A.J.'s 125 gallon reef

[fishman1069]

You may not know what your doing when it comes to keeping livestock alive but that light is coming along nicely. Good job on the LED fixture!!!

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

Thanks for the compliment but idk y everyones yelling at my for coral dying I was told by many pet shops that coral doesn't add any bio load at all and I got almost everything the day before I did hypo. So I really had no coice either because it came from about 3 hours away and I didn't want all the fish to die so I did hypo and put it in a tank because again they told me it doesn't add any bioload. And I only have 4 fish In the 125 and it has fully cured live rock and everything and the ammonia never went up since the very little increase during the cycle and I waited a month to even get a fish that cost more then $10 the only big losses I had were a naso tang and powder brown because of the ich which I'm getting rid of now and I'm taking all the coral deaths as an opportunity to fix everything in the tank to support them and during this hypo salinity vie been buying so much equipment for coral too like the lights and a refugium and a new skimmer and a tunze wave box. And I'm bringing down my phosphates which are low right now I'm just bringing them as far down as I can go and stabilizing everything then seeding the refugium with copepods and I have a Hang on back refugium that I completely filled with sand for a deep sand bed and someone before said something about the seahorses well yes I want seahorses nut I'm not that stupid to put them in any time soon so I just want to set up the tank and plumb it into the 125 and start growing sea grass and put like a 4 or higher sand bed in that tank and just get everything ready before I get anything else. Ive learned from my mistakes and everyone just keeps telling ke the same thing which is to stop adding livestock but I haven't added anything for the past month a I don't plan to for a couple more months.

You may not know what your doing when it comes to keeping livestock alive but that light is coming along nicely. Good job on the LED fixture!!!

 

[fishman1069]

Ok relax, Im pretty sure everyone is just bustin your chops! lol I know its rough but its the way things go when you listen to LFS advice. I understand your not adding livestock anymore but you keep throwing posts up about getting new stuff! Its good that your tryin to fix the problems now and its also good that you are learning from your mistakes but you have to stop taking advice from the wrong sources=LFS and listen to the people that have made the mistakes already like many of the experienced people on this forum. Im only 2 years into reefs but if it wasnt for good people on this forum and another forum that I frequent, my tank would've cost me 3x the cash to setup and everything would be dead by now and I would've given up on the hobby!

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

oh well to start off i raised the temp to 60 degrees in the house and i have good news. at least half of the coral i thought was dead is still alive. the heater was like stuck or something and would only turn on if the water was below 68 degrees in the coral tank so i fixed that and raised it to about 75 and i saw the stuff start to open. its just the sps that are completely dead. and the bad news is that i checked my phosphates in my main tank and they look a little high its like in between 0ppm and the 1 above it im not sure the exact number. but i want to get some gfo and i know exactly how its high too but i have the fix for that already. the tank has only 1 koralia powerhead so i see a bunch of stuff all over the floor and rocks and theres not enough flow to kick it up so im getting a wavebox this week and that should keep the phosphates from going up. oh and when i raised the temp to 60 i saw the tank go up to 68 so its increasing it will just take time.

Ok relax, Im pretty sure everyone is just bustin your chops! lol I know its rough but its the way things go when you listen to LFS advice. I understand your not adding livestock anymore but you keep throwing posts up about getting new stuff! Its good that your tryin to fix the problems now and its also good that you are learning from your mistakes but you have to stop taking advice from the wrong sources=LFS and listen to the people that have made the mistakes already like many of the experienced people on this forum. Im only 2 years into reefs but if it wasnt for good people on this forum and another forum that I frequent, my tank would've cost me 3x the cash to setup and everything would be dead by now and I would've given up on the hobby!

 

[WidebodyFish]

good luck with that build. But please write down all the info on your LED build. How much each item cost and where you got it from. I would like to start my LED build. My fixture will be 72 inches. I just need to know what size bulbs or cree or degree i need.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

ok i just edited the led post will all the info

good luck with that build. But please write down all the info on your LED build. How much each item cost and where you got it from. I would like to start my LED build. My fixture will be 72 inches. I just need to know what size bulbs or cree or degree i need.

