Blaxsun's Abyss: Red Sea 750XXL

[blaxsun]

Abyss v1.0, circa late 2021.

Abyss v2.0, circa mid 2022.

Abyss v3.0, circa early 2023.

Reef Fish of The Abyss, August 2023

Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL v3 | System: 200 gallons | Display: 160 gallons | Sump: 40 gallons | ATO: 15+7 gallons
Mixed Reef: Anemone, Soft, LPS, SPS | Anemones: 8 | Corals: 60+ | Fish: 52 (current) | Cleanup Crew: 250+
..........
Click here for the entire Reef Inhabitants list | updated Aug 2/23
Click here for my custom EcoTech Radion XR15/XR30 G5/G6 template
(now includes downloadable .mob file) | updated July 1/23
Click here for my Red Sea ReefWave schedule | updated Mar 2/23
Click here for my custom Red Sea UV/Skimmer/Ozone/Reactor setup | updated Aug 2/23
Click here for my custom Red Sea ATO/Dual RO Reservoir setup | added Mar 23/23
Click here for my RODI setup with upgrades | added Mar 27/23
Click here for a guide to Head Height, Flow and Optimizing Water Levels | added Aug 1/23
..........

Return Pump: Sicce SDC 9.0 (»45%) | UV Sterilizer: AquaUltraviolet 57-watt | UV Pump: Sicce SDC 6.0 (»60%)
Controller: Neptune Apex, Trident, DOS, DDR, PMK, FMM, ATK, 2x AFS, 2x EB832 energy bar, 2x Temperature, Salinity, pH, ORP
Ozone: Ozotech Poseidon 200 (currently »25-40%), integrated into Nyos Quantum 160

Skimmer: Nyos Quantum 160 | Reactors: Nyos Torq 1.0 G2 (Carbon/Phosi-Ex) / Torq 2.0 G2 (Zeo) | BioMedia: MarinePure Blocks/Spheres, Polyp Lab Genesis | Filtration: Reef Mat 1200 (~50-60" daily consumption)
Wavemakers: 2x Red Sea ReefWave45 (20-60% random; »8min/«2min) | 2x Maxspect XF330 x2 (30% »fixed, IceCap battery backup)

Heating: Inkbird 306A | 2x Schego 300-watt Titanium (primary/secdonary) | Hygger 500-watt Titanium (tertiary)
Lighting: EcoTech Radion 2x XR30 G5 Blue, 2x XR15 G5 Blue (all w/diffusers) | Schedule: Custom 'Radiance'
Remote Monitoring: Neptune Apex Fusion, Little Elf 1080p WiFi Infrared Camera
ATO: Innovative Marine Hydrofill (15 gallons, external), Red Sea (7 gallons, internal) | Neptune ATK

Primary Testing: Neptune Trident | Temperature, Salinity, pH, ORP, KH, Ca, Mg | Seachem Ammonia Alert
Secondary Testing: Hanna, Nyos, Red Sea | Salinity, pH, KH, Ca, Mg, NO3, PO4, I, Fe, K

Target Parameters: 8.25-8.5 dKH, 450-475ppm Ca, 1450ppm Mg, 0.10-0.15ppm PO4, 30-40ppm NO3
77.8-78.2°F, 35.2-35.5ppt Salinity, 7.90-8.22 pH, 290-325 ORP, 150-275 PAR (sand bed to middle)

Dosing (daily): Nyos Alkalinity (80-100ml | Nyos Calcium (6-8ml) | Nyos Magnesium (1-2ml)
Trace Elements (weekly): Nyos Active Elements (25ml), Nyos Strontium (12.5ml) | Trace Elements (bi-monthly): Nyos Iodine (12.5ml)

Supplements (daily): Nyos Zero (2.5ml), Nyos Bio Booster (2.5ml), Red Sea ReefEnergy AB+ (12.5ml)
Treatments (daily): Red Sea NOPOX (12.5ml)

Automated (daily): 8x Pellet (~1g/per) | New Life Spectrum Marine Fish/AlgaeMax and Nyos Goji Berries
Manual (daily): 2x PE Mysis, 1x PE Calanus, 2x LRS Reef Frenzy, 1x Hikari Brine (cubes) | Vitamins: Brightwell GarlicPower, AminOmega
Coral Supplements (bi-weekly): Polyp Lab Reef Roids (1/2 tbsp), Polyp Booster (2 squirts), Nyos Instant Plankton (0.25ml), Nyos LPS Power (0.5ml), Aquaforest Vitality (8 drops), Build (8 drops)

Medications: Polyp Lab Medic (emergency) | Dipping: Coral RX (primary), Polyp Lab Reef-Primer (as needed for emergencies)​

 

[blaxsun]

"Sherman, set the wayback machine!" So a bit of time travel here - all the way back to February 2021. I placed an order with my LFS for a Red Sea Reefer 750XXL v3 aquarium - right around the time there were glass shortages (naturally) - and literally 2 weeks before they announced the new S-850 (#$%@..!!!). So this gave me some time to work on reorganizing and renovating the new fish room. This was originally my office but we decided it would work better for the new aquarium (replacing the pair of Innovative Marine Fusion Nuvo Fusion Lagoons in the adjacent room).

