New Swiss 1900 liter (500G) Build

[Mortie31]

Thanks for the inputs... some questions:

- How long of a hose are you using?
- When you were doing this with the RE did you notice any reduction in performance? Did you have to increase the speed of the pump?

The hose is about 20feet long, it runs under my kitchen units then through the wall into the back garden, No the RE worked fine, no adjustments needed to pump. When I switched to the deltec I did notice a choking so had to increase the pipe size, this tells me that too small a diameter pipe affects performance, so id go big if I was you... maybe 20mm

 

[NeverlosT]

Great build thread!

I got the same return pump a while back, mine leaked a lot from the volute out of the box, but we fixed it pretty quick. It is super quiet and runs very cool.

I am surprised that you run a full liter of carbon, that seems like a lot?

Such a cool journey from start to finish, glad to see growth already progressing well on your corals!

 

[Laith]

Great build thread!

I got the same return pump a while back, mine leaked a lot from the volute out of the box, but we fixed it pretty quick. It is super quiet and runs very cool.

I am surprised that you run a full liter of carbon, that seems like a lot?

Such a cool journey from start to finish, glad to see growth already progressing well on your corals!

Yes, I love the Red Dragon pumps. Fantastic piece of equipment! ;Happy

As to the carbon, this is from the Red Sea instructions:

"The recommended dosage of Red Sea’s REEF SPEC Carbon is approximately 50 gr (100 ml) per 200 L (50 gallons) for a period of 1-2 months for a moderately stocked reef aquarium."

I should be using more like 800-900ml of carbon on my estimated net volume of 1650 liters so I'm not far off... I was using 120ml of this carbon on my 200l tank for years with no problems. I change it out every month.

It has been a great journey... now to grow it out /stock it into a real reef! ;Happy

 

[Laith]

For the benefit of anyone who wants to be able to test NO3 without guessing colours, check this out:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/test-meter-for-testing-nitrates.530004/

I received the Hanna checker today and got the following results for NO3:

Red Sea Nitrate Pro (high range): between 12 and 16 ppm NO3.

Hanna Nitrite ULR method (as described in the link): 14.15 ppm NO3.

 

[Laith]

Been a while since last update so...

All is going well and I'm actually constantly surprised how much of the system is working as planned.

Loving the AWC system and the automatic refill of the RO/DI water top off container. Hadn't realized how pleasant it is NOT to carry buckets of water all the time! ;Joyful

I'll do several posts now of some things that I still need to implement/tweak:

I need to install and program the rest of the level float switches to the Profilux: low sump level, high and low DT level. At the moment I just have the high sump level one installed (outside of the four that run the AWC and RO/DI tank fill system) that turns off the skimmer if it is triggered.

The high and low DT level float switches will actually need to be installed in the weir until I figure out how to attach them to 24mm glass.

Inputs welcome if I'm missing anything in how they are/will be programmed:

- High level sump: turn off skimmer
- Low level sump: turn off return pumps so they don't run dry (and skimmer?)
- Low level DT: Alarm to check return pumps are operating correctly. The low level DT will trigger once the low level sump sensor turns off the return pumps as the level in the weir will go down.
- High level DT: turn off return pumps.

Not really sure all four are useful .

 

[Laith]

I also need to spend some time and learn how to really use the power of the Profilux.

For example, at the moment when the low level float switch in the fresh saltwater reservoir is triggered, the litermeter AWC is turned off and the solenoid is powered on to start filling the reservoir with RO/DI water. However I'm currently having to manually switch off the litermeter before the reservoir is filled otherwise it will be turned back on when the high level float is triggered and before I've mixed in the salt...

There must be a way to keep the litermeter off until I tell it to power on once the fresh saltwater is mixed.

;Bookworm ;Bookworm ;Bookworm

 

[Laith]

I've ordered three D-D net cover kits to install on the tank. They should arrive in a week or so.

I'd like to start getting some wrasses but would prefer having the nets in place before I do so.

Speaking of livestock, added to the tank since the last livestock update is:

- 1x Poacanthus navarchus (Majestic angelfish)
- 1x Centropyge potteri (Potter's or Russet angelfish)
- 1x Centropyge bicolor (Bicolor angelfish)
- 1x Zebrasoma xanthurum (Yellow tailed purple tang)

All fish are fat and happy ;Happy. And I've been keeping a close eye on the new angelfish additions and so far they've all completely ignored the corals... it helps that I feel free to feed heavily given my filtration setup.

The clownfish are spawning every couple of weeks and I'm finding lots of baby Trochus snails: nice that that part of the CUC is perhaps self sustaining!

My next two fish are going to be a school of 11 Chromis retrofasciata (Black bar chromis, not easy to find around here) and then a group of Anthias, not sure which yet.

 

[Laith]

And I've tested and installed the Super Feeder. As posted previously, I was worried about how it would handle small pellets but it turns out that once there is a good quantity of the pellets in the bin no pellets fall out.

It's been running now for about a month and the Profilux powers it on three times a day. Very happy with it so far. It has a mixture of the Ocean Nutrition Formula one and two, Fauna Marin Spirulina pellets and Fauna Marin soft Protein pellets.

