Qckslvr and Mrs 90 gallon Oceanic tank build
- Thread starter Qckslvr
- Start date
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
So I fired up the skimmer for the first time yesterday, and I think I need to raise it up. No matter how much I played with the flow valve it would fill the cup. Playing with the flow valve just determined how fast it filled the cup 
What is the best way? I think an inch would work. I was thinking of grabbing some scrap acrylic from Tap Plastic's bargain bin. Thoughts?
What is the best way? I think an inch would work. I was thinking of grabbing some scrap acrylic from Tap Plastic's bargain bin. Thoughts?
Chrism1330
Supporting Member
Took me a bit to find my sweet spot but i used a lid to step up the skimmer
Ive seen someone use a glass pyrex before
Ive seen someone use a glass pyrex before
Last edited:
Yeah you can try building a skimmer stand, but the recommended height is 6-6.5". That's the downside of the old AC pump skimmers. Tuning a skimmer can be one of the more annoying things with a new tank.So I fired up the skimmer for the first time yesterday, and I think I need to raise it up. No matter how much I played with the flow valve it would fill the cup. Playing with the flow valve just determined how fast it filled the cup
What is the best way? I think an inch would work. I was thinking of grabbing some scrap acrylic from Tap Plastic's bargain bin. Thoughts?
That model is probably oversized for your tank too and might make it almost impossible to tune correctly. https://www.coralvue.com/sro-2000-in-sump-protein-skimmer
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
I was wondering that, because the skimmer in my 30 has an air valve. Yet the bigger skimmer did not. I did do some research and my particular model likes 8-9" of water depth. Currently my sump is 10.5" deep. So I think a 2" stand will put it in range.... And if I can't get it to tune I will try an air valve..... And if it still will not tune, well you will see it in the trade section
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
So the wife and I went on an adventure over the weekend. Wife and I went to Aquarium Depot in Citrus Hights for the 13th anniversary. Wife picked a few wrasses, a gobby and shrimp, and a pair of clownfish. Pics at a later date! We also picked up another Orbit 2 seeing as they have a discount on the whole store.
The 2 hour drive to Sacramento left us in need of "facilities," at which AD does not offer. So we discovered Lodge Coffee shop next door. The service is a bit slow, but the food was awesome. Wife and I loved the vibe, reminded us a little of Alice's (Woodside, CA).
Now the down side... The Reef Octopus refuses to behave. Tank parameters are good, no need for a skimmer just yet, but we are running it to help oxygenate the water. And it will not stop overflowing. At least it is no longer filling the cup faster then it can drain. I have 3/4" before the return port is out of the water. I have some 1/2 acrylic I am going to place under it to see if I can get it to stop overflowing. I did try restricting the air flow, and that was near disastrous. The cup erupted like a volcano, and the pump starting cavitating something fierce, pumping large amounts of foam back into the tank through the inlet.
I am looking at the Bubble Magus Elite 7, and the Simplicity 240DC. Our tank is 110 gallons total volume, and I know it will be medium to heavy stocked at some point.
The 2 hour drive to Sacramento left us in need of "facilities," at which AD does not offer. So we discovered Lodge Coffee shop next door. The service is a bit slow, but the food was awesome. Wife and I loved the vibe, reminded us a little of Alice's (Woodside, CA).
Now the down side... The Reef Octopus refuses to behave. Tank parameters are good, no need for a skimmer just yet, but we are running it to help oxygenate the water. And it will not stop overflowing. At least it is no longer filling the cup faster then it can drain. I have 3/4" before the return port is out of the water. I have some 1/2 acrylic I am going to place under it to see if I can get it to stop overflowing. I did try restricting the air flow, and that was near disastrous. The cup erupted like a volcano, and the pump starting cavitating something fierce, pumping large amounts of foam back into the tank through the inlet.
I am looking at the Bubble Magus Elite 7, and the Simplicity 240DC. Our tank is 110 gallons total volume, and I know it will be medium to heavy stocked at some point.
