ksfulk's Red Sea Reefer 525xL

ksfulk · Aug 20, 2017

Well - spent 12 hours sitting in front of my laptop today for another CherryCorals live sale. Oddly, I only ended up with one acro this time around. But I rounded out my acan garden nicely and picked up a couple other "filler" type corals. Missed out on the RR Wolverine frags that I was hoping for - maybe Brett will have some other goodies when I pick my stuff up from the shop.

CC Live Sale Haul:

Ultra Acan (Yellow)

Random Single (looks like a pseudo-stratocaster)

CC Rainbow Tempest

Ultra Acan (Green)

Sweet Goniopora

WWC Yellow Tips

Everlasting Sunshines

ksfulk · Aug 23, 2017

Well, after three weeks without a skimmer... I still dont have a skimmer.

After some uncalled for venting via email to Adam, he managed to get a hold of Deltec and get me a tracking number for the pump and controller than was supposed to be on its way on Aug 2nd. Well guess what... the UPS tracking number shows that the package was ready for pick up about an hour before they emailed Adam back with the tracking number :mad:;Rage:mad:;Rage:mad:

Good news is that I should have my replacement by next Monday. Bad news is... well, everything above I guess. Just another day in paradise for now...

Giraffe0621 · Aug 24, 2017

ksfulk said:
Well, after three weeks without a skimmer... I still dont have a skimmer.

After some uncalled for venting via email to Adam, he managed to get a hold of Deltec and get me a tracking number for the pump and controller than was supposed to be on its way on Aug 2nd. Well guess what... the UPS tracking number shows that the package was ready for pick up about an hour before they emailed Adam back with the tracking number :mad:;Rage:mad:;Rage:mad:

Good news is that I should have my replacement by next Monday. Bad news is... well, everything above I guess. Just another day in paradise for now...

Makes me feel like a bit of a jerk, given my Nyos 160 is sitting on my kitchen table doing NOTHING right now. Could have been in your tank for the past 3 weeks

Hopefully Monday is the big day! Just think how crazily clean the tank will seem once the skimmer is back on there

Giraffe0621 · Aug 26, 2017

Trying to plan my plumbing and want to make sure I know why I'm doing what I'm doing.

You have a ball valve right off of your return pump. Is that so there's a union right there to make it easy to disconnect to do maintenance or change your plumbing later if need be? Or do you actually use the ball valve part of it? If so, why do this instead of turning down the flow of the return pump?

The 2 gate-valves that aren't connected to anything (at least in that picture) are to allow you to add more stuff to the manifold later, without ripping it apart, right? Other than turning the gate-valve all the way off, is there anything you have to add to leave it not connected to anything else? Strange question, I know.

Do the 90 degree connections & the two 90 degree connections that are right next to each other to do a 180 by your return pipe significantly reduce your flow?
Are 45 degree connectors used to increase flow, or only if that's the angle needed in that situation, or is it all cosmetic?

Last one: Any regrets on doing PVC all the way to your return pump? Saw some people saying to do flexible tubing for a short length right before the return to reduce vibration and make it easier to do maintenance since then you can move your return pump around. But doesn't seem very common, so I'm not sure if it's worth doing?

Thanks in advance

ksfulk · Aug 26, 2017

Giraffe0621 said:
Trying to plan my plumbing and want to make sure I know why I'm doing what I'm doing.

You have a ball valve right off of your return pump. Is that so there's a union right there to make it easy to disconnect to do maintenance or change your plumbing later if need be? Or do you actually use the ball valve part of it? If so, why do this instead of turning down the flow of the return pump?

Yes. It gives me a union to remove the pump from the plumbing so I can clean it without taking everything apart, or if I have to replace the pump at some point. I also like using the ball valve better than just turning off the pump. The reason for this is that when you turn off the pump, the water in the pipes runs back into your sump, including water from the display until the return lines break the vacuum. While this isnt an issue about water volume, but when I turn the pump back on, it takes a bit to get the water to stabilize, and the return pipes will put a lot of air bubbles into the tank. When I do maintenance, I flip off the pump, then close the ball valve, so the water remains in the pipes. (Granted with the Vectra pump you can use "Feed Mode" if your pump is calibrated, but usually my maintenance takes longer than the 10 minute timer).

The 2 gate-valves that aren't connected to anything (at least in that picture) are to allow you to add more stuff to the manifold later, without ripping it apart, right? Other than turning the gate-valve all the way off, is there anything you have to add to leave it not connected to anything else? Strange question, I know.

