MAD REEF DIARY

[erikharrison]

As some of you know I am going to try something that alot of people wont. An sps dominated aggressive reef. I think it can be pulled off if I plan it all out right, and with minimal invasion. My plans mainly are concerned with filtration. First off let me say that everyone says HIATT and SPS = no no. I was thinking about running a HIATT on a timer, for maybe fifteen minutes a day. I will have a heavily stocked tank as well, and here is where it gets tricky. For nutrient export I will be having a custom sump built into my stand. That's right, permanent. I need it to be as large as possible due to the excessive amount of macro algae that I will need. Ok, here's the specs.
My tank is going to be a mere 75g.
My filtration is going to be a DIY filstar xp3 Hiatt as well as my monster fuge/sump which will encompass almost the entire interior of the stand.
Skimmer is going to be an octopus rated at 300g.
I plan on having a deep sandbed both in the tank, and in the sump for two reasons, one is to help with the bioload, the other is to help raise the floor of the tank closer to the MHs that I plan to run (250w hqi or 400w se) so I get enough PAR. Not enough is known on the whole HIATT stuff, except for the fact that alot of people have told me that they wouldn't use it on an sps tank at all. I feel that if it is used to a lesser degree, I should be alright. Thoughts/Comments/Rants gladly accepted. I will be going through with this, so please be creative, and don't just throw the idea out. THINK HARD AND REPLY!

[erikharrison]

a lionfish, some blue tangs (2), a striped burrfish (doesn't nip at anything), a yellow spotted boxfish, and I am open to suggestions on this. I want SUPER exotic fish, but they can't be ones that get too big. Also to whomever posts, please keep in mind where these fish are predominantly in the tank.

[DaBird47]

Hi Erik, I have been thinking along the same lines, large skimmer and Filstar on a short timer, and a sump/'fuge, still considering...I'm going up to a 150 or 210g so I'll be watching your thread, I think the Hiatt is a great product and it SHOULD work at SOME level but risking/killing a lot of SPS to prove a new theory is expensive (not to mention the corals) I'm not ready to experiment quite yet...but am very interested in watching your thread...keep us info'ed...post pic's....

[erikharrison]

I wont be shoving sps in, it will be completely gradual. I am hoping to find a happy medium. There is alot to account for in the ol' sps department. One thing that is been on my mind is growth of fish and sps and the effects of this. I will not outgrow my bioload fish wise, but I am concerned about the HIATT becoming overbearing at some point, even if slowed. Reason being, once the bioload gets large, as the fish grow, the HIATT may have to be on less which could increase my levels. The other part is that once the sps grows out, how much less will I be running the Hiatt, and keep a happy medium. ITS A BRAIN STRAINER! I love challenges, and that is why I think this will keep my interest. If all else fails I could do one heck of a FOWLR!

[Ram_Puppy]

guys,

As far as I know HIATT's are just massive (surface area) aerobic filter beds.

if you only run the filter for 15 minutes a day, the bacteria will consume all the o2 in there and become anerobic in a short time.

i think the better option would be to just scale the hiatt back and run it under powered.

Oh, and snake has some trace mineral blocks on his site that are supposed to replace trace mineral that the hiatt strips out of your water, I have asked mark and richard to order some.

I think PH rocks are important too, as I am currently running w/ a depressed pH and there is no good reason for it, other than carbonic acid coming off the hiatt.

[captexas]

Well one thing I noticed with your fish list is that aggressive fish don't necessarily mean they are bad for keeping a reef/SPS tank. I think most aggressive fish are deemed bad for reef tanks simply because they usually eat snails, crabs, shrimp, other inverts, and smaller fish. There are a lot of other fish that are not considered aggressive fish that are bad for reef/SPS tanks because they actually eat corals. I would love to have a big tank with angels and butterflies, but the majority of them are not considered reef safe as they love to dine on the corals we like to keep. They are better for FOWLR tanks.

[erikharrison]

Oh, and snake has some trace mineral blocks on his site that are supposed to replace trace mineral that the hiatt strips out of your water, I have asked mark and richard to order some.

and who is this snake character? Capt is more referring to fish that will put off alot of poo.

