Blaxsun's Abyss: Red Sea 750XXL

[Speaker]

July 20. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
So it's been just over a month now that I've been using the new Red Sea ReefMat. Here are the pros, cons and various observations that I've made during this timeframe.
..........

The Good. If you hate (and I mean absolutely, abhorrently despise) cleaning filter socks - this is definitely the way to go. Reconfiguring the sump is not too terribly difficult (albeit time consuming), and once running it performs flawlessly. Changing fleece rolls is effortless and there is a noticeable noise/splash reduction in your sump.

The Bad. If you have a heavily stocked tank like mine, you're going to use more fleece. Potentially a lot more. Right now I'm averaging 8-10 days per roll which works out to $75 CAD/month. So arguably I've blown my budget right out of the water here, but in fairness I haven't worked out the time/laundering costs for my stash of filter socks, either. It was probably running me at least $25 in water, electricity and OxiClean - plus the time mercilessly scrubbing everything. And I haven't factored in the cost of replacement filter socks, which was probably in the very near future.

The initial spike in Week 1 was where I was using the integrated filter basket with the active carbon Red Sea so generously included. This actually ended up inhibiting water flow and causing premature fleece consumption. Around Day 5 I'd figured out the culprit and use has been fairly consistent since.

The small "spikes" you see are when I replaced a fleece roll and had to slightly advance the unit (I've since refined my procedure so this has been reduced somewhat since.


The Ugly. Well, by the title you know there was going to be be some, so like with a bandaid - best to just rip it off. The fleece rolls Red Sea provides are 200-microns and I'd previously been using 100-micron filter socks. So despite using more fleece and doing a better overall job - anything smaller than 200-microns is getting through. And this has led to higher nitrates and more of the general algae that accumulates on the glass. So I'm also cleaning the glass more often.

As you can see, nitrates have jumped up by about 15ppm and remained somewhere between 35-45ppm. None of my inverts, fish or corals seem to have been affected - but it's obviously starting to get outside my comfort zone. I haven't added lot of fish (the few have all been really small), feeding hasn't changed and I've actually cut back on coral feedings from 2x to 1x per week. Fish do grow, though. On the nitrate chart, the nitrate level from Feb to mid-April was actually off due to a faulty test kit (so nitrates were in reality probably in the 15-25ppm range).

I'm not running the same amount of MarinePure spheres, though (maybe a third of what I had, just because I didn't have any additional baskets for them), and with the reconfiguration of the sump the water no longer passes from the overflow past all the media blocks - so it's entirely possible that I may need to rethink this. Relocating the Sicce pump for the UV is logistically problematic, so the best option may be to just obtain a larger Tunze powerhead and replace the smaller Sicce Voyager Nano.

On the plus side, phosphates haven't really changed. If anything they've actually gone down slightly which is fine by me. The drop at the end of April was where I was trying to get nitrates/phosphates under control and dosed too much NOPOX - bottoming it out.

I've resumed NOPOX dosing, but my phosphates are already fairly low so I'll have to monitor this closely to avoid them bottoming out again. I'm on the fence with the Polyp Lab Genesis rocks I added. It should be enough to keep nitrates in check for a tank twice my size, but with the reduction in filtration from 100 to 200-microns it's also possible they are working - and that nitrates would've been even higher.

So the plan to tackle my nitrates is going to be three-fold:
1. Add-in the remainder of the MarinePure spheres (these will take some time to seed, though).
2. Look at upgrading the Sicce wavemaker.
3. Resume daily/semi-daily NOPOX dosing.

This makes me glad I canceled my pre-order. I was worried the fleece roll would cost me a fortune. I'm still using the filter cups with Poly-fill. A bag lasts me close to 2months so $4 a month.

 

[blaxsun]

This makes me glad I canceled my pre-order. I was worried the fleece roll would cost me a fortune. I'm still using the filter cups with Poly-fill. A bag lasts me close to 2months so $4 a month.

I'm averaging just shy of 2 weeks per fleece roll now, which is about 3-4x longer than the first week. I think the additional bio media (MarinePure spheres) and NOPOX are helping as well.

