Our Dream Tank
- Large Build
- Thread starter Ditto
- Start date
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OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good morning,
@Jubei2006 - That is a very good idea those fish like to school and always out and about.
On day 3, no Ammonia or Nitrite but trace amounts of Nitrate appeared on the test kit. So we Pulled out the handy dandy low Nitrate Hanna Checker and .25. We are feeding Phytoplankton due to the added pods but no issues to report. No snapping or noise is coming from the tank, but we are still inspecting the tank for any destructive critters. The urchins on the rock have been moving from rock to rock, grazing away.
Ammonia None
No2
No3 traces .25
We did forget to post that the light schedule was adjusted for the introduction of the Live Rock. We are running a 6 Hour schedule at 50% power, as shown below.
@Jubei2006 - That is a very good idea those fish like to school and always out and about.
On day 3, no Ammonia or Nitrite but trace amounts of Nitrate appeared on the test kit. So we Pulled out the handy dandy low Nitrate Hanna Checker and .25. We are feeding Phytoplankton due to the added pods but no issues to report. No snapping or noise is coming from the tank, but we are still inspecting the tank for any destructive critters. The urchins on the rock have been moving from rock to rock, grazing away.
Ammonia None
No2
No3 traces .25
We did forget to post that the light schedule was adjusted for the introduction of the Live Rock. We are running a 6 Hour schedule at 50% power, as shown below.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Evening,
@Jubei2006 - Reading remained at 0 and the No3 is still at .20 to .25 so looking great.
The second Shipment of LiveRock @LiverockRocks is scheduled for Tomorrow Whoohooo.
We did have an intruder inside the LiveRock, a mantis shrimp, who is now in Mantis Heaven. I tried to save the little bugger, but the hot water on the live rock he was in seemed to doom him. I did try trap first but needed the little intruder out before the next set of live rock arrives, which is tomorrow. If our QT tank did not have the fish that used to reside in the tank within it, I would have put the rock in there.
@Jubei2006 - Reading remained at 0 and the No3 is still at .20 to .25 so looking great.
The second Shipment of LiveRock @LiverockRocks is scheduled for Tomorrow Whoohooo.
We did have an intruder inside the LiveRock, a mantis shrimp, who is now in Mantis Heaven. I tried to save the little bugger, but the hot water on the live rock he was in seemed to doom him. I did try trap first but needed the little intruder out before the next set of live rock arrives, which is tomorrow. If our QT tank did not have the fish that used to reside in the tank within it, I would have put the rock in there.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Evening,
We have also been playing with the Amazonas 960 iCon lights and the App, and some observations that I believe others should be made aware of:
1- Acclimation Mode does not use your schedule or your light settings. The manual does state this is a roundabout way that the intensity starts at 30% and ramps up to 60% between the time intervals, with that range being between 8:01 AM to 8:00 PM. If you want it to be earlier or later than these times, you can not do it. It does not consider your existing light schedule or intensity, so this feature would not work for us as my max light intensity is 45%. With the light's max intensity of 60% at the end of the acclimation of ten days, it would be 15% higher than expected.
We did get around this feature by creating multiple acclimation settings raising the intensity by 3% every three days with a new schedule. But, again, something I believe we should not have to do, and I hope they correct this.
2- Lunar mode and Cloud modes have specific time ranges that are not allowed to overlap between the specified times. Lunar times start times and end times must be between time times of 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM. For example, if your lights were going out at 7:30 PM and you wanted the moon to take over, you can not have the moon start until 8:00 PM. Likewise, you could not do that if you wanted your lights to start at 9:00 AM and the moon to turn off at 8:59 AM. Cloud settings have the same restriction and must be between 8:01 AM and 8:00 PM.
We worked around this by adjusting our entire light schedule from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Even with these two observations, we believe the lights are worth the value and would repurchase them.
