UPDATE! Bill's "new" 215/mikeyboy's old 215!

[Bill S]

I KNOW everyone want's to know what's going on with this tank, so here it is:

Here's where I am/what I have:
215 Oceanic Brick
1200w MH (3x400, double ended, 10K)
2-VHO Actinics
2x1200 gph closed loop system
40 gallon sump - Ace made the sump/fuge before I decided to do this, and I set up the sump anyway - sorry Ace...
2400gph pump in the sump, supplying water to the tank. Tank drains by means of a calfo at one end
About 3/4" of recycled sand - it's been sitting on my deck for about 2 months in a big tub. Just rinsed and added. There is a little bit of brown diatom growth in the corners you can see.


Friday March 17th, PM, added 200 lbs rock - most was Tonga Branch. Straight out of the shipping box from Walt Smith into a bucket where it was brush cleaned and then put into the tank. I have an 80lb rock I purchased from mikeyboy that goes in once the tank is up and working - it has some "stuff" on it.

By Saturday, the tank STINKS.

Tuesday, tank readings: NH3/NH4: All I can say is the tube was GREEN
Nitrate: Over 20ppm - probably 25-30 (chart goes from 20-40)

Tuesday evening, I add one Torpedo (about 12 lbs of Tribase Carbon that I got from Richard at CB Pets - the SNAKE OIL) into one of the 1200 gph closed loops. Richard says I need 2 more, but Snake is out of stock.

Thursday, tank readings: NH3/NH4: 0.50ppm
Nitrate: <10ppm

Friday: Same as above.

Saturday: Day 8 (after adding rock):
NH3/NH4: 0.25-0.50ppm (down a little from yesterday)
Nitrate: ~10ppm (maybe up a bit from yesterday)

Here are some pics of the setup. I'm running the lights about 8 hours a day, and the green you see is a handful of chaeto I threw in, just for the heck of it.

Stink is gone & water is gin clear - of course, one would expect that with 12lbs of carbon!

I'll keep everyone updated! Here are some pix!

[Bill S]

Here's a closeup of the "torpedo".

One of the things that intrigues me: If NOTHING ELSE WORKS, with a "torpedo", a bottle of his starter bacteria and a pump, could one have a "crash cart" for use in the case of a tank crash? What a great item for MAAST to have for emergency use.

[NaCl_H2O]

Looks great Bill, keep up posted on the "Snake Oil" :) Actually, I am very interested - discussed it with Mark a great deal last weekend.

[Fin-Addict]

Lookin good, Bill! Love that tonga!

[Bill S]

Yes, Felipe, it looks GREAT!

[Ross]

Glad those holes made it ok....

[Bill S]

Yeah Ross THANKS for all of your hard work. I hope FELIPE PAID YOU WELL! (hint, hint)

[Bill S]

OK, here's the update:

Day 14 (live rock), Day 10 (Carbon Torpedo)

We have about 300 hermits & snails, doing very well. Also, a secret occupant, doing awsome (richard).

Ammonia: 0 and has been 0 for over a week
Nitrates: >10 (from 25)
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 360
NO WATER CHANGES FROM DAY 1

Diatoms are calming down, cleanup crew is helping.

Here's 2 pics from tonight.

[Ross]

Lookin good!

[hobogato]

coming along nicely bill. sorry you wasted your money on the fuge :roll you could probably sell it for what you paid in the FS forum.

[Bill S]

I thought about that Ace, but I'm keeping it for now - I'm just not completely sold on this technology yet!

[Marlin]

Great looking tank Bill. Keep us posted on how the Hiatt system works for you. I saw Richard's set ups and I was impressed with them. I'm waiting to see how they work out in the long run before converting.

[skylab1]

We have about 300 hermits & snails, doing very well. Also, a secret occupant, doing awsome (richard).


Bill,

what is the secret occupant? I don't see it anywhere in the pics, where is hiding?

Now that reef.org locked one of my thread I have come here to see your tank update.

[Bill S]

OK, Richard said I could post these pix...

These guys have been in my tank since day 10 (after putting 150lbs of uncured rock in the tank), day 6 after hooking up the carbon. They are doing GREAT. Not particularly pretty, but doing well.

Day 20:
Ammonia: Zero
Nitrates: <5ppm

[Richard]

:o How dare you risk that frag by putting it in the tank so quick! I am shocked you would try such a thing. I would never do anything like that :innocent


Hopefully he colors up for you. I THINK that is either a green digi or was a pink one before for we had some troubles and they all became ultra rare Superman Mocha frags :lol .

[TheOtherGuy]

Yes! Extremely Rare! Ultra Rare Superman Expresso Mocha (with whip - double whip) Mocha Frags! Make mine a Venti. These things go for at least $100 per inch.