February 2021. All cleaned out waiting disassembly of the desk.

March 2021. The old cork flooring had to go - replaced with waterproof/antibacterial laminate.

March 2021. While the flooring was being replaced in the old office, I decided to take advantage of the wait and pre-treat some rocks in a 50-gallon Rubbermaid livestock trough. I used the water from the water changes on my old tanks, used filter floss, Microbacter7 and ghost feeding (first week). I also hooked up my pair of Maxspect XF330s and a pair of Fluval M-100 heaters. The rocks were treated and pre-cycled from the latter half of March to April.

April 2021. It has arrived! Well, some of it (everything I could pull out of the tank), which includes the sump, plumbing and parts of the stand). The Roomba was not included.

End of April 2021. And it's here! 5 guys, a tank dolley, four glass suction cups and the tank is in-place! Sump, plumbing and the two Neptune EB832 energy bars are also pre-configured.

May 2021. Just before the tank went live the first week of May. This is the Adaptive Reef cabinet all setup and ready to go. Adaptive Reef makes custom panels so I've gone with one for the DOS, one for the Trident and a recessed one for the pump controllers. The panels on either side of the Trident pull out for some level of minor access so you don't have to take the Trident panel off (at least not often, anyway). Not shown - the insane amount of cabling and wiring that was still left to be done so that it looked reasonably organized while not posing a fire hazard...

 

[blaxsun]

Yes, this build thread is long overdue. Life happens, and while you're busy doing other things you realize an entire year has passed - so it's time to get the lead out and stop procrastinating. I'll be updating this thread will all my trials and tribulations, successes and failures (some quite spectacular!) and will be jumping around the timeline for the past year 'Pulp Fiction' style.

Reasons why you might find this thread interesting? Almost no water changes, stable parameters, tons of fish and zero quarantine. Why you may find some of this surprising and not entirely agree with my approach? Same reasons. I also have numerous stories and accolades to share about my reef inhabitants (some of which are still with me on my journey, some not - but fond memories nonetheless). Peaceful fish that shouldn't be, fish that aren't reef-safe and yet somehow are, invertebrates that have defied typical behavior... there's quite a lot to catch-up on!

So grab a beer or your favorite cold beverage and join me as we venture into... The Abyss.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Nice lookin tank my man!

 

[PeterC99]

Stunning setup and great details! How many years have you been keeping saltwater aquariums?

Don’t forget to link this Build Thread to yourself!

 

[Lavey29]

Just sick cool

 

[blaxsun]

Stunning setup and great details! How many years have you been keeping saltwater aquariums?
Don’t forget to link this Build Thread to yourself!

I am officially starting my third year as of this January - I got started in the saltwater side in January 2020. I had an Innovative Marine Nuvo Atoll (12-gallon) for about 8 months, then I upgraded to a pair of Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion Lagoons (25-gallons/each) from about August 2020 until the new Red Sea Reefer 750XXL tank arrived in April 2021, and come this weekend I'm celebrating a year of successful (at least for the most part!) operation.

 

[jhuntstl]

Appreciate the detail that you put into your equipment, dosing, feeding description. This should be the standard!

 

[PeterC99]

I am officially starting my third year as of this January - I got started in the saltwater side in January 2020. I had an Innovative Marine Nuvo Atoll (12-gallon) for about 8 months, then I upgraded to a pair of Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion Lagoons (25-gallons/each) from about August 2020 until the new Red Sea Reefer 750XXL tank arrived in April 2021, and come this weekend I'm celebrating a year of successful (at least for the most part!) operation.

From all your insightful & helpful posts here on R2R, I thought you have been Reefing for decades!!!

 

[blaxsun]

April 28. Expanding the ATO.
So as any of you who have a Red Sea tank know, most incorporate a gravity fed ATO. Mine has a capacity of ~7 gallons which lasts between 2-2.5 days before needing to be refilled. And refilling it is a major PITA (I've been using a Sicce Zero pump for this which works well, but I want to retain that exclusively for maintenance). I should mention that I've only cleaned my float once (and it was actually very clean) and have had zero problems with the stock setup, so either I'm doing a fairly good job of keeping my sump clean or I've just been very fortunate to-date. In any event, as my RODI system is on the other side of the basement I don't (yet) have the RO running directly to my tank. So I'm lugging water back and forth to fill it up every few days, which isn't a huge deal as I've got several 5-gallon jugs handy. But I did want to expand my ATO system such that I had the capability to leave on holidays for more than just a weekend at a time, and I wanted it completely fail-proof. Enter ATO 2.0.