We have also been playing with the Amazonas 960 iCon lights and the App, and some observations that I believe others should be made aware of:
1- Acclimation Mode does not use your schedule or your light settings. The manual does state this is a roundabout way that the intensity starts at 30% and ramps up to 60% between the time intervals, with that range being between 8:01 AM to 8:00 PM. If you want it to be earlier or later than these times, you can not do it. It does not consider your existing light schedule or intensity, so this feature would not work for us as my max light intensity is 45%. With the light's max intensity of 60% at the end of the acclimation of ten days, it would be 15% higher than expected.
We did get around this feature by creating multiple acclimation settings raising the intensity by 3% every three days with a new schedule. But, again, something I believe we should not have to do, and I hope they correct this.
2- Lunar mode and Cloud modes have specific time ranges that are not allowed to overlap between the specified times. Lunar times start times and end times must be between time times of 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM. For example, if your lights were going out at 7:30 PM and you wanted the moon to take over, you can not have the moon start until 8:00 PM. Likewise, you could not do that if you wanted your lights to start at 9:00 AM and the moon to turn off at 8:59 AM. Cloud settings have the same restriction and must be between 8:01 AM and 8:00 PM.
We worked around this by adjusting our entire light schedule from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Even with these two observations, we believe the lights are worth the value and would repurchase them.
LiverockRocks
Gulf of Mexico Living Rock Farmers
Gold Sponsor
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Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
R.I.P mantis buddy
M and I have your order weighed out and ready to go for packaging in the wee hours tomorrow.
J
Jubei2006
Well-Known Member
Mantis shrimp are cool, but man in a reef tank....that'd be a nightmare. I am getting ready to purchase some live rock for the big tank to increase biodiversity, and have a few tanks to quarantine the rock in for uninvited guests (ich and velvet being the big ones for me). All my fish can from TSM aquatics, so Id hate to chance it. But I still think a lot of the people on here are right about live rock being the best way long term. Just not with fush disease and hitchhiker control. So I guess Ill be using a "hybrid" method. Sorta wish I wouldve started with live rock in the sump, built the dry rock structure in the display, and when I knew everything was good, connect the two. Oh well, patience is not my strong suit.
Jubei2006
Well-Known Member
Those lights look fantastic, and cant wait to see them on. Hopefully you can supply us a video so we can see them running (shimmer and such)? I have been thinking about adding two of the kessil a500x to my tank to increase shimmer and maybe get more light penetration down to the bottom of the tank (never used a par meter so unsure where its at). Sucks about the programing, but they all have their "issues". I still can use the ghl connect on my phone to connect to my mitras, so anytime I wanna change anything....get out the laptop and plug in the usb port. Looking at getting the module put in the profilux to control them through it. But they're on, working on a schedule, and Im lazy.
I just read the whole thread; what an amazing build. It looks great! I love all the Royal Exclusiv equipment; I used it in my previous tank and have always been a big fan. I will be following the progress!
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Morning,
@LiverockRocks received the early morning email. WHOO HOOO, the next shipment of rock is on the way. The second shipment of rock should arrive in NY right before noon. Thank you!!
@Jubei2006 we tried not to kill the little bugger, but sometimes just nothing we can do. I believe live rock brings the best bio-diversity to a tank and can not be beaten.
The GHL lights are fantastic and are on all my other tanks, and we control them both through a P4 on two tanks and individually through the master on the other tanks. It would have transferred them to this tank if it were not for the height of the lights on this tank.
We will work on a video once we are out of acclimation mode for about two more weeks now that the next set or rock is arriving today.
@knecht thank you for the kind words. We love the royal exclusive build and quality but are running into a unique issue with the sump we plan to post about. We have been going back and forth with support and will soon publish the exact problem on the Facebook group. It is related to the Fleece Sensor.
@LiverockRocks received the early morning email. WHOO HOOO, the next shipment of rock is on the way. The second shipment of rock should arrive in NY right before noon. Thank you!!
@Jubei2006 we tried not to kill the little bugger, but sometimes just nothing we can do. I believe live rock brings the best bio-diversity to a tank and can not be beaten.
The GHL lights are fantastic and are on all my other tanks, and we control them both through a P4 on two tanks and individually through the master on the other tanks. It would have transferred them to this tank if it were not for the height of the lights on this tank.
We will work on a video once we are out of acclimation mode for about two more weeks now that the next set or rock is arriving today.
