Rebirth - 58g RR Oceanic

[Rborgia]

On 11-10-2005 I started this thread: 58 Gal Log This was my first tank log.

Today is a new day!

I lost my reef about a year and change after setting it up. I was pretty disheartened and frustrated beyond belief (and really POed). Today the reef is reborn!

(Oh, and I hope a new thread to track my progress isn't a problem)

Some specs:

58 Gallon Oceanic Reef Ready Tank
Oceanic Stand
20 Gallon All Glass Tank for Sump
Glass Baffles for sump
MRC MR1 Beckett Skimmer
Air Water Ice Typhoon III - 5 Stage RO/DI
2 - Mag 9.5 (Return /skimmer)
2 - Seio 820 (Circulation) (considering dropping these for a Vortech MP20)
Phosban 150 Reactor cylinder
MJ1200 Powerhead (feed for Cylinder)
PFO (may they RIP) DE MH pendant 250w w/ Phoenix 250w 14K bulb.
IceCap 250w Ballast
35"x17" Black cutting board
Black Background (may change to blue)
Pacific Coast Imports CL280 Chiller
CPR Refug - Large
DSB - CaribSea (1 fine 40#, 1 med 40#, 1 Arag-Alive 20#)

The last shot of the tank prior to everything failing:

And just an FYI... I either purchased (frag swap or personal visit), or was given every single piece of coral in this image, from someone here at MR.

 

[Rborgia]

Over the past week I've spent a lot of time cleaning all my hardware to get it back into shape.

Last night and today I spent some time reconnecting all the plumbing and filling the tank with tap water to start leak testing everything. The leak test has gone well! She is up and running a little over an hour, and no issues.

How she started out 5 years ago... stil in the same place, same stand, nothing has changed.

This is the sump/skimmer as i was runnning before: (it will remain the same).

 

[Keith P]

Good luck on round 2. Can't wait to see updated pics!

 

[albano]

... still in the same place, same stand, nothing has changed.

3 years sitting EMPTY in the living room! Did anyone notice? Did anyone pick up the shoes in the hall? :joke: BEST of LUCK with the COMEBACK!

 

[dubs]

good luck with round 2

 

[Rborgia]

Update:

Tank has been running just a few hours shy of 24 hours. No leaks, everything is looking good.

I am planning on having the majorty of what I need for the next steps, by wed. evening... Plan to empty the tank on Thur. and start filling it up with RO/DI water.

I have to do some additional work on the RO/DI unit. I purchased a SpectraPure Auto shutoff controller from Reef Exotics a few years ago, and never installed it. I need to do this, as my wife was never really pleased with coming home and finding I forgot I was filling a 5 gal bucket, a few hours prior... something about 10 gallons of water in a five gallon bucket. So... Gotta get this controller installed.

 

[Awibrandy]

I love these cube tanks.

How far is the tank from the fire place?

 

[pdnyc69]

Update:

Tank has been running just a few hours shy of 24 hours. No leaks, everything is looking good.

I am planning on having the majorty of what I need for the next steps, by wed. evening... Plan to empty the tank on Thur. and start filling it up with RO/DI water.

I have to do some additional work on the RO/DI unit. I purchased a SpectraPure Auto shutoff controller from Reef Exotics a few years ago, and never installed it. I need to do this, as my wife was never really pleased with coming home and finding I forgot I was filling a 5 gal bucket, a few hours prior... something about 10 gallons of water in a five gallon bucket. So... Gotta get this controller installed.

had the same problem except 60 gallons in a 34 gallon bucket.
plaster....paint. next floor. plaster paint. now i fill everything in my shower

 

[Rborgia]

I love these cube tanks.

How far is the tank from the fire place?

The tank is probably about a foot from the fireplace. not to worry though! If you look closely at the image, the fireplace is filled with a rack of about 10 candles.

We wont be using the fireplace any time soon. We have been in the house for about 12 years... never used it once. The one time I considered it, I couldnt open the flue pipe. The previous owners had someone come in and "resurface" the inside, and they cemented over the flue cord, virtually locking it closed.

 

[masterswimmer]

Hey RB, not sure how I missed your re-birth thread.

Looks really nice. Can't wait to see it cycling and maturing. I'll be following along.

Russ

 

[Keith P]

more pics!

 

[Rborgia]

I emptied the tank today, in preparation of filling it with RO/DI saltwater... I went to Jim/Russ (Saltwater Critters) to get the filters for my RO/DI unit, and salt (plus a few other things)... and forgot to get the RO membrane, and salt! bah! hour drive there, hour back... pull into the driveway and think... DUH no salt!