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
I threw a small party last night.... There is always a sense of success when everything all of sudden clicks, and works.
I placed 3/4" of acrylic under the skimmer makes a total height of 2.5" off the bottom of the tank. The outlet is 1/4" below the water line. And the Reef Octopus is now working flawlessly. No more overflowing, it even has adjustability!
I forgot to mention that we also visited High Tide over the weekend. We really liked that shop as well, picked up a coral while there. The wife wants a Mandarin, and I noticed quite a few people recommend getting Mandarins from HT. So when he has them in stock again we will most likely pick one up.
I placed 3/4" of acrylic under the skimmer makes a total height of 2.5" off the bottom of the tank. The outlet is 1/4" below the water line. And the Reef Octopus is now working flawlessly. No more overflowing, it even has adjustability!
I forgot to mention that we also visited High Tide over the weekend. We really liked that shop as well, picked up a coral while there. The wife wants a Mandarin, and I noticed quite a few people recommend getting Mandarins from HT. So when he has them in stock again we will most likely pick one up.
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
It's been a minute on my tank journal, as it has been running for just over 30 days. But I figure I should list my inhabitants! The fish that are swimming about happily.
The fish!
Splendid Pintail Fairy Wrasse
Pink Streaked Wrasse
Yellow Watchmen Goby x2
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Midas Blenny
Nearly Naked Clownfish
Orange Storm Clownfish
Flame Hawkfish
Blue Green Chromis x2
Green Chromis
Mandarin Dragonette
Bangaii Cardinal x 2
Scissortail Goby
Royal Gramma
Pajama Cardinal x 2
Lyretail Anthias
Flame Fin Tomini Tang
Flameback Angel
Trochus x5
black widow nem
rock flower nem x3
zoa x4
GSP x 7
Potato Chip
Acan
Green and Red Monte
Favia
Unwanted guest
Aptasia
We originally had 6 chromis and 2 blennies. 1 chromis died with in a hour of putting it in our tank the other one like one of the blennies was murdered in the night as we woke up to them dead. You could see visible signs of attack on them.
The tank has gone 2 weeks now with no death, and everyone seems to be happy.
The Mandarin seems happy and well fed, We seeded the tank since day one with copepods, and our refugium is full of them.
And on a plus, no sign of hair algae! I am sure the tomini and angel are keeping things clean. I always see them nibbling the rocks. Although I know that young tangs like copepods, so I do worry about that a little.
Now with that list.... is an filefish or CBB possible? Because I really don't want to be sticking my arm in the tank weekly to apply F-Aptasia.
The fish!
Splendid Pintail Fairy Wrasse
Pink Streaked Wrasse
Yellow Watchmen Goby x2
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Midas Blenny
Nearly Naked Clownfish
Orange Storm Clownfish
Flame Hawkfish
Blue Green Chromis x2
Green Chromis
Mandarin Dragonette
Bangaii Cardinal x 2
Scissortail Goby
Royal Gramma
Pajama Cardinal x 2
Lyretail Anthias
Flame Fin Tomini Tang
Flameback Angel
Trochus x5
black widow nem
rock flower nem x3
zoa x4
GSP x 7
Potato Chip
Acan
Green and Red Monte
Favia
Unwanted guest
Aptasia
We originally had 6 chromis and 2 blennies. 1 chromis died with in a hour of putting it in our tank
the other one like one of the blennies was murdered in the night as we woke up to them dead. You could see visible signs of attack on them. The tank has gone 2 weeks now with no death, and everyone seems to be happy.
The Mandarin seems happy and well fed, We seeded the tank since day one with copepods, and our refugium is full of them.
And on a plus, no sign of hair algae! I am sure the tomini and angel are keeping things clean. I always see them nibbling the rocks. Although I know that young tangs like copepods, so I do worry about that a little.
Now with that list.... is an filefish or CBB possible? Because I really don't want to be sticking my arm in the tank weekly to apply F-Aptasia.
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
my wife loves the flame hawkfish as well, lots of personality. And we feed the tank 5 times a day, they are happy fish.