[Ram_Puppy]

snake is the guy who invented the HIATT.

[erikharrison]

sweet. good info. I appreciate it!

[Bill S]

I echo the above about switching the Hiatt on and off. Wouldn't do that. Also keep in mind that I ran into some other issues. Nitrates were starting to creep up, and phosphates were totally depleted. I was ADDING phosphates to the water. Also the Hiatt REALLY works best with massive aeration. Aeration = salt creep and salt spray.

As I said to you, I'd seriously consider running a massive fuge outside, where you can export nutrients. You might also consider massive regular water changes. Salt isn't that expensive... You can change 50 gallons a week for $15 a week.

[erikharrison]

Is that to balance everything back out? Will that put back stuff that the HIATT has stripped? As far as aertation, If I made the Filstar diy, I am sure I could find a way to run an air hose into it, so even while it's not being used, there will still be plenty of aeration.?.?.? I really want a clean looking setup as well, aesthetics are everything to my little girlfriend, so I am trying to be as innovative as possible. The sump will be really large for a 75g, around 55g, and it will be totally enclosed into the stand as well. Water changes I could stand to do, but I am leaning away from doing more than "the norm". Maybe less product in the Filstar will help lessen this load? or running a t with a valve that could be adjusted to put the flow in and out of the filstar into the sump, in a special cornered off area so it could be turned on and off that way?

[Ram_Puppy]

personally, I think the best thing that could be done for a HIATT as far as aeration goes, is to put it inline before a wet/dry so the water litterally just runs over a tun of open surface area before being recycled into the tank.

if it performs as it should, i.e. just absolutely strips everything out of the wate that is 'bad' then there should be no reason for the wetdry to be a nitrate factory.

Elements Provided (in ppm or mg/L)
The Blox dissolve only to replace depleted elements. Obligatory Buffers supply elements at the same concentrations found in the sea. These include calcium, strontium, and all trace elements.
Aluminum 0.01
Molybdenum 0.01
Boron 4.6
Nickel 0.002
Calcium 400.00
Selenium 0.004
Chromium 0.00005
Silicon 3.0
Cobalt 0.0005
Silver 0.0003
Copper 0.003
Strontium 8.0
Fluorine 1.3
Tin 0.003
Iodine 0.06
Vanadium 0.002
Iron 0.01
Zinc 0.014
Manganese 0.002


now, if I remember correctly, these blocks are buffered and if you don't do water changes on schedule, i.e. your lazy, then you have the possibility of getting your KH out of whack and causing a KH precipitation storm... (not sure if i got the terms right on that) anyhow, I would only use them in a small tank and only even still if you keep up w/ your water changes.

oh, and a filstar is a cannister filter... for the application you are considering, you might just want to do a single small torpedo and have it packed more w/ ph rocks than it is w/ carbon... just a thought.

[erikharrison]

oh, and a filstar is a cannister filter... for the application you are considering, you might just want to do a single small torpedo and have it packed more w/ ph rocks than it is w/ carbon... just a thought.

would this aid in less being stripped? Bill had three torpedos on a 215, do you think using a torpedo would be overkill? How often in comparison do the ph rocks need to be replaced compared to the carbon? Also does CB carry all of this stuff in stock? What are the prices like for the torpedos?

[erikharrison]

also, i was wanting to know if the DIY with the seperate "sump" if you will, would work.

[sharkboy]

I was wondering what type of flow you were considering since you will have a deep sand bed in the display...significant flow is usually required for most sps....how do you avoid a sand storm?

[erikharrison]

closed loop, and little surface area of sandbed visible in the tank.

[erikharrison]

Alrighty, I have some of my fish list to update...
2 BIG Yellow Tangs that I just bought from Barry (thank you for the great price, hospitality, and holding them for us.)
1 Snowflake Eel (again thx Barry) 20"
1 Striped Burrfish
1 Yellow Spotted Boxfish

This list is open and I would like some ideas for some aggressive, ticked off fish with a bigger chip on their shoulder than I have ;) :P

[erikharrison]

Ok, so I am contemplating a large display fuge with a sump in the base of the stand. I am planning on using my 47 gallon column, which has the same footprint as the 37 cube, just taller. 20x20x30?