For any kind of extended trip or vacation, this thing is a game changer. I have a heavily-stocked tank (42+ fish), so my setup isn't the typical scenario, either.

The novelty of washing filter socks and constantly changing out filter floss does wear thin quickly, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the ReefMat (probably the best fleece roller on the market right now).

 

[A Young Reefer]

July 18. Eye Candy
These are some recent corals images snapped with one of the carbon fibre Building An Obsession lens hoods. Enjoy!

Neon green hydnophora.


Large Chip's acropora colony.


Some cheap mushrooms evolving into a bounce variant.


A maroon montipora setosa. The mouths are pretty cool.


A green palythoa colony (green people eater possibly?)


One of my orange Caribbean rockflower anemones.


A meteor cyphastrea.


An orange zoanthid colony (not sure which type).


A red sangria mushroom which has grown from a 25¢ piece to this in a year.


A green montipora setosa (or chalice, can't remember).

The maroon monti looks somewhat like a sunburst monti, mine has a brighter colour with the same yellow mouths.

 

[blaxsun]

The maroon monti looks somewhat like a sunburst monti, mine has a brighter colour with the same yellow mouths.

I think you're right. The other red one I have is a montipora setosa.

 

[blaxsun]

July 31. Just the Good
As a followup to my July 20 update ("The Good, The Bad & The Ugly"), I'm pleased to report that nitrate and phosphate levels are down. Way, way down... (I probably should've tested about 5 days ago as well). After 9-10 days of NOPOX @25ml/daily (primarily into the sump, although I did dose the tank directly one day) - and the addition of 3x the number of MarinePure 1.5" spheres (2»6 media baskets) roughly 5 days ago - my levels now stand at:

• Nitrates: 0.25-1ppm (down from over 40ppm)
• Phosphates: 0.010-0.025ppm (down from 1.5ppm)

Contrary to popular belief, despite effectively bottoming out nitrates and phosphates - I'm not seeing a massive wave of dinos, cyano, green hair or bubble algae as a result. In fact, other than coralline algae (which continues to grow like a plague) and a slight bit of film on the glass every few days - there's nothing horrendous spawning in my tank. And other than a slight uptick in fleece roll use this week (from 85-90"/daily to 100-105"/daily) and some algae growth on my Tunze scraper - I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

Feeding hadn't changed during this time - and I'd actually increased the amount of coral feeding (Reef Roids, LPS Power and Instant Plankton) from 1x to 2x/weekly.

The only noticeable change has been with 3 small polyp leathers, which are either incredibly ticked off at me and/or dead. I'm going to give it another week or so to see if there's any sign of life before pulling the plug. All the other corals are (for the most part) healthy and thriving. I'm losing the odd zoanthid here and there, so I suspect I may have a phantom nipper (the primary suspect being the Emperor angelfish). The zoa/paly colonies tend to grow like weeds and the most gorgeous colonies have been left alone entirely - so this seems to be mainly limited to the "ugly" kind of zoas and palys, ie: the small dark green/yellow feathery types. All the other LPS/SPS have been completely ignored as well, and as this has resulted in some rock real estate for new corals becoming available - it's a tradeoff I'm not unhappy with (there aren't too many fish that will just go after certain nuisance corals).

Going forward, I think "light" NOPOX use could be a great preventative measure - so I'm planning to test nitrates and phosphates, then dose 12.5ml every weekend and see where the levels go from there.
..........

There's a YouTube video that I've posted about where the author theorizes that low nutrient levels are symptomatic of algae outbreaks - and not in fact the root cause, ie: by the time your nitrate and phosphate levels bottom out to zero - dinos, cyano (etc.) have already taken root - it's only when they finally become visible that you test and "voila!" - nitrates and phosphates are zero.

As time goes on I'm coming around to his way of thinking, ie:
• By the time you see issues with problematic algae outbreaks - it's already been in the works for a while (just not visible). And by boosting nitrates and phosphates you potentially exacerbate the spread.
• By the time you see deterioration in certain corals - they've already been in decline (just not apparent). And at this point - even with a dip or other treatment, they may already be beyond saving.

