Great news! Looking good.
MD’s 45 Gallon Frag Tank
- Thread starter MarcosD
- Start date
Actually looks pretty good from the picture.
They are looking lovely! WowTorches doing good
MarcosD
Supporting Member
Replacement Simplicity ATO came in. Seams are perfect on this one, no bubbles! It was kind of a long process to get the replacement but it was over the holidays and I had to send the old one back before they sent the replacement so can’t complain too much I guess. I love how light these acrylic ATOs are. A lot lighter than the IM 15 ATO for the display that’s for sure!!
Current sump layout. Just kinda threw everything in there for now. Will need to shut everything off when the ReefMat 500 I ordered comes in and I can install the return gate valve as well.
Will need to figure out another heater situation. I need two Eheim Jager 200W heaters to be able to mantain the temp, I tried with two 100w and also one of each but it couldn’t keep up. Problem with the 200W is they’re super long! They fit now because they’re positioned at an angle but that won’t work once the ReefMat is installed. I’ve been considering the Innovative Marine Helio PTC heaters for the display tank. They’re like half the height of these glass heaters… but also a lot more expensive
Also still need to build the doors for both stands. Plan is to countersink magnets into the frame and door panels.
Current sump layout. Just kinda threw everything in there for now. Will need to shut everything off when the ReefMat 500 I ordered comes in and I can install the return gate valve as well.
Will need to figure out another heater situation. I need two Eheim Jager 200W heaters to be able to mantain the temp, I tried with two 100w and also one of each but it couldn’t keep up. Problem with the 200W is they’re super long! They fit now because they’re positioned at an angle but that won’t work once the ReefMat is installed. I’ve been considering the Innovative Marine Helio PTC heaters for the display tank. They’re like half the height of these glass heaters… but also a lot more expensive
Also still need to build the doors for both stands. Plan is to countersink magnets into the frame and door panels.
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MarcosD
Supporting Member
Finally got the ReefMat installed and also did the gate valve install. Man that was a pain. When I put together the sump baffles, I didn’t account for the corrugated tubing that connects to the drain pipe. Worst material ever… not easy to work with. I had to play around with the tubing to make a perfect cut otherwise it wouldn’t fit. The Reefmat was supposed to be installed front facing but I ended up installing it sideways because it was the only way it’d fit. Will be a little annoying switching out rolls, will have to remove the skimmer cup every time but hopefully upsizing the Reefmat to a 500 instead of the recommended 250, I won’t have to change the roll that often.
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MarcosD
Supporting Member
Torch racks getting full Still a few more I want to get. More of the brighter yellows and greens. I’ve been waiting on a 24K torch from an LFS that I traded my Red Sea Max E-170 setup to but at this point I think I got scammed and not getting it… so will be on the lookout for one lol
Still a few more I want to get. More of the brighter yellows and greens. I’ve been waiting on a 24K torch from an LFS that I traded my Red Sea Max E-170 setup to but at this point I think I got scammed and not getting it… so will be on the lookout for one lolAttachments
Mr. Seahorse
Supporting Member
I love torches but their too much for my budget.
MarcosD
Supporting Member
This tank has been doing very good. Ugly phase hasn’t happened… hoping transferring all the rock did the trick *knock on wood*
I came to a realization when I set up the Nicrew 200W Gen 2 lights on my 90 gallon that is in the same room next to this tank. I can’t get the spectrums to match and it bothers me. I can’t control the LEDs besides White/Blue on the Gen 1 like I can on the Gen 2 so I can’t recreate the Gen 2 spectrum look. Sooo I’m going to get two 100W Gen 2 lights for this tank. The 150W are overkill for this tank anyways, I’m only running 30%B and 5-10%W. I have other plans for those Gen 1 lights… to be announced soon lol
I came to a realization when I set up the Nicrew 200W Gen 2 lights on my 90 gallon that is in the same room next to this tank. I can’t get the spectrums to match and it bothers me. I can’t control the LEDs besides White/Blue on the Gen 1 like I can on the Gen 2 so I can’t recreate the Gen 2 spectrum look. Sooo I’m going to get two 100W Gen 2 lights for this tank. The 150W are overkill for this tank anyways, I’m only running 30%B and 5-10%W. I have other plans for those Gen 1 lights… to be announced soon lol
MarcosD
Supporting Member
Frag tank is FULL. Need to start moving things over to my display but I’m always scared transferring coral lol. Last time I just YOLOd it and moved everything over. I need to get some supplemental light bars to help light around the edges since I keep coral there. I’ve noticed the torches around the edges have colored down some. I can’t increase the PAR in the edges without the center being really high. Maybe if I raised my light fixtures more… Also I hate how the LEDs show up on the surface so I’m getting new lights for this tank anyways
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Mr. Seahorse
Supporting Member
Your tank looks awesome!