It will sit about even height wise with my display, and I was thinking about a room divider. The back portion of the canopy is open, so I was going to put the fuge on that side of it. Any ideas on how I should plumb this?

[Texreefer]

how about a clown or picasso trigger to stir things up,,

[erikharrison]

here's what it should look like, but I need to know some advice on plumbing, I thought about siphon tubing them, but IDK if it would work.

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/1729/tanksqk2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[erikharrison]

bump, give me some ideas!

[Ram_Puppy]

Australian Harlequin Tusks are gorgeous...

I am betting a fu manchu lionfish would be comfy in there as well, since he's not ultra spiny like a volitans or radiata, I bet the burrfish would leave him alone (just a guess)

maybe a bannana wrasse? dont know if that would be con-specific to the harlequin.

[erikharrison]

The burrfish doesn't really mess with any fish, at least it never messed with our volitan. Assuming that I want to use my 47 gallon in the setup like shown above, how would I plumb it? The 47 is the column in the pic.

[Texreefer]

just use a couple of bulkheads with 90 degree elbows into display

[Ram_Puppy]

so is the 47 going to be the fuge?

I am actually not sure I understand your diagram, the darker blue aquarium is the display tank?

[Ram_Puppy]

erik, what are the dimensions on that 47?

I am sure it is too big, but when I built my 120 cube I had 1 design in mind, and then my wife changed it, but it was to late, the sump had been built.. the problem was in the current design it takes up everything under the stand leaving no place for pumps...

I am wondering though if it might fit under your setup... it's if i remember right, a 26" x 26" sump...

it will probably need to go under a 300 gallon system.

[erikharrison]

so is the 47 going to be the fuge?

yes, the one on the right. I was thinking of this.... The overflow from the diplay will run into the sump below the display. the return pump will pump into the fuge, and the overflow from the fuge will overflow directly into the display. That way I only need 1 return pump, and using a mag5 the flow should be slow enough for the fuge while the overflow from the fuge just dumps the water back into the display... Pros cons?

[Ram_Puppy]

i don't think you can have two tanks overflowing into one another, they will simply reach an equilibrium right? one of them has to have a higher water level than the other, since water seeks its own level, the higher will flow to the lower...

maybe I am just not understanding. :)

[Ram_Puppy]

oh, and look above your last post, i think i snuck one in on ya.

[erikharrison]

the fuge is taller than the display, so gravity should feed it. I am going to convert my proclear 75g wet/dry to a full on sump possibly. What sump would fit under mine? If I read correctly your old one?

[Bill S]

Erik,

A couple of issues. The single biggest issue with sumps/fuges is that the sump has the capacity to hold ALL of the overflow water when the power goes out. My 55 has a fuge at the same level as my tank - I have a "U" going to the fuge, and I pump back into the tank thru my BakPak skimmer. Seems to work fine. Not great, but fine. I've contemplated changing this, but the tank looks so good!

I kind of like the idea of the fuge being separate from your sump. You can pump either from the sump or the tank to the fuge, have the fuge slightly higher than the tank, and drill the fuge near the top to overflow to the main display.

[Ram_Puppy]

to clarify, the sump should be able to hold the volume of water that will drain from your tank AND SUMP in the event of a power outage, which essentially means, down to where your overflows or drilled holes are... if that's 10 gallons, your sump should be able to hold that 10 gallons.

as for my sump fitting, I am not sure.. you would need to take measurements on your stand and see, I am betting not, but if the big tank is a cube, it might... but I seriously doubt it... again, its a 26" cube, about the only thing I can see this sump realistically fitting under is a large brick.

[erikharrison]

yeah, if both overflows are right next to the top, the sump should contain any overflow. I (Louis) will be building a bigger one once I get more funds. The sump is on the lower side of new things to buy as I can use what I have for now.

