Mission Impossible: Reefer 250, 3 reactors, refugium, skimmer, lights, action! Pic heavy.

[Butuz]

Hi guys, trying to kill 2 birds with one stone ... first of all, here is a link to the video of the full tank for those who requested it! Second issue, I need your feedback. I have removed the foam guards on my 2 mp40s (best thing I have done) and trying to get the flow right, so there is enough movement without beating down the corals. Most importantly, trying to find a good happy balance - I bought tons of really nice corals @TopShelfAquatics (cherry bomb, kaboom monti, holy grail micromusa, daydream + great zoas) be delivered later in Jan. Want to get the tank fully balanced and prepared for a nice addition of corals. I took close up shots of my torch, Duncan and anything else that shows movement in the video below. Can you guys please judge whether this is sufficient or not? Here is my ecosmart schedule, on average everything is at 30%-35%. Btw, disregard particles, just fed the tank. Thanks, guys.

 

[jblasi]

Hi guys, trying to kill 2 birds with one stone ... first of all, here is a link to the video of the full tank for those who requested it! Second issue, I need your feedback. I have removed the foam guards on my 2 mp40s (best thing I have done) and trying to get the flow right, so there is enough movement without beating down the corals. Most importantly, trying to find a good happy balance - I bought tons of really nice corals @TopShelfAquatics (cherry bomb, kaboom monti, holy grail micromusa, daydream + great zoas) be delivered later in Jan. Want to get the tank fully balanced and prepared for a nice addition of corals. I took close up shots of my torch, Duncan and anything else that shows movement in the video below. Can you guys please judge whether this is sufficient or not? Here is my ecosmart schedule, on average everything is at 30%-35%. Btw, disregard particles, just fed the tank. Thanks, guys.

Butuz, I have my 2 MP 10’s on about 35% each and my MP 40’s at 2-3%. My tank is primary monti’s and sticks. They dig the flow. My biggest issue was running into blowing sand.

 

[Butuz]

Butuz, I have my 2 MP 10’s on about 35% each and my MP 40’s at 2-3%. My tank is primary monti’s and sticks. They dig the flow. My biggest issue was running into blowing sand.

Thanks! Yep, I think I found a happy apot between 30-35% on both mp40 where there is nice flow, does not blow sand over (i have a diamond goby to do that!) and it doesnt seem to bother zoas too much. So, hoping my future sps’ will like that too. Thanks again.

 

[Butuz]

Ok guys, few updates from tinkering earlier today. I have started to run my third reactor, loaded it with half a cup of BRS biopellets.

On a more important (from a long term maintenance and water stability standpoint), biught a small Hydor power head and placed it into my 10g ATO to mix Kalkwasser. 10g last me almost 2 weeks. Started with only 4 teaspoons for the full ATO, will monitor and adjust it going forward. Been reading a lot on Kalk, seems promising in terms of keeping my alkalinity at 9 and calcium at 450. I have also added a rule to my ekoral @eKoProCS, so once the ATo is full and once I have added Kalk, sinply hit the rule and the powerhead stays on for 1 hr until Kalk is thoughrougly mixed. Also added “off” for ATO mini pump for auto top off, to make sure it doesnt add any not fully mixed solution to the tank. One less thing to worry about. A few accompanying pics. As always, please reach out with any comments or suggestions.

 

[Butuz]

Just installed these LED diffusers from 3dreefing.com @Moe Kayed . He did an awesome job, very happy. Installed is a severe overstatement, just two pressure screws on the back of diffusers, 5 sec each. I really like the air vents on the side to disperse heat. Now, no more headaches from staring at the tank and jumping disco lights effect. Another side benefit, you no longer get LEDs blind you when standing close to the tank. Very happy. Thanks @Moe Kayed.

 

[Chilli]

Your sump looks like in a submarine

I´ve the reefer 250 too. Nice tank!

 

[Raptor72]

Just installed these LED diffusers from 3dreefing.com @Moe Kayed . He did an awesome job, very happy. Installed is a severe overstatement, just two pressure screws on the back of diffusers, 5 sec each. I really like the air vents on the side to disperse heat. Now, no more headaches from staring at the tank and jumping disco lights effect. Another side benefit, you no longer get LEDs blind you when standing close to the tank. Very happy. Thanks @Moe Kayed.

I’d like to hear your review on your diffusers after you’ve had them for a bit. I’m looking for 4 of them and these are the first I’ve seen.

 

[Butuz]

I’d like to hear your review on your diffusers after you’ve had them for a bit. I’m looking for 4 of them and these are the first I’ve seen.

Will do. I like it so far. Since there is 10-15% PAR loss, I simply increased the intensity by 10%, watching corals closely, will update in a week.

 

[Butuz]

Your sump looks like in a submarine

I´ve the reefer 250 too. Nice tank!

Haha, thanks. I have also heard “it looks like a water treatment facility” from friends too.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Nice work. Another houstonian is good to see.

Are you a MARSH member?

 

[Butuz]

Nice work. Another houstonian is good to see.

Are you a MARSH member?

Thanks. No, I am not a Marsh member. Worth looking into?

 

[mmw64]

I have a 20g cube that I run two MP10wQDs on. I have one on each side, but they are pointed at each other to produce a nice clash of flow in the center of the tank. I have one on Reefcrest, running at a maximum of 40% while the other is on anti-sync with that unit. It provides the tank with a nice back and forth flow throughout the day. I don’t have any livestock in the tank yet. I wanted to get it dialed in before adding any corals, and it seems like it will work nicely for my system.

Great build. Folowing.

