Bills CDA 225 gal 72x30x24 tank upgrade/SPS Dream Tank!!!

Billldg · Aug 30, 2021

Operator Wrasse said:
So where do you think Apex went wrong? I came up with two hypotheses:

The Trident ran out of reagent at 0900 on 29AUG2021

The Trident used all 73% of the reagent starting at 0900 on 29AUG2021

How much reagent of the other bottles were left? Do you have even percentage readouts for the total reagent left in each bottle to avoid this issue in the future?

Both the Cal and Mag reagent were about were I expected them to be, about 2/3's filled. The Alk reagent was empty which took me by surprise.

Operator Wrasse · Aug 30, 2021

Billldg said:
Both the Cal and Mag reagent were about were I expected them to be, about 2/3's filled. The Alk reagent was empty which took me by surprise.

No leaks detected? If there were no leaks it sounds like your sample got dumped with reagent. Not sure how the hardware of the Trident works, but I presume it's like a peristaltic dosing pump getting stuck on.

Billldg · Aug 31, 2021

The more I look at the Abyzz, the more I am thinking of buying it. The problem is, I need some hard data to see which one I will need to go with. The size factor of the pump is a no brainer, it is extremely powerful and very small. The only turn off is the price. I have no issue paying top dollar for my dream tank, but, I need some concrete assurance that it will work for my application. I would call BRS, but they do not specialize in any one particular product, they only know what is told to them. They deal with way to many products to be a expert on every single item they carry. I tried to call Coralvue, but no success. I didn't realize, until yesterday, that LA was going to get hit by a hurricane...YEA!!! Lets hope Coralvue and its employees make it thru this. I have heard that the Coralvue warehouse sustained heavy damage, so lets pray for them and their families. Me needing some info from Coralvue can wait...I am praying for Coralvue and your employee's and their families.

dwair · Aug 31, 2021

Yep in LA. Also told you Abyzz

Fudsey · Aug 31, 2021

Billldg said:
The more I look at the Abyzz, the more I am thinking of buying it. The problem is, I need some hard data to see which one I will need to go with. The size factor of the pump is a no brainer, it is extremely powerful and very small. The only turn off is the price. I have no issue paying top dollar for my dream tank, but, I need some concrete assurance that it will work for my application. I would call BRS, but they do not specialize in any one particular product, they only know what is told to them. They deal with way to many products to be a expert on every single item they carry. I tried to call Coralvue, but no success. I didn't realize, until yesterday, that LA was going to get hit by a hurricane...YEA!!! Lets hope Coralvue and its employees make it thru this. I have heard that the Coralvue warehouse sustained heavy damage, so lets pray for them and their families. Me needing some info from Coralvue can wait...I am praying for Coralvue and your employee's and their families.

Ask @SPR1968 He runs them on his tanks

Operator Wrasse · Aug 31, 2021

Billldg said:
The more I look at the Abyzz, the more I am thinking of buying it. The problem is, I need some hard data to see which one I will need to go with. The size factor of the pump is a no brainer, it is extremely powerful and very small. The only turn off is the price. I have no issue paying top dollar for my dream tank, but, I need some concrete assurance that it will work for my application. I would call BRS, but they do not specialize in any one particular product, they only know what is told to them. They deal with way to many products to be a expert on every single item they carry. I tried to call Coralvue, but no success. I didn't realize, until yesterday, that LA was going to get hit by a hurricane...YEA!!! Lets hope Coralvue and its employees make it thru this. I have heard that the Coralvue warehouse sustained heavy damage, so lets pray for them and their families. Me needing some info from Coralvue can wait...I am praying for Coralvue and your employee's and their families.

If you're looking for a professional opinion, you could reach out to Than at Tidal Gardens. I believe he runs or ran Abyzz pumps on some of his systems. I remember watching a video that mentioned how impressed he was by the pumps. As an example, he made it it seem like 2000 GPH through an Abyzz was way more powerful and consistent than competitors because of the head pressure the pump creates.

SPR1968 · Sep 1, 2021

Billldg said:
The more I look at the Abyzz, the more I am thinking of buying it. The problem is, I need some hard data to see which one I will need to go with. The size factor of the pump is a no brainer, it is extremely powerful and very small. The only turn off is the price. I have no issue paying top dollar for my dream tank, but, I need some concrete assurance that it will work for my application. I would call BRS, but they do not specialize in any one particular product, they only know what is told to them. They deal with way to many products to be a expert on every single item they carry. I tried to call Coralvue, but no success. I didn't realize, until yesterday, that LA was going to get hit by a hurricane...YEA!!! Lets hope Coralvue and its employees make it thru this. I have heard that the Coralvue warehouse sustained heavy damage, so lets pray for them and their families. Me needing some info from Coralvue can wait...I am praying for Coralvue and your employee's and their families.

