Let the Journey Begin - Red Sea Reefer P650

[TysTanks]

We couldn’t find a UV Sterilizer that we liked and that fit, so while at Reefapalooza we got the Clearwater Algae scrubber. We have it installed. No algae yet, but it’s been only since Monday. We still have our refugium in place, but the way the divider is in the sump, not all water goes through refugium, so thinking once scrubber gets going, we may alternate when light on each is on and keep them both. Anyone ever done that?

On the scrubber install we have a Varios 2 pump running it and our carbon reactor. But still might be too much flow for scrubber as it seems to go up and then rapidly flow out the pipe. Had someone suggest it could be a siphon, so we may attempt to break the siphon.

Sump and Apex setup looks great! I’ve never run both a refugium and an algae scrubber at the same time, but I imagine it might be okay if you think you’ll have enough nutrients that you’ll want to use both. One thing I’d consider is that you might be pulling out too much and therefore be running too low on phosphates and nitrates which could negatively affect corals.

Quick question - is the apex in a separate cabinet?
I’m just starting to look into Red Sea for my next build. Beautiful tank!

 

[Tmcgoo13]

Yes we’re not sure if running both will make sense. We’re starting to get algae in the skimmer section due to the Fuge light. The Chaeto and red macro algae in the fuge is growing like crazy, the algae in the scrubber is much slower. I also just reduced the light on the scrubber to run less, as you’re right we’re running too clean a tank. So just yesterday started feeding the coral Reef Chili. We have a lot of windows near the tank, so we’re a bit concerned about algae growth in the tank.

On the Apex, we should have put it in a separate cabinet, more space. It’s in the electronics section of the cabinet of the Red Sea Stand. We built a mount that we can pull out to get to cables when needed.

We love the tank, “lots” of space under the cabinet at least compared to regular tank stands. If we had the space we’d run the sump in another whole room, but just don’t have the space.

 

[Tmcgoo13]

Welll update on algae scrubber and refugium. Algae scrubberhardly has any algae, refugium still going strong. Chaeto growing slower, but still growing.

Tank readings on nitrate is 0.2. Phosphate is 0.02.

Thinking need to turn light off longer on scrubber, tank is still a little to clean.

On another note or maybe related, coral haven’t been happy, turned out Mg was 1200, ca 300 and Alk 7, so have been slowly raising. Mg is now at 1350, ca 350 Alk 8.1. So just added Red Sea trace elements.

Hoping not to loose any corals, already lost my torch.

 

[Tmcgoo13]

Been dosing every other day to bring the Mg, Ca and Alk up. We're now at 1370 Mg (gonna hold here), CA is 380 and Alk at 8.7. My leather coral that was huge in the old tank, was dying, but is now showing signs of life . Only one other coral is touch and go, everything else seems to be doing good.

The test kits for the trace elements on Red Sea are a challenge to use, still working out how to use them. Will try again tonight, if that doesn't work, just gonna send the water away to test. Think cause everything was so out of wack, I might need to add those, but don't want to overdue it. So really want to get the tests working. Will add some pics on next post.

 

[P-Dub]

Well, I gotta say nicely done. This is the impetus to get me going on my set up as I have stalled due to travel and work. Late nights might be in order for me.
I was having issues with the Red Sea test kits as well. I did a youtube search to help clear a few things up. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=red+sea+trace+elements+test+kit
It was helpful and I hope you glean some info that will help you as well.

 

[thomas hudson]

What salt did you start with on this build?

 

[Tmcgoo13]

I started with Fritz, but I’m now using Red Sea. I need to do an updated everything has stabilized. I’ll do the update later today.

 

[Tmcgoo13]

Finally getting to an update: I had been battling crazy low MG, CA and ALk, then found I was likely testing MG a little off, but it was definitely low, just not as low as I thought. Took water to local LFS a few times, and compared my results with theirs as well as sent off water to Triton for ICP test.