 

[blaxsun]

August 5. Global Warming
My new OzoTech Poseidon 200 arrived yesterday and I had a chance to install it late this afternoon on my Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer. What are the benefits of ozone? In a nutshell, you get super clear (like razor sharp) water without the need for carbon (although I still plan to run carbon), less pollutants and waste in the tank (as the interaction with ozone binds/destroys these) and it also supposedly eliminates the unseen bi-products of coral warfare (this last one is of particular interest).

OzoTech has apparently been specializing in ozone systems for the better part of 30 years, and it was highly endorsed and recommended by companies like Tidal Gardens and numerous members on R2R (click here for a short video on Tidal Garden's first impressions).



The unit itself is very compact, lightweight and comes with everything you need to configure to an existing reactor or skimmer that has built-in ozone capability. It includes a check valve, roughly 4 feet of tubing, a replacement fuse and four spare hose-hose connections. While you can run it with an air pump I've opted to dispense with this option and just let the air draw from the skimmer provide the necessary air flow. I mounted it on the inside of my cabinet using two 16lb command strips, and as this unit is stupid light it was probably vastly overkill. This spot is splash-free and still allows me access to the UV, skimmer (etc.) for any maintenance.

The tubing connects to the bottom of the silencer on my Nyos skimmer (normally covered by a small black rubber cap). The only modification I made is a titanium screw to replace the nylon one for air adjustment (@Sean Clark indicated this will deteriorate over time otherwise). I've got the new titanium screw opened up fairly wide to ensure maximize air/ozone intake. The intake hose snakes down outside the cabinet to draw in dust/moisture-free air (I've got a dehumidifier running in that room).



So far the unit seems to be operating as advertised (although there doesn't appear to be any indicator light on the unit - just a click when you turn the dial from 0 to 100 on the unit; I have a support inquiry into OzoTech to confirm). The foam level in the skimmer went from below the collection cup to about halfway up - and this wasn't immediate - so there's definitely some sort of additional reaction taking place. An hour or so in and nothing is dead - so that's always a good sign!

I'm not running any active carbon on top of the unit at this time in-part due to the the ozone output being at a bare minimum. At some point I may either add a bag or two of carbon on top of the skimmer or opt for one of those StinkSink lids I've seen featured for my skimmer if I increase the ozone level (right now I can't detect any ozone whatsoever, though).

There hasn't been any change in ORP - but after 6pm is always the low point anyway. Speaking of which, I did connect the Poseidon to the Apex energy bar and configure it to automatically shut-off in certain feed modes and conditions. Here's the Apex Fusion code for those interested.

Fallback ON
Set ON
If LEAK CLOSED Then OFF
If ORP > 400 Then OFF
If ORP < 400 Then ON
If Output NYOS_QNTM160 = OFF Then OFF
If FeedC 000 Then OFF
If FeedD 000 Then OFF
Defer 000:30 Then ON

"LEAK" is my Neptune leak detection sensor, and if it gets triggered various pumps, heaters, skimmers (etc.) get turned off so I want to ensure the ozone stops being produced as well. I've got an on/off ORP threshold of 400 (my ORP fluctuates between 275 and 325 currently), and I've also configured the Poseidon to turn off for 2 feed modes and in the event the skimmer "NYOS_QNTM160" outlet is ever off. Finally, I added a 30-second delay before turning back on to allow time for the skimmer to spin back up.

The plan is to run the unit @20% for the next few days, then gradually increase to 30% and 40% over the following weeks and make observations. It's "light's out" right now in the tank so tomorrow will be a better indication to see any immediate benefits to corals, fish or the tank overall.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Nice on the new equipment!

Are you dosing the nopox? I have mine set to dose during daylight hours. About 12 ml a day. Going to lower it to 8 or lower over the next few days as my no3 has dropped now to 1.2 today. Plan to also dose the nyos every other day at just 1ml. Leaving for a week soon and would rather have higher no3 to deal with when I return than to have them bottomed out while gone. Have a non reefer friend housesitting and I think testing with the hanna might be too much...!

