My 150 gallon build journey

[nanoguy]

Looks like you had great success with this tank. Neglect will be punished in this hobby, but I am still curious what you did or did not not do in those few months which have led to the crash, if you are willing to share this for lessons learned?

If I was a betting man, I would bet it was my sustained low alkalinity that probably started the STN. My colonies at the time were really taking off with growth...like a massive growth spurt. I had to adjust my reactor every week or two to keep up with demand. I kept my alk around 9-9.5. By the time I got to tending to the tank my alk was sitting @ around 3. My CO2 tank was empty too. Another possible factor was the sudden spike in alk. I probably bumped it up too fast trying to get it back to my regular levels. I did 10% weekly/bi-weekly water changes. That might also be a small contributing factor?

 

[nanoguy]

Thank you for updating this thread. I wouldn’t have seen the beautiful work you did with your stand otherwise. I plan to build my own soon and this gave me some ideas. I see you used automotive primer in a can to prime. Do you remember what you used for your final coat? Is it normal paint or some special automotive paint? Are the panels just plywood cut to size?

I started with Dupli-Color primer and paint that I picked up from O'Reilly's. I like the automotive primer because it's sandable. The Dupli-Color cans atomizes very fine and lays down very smooth, but there is a downside to this. First, the cans are not cheap. Second, it's very difficult to lay down outdoors with even the slightest breeze...you will get tiger striping. I ultimately ended up using Krylon All in one for my color coat. It lays down more heavy and it's relatively cost friendly. I did sand between coats after full cure.

 

[nanoguy]

Your skills will be missed

I'm not leaving the hobby...just downsizing to simplify my life. I had an old Elos 70 sitting around for years that I turned into an AIO. I will be doing a quick and dirty build thread on that soon.

 

[nanoguy]

Wow! you had some great SPS growth. I wish could have seen it in person.
@nanoguy I see another tank in the background. Are you going to keep that one running?

Hey Doc...that tank in the background is a modified IM 25 lagoon and was plumbed to my 150's sump. That tank also came down with the 150.

 

[scuba71]

@nanoguy what type of anemone did you have there in the tank?

 

[nanoguy]

@nanoguy what type of anemone did you have there in the tank?

It's a Colorado Sunburst. My anemones along with my bounce mushrooms and jaw breakers were the only items left from my system.