Correct. I wasnt sure if I was going to need more reactors or other things, so I planned ahead by adding those gate valves just in case I wanted to. Nope. They sat closed the entire time that plumbing was set up and are still closed in the back room of the basement.

Do the 90 degree connections & the two 90 degree connections that are right next to each other to do a 180 by your return pipe significantly reduce your flow?

Probably. I never measured the flow out of the stock plumbing. That said, the recommended flow for the Red Sea return is around 600 gph if I recall... the M1 puts out about 1500 gph on my current setup (which does have flow monitors. Since Im not relying on my return pump for a significant portion of the flow in my tank, Im not concerned about the amount of water coming out of the return (1500 vs 600 gph)

Are 45 degree connectors used to increase flow, or only if that's the angle needed in that situation, or is it all cosmetic?

45s are useful to reduce the head pressure in your pipes. I didnt use any 45s in my setup because I wanted the pipes to be as cleanly setup as possible. I didnt want to see a bunch of oddly angled pipes all over the place. Plus, I'm not the greatest at lining up everything 100% of the time. If you misalign the 2 - 45s, then you end up with a 87 angle instead of a 90. Things can go wonky. I was striving for anti-wonky.

Last one: Any regrets on doing PVC all the way to your return pump? Saw some people saying to do flexible tubing for a short length right before the return to reduce vibration and make it easier to do maintenance since then you can move your return pump around. But doesn't seem very common, so I'm not sure if it's worth doing?

Not really. There is some noise from the plumbing if its not secured - the vibrations from the pump can "rattle" the pvc a bit. Once it secured, there's little noise. Make sure the pump intake is as far away from the glass as you can get, so you arent restricting flow there at all, but dont have any part of the pump touching the glass, as then you will get noise as the pump touches the glass and can make a bit of noise. Silicon tubing is generally used for larger AC pumps (MagDrives, etc) that are known for making noise. I cant imagine that you'll have the return cranked up that high to worry about pump noise. Anytime mine sounds off, its because I need to clean it.

Thanks in advance

See above in red.

Giraffe0621 · Aug 26, 2017

ksfulk said:
See above in red.

For an impatient 9 year old, you sure are patient with other people. THANK YOU!

All super helpful info! Can't start until my RedSea adapters come next week, but it's nice to know I'm armed with more info for when they do arrive

ksfulk · Aug 26, 2017

Giraffe0621 said:
For an impatient 9 year old, you sure are patient with other people. THANK YOU!

All super helpful info! Can't start until my RedSea adapters come next week, but it's nice to know I'm armed with more info for when they do arrive

That's not entirely true. You can mock up everything using the one adapter that you have currently (return nozzle) - just don't glue that one!

Giraffe0621 · Aug 26, 2017

ksfulk said:
That's not entirely true. You can mock up everything using the one adapter that you have currently (return nozzle) - just don't glue that one!

Totally didn't think of that. Sweet! Well here goes nothing... aiming for anti-wonky

ksfulk · Aug 31, 2017

Frustrations continue on the skimmer front. I received the new pump/controller/power supply on Monday... and nothing out of the box

I messed with the pump, controller and power supplies I had and got one combo to work (old pump, new controller, new PS) and things were foamy!

Tuesday morning I came down to check on things before I left for work and the skimmer was silent :mad:
I just left it alone and emailed Adam again, letting him know the situation. Yesterday I managed to get the skimmer working again by "fiddling" with the parts. Seems like the controller on this pump is the weak point. If I hold the wires just right, the skimmer runs - as soon as I let go it stops. Not even tape can fix it. So I ordered a similar controller online and we'll see if that works. Figured it can't hurt for $12. I'm working on getting an AC pump retrofit so I can continue using this skimmer.

I also drove over to the other side of the state and picked up my cherry corals livesale items. Since I had to still work later that day, Todd was nice enough to bag them and put them in a cooler and box so they would be fine until I got home that evening.

Fast forward to when I got home and come to find out that I was missing one coral and got another that I shouldn't have. Instead of the Rainbow Temptation acan, I ended up with the rainbow temptation favia instead. I'm a little bummed about it, as I don't really have a good place for a favia in the tank, but the guys said they'd take care of it next time I swing by.

The rest of the corals look great - they've all been dipped and remounted. I managed to find my fruit loops zoas that disappeared a few months ago while I was vacuuming the sand bed. They didn't look like much more than some grey snot when I found them, but they are coming back strong now.

