Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[mta_morrow]

My favorite submarine story:

I was on a carrier and we were doing NATO exercises with about 7 other ships from several nations.

Our job was to find a “Russian” submarine which was actually one of ours playing the bad guy.

7 days pass, exercise over.

We failed. And we had some serious gear at our disposal.

As soon as it is announced that the exercise is over, the sub surfaces right in the middle of all the ships!

Stunning to say the least! It was there for the whole 7 days!

Hats of to @Brew12! Makes me feel good about having bubble heads like that on our side!

 

[Brew12]

I am thinking of Das Boot when the bolts were popping. I am sure it is only 1% of the reality. Doubly impressed by anyone who can serve submerged.

I love that movie, but it isn't realistic. There is something called a zipper effect on flanges with bolts. I'm sure @Robin Haselden is familiar with it since it is a common threat at power generating stations. Once the first bolt breaks there is more strain on the remaining bolts. It is almost unheard of for 1 bolt to break on a pressure system without every b0lt immediately shearing.
5 years on the sub was enough. Had I stayed in I would have done another 4 year tour and just didn't have it in me.

 

[Nick C]

Thank you. And I also appreciate everyone who has reached out to me privately. It is wonderful to know the community here at R2R is so supportive.

I know I've discussed my problems at length and in trying to provide details, along with just being busy, I have given people an impression that things are worse than they are. I apologize for this. The tank needs a good cleaning, but I did take care of the glass and was home early enough to take a few pics before the lights go blue.

What do you use to take such clear photos? I assume more than a mobile camera?

 

[Brew12]

My favorite submarine story:

I was on a carrier and we were doing NATO exercises with about 7 other ships from several nations.

Our job was to find a “Russian” submarine which was actually one of ours playing the bad guy.

7 days pass, exercise over.

We failed. And we had some serious gear at our disposal.

As soon as it is announced that the exercise is over, the sub surfaces right in the middle of all the ships!

Stunning to say the least! It was there for the whole 7 days!

Hats of to @Brew12! Makes me feel good about having bubble heads like that on our side!

We were supporting a similar exercise once. The night before it was supposed to start we got a fishing net tangled up in our prop. If we did over 3 knots it made a ton of noise. We decided to take advantage of that and operated very near the surface. They tracked us the entire time but thought we were a small trawler because no submarine would ever make that much noise. 3 days of this, and not once did they ever have a lookout check to get a visual on what they were tracking via sonar.
Needless to say, we had a good laugh with this one.

 

[Brew12]

What do you use to take such clear photos? I assume more than a mobile camera?

I do, but not anything great. An older Nikon 3100 with 3 different lenses. I then use Adobe Lightroom for a little post processing. I always try to keep the colors true to what the eye sees. I try to make sure the coraline algae comes out the same color every time which should make each coral/fish show as the eye would see it. Cameras can have a hard time with the blue lighting. I find looking at coralline, sand, and frag plugs the best way to see how true to life a photo is. If the sand looks blue or the coralline is different in each photo you know you aren't seeing an accurate picture.

 

[mta_morrow]

I love that movie, but it isn't realistic. There is something called a zipper effect on flanges with bolts. I'm sure @Robin Haselden is familiar with it since it is a common threat at power generating stations. Once the first bolt breaks there is more strain on the remaining bolts. It is almost unheard of for 1 bolt to break on a pressure system without every b0lt immediately shearing.
5 years on the sub was enough. Had I stayed in I would have done another 4 year tour and just didn't have it in me.

I hear ya on that one! Had I stayed in with my carrier qualifications, my rotation would have been 5 at sea, 2 on land.

Too much.

I would however do it all again as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Nick C]

I hear ya on that one! Had I stayed in with my carrier qualifications, my rotation would have been 5 at sea, 2 on land.

Too much.

I would however do it all again as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Being a Corpsman i always enjoyed going to the Ball. It was a great time, and many Marines wanting IV's after

 

[Nick C]

It is time for me to start a new build thread. My old system was great for awhile but it isn't what I wanted long term. So, the process of replacing it begins!