@knecht thank you for the kind words. We love the royal exclusive build and quality but are running into a unique issue with the sump we plan to post about. We have been going back and forth with support and will soon publish the exact problem on the Facebook group. It is related to the Fleece Sensor.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Evening,
The Second shipment of live rock has arrived. I wish I had time to do videos of the boxes opening, but a few of the boxes were leaking water for the airline shipping, so we moved quickly to move them into the tank.
First, we want to thank @LiverockRocks for all the help in answering my questions. We had a bad smell from two boxes that required us to scrape off some of the truncates that seemed to be a bit stinky. Once we did that, we inspected the rock underwater in a clean 5-gallon bucket of tank water and placed them into the tank.
We made my first attempt at sculpting with the live rock and will probably look at it tomorrow morning and go, let us try again, hehe.
As before, it's time for the photobombing of the rock . The lIcon960 lights were only on white channels and at a 454% intensity. As you can see, the brightness they produce at 45% is just exceptional. I did receive my lens and plan to do a video of the lights and all channels soon.
First up some Tank Shots
Let us get a bit closer:
Love this one rock full of plant life:
I placed these in a Low-medium Flow Area
Another rock full of Fauna:
Another Great rock with Fauna on it
Some sort of Coral on this one
This one look's really nice in the Blue Light florescent in color:
Wife like this one..
And really have no idea what type of crab this is. I can not see its eyes but it moving around like it carrying an entire rock on its back. that is soft. Cute little bugger the wife likes it.
What is next on our to-do list:
Avast ozone Generator Fully hooked-up
Finish the KH Director and Ion Director Hookup.
Install Chiller
Configure AWC Changer from Manual to Automatic
Clean up (Need to give the Wife back the dining room table hehe)
The Second shipment of live rock has arrived. I wish I had time to do videos of the boxes opening, but a few of the boxes were leaking water for the airline shipping, so we moved quickly to move them into the tank.
First, we want to thank @LiverockRocks for all the help in answering my questions. We had a bad smell from two boxes that required us to scrape off some of the truncates that seemed to be a bit stinky. Once we did that, we inspected the rock underwater in a clean 5-gallon bucket of tank water and placed them into the tank.
We made my first attempt at sculpting with the live rock and will probably look at it tomorrow morning and go, let us try again, hehe.
As before, it's time for the photobombing of the rock . The lIcon960 lights were only on white channels and at a 454% intensity. As you can see, the brightness they produce at 45% is just exceptional. I did receive my lens and plan to do a video of the lights and all channels soon.
First up some Tank Shots
Let us get a bit closer:
Love this one rock full of plant life:
I placed these in a Low-medium Flow Area
Another rock full of Fauna:
Another Great rock with Fauna on it
Some sort of Coral on this one
This one look's really nice in the Blue Light florescent in color:
Wife like this one..
And really have no idea what type of crab this is. I can not see its eyes but it moving around like it carrying an entire rock on its back. that is soft. Cute little bugger the wife likes it.
What is next on our to-do list:
Avast ozone Generator Fully hooked-up
Finish the KH Director and Ion Director Hookup.
Install Chiller
Configure AWC Changer from Manual to Automatic
Clean up (Need to give the Wife back the dining room table hehe)
Last edited:
Jubei2006
Well-Known Member
That's some pretty rock! Did the gorgonians come with the rock? Watch the caleurpa, I had a time with it back in day when I had 125 gallon reef. Was using metal halides. It grew like mad and the few tangs I had didnt keep up. Sorta turned my tank into a refugium for 4 to 6 months as I battled it back. The guys I have now would probably make short work of it though (purple, desarjini, naso, tomini, and magnificent foxface). Not to mention my 4 tuxedo urchins. But nice rock!
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
@Jubei2006 - We have a few to combat the caleurpa but agree will need to watch it. Maybe get the weed eater out to combat it hehe.
Thanks on the comments about the rocks. We are very impressed at the quality and life all over the rock from @LiverockRocks and would for sure buy from them again.