[hammondegge]

Bill, i just got hold of an Oceanic 200gal, and i will want to reconfigure the cross-brace. can you tell me how that one is braced? any suggestions? and do you know if they used any tempered glass?
robert

[hobogato]

bill's tank is a brick, so no crossbrace on the top. he also found out that the bottom of his was tempered glass. you should be able to call oceanic with the nmbers on the ID tag and they will tell you what pieces are tempered.

[hammondegge]

is there perimeter bracing or none at all? the 200 i got is 3/4 inch glass and 7' long. does it need bracing? currently there is about a foot of 3/4" in the center and i am thinking of splitting that to put bracing on thirds.

[hobogato]

not sure, my 8' 240 (not oceanic, glass cages) has two 4" crossbraces that divide it into thirds, but is is also eurobraced by 4" wide strips of glass all the way around top and bottom. you may have to call oceanic on those questions.

[hammondegge]

thanks ace

[Bill S]

My brick has no bracing at all, and is 3/4". As noted above, call oceanic. They get these questions all day long.

[Bill S]

Day 25
NO water changes since set up.
Ammonia: zero
Nitrates: 10ppm
Phosphates: zero

The "Rock" is IN!

Here are some photos:

[Bill S]

Day 46?

Added 2 more torpedos on Sunday.
Ammonia: Zero
Nitrate: Less than 5
Calcium: 320 - so I just started dosing Kalk. Have a Ca Reactor, but haven't set it up yet. Not sure how?
Phosphate: Undetectable

When I added the torpedos, the Kent skimmer went from about 2 oz of wet skimmate to ZERO. Can't even get any foam at all.

Here are some pix

[Bill S]

A few more

[LoneStar]

Looking good so far. What lights are you using?

[Richard]

Bill

We need to actually measure the output of the flow through the torpedo's. I can't see how the returns from your closed loops are plumbed so I don't know how easy it will be on your setup. Seems like you should have undetectable nitrates by now since you have the other torpedos. Are all the torpedos plumbed to one pump?

I can't this week but maybe the end of next week I can swing by and we can try to measure the flow rate. Also I can bring my DO meter and we can make sure your O2 is at least above 7 ppm.

Another good way to tell if you have good enough flow and your DO is high enough is when you backflush the torpedo's. If the junk that comes out is just brown or gray like regular detritus then you know the flow or DO isn't high enough and your getting some anaerobic conditions in the torpedo's. If it's working correctly the RN bacteria should break any detritus down as far as is possible so the gunk coming out will always be pretty much pitch black. Think of humus or compost type color, really dark.

[Bill S]

They are connected to a 1200 gph pump, on a closed loop. The problem with measuring the flow is that the returns are at the BOTTOM of the tank. However, since they are 45 degree angled elbows, we can probably slip a piece of pvd into them. I'm here much of the day - and can move my schedule around to fit yours. I work out of the house.

When I flushed, I really didn't get anything. When I say the nitrates are less than 5 - that means my Aquarium Pharm test kit can't tell the difference!

Lighting is VHO actinic and 2 400W MH. I HAD 2 more ballasts, but I had to send them back to Coralvue for repair. Bulbs MAY need to be replaced - they are DE but were supposed to be about 6 months old when I got them.

[sharkboy]

It looks great! Are you planning on placing something to cover the backwall? You did say it is in your master bedroom???

[Bill S]

No cover on the back wall - I noticed that I didn't CLEAN the back glass before pictures were taken! The camera tends to show the bedroom a bit more than you see it in person. There ARE blinds on the front, in case we need privacy. But, our kids are away in college and we've changed the locks!

[LoneStar]

Are the blinds for you or the fish?!? :lol

[Bill S]

I keep forgetting to update this thead. I'm out of town, so I'll post some new pix this weekend.

In any case, about 3 weeks ago I added the 2 additional Hiatt torpedoes that I had on order with CB. This tank is doing AWESOME. Except for this ongoing case if Ich, it's just doing great:

Nitrates, NH3 and Phosphate are all at or near zero (undetectible). My Alk is WHERE IT BELONGS (Seachem ADMITTED that they had some reagent problems, and that I was getting 1/2 of the correct value for alkalinity). My Ca is still low, but now that I know my Alk is ok, this should take care of itself.

Coraline is starting to take hold. My 4 RTBA are doing unbelieveably well. - more than doubled in size. Most of the SPS has HUGE extension. The "rare mocha SPS" frag that I got from Richard is now about doubled in about 6 weeks! The blue SPS frag that I got from mikeyboy has grown 50% in the last 5 or 6 weeks.

Due to the ongoing Ich problem (now only the Achilles seems to not be able to get rid of it), I've been feeding 4 or 5 times a day, and all seems to be able to keep up with it. Like I said above, I'll post some pix this weekend.

[Richard]

Thanks for the update Bill.

For the ich, you might try increasing the feeding frequency up to 10-12x per day. Lots of small frequent feedings, and vary the diet alot. Nice thing with the hiatt method is you would really have a hard time overfeeding the tank.

[Bill S]

Here's an update picture. Looking good!