Cliff’s 180 gallon reef

**hockeyhead019** · 09-09-2012, 07:18 PM

Tank looks awesome man! As expected a top notch job!

**chrisfraser05** · 09-09-2012, 08:13 PM

Agreeed with the above.......

Massive case of tank envy coming up I'm afraid!

**Cliff** · 09-10-2012, 02:02 AM

Thanks Guys

I just have a few minor adjustments to the flow through the sump and I think I'm set

**Cliff** · 09-12-2012, 11:27 PM

When I got home from work today I had so many micro bubbles in the tank it looked like a bacteria bloom. I tried everything to get rid of them from adding sponges inside the sump baffles to unplugging the skimmer.

As it turns out, last night when I detached the union to take a look at my return pump, I accidently knocked off the rubber seal. As this was on the intake side of the pump, instead of leaking, it was sucking in air, more and more as time when on. I did not think that would be possible, but I’m still getting used to a ~2800 gph return pump.

I really wish the seal was the first thing that I checked

The water is now crystal clear again.

**chrisfraser05** · 09-13-2012, 06:36 AM

WOW!!!! 2800GPH

your tank must be like a washing machine!

should have got a picture of the bubbles

**Cliff** · 09-13-2012, 01:32 PM

LOL, it's not that bad. After factoring out the gph for the scrubber, that would be like having two ~1100 gph powerheads in the tank. Even at the full 2800 gph, that is still only 15X flow.

I guess I should not have panic and took a few pics. It certainly was something to see

**Cliff** · 09-16-2012, 01:09 AM

It was a little trial and error, but I know have the sump running just the way I want it to. I had added some sponges in the baffles before the last compartment and a screen just before the bulkhead flange for the return pump so nothing just sucked into the pump
By doing that it did change the flow a little and razed the water level in the skimmer compartment. I made a little higher stand for the skimmer to it on and I now have the skimmer dialed in pretty good.

The anemone seams really happy with the spot I created for him. Some days he’s sprawled out like a wet towel.

**Cliff** · 09-16-2012, 01:10 AM

Tank parameters are still very good, dKH 9.8, Cal 450, mag 1350, pH 8.1 or 8.2 (hard to tell the difference) nitrate 1ppm, phosphate ?(not detectable with my salifert test kit), and 0 ammonia and nitrites. I’ve a small amount of diatoms on the substrate which I will likely vac up during the next weekly waterchange.

I’ve also managed to get a few more coats of paint on the last few bits of the canopy so I can hopefully have that done soon as well.

And some more pics