Thanks on the comments about the rocks. We are very impressed at the quality and life all over the rock from @LiverockRocks and would for sure buy from them again.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Morning,
Below are the ATI Water Test results of the tank before we added anything to the tank:
Our Concern is that the RODI station is a 7-stage RODI, all with new filters and an extra Silicon Buster 8th stage filter. And we are still showing it high for the tank.
Below are the ATI Water Test results of the tank before we added anything to the tank:
Our Concern is that the RODI station is a 7-stage RODI, all with new filters and an extra Silicon Buster 8th stage filter. And we are still showing it high for the tank.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Afternoon,
The Avast Ozone Reactor and Generator is fully configured and online. First, we have to say that the Avast Generator is well built, and no issues with the instructions and hook-up. Going with Ozone was a decision my wife and I discussed. She did not want any smell from this tank because of its location and wanted the water as clear as possible.
We also decided not to use the existing skimmer as it keeps the skimmer skimming the best it can be and extends the skimmer's life. We also wanted to direct the output of the ozone reactor through the UV Return pump input. What this does is that even after the carbon chamber, the water is then sucked up by the Return pump that is fed through the UV sterilizer, pretty much eliminating any remaining ozone particles that could be dangerous before entering the display tank.
The Avast Ozone Reactor was assembled on the third day the tank was built and connected to the Ozotech Poseidon 200 generator, but the ozone generator was never turned on. So instead, the Ozotech Poseidon 200 was connected to an air pump, also connected to the Ozotech Ozone Air Dryer Gen 2 Air Dryer.
What we observed, and we know this is because the Ozone Generator is in the basement, that the Air Driver beads needed to be replaced every 5-7 days. So over the last three weeks, we have had to change the beads at least once weekly. Typically not an issue getting the cookie pan out, drying them, and putting them back inside the storage container until the following week, when we would rinse and repeat.
Because of this, we also decided to put in an IQ-20 Air Dryer, which would heat the beads 1-3 hours a day, drying them out with a 1-hour cool-down. We could have gone with the IQ-40, a dual heated beads system that rotates between the two but decided this would work and eliminate one of our maintenance tasks.
Now that we went with the IQ-20 Air Dryer, we needed to make configuration changes for the Ozone Generator and the Air Pump.
First, we set the IQ-20 Air Dryer time to dry the beads between 1-3 Am. We did this because, typically, ORP raises at night and should have minimal impact (We will see) on the ORP levels. We also added a 1 hour cooling time for the beads per the instructions before running the Ozone Generator and Air Pump.
The Air Pump was the easy part.
We created a timer and set it on only between 4:00 am and 1:00 am. (Timer 2)
Then on the switch port for the Air Pump, we applied the Timer 2 Function.
The Ozone Generator required a Timer and ORP control to be assigned to the same Switch Port. To do this, program logic was going to be needed for the Ozone Generator to work and be Monitored.
We created another timer and set it on only between 4:00 am, and 1:00 am. (Timer 1). The reason for this was that in the future, if we want to set additional times that we may wish for the Ozone Generator to be off, we can without impacting the Air Pump.
We also needed to set the nominal value for our ORP probe, which is used to determine if the Ozone Generator should be on or off. Again, we went with a Nominal Value of 325.
We have not enabled Alarms yet as our ORP is currently outside the Nominal Value, and we will set this once we are within 50 of the value.
Then we needed program logic to tie the timer and the ORP value into one function that we will place on the switch port that controls the Ozone Generator. This function uses an And, which means the time must be on between the times, and the ORP must be below the Nominal Value for the Ozone generator to be on.
We then assigned that Program logic to the switch port that controls the Ozone Generator.
The Ozone generator is set to a value of 4, under the recommended 5-6 setting, and we will monitor the ORP to see how fast it goes up. We want this to be a steady increase of 25-30 a day till we get to our target value. We will then adjust the Generator down to keep it from turning on and off all day so that we stay as close to 325 as possible with the lowest Ozone Generator setting possible.
Another Observation for UV owners is we saw a 50-point drop in ORP when the UV generator was turned on. The First drop was us testing an Auto Water Changing, and the second was when we turned the UV on in preparation for the Ozone Generator Turning on.