 

[reefs4life]

nice led build but interesting...I didn't know that you could build on a piece of sheet metal instead of a heat sink. Are you sure that's a good idea?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

ive heard of people doing it and saying you dont even need fans if its a a sheet but im putting fans just in case and i plan to put more fans inside the canopy when i build it.

nice led build but interesting...I didn't know that you could build on a piece of sheet metal instead of a heat sink. Are you sure that's a good idea?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

ok well finally some good news. today i glued down all the leds with arctic alumina thermal adhesive and i want to thank ryangrieder for sending me some free heaters to fix the heating problem. and some more good news. in the coral tank i thought everything was dead but today i started to see the red hornets opening up and some other zoas opening but some i know are completely dead like the captain america paly and the purple hornets but others i have some hope for. and i am getting a tunze wavebox sunday but might try to trade it for an mp40 if i dont really like it because my phosphates are building up with everything settling on the floor so im going to have to run some gfo for a while then the tunze or mp40 will keep that from happening again. so i hope im going in the right direction now and dont have to hear everyone saying i dont know what im doing and i should just quit like in my other threads.

 

[pauliwalnuts]

Nice. All they need now is some loving.

 

[ryangrieder]

Hey buddy. I been reading a lot of your thread now, and half are closed and most start fights. So, if you don't mind, im going to tell you flat out what i think and ill be 100% honest, might seem harsh at some parts, but sorry, thats just how I am and im just trying to help. Remember, its only my opinion. I may be wrong, and if i am, anyone else can gladly butt in...

First, your tank size is good. Should be a rr but thats ok. Your light you have, not so good, but your building a pretty advanced led fixture. Good luck with it. Make sure everything is correct. If you have any questions, ask Ming or someone who did the diy led presentation at the fall swap. They did a great job and know a lot. Any questions, ask them.
Your sump...not so good. actually bad. Do your self a favor, if you don't want to buy a real sump, make a REAL sump, not a rubber made container. It's very easy and most people on here have done it, so check out theirs. Pick up a 30g and make it. I have made all of mine. Get the tank and some baffles and start building.
I think I saw an reef octopus skimmer. They are good. I don't know which one you have though, hopefully it's large enough.
For your refugium, well, hang on refugiums are alright. I don't know what your talking about custom made for 200 bucks. You can get a name brand one for around 100-125 with a mini skimmer built in as well and the pump.
For your reactor...? I'm not sure if you said you had one, but I'd get one if you don't. Like the ZMR1 reactor at saltwater critters. fill it with a phosphate media or carbon.
For your heater...well... That is an issue. You said something about a 500w maxed out? What brand? Is it titanium? Well, I'm going to be honest with you, and again, this is MY opinion. The tank should be anywhere from 76-80. My tanks have ALWAYS been 79.5 exact. If it ever drops or raises, I fix it asap. But, like we discussed,i do have a few spare heaters that I will be sending you for free shortly to hopefully get that tank to a better temp. Remember, its not that the tank is any BETTER being in the temp range of what I said or anyone else has, it's more of that it's SAFER. Hopefully my few heaters will bring your temp up though. Even if you have to run 2-3 heater, just try to get it up.
As for your water... Few questions first before i can say my part. What are your current water pars.? All of them, mag, cal, ph, phos, trite, trate, all of them, and sal. Ay color in the water or particles floating around? Are you using ro water? If it's not all ro water, I bet thats the algae issue you have right there.
For your ick... Well honestly, that needs to be taken care of asap as well. You said all your corals died in your 10g? Well if so, take it all out, empty and clean it. Fill the tank up with water from your tank, bare bottom, get some pvc pipes in there for hiding, a small heater, a simple hang on filter, and a power head. Then put the fish slowly into that tank. After a day or two slowly add some seachem cupramine. Get a copper test kit, and make sure the levels are correct. Also test every day for your normal water pars. Within a week or two the ick should die off. While the fish are out, you should be doing some good water changed in the main tank and clean your sand out good. Honestly, its better if you wait a few weeks for your ick to naturally die in the tank as well. Or try dosing the tank with ick x or kick ick just for some extra killing power. Hopefully your ick will die off eventually and you don't have to deal with that anymore.
For your power heads...well I see your getting a tunze system. That's cool. I think you will like vortech better. But honestly... WHY ARE YOU WAISTING BIG MONEY ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT? Your having so many issues right now. Why dump money into flow? It should be going into better equipment like your filter situation or something. Even though flow is extremely important, why can't you just get a few hydors in there for now and upgrade them later? If your already getting the tunze then its too late obviously, but that was kind of a waist for now. Sorry.
As for your wiring...fix that s*** now before your house burns down because of that. ( maybe it won't though seeing your house is 38 f'in degrees! Lol jk) but honestly, do a loop style on your wiring, put your power strips higher so your wires go up, not down, so water is not pulled by gravity into your outlets and catch fire.
What do you dose? Anything? Just curious?