I also ordered a few more residents for the tank from LiveAquaria. I picked up a trio of anemone crabs that are quite entertaining to watch. One of them is living in the big birdsnest, while the other two are camping out on the low frag rack - but all of them are avoiding the nems! There was also a pistol shrimp that's been added to the tank. I'll eventually get it a goby friend, but I wanted to be sure that I really did want a pistol and that my wrasses didn't murder it immediately. It's been hanging out with the cucumber for the last four or five days - I assume it's getting its bearings.

Two fish also came in - I finally caved and ordered a rabbitfish - a small one spot - to add a bit of flashy yellow to the tank. It's amazing how small this guy is... about 1.25" long. It looks super small even in the 10 gallon QT. He's nibbling, but he's been on prazi since I got him, and I think either that or his itty bitty body makes for not much of an appetite.

The other fish is a red mandarin. I ran it through a prazi treatment and then it went right into the DT

It picked at some PE Calanus, but it was starting to look too thin in the QT, so after the first round he went into the big kid tank. Within ten minutes it was picking at the crustacean smorgasbord on the rock work, so I'm hoping he'll plump back up. I've gotta watch my tailspot blenny though, as those two have been making eyes at each other across the tank.

Giraffe0621 · Sep 1, 2017

ksfulk said:
Frustrations continue on the skimmer front. I received the new pump/controller/power supply on Monday... and nothing out of the box I messed with the pump, controller and power supplies I had and got one combo to work (old pump, new controller, new PS) and things were foamy!

Tuesday morning I came down to check on things before I left for work and the skimmer was silent :mad:
I just left it alone and emailed Adam again, letting him know the situation. Yesterday I managed to get the skimmer working again by "fiddling" with the parts. Seems like the controller on this pump is the weak point. If I hold the wires just right, the skimmer runs - as soon as I let go it stops. Not even tape can fix it. So I ordered a similar controller online and we'll see if that works. Figured it can't hurt for $12. I'm working on getting an AC pump retrofit so I can continue using this skimmer.

I also drove over to the other side of the state and picked up my cherry corals livesale items. Since I had to still work later that day, Todd was nice enough to bag them and put them in a cooler and box so they would be fine until I got home that evening.

Fast forward to when I got home and come to find out that I was missing one coral and got another that I shouldn't have. Instead of the Rainbow Temptation acan, I ended up with the rainbow temptation favia instead. I'm a little bummed about it, as I don't really have a good place for a favia in the tank, but the guys said they'd take care of it next time I swing by.

The rest of the corals look great - they've all been dipped and remounted. I managed to find my fruit loops zoas that disappeared a few months ago while I was vacuuming the sand bed. They didn't look like much more than some grey snot when I found them, but they are coming back strong now.

I also ordered a few more residents for the tank from LiveAquaria. I picked up a trio of anemone crabs that are quite entertaining to watch. One of them is living in the big birdsnest, while the other two are camping out on the low frag rack - but all of them are avoiding the nems! There was also a pistol shrimp that's been added to the tank. I'll eventually get it a goby friend, but I wanted to be sure that I really did want a pistol and that my wrasses didn't murder it immediately. It's been hanging out with the cucumber for the last four or five days - I assume it's getting its bearings.

Two fish also came in - I finally caved and ordered a rabbitfish - a small one spot - to add a bit of flashy yellow to the tank. It's amazing how small this guy is... about 1.25" long. It looks super small even in the 10 gallon QT. He's nibbling, but he's been on prazi since I got him, and I think either that or his itty bitty body makes for not much of an appetite.

The other fish is a red mandarin. I ran it through a prazi treatment and then it went right into the DT It picked at some PE Calanus, but it was starting to look too thin in the QT, so after the first round he went into the big kid tank. Within ten minutes it was picking at the crustacean smorgasbord on the rock work, so I'm hoping he'll plump back up. I've gotta watch my tailspot blenny though, as those two have been making eyes at each other across the tank.

Sorry to hear things still aren't fixed yet

But yay for a few new fish to focus on instead! Can I ask why it felt like caving to get the rabbit fish? They're one of the fish who have caught my attention the most, though not really a viable option in a 250. Can I ask what your hesitation was with one? Have a great long weekend!

ksfulk · Sep 1, 2017

Giraffe0621 said:
Sorry to hear things still aren't fixed yet

But yay for a few new fish to focus on instead! Can I ask why it felt like caving to get the rabbit fish? They're one of the fish who have caught my attention the most, though not really a viable option in a 250. Can I ask what your hesitation was with one? Have a great long weekend!

