Mossjer's 65 gal build/help me thread

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mossjer

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Flash back 8 months ago, I had to take down my previous tank a 20 something all in one cube that I had running for 8ish years due to a well intentioned 5 year old niece who decided Nemo looked hungry, needless to say he wasn't that hungry and it was not pretty. I was a bit disheartened and decided to get rid of the tank instead of setting it back up.Forward to?October of 2016; we decided to move after living in the same house for 13+ years. So what to do with the awkward formal dining area at the new house? I kept saying fish tank and the wife kept saying no. I finally wore her down.So I purchased a Planet Aquariums 65 Crystaline setup. Not as big as I wanted to go but all that she would green light.View attachment 491This pic is from day 1 fresh water testing.I love the tank, the build is perfect.
 
I added rock and water a few days later after getting it set where we wanted it to be. This picture is after the water had been flowing for a week or so.View attachment 493I am still working on the scape even now.? Let the cycle begin!!!? I believe the raw shrimp was still in the tank at this point.
 
A few more weeks went by and it appeared the cycle had come and gone. I added in a refugium section in the sump and started growing some chaeto.All was going well and had some diatoms going so I added the cleanup crew. They made quick work of the rocks and sandbed.Added a couple of friends a few days later.View attachment 494View attachment 495????
 
So here is what I am currently running:Reef Octopus 110 INT SkimmerReef Octopus Waste Collector with Auto ShutoffAquaMaxx Carbon reactorJust added a Reef Octopus Varios 2 return pump last night.Lighting for right now is a Current USA Pro unit. (This will be upgraded)??
 
Carrying over a help thread I have going. Thank you jenkinscrew and integra3g.I came home Monday night to a cloudy tank and one of the cardinals looking pretty rough. I set up a hospital tank for him and put him in after it came up to temp. He seems to be doing fine now. I believe the other cardinal is being an a**hole to him. He's still in there now.The skimmer had shut off because it had gone crazy for some reason and filled the collection cup. The ATO made up for it with RO water but it didn't effect the salinity very much. The other 2 fish appear to be doing fine. I changed out a couple of gallons of water because after setting up the emergency room for the other fish that's all I had left.Last night I did a 10 gallon water change and cleaned out the sump and skimmer. I tried to get the skimmer dialed in for quite a while last night because I had taken it apart. I'm not at that set it and forget point with the skimmer yet. The lights were out by the time I got done so I don't really know how much effect the cleaning had. I left home before lights on this morning but it was still a bit cloudy from what I could tell.We may have come to conclusion on the other thread that I have had a bacterial bloom that is causing the issue. It sounds about right to me but I have never had this issue before. Anyone have any other opinions? Again thank you to jenkinscrew and integra.? All water parameters are normal at this point.
 
This post is taken from the other thread I have going. Makes sense to me.From integra3g:Bacterial blooms are common in tanks with low nutrient levels and low bio load. ?It takes time to build up and even more time when starting with low nutrient live rock. ?I wish I had taken pictures of my tank when it looked like it was full of milk and then when it had a slimy snot bacterial bloom that would clog my float values for my ATO! ?Just give it time to settle out and don't add anything new. ?Keep up your regular feeding and water changes schedule and things will balance out. ?Next to come will be a brown algae and/or cyano bloom. ?All of this is normal, but doesn't happen to everyone.A very true statement I have seen or heard around here... ?You can set up 5 tanks in your house at the same time and all 5 will do something different! ?My 100g I had years ago was completely different than my 400g and everything is a great leaning experience. ?I am thankful for sites like these that help get the information out there so I can spend less time freaking out and more time understanding what is going on. ?Be patient and try no to rush things.
 
Looking good! Hopefully the bloom will pass soon. Definitely make changes slowly and be patient :) Can't wait so see everything progress. Are you doing fish only for this tank or will you be doing coral later too?
 
I will have coral eventually, I have a ways to go before I venture in that direction though. I like the softies more than anything.? I would like that large piece of tonga branch I have in there to be covered in zoas or something. I think that would look pretty cool. No mushrooms for me this time around though. I fought those things for almost a year in my old tank. LOL
 
I hear that :) I think you have a great plan and that will definitely look cool! I am not doing mushrooms either, the ones in my frag tank will be leaving soon and not going in the main display. At least you already have some experience with this, that definitely helps. Can't wait to watch the progress. Let us know if you need anything!
 
The tank is looking a bit better tonight water clarity wise but I have a nice layer of diatoms on the sand. I'm just going to let it ride for now and keep everything stable.
 
I'm having hell getting my skimmer dialed in. I'll think I have it set and go away for 20 min to come back with my waist collector full and the skimmer shut off. I have it at the suggested depth and I make very small adjustments to get it where I think it should be and BAM overflow. If I run it too low all it does is fill the neck up with gunk and nothing goes in the cup.Anyone have experience with Reef Octopus 110 skimmers?
 
How long has it been online in your sump??Does the water level in that sump chamber fluctuate at all or always constant?I haven't ever used a reef octopus, just the Bubble Magus and now use the NYOS. Maybe someone with experience will chime in.?Here is a vid, not sure if it will help much:https://youtu.be/lZagasqscTQ?
 
It's been online about 3 weeks. So maybe it's just really not broken in yet. And I took it out and cleaned it the other day. No real scrubbing just rinsed out the sand dust that was in the bottom. I watched that video last night and did some searching and reading on it. I adjusted the level to just where the skimmer cup goes in the body and left it there. They suggest to let it run there for a while and then adjust. So we will see what happens over the next few days.?I'm trying?to figure out something. The manufacturer suggest running it in 7-7.9 in of water. and then they say make sure the outlet is not submersed. Now?the outlet?is not submersed completely it's about half in half out. I'm running it at 7.5 in. ?I could raise it a little but the outlet will still be partially under water. They need to make up their minds. Or explain it better, LOL
 
Imagine that, I finally found Coral Vue's installation video.Why not put this on the reef octopus site?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2lt0FvovwkThey say in the video to run in 6-8 inches of water. So I may raise it up a bit.Just weird that it was working fine for the last week.
 
That is definitely what I would do is raise it and let it sit for a bit. It will eventually go up once you have a good bio-load going.Nice spot to watch your tank! :)
 
I also have a Reef Octopus and had the same problem. ?I would set it and over night it would go nuts. ?Never really found out why, but the trick for me was to set it a bit lower than I would normally. ?You shouldn't be producing too much with the low nutrients you have, so I wouldn't worry about setting it a little low for now.Looks good in that room!
 
Posted by: jenkinscrew?That is definitely what I would do is raise it and let it sit for a bit. It will eventually go up once you have a good bio-load going.Nice spot to watch your tank! :-)? ? said:
I started reading through your 100 gal thread yesterday. Most of the pictures aren't there but the ones that are, are great. That is some nice work you did on refinishing the stand.
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Posted by: integra3g?I also have a Reef Octopus and had the same problem. ?I would set it and over night it would go nuts. ?Never really found out why said:
That's what I'm planning on doing. Like I said earlier, I never had a sump to deal with before or larger skimmer so I'm learning.? It's amazing how much different it is running more that 20 something gallons of water in your system. I feel like a complete newbie.? LOLThanks again for all of your help.
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