The Avast Ozone Reactor and Generator is fully configured and online. First, we have to say that the Avast Generator is well built, and no issues with the instructions and hook-up. Going with Ozone was a decision my wife and I discussed. She did not want any smell from this tank because of its location and wanted the water as clear as possible.
We also decided not to use the existing skimmer as it keeps the skimmer skimming the best it can be and extends the skimmer's life. We also wanted to direct the output of the ozone reactor through the UV Return pump input. What this does is that even after the carbon chamber, the water is then sucked up by the Return pump that is fed through the UV sterilizer, pretty much eliminating any remaining ozone particles that could be dangerous before entering the display tank.
The Avast Ozone Reactor was assembled on the third day the tank was built and connected to the Ozotech Poseidon 200 generator, but the ozone generator was never turned on. So instead, the Ozotech Poseidon 200 was connected to an air pump, also connected to the Ozotech Ozone Air Dryer Gen 2 Air Dryer.
What we observed, and we know this is because the Ozone Generator is in the basement, that the Air Driver beads needed to be replaced every 5-7 days. So over the last three weeks, we have had to change the beads at least once weekly. Typically not an issue getting the cookie pan out, drying them, and putting them back inside the storage container until the following week, when we would rinse and repeat.
Because of this, we also decided to put in an IQ-20 Air Dryer, which would heat the beads 1-3 hours a day, drying them out with a 1-hour cool-down. We could have gone with the IQ-40, a dual heated beads system that rotates between the two but decided this would work and eliminate one of our maintenance tasks.
Now that we went with the IQ-20 Air Dryer, we needed to make configuration changes for the Ozone Generator and the Air Pump.
First, we set the IQ-20 Air Dryer time to dry the beads between 1-3 Am. We did this because, typically, ORP raises at night and should have minimal impact (We will see) on the ORP levels. We also added a 1 hour cooling time for the beads per the instructions before running the Ozone Generator and Air Pump.
The Air Pump was the easy part.
We created a timer and set it on only between 4:00 am and 1:00 am. (Timer 2)
Then on the switch port for the Air Pump, we applied the Timer 2 Function.
The Ozone Generator required a Timer and ORP control to be assigned to the same Switch Port. To do this, program logic was going to be needed for the Ozone Generator to work and be Monitored.
We created another timer and set it on only between 4:00 am, and 1:00 am. (Timer 1). The reason for this was that in the future, if we want to set additional times that we may wish for the Ozone Generator to be off, we can without impacting the Air Pump.
We also needed to set the nominal value for our ORP probe, which is used to determine if the Ozone Generator should be on or off. Again, we went with a Nominal Value of 325.
We have not enabled Alarms yet as our ORP is currently outside the Nominal Value, and we will set this once we are within 50 of the value.
Then we needed program logic to tie the timer and the ORP value into one function that we will place on the switch port that controls the Ozone Generator. This function uses an And, which means the time must be on between the times, and the ORP must be below the Nominal Value for the Ozone generator to be on.
We then assigned that Program logic to the switch port that controls the Ozone Generator.
The Ozone generator is set to a value of 4, under the recommended 5-6 setting, and we will monitor the ORP to see how fast it goes up. We want this to be a steady increase of 25-30 a day till we get to our target value. We will then adjust the Generator down to keep it from turning on and off all day so that we stay as close to 325 as possible with the lowest Ozone Generator setting possible.
Another Observation for UV owners is we saw a 50-point drop in ORP when the UV generator was turned on. The First drop was us testing an Auto Water Changing, and the second was when we turned the UV on in preparation for the Ozone Generator Turning on.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Good Afternoon,
A Few things since the last update:
KH Director is online and is running around 8.5 (I am getting a .2 Swing per day)
We adjusted the light schedule out of acclimation mode to the schedule below where we peak the lights at 38 percent, only 8 points higher then acclimation mode which was at 30. This means the top of the rocks are coming in around 200 and the bottom is between 80-100. We could easily turn them up higher but for now we are allowing the tank to adjust and may turn them up to 40 percent in a 2-3 months.