I like rabbits, but they are messy. And since my choice in tangs means I dont need to supplement with nori it means I dont need to add that to my feeding regiment. Rabbits eat lots (and they need supplemental algae or they go after the LPS), poop lots and get BIG. I really wanted an orange spotted or a scribbled rabbit, but I settled on a one spot because Im missing yellow in the tank as well. The one spot is a baby right now, so it'll take a few years to really get big. The fish do have quite the personality though and the ones that Ive had over the years have always been really interesting.

ksfulk · Sep 4, 2017

Well well well... its been exactly a year since I got this bad boy wet and though its been a bit trying recently, the entire tank has been a success thus far. Im happy with ZeoVit and most, if not all, of my equipment choices have paid off in either reliablility or customer service.

Though I havent seen the growth that I think many other have seen in a years worth of time, I took about an hour or four tonight to take pictures and video of the tank and I'll put some side by side photos tomorrow when I get a chance. I think the tank is starting to turn a corner when it comes to growth, and I suspect to see quite a bit more growth now that the tank has really settled in.

Enough waxing poetic, however - lets see some pictures and video!

ksfulk · Sep 4, 2017

ksfulk · Sep 4, 2017

ksfulk · Sep 5, 2017

ksfulk · Sep 5, 2017

ksfulk · Sep 13, 2017

Can anyone spy the new rock?

I did some well overdue maintenance and a big water change while vacuuming out the sump and replacing zeolites and carbon yesterday when I got home from work and found a couple aiptasia have popped up in my zoa garden - so I pulled that rock out and used a hammer and chisel to cut the aiptasia rock off of the mother rock. It also afforded me the opportunity to remove a large portion of pink and gold palys as well, since they were starting to take over. While I was working on that, I found a large chunk of dry rock that had been sitting in a bucket for the better part of a year and I saw that it would sit nicely in an alcove I had in the aquascape. So *plunk* in it went and it locked right in with the rockwork. Hooray! I laugh a little bit since it's VERY noticeable, but that should fix itself in a few weeks.

Alkalinity consumption continues to rise, as I've been upping the dosage every other day for a week or so now, and I'm still seeing my alk around 6.5, so I'm hoping that's a good sign as well.

Rabbitfish didn't make it, which was a bummer. The mandarin is weird. Some days it looks filled out and then I saw it today and it looked like it hasn't eaten in months. Gonna order some more pods from @AlgaeBarn and set him up with a bit more feasting options. Probably will get a subscription from them, so I don't have to worry about that.

Otherwise, I need to get some more glue and epoxy and get some of these frags mounted, as I'd like to get these frag racks out of the tank. Still have a few sps pieces that I want but no one seems to have them at the moment. Hoping to find something nice at the frag swap coming up in a few weeks as well. And I think I need to order another bag of sand, as the front of the tank is showing glass some days.

Daniel@R2R · Sep 14, 2017

Coming along nicely!

ksfulk · Sep 16, 2017

Added about 20lbs of sand. Everything's looking good for the moment.

Elias Kalogiros · Sep 21, 2017

ksfulk said:
Thanks!

What I'm attempting:
Alk 6.5 - 7.5
Calcium: 410 ish
Mag ~ 1400
Nitrate - ?
Phosphate - ?

Results:
Alk: 7.3 dKH
Calc: 425 ppm
Mag: 1297 ppm
Nitrate: ~1
Phosphate: 0.03

But I dont test frequently for any of those, aside from Alkalinity. I test alk everyday. I test calcium once or twice a month, magnesium even less frequently. I've run a handful of nitrate tests since I started the tank and 2 phosphate tests total (though I have gotten Triton result testing to confirm my numbers).

I dose ESV B-Ionic two part using a Neptune DOS dosing pump (approximately 20mL a day of each part). I do a 10-20 gallon water change on Sundays, using Instant Ocean salt. The ZeoVit system recommends 10% weekly water changes. Basically on week #1 I do a 20 gallon change entirely from the DT and then on week #2 I vacuum the sump (5 gallons) and then do a 10 gallon change from the DT. Then repeat. Some weeks I get lazy and only do a 10gallon change, depending on how much saltwater I have made up