Tank: 187g SCA Aquarium, 60"x30"x24"

Sump: Trigger Sapphire 39

Overflow: Synergy Reef 16" Shadow

Return Pump: Sicce Syncra Pro 1500

Flow: 2 Maxpect Gyre XF250 - one on each end

Skimmer: Deltec SCA 1660

Lighting: 3 Mitras LX7206 LED's.
Kessil H380 over fuge

Controller: Profilux 4

Doser: GHL Doser 2.1
Channel 1 - Kalk - 5g Trigger Sapphire ATO container (20 ml x 70 doses)
Channel 2 - Alk - 3.5L Trigger Saphire dosing container (4.2ml x 12 doses)
Channel 3 - Calc - 3.5L Trigger Saphire dosing container (4.2ml x 12 doses)
Channel 4 - Mag - 2.5L Trigger Saphire dosing container (2ml x 12 doses)

ATO: Tuze 3155 with 10g Trigger Sapphire reservoir.

Feeding: 2 Cubes PE mysis and 1/2 sheet nori in the morning. Piece of LRS fish frenzy in the evening. 6 scoops BRS Reef Chili 2 times per week.

Daily at 7mL of UWC Chroma. Every 2 weeks add 15mL of UWC Vibrant.

*Trial 8mL of CaCO3 solution every evening to test effectiveness on Vermitid snails.
**Trial over and declaring it a failure.

20g water changes every 2 weeks.

Got a question for you, Is there a reason you went with the maxspects? I'm looking for new flow options as i'm using old hydor powerheads. I don't know if i should get the Maxspect 250 (one for now and another later if i need it) Or a couple MP40's. I trust your opinion a lot, so any insite as to why you chose what you did would be super helpful!

 

[Brew12]

Got a question for you, Is there a reason you went with the maxspects? I'm looking for new flow options as i'm using old hydor powerheads. I don't know if i should get the Maxspect 250 (one for now and another later if i need it) Or a couple MP40's. I trust your opinion a lot, so any insite as to why you chose what you did would be super helpful!

ooops.. I'll try again.... with text this time

 

[Victoria M]

I went back and reread the begining of the thread. I forgot about that stuff. I also forgot that our tanks are the same measurements.

 

[Nick C]

ooops.. I'll try again.... with text this time

Wait what?

 

[Brew12]

Got a question for you, Is there a reason you went with the maxspects? I'm looking for new flow options as i'm using old hydor powerheads. I don't know if i should get the Maxspect 250 (one for now and another later if i need it) Or a couple MP40's. I trust your opinion a lot, so any insite as to why you chose what you did would be super helpful!

When I set up my previous tank, which was 72"x18"x20" and had a pair of MP40's. I love the design of the MP40's but not a big fan of the flow pattern on a larger tank. I do feel they would be good on a 4' tank or smaller or on a larger cube aquarium. The big problem is that they don't have much reach into a tank. They have great flow for about 2 ft but it quickly drops off. For my 5' tank now, I would need at least 6 of them to get what I want for flow.
I absolutely love the flow pattern from the gyres. I get a nice wide flow pattern across the top that drops off at the bottom where it is interrupted by the rocks. This gives me higher flow areas for SPS and lower flow for LPS. I also like how low profile the gyres are. And, with the flow spread out over 10" you can put acro's almost directly in front of them without the coral being damaged. Even the fish love the gyre flow pattern and it impacts there swimming habits in a way that reminds me of what I see in the surf while scuba diving. I'm strongly considering adding another 2 gyres to have them side by side with my current ones and run them in pairs. This will give me more water flow without increasing flow velocity. Should be a great thing for my tank if I do it.

 

[Brew12]

Wait what?

I quoted it and immediately hit enter without ever actually answering your question.

 

[Brew12]

I went back and reread the begining of the thread. I forgot about that stuff. I also forgot that our tanks are the same measurements.

I didn't realize your tank was that size!