In my large system I run a single A200 at 86% power and also have a spare for redundancy and swapping over when cleaning. Its around 530 gallons with a relatively slow sump turnover of around 3 x I think, to give maximum contact time with the filtration systems

I run at 86% power because if you go much above that the extra power output in nominal and can be seen on the power graphs for each of the 3 models.

There’s a big jump in price for the A400 so it depends if it’s needed. I run a UVC, chiller, and rowaphos reactor all off the manifold fed by the single A200 without issue.

The pumps come with the 10 year warranty and importantly are absolutely silent. And I mean you can’t hear anything.

Operator Wrasse · Sep 1, 2021

I did some more research on the Abyzz pumps. If this is your dream build and you can't fit the Ecotech pumps, go for the Abyzz. It's self-cleaning, dead silent, and the A200 will easily be able to run every single manifold and return you could put on your tank. I would just advise flow meters to get the right volumetric flow if your running 2 returns, plus UV, plus chiller, plus 3 manifolds, etc. On top of that, it sounds like you won't have to perform any cleaning on the pump for at least 1-2 years if you have a decently clean tank... by the time you need to clean the first pump, you could buy a second as a backup. I would just keep a cheap DC pump on hand as a backup in case you have to utilize Abyzz's warranty.

The A100 is almost $700 and $1000 cheaper than the A200 and A200 IPU respectively, but still pushes 1500 GPH at 6.6 feet, which I'm assuming is the height of your returns. If you're not trying to run a million pieces of equipment off your one pump, the A100 is a solid choice, too.

Billldg · Sep 1, 2021

Operator Wrasse said:
I did some more research on the Abyzz pumps. If this is your dream build and you can't fit the Ecotech pumps, go for the Abyzz. It's self-cleaning, dead silent, and the A200 will easily be able to run every single manifold and return you could put on your tank. I would just advise flow meters to get the right volumetric flow if your running 2 returns, plus UV, plus chiller, plus 3 manifolds, etc. On top of that, it sounds like you won't have to perform any cleaning on the pump for at least 1-2 years if you have a decently clean tank... by the time you need to clean the first pump, you could buy a second as a backup. I would just keep a cheap DC pump on hand as a backup in case you have to utilize Abyzz's warranty.

The A100 is almost $700 and $1000 cheaper than the A200 and A200 IPU respectively, but still pushes 1500 GPH at 6.6 feet, which I'm assuming is the height of your returns. If you're not trying to run a million pieces of equipment off your one pump, the A100 is a solid choice, too.

SPR1968 said:
In my large system I run a single A200 at 86% power and also have a spare for redundancy and swapping over when cleaning. Its around 530 gallons with a relatively slow sump turnover of around 3 x I think, to give maximum contact time with the filtration systems

I run at 86% power because if you go much above that the extra power output in nominal and can be seen on the power graphs for each of the 3 models.

There’s a big jump in price for the A400 so it depends if it’s needed. I run a UVC, chiller, and rowaphos reactor all off the manifold fed by the single A200 without issue.

The pumps come with the 10 year warranty and importantly are absolutely silent. And I mean you can’t hear anything.

If I go with an Abyzz it will be the A200. I run a UV sterilizer, Carbon reactor, and a Algae scrubber off of the returns. Plus, I will need to overcome having to reduce the returns to 3/4 for the flow meters and loc line returns.

I will redo my plumbing and upsize it to 1 1/4 in. I will have 5 90's, 1 Tee, 2 1 1/4 Wye check valves, 2 GHL 1 in flow meters, 2 3/4 locline returns, and probably 2 1 1/4 hand valves to even out the returns. This isn't including the UV, Carbon, and Scrubber, which will add more Tee's, 90's and flow meters.

Operator Wrasse · Sep 1, 2021

Billldg said:
If I go with an Abyzz it will be the A200. I run a UV sterilizer, Carbon reactor, and a Algae scrubber off of the returns. Plus, I will need to overcome having to reduce the returns to 3/4 for the flow meters and loc line returns.

