Artistic Reef - Red Sea Peninsula 650

[ArtisticReef]

questions/thoughts

do you think the pentair 25W will work on that many gallons? I have there 40W new in the box but will not fit inside the cabinet was thinking of returning it for the 25W or mount it out side the tank.

i know everyone love the tunze I had one but found it was loud got another pump same so I sold it and got different. hope you have better luck them it.

will the GHL be used for AWC?

some great great there I am sure it was a pretty penny.
keep us posted I am looking forward to your sump and tech cabinet pics.

Hi Devaji - the 25W works great on the tank. I have a 1,000g pond (1st build post) in the full sun in California with a Pentair 40W and the water is sparkling clear. The water is crystal clear with the Pentair 25W and I only run it at night. The cord is very long and hard to tuck away.

The Tunze has worked great on this tank. I also have a RSR 250 and the Tunze ATO is very noise in that tank.

The GHL is used for 2 part, mag, Acropower & a few KZ products (Coral Boaster, flatworm stop [coral encrusting-no flatworms] and LPS amino. I use a steiner double head pump for AWC. It's not on the equipment list since I didn't add it until I added the mixing station in the garage. The Steiner pump is loud, but I don't hear it in the garage. I'll do a post on my mixing station once I get caught up on the build.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Adding coral:

As discussed in a previous post I had what I called a “bedazzled” RSR 250 with so much coral hoarding there wasn’t any room for anything to grow. I put that coral in then waited 5 months to start adding more coral. In January 2019 I joined the WWC Gold Coral club and started to add coral.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Mixing Station
Lugging buckets of water with a bad back was getting old so I decided it was time to set up a mixing station and AWC system in my garage. I got two 65g containers that my LFS ordered for me. The shipping to California was as expensive as the tanks. I still need to do a post on my Apex setup, but I wanted full automation between the mixing station and the tank. I added the following equipment to the mixing station:

2 - 65g vertical tanks with lids and bulkheads included
75' custom Apex cable to link the tank in the family room to the garage through the attic
Kill A Watt power strip
EB832
PM1 & ph probe
PM2 & salinity probe & temp probe
FMM
4 - Optical sensors
Neptune probe holder
BRS 6 stage 150g/day RODI unit with auto-flush valve
2 - Aquatec 1/4" 8800 RODI pump with auto-shutoff valve
Red, Blue & Black 1/4" RODI tubing
Stenner 100 DMP4 double head peristaltic pump (70 gal per day) for AWC
Reeflo Hammerhead/Barracuda Hybrid 6000/4590 GPH External Pump
4 - Cepex ball valves
4 - Uniseal bulkheads
1" Red PVC
Float valve for RODI tank

I built a stand with spigots high enough to fill up a 5 gallon bucket. With the stand in place it was easy to place the tanks on the stand and plumb to the Reeflo pump. I configured the Reeflo pump with the Barracuda head for 4590 GPH flow.

The RODI filter was installed with the input line Teeing off the coldwater from the utility sink and going into the Aquatec pump to create water pressure then to the 7 stage RODI unit. The waste water goes into the utility sink. During the summer I collect the waste water for watering my yard. The filtered water line goes to the RODI tank with a float valve. With the auto shutoff valve the pump stops when the float valve shuts off the flow.

By adjusting the ball valves the RODI water is pumped into the Salt tank. Switching the ball valves again the pump mixes the water in the salt tank.

For AWC the 1/4" tubing goes from the salt water tank in the garage to the Stenner pump then through the attic to the RSR 650 tank sump. The reverse is also true from the RSR 650 to the Stenner pump to the utility sink. The tubing lengths are identical and equal amounts of saltwater are exchanged with every turn of the Stenner pump. I've never had any issues with saltwater exchange, but I do test the salinity of the tank every week. Once a day the Reeflo pump turns on for 10 minutes to mix the saltwater before the AWC starts. The AWC runs for 70 minutes a day to exchange 1% of the tank volume. Optical sensors in the Salt tank in the garage turn off the AWC if the saltwater in the garage tank gets low. Also, optical sensors in the sump of my DT will override the AWC if low sump water is detected.

The other Aquatec pump (one on the right in the mixing station pic) pumps RODI water through the attic to the fresh water reservoir by the RSR 650. There are Neptune Apex optical sensors on the RSR 650 reservoir that sends a low water command to the Apex to turn on the RODI pump in the garage. The high water optical sensor sends a command to turn off the RODI pump. There is also a float valve and a solenoid valve on the tank reservoir for safety.