 

[mmw64]

Well, you guys asked for tank pics, here you go! Battling hairy type of brown algea that traps air bubbles. Holding on ok so far. Blenny and cuc are working hard. My anemone finally was in the open, so I moved it to the rock pile on the right. It seems to like the new spot, will see tomorrow morning. Great news is that he ate a small picece of raw shrimp. He is bleached at the base, I am hoping to nurse him back. Dialed back the water flow.

Btw, bought some corals from my LFS, but forgot to write down the names. If you happen to know, lmk please. The triple head tree one has golden colour at the bottom of each stem. Also, added some new equipment. First one is an AA Algea UV sterilizer. Easy install. I have also added the magnetic feeder thingy, amazing, pellets stay in it to soak, then get released. Food dispensed into this thing directly. One less thnig to worry about.

Tell me about the addition to your auto feeder. What is the piece called that soaks the pellets and then drops them in the tank. Thanks

 

[Butuz]

Tell me about the addition to your auto feeder. What is the piece called that soaks the pellets and then drops them in the tank. Thanks

Here is the link. I actually removed both top and bottom pieces and only using the middle ring, works great.

https://www.marinedepot.com/Innovat...ns-Innovative_Marine-0I05093-FIFDFECF-vi.html

 

[naterealbig]

Hey @Butuz, things are coming along nicely. If I understand your posts correctly, you're using saturated kalkwasser in your topoff tank?. I'd so, test frequently as your evaporation rate may not exactly match your alkalinity/calcium demand.

Flow looks pretty good. The rule of thumb I use is, you want the flow as strong as possible without creating a sand storm or killing the corals. If increasing the flow 5% causes either of these issues then you are in the sweet spot!

Why are you going to dose biopellets ?

 

[mmw64]

Here is the link. I actually removed both top and bottom pieces and only using the middle ring, works great.

https://www.marinedepot.com/Innovat...ns-Innovative_Marine-0I05093-FIFDFECF-vi.html

Thank you. I will give it a try.

 

[Butuz]

Ok guys, an update on Seachem Kalkwasser/ATO mix journey that started yesterday, concluding with a nice lengthy call with Seachem. As you recall, I used a small Hydor powerhead inside the ATO to mix Kalk with RODI water. I used about 4 times less than recommended, so only 4 teaspoons for 10g total water volume. Since Kalk did not seem to be mixing well, I had the powerhead to mix it for 1.5 hrs. I thought it did a great job ... I woke up this morning to a nice layer of fine white sediment at the bottom of the ATO. It looked like 10x what I mixed! Long story short, I had lots of questions following some quick online research, so Seachem reps put me in touch with their Kalk specialist (very knowledgeable, enjoyed talking to her). In no particular order:

1) Seachem did confirm that a prolonged mixing actually makes things worse. Without going into all of the details, they mentioned that the longer the water mixes with surface agitation/air, the more precipitation you get with Kalk, hence more sediment and lesser Kalk effect in the water column. Given what I mentioned to them, they actually recommended that I empty the ATO and do a new batch with the powerhead working no longer than 2 min.

2) On sediment, there are tons of posts online on how it can nuke your tank. They commented that you definitely don't want the sediment in your tank, but for it to nuke, you’d have to empty it all at once. A few grains here and there during regular minor top off won’t do any harm. A little more will agitate corals. In short, not deadly, but not recommended. They suggested to raise the ATO pump a little higher to avoid sucking the sediment. See the pic, simple suction cup attached to the ATO line helped me do that easily.

3) I have also read people recommending to remove the sediment every time. Not needed per Seachem. They did recommend siphoning the sludge at some point so it doesnt accumulate significantly. I plan on doing so once every 2-3 mos.

4) Also, the sediment won’t mix with the new water top off, since it is not a result of oversaturation, but rather a specific chemical process. Meaning, you can continue to add the same amount of Kalk with subsequent ATO RODI refills and you won’t aplify the dosage. Previous sediment will stay there and you will simply get more with the next batch.

Hope this is helpful for those thinking about Kalk as Seachem were amazing in taking the time to walk me through this, along with some answers to my questions re Seachem Plus and Trace.

 

[Butuz]

Hey @Butuz, things are coming along nicely. If I understand your posts correctly, you're using saturated kalkwasser in your topoff tank?. I'd so, test frequently as your evaporation rate may not exactly match your alkalinity/calcium demand.

Flow looks pretty good. The rule of thumb I use is, you want the flow as strong as possible without creating a sand storm or killing the corals. If increasing the flow 5% causes either of these issues then you are in the sweet spot!

Why are you going to dose biopellets ?

Thanks, decided to start running biopellets since my nitrates and phosphates are high (10 and 0.1). Trying to see if a small dose will help gradually reduce them. And, I had an empty reactor!

 

[eKoProCS]

Ok guys, few updates from tinkering earlier today. I have started to run my third reactor, loaded it with half a cup of BRS biopellets.

On a more important (from a long term maintenance and water stability standpoint), biught a small Hydor power head and placed it into my 10g ATO to mix Kalkwasser. 10g last me almost 2 weeks. Started with only 4 teaspoons for the full ATO, will monitor and adjust it going forward. Been reading a lot on Kalk, seems promising in terms of keeping my alkalinity at 9 and calcium at 450. I have also added a rule to my ekoral @eKoProCS, so once the ATo is full and once I have added Kalk, sinply hit the rule and the powerhead stays on for 1 hr until Kalk is thoughrougly mixed. Also added “off” for ATO mini pump for auto top off, to make sure it doesnt add any not fully mixed solution to the tank. One less thing to worry about. A few accompanying pics. As always, please reach out with any comments or suggestions.

Glad to see you are making full use of the controller

 

[Butuz]

Glad to see you are making full use of the controller

Yep, it is playing a very important role on my quest to maximize automation! Will be installing my eKoral doser after I have situated the Klir filter, so I can figure out the location for it.