Marvin's Reefer 250

mrvn · Jul 29, 2018

Btw since the first SPS I added seemed to be happy and growing I decided to reach out to Adam - @Battlecorals - and got a battlebox last saturday.

Everything arrived nicely packaged and labeled and I have to say I was very impressed when I first saw the frags showing amazing coloration and PE even when they were in the bags. I wish my camera skills were better to photograph those gems because every time I take a picture of them I don't feel satisfied with it as the camera doesn't make justice to them. So far all frags have been doing great during their first week and I'm really thinking on getting another battlebox soon.

SantaMonica · Aug 1, 2018

when I first started using it I found myself trimming the chaeto every week. However, now that it has been running for a few months

This is a typical pattern. Since nutrients were not being removed quickly before, the new rate of algal filtration pulls a lot out. Then it equalizes, and less comes out after that.

mrvn · Aug 9, 2018

Finally I took some time to get a picture of the system:

powers2001 · Aug 14, 2018

@mrvn can we get some shots of those Battlecorals?

mrvn · Aug 17, 2018

powers2001 said:
@mrvn can we get some shots of those Battlecorals?

I'll try to get some pictures this weekend for now, this is the list of what I got:

-Bubblebath Unicorn
-Death Lemon
-Snipers Blue
-Bonfire table
- BC secale
- Adam Bomb
- Orange fury milli
-Baby blue smooth skin
-Therman's Rainbow

mrvn · Aug 17, 2018

Last week I added a new DOS and DDR in order to dose Triton. Previous to this I was dosing part 3A and 3B (mixed) by hand which I didn't enjoy so I decided to order another dosing pump.

mrvn · Aug 18, 2018

Some quick pictures of some of the sps currently in the system. Most seem to be adjusting well and showing growth, also polyp extension is great during night and day.

First acros I got locally:

Battlecorals:

(middle frag) Adam Bomb

Bubblebath Unicorn

Snipers Blue

BC secale

Orange fury milli

Therman's Rainbow

Bonfire table

Death Lemon

Baby blue smooth skin

Frags from @Greg79 :

RR Pink Floyd

Blue Palmers Milli

Cherry Bomb

Gregs Unicorn

Bubblegum Prostata

RRC Pink Cadillac

mrvn · Sep 1, 2018

Decided to add one mp10 to the existing mp40s currently running in order to improve the flow in some areas of the tank. Also, I'll be swapping the ro varios 4 this weekend for a red dragon 50w and will be sending my first ICP triton test.

So far this is my second month running triton and everything looks happy and growing the only thing I found while running triton is that if I dose all components equally my calcium gets incredibly high so, for the moment my dose of component 2 is lower that the rest.

gmeister · Sep 3, 2018

Nice tank! May i ask what speed you have your MP40's at. Anti-sync, synced, or are the on individual presets?

mrvn · Sep 5, 2018

gmeister said:
Nice tank! May i ask what speed you have your MP40's at. Anti-sync, synced, or are the on individual presets?

I’m basically running the pumps on individual presets but they do run on sync mode for around 30 minutes once per day.

The mp40s ramp up and down from 40% to 80% and the mp10 runs most of the time at 30% and but it also goes up to 80% as well.

mrvn · Sep 16, 2018

Last weekend I got some work done on the sump area and I finally have the Red Dragon running. Unfortunately BRS had the 90 degree elbows out of stock and the ones I was able to get have a different color than the regular schedule 80.

KCSUMPS · Sep 16, 2018

Looks awesome! Look forward to being at that stage. Why did you go with the Neptune Items? How do you like the setup of the controller?

mrvn · Sep 17, 2018

KCSUMPS said:
Looks awesome! Look forward to being at that stage. Why did you go with the Neptune Items?

Thanks! I went with Neptune because I feel like their items are easier to get. I find that multiple online sellers like BRS, Marine Depot, or Premium Aquatics to name a few, tend to have them available most of the time which is a huge advantage.

KCSUMPS said:
How do you like the setup of the controller?

So far, I'm very happy with its performance. I know there are a few people who have had issues with their controller but thankfully everything has been running smoothly for me for these past months.

gatorbait01 · Sep 17, 2018

mrvn said:
Finally and after a long wait (3 days haha) my skimmer has arrived. Straight out of the box, it looks amazing, I cant wait to use it. Also, I received good news from Synergy Reef. They send me an email just to let me know that my sump is ready to be assembled and they think it will ship by the end of this week.

(My cat was more excited about the box than about the skimmer)

@landlocked303 these are the adapters I'm using to be able to plumb the tank with PVC.

***Unfortunately, my valves were delayed and will be delivered tomorrow.

Mrvn,

I was checking out your thread as I'm in the planning stages of of a reefer 250 w/ custom sump. Where did you get your adapters and valves for your plumbing setup? Also, on your drain what was the reasoning for the droop in the line after the valve in the plumbing before it goes I to the sump? Is there anything you would do differently in regards to the plumbing?

mrvn · Sep 29, 2018

gatorbait01 said:
Mrvn,

I was checking out your thread as I'm in the planning stages of of a reefer 250 w/ custom sump. Where did you get your adapters and valves for your plumbing setup?

The adapters I got them from pvcfittingonline and the valves I got them from grainger. As for the rest of the plumbing supplies, I ordered those from @Bulk Reef Supply as I had lots of reward points after purchasing the RSR.

gatorbait01 said:
Also, on your drain what was the reasoning for the droop in the line after the valve in the plumbing before it goes I to the sump?

To be honest, I would have liked it to go straight into the sump however, the valve that needs to be placed in that line was too long in order for me to make this possible. So, after some thinking I found this to be the best way to go so far I havent had any problems with it.

gatorbait01 said:
Is there anything you would do differently in regards to the plumbing?

Yes, I wish I would have went with a triton method sump since the beginning which was my original plan however, I couldnt find any triton method sump that I liked and so I went with a regular filter sock sump. I love the sump and everything but I would like to have a nice fuge area.

mrvn · Sep 29, 2018

Second frag pack from @Greg79 as always amazing corals, I'll try to get some pictures when they settle in the tank.

mrvn · Sep 30, 2018

I don't really test for nitrates often but today I found them to be 5ppm when the usual value is 1ppm. After inspecting that all the equipment and the apex bar outlets were working, I found that my skimmer wasn't foaming as usual so I decided to take it out and clean it. When I disassembled it I found a small piece of frozen food stuck in the inlet of the pump, I believed that was the reason for the skimmer to no work properly. Anyway, after giving the pump a nice vinegar bath the skimmer is foaming nicely again.

mrvn · Oct 6, 2018

Finally I got my results back from Triton and surprisingly they found my magnesium and calcium to be too high. I've been testing with salifert and it shows 1370 for mg and 470 for calcium. As for the rest, triton found some heavy metals (aluminum and antimony) to be high, so today I check all pumps and look for any metals in the tank but I couldn't find anything.

As for the molybdenum, I have no idea where is coming from, according to triton these are some common sources:

1. Plastic parts (no silicone) in contact with the water, for example, green tubes
2. Trace Element overdose / contamination
3. Contaminated salts
4. Food

The only plastic in contact with the water is all the pvc piping as I don't use any soft tubing so, I'm kind of lost there. I will perform the recommended water changes (6x15%) suggested by Triton and will monitor how the tank is doing to send another test in a few weeks to see if the levels of these elements go down suggesting some sort of contamination that occurred before that test, if still present I will look more in depth in the tank to see if the piece of equipment is failing.