 

[Nick C]

When I set up my previous tank, which was 72"x18"x20" and had a pair of MP40's. I love the design of the MP40's but not a big fan of the flow pattern on a larger tank. I do feel they would be good on a 4' tank or smaller or on a larger cube aquarium. The big problem is that they don't have much reach into a tank. They have great flow for about 2 ft but it quickly drops off. For my 5' tank now, I would need at least 6 of them to get what I want for flow.
I absolutely love the flow pattern from the gyres. I get a nice wide flow pattern across the top that drops off at the bottom where it is interrupted by the rocks. This gives me higher flow areas for SPS and lower flow for LPS. I also like how low profile the gyres are. And, with the flow spread out over 10" you can put acro's almost directly in front of them without the coral being damaged. Even the fish love the gyre flow pattern and it impacts there swimming habits in a way that reminds me of what I see in the surf while scuba diving. I'm strongly considering adding another 2 gyres to have them side by side with my current ones and run them in pairs. This will give me more water flow without increasing flow velocity. Should be a great thing for my tank if I do it.

That's great information!! So what would you recommend for someone like me? I have a 4 foot tank, but it's 30 inch deep. I'm sure a gyre would manage to get flow how I need, but I had the same thought about needing multiple mp40s to do the same thing.. eventually I will be getting a bigger tank. (When I sell my house and build a new house with a tank in the wall). Obviously the 250 works for you, and the plus is I don't have corals yet so if I get a pump I can place corals accordingly instead of worrying about impacting current ones. My biggest worry I guess is will the gyre be able to force the flow that deep and return it..?

 

[Brew12]

That's great information!! So what would you recommend for someone like me? I have a 4 foot tank, but it's 30 inch deep. I'm sure a gyre would manage to get flow how I need, but I had the same thought about needing multiple mp40s to do the same thing.. eventually I will be getting a bigger tank. (When I sell my house and build a new house with a tank in the wall). Obviously the 250 works for you, and the plus is I don't have corals yet so if I get a pump I can place corals accordingly instead of worrying about impacting current ones. My biggest worry I guess is will the gyre be able to force the flow that deep and return it..?

Just checked out your build thread, looks very nice! I think MP40s around 2/3 the way up your sides would be a much better option than the gyres. With your tank height, and the way you did your rock work, your gyre flow would go around your coral instead of through it. You can test this with your current pumps. Put them side by side around 6" from the top of the tank, pointed straight across. This will give a similar flow pattern to a gyre. I think you will see the flow goes over the rock and back along the sand.

 

[Nick C]

Just checked out your build thread, looks very nice! I think MP40s around 2/3 the way up your sides would be a much better option than the gyres. With your tank height, and the way you did your rock work, your gyre flow would go around your coral instead of through it. You can test this with your current pumps. Put them side by side around 6" from the top of the tank, pointed straight across. This will give a similar flow pattern to a gyre. I think you will see the flow goes over the rock and back along the sand.

Yeah that makes sense. Not to much of the coral is towards the top of the tank. I've got a wave controller currently that I'm pretty sure I can use with the mp40s, if not I have my reef link. You would recommend 2 on each side blowing to each other? Then alternate or pattern as needed?

 

[Brew12]

Yeah that makes sense. Not to much of the coral is towards the top of the tank. I've got a wave controller currently that I'm pretty sure I can use with the mp40s, if not I have my reef link. You would recommend 2 on each side blowing to each other? Then alternate or pattern as needed?

I think one on each side would be fine. When I ran mine, I linked them together (MP40QDW) and ran in the tidal swell mode. I think that would work well in a tank like yours, no external controller needed.

 

[Nick C]

I think one on each side would be fine. When I ran mine, I linked them together (MP40QDW) and ran in the tidal swell mode. I think that would work well in a tank like yours, no external controller needed.

Sounds good! I appreciate your input! MP40's it is, even if it's like double the price haha. I went to check out on BRS and it was 700 . Then i head that there is supposed to be a big sale starting friday and i'm going to wait and see whats going on

 

[Brew12]

Sounds good! I appreciate your input! MP40's it is, even if it's like double the price haha. I went to check out on BRS and it was 700 . Then i head that there is supposed to be a big sale starting friday and i'm going to wait and see whats going on

Not a problem!

They aren't cheap, but your existing power heads should work just fine. Keep them high, point them down to blast across the tank.