BDare's 210 Mixed Reef

[bdare]

 

[bdare]

Can you say diatom bloom?

 

[bdare]

I would also like to note... I removed the Sicce return pump. The vibration noise was AWFUL. Sent emails to Sicce support and they were not at all helpful.
I replaced the Sicce with a Current USA EFlux which puts out 3170Gph. It's DEAD silent and puts out a TON of water. I have it running less than %50. Highly recommended at least for now...

 

[bdare]

Got some new friends in QT today...

 

[Lawpoke87]

That's a lot of bio load to add in the first 8 weeks. Let us know how the tank is handling it.

 

[bdare]

That's a lot of bio load to add in the first 8 weeks. Let us know how the tank is handling it.

What is a lot of bio load?
Guess I should mention, the royal gamma got eaten by the harlequin tusk. Tusk returned to the store. Kole tang went after my diamond goby. Kole tang sold.

 

[Lawpoke87]

Lol. Well that helps. Bio-load is simply the amount of livestock we have in our tanks. Tanks take time to mature. Adding too many fish too soon often results in elevated phosphate and nitrate levels as the tanks ability to process them takes time.

 

[bdare]

Lol. Well that helps. Bio-load is simply the amount of livestock we have in our tanks. Tanks take time to mature. Adding too many fish too soon often results in elevated phosphate and nitrate levels as the tanks ability to process them takes time.

Yeah. Sorry. I know the definition of bioload. I was trying to understand the number of fish you were counting in 250 gallons of water to be considered high bioload.

 

[Lawpoke87]

I wouldn’t say it’s a high bioload. I would say if you still had the original fish in the tank and you were adding those additions then that would be a pretty rapid increase in bioload to a 8 week old tank. I was curious if you were having any signs of elevated phosphates? At the end of the day a 250g system can easily handle those fish.

 

[bdare]

I wouldn’t say it’s a high bioload. I would say if you still had the original fish in the tank and you were adding those additions then that would be a pretty rapid increase in bioload to a 8 week old tank. I was curious if you were having any signs of elevated phosphates? At the end of the day a 250g system can easily handle those fish.

Yeah. The new fish are in quarantine. They won't be added to the display for another 4-6 weeks. Not sure if you saw the pictures of my old tank:

Large Build - BDare's 210 Mixed Reef

Hello all, Long time R2R lurker here. Been keeping aquariums my whole life and reef tanks since about 2005. Six years ago I shut down a 120 and I've been missing it ever since. The bug has got me and now I'm planning a new 210 gallon tank. Equipment Tank - 210 Gallon Planet Aquaruims 72L x...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Lawpoke87]

I didn't. Very nice. Love the acro colonies. I will shut up now about bioload We're in much the same boat. I've been out of reefing for the last 4 years. I'm getting back in with a 6' peninsula in my office lobby. I forgot how much fun planning a new system is.

 

[bdare]

Diatoms are FINALLY gone! I thought they would never go away. In all the tanks I've cycled over the years I have never seen them so thick and last so long.
I'm sure part of it was letting them run their course, but in the last 1.5 weeks I also added some macro algae to the sump. Because of some of the stories I heard about the H380 being too powerful and burning cheato, I've been running it 3 hours on and 3 hours off 24 hours a day. Water is almost crystal clear and diatoms are gone.

I've been trying to get my nitrates down. They were up well over 50 via my Salifert test kit. Now they appear to be closer to 25 and still in decline. Phosphate is almost 0 with my HANA ULR checker so I've been dosing some Seachem Phosphorous. Will end up buying some food grade crystals off Amazon for regular dosing depending on requirements. I'm hoping to keep enough fish food and poop in the tank that I don't need to dose nitrate or phosphate.

So... currently salinity of the QT and the display are 1.021 because I was trying to get it to match that of the fish deliveries. Once I get this last batch of QT fish into the display I will start raising the salinity to 1.026 before I start adding additional inverts and coral.

Thanks for following along!

 

[bdare]

Forgot to mention, I also added 2x48" T5's to supplement the LEDs.

 

[bdare]

 

[bdare]

Added my first batch of corals.

 

[HighChiefKC]

Hello, following along as I am building a 225. How do you like the xf350's? I believe thats what I read you had for flow. Do you think its enough flow or will you add more? I've debated if they are enough or will I need an mp40/60, 1 or 2?

Help me understand what the circled items are and what they do? Its been about 15 years since I had my 180g, a lot has changed in the hobby since then. So I'm trying to understand your plumbing and what each piece does. And on the 2 returns, halfway up, those are check valves? Whats the purpose of those? Thanks!

 

[bdare]

Hello, following along as I am building a 225. How do you like the xf350's? I believe thats what I read you had for flow. Do you think its enough flow or will you add more? I've debated if they are enough or will I need an mp40/60, 1 or 2?

Help me understand what the circled items are and what they do? Its been about 15 years since I had my 180g, a lot has changed in the hobby since then. So I'm trying to understand your plumbing and what each piece does. And on the 2 returns, halfway up, those are check valves? Whats the purpose of those? Thanks!

I LOVE the xf350's. It's honestly too much as I never run them over 30%. They are a pain to program using the controller alone so I did purchase the WiFi adapter so I could do it through my phone. I love the ability to run several different programs throughout the day. Also, the addition functionality from having 2 heads is awesome.

The red knob you circled is the gate valve for my bean animal overflow. It represents the full siphon primary drain which is tuned with that valve. The one right next to us is the secondary drain which only has a little water. You'll see in the middle of that picture a third "emergency" drain. It's above the water line to provide an audible clue that there's something I need to investigate.

The two outward facing pipes are the manifold I built for feeding my carbon / gfo reactors. You'll see they are fitted with John guest fittings so the tubes just fit directly in. I have another outlet on the return on the other side which will eventually feed my calcium reactor. I purposely bought an oversized adjustable return pump so I can increase flow to feed the reactors. My previous tanks had separate pumps to feed everything which just used more energy, added more heat to the tank and increased the rats nest of wiring.

The ball valve you've circled is to help direct return flow to one side of the tank or the other for the purpose of making sure the reactors on either side are fed properly.

 

[HighChiefKC]

Awesome explanation, thanks! So if the John guest fitting going to a reactor or whatever, where does the return water from them go?
If you done it all over again would you still go with the dual xf350s?

 

[bdare]

Awesome explanation, thanks! So if the John guest fitting going to a reactor or whatever, where does the return water from them go?
If you done it all over again would you still go with the dual xf350s?

Would definitely do the gyres all over again. No regrets. Super quiet, versatile wave options. Couldn't be happier. In my old tanks I always used Tunze pumps for the ability to aim the flow where I wanted it.
Here's a picture with the reactor installed...

 

[bdare]

Got this baby all tested and ready.... Geo 618 shows up next week.

And a Duncan frag I picked up

green polyp toadstool