Now you have to realize something. I have read all your threads lately and you are getting bashed, a lot. A real lot. A real real REAL lot. Mainly because of all your mistakes. it's alright, we have all been there. Everyone makes mistakes and is not perfect. But honestly, you need to fix your issues asap. Everyone on this site is on here for three things, advice, give help, and talk fish. Were not hear to bash. But, if you do things to kill livestock, your going to get the horns. We all on this site love and respect the hobby, and do it because of its great outcomes and relaxation and experience to keep wonderful creatures in our homes. If you kill anything, your doing something wrong, and we are going to get upset and/or mad. Your killing something we love. We all treat our tank and fish like they are our own children. And it's great that you love the hobby too, but your young, not so experienced, and need a lot of help with it. No offense. Hey im only 22, and been reefing for 6-7 years now and I am no where near perfect and an expert. You honestly should have started with like a 29g bio cube or something that is basic and simple to run. Learn from your mistakes, and progress. But, again, it's too late for that now. So, don't take anything some say to heart. We are only mad because you are killing fish and coral and not progressing. If anything you are getting worse. Your building some crazy led fixture for dead corals and sick fish. Your buying expensive power heads when you have an ick infested tank and freezing cold water. I don't blame people for yelling at you. So, honestly, there is nothing else to do but hope and pray since I know your not going to quit the hobby, I really hope you end up fixing your mistakes and hopefully we can try to help you out as much as possible. Who knows, maybe one day we will all look back at this and be like "wow, remember what your tank use to look like!" and in the future have a real nice fully filled live stock tank. Hopefully after a few years you can be giving some advice to noobs.
So to finish, I hope you fix your mistakes, and i hope your tank gets better. If you post more things about death and mess up's you do, don't get mad that people are going to call you out on it. Start improving, and you will get compliments. Simple as that. And if everyone tells you to do something, id do it. If one person says one thing and some one says something else, then research their opinion and see if you feel its right for you...

Good luck...

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yes i am going in the right direction from everyones help here. so ill try to cover everything you said and my way to fix it. first off the size of the tank but not reef ready. this will cover a couple of problems i have. me and reefs4life are working out a day he can come over and do a bunch of stuff. so far we are going to drain a little more then half the tank and drill it and make it reef ready. then we are going to build a sump and refugium out of a 55 gallon tank and to do that we have to remove the center brace on the stand for it to fit. then were going to redo the plumbing with a manifold and then fix up the electric. and the refugium i said i bought for 200 was not the hang on back one. it was a real sump that goes underneath but it still didn't come in the mail and im not going to be using it anyway since were going to be building one now so ill probably just sell that. the skimmer is a sro xp 2000 rated for up to 180 gallons. right now its an overkill because it skims for a little then it cleans the water so much it cant even make foam anymore so when we add the big sump that should keep it working good. i have a phosban reactor with chemi pure elite in it but i plan to replace that with gfo. the heater is actually 2 glass heaters 1 300w and 1 200 w and they are hooked up to a reefkeeper to keep a stable temperature. the water... ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 0 phosphate is borderline 0 but ill explain why later on. im using ro/di water and no theres no color but im also using ozone. and no particles floating at all because of this amazing skimmer. it works too well. im currently doing hyposalinity in the main tank because i had ich and i want to completely get rid of it and start quarantining from now on. i have seachem copper and an api copper test kit. dont worry i separated all the coral and inverts from the hyposlinity tank. the reason i am wasting the money on the powerhead which is going to be a vortech after all, because stuff is settling all over the place and this is whats making my phosphates go up. theres just not enough flow so i am buying a tunze trying it then trading it for a vortech. and the total cost will be $280. and ive been reviving some of the coral so thats another good thing. but yea these are my plans to fix the current problems and hopefully steer towards the right direction.

Hey buddy. I been reading a lot of your thread now, and half are closed and most start fights. So, if you don't mind, im going to tell you flat out what i think and ill be 100% honest, might seem harsh at some parts, but sorry, thats just how I am and im just trying to help. Remember, its only my opinion. I may be wrong, and if i am, anyone else can gladly butt in...

First, your tank size is good. Should be a rr but thats ok. Your light you have, not so good, but your building a pretty advanced led fixture. Good luck with it. Make sure everything is correct. If you have any questions, ask Ming or someone who did the diy led presentation at the fall swap. They did a great job and know a lot. Any questions, ask them.
Your sump...not so good. actually bad. Do your self a favor, if you don't want to buy a real sump, make a REAL sump, not a rubber made container. It's very easy and most people on here have done it, so check out theirs. Pick up a 30g and make it. I have made all of mine. Get the tank and some baffles and start building.
I think I saw an reef octopus skimmer. They are good. I don't know which one you have though, hopefully it's large enough.
For your refugium, well, hang on refugiums are alright. I don't know what your talking about custom made for 200 bucks. You can get a name brand one for around 100-125 with a mini skimmer built in as well and the pump.
For your reactor...? I'm not sure if you said you had one, but I'd get one if you don't. Like the ZMR1 reactor at saltwater critters. fill it with a phosphate media or carbon.
For your heater...well... That is an issue. You said something about a 500w maxed out? What brand? Is it titanium? Well, I'm going to be honest with you, and again, this is MY opinion. The tank should be anywhere from 76-80. My tanks have ALWAYS been 79.5 exact. If it ever drops or raises, I fix it asap. But, like we discussed,i do have a few spare heaters that I will be sending you for free shortly to hopefully get that tank to a better temp. Remember, its not that the tank is any BETTER being in the temp range of what I said or anyone else has, it's more of that it's SAFER. Hopefully my few heaters will bring your temp up though. Even if you have to run 2-3 heater, just try to get it up.
As for your water... Few questions first before i can say my part. What are your current water pars.? All of them, mag, amm, ph, phos, trite, trate, all of them, and sal. Ay color in the water or particles floating around? Are you using ro water? If it's not all ro water, I bet thats the algae issue you have right there.
For your ick... Well honestly, that needs to be taken care of asap as well. You said all your corals died in your 10g? Well if so, take it all out, empty and clean it. Fill the tank up with water from your tank, bare bottom, get some pvc pipes in there for hiding, a small heater, a simple hang on filter, and a power head. Then put the fish slowly into that tank. After a day or two slowly add some sachem cupramine. Get a copper test kit, and make sure the levels are correct. Also test every day for your normal water pars. Within a week or two the ice should die off. While the fish are out, you should be doing some good water changed and in the main tank and clean your sand out good. Honestly, its better if you wait a few weeks for your ick to naturally die in the tank as well. Or try dosing the tank with ick x or kick ick just for some extra killing power. Hopefully your ick will die off eventually and you don't have to deal with that anymore.
For your power heads...well I see your getting a tunze system. That's cool. I think you will like vortech better. But honestly WHY ARE YOU WAISTING BIG MONEY ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT? Your having so many issues right now. Why dump money into flow? It should be going into better equipment like your filter situation or something. Even though flow is extremely important, why can't you just get a few hydors in there for now and upgrade them later? If your already getting the tunze then its too late obviously, but that was kind of a waist for now. Sorry.
As for your wiring...fix that s*** now before your house burns down because of that. ( maybe it won't though seeing your house is 38 f'in degrees! Lol jk) but honestly, do a loop style on your wiring, put your power strips higher so your wires go up, not down, so water is not pulled by gravity into your outlets and catch fire.
What do you dose? Anything? Just curious?

Now you have to realize something. I have read all your threads lately and you are getting bashed, a lot. A real lot. A real real REAL lot. Mainly because of all your mistakes. it's alright, we have all been there. Everyone makes mistakes and is not perfect. But honestly, you need to fix your issues asap. Everyone on this site is one here for three things, advice, give help, and talk fish. Were not hear to bash. But, if you do things to kill livestock, your going to get the horns. We all on this site love and respect the hobby, and do it because of its great outcomes and relaxation. If you kill anything, your doing something wrong, and we are going to get upset and/or mad. Your killing something we love. We all treat our tank and fish like they are our children. And it's great that you love the hobby too, but your young, not so experienced, and need a lot of help with it. No offense. You honestly should have started with like a 29g bio cube or something that is basic and simple to run. Learn from your mistakes, and progress. But, again, it's too late for that now. So, don't take anything some say to heart. We are only mad because you are killing fish and coral and not progressing. If anything you are getting worse. Your building some crazy led fixture for dead corals and sick fish. Your buying expensive power heads when you have an ick infested tank and cold water. I don't blame people yelling at you. So, honestly, there is nothing else to do but hope and pray since I know your not going to quit the hobby, I really hope you end up fixing your mistakes and hopefully we can try to help you out as much as possible. Who knows, maybe one day we will all look back at this and be like "wow, remember what your tank use to look like!" and in the future have a real nice fully filled live stock tank.
So to finish, I hope you fix your mistakes, and i hope your tank gets better. If you post more things about death and mess up's you do, don't get mad that people are going to call you out on it. Start improving, and you will get compliments.

Good luck...

 

[ryangrieder]

Well that sounds like you are off to a better start. Make sure its a diamond core drill bit and y our spraying it down with water. I'd hate to see the tank crack. And be careful too with only draining it half way. THere will be pressure still on the glass.

For the skimmer, that's not over kill. Your not skimming your tank too much. You can't honestly be skimming it too much. It does not work that way. Make sure it's running and set correctly. My buddy has a 135 with a 3 chamber skimmer rated up to 550-700 gallons. Even he runs that 4-5 days a week .

Hopefully after your big change, you tell us all that the tank is doing better.

And last quick thing, put those heaters right in the tank if you have not done so already.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

Yea I know about the diamond coated bit but I will try to drain the tank as much as possible without not letting the fish be able to swim. And I run the skimmer 24/7 and tomorrow ill put the heaters in the display tank.

Well that sounds like you are off to a better start. Make sure its a diamond core drill bit and y our spraying it down with water. I'd hate to see the tank crack. And be careful too with only draining it half way. THere will be pressure still on the glass.

For the skimmer, that's not over kill. Your not skimming your tank too much. You can't honestly be skimming it too much. It does not work that way. Make sure it's running and set correctly. My buddy has a 135 with a 3 chamber skimmer rated up to 550-700 gallons. Even he runs that 4-5 days a week .

Hopefully after your big change, you tell us all that the tank is doing better.

And last quick thing, put those heaters right in the tank if you have not done so already.

 

[reefs4life]

It's cool guys, I will help him out next Friday to get everything in order with his tank so no more bashing on him

 

[ryangrieder]

It's cool guys, I will help him out next Friday to get everything in order with his tank so no more bashing on him

Good man...

 

[reefs4life]

Good man...

I'm not gonna lie I was being harsh at first too but I probably live just 15 mins away from him so I offered to drill the tank, build his sump, possibly a manifold if he wants to do one and organize his electrical mess lol I wish someone did this with me when I started at his age but at the same time I didn't know about manhattan reefs till a good year or so after. Any one got other things in mind for me to touch up on once I'm there?

 

[ryangrieder]

I'm confident enough that you can do a better job fixing the mess. If I lived closer id help too but im a good 2 hrs maybe? Sorry. But good luck and thanks for stepping up. Everyone knows its hard being a noob. Hopefully after your visit everything goes uphill.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

im loving the vortech. im sure this will control my phosphates from now on. when i first turned it on it kicked up so much dirt it made the tank so cloudy i couldn't see all the way through the back. then the skimmer went crazy pulling out out the dirt and now the waters clear again and the rocks are cleaner. now i need to work on the sand bed. oh and i have a question so if anyone could answer that would be great. on the wetside half of it is like grilled and the other half is covered with plastic. which way is it supposed to face. up or down.

 

[Wes]

Plastic part up.