OP
OP
blaxsun
10K Club member
July 4. Z-Day Part VII: Cruise Control
Happy Canada Day/Independence Day to my fellow reefers! Just a short update on my continued ReefMat operation (I've been running this now for almost 3 weeks). The removal of the bag of media from the media tray has indeed greatly decreased my daily fleece use - probably by half.
The massive spike in the first week was the gradual clogging up of the media bag, restricting flow and prematurely causing the sensor to trigger and spool more fleece than necessary. I removed this just prior to the start of the second week - and you can see the abrupt drop in usage.
Since then daily fleece usage has stabilized somewhere between 4-6" per hour or 138-148" daily (I'm currently averaging 144.7" daily). This translates into roughly 7.5 days of filtration per roll for me, which may seem like a lot but I also have 44 fish in my tank and the sand is Oolite (notoriously bad for easily getting stirred up).
Realistically, I think a moderately-stocked tank (<20) fish with larger particle sand should easily get 2-3 weeks (or even a month) from a single roll. Obviously YMMV, but I consider a roll a week to be on the extreme end of things. Smaller and less-stocked tanks can probably get away with a single fleece roll for 1.5-2 months.
Just a side note: the minor spike in the second week was where the ReefMat "jammed" and I had to replace the roll - so there was more usage recorded from me advancing the roll.
Bonus Tip! On that note, the ReefMat actually didn't "jam" - what happened is that the end of the waste roll came off and it was spinning in-place without advancing (so the unit detected this as a "jam"). I think RedSea should look at adding little plastic bumps to the two halves of the waste roller for better grip, but the solution that I'd recommend is to take a small strip of masking tape and tape the end of the fleece roll to the waste roller so that it can't separate (as the waste roller accumulates more used fleece a lot more tension builds up).
..........
July 4. Oxygenate!
On a whim based on a post I saw on R2R, I ordered two of these new Aerators for saltwater sumps from a company called GrowGreenie. It's a very simple way of aerating your sump or tank with any existing plumbing.
I'm very impressed with the product so far. Each unit comes with the unit as pictured above (the end detaches if you want to shorten it or provide larger bubbles), a MPT-MPT adapter, a MPT-FTP adapter if you want to glue it, the air hose, a suction cup/clip for the air hose and a cleaning tool. How I mounted mine was with a 3/4" barb-1/2" MPT connection that I attached to the end of the 3/4" braided hose coming off my AquaUV 57-watter UV sterilizer. This normally just hung loose in the sump anyway, so now it's adding additional oxygenation when operating.
I uploaded a short video to demonstrate how much air is injected into your sump and the approximate noise level when you have the cabinet open (you can't hear it at all with the doors closed). Hopefully you can view the video without issue. There's zero spray up the sides of the sump glass, although I'll probably end up with a bit more accumulating on the underside of the Nyos skimmer.
What I really like about this product is that you can just add it to any existing pump or outlet. I already track my ORP levels 24x7, so hopefully I'll have some data in a week or so to see how much this is influencing my system.
Happy Canada Day/Independence Day to my fellow reefers! Just a short update on my continued ReefMat operation (I've been running this now for almost 3 weeks). The removal of the bag of media from the media tray has indeed greatly decreased my daily fleece use - probably by half.
The massive spike in the first week was the gradual clogging up of the media bag, restricting flow and prematurely causing the sensor to trigger and spool more fleece than necessary. I removed this just prior to the start of the second week - and you can see the abrupt drop in usage.
Since then daily fleece usage has stabilized somewhere between 4-6" per hour or 138-148" daily (I'm currently averaging 144.7" daily). This translates into roughly 7.5 days of filtration per roll for me, which may seem like a lot but I also have 44 fish in my tank and the sand is Oolite (notoriously bad for easily getting stirred up).
Realistically, I think a moderately-stocked tank (<20) fish with larger particle sand should easily get 2-3 weeks (or even a month) from a single roll. Obviously YMMV, but I consider a roll a week to be on the extreme end of things. Smaller and less-stocked tanks can probably get away with a single fleece roll for 1.5-2 months.
Just a side note: the minor spike in the second week was where the ReefMat "jammed" and I had to replace the roll - so there was more usage recorded from me advancing the roll.
Bonus Tip! On that note, the ReefMat actually didn't "jam" - what happened is that the end of the waste roll came off and it was spinning in-place without advancing (so the unit detected this as a "jam"). I think RedSea should look at adding little plastic bumps to the two halves of the waste roller for better grip, but the solution that I'd recommend is to take a small strip of masking tape and tape the end of the fleece roll to the waste roller so that it can't separate (as the waste roller accumulates more used fleece a lot more tension builds up).
..........
July 4. Oxygenate!
On a whim based on a post I saw on R2R, I ordered two of these new Aerators for saltwater sumps from a company called GrowGreenie. It's a very simple way of aerating your sump or tank with any existing plumbing.
New Aerator for Saltwater Sumps Ultra-Quiet Multi-Venturi
No more noisy aquariums! This patent-pending multi-venturi nozzle oxygenates quietly and energy efficiently without air pumps or air stones. Achieve high dissolved oxygen levels using a water pump and a compact multi-venturi in your saltwater or freshwater sump tank.
www.growgreenie.com
I'm very impressed with the product so far. Each unit comes with the unit as pictured above (the end detaches if you want to shorten it or provide larger bubbles), a MPT-MPT adapter, a MPT-FTP adapter if you want to glue it, the air hose, a suction cup/clip for the air hose and a cleaning tool. How I mounted mine was with a 3/4" barb-1/2" MPT connection that I attached to the end of the 3/4" braided hose coming off my AquaUV 57-watter UV sterilizer. This normally just hung loose in the sump anyway, so now it's adding additional oxygenation when operating.
I uploaded a short video to demonstrate how much air is injected into your sump and the approximate noise level when you have the cabinet open (you can't hear it at all with the doors closed). Hopefully you can view the video without issue. There's zero spray up the sides of the sump glass, although I'll probably end up with a bit more accumulating on the underside of the Nyos skimmer.
What I really like about this product is that you can just add it to any existing pump or outlet. I already track my ORP levels 24x7, so hopefully I'll have some data in a week or so to see how much this is influencing my system.
