500 Gallon SPS Dominant Zeovit

[WayneLScott]

Hello,

My name is Wayne and I am new to RF but still young in the reefing game. After 8 months of studying (at least I thought I did) and research, on 1 Jun 2009 I started my first reef tank. It was 125 gallon fish only and I only acquired corals from other reefers tearing their tank down. That was one area I hadn't researched so I pretty much was unsuccessful.

So after studying a few more months about corals on 1 October 2010 I got a killer deal on a 225 gallon setup. This tank was more successful as I definitely didnt make the same mistakes as I did on the previous tank.

Fast forward to 16 November 2013, after 2 years of planning, and major ups and downs, I have my dream tank. Dimensions are 96" Lx48"Wx24"H. It is an acrylic tank made with 1 1/4" acrylic on all sides with 3/4" bottom. It is semi rimless as I have added bracing to prevent from bowing. The sump is 48"Lx28"Wx18"H and operates at about 50-55 gallons. Protein Skimmer is a Hurricone Cat3 from Corvue. I am also running two 3L Zeovit reactor with 2 liters of stones in each reactor. I am running a Next Reef SMR with active carbon. The videos are of the tank itself, the tank operating, and the equipment room. Sorry the videos are short but I was anxious after accomplishing this task. If you care to read my build I have it here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2066256

The aquascape:

http://youtu.be/3X4ya_jdY78

The tank in operation:

http://youtu.be/kXnOUm0JzLc

Behind the scenes:

http://youtu.be/GBguZkM692g

Hope you enjoy. Hope everone had a Merry Christmas and wishing each and everyone a Happy New Year.:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

 

[tike]

Very nice set up Wayne! I remember seeing this set up on RC. Good to see it up and running, doing wonderful! Welcome to RF!!

 

[WayneLScott]

Very nice set up Wayne! I remember seeing this set up on RC. Good to see it up and running, doing wonderful! Welcome to RF!!

Thanks tike. Can't wait for things to settle so I can add more corals.

 

[suzannemay]

Wow Lovely! Nice job.

 

[WayneLScott]

Wow Lovely! Nice job.

Thanks suzanne. Your tank build looks great itself.

 

[WayneLScott]

Happy New Year everyone. Update on the tank.

Well I had a minor major setback. I will take responsibility and blame no one. My problems actually started about the middle of December at the one month mark of my tank. A reefer broke his tank down and I came across a killer deal on an Achilles tang with a orange shoulder. The person holding the tangs said they were in copper and all was good. Well two weeks later it wasn't. Out of the blue the Achilles caught ich but was eating well, or so I thought. Long story short he ended up being fish jerky and the next day afterwards the orange shoulder was dead in the overflow grate.

Problem two. I have been fighting phosphates as my red sea algae control kit went to crap and was saying my phosphates were around .16 which was sorta normal considering going with the zeovit they were bringing those levels down, or so I thought. Actual phosphates were .36. So since I had been successful with the LaCl treatment, I would use it to lower my phospates, or so I thought. I had to get a new bottle of sea klear and it matched the original bottle except it said commercial and not pool like the other bottle. Long story short I over dosed and now the death toll is

1 - Blue Eye Kole Tang
1 - Starry Blenny
2 - Black Ocellaris
1 - Regular Ocellaris
1 - Pair of Blue Throat Trigers
1 - Male Lyretail Anthias

and a lot of stressed fish. My Vlamingi and Desjardini had burn marks on their body and lots of heavy breathing. So I did 50 gallon water changes every other day for a week up until yesterday. Most of the marks are gone but I think my Vlamingi has lost its sight because i have hand feed him because he cant find the food unless he senses the algae or whatever is fed.

It also time to do my Zeovit stone exchange once my order arrives this weekend. I also ordered the Biomate to help reduce my phosphates. Its also time for me to change all the cartridges for my RO/DI unit as it has been a couple months and also probably the results of my high phosphates.

New Years Resolution(Yea Right), seriously, is to use the KISS method and follow it to the T. No more trying to do 2-3 things to solve one problem which is band aiding a problem that I dont want to take responsibility for.

 

[spieszak]

How are you dosing the LaCL? Diluted into a sock? Everything I've read said that is is really hard on Tangs. Do you think that previous dosings might possibly lead to the quick decline of the tangs with ICH?
What are your plans for dealing with the ICH infection in your tank/remaining fish? Getting them into a HT now might be a bit easier on you, even though it might be a bit harder on them, but getting them away from whatever LaCL (or precip there of) is left in the system might actually lesson the stress...

 

[WayneLScott]

How are you dosing the LaCL? Diluted into a sock? Everything I've read said that is is really hard on Tangs. Do you think that previous dosings might possibly lead to the quick decline of the tangs with ICH?
What are your plans for dealing with the ICH infection in your tank/remaining fish? Getting them into a HT now might be a bit easier on you, even though it might be a bit harder on them, but getting them away from whatever LaCL (or precip there of) is left in the system might actually lesson the stress...