Good news is my water had no significant issues other than getting the MG, CA, ALK in balance. After testing every couple of days and adjusting, I’m now at

MG 1360
CA 470
ALK 8.4
Nitrate 0.0
Phosphate 0.4
Ammonia 0

Got my APEX DOS up and running and now everything is staying pretty constant. My goal is CA around 450, but just added some additional coral, so anticipate that will level off without much more adjustment. I’m thinking my ALK may be a little low at least per Red Sea guidance, so definitely interested in other thoughts. I may need to increase the dosing on that.

The tank cycle was completed in Late April and we put our fish in then. Everyone has settled in very nicely. We brought over our Mandarin from the previous tank and added a lot of pods frequently, he’s now fattened up and looking very good.

Now I think the thing I’m having to figure out is possibly too much light. Love the AI Hydra 26’s but still working to find the right balance of light for coral and enjoyment. Been using the David Saxby Light schedule but lowered the intensity quite a bit. I also have a decent amount of ambient light next to the tank, so that could be why it seems to high.

 

[Tmcgoo13]

Borrowed a PÄR meter from the local reef club and tested my lighting. I’m at 250 at the top and peak of 150 at the bottom of the tank. Going to stick with that for now

 

[Tmcgoo13]

New update: Been quite a while since I updated this. Tank is doing great. Fish are happy, anemone just split not long ago and coral is growing well. Keep going slow when adding coral.

Had the following issues or made changes:

- changed out the blocks in the sump to Brightwell, much more sturdy and was also seeing aluminum in the Trident Water Tests.

- Had a copper issue and turned out to be the copper wire to the pump I was using to mix salt for the water changes. The cable was somehow separating, cheap pump!

- Had a Calcium overdose due to unknowingly hitting the slider on the APEX Fusion, other than the immediate scare and several water changes, a couple corals retreated for a bit, but have now recovered

- The most recent issue is that my Apex 2016 control module seems to have gone dead and I've sent it along with my two EB832's into Neptune for repair. Its the holidays, so haven't heard back yet, hopefully soon. This caused me to realize that I should not rely so heavily on a single system. I was using the Neptune WAV pumps, DOS, COR pump. To send in the APEX, I had to change out the pump and WAV's and now also manual dose. Had a spare pump and bought the Maxspect Gyre XF350's. Will not be putting the Wav's back in, might not put the COR either, will think about that.

 

[Tmcgoo13]

New update: Been quite a while since I updated this. Tank is doing great. Fish are happy, anemone just split not long ago and coral is growing well. Keep going slow when adding coral.

Had the following issues or made changes:

- changed out the blocks in the sump to Brightwell, much more sturdy and was also seeing aluminum in the Trident Water Tests.

- Had a copper issue and turned out to be the copper wire to the pump I was using to mix salt for the water changes. The cable was somehow separating, cheap pump!

- Had a Calcium overdose due to unknowingly hitting the slider on the APEX Fusion, other than the immediate scare and several water changes, a couple corals retreated for a bit, but have now recovered

- The most recent issue is that my Apex 2016 control module seems to have gone dead and I've sent it along with my two EB832's into Neptune for repair. Its the holidays, so haven't heard back yet, hopefully soon. This caused me to realize that I should not rely so heavily on a single system. I was using the Neptune WAV pumps, DOS, COR pump. To send in the APEX, I had to change out the pump and WAV's and now also manual dose. Had a spare pump and bought the Maxspect Gyre XF350's. Will not be putting the Wav's back in, might not put the COR either, will think about that.

I should add, I'm also not running Carbon at this time, my Tang got HLLE, but it could have been the Copper or the carbon (it was BRS ROX so don't this this was it) and I removed the scrubber as well. Not sure what was going on but I had a voltage issue and when the scrubber was off, the issue was gone. It was overkill anyway.

 

[Devaji]

Hey hows the tank going?
I am setting up a 650P.
questions:
do you still like the bright well bricks?
looks like you kept the stock plumbing? any issues with the RS gate valve?