. I also have the option of buying differentl optics to help with the light spread. Everything I've read indicates that I should be able to grow anything with these lights, but I may get a PAR meter one of these days just to see what I'm getting.

2)Salt - the salt I'm using right now (I won't mention brands) is not giving me the parameters (Ca, Mg and Alk) that it is promising. I will likely go to a cheaper salt since I will be supplementing in either case. This likely explains why I'm getting no coraline algea growth at all.

3) Noise - The Elos system is supposed to be very quiet, but in reality, my system at least is relatively noisy. Mainly a low grade humming from the sump. To solve this, I will be moving the sump into my little fish room, which is a utility room just behind the tank. I had planned to do this eventually, mainly to make maintenance easier, but this noise issue has just accelerated the process.

Otherwise, I'm happy with the way things are progressing.

[someguy]

Update

I have added some new stuff now. There is now a young Kole tang who was bit shy at first, but is now looking really good. Unfortunately I can't get a good photo of him as I haven't figured out how to shoot fast moving fish yet.
I also got my first coral, a small frogspawn. I just got the one because I wanted to get comfortable with the acclimation, mounting, etc process before loading up on others pieces. I initially dialed down my lights and then increased them over a few days. My experience is limited, but he looks pretty happy to me. He is extending his polyps nicely, and in my mind seems to be a brighter colour than when I got him.



As far as acclimating inverts and corals, I am using a medical IV drip set and have found it very easy to set up and fine tune the drip rate. For those of you in the medical field I highly reccomend trying these. For anyone else, If you are interested, I would talk to your vet. They only cost a couple of dollars, so they should be able to sell them very cheap.

[someguy]

I have also set up my refugium in the what was intended to be the ATO section of my sump. I am using an LED light, but it seems dim to me, so I am looking into that. Right now I just have a ball of Chaeto and a couple of big chunks of dead rock that are in the process of coming to life.

I also got my third AI module which really makes the lighting in the tank look much better. I'm looking forward to stocking this thing with corals and seeing how things grow out. My plan for the time being is to not add any more fish for at least a few months, but concentrate on corals and a few clams.

As far as chemistry is concerned, I was having probs with my Ca, Mag and Alk, so I worked on them for a couple of weeks with B-Ionic 2 part and Seachem Mag, and everything is looking good now. I will be looking into a doser as my next equipment purchase.

My next task is moving the sump from below the tank to my little fish room (utility room) behind the tank. I'm just waiting for some plumbing bits from Elos, and hope to have that done next week. It should make everything quieter and make maintenance much easier.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking.