Mike's 260g Rimless Starphire Build

M

Mike M

It is FINALLY time to start a new thread in this forum! I'll be placing the build deposit later today [smilie=smile.gif] .

Tank dimensions will be 84.5" x 30" x 24" with dual overflows offset about 1 foot from the edge of the tank. 3/4" Starphire on the front and sides, regular 3/4" glass on the back as this will be against a wall or, if we move, it will go in wall. PVC bottom with an additional 1/2" glass on the bottom for bracing and support. No trim on the bottom either. Drains will be 1.5" in each overflow with 1" returns. Black silicone for the seams and black vinyl backing. This will basically be a massive Solana [smilie=clapping.gif]

The stand will also be custom made out of oak and then painted black. The edges of the stand will be completely flush with the sides of the tank Elos style. There will be no visible hinges and I am looking into just having removable panels as opposed to doors to minimize the number of seams.

Lighting will be 5 AI Vega Colors using 5 of their EXT supports bolted to the back of the stand. The EXT mounts are on order and should be here in a couple of weeks. I have also pre-ordered the Vega Color lights and will pre-order their new controller once it is available.

Return pumps will be dual Mag 12s. I decided on the Mags as they are cost effective workhorses and the heat doesn't bother me as I'll be running all LEDs anyway. I will also have a pair of 300w heaters in addition to the Mag 12's [smilie=wink.gif]

There will also be a battery back-up system for the pumps that I will DIY using some marine deep cycle batteries. Right now, I'm thinking about 4 of them but I will have to see how things go.

I've been upgrading my existing 70 gallon with an eye toward this build so a lot of the equipment will transfer over including:

Apex with dual EB-8's and dual socket expansion module to run a JBJ chiller. I haven't decided if the chiller will be in-line or have their own dedicated pump just yet. I will need to have a couple of end tables build to match the stand to house the chiller with a speaker grill mesh screen over the front to allow for airflow and to hide the chiller. The other end table will house the battery back-up system.

The Apex also has an I/O breakout box that is used to connect backup switches for my ATO. The ATO is a JBJ tied to an aqualifter pump. Once I get the stand and can measure things out, I'll have Marc build a custom ATO container that will hold 10 days worth of top-off water.

Other than that, the Apex is pretty standard with a base module and VDM that is running my AI Sol Super Blues. I'll sell off some of the AI Super Blues and VDM once the new tank is up and running with livestock transferred over.

Supplementation will be via standard 2-part solution and a Bubble Magus auto doser that I already have as well. I'll be getting with Marc to make some custom containers for the 2-part solution (5 gallons each on Alk and Ca and 2.5 gallons on Mg).

I also have a pair of Vortech MP-40W-ES pumps that will make the move over. I'll figure out and add extra pumps once the aquascaping is done so I'll have a better idea of where I need more flow. I'm thinking about trying out some Tunze pumps to work with the Vortech pumps . . . and I've been itching to use those variable speed ports on the Apex for something!

I'll also need to get with Marc on a sump that will house a large refugium section. I am a firm believer in using macro for phosphate control and other goodness. I'll be starting with a TS-300 skimmer powered by a Mag 18 until I decide what I ultimately want for a skimmer. The skimmer should have no issues handling the bioload from the 70 gallon transfer as it is rated for 300 gallons. I really want to do my research before committing to a Charybdis Super Kraken 5000 in the 20 gigawatt range. The sump will be speced out to account for a very large skimmer footprint.

I'll be getting new special grade Caribsea sand for the substrate and do not plan on running a DSB unless it is in the sump. If I go with a DSB in the sump, I want the area holding the sand to be modular. Think acrylic boxes that are open at the top and replaceable so that if the sand needs to be changed, I can just lift up a cube and swap out a section at a time with new sand and not worry about releasing trapped nastiness that could nuke the system.

Finally, the rock work. I've got about 270lbs of rock from tank breakdowns. Some was live, some dry and dead, and some in a funkified decaying state. I have some Marco Rock mortar and a 3/4" masonry drill bit that I'll use to pre-form structures that I want. There will a lot of open space in the rockwork with some Iwagumi inspired elements to the layout. My next few posts will detail the preparation for the rock work.

One other note on the pumps. I like redundancy and backups. The nice thing about the Mag 12s and Mag 18 are that they use the same motor block and just have different impellers. I'll keep a spare 12 around as my mixing pump regardless but any of the pumps can be re-tasked at anytime to either the skimmer, returns, or for mixing saltwater. Plus I can go with smaller heaters [smilie=wink.gif]
 
Preparing the rockwork for this tank actually started in mid-June when I started to get stuff from tank breakdowns. I've learned that I want to cure all my rock and ensure it is pest free to give me a good start. I really don't want to have to deal with bubble algae, aiptasia, majanos, etc. I've also read up enough about phosphate leaching from Pukani and other types of rock. I didn't want to start off with a phosphate battle that could last for months. I ended up using rock from existing tanks which can be roughly sorted into 3 categories:

1. Live Rock
2. Dead Rock that dried out
3. Funky Rock (I invented this one to describe rock that recently came out of a tank and dried out)

Regardless of the type of rock, the goal is to remove as much phosphate that can leach out as possible. The live rock has received Lanthanum Chloride treatments to precipitate out phosphate that leaches into the water. The other two types of rock got a full chlorine bath, muriatic acid bath, and is now going through Lanthanum Chloride treatments.

I wanted an idea of how much phosphate was really coming out of the rocks so I started each type of rock in a saltwater bath. I picked-up some rubbermaid containers and also a pair of 40 gallon breeders from the Petco $1 sale for curing and preparing all the rock. I'll try to document everything in case someone else wants to go through the same prep process.

Here's what the phosphate levels read for each type of rock according to a Hanna Checker:

1. Live Rock = 0.15 ppm - 0.43 ppm depending on the batch
2. Dead Rock = 0.45 ppm
3. Funky Rock = 0.35 ppm (after bleach and acid wash!!!)

Dead Rock and Funky Rock were treated the same way. Here's a sample batch:

[attachment=2]01 Rock.JPG[/attachment]

And after the bleach bath of 1 gallon of bleach per 20 gallons or so of water and a good rinsing and drying out:

[attachment=1]02 post bleach.JPG[/attachment]

Next, a muriatic acid bath to remove organics and strip away some of the rock. This is nasty stuff so research and use the proper precautions or the acid can cause blindness among other things. Also do this outside and stay away from the fumes! Make sure you have removed all the bleach, rinsed well, and dried the rock out. HCL and Chlorine mix are bad juju. Blide has some good pictures of proper safety equipment. No comment on what I ended up using for "safety" equipment.

[attachment=0]03 Acid bath.JPG[/attachment]
 
More acid bath nastiness:

[attachment=2]04 Acid bath.JPG[/attachment]

I used a 1/2 gallon of acid at a time until it stopped fizzing, added more, and repeated the process until there was little to no fizzing. I then dumped a bunch of baking soda in to neutralize any remaining acid and then washed each rock off in a baking soda laden tub to be sure. Here it is after all the acid washing. Note how porous and open it is. I still had to hose off a layer of organics from the surface. Also, as you can see from the phosphate readings in the above post, the newly exposed surfaces still leach phosphate.

[attachment=1]05 post acid bath.JPG[/attachment]

Next up, Lanthanum Chloride. I used this to treat my Live Rock and my cleaned Dead Rock and Formerly Funky Rock. I love this stuff. It is the same stuff they sell for "instant phosphate removal" purposes. You can get it a LOT cheaper at the pool supply store. Just look for SeaKlear or for PhosFree. Don't get the PhosFree+ as that apparently has other additives. Bonus: If you have a pool this stuff is awesome! There are dosing instructions based on your phosphate level. I used the SWAG method and just added some every morning for a couple of weeks as I am not doing this in-tank so I could care less about over dosing it and reducing Alk levels. Here's what it looks like as it is working:

[attachment=0]09 LC Bath.JPG[/attachment]
 
A note on Lanthanum Chloride that I came across while researching this method of phosphate reduction. The stuff disassociates into Lanthanum and Chloride in water (if I'm describing the chemistry correctly) and the Lanthanum then bonds with Phosphate or Carbonate precipitating out. The particles are very fine and, some users have said fine filter feeders like clams react poorly to the precipitate. A hermit crab hid in one of the pieces of live rock. Keep in mind this little guy made it through all the LC baths so I'm guessing my live rock is still live if he could survive this process.

You want to remove the precipitate from the system otherwise the phosphate stays in and is just bound to the Lanthanum. I suppose in an acidic region there is a chance it could unbind and go back into your water column. So, I wanted to remove all the precipitate that I could after the bathing process. 5 micron filter socks are what people have been using so I did a couple of rinses:

[attachment=2]06 Filter Sock.JPG[/attachment]

First, I used the existing saltwater bath to rinse by attaching a filter sponge to my mag pump and then secured the filter sock around the filter sponge. Water entering the mag pump would be filtered before being used to rinse the rock. Here's what one of the filter socks and remaining water looked like:

[attachment=1]07 LC Cleanup.JPG[/attachment]

This was nasty enough that I did the process a second time.

So what happened to the phosphate levels after all of this madness? The live rock, after soaking for 48 hours in saltwater, only released enough phosphate to bring the levels down to 0.05 ppm! I can live with that. There might be other algae and stuff dying off that will release more so I've added a ball of grape caulerpa to the live rock batch and a fuge light. I figured the macro will use up the phosphate. I am dropping a little food into this rock tank to keep the bacteria fed and our little buddy the hermit crab that went through the LC baths.

The bleached and acid washed rock is sitting in the LC bath right now and has been seeded with some live rock. I'll give it a week or two and do the same rinse procedure. In the meantime, here we have a batch of rock, waiting on the new tank:

[attachment=0]08 LR Curing.JPG[/attachment]
 
Thanks Heath!

Quarantine System:

I want to minimize the chances of getting pests. Hence, I plan on using one of the 40b's as a dedicated QT system. I'll be setting up like a normal reef with a sand bed, leftover Live Rock, and take my existing skimmer and HOB fuge growing for filtration. That should allow it to run properly with minimal maintenance as long as check-up on Ca, Alk, and Mg levels every now and then. I'll run lights when I need to which should cut down on the amount of coraline algae that would suck up Ca and Alk. For lighting, I plan on using one of my existing AI Sol units so that it can be used to also help acclimate new corals to LED lights. The plan is to let things sit in QT for a full six weeks before introduction into the main tank.

I also will not be transferring over any of my existing LR as I want to run it through the same rock treatment process described above (bleach, acid, LC) so that it can start over fresh unless someone ends up taking it when I break down the 70.

I'm sure I forgot something in all my posts above and will add to this thread as things come along . . . now I need to run off to the bank . . . [smilie=smile.gif]
 
I would get that caulerpa out of your rock unless you never want to use that rock in your tank. It will put roots down in the rock and you'll be picking it out of your display forever. Put it in a float basket or use Cheatomorpha instead.

Love the documentation thus far.
 
Thanks guys! Please keep the suggestions coming. I will look into the ATB pumps and will get that Caulerpa isolated. I had just figured the tangs would eat it all up but hadn't though about roots and runners spreading everywhere.
 
Minor Update: Household power distribution is now done.

The tank will be going into our formal living room where there is a floor outlet and no GFCI outlets to be found. First I checked the breaker box to see what the whole circuit is rated for and to determine what that circuit feeds. The circuit is a 15A and feeds all the outlets in the formal living room and the recessed lighting in the ceiling. After running the numbers, 15A is more than enough even with voltage sag. If I wanted to upgrade to a 20A circuit I would need to run new romex as the current wiring is only 14 awg and would not support a 20A breaker. What I may do is sub out the 15A standard breaker for high magnetic or delayed trip breaker should the new chiller require more start-up power than is available.

All wall outlets near the tank (3 total) are now GFCI outlets. This is overkill and redundant to a degree as GFCI's down the chain (load outlets) are already protected by the first GFCI in the chain. I see no harm in doing this and the cost of a GFCI outlet is minimal so I went ahead and did them all if they were close to the tank

The floor outlet was a little more of a pain. First, a standard GFCI outlet will not fit into the box. Considering I'll have about 300+ gallons close by, I wanted to something about the floor outlet. I ended up removing the old outlet, tying up the wires with some wire nuts, and then picked up a wet environment (outdoor) cover with gasket. Here's the old floor outlet with the cover and gasket installed:

[attachment=1]IMG_0185.JPG[/attachment]

Next, I went around and silicone sealed the rest of the box and anything other gaps I could find:

[attachment=0]IMG_0186.JPG[/attachment]

So now the floor outlet is gone, sealed, and double GFCI protected as well. I've also picked up a grounding plug that will go into the sump. I think this should take care of the household power distribution and shock protection for this build. [smilie=smile.gif]
 
Another quick update on the rock cooking and curing process:

The funky rock that I bleached and acid washed still read 0.35 ppm for phosphates after that process so I was beginning to question whether it did any good other than to remove layers of rock. After one week of LC treatment, the phosphates in a new batch of water with the rock after sitting overnight only read 0.06 ppm. So, the bleach and acid wash did remove a lot of stuff and made for a shorter LC treatment. I also noticed the water from the LC bath was not nearly as nasty as with the other rock.

My conclusion is that the bleach and acid wash do remove a lot of organics although some new surfaces with bound phosphate will be exposed. Those new surfaces will not leach as long so only a one week LC bath was needed as opposed to 2-3 weeks with rock that was not bleached and acid washed.
 
Finally time for a worthwhile update! My AI EXT mounting system came in on Thursday. I was out of the office so I was able to get them yesterday. The tank mounts are very solid, much more so than I expected, and the rails are also very sturdy. It all looks to be anodized aluminum. Very clean look and no screws will be visible from the top of the mounts. The rails will also be able to hide the one power cord coming off of each fixture. If I had full access to the back of the tank, I probably would have speced out dry boxes for the Vortech dry sides so that not a single wire would be visible.

AI doesn't have a lot of pictures of the EXT on their site so I've included some below:
[attachment=2]IMG_0359.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=1]IMG_0358.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=0]IMG_0360.JPG[/attachment]
 
I also picked-up a 1/3 hp JBJ chiller yesterday from a member who is breaking down their tank. I got it cheap as a project because it is blowing fuses about once a week but the compressor and fan work fine and it did not appear to have any leaks. So, I worked on it a little bit today and started with the power cord that was patched up.

How not to repair a power cord (this is how it was fixed before):

[attachment=2]IMG_0363.JPG[/attachment]

And now with a new plug properly installed:

[attachment=1]IMG_0364.JPG[/attachment]

My guess is that the patched cord may have contributed to higher current draw due to increased resistance. Some line voltage sag plus the cord may have been enough to where it would pop the fuse every now and then. The pump it was powered with may also be too small given the specs on the chiller so this guy will get plumbed in-line with a Mag 12 or 18 return. If it keeps popping fuses after my little refurbishment I may order the newer style detachable cord and fuse system from JBJ and give that a try.

I went ahead and broke the chiller down to inspect the rest of it as well as part of my cleaning and refurbishment process. No leaks or salt creep so that was good. The coil looked pretty clean (I've bought ones that were completely covered up) but I went ahead an cleaned it off with a steel brush and compressed air. A lot of dust came off of it. I am also backflushing it with a diluted vinegar mix to remove any deposits from inside the unit as well. The plumbing that came with the chiller had a lot of buildup on it so I'm going to let it backflush overnight.

Taking the chiller apart for this maintenance and inspection was pretty easy. As you can see from the picture below, there are just two molex type connectors to the front panel. They can only go in one way so you can't mess it up putting it back together.

[attachment=0]IMG_0365.JPG[/attachment]
 
I also have been working on some of my aquascaping. I have some structures in mind that I wanted to build and I did not want to deal with rock slides anymore. One of the tools I am using is the Marco Rock mortar to cement pieces together. I had read you can work with live rock and wet rock but it really works a lot better when the rock is dry IME. If I were to do this again, I would have built any structures that require mortar before the curing process as the rocks used now have to go through all that again.

Other than that, the Marco Rocks mortar is great! Mixes quickly and easily and cures super fast. Below are pics of my "centerpiece" formation. I still need to use some mortar on the bottom to give it a flat base and will mount it to a cutting board for additional support to counter the weight of anything hanging off the far end. I know people use sand to make it look more natural or the same type of rock to get a consistent look but I figure it will be covered up in corals and coraline soon enough. [smilie=smile.gif] The entire structure is probably about 30" long from end to end:

[attachment=2]IMG_0369.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=1]IMG_0370.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=0]IMG_0371.JPG[/attachment]
 
Had to order a new power cord for the chiller. It ended up blowing a fuse that got stuck in the fuse holder . . . hopefully the new cord and fuse assembly will take care of the chiller issues.

On a more positive note, I got a few preliminary tank pics! Trying to finalize the stand design so that may be the hold-up as the tank looks pretty near complete!

[attachment=2]Tank 1.jpeg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]Tank 2.jpeg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]Tank 3.jpeg[/attachment]
 
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