The PM1 and PM2 sense the PH and salinity in the saltwater tank.

I haven't had to carry buckets since setting up the AWC making the hobby so much more enjoyable. Also, the consistency with small daily water changes helps the tank be very stable.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Fast Forward to today

Since the beginning of the year the growth has been really exciting. In April I rented a PAR meter from BRS and found that my PAR was 200 and below. Over a 6 week period I increased the par to 600 PAR at the highest point down to 170 on the sanded. The growth and color really took off after that. Oh, and I also started dosing KZ Coral Booster and KZ Flatworm Stop. I read it helps acros encrust and thickens the tissue. Who knows for sure, but I'm happy!!! Previously, I was dosing Acropower.

When RS came out with AB+ I started dosing that also. The results were huge for me. I had a few LPS that were stung by other corals; including, a acanthophyllia with 1/2 the skeleton showing. I dosed AB+ daily and the tissue grew back.

Below are pictures from the last 20 months.

I’m starting think all the attention to the aquascape doesn’t matter. After another year or two of growth I’m not sure you will see the rock work at all.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Current tank pictures. One of the room shot during the day then all three sides shot at night. The night shots don't showoff the negative spaces. I really like the end view of the peninsula since it shows the reflections of all the corals down the glass and on the water surface.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Aquatic Life T5/LED Hybrid fixture

So I neglected to post about the new fixture I added to the tank in April 2020. How to attach the hood to the 80/20 bar wasn't obvious at first. A few 1" aluminum strips from Lowes cut to size and drilled to attach the light to the bar worked great. It mounted flush to the light bar. The AI lights are still mounted to the light bar directly not the Aquatic Life fixture.

For bulbs BRS recommended 2 Blue+ & 2 Actinic bulbs. The T5's are connected to my apex and are on from noon to 7:00 pm every day. The 4 AI 26 Hydra's are on from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm with 2 hour ramp up and ramp down periods.

The light fixture is 14" above the waterline and the AI settings are below:

UV 100%
Violet 100%
Royal 100%
Blue 100%
Green 0
Red 0
Cool White 65%

I added the T5s because I was super impressed with how it eliminates the shadows. Coral under rocks grow great from the light bounce off the substrate and glass.

 

[Devaji]

Current tank pictures. One of the room shot during the day then all three sides shot at night. The night shots don't showoff the negative spaces. I really like the end view of the peninsula since it shows the reflections of all the corals down the glass and on the water surface.

nice! I love tank progression pics. I think i'll better job keeping photo on my build try to take every week of a few different parts of the tank to be able to look back and see the growth.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemone Madness

Hostest with the mostest. Symbiotic relationship between clownfish and anemones got me excited about the hobby. Knowing anemone's are sensitive and can move around the tank kept me from adding them too soon. When I added the first one I made a rule that the anemones had to stay on an island. If they got off the island I put them back on the island. Ig began happening regularly so I decided to create a dedicated anemone tank. More on that build later. Now I have over 30 in my dedicated anemone tank. They love the T5 lights and the measured par is 220 on average. In the dedicated anemone tank I had to lower the UV lights to 50%. The nems just didn't like the high UV.

Here is the growth over 18 months.

The bottom 4 pictures are about an anemone that moved off the island so I moved it to the anemone tank. The last picture is about the re-homed anemone and the clownfish taking to it immediately. When the anemone's are moving they are easy to pick off the rock. Also, they don't like to cross the substrate so they generally don't go off the island.

 

[ArtisticReef]

nice! I love tank progression pics. I think i'll better job keeping photo on my build try to take every week of a few different parts of the tank to be able to look back and see the growth.

That's a good idea. My kids laugh at my photos. Fish/Corals, our dogs, grand kids & holidays. It is fun to look back and see the growth. Helps you realize what is working and what isn't.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Office Tanks:

Between the Anemone’s splitting and the corals growing so fast in the peninsula tank I added the dedicated anemone tank in my previous post (more details here) and a 40 breeder as a frag tank. The cube tank in post #4 was already in my office and I didn’t want three separate tanks in there to maintain, so I joined all the sumps together with 2” PVC. It worked better than I imagined.

