Finally Starting a Knutez24 Tank Thread

[knutez24]

Never started a tank thread for my old setups. So figured I would give it a try with my new setup. Over the last 2 years I've moved multiple times for work and now i'm back in Long Island. Had a 40B setup for just over 6 years before all the moving started and have kept some of my coral and fish in a small 20 gallon for the last 2 years now.

So finally upgraded to a 75 Gallon RR tank in February



Equpipment So far:
Eshopps R-200 refugium/sump
Reef Octopus NW-110
BRS Dual Reactor for carbon and gfo
Ehiem pump 2400
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
Wp-25

Started cycling some dry rock in my QT tank in December. After a few weeks added some live rock from my current setup to help the cycle.




Initial Sump Setup:







Have plenty more updates to get caught up on, because these pics are 6-8 weeks old.

Any and all suggestions and comments are welcome!

 

[knutez24]

Original Aquascape



Then went to NERAC this last weekend and bought a pillar and another back wall piece from Marco Rocks



And here is a quick shot from the other night: Hard to see the detail on the far right, but I think the scape will look great once this tank grows out.

 

[Clink51]

Look great and simple!

what are u planning on stocking it with?

 

[tunicata]

Looks good. I definitely like the stark differences in height.
What are those fish I see?

 

[knutez24]

I moved a rainford's goby and a yellowrose goby over from my 20 gallon setup a few weeks back. Also added some fairy and flasher wrasses. I have a Orange strip bristetooth tang and a yellow coris that will be added once I make sure they are healthy. Outside of those fish i will probably add a few more wrasse and a jawfish.

As far as coral goes: I will be mostly SPS and zoanthids/palys. These are both my obsessions when it comes to coral. That's why I added the extra height and have a minimal open aquascape because i'm hoping to have all the gaps and channels filled with sps.

 

[knutez24]

Even with the addition of the 2 marco rock pieces I think my biological filtration was going to be a bit light. So I decided to try out one of these ceramic blocks in my sump. Just added it tuesday. It is very very light and porous. Claims to have 23,000 sq ft of surface area. Should work well and keep from having a sump full of live rock and rubble to collect detritous.

 

[TRUKINGNY]

thats interesting ive never seen that before keep us updated on how it works on your system

 

[jcs11236]

Me neither. Looks good. Wouldn't it collect a lot of detritus in the sump? Do you plan on rinsing it weekly or something.

 

[knutez24]

Me neither. Looks good. Wouldn't it collect a lot of detritus in the sump? Do you plan on rinsing it weekly or something.

Claims you can clean and reuse it as much as you want. I put it in a high flow after filter sock and skimmer. It's in the middle/ Fuge section of my sump. Propped it up off the ground to get full flow all around it. It isn't being used as a filter with all water passing through just being used like live rock.

I've read some stuff on RC and there's some guys with bare bottom/ minimal live rock SPS tanks using this to get more of a biological medium in their tank. So i'm choosing to add this block instead of a bunch of rubble in my my sump. Even if the block needs an occasional cleaning it's better than trying to move around rubble rock and suck out detritus.

As long as the material its made from doesn't add anything harmful to the tank it will become covered with bacteria and provide some benefit. Whether its as much square footage they claim is a complete different story.

 

[knutez24]

Updated Pictures of my sump setup with the media block in the middle. Plan on running some tubing from the valve above the middle section to give some extra flow to the ceramic block instead of using a power head. Also working out how to separate algae in the section. Trying to find some type of basket that will allow flow without attaching to the block and everything else in the sump.



Can see the tap on the valve. Just have to setup the hose to get the flow I want now.

 

[knutez24]

Feel like a kid on Christmas. Know what i'll be working on the next couple nights

 

[jackson6745]

Nice! I like the thinking with the bio block. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Dk638]

Nice Tank! Good luck with the setup, nice job with the sump.

 

[knutez24]

Nice! I like the thinking with the bio block. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Thanks. It definitely helped the initial cycle of the tank. See how it works long term...

 

[knutez24]

Nice Tank! Good luck with the setup, nice job with the sump.

Thanks! This setup is working out great. Really like the sump design too. Glad you decided to upgrade!

 

[james1990]

wow great build thread. I really like your BRS reactor install. really neat

 

[knutez24]

wow great build thread. I really like your BRS reactor install. really neat

Thank You.

Went home and got to work tonight

Here's a quick pic of the kessils setup. Have to take care of the wires, but will do that once I get it all wired with the apex etc.



DIY Screen tops finished tonight too. Keep all the wrasses in the tank.

 

[jcs11236]

Looking good!

 

[knutez24]

Looking good!

Thanks Julio. Can't wait to see how your new build turns out.

 

[james1990]

did you notice any difference in using the bio filter media on a new tank? I got the gallon of spheres going on my new 120. I have about half of them seeding in my nano