For tank transfers, if the receiving tank is good and stable with the same type of corals already in it then I find no issue just moving things straight over as long as parameters are in the same range as the tank the coral is coming from.
If that is true then the only issue doing a big transfer at one time is having to guess your alkalinity dosage increase and hope you get in the ball park and fine tune from there at the same time also decreasing alkalinity dosage on the tank that just had all the coral removed (the latter isn't as much of a big deal as you can decrease as it goes).
If the receiving tank hasn't had the type of coral you want to transfer over long term then I'd start with transferring only 1 or 2 of each type and also make sure the ones you choose are the ones you are least attached too and give it 3-4 weeks to see how they do before transferring more valuable ones over.
Sound logic, swaping 70% of my hammers from main tank to 65 gallon was dreadful. Only glad I didn't gamble and add my nicer ones. They have been back in my main tank for going on 2 months. I lost two more hammers this week alone that were once in the 65gallon.
You really would do well to do test hammers and torches before moving in mass.
I gave my test ones 2 weeks apparently that wasn't long enough for the test. Cause they started going down hill a the 4 week poinr (after the 2 week test period I added the bulk of my hammers)
From my experience, 4 weeks is the typical turning point for corals in a new system. I used to always have a lot of loss when QTing corals by batches and setting up a new tank every time I got a batch in. It's due to this that I decided to just run a full time dedicated fishless QT system.
MarcosD
Supporting Member
I took the Inkbird with the two 200W Eheim Jager heaters out and switched to Innovative Marine Helio PTC Smart Reef Aquarium Heaters (200 Watt - [2 x 100W])
I really like the small form factor on these guys. I have dual 200W heaters on my 90 and they’ve been doing a good job. Only thing I miss is being able to monitor the temp from my phone through the Inkbird app, but I’ll be able to do that when I set up my Hydros.
So far I was running without Powerheads and relying on the RFG’s. I do notice some spots on the racks building up with algae (cyano?) from the low flow. It’s very easy to blow away with a turkey baster. I added a Nero 3 that I had laying around to cover the two racks on the right side. I need to get another powerhead for the left side. I’ve been eying one of those Jebao SOW wavemakers, if I don’t end up going with another Nero 3. I like that I can lower the flow down to 1% on the Nero 3, which I’m currently running it at. Hoping that’s enough to keep algae from building up.
I really like the small form factor on these guys. I have dual 200W heaters on my 90 and they’ve been doing a good job. Only thing I miss is being able to monitor the temp from my phone through the Inkbird app, but I’ll be able to do that when I set up my Hydros.
So far I was running without Powerheads and relying on the RFG’s. I do notice some spots on the racks building up with algae (cyano?) from the low flow. It’s very easy to blow away with a turkey baster. I added a Nero 3 that I had laying around to cover the two racks on the right side. I need to get another powerhead for the left side. I’ve been eying one of those Jebao SOW wavemakers, if I don’t end up going with another Nero 3. I like that I can lower the flow down to 1% on the Nero 3, which I’m currently running it at. Hoping that’s enough to keep algae from building up.
requiem
Supporting Member
suffering from success with all those torchesTorch racks getting full