I'm also feeding a couple of cubes of frozen Mysis or Ocean Nutrition's frozen Formula One in which I mix a half dose of Reef Chili as well as some Selcon. And Nori several times a day.

 

[Laith]

I decided originally not to put a grill in the wood panel at the left end of the tank for airflow. But I think the ventilator fan that I installed to vent air outside will work better if there is a grill to allow easier airflow. Currently air is being sucked in through the spaces between the panels and the panels and the ceiling, causing black "dust" to accumulate at the location of these openings.

So need to see whether I'll do it myself or get a carpenter to do it to insure a tidy job. I also need to find a grill that won't allow light to spill out... ;Bookworm

 

[Laith]

And still struggling a bit to keep PO4 and NO3 levels up. I'm adding about .02ppm of PO4 every day or so to get a reading. NO3 is hovering between 3 and 8 ppm.

I've cancelled my order for the large Tunze macro algae reactor as I don't need it for nutrient control at the moment. I'm going to increase the contact time of the rollermat filter material with the tank water which should help as well.

I was thinking about running the skimmer less than 24 hours a day but I want to avoid that: I don't want to affect aeration of the tank water.

What I might try is to dose Amino Acids (Fauna Marin's Amino product) to compensate.

And of course more fish will help the situation. But that will be incremental.

 

[Laith]

I also started feeding this four days ago using a doser:

I've heard about (and seen) some good results from feeding phytoplankton to a reef tank. However I don't have the time to produce my own so I'm trying this as an alternative.

We'll see how this goes.

 

[Laith]

And...

I need to take some good pictures using the new macro lens on my DSLR!

 

[Laith]

And still on the list is deciding whether to have the skimmer pull air from outside so that the tank pH goes up a bit. Current pH swing is between 7.9 to 8.1.

 

[crusso1993]

Some great updates and looking forward to you getting the macro lens on the DSLR and clicking away!

 

[emvanburen]

Great update. Turning off the return and skimmer (all sump pumps) at low level makes sense. Many Good pumps will turn themselves off nowadays but being safe is easy and smart.

Curious how the dt level sensors work out for you.

 

[Laith]

...

Curious how the dt level sensors work out for you.

Yes, I'm not even sure they are necessary which is why I haven't installed them yet...

 

[Laith]

I've been measuring PO4 regularly and have come to the conclusion that my tank is using up about 0.04ppm per day and that my fish load and feeding (even though I'm feeding generously) is not keeping up with that demand. I have noticed paler colours in my corals and a bit of cyano on the sandbed which I'm assuming is due to inconsistent detectable levels of PO4.

NO3 is regularly between 3 and 8/10 so I don't think I have a Nitrogen deficiency, especially if I take into account that NO3 is only about 50% of the available Nitrogen in reef tanks as posted by @Lasse:

NH3/NH4, NO2 and amino acids are also present and in many cases more than half of all available N.

That is a very interesting thread to read by the way, as is this thread:

Nutrient´s ratio - of importance or not?

lasse, so many triton users report coral staving no3 po4 levels that we're starting to feel there's some carbon dosing built-in triton core7. we must dose both no3 and po4 or we go to zeros within 24 hours. both our solutions are autodosed. do a search, there are many recipies for both on...

www.reef2reef.com

So as soon as I find a bit of time, hopefully tomorrow, I'm hooking up my PO4 additive (trisodium phosphate) to one of my GHL doser heads and going to dose 0.04ppm per day over 12 (or 24) doses. Will keep an eye on the PO4 levels and see if they stabilize; I'm aiming for a level of sustained level of about 0.05ppm in the tank.

 

[Laith]

This morning at around 07:00 my PO4 measured 0.006ppm (2ppb). I added 0.03ppm of PO4.

At 13:45 (1:45 pm) my PO4 measured 0. I added another 0.03ppm of PO4. Three hours later my PO4 measured 0.009ppm...

All PO4 measurements made with the Hanna Utra low phosphorous checker.

NO3 is at 8ppm.

@Lasse can you give me your thoughts on whether this amount of uptake makes sense? Otherwise I'll make up a reference solution to test...

In the meantime I have set up this:

And hooked it up to a dosing pump to dose 0.07ppm a day divided over 24 doses.

I also increased the contact time of the dirty fleece in the rollermat to try to increase the organics in the water. Even my skimmer is pulling out less than usual.

 

[Laith]

Could also be that the dry ceramic rock part of the my aquascape is sucking up PO4 still, as is the new gravel...

 

[Lasse]

You lose some PO4 - if it is biological uptake or if you are filling the chemical reserves (sand, rocks and so on) - I can´t say. But I have seen this before. Near zero - adding - still near zero - adding - still near zero - after sometimes - there is the ketchup effect - suddenly readings. You have to measure rather much until you hit the saturation point (if there is any). You must also count with the accuracy of the tester - its about 0.02 ppm (or around 5 ppb) - If you read 2 ppb - it can be from 0 to 7 ppb. If you read 0 ppb - it could be up to 5 ppb. If you read 5 ppb - it could be between 0 and 10 ppb. It is not easy in these low values

Sincerely Lasse