Anemone tank:
RSR 250
EcoTech M1 pump
Skim z 167 skimmer
2 - Ecotech MP40 Power heads
Aquatic Life T5/LED hybrid fixture with 2 blue+ and 2 actinic
EcoTech Radion XR30 Gen 4
Aqua Ultraviolet 15W UV with pump (model)
Marco Rock that had been cured for 6 months
Branch Rock - uncured
Aragonite medium course substrate

Frag tank:
Marineland 40 breeder with black metal stand
Eshopps Eclipse L external overflow box
Trigger Systems Ruby 30 sump
2 - EcoTech MP10 power heads
BRS temperature controller
2 - Finnex 300W titanium heaters

ATO:
Trigger Systems Ruby 5 gallon RODI reservoir
Tunze ATO

Dosers:
3 - BRS 1.1 ml/min dosers (ESV Alk, CA & RS NOPOX)
2 - BRS Space saver dosing containers

Apex gear:
2 - Apex EB832
PM1 - pH & temp
PM1 - ORP
2 - FMM
2 - 1” flow sensors
3 - Optical level sensors
1/4” solenoid

Addition to mixing station:
60’ custom apex cord from mixing station in garage to office
Stenner pump for AWC

Basics:
The RSR 250 and the Trigger sumps were drilled and using a 2" bulkhead receiver the sumps were connected. The return pump was in the return chamber of the RSR 250. Splits off the return pump went to all three tanks. A 1" valve measured the flow to the RSR 250 and the other to the 40 breeder and cube tanks respectively.

Room vent:
Since the tanks were in my office I was concerned with the humidity, potential smell and CO2. I had an electrician add a vent that I can engage all the time or only when the humidity is above 60%. I run it all the time and the pH is 8.3 during the day and there is no smell.

 

[bzeno]

Equipment Purchased:

This will be a boring post, but here is the equipment I purchased. I promise sump pics after I get a full tank shot with coral. Adding coral will be next.

Time to purchase equipment. I’m not including pictures as they are all on the vendor’s websites mentioned below. When I started the tank and needed to add ALK/CA I started with the kalk reactor. I don’t trust it being attached to the ATO as it’s not as consistent as weather changes. I used a BRS 50ml loser on a schedule. I always made sure the dosage was below what was needed by the ATO. Once I out grew the kalk stirrer I started using ESV 2 part.

Neptune Apex - oh gosh! Where do I start? I’m going to save the apex setup until later in the build. I have a ridiculous system with control on everything. Details later.

Purchased from Bulk Reef Supply:
Return Pump: Ecotech Vortech L1
Lights: 4 AI Hydra 26
Skimmer: Skimz SV257 Oval DC Internal Protein Skimmer
Powerheads: 2 Ecotech Vectra MP-40s
Fuge light: Kessel A360 mounted on a hook under the stand
UV light: Pentair 25 watt
Media reactor: BRS single media reactor
Heaters: 2 cobalt 300 watt
ATO - Tunze Osmolator 3155
RODI Reservoir: Trigger 10 gallon ruby red
Dosers: GHL 4 head master and 4 head slave
Battery back-up: 2 Ecotech batteries one for the powerbeads and one for the return pump
Power strips (not including Apex) 2 Kill a watt PS10 usage monitoring power strips
BRS 50 ml doser (for Kalk reactor)

Purchased from Avast Marine:
Kalk Reactor: Avast Marine kalk stirrer

Purchased from Artfully Acrylic:
Aquarium lid: Artfully Acrylic 2 lids each covering 1/2 of the tank. Each has a feed door.

Lowes:
3 18” under the counter lights for stand

Could you tell me how you plunged the UV? I am getting g ready to install my 660 and have not decided I. How to do the YV yet.

 

[nickmealey]

Thanks for the write up! I just recently picked up a RS 650 and excited to start that build. Do you have a photo of your sump? I'm really curious how you have things setup for the tank. Also, funny I stumbled on this because I just ordered 8020 parts for basically the exact setup you have, except black.

Nice work!

 

[Devaji]

Thanks for the write up! I just recently picked up a RS 650 and excited to start that build. Do you have a photo of your sump? I'm really curious how you have things setup for the tank. Also, funny I stumbled on this because I just ordered 8020 parts for basically the exact setup you have, except black.

Nice work!

your gonna love the 650 such a nice tank. once you go a peninsula there is no going back. get a build thread going when you get it.

 

[Devaji]

@ArtisticReef do you have a fish list for your 650P?
how's your CBB doing with the LPS i really really want one but my tank will be LPS dominate soooo its quite the gamble .