But the wife and I hit a bit of a horror, and a hard learning lesson.
On the 7th when doing the weekend testing we noticed something. The Nitrates were in 20s (not to worried), but our Phosphates were .850. So we set out for a solution to bring down the phosphates. I have Rowaphos in my 30, and it works well. Does the job has advertised. It sits in a pouch in the last chamber of the filter stack. The 90 doesn't have a filter stack, so while at my LFS I spotted the IceCap media reactor and decided to give it a try. Wife and I set it up and got into a bit of an argument over the Rowaphos. As the instructions state do NOT rinse, Icecap says it is optional, and the internet says all GFO should be rinsed thoroughly. So we settled and rinsed the Rowaphos with RODI water until it was fairly clean, not 100%. I put 250ml in the reactor, turned it on and set it to what I thought was a decent setting. It was rolling about ok.
Within 5 minutes the tank became cloudy white, and the skimmer was going nuts. I could not empty the skimmer fast enough. I turned the reactor down to it's lowest setting, a gentle bubbling basically. My skimmer calmed down to it's normal activity. But I started to get worried, at first the skimmer cup was pure red water.... then it turned greenish... then back to the normally yellowish color. I have a reefmat 500 (thank you early BD present!) and it was burning through mat fast for about 2 hours. Everything calmed, the skimmer was acting normal... all looked good.
Next morning..... the pink streaked wrasse was dead
By the evening the death toll rose and we lost our Mandarin, and blenny
day two yield more death. one of the pajam cardnals, and our flameback angel perished. Also on day 2 the phosphates are down to .3
day three the Fairy Wrasse and the Royal Gramma are acting sick, scratching up against rocks. All the other fish, nems, and corals are acting normal no signs of stress.
Day three 10% water change ( it was all the water I had at the time)
Day 4 wife starts feeding the fish garlic with their food.
Day 5 the Fairy Wrasse and Royal Gramma are starting to scratch less, and are eating normally, other fish are looking good
This weekend we will be changing out 30 gallons of water.
To say the least.... this was devistating, and a harsh leason.
But the wife and I hit a bit of a horror, and a hard learning lesson.
On the 7th when doing the weekend testing we noticed something. The Nitrates were in 20s (not to worried), but our Phosphates were .850. So we set out for a solution to bring down the phosphates. I have Rowaphos in my 30, and it works well. Does the job has advertised. It sits in a pouch in the last chamber of the filter stack. The 90 doesn't have a filter stack, so while at my LFS I spotted the IceCap media reactor and decided to give it a try. Wife and I set it up and got into a bit of an argument over the Rowaphos. As the instructions state do NOT rinse, Icecap says it is optional, and the internet says all GFO should be rinsed thoroughly. So we settled and rinsed the Rowaphos with RODI water until it was fairly clean, not 100%. I put 250ml in the reactor, turned it on and set it to what I thought was a decent setting. It was rolling about ok.
Within 5 minutes the tank became cloudy white, and the skimmer was going nuts. I could not empty the skimmer fast enough. I turned the reactor down to it's lowest setting, a gentle bubbling basically. My skimmer calmed down to it's normal activity. But I started to get worried, at first the skimmer cup was pure red water.... then it turned greenish... then back to the normally yellowish color. I have a reefmat 500 (thank you early BD present!) and it was burning through mat fast for about 2 hours. Everything calmed, the skimmer was acting normal... all looked good.
Next morning..... the pink streaked wrasse was dead
By the evening the death toll rose and we lost our Mandarin, and blenny
day two yield more death. one of the pajam cardnals, and our flameback angel perished. Also on day 2 the phosphates are down to .3
day three the Fairy Wrasse and the Royal Gramma are acting sick, scratching up against rocks. All the other fish, nems, and corals are acting normal no signs of stress.
Day three 10% water change ( it was all the water I had at the time)
Day 4 wife starts feeding the fish garlic with their food.
Day 5 the Fairy Wrasse and Royal Gramma are starting to scratch less, and are eating normally, other fish are looking good
This weekend we will be changing out 30 gallons of water.
