I want to share the journey of building my aquariums along with DIY videos, unboxing videos, and more aquarium related topics. My new system build in progress consists of a 700sqft fish room which will have over 2000gallons of saltwater when completed and a new display which will be even bigger but I am not ready to share the size of the display yet.
I have been keeping aquariums both freshwater and saltwater for over 25 years. When I made the choice to build a DIY aquarium system that will house a living reef I wanted to put all of of my experience and lessons learned into building my dream aquarium system. I plan to house a variety of corals (SPS, LPS, & Soft), fish, shrimp, macro algae and many other invertebrates. I enjoy the challenge of building aquarium systems and thriving reef environments.
I’ve been excited to see this video update! Thank you as always and let me know how the flow through is going between both sides? Any structural issues with the inverts poking around?
The aquarium is L shaped but as a rectangle the aquarium is 36'Lx6'Wx33"(water)H. The last 6'x6' of the aquarium is the L. The display has a divider 1/3 non-reef safe fish and 2/3s coral reef.
This thing is going to be amazing when it fills in. I'm rooting for you! The low nitrate and phosphate is definitely connected to hair algae. Its' proliferation is the problem.
Thanks. The hair algae continues to decline. I just removed a bunch of hair algae on some of the bigger rocks so it will be interesting to see if these areas of the rocks get taken over by other algae or if hair algae returns.
If you can fit them through your basement ceiling and out the wall you might consider just venting your tank hood to the outside. The CO2 in our homes is usually higher than outside and that plays havoc with alkalinity.
With the way my dehumidification system works the air from the canopy is ducted back to my fish room to go through the dehumidifier and in that room the outside air exchange via my HRV takes place. I limit outside air at times due to high or low temperatures outside and its equipped with a large carbon filter to help prevent any outside pollutants(herbicides, pesticides, smoke, ect) from getting to the aquarium. Direct venting can also create some air pressure issues and sometimes create its own humidity issues depending on the climate where you are located.
Thank you for the update, great video, please if you can give little more details on what are those wave makers you are using and what brand are those?
Have you considered using the version of corrugation where the sheets are aluminum and the support structure is plastic? I'd imagine it would be much more efficient considering plastic doesn't conduct heat nearly as well.
@GregAtlas originally I considered copper but the expense was really high. Aluminum would work for sure if it's available. At the time I saw commercially available HRVs using plastic core material which led me to that plastic sheet material. Still running great.
Alex, just curious about the nutrients in there. It’s better to have GHA than turf. You’re good! The GHA will be gone eventually, and it’s easier to deal with. It’s a new large system…completely normal.
Just tested. NO3 2.5ppm & PO4 .03-.1ppm. Normally I keep NO3 5-10ppm so that is a bit low for my normal range. I agree this is a normal cycle for the GHA and over the last few weeks it continues to slowly go away. In a few more months it should be all cleared up.
The species of Kelp I have seen have all been temperate or cold water species. Sargassum would somewhat of an equivalent as it can grow rapidly but it needs really strong lighting. I have kept Sargassum in the past but it can sometimes be difficult to obtain as its seasonal and not always collected for aquariums.
Only thing I can say I disagree with is I would put Astraea as number 2 for best snails. I don’t think Trochus are that great yeah they can flip themselves back over but eating algae there ok. I like that you talked about no cure for algae. You can pure something in the tank to fix’s algae. Yes it may kill the algae but the problem is still there and will come back. Tank coming along nicely
Phosphates can be a contributing factor to the root cause of algae. In my experience a more established system having algae issues can be potentially related to elevated phosphate levels. I would be observing to see if levels have changed significantly in relation to an algae issue starting.
@algawura2 I cycled my 750 gallon saltwater aquarium with my lights off for 3 months my aquarium has been up and running for 5 months and I still have no algae
Its not fun dealing with bryopsis but I have used similar methods with nutrient control, and urchins. I have found the fish are less interested in bryopsis but urchins still have gone after it before in past aquarium systems I have kept.
Awesome tanks! I've been keeping freshwater fish for many years and have never been interested in saltwater fish but seeing your setup I'm completely fascinated! Looking forward to more of your content. 👍✌️
how are you getting different types of algae growing?? im only getting the brown, i thinks its called diatoms, its been 6 1/2 months and only getting the brown.
I seeded the display with live sand and some live rocks from my running system. Once the systems were tied in together the life will spread throughout the system.
Thanks. The ugly phase is not fun however I really enjoy seeing life spread in the aquarium. At night I will often check with a flashlight to see what macrofauna I see roaming around and starting to spread in the system.