<<By the time you see deterioration in certain corals - they've already been in decline (just not apparent). And at this point - even with a dip or other treatment, they may already be beyond saving.>>

I agree here. I think this is why when you buy corals from a lfs or online, and they look great at the store and when you get them home, but then soon after they start to decline. The stress was already setting in. Even from shipping. The new acros I got looked so great but within days all turned brown. Might be seeing some return of color (blue light after dark)

 

[blaxsun]

Nice on the new equipment!

Are you dosing the nopox? I have mine set to dose during daylight hours. About 12 ml a day. Going to lower it to 8 or lower over the next few days as my no3 has dropped now to 1.2 today. Plan to also dose the nyos every other day at just 1ml. Leaving for a week soon and would rather have higher no3 to deal with when I return than to have them bottomed out while gone. Have a non reefer friend housesitting and I think testing with the hanna might be too much...!

<<By the time you see deterioration in certain corals - they've already been in decline (just not apparent). And at this point - even with a dip or other treatment, they may already be beyond saving.>>

I agree here. I think this is why when you buy corals from a lfs or online, and they look great at the store and when you get them home, but then soon after they start to decline. The stress was already setting in. Even from shipping. The new acros I got looked so great but within days all turned brown. Might be seeing some return of color (blue light after dark)

Thanks! I've been manually dosing NOPOX in the sump daily but I cut this back to weekly (weekends). I'm using the same amount (25ml) - just once a week instead of daily. I'll be testing my nitrates and phosphates next week to see what impact the reduced NOPOX and ozone have had (if any).

Yes, and shipping is really stressful in extreme cold/hot temperatures (the best time to ship is probably late spring and early fall).

 

[blaxsun]

August 6. 24
24-hours into the new ozone system and I'm definitely noticing differences. The water is definitely sharper (although it was pretty clear between the UV and carbon prior). The colors in the fish also seem to "pop" more. All the corals still look really healthy - except the leathers (which I think are toast), gorgonian (which was really happy) and the GSP colonies (which went into overdrive today and have expanded by probably 25%!)

Just for kicks, I cleaned the right half of the front glass and left the left half dirty. When I went to feed the fish there wasn't any new accumulation on the right side - and the greenish algae that had accumulated on the left was noticeable less. You could still see it, but it wasn't a solid thin coating anymore - there were clear patches everywhere. I've left both of the sides untouched to see if anything natural deteriorates there as well.

Something curious - the rocks that I normally wrap algae on are usually white when I remove them after letting them sit in the tank overnight. Today four of them had a noticeable yellow tinge to them - something which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. The only change has been the introduction of the ozone, so I have to do some research to figure out what kind of reaction is happening here. I've left the ozone output @20% while I continue to investigate.

There hasn't been any noticeable change to my ORP or pH levels - other than pH being down slightly today from yesterday (but I had the reactors and skimmer off for over an hour while I was retrofitting everything, and I dosed my weekly NOPOX - so I'm chalking this up to a combination of those). No changes to salinity or temperature, either.
..........

Addendum: As I was writing this my wife came into the room and said - "wow, you can really notice the difference in the water from further back". My eyesight not being the greatest - that's probably the best independent confirmation that something has definitely improved (she also agreed that the fish seem more vibrant).

 

[A Young Reefer]

August 6. 24
24-hours into the new ozone system and I'm definitely noticing differences. The water is definitely sharper (although it was pretty clear between the UV and carbon prior). The colors in the fish also seem to "pop" more. All the corals still look really healthy - except the leathers (which I think are toast), gorgonian (which was really happy) and the GSP colonies (which went into overdrive today and have expanded by probably 25%!)

Just for kicks, I cleaned the right half of the front glass and left the left half dirty. When I went to feed the fish there wasn't any new accumulation on the right side - and the greenish algae that had accumulated on the left was noticeable less. You could still see it, but it wasn't a solid thin coating anymore - there were clear patches everywhere. I've left both of the sides untouched to see if anything natural deteriorates there as well.

Something curious - the rocks that I normally wrap algae on are usually white when I remove them after letting them sit in the tank overnight. Today four of them had a noticeable yellow tinge to them - something which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. The only change has been the introduction of the ozone, so I have to do some research to figure out what kind of reaction is happening here. I've left the ozone output @20% while I continue to investigate.