To say the least.... this was devistating, and a harsh leason.
Sorry to hear about your losses.. what do you think might be the reason though? I have been using rinsed rowaphos without any issues thus far, though while taking it out I do see black residual water drip from the bags which definitely doesn’t look healthy for the ecosystem.. reading your post makes me a little concerned
I use gfo reactors with Rowaphos on both my coral tanks.
Did you flush the Rowaphos with the reactor first. As in filling it with water powering the pump and letting discharge hose run in a bucket until it runs clear?
Just rinsing the Rowaphos wouldn't be sufficient in a reactor verse rinsing Rowaphos used in a fine mesh bags.
In a reactor it's much more loose plus the agitation makes it realse more fines. It probably takes me like under a minute of running to get the discharge line that returns to the tank to go from colored water to perfectly clear. You would likely need a little saltwater remixed to replace whatever is wasted through flushing. Helps pausing or unplugging ato during this process to maintain your tanks salinity.
Did you flush the Rowaphos with the reactor first. As in filling it with water powering the pump and letting discharge hose run in a bucket until it runs clear?
Just rinsing the Rowaphos wouldn't be sufficient in a reactor verse rinsing Rowaphos used in a fine mesh bags.
In a reactor it's much more loose plus the agitation makes it realse more fines. It probably takes me like under a minute of running to get the discharge line that returns to the tank to go from colored water to perfectly clear. You would likely need a little saltwater remixed to replace whatever is wasted through flushing. Helps pausing or unplugging ato during this process to maintain your tanks salinity.
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
So sad to hear of your losses
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
I believe our loss is due to lack of proper prep.
this is an in sump reactor, not external.
I assembled the reactor and placed 250 ml,of rowaphos directly into the first chamber. No bag, as it was not mentioned in our search on the internet. I did run about…. 2 gallons of RODI through the cup. It wasn’t 100% clear, maybe a light pink.
I think the mistake I made was in the pump settings. This reactor is DC and has a controller. I started the reactor at 0 and worked my way up. The instructions stated a gentle simmering look, no rapid boil. It never did look like a rapid boil, and slowly I brought it up to about 50% it looked to have a nice simmering action filling about 3/4 of the cup…. And that is when the Rowaphos hit the fan so to speak. From their see above post.
Right now the reactor is set to its very lowest setting. I replaced filter floss as it became completely plugged up. Tank is not cloudy… about 25% of the rowaphos that was in the reactor is gone.
We have also changed out 42 gallons of water.
this is an in sump reactor, not external.
I assembled the reactor and placed 250 ml,of rowaphos directly into the first chamber. No bag, as it was not mentioned in our search on the internet. I did run about…. 2 gallons of RODI through the cup. It wasn’t 100% clear, maybe a light pink.
I think the mistake I made was in the pump settings. This reactor is DC and has a controller. I started the reactor at 0 and worked my way up. The instructions stated a gentle simmering look, no rapid boil. It never did look like a rapid boil, and slowly I brought it up to about 50% it looked to have a nice simmering action filling about 3/4 of the cup…. And that is when the Rowaphos hit the fan so to speak. From their see above post.
Right now the reactor is set to its very lowest setting. I replaced filter floss as it became completely plugged up. Tank is not cloudy… about 25% of the rowaphos that was in the reactor is gone.
We have also changed out 42 gallons of water.
Got it. I don't think Rowaphos should be gone, it likely went straight into your system the portion that's gone.
Maybe if you have time consider uploading a video to utube and sharing that video link with your reactor running. Than we could see it to ensure you have it running appropriately.
On one of my tanks sps tank I have it running at a trickle kinda like a steady stream right before you would be able to see the individual drops.
On the 210gallon on the other hand that one is half way steady stream like typical bathroom faucet just under halfway open if that paints a little Pic.
They are set using a inline gate valve on the inlet line above the mini return pumps based on what the po4 testing numbers are showing. By controlling the flow rates through the reactors I determine how fast tbe tank water passes through the Rowaphos every hour. With the goal of finding that happy spot where things stay level. If I want to lower them more I would increase the flow through rate. To slow them the opposite.