I don't believe so. I was doing the LaCl in the overflow box leading into the sock in a very slow drip. I used the same bottle as before but this was commercial rated unlike the previous bottle which was pool rated so I overdosed.

The ich has subsided as I would have to teardown over 400 gallons of water not including the rock which is all epoxy. The body's all have some type of burn marks on them which hard slowly going away as I do more water changes.

 

[oldsaint]

Dang Wayne, Sorry to hear of your troubles. Sounds like you have it figured out. I'll just offer my support and as always if you need a hand or anything give me a shout.

 

[WayneLScott]

Dang Wayne, Sorry to hear of your troubles. Sounds like you have it figured out. I'll just offer my support and as always if you need a hand or anything give me a shout.

One thing about this hobby Mike is when you think you have it figured out, its not figured out.lol

 

[suzannemay]

So as a newbie and doesn't know how to dose yet..what are the lessons to learn here?

 

[oldsaint]

One thing about this hobby Mike is when you think you have it figured out, its not figured out.lol

Couldn't agree more.
Albert Einstein — 'The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.'

 

[spieszak]

So as a newbie and doesn't know how to dose yet..what are the lessons to learn here?

learn a boat load about even consideing LaCL as for most tanks, GFO is a safer option.

 

[TangDr]

learn a boat load about even consideing LaCL as for most tanks, GFO is a safer option.

Hi spieszak. Agreed on the GFO. And don't we all just love rinsing out the rust! LaCL before fish IMHO. First post from a fellow newbie. Wayne: sorry about the overdose deaths.

 

[WayneLScott]

So as a newbie and doesn't know how to dose yet..what are the lessons to learn here?

I know how to dose. I just didn't know how to read the difference between pool and commercial grade. That was my demise.

 

[WayneLScott]

Hi spieszak. Agreed on the GFO. And don't we all just love rinsing out the rust! LaCL before fish IMHO. First post from a fellow newbie. Wayne: sorry about the overdose deaths.

This is true but I won't let it happen again.

 

[spieszak]

Just a quick note, I read the prior post as "as a fellow newbie" even though it says "as a newbie", and as a question general dosing question
I wasn't in anyway chiding you about using the LaCL, I was noting that anyone who chooses to use it should do lots of research first, because in most cases (large tanks are often the exception to that) gfo is the better way to go.. especially for someone new as they likely haven't allowed the time see if GFO will work for them.
LaCL is a bit more dangerous given it isn't as 'tried' a method, the side effects still aren't well known (to my research anyway), and dosing it incorrectly can have some pretty terrible results. Its not something that should be ruled out, just something that should be well researched so that you are making a well informed decision.. and it may be the best solution for some scenarios.
I too am sorry to hear about your loss. If you wouldn't mind posting progress of the fish that made it to kind of 'document' their recovery, it might be helpful for anyone else who ends up in a situation like this.

 

[suzannemay]

I am so sorry about your losses. To be even more clear I AM the NEWBIE(not you WyaneLScott) and now I know to look for if it says pool grade or not..I am not even ready to start dosing yet still need to research and I only have 3 corals in my tank so far... but I will add this to my list of things to watch for.

 

[WayneLScott]

Just a quick note, I read the prior post as "as a fellow newbie" even though it says "as a newbie", and as a question general dosing question
I wasn't in anyway chiding you about using the LaCL, I was noting that anyone who chooses to use it should do lots of research first, because in most cases (large tanks are often the exception to that) gfo is the better way to go.. especially for someone new as they likely haven't allowed the time see if GFO will work for them.
LaCL is a bit more dangerous given it isn't as 'tried' a method, the side effects still aren't well known (to my research anyway), and dosing it incorrectly can have some pretty terrible results. Its not something that should be ruled out, just something that should be well researched so that you are making a well informed decision.. and it may be the best solution for some scenarios.
I too am sorry to hear about your loss. If you wouldn't mind posting progress of the fish that made it to kind of 'document' their recovery, it might be helpful for anyone else who ends up in a situation like this.

Oh I know. It's a learning experience that I won't forget. I've had success with it before as I said but just didn't read the. Kettle. So far 30 gallon water changes everyother day has helped out a lot. Here's how the vlamingi looked when I pulled him out.

So it's all good. You gave positive input and I'm down for that.

 

[WayneLScott]

I am so sorry about your losses. To be even more clear I AM the NEWBIE(not you WyaneLScott) and now I know to look for if it says pool grade or not..I am not even ready to start dosing yet still need to research and I only have 3 corals in my tank so far... but I will add this to my list of things to watch for.

I think the LaCl is for levels where my tank was at. I would go GFO and you can't go wrong. I am zeo so I just received the zeo product to help aid in lowering phosphates so I will know what's up in about two weeks as it is time for me to switch the stones in the reactor.