The psas reef!

[halmus]

Here are some updates. First a picture of the tool-box fish tank.

Doors closed with new handles made to match my garage cabinets.

A shot of everything up and running

Now it's just a matter of patience. I'm letting it cycle a bit before I move the corals from the prez's tank so he can get ready for his big move.

The only thing left to finish for now is the fresh water top off. I ran a cheep plastic hose up to the shelves near the ceiling of the garage. I'm using an old mini pump that will dump water into the hose from a cheepo plastic rubbermaid container that holds 18 gals. I haven't measured it yet, but I don't think it will evaporate more than half a gallon a day. The sumps are pretty well sealed and I might end up putting a glass cover over the tank itself. Generally I don't like to cover aquariums because they love oxygen and lids cut down on the air transfer. I also don't want my tools covered in rust. I'll keep track of the pH levels and plan accordingly. Right now, the skimmer air intake is running through CO2 absorbent to help a little.

 

[tat2z_21]

Dude have to say this thing looks good, very well thought out.

 

[halmus]

Dude have to say this thing looks good, very well thought out.

Thanks. I did do quite a bit of planning before starting the build. Mostly, I just designed this around all of the mistakes I've made in the past with systems. This is pretty basic compared to my personal display. It's stupid complicated, and getting more so by the day.

I finally got the parts in the mail for the ATO system. It's a simple relay, power supply, float switch setup. Hopefully I'll able to get it set up tomorrow.

 

[halmus]

I had to replace the danner mag-drive pump. It was overheating the tank, and eventually the impeller seized. I got a new pan-world pump that can handle a huge head-space while maintaining about 800 gph. I estimate that 300-400 of that is going back to the display and the balance is being pumped into the refugium. That isn't a huge turnover in the main tank but there is a lot of water flow there already with the Korallias and a separate circulation pump. Here it is plumbed into the bulkhead.

I had to replace the danner mag-drive pump. It was overheating the tank, and eventually the impeller seized. I got a new pan-world pump that can handle a huge head-space while maintaining about 800 gph. I estimate that 300-400 of that is going back to the display and the balance is being pumped into the refugium. That isn't a huge turnover in the main tank but there is a lot of water flow there already with the Korallias and a separate circulation pump. Here it is plumbed into the sump.

 

[halmus]

Also to manage heat and moisture in the garage I installed a bathroom type vent fan in the top hood. It pulls a lot of air. I hooked the bottom sump area with the top tank hood area with a ventilation duct.

The fan directs straight out the back of my garage. The evaporative cooling drops the tank temp 5 deg in this summer heat. That also means it requires a lot of fresh water top-off.

 

[halmus]

Here is what we have for corals now as a club. Some have been growing out in Tom's tank. Some were brought from my display to test out the system. Hopefully, they'll grow out some more before the meeting in Jan where we'll cut the up for the Bob Moore. The tank's still new so I'm not sure how much growth we'll get but the corals are holding their color and polyp extension is good.

 

[senji]

ooo ahhh im diggin the tricolor mine is starting too look like that too thanks eric and becca.

 

[halmus]

ooo ahhh im diggin the tricolor mine is starting too look like that too thanks eric and becca.

Ya, that one really catches your eye doesn't it! I'll keep everyone updated once we start filling her up for the Bob Moore.

 

[Raamiah]

Saw the tank today. It's looking great and so are the coral. Can't wait to see it packed with coral!

 

[halmus]

I forgot to update this thread. The tank is packed with coral now for the Bob Moore. We also have a 24" x 24" packed with SPS that's hooked to my personal display. Now that I have a new camera, I'm going to work on getting some good pictures of everything to let you know what the card-members will be taking home for free in February.


Here's an update on the lighting. I picked up some T-5's for the club's tank. These aren't club equipment, but we'll use them on the club's tank until it's handed off to the next Board of Directors. I went with Hamilton fixtures. They were running a special. $100 for 2x36" T-5HO fixtures with nocturnal LEDs. I got three of them. This should be plenty of lighting for basically any coral.

 

[halmus]

These are the corals we have been collecting in the PSAS club tank. These will all be given away at the Bob Moore.

 

[halmus]

 

[sedrostyle]

Corals look very healthy!

 

[halmus]

Corals look very healthy!

Thanks. The tank took a little time to mature but its actually doing better than my display right now. For water changes, I pull 20 gal from my display once a week and replace that with fresh mixed. I take the 20gal "waste" from the display and use that for a water change in the clubs tank. It's not ideal I suppose but that means the club tank gets a 30% water change every week with quality water. I also dont have to worry about setting up a seperate tank to mix replacement water and i dont have to pay for salt for the club's water. It probably has a moderate nutrient load but I track the main chem levels (alk, CA, MG) in my display closely because its heavy with SPS. I dont allow nuisance algea to get a foothold so i know the nutrients are low. I can feed the one fish and corals aggressively in the club tank and not worry about much nuisance algea because the water gets changed out frequently. I haven't harvested algea from the refugium since the tank was started. It has grown in a little and provides a region for critters to procreate but there evidently isn't the nutrient load to allow for any significant algea growth.

 

[sedrostyle]

Sounds like a awesome way to recycle and still keep a healthy environment for the psas stuff.
It works great as far as Ican see

 

[halmus]

The PSAS tank is officially now cycling with fresh water. It's a little sad. It served us well this year, but it was time to take all the cleaning crew out and give them a new home. All the coral found a new home last weekend. Now it's time to sterilize it and prepare it to be moved for the next group to take ownership.

 

[1guydude]

Update- tank is up and running. Psas is accepting donations for coming bob moore event.
Thxs
D