I blame Jim!

Well... I will hopefully have a new RO membrane in a day or two. At which point I can start filling the tank. I have a spare bag of salt already, so I will take another trip to Jims and pickup the new salt.

I did go and buy two 32gal garbage cans for spare water.

 

[masterswimmer]

I emptied the tank today, in preparation of filling it with RO/DI saltwater... I went to Jim/Russ (Saltwater Critters) to get the filters for my RO/DI unit, and salt (plus a few other things)... and forgot to get the RO membrane, and salt! bah! hour drive there, hour back... pull into the driveway and think... DUH no salt!

Russ :fishhit: Jim :smash: Rich

Well... I will hopefully have a new RO membrane in a day or two. At which point I can start filling the tank. I have a spare bag of salt already, so I will take another trip to Jims and pickup the new salt.

I did go and buy two 32gal garbage cans for spare water.

I agree blame Jim

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Its all Jims fault

 

[Rborgia]

All in good fun Jim, no worries!

Well, I also picked up some Sand yesterday... 100 pounds. I previously had a bare bottom, which made keeping the tank clean a piece of cake (junk all went to the same spot). But a very wise man asked me... "did you ever see a part of the ocean without sand?" so... its time to try it!

I'm also considering removing the Seios that I have and getting a single Vortech MP20.

 

[masterswimmer]

I'm also considering removing the Seios that I have and getting a single Vortech MP20.

MP40w is my recommendation :scratchch

Russ

 

[Rborgia]

MP40w is my recommendation :scratchch

Russ

ughhhh.... I need to figure out if I want a new skimmer... kind of split between two right now. I can't be worried about wireless devices, thats what I deal with every day for work... I want to plug something in, press a few buttons, turn a knob, and sit on the sofa and enjoy! I'm not a fan of wireless devices.

So I need/want a new skimmer, something a little more energy efficient. I'm leaning towards :

SWC Xtreme 120 Cone Protein Skimmer
or
Vertex IN-80 Internal Pinwheel Protein Skimmer

 

[Rborgia]

Sand, rock and water went into the tank on Saturday evening.

as expected, things were a little cloudy. Sunday afternoon most of the sedement died down and things have cleared up nicely. I will post a couple pics later when I turn the light on for a little while... I still need to do some rock work, I'm not totally happy with the layout.

I am currently using my MRC MR1 skimmer for the cycle. but still want a different skimmer.

 

[Rborgia]

Well, it has been just over three weeks. All readings are looking good. I ordered my clean-up crew:

40 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
12 Nassarius
12 Florida Ceriths
9 Blue Legs
4 Large Nerite and 7 Small to medium Nerites

Due to some bad timing and LIRR signal issues, I ended up missing my delivery time. So the crew spent an extra night in the local post office. I picked them up today and acclimated them according to the instructions provided by reefcleaners.org (which is where I purchased them). Within, at most, 5 minutes... the majorty of them were up and moving around. Crabs immediately went to work on the abundance of algae which is now growing in the tank. Snails took a bit to find what they were looking for... most seemed interested in "b"-lining right to the waters edge at the to of the tank, they then turned around and came back down. I do think I have some die off... I'm going to give the bunch that aren't moving till later tonight, and then remove them if they are still sitting there.

Full Tank Shot:


Lazy or dead... time will tell:



Sunday at the swap I will be picking up a VorTech MP40w, and removing the two Seios which I currently have. I am also awaiting the release of a new model of the Reef Octopus skimmer (XP-1000SSS)... Should be next month. Once I have the new skimmer installed and functioning properly, I will then begin to bug people for some frags. The new skimmer is smaller than my MRC MR1 which I am currently using, and it is also uses much less power and should be much quieter. The Vortech will use much less power than the two Seios as well... So now... when I get to the swap and I win the LCD lighting... I will be much more efficient.

ohh... the day before yesterday my water became very cloudy all of a sudden. I noticed my skiller was pulling a fine, powderly like substance from the water... was a little concerned, since the clean-up crew was on the way. I pulled the skimmer apart and cleaned it out, replaced the filter sock and as of this morning... everything looks good again. I was a bit concerned by this one, and still not sure what caused it. I was thinking I stired it up when I was cleaning the glass and hit the sandbed, not sure though.

 

[rookie07]

Oh Boy, thats purdy!
More pics please