We are starting the day with some blue and ending the day also in blue with a total light schedule of 12 hours.
A Few things since the last update:
KH Director is online and is running around 8.5 (I am getting a .2 Swing per day)
We adjusted the light schedule out of acclimation mode to the schedule below where we peak the lights at 38 percent, only 8 points higher then acclimation mode which was at 30. This means the top of the rocks are coming in around 200 and the bottom is between 80-100. We could easily turn them up higher but for now we are allowing the tank to adjust and may turn them up to 40 percent in a 2-3 months.
We are starting the day with some blue and ending the day also in blue with a total light schedule of 12 hours.
OP
OP
Ditto
Valuable Member
Sorry we have not been posting much, but my wife's immunotherapy looks not to be working, so we are going to need to do radiation. This hit us both quite hard, and we have been making all the necessary appointments in preparation for her to begin this therapy. We are both worried it has come to this but remain firm on this next hurdle we must overcome. It will be 5 Weeks, five times a week of treatment.
On the tank front:
Last Week one of the two Royal Exclusive Pumps failed with errors E2 and E5. After taking it out and cleaning it stilled error. After contacting Royal Exclusive Support, they recommended we clean it again in undulated white vinegar for 10 minutes. This was to make sure no build-up was anywhere inside the pump. Again, this pump was running for less than 45 days, so we would find it difficult to see any calcium or gunk build, but we went ahead and did it anyway.
The pump still failed.
We ordered a replacement pump which arrived four days later and tried the power supply and the head unit that controls the pump on the old pump, and the same errors occurred. We then used the old head unit and power supply on the new pump, which worked without any issues. We installed the new pump, and the tank was back to normal. We are awaiting royal exclusive next step on how we plan to replace the pump since it is less than 60 days old in use. The good news is once the pump comes back, I will have a spare pump if this happens again. Concerning it happened so soon after the tank was running, but we know things like this can happen.
The other issue was a sensor on the sump used to move the fleece roller. It would work when pressed but would not work automatically. We have to say support was great about the issue. We went back and forth and tried many things, and the final fix was a new sensor. We replaced the sensor and calibrated it; the unit is back up and running.
On the tank front:
Last Week one of the two Royal Exclusive Pumps failed with errors E2 and E5. After taking it out and cleaning it stilled error. After contacting Royal Exclusive Support, they recommended we clean it again in undulated white vinegar for 10 minutes. This was to make sure no build-up was anywhere inside the pump. Again, this pump was running for less than 45 days, so we would find it difficult to see any calcium or gunk build, but we went ahead and did it anyway.
The pump still failed.
We ordered a replacement pump which arrived four days later and tried the power supply and the head unit that controls the pump on the old pump, and the same errors occurred. We then used the old head unit and power supply on the new pump, which worked without any issues. We installed the new pump, and the tank was back to normal. We are awaiting royal exclusive next step on how we plan to replace the pump since it is less than 60 days old in use. The good news is once the pump comes back, I will have a spare pump if this happens again. Concerning it happened so soon after the tank was running, but we know things like this can happen.
The other issue was a sensor on the sump used to move the fleece roller. It would work when pressed but would not work automatically. We have to say support was great about the issue. We went back and forth and tried many things, and the final fix was a new sensor. We replaced the sensor and calibrated it; the unit is back up and running.
Jubei2006
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about the immunotherapy front. It is a new technology for us, exciting, but also still frustrating. Wish you both the best going forward with radiation. We are rooting and praying for you both.
Royal Exclusive should get you guys fixed up on the pump front. That little time working.......especially for that price. Not like the impeller was bent and broken from a trochus going down it or anything. But hey, extra return pump is always piece of mind. Does sorta suck though have a couple thousand bucks sitting on a shelf though. At least is wasnt an abyss pump!
Royal Exclusive should get you guys fixed up on the pump front. That little time working.......especially for that price. Not like the impeller was bent and broken from a trochus going down it or anything. But hey, extra return pump is always piece of mind. Does sorta suck though have a couple thousand bucks sitting on a shelf though. At least is wasnt an abyss pump!
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