I will redo my plumbing and upsize it to 1 1/4 in. I will have 5 90's, 1 Tee, 2 1 1/4 Wye check valves, 2 GHL 1 in flow meters, 2 3/4 locline returns, and probably 2 1 1/4 hand valves to even out the returns. This isn't including the UV, Carbon, and Scrubber, which will add more Tee's, 90's and flow meters.

Operator Wrasse · Sep 1, 2021

I'm going to continue to live vicariously live through you and your build will be my guinea pig. Twins are expensive and I still have three months to prepare... new car, need to find out how to buy a house in this market, new career... I'm taking 1% credit for this build in the form of good karma.

Billldg · Sep 1, 2021

Operator Wrasse said:
I'm going to continue to live vicariously live through you and your build will be my guinea pig. Twins are expensive and I still have three months to prepare... new car, need to find out how to buy a house in this market, new career... I'm taking 1% credit for this build in the form of good karma.

You have me beat BY FAR when expenses come into play. CONGRATS on the twins.

Operator Wrasse · Sep 1, 2021

Billldg said:
You have me beat BY FAR when expenses come into play. CONGRATS on the twins.

Thanks, brother. I'm stoked. Plus, I think the wife and I are one-and-done from this, so we'll be empty nesters by 50 at the latest. That leaves a whole lot of years until I'm too old to travel and live life. Initially it was a huge shock, but there are a ton of benefits that came with the twins. I can't wait to set them in front of a huge reef tank and see them watch the tangs and wrasses swim back and forth.

Operator Wrasse · Sep 2, 2021

I just saw your post about switching your gyres over to MP60s at some point. Have you thought about doing 4 MP40s like this? I figured you could get some really great water motion this way, including a gyre effect, and not have to worry about detritus buildup in the back. This is my model of the tank on a 40" stand with 4 MP40s. Everything is scaled perfectly. Notice the child? This totally wasn't an attempt to persuade her.

Billldg · Sep 3, 2021

I had to drink a lot of Jameson to go thru this live stream, BUT, it is a great one. I will let you, the reefer decipher it, BUT, look at the props and such...HMMM!!!

Billldg · Sep 3, 2021

I will say, and I am not sure if its because I am a Mod, or because I was outspoken in the live stream about the BRS Neptune merger, but Neptune and their service department has been great to me. I will point this out, as I try to be fully transparent and hold nothing back. They have emailed me, and called me several times to get the Trident, and now FMM module issue, taken care of. I, personally, can't say that I have had a bad experience with the Neptune service dept. so far.

Billldg · Sep 3, 2021

If I change to an Abyzz, and do the replumbing of my return, aka, change the piping from 1' the 1.25', and add the Abyzz, it will cost me roughly $3000. I am up to the challenge, BUT, it may take me a bit to come up with the finances as my money tree died on me several months back...LOL!!!

Billldg · Sep 4, 2021

Just placed an order for a Crescent Tail Fairy wrasse. So another wrasse in the tank...LOL!!!

Operator Wrasse · Sep 4, 2021

Billldg said:
If I change to an Abyzz, and do the replumbing of my return, aka, change the piping from 1' the 1.25', and add the Abyzz, it will cost me roughly $3000. I am up to the challenge, BUT, it may take me a bit to come up with the finances as my money tree died on me several months back...LOL!!!

Sounds like it's set in stone! I started looking at recommended pipe diameters and it seems like no one has the right answer. I don't think you'd have any issues running the Abyzz at 1", but you might as well do the upsize to 1.25" since it's the standard for the pump. What are your drain line sizes?

Beautiful pick on the wrasse, as well. I can't wait to see the colors that develop!

What do you think of the plans I shared for the 4 MP40s?

Billldg · Sep 4, 2021

Operator Wrasse said:
Sounds like it's set in stone! I started looking at recommended pipe diameters and it seems like no one has the right answer. I don't think you'd have any issues running the Abyzz at 1", but you might as well do the upsize to 1.25" since it's the standard for the pump. What are your drain line sizes?

Beautiful pick on the wrasse, as well. I can't wait to see the colors that develop!

What do you think of the plans I shared for the 4 MP40s?

Sorry, haven't looked it over yet as this is the first day I have had in a bit to relax...LOL!!! I will look at it, but, I will likely go with MP60's because of the amount of flow I need for a SPS dominant 225 gal tank. I really don't like to run pumps at their max, thus the MP60's. I currently have 2 MP40's on the back for flow along the back side of the scape to prevent detritus from building up.

My drains are at 1.5 in's.