[Ram_Puppy]

i am really going to follow your progress closely on this erik, because you have me thinking about doing a predatory reef on the 120 when I get a house.

[erikharrison]

Sweet. I think in the display fuge I am going to build a three sided column, with the back and top open, made out of foam to contain my macro algae, that way it is less visible, and keep my "sweet fish" in there. I think the 47 is definitely large enough to help by holding a mass amount of chaeto. The only bad thing is I found out that we HAVE TO move to a second floor apt, but these apartments are BRAND new, and expensive, so they should be able to hold the weight just fine. That is now my main concern, but the apartment lady told me that people have had very large fish tanks on their third floor with no issues. I would just like her to define "large" lol. People come and see my tank and they're like "WOW THAT'S BIG" and I just chuckle and tell them about you guys on here. This will probably be coming off the outside load bearing wall as an island, which should cross either three or four floor supports. We will have renter's insurance! ;)

[Ram_Puppy]

erik, the only problem I had w/ my 120 on a second floor whas when the system screwed up and caused an overflow (every time it was in some way related to the auto top of or RO filter).

all I have to say is make sure your renters insurance covers water damage and carry a lot ot it.

weight wise, dont worry, my apartments were built in 2000 and they are pretty sterner stuff, floors are light weight concrete usually. just make sure your next to a load bearing wall w/ the tank and it will be good.

please remember that some 'sweet' fish will eat what you may not want them to in a fuge.. though I suppose pod production is not your goal, you you probably just need to keep the algevores down

[erikharrison]

Yeah, I will not be doing the auto topoff thing, I have read about a ton of disasters. Our sweet fish are two clowns, two mandarins, a midas blenny, and a bicolor blenny. Sweet is a good word for them! I am going to feed the excess chaeto to my tangs, so I should be good there. I guess using this strategy, I will be saving some major cash, lol, on the frontside that is! I would like to hope that my mandarins will have a ton of pods to eat, as of right now I am using no macro. I had some macro before, and I bought some "pods in a can" from Live Aquaria, which after the tank crashed, I had none left! Talk about some mandarin training! I trained the male to eat bloodworms, and he pretty much taught the female once we got her. The first one, we didn't know that they ate pods or anything and that was when I realized just how much research goes into an aquarium. I really hope this turns out awesome, especially with my biggie sized fuge, and as always comments and criticisms are welcome!

[Ram_Puppy]

well since my pod culture crashed i am trying hard to get my mandarin trained to other foods but he is being a stubborn little fella... night time lighting still shows a substantial pod population still though... so crossing fingers.

[erikharrison]

I got my 75 gallon installed fully, water added, and fish in it! I know everyone is all about their RO/DI, but I use tap water, I did over a 50% water change because from my 47 I used the water to put into my 75, so the extra had to be made. Made it on the spot, Prime(d) it, salted it, poured it, and added the fish. Everything is on the up and up! I also hung my 250 watter in there, which is going to need some adjustment, due to lighting uneveness.

Question: I have my MH in the canopy, the back of which is open. If I lay egg-crate down ontop of the tank (for an eel) will it melt? It has MAYBE six inches, and it's an HQI mini pendant (PFO).

I have 0 sand in there as of yet. I am going to use that stuff from Home Depot. Jeremy (Urban79) has used it in his tank, so for a couple of dollars, its well worth it!

The tank is Cliff's old one, which he sold to Thelma, and I bought from her! Shows you how things get around on here! The stand and canopy were custom built by Pete (heard his name around here before) and they look GREAT. I will post some pictures later on tonight!

[Ram_Puppy]

i think you'll be fine on the egg crate as long as the halide is not on it.

Eggcrate does cut your light though, so maybe you should use eggcrate to seal the back of the canopy, rather than the top of the tank.

[erikharrison]

Eggcrate does cut your light though, so maybe you should use eggcrate to seal the back of the canopy, rather than the top of the tank.

I thought about that as well. That will probably be what I will do. Any ideas on adding sand without clouding the entire tank? The sand will be washed repeatedly!