I decided to go with the Neptune ATK for a few reasons. First, it has 2 optical sensors and a backup float sensor - and only the Tunze Osmolator 3155 has a similar setup. Second, the ATK kit comes with the FMM - which means I can hook up a required third optical sensor and a leak detection sensor. Third, I can tie it into my existing Neptune setup and implement all sorts of custom programming. I also ordered a Innovative Marine 15-gallon external reservoir which is supposed to be here on Monday.

So after setting everything up, here's how it works: Obligatory Home Depot 5-gallon pail holds ~5 gallons of RO (will be upgraded to 15-gallons when the IM reservoir arrives). The Red Sea ATO holds ~7 gallons - for a total of 12 gallons of RO. In the first image you can see my (temporary) wiring mess and in the second you can see the PMUP v2 with a third optical sensor at the bottom (important, stay tuned).



I then have the dual optical/float sensor mounted on the inside of my Red Sea ATO near the top. When the water level in the Red Sea ATO drops, the Neptune ATK kicks in and fills up the Red Sea ATO. So I don't have quite ~7 gallons, but I need to allow a bit of margin for the float to get triggered.



So for programming, I have the standard Neptune ATK configuration with two additions:

If LEAK CLOSED Then OFF
If ATK_RO OPEN Then OFF

This permanently turns the ATO off if a) a leak is ever detected or b) the external ATO reservoir is empty (this is where the third optical sensor comes in). I've also setup two virtual outlets to notify me if either scenario occurs.

What's the point/benefit of this? Well, several. First, the gravity-fed Red Sea system works flawlessly with a float in the return pump chamber. If I placed optical sensors in there, not only would they be really hard to gain access to - but I'd probably have to perform regular (ie: monthly) maintenance on them. In a saltwater+dosing environment they are bound to have a high rate of failure due to salt (etc.) accumulation. Second, it's a lot easier to fill an external ATO reservoir beside the tank than the Red Sea ATO sandwiched in on top of the sump. Third, placing the Neptune optical sensors in RO water is a preferable environment where they are unlikely to gum up (and are far easier to access).

In the end I have a triple optical sensor, leak detection and dual float setup for my ATK.

 

[blaxsun]

From all your insightful & helpful posts here on R2R, I thought you have been Reefing for decades!!!

I owned freshwater fish for many years, but the move to saltwater has certainly been a different experience!

 

[youcallmenny1]

Following along. Off to a great start!

 

[Miami Reef]

Amazing! Definitely following.

 

[ReefRondo]

Very cool! Following.

 

[blaxsun]

Blaxsun's Tips: Cleaning Those Infernal Black Sponges.
What you need: White vinegar
From time to time I'm going to interject some (hopefully) helpful tips into this thread. The first one is how to clean the black sponges from your reactors or sump baffles. I start by rinsing under hot water and scrub as much of the surface grime away by either mashing the sponge together or taking an appropriately sized nylon brush (gently) to it. This only gets you halfway, though. Next, find a container that will fit the uncompressed sponge. Fill with very hot water and a few capfuls of white vinegar and let the sponge soak for an hour or so (you may need to weigh it down).

The initially clean water will change to a nice shade of yellowish-brown (depending on how dirty the sponge was) as the vinegar and hot water dissolves any detritus, etc. Leave for an hour or two, remove and thoroughly rinse, squeeze dry, pat down in a dry towel - and back into the tank or reactor.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

I love this thing man awesome will be following

 

[CoralB]

Congrats on your build thread badge . Tank is a knockout !!! Kudos

 

[Susan Edwards]

Blaxsun's Tips: Cleaning Those Infernal Black Sponges.
What you need: White vinegar.
From time to time I'm going to interject some (hopefully) helpful tips into this thread. The first one is how to clean the black sponges from your reactors or sump baffles. I start by rinsing under hot water and scrub as much of the surface grime away by either mashing the sponge together or taking an appropriately sized nylon brush (gently) to it. This only gets you halfway, though. Next, find a container that will fit the uncompressed sponge. Fill with very hot water and a few capfuls of white vinegar and let the sponge soak for an hour or so (you may need to weigh it down).

The initially clean water will change to a nice shade of yellowish-brown (depending on how dirty the sponge was) as the vinegar and hot water dissolves any detritus, etc. Leave for an hour or two, remove and thoroughly rinse, squeeze dry, pat down in a dry towel - and back into the tank or reactor.

great tip! I was thinking of also throwing mine in with the socks when I wash them. I use a bit of bleach in the wash and do a good 5-6 rinse cycles. Think that would work? I just ordered a 2nd sponge so I can swap them out

 

[Susan Edwards]

so glad yo started this as you have so much good advice and knowledge. Add your tank link to your sig line. Be following!

 

[Projects with Sam]

glad you started your build thread!