Hopefully my rambling makes a little sense above.
When I referenced Rowaphos in media bags thats another way run it if you don't have reactors. Reactors are far more efficient than media bags for some they can be too efficient and people have to turn the reactors off or only use them a hour or two a day.
For the media bags think dropping one in a filter sock, or rear chamber of a all in one type of tank. So the water draining from the tank passes through the media bag and hitting the Rowaphos. Reactors force water through the Rowaphos making them have better contact with water.
Qckslvr
Supporting Member
TANK updated.
As mentioned in another thread we got a new to us Hanna Master tester. I still need to get a fresh bottle of Alkalinity reagent (eyeing Neptune's bare shelf). I hate to say the higher gas prices are going to limit our LFS adventuring. But tank parameters seem to be normal to stable.
But there has been gain, and loss unfortunately
Around the 10th we noticed something. Our nearly naked clown was hosting the black widow! This excited my wife to no end. Our mated pair of clowns in the 30 will not host any of the torches, or hammers.... yet it seems they are hosting the return nozzle for the tank. They hang around it all day.
Last week the wife and I fell in love with the CBB, and decided it was going to be our aptasia cleaning fish of choice. VA had a bunch of them and we picked one that looked like it was eating pellets. We also picked up a replacement Pajama Cardinal from them.
Saturday the 14th We released the CBB after a night of QT, and it appeared to do well. Our Tomini checked it out once and then went about it's business.
Wednesday 18th.... death... the orange storm clown fish passed. When we got it, it was the smallest fish in the tank, and it would never join any of the other fish. We had it for 3 weeks and it was always by itself in a corner of the tank. It would only eat what would float in front of it. it would never join the frenzy so to speak. It bummed us out, as it was a pretty fish, hind sight we should have boxed him and given it more individual care, or maybe rehomed it.
Thursday night, 19th. We are at our favorite Petco. And they had a black and white storm clownfish. and a one spot fox face. We introduced them in the dead of night. Right off the get go our panda clown went straight to the black widow nem, and fox face hid under and arch.
Friday morning 20th ... more death... We found the CCB in a corner none responsive, and a pack of Nasarius were having breakfast. This bummed us out as we thought it was eating, it would pick at the glass, and rocks constantly. And with such a small mouth it was hard to tell if it was eating the brine, LRS Reef Frenzy, or mysis (wife blends all three) We also have two auto feeders that drop TDO extra small twice a day in a very small amount.
But also on this day new discoveries! Our black widow is slowly splitting! And now both the new black and white and the nearly naked are hosting the black widow. My wife even noticed that when the nearly naked leaves the nem, the black and white (panda) is not far behind it. My wife also observed something else. The foxface, tomini, and one of the wrasses are schooling together. She says the trio have been practically inseperable. She did read that the fox face and tomini are possible companions, but it all seems rather fast.
As of right now we are holding off on another CBB. We know that VA and AC have them, but are worried about if they will eat. I did email HT, and they are hopefully getting some soon. So unless someone here has a CBB that needs to be re-homed, we will most likely wait for HT to get theirs in.
As mentioned in another thread we got a new to us Hanna Master tester. I still need to get a fresh bottle of Alkalinity reagent (eyeing Neptune's bare shelf). I hate to say the higher gas prices are going to limit our LFS adventuring. But tank parameters seem to be normal to stable.
But there has been gain, and loss unfortunately
Around the 10th we noticed something. Our nearly naked clown was hosting the black widow! This excited my wife to no end. Our mated pair of clowns in the 30 will not host any of the torches, or hammers.... yet it seems they are hosting the return nozzle for the tank. They hang around it all day.
Last week the wife and I fell in love with the CBB, and decided it was going to be our aptasia cleaning fish of choice. VA had a bunch of them and we picked one that looked like it was eating pellets. We also picked up a replacement Pajama Cardinal from them.
