SMB2415 550g (84x36x42) build

I haven't posted much lately as I was battling the usual algae outbreaks in new tanks. The hair algae is now under control, just one patch left which you can see in the some photos.

I also lost 2 angels due to bacterial infections. I was able to treat the tank and all is good now but unfortunately not soon enough to save the two angels....turns out getting a prescription from a vet for large amount of antibiotics is difficult.

I picked up a TON of frags at the frag swap, mostly from Bfish and Emessier. There are also 2 BTAs in the tank all doing well. As for the corals, I have no idea what I have. Some look as though they are doing well.
 
I am still working on the fish room specifically the ATS and cryptic tanks. The cryptic rubble tank is good to go but I need to add plywood under the cryptic DSB as the added weigh tot sand will require plywood to disperse the weight better, also need more sand. I am aiming for for the DSB to be 10" deep.

The ATS is working however I need to get more flow and light. The ATS is a vertical waterfall type using 4 sheets of knitting sheet, lit on both sides. Currently I am supplying a manifold off the return for the cryptic and ATS. This will not work long term as it resulted in turning up the flow from the pump and now my C2C weir is more of a waterfall -- too much flow. So I will end up with 2 manifolds, one will run off the return and feed the cryptic rubble which overflows to the cryptic DSB. The other will use a pressure rated pump and feed future reactors and the becket style skimmer. I will need to use two small pumps to feed the ATS, each rated for about 1000gph.

Ive been happy with the GHL Mitras LED lighting. I still need to tweak it a bit more.

I also have the Neptune auto feeder and WXM modules to setup.
 
My current focus besides the ATS is setting up the water stations. I picked up a 250g IBC that has a builtin heater. The IBC will sit outside and be feed and keep RO from the RO. I will be setting up a custom recirc heat loop for this, similar to my custom water heater setup. The idea is to use a 12v low flow circ pump to move water from the tank through a 100' coil of PEX in the basement next to the furnace, then back to the IBC. I hope the water temp rises enough to keep the water temp just above freezing. Outside the IBC will be inside of a 'shed' in 2" of rigid insulation with a clear roof so that sunlight warms the IBC. The IBC also has the built in heater which I could use to supplement to replace this setup if needed. The IBC will use a fill valve to stop when full and a solenoid, for safety, to shut off water supply to RO. A backup high level float will warn of malfunctions.

This IBC will then feed a 35g poly tank in the basement. I current evaporate 5g a day in the winter, we'll see what the happens this summer. The 35g should hold about a week of ATO. A few float switches and a pump will fill this container twice a week. A 500gph pump will be used to feed this tank RO from the IBC.

A 96g garbage cart will be used for saltwater mixing. Placed under the 35g, it will be filled from the 35g. Saltwater mixing will be manual (at least for now). I will have a circ pump inside to help with salt mixing.

Manual filling of buckets and containers with RO will be easy using the same gravity feed as the 96g. If I need salt water I can simply pump it from the 96g.
 
Updated fish list:

QT:
Powder Blue Tang
Achilles Tang
Blond Naso Tang

DT:
Purple Tang
(2) Hippo Tang
One-spot Foxface Rabbitfish
(6) Yellow Tail Damsels
Gold Head Sleeper Goby
Blue dot Jawfish (loves to swim over the overflow into sump)
Lyretail Anthias
Starry Blenny
Longnose Hawkfish
(2) Ocellaris Clownfish
Engineer Goby
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Bellus Angelfish (female)
Saddle Valentini Puffer
 
Thanks Sass. Its taken much longer than I wanted. When I look at the tank I see what looks like so little yet soo much time went into it to get it this far. I really am looking forward to the time when it is setup to the point where the canopy and facade are on it.

OK reaaallly looking forward to automated water setup. 5g buckets and sapping trashcans and pumps is getting really old.
 
Ive been away waaay too long. Its boating season and Ive been busy enjoying the summer.

I promise to update soon, need to CLEAN the tank first.

Not much has happened other than Ive lost a bunch of coral frags, likely due to lack of calc reactor. Nitrates seemed to have stabilized as the ATS is working well. I have turned off the skimmer, although I may try a cone skimmer instead of the beckett style one I have been using.

Life in the aquarium has stabilized. Ive been through the algae, coralline, pineapple sponges, some cyano, and currently have some aptasia. All in all its been stable, no fish have died or shown any problems in quite some time. I guess I can say that Ive given the tank the summer to mature.
 
Been cleaning up the tank. Fighting some cyan, aptasia, and flatworms (only in ATS tank though). My current ambitions are to add a CO2 scrubber to increase PH and some additional type of nitrate reduction. Maybe a phosban reactor? still debating a denigrator as it would likely work however I have been trying to keep this build more on the natural side of things.
 
Looks good, can't wait to see how the tank looks a couple months and even years down the road, it definitely has a lot of potential. I love how the sump and filtration is set up, it was very cool to be able to talk fish with you for a while when you were picking up that Chevron tang. Keep it up!
 
Hi Tyler, glad you found the thread. The Chevron is doing well, challenged at first by the purple and achilles. 2 days of lights out solved it, well that and their attention to the copper band. Both are doing well and getting along with tank mates.
 
Picked up supplies yesterday to start on the canopy. It will be a fully sealed canopy fed by positive pressure from the fish room outside air then drawn and exhausted up through canopy to outside. canopy will be fiberglassed wood and epoxy painted black. Will have have hinged side panels. Canopy will be mounted on ceiling tracks so it can slide to side away from tank.

air flow will be similar to: outside air --->(fan)--->fish room-->DT--->(fan)--->outside air

Im going to put a 1/2" tap into the duct to feed the CO2 scrubber feeding the skimmer air intake.

Im still thinking whether it would be best to draw air from the DT side or fish room side. Im thinking from fish room as it would give a chance for temp/hum to equal out to ambient before being blown over DT.

MY concern is not so much for winter as I don't think either way will matter much, its more in the summer when basement is very humid and outside air can be quite humid as well.

Ive looked at whole basement dehumidifiers (~$1000), ductless split A/C (~$2000), and HRV venation (not a good fit for summer humidity). So the other 2 will be options if the least expensive venation system above does not work well enough.

The reason for the canopy/ventilation is because last summer my humidity was about 80% in the basement !!! WAY too much, I don't want a serious mold issue. In the winter I am seeing a more reasonable 50-60%, still a tad high.
 
great build, im doing one similar. im curious to know how the mp60 is working out? are you making waves or is it running constantly does it make too much noise? would you do it again?
cheers
 
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