There hasn't been any noticeable change to my ORP or pH levels - other than pH being down slightly today from yesterday (but I had the reactors and skimmer off for over an hour while I was retrofitting everything, and I dosed my weekly NOPOX - so I'm chalking this up to a combination of those). No changes to salinity or temperature, either.
..........

Addendum: As I was writing this my wife came into the room and said - "wow, you can really notice the difference in the water from further back". My eyesight not being the greatest - that's probably the best independent confirmation that something has definitely improved (she also agreed that the fish seem more vibrant).

Can the difference be noticed on camera?

 

[Speaker]

July 28. Hello Helio!
Some time back Innovative Marine was kind enough to send me a 700-watt Helio heating system to test in my tank. The kid got COVID, then the wife - then me - so this kind of derailed my spring (plus I was still limping around from a broken ankle over the winter).

I'll be doing a comprehensive review over the summer/fall along the lines of what I've done for the Red Sea ReefMat, including some benchmarks and comparisons to my existing Inkbird/Schego heating setup so we can see how they perform side by side. Supposedly the Helio is deadly accurate and I'm looking forward to spooling up some data.

So stay tuned in the coming days and weeks for continued updates! Until then, a bit of eye candy to wet your whistle (IM really packs these nicely!)

When are you getting this bad boy going?

 

[blaxsun]

Can the difference be noticed on camera?

No… I tried with my camera and it just can’t pickup the subtleties that you see with the human eye.

 

[blaxsun]

When are you getting this bad boy going?

Hopefully tomorrow! I was just waiting to time it with some sump maintenance in the chamber with my other heaters. It’s a bit more of a juggling act with the ReefMat in place now.

 

[blaxsun]

Can the difference be noticed on camera?

I wanted to just add an addendum to clarify: you can't see visual differences in the tank with a camera, but you can see the visual differences by just taking some water out in a white container. I meant to get a "before" shot, but if you've ever emptied any water from your tank you'll know what I mean when I say it usually has a pale yellowish tint to it.

After taking a sample this evening, the water was crystal clear - there wasn't any discoloration or yellow tint. According to the manufacturer, ozone-treated tank water reverts to NSW - thus eliminating the need for water changes. I've hardly performed any in the past year (several 10% changes during sump maintenance) - but really makes me excited to know that between the fleece roller, bio media, protein skimmer, UV and now ozone system that I'm able to remove the vast (vast) majorities of impurities from the tank.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Might be something I will look into for future. You know me: messing with plumbing etc makes me nervous. Is it just adding a pump? Like a UV? Can it run off a manifold? So glad you're pleased. I doubt I'd ever do the fleece roller just because I don't want to modify the sump to remove the socks or cut my down pipe--yeah, nervous. Debating adding more media. Even more zeo (I have half the recommended) or more ceramic material but not the stuff that crumbles. What a mess!

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Woah. Ozone move? Right on. Nice job.
I'll be watching. I had a mentor who said ozone was good. Lol. I'm intrested on your findings and telling.
Thanks for sharing

D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

*in

 

[blaxsun]

Might be something I will look into for future. You know me: messing with plumbing etc makes me nervous. Is it just adding a pump? Like a UV? Can it run off a manifold? So glad you're pleased. I doubt I'd ever do the fleece roller just because I don't want to modify the sump to remove the socks or cut my down pipe--yeah, nervous. Debating adding more media. Even more zeo (I have half the recommended) or more ceramic material but not the stuff that crumbles. What a mess!

If you have an ozone-compatible skimmer you just run the air hose into the silencer and plug the ozone unit in (you can see my setup in the above image).

Yes, if you have a manifold you can run a ozone reactor instead of the skimmer (this necessitates the addition of the reactor as well, though).

 

[blaxsun]

Woah. Ozone move? Right on. Nice job.
I'll be watching. I had a mentor who said ozone was good. Lol. I'm intrested on your findings and telling.
Thanks for sharing

So far it’s great - tank water is crystal clear, colors “pop” a lot more, way more depth of field and the water no longer has any yellow coloration.

Definitely worth every penny of the $450 investment so far.

 

[Sean Clark]

Glad to hear that you are having a noticable impact already. Once your orp starts to rise you will see the sparkle clarity that ozone is known for.