Saturday the 14th We released the CBB after a night of QT, and it appeared to do well. Our Tomini checked it out once and then went about it's business.
Wednesday 18th.... death... the orange storm clown fish passed. When we got it, it was the smallest fish in the tank, and it would never join any of the other fish. We had it for 3 weeks and it was always by itself in a corner of the tank. It would only eat what would float in front of it. it would never join the frenzy so to speak. It bummed us out, as it was a pretty fish, hind sight we should have boxed him and given it more individual care, or maybe rehomed it.
Thursday night, 19th. We are at our favorite Petco. And they had a black and white storm clownfish. and a one spot fox face. We introduced them in the dead of night. Right off the get go our panda clown went straight to the black widow nem, and fox face hid under and arch.
Friday morning 20th ... more death
... We found the CCB in a corner none responsive, and a pack of Nasarius were having breakfast. This bummed us out as we thought it was eating, it would pick at the glass, and rocks constantly. And with such a small mouth it was hard to tell if it was eating the brine, LRS Reef Frenzy, or mysis (wife blends all three) We also have two auto feeders that drop TDO extra small twice a day in a very small amount. But also on this day new discoveries! Our black widow is slowly splitting! And now both the new black and white and the nearly naked are hosting the black widow. My wife even noticed that when the nearly naked leaves the nem, the black and white (panda) is not far behind it. My wife also observed something else. The foxface, tomini, and one of the wrasses are schooling together. She says the trio have been practically inseperable. She did read that the fox face and tomini are possible companions, but it all seems rather fast.
As of right now we are holding off on another CBB. We know that VA and AC have them, but are worried about if they will eat. I did email HT, and they are hopefully getting some soon. So unless someone here has a CBB that needs to be re-homed, we will most likely wait for HT to get theirs in.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Dumb question: who is VA? I hope not the place I think it is.TANK updated.
As mentioned in another thread we got a new to us Hanna Master tester. I still need to get a fresh bottle of Alkalinity reagent (eyeing Neptune's bare shelf). I hate to say the higher gas prices are going to limit our LFS adventuring. But tank parameters seem to be normal to stable.
But there has been gain, and loss unfortunately
Around the 10th we noticed something. Our nearly naked clown was hosting the black widow! This excited my wife to no end. Our mated pair of clowns in the 30 will not host any of the torches, or hammers.... yet it seems they are hosting the return nozzle for the tank. They hang around it all day.
Last week the wife and I fell in love with the CBB, and decided it was going to be our aptasia cleaning fish of choice. VA had a bunch of them and we picked one that looked like it was eating pellets. We also picked up a replacement Pajama Cardinal from them.
Saturday the 14th We released the CBB after a night of QT, and it appeared to do well. Our Tomini checked it out once and then went about it's business.
Wednesday 18th.... death... the orange storm clown fish passed. When we got it, it was the smallest fish in the tank, and it would never join any of the other fish. We had it for 3 weeks and it was always by itself in a corner of the tank. It would only eat what would float in front of it. it would never join the frenzy so to speak. It bummed us out, as it was a pretty fish, hind sight we should have boxed him and given it more individual care, or maybe rehomed it.
Thursday night, 19th. We are at our favorite Petco. And they had a black and white storm clownfish. and a one spot fox face. We introduced them in the dead of night. Right off the get go our panda clown went straight to the black widow nem, and fox face hid under and arch.
Friday morning 20th ... more death
But also on this day new discoveries! Our black widow is slowly splitting! And now both the new black and white and the nearly naked are hosting the black widow. My wife even noticed that when the nearly naked leaves the nem, the black and white (panda) is not far behind it. My wife also observed something else. The foxface, tomini, and one of the wrasses are schooling together. She says the trio have been practically inseperable. She did read that the fox face and tomini are possible companions, but it all seems rather fast.
As of right now we are holding off on another CBB. We know that VA and AC have them, but are worried about if they will eat. I did email HT, and they are hopefully getting some soon. So unless someone here has a CBB that needs to be re-homed, we will most likely wait for HT to get theirs in.