ChukeeR's 266G Reef Savvy + Synergy Reef Build / Upgrade

[FrankAbagnale]

Nice! I love new toys!

 

[shadow1013]

Are you going to rotate them so they are perpendicular to the rail mount?

 

[HiddenUser]

Are you going to rotate them so they are perpendicular to the rail mount?

Yep - Exactly! I would like better light spread from the front to back of the tank, so this should help with that once I rotate the lights.

 

[dodger745]

Love your build so far! tagging along

 

[HiddenUser]

Got all the new toys put up!! Couple new pics of the sump room and tank. I think my sump room is starting to turn into organized chaos...Not sure if it matters, but I put the lights above my main display into acclimation mode. Dont want to shock the small amount of coral I have at the moment with the extra light.

I just need to get a longer tube for my new ATO, and I need to hang up a couple more dosers for Calcium and Alkalinity and hopefully that will be it for a while!

 

[psirex]

What's underneath?

 

[HiddenUser]

What's underneath?

120 Gallon Tank. The sump drains into it...Needed extra room for water to drain in the event of a power outage. This way I dont have to run check valves or anti siphons. I just have the heaters in it.

 

[HiddenUser]

Side note, finally got my alkalinity and calcium dosers hooked up...then I looked over at the 65G tank and saw that the clownfish eggs hatched!! I know that none of them will make it, but still cool to see!



One of the baby clownfish. Best I could do, they're so small!!

 

[ScottMyers123]

Just read through your entire thread and all I can say is WOW! Great attention to detail and everything looks awesome.

 

[HiddenUser]

My replacement Kessil power adapter came yesterday and that's not the problem...so its definitely the light itself that's dead AND its out of warranty. I'm replacing it with an AI Prime which is half the cost of a new Kessil. Hopefully this one wont go bad a few months after the warranty runs out.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Well my replacement Kessil power adapter came yesterday and that's not the problem...so its definitely the light itself that's dead AND its out of warranty. I'm replacing it with an AI Prime which is half the cost of a new Kessil. Hopefully this one wont go bad a few months after the warranty runs out.

Man, that really sucks! Sorry to hear about the issues with the light.

 

[HiddenUser]

So far my SPS is staying healthy and my acans are starting to get some of their colors back. Haven't had very good luck with SPS in the past, most likely because my husbandry wasn't the greatest. Hopefully these guys will grow into nice big pieces though!

 

[HiddenUser]

Fedex Santa brought me a couple gifts this morning from my 2 favorite R2R vendors, @Battlecorals and @CherryCorals!! A nice little SPS pack from Adam and a Zoa pack from Todd so my fiancee can have her Zoa Garden.

 

[scffvariable]

My replacement Kessil power adapter came yesterday and that's not the problem...so its definitely the light itself that's dead AND its out of warranty. I'm replacing it with an AI Prime which is half the cost of a new Kessil. Hopefully this one wont go bad a few months after the warranty runs out.

Open up your kessil. There is a power connector that plugs into the board that overheats the contacts get burnt. You can cut it out and solder the wires directly to the pins. It is a known problem and pretty common. If you need help shoot me a pm.

Here is one of the threads that includes pictures.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2506698

 

[HiddenUser]

@Battlecorals and @CherryCorals treasures!

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Looking good!

 

[HiddenUser]

Some updates, after much tinkering around with the Puratek Auto Level Controller, I've gone back to my Tunze ATO. I soaked the optical sensor in a vinegar / RO bath for a few days and now it seems to be working fine.

The Puratek Auto Level Controller was a bit to much of a hassle for me. It took me quite a bit of time to figure out the sensor calibration. Then it seemed like it would lose its calibration settings at times because it would fill WAY more than it should have...For whatever reason the sensor would stop recognizing the water level at times. Also, I have my system setup to kill power to the ATO if the return pump has no power. After doing a couple of water changes I noticed that I'd have to do some minor adjustments to the sensors otherwise the controller wouldn't kick on, or it'd kick on and not turn off.

The Tunze ATO is MUCH more simple to deal with (when its working as it should). Or maybe I'm just not on the same level of intelligence as those using the Puratek controllers.

I added a Reeflink to my system. Man...that was a PITA to get working and I even work in IT. I literally had to set it next to my router to get it to detect the wireless. Ended up hard wiring it to the range extender in my basement which is near my sump. Then I couldn't get it to detect one of my Vortechs. I power cycled all my EcoTech equipment and finally then it could see both Vortechs. The Reeflink programming for the VorTech pumps via EcoSmart Live is TERRBILE. Why do I have to click +/- to set duration versus typing in numbers???? I found it much simpler to do it via my phone. Probably because EcoTech develops their software to be mobile based as their main platform? I think I recall them mentioning that in a MACNA video from a few years ago.

Here's an updated FTS for May 30, 2016. Lots of little sticks all over the place.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Looking good!

 

[foxt]

Great build! What kind of turnover are you getting from that Red Dragon 230ww, and how much head do you think you have? I am planning a basement sump for a future 220g build, and will have about 15' of head. The documentation I have seen suggests that this much head is right at the limits of the pump. You have real world experience, so I am wondering what you think. How much vertical/horizontal distance between the pump and the display, and how is the flow? You were thinking about adding a second pump, did you decide to do that?

 

[HiddenUser]

It's been a little while since an update. Things are still coming along. Lost a couple SPS frags over the summer months due to neglect, but the majority of things made it through. I stopped dosing N03 P04-X and am now using a biopellets in a Reef Octopus reactor. When using N03 P04-X I could never find a way to completely rid my tank and sump of the bacterial slime. I'd back off the dosage, but then the nitrates would start creeping up. Could never find that happy balance. So far everything seems to be working well with the biopellets and I'm not having to remove gobs of bacterial slime from my sump every few days.

Here a little comparison of December 2015 versus October 2016...


Also here's a May 2016 versus October 2016 comparison of my Red Robin frag from Battle Corals...