Shaun's 2000 Litre (530 USG) Living Reef & Red Sea Max S 650 LED Design & Build

[SPR1968]

You had to poke me with a stick?!

Lol! I think with a bit of vinegar mixed in as well it might be a little better......

I think we need another video! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

Calling some of the swill they brand as Vodka is a crime against humanity. I feel guilty feeding the bacteria with it, it is so nasty!

Mines a ‘special brand’ Brew! Lol

 

[Nobbygas]

Technically its ‘white spirit’ and vinegar and although Simon @najer would clearly drink it, and maybe you because I think you also originate in Bristol I recall, we’re they drink ‘zummerzet zyder’ and then ‘G Woam’ a bit wobbly . Infact Simon has several novel ways to ingest it he’s even made a video! Lol

I posted the recipe above, so maybe just add a bit of colour and sugar to taste! Lol

Infact here are some common phrases from Somerset (And yes I know Bristol might not technically now be In Somerset but it’s within a ’trakur’ ride whilst bringing in the hay for accent spread! Lol)

Cordin eye, stimey wenoam - translates to, according to me it’s time we went home

Whirr zer bin to And Wha' be gwain 'ave - translates to - we’re have you been to and what are you going to have ?

Your Bristolian needs a lot of work....and Somerset? Bloody Somerset !!!!! I'm a Gloucestershire boy !

 

[SPR1968]

Your Bristolian needs a lot of work....and Somerset? Bloody Somerset !!!!! I'm a Gloucestershire boy !

Like I said, only a short ‘trakur’ ride away! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

Your Bristolian needs a lot of work....and Somerset? Bloody Somerset !!!!! I'm a Gloucestershire boy !

You won’t believe this but one of my clients, a scaffolding contractor, lovely guy, has literally just called me, from Bristol, with that beautiful country accent! Lol

Gosh, it made me smile, I had to be professional and not start laughing!

 

[GBRsouth]

Technically its ‘white spirit’ and vinegar and although Simon @najer would clearly drink it, and maybe you because I think you also originate in Bristol I recall, we’re they drink ‘zummerzet zyder’ and then ‘G Woam’ a bit wobbly . Infact Simon has several novel ways to ingest it he’s even made a video! Lol

I posted the recipe above, so maybe just add a bit of colour and sugar to taste! Lol

Infact here are some common phrases from Somerset (And yes I know Bristol might not technically now be In Somerset but it’s within a ’trakur’ ride whilst bringing in the hay for accent spread! Lol)

Cordin eye, stimey wenoam - translates to, according to me it’s time we went home

Whirr zer bin to And Wha' be gwain 'ave - translates to - we’re have you been to and what are you going to have ?

I wish you English would speak English!

 

[GBRsouth]

You had to poke me with a stick?!

No hay fever for you!

 

[SPR1968]

Here’s a shot across the reef....

 

[NautiTang]

Love those end shots. Simply breathtaking.
P.s. I think your desjardinii has a thing for himself.

 

[JamesB310]

Amazing Tanks!

 

[SPR1968]

Amazing Tanks!

Thanks James and thanks for saying hello!

 

[SPR1968]

Oh how time flys, it’s been over a year so having avoided it for some time, because I didn’t fancy doing it, it was time to clean the NYOS Quantum 300

I took the first dirty pictures so I could remember how to put it back together it’s been that long!

Its a big old beast this thing is, it only just fitted in the sink, and ‘next year’ when I clean it, I’m going to get a big plastic container to do the job so I can soak it a little easier and longer in citric acid

Ive set a reminder to do it every 6 months as to be honest it was very easy, the hardest job is getting the thing out of the tank because of the size and weight.

Anyway, all cleaned and back in service. Tilt you head on one side as the site wont show them correctly!

 

[najer]

Nice, never been brave enough to take the 160 apart!

 

[SPR1968]

Nice, never been brave enough to take the 160 apart!

Well that’s the next job in the ‘frag tank’, and to be honest the 160 looks like a little toy in comparison to the 300!

It’s very simple to be honest Simon, it takes a few minutes to strip it down, the screws are all the same size so you can mix and match. Well apart from the ones on the sides of the pump.

Interestingly, on the 300, they recommend not removing the impellers on the pumps for some reason, so I didn’t. In the 160 they just pull out

 

[SPR1968]

Do you know how much trouble a stupid little crab can cause !?

So today I should have been on a beach in Cape Verde, looking like something from bay watch...... But no, I’m stuck in the freezing snow here in the UK. Luckily.........

I came down this morning and heard an ‘unusual’ water noise which didn’t sound good. So having gathered myself together I checked the emergency overflow pipe, and water was pouring down it and the tank water level was about 1 inch from the very top. So I guess the emergency overflow did it’s job and saved me from a severe ‘telling off’!

Anyway I turned the Abyzz A200 down a bit and also opened the gate valve on the main down pipe and as I did so, a crab came shooting down the pipe into the X Filter roll.

The crab had seemingly climbed over the overflows weirs, and down the main down pipe and got stuck, and more importantly, severely reduced the flow back into the sump. So then the ATO kicked in....

So of course when the crab was removed, flow turned back up, the sump level was to high because of all the extra water dumped in by the ATO....

This is when Apex has its uses. A float switch was tripped which turned of the skimmer before it freaked out, and also the Tunze Osmolator just in case that was ever the cause of a problem.

So as I speak, the skimmer and ATO are off, awaiting evaporation of all the additional water, after which it will turn back on as the sump level lowers. Salinity dropped just under 1 so all ok, and will slowly return to normal over the next day or so. And sparse feedings until the skimmers back on.

So on the basis this crab thing has now occurred twice, and at this time of year, normally I wouldn’t be around, best implement a solution to try and stop a repeat event

I considered a 40mm pvc coupling over the main down pipe with some mesh over it, but that just seemed like it may reduce flow as eventually it clogged or needed cleaning. I had some fine black garden netting so basically I’ve zip tied it to the overflow weir to hopefully try and prevent anything climbing over the top of it which I think is what happened

Ive always had a black cover over the area but that was a precautionary measure to stop fish jumping and going down, I never even considered critters mountaineering up and over it!

Anyway here’s the pictures, you cant actually see the netting or anything when the cover is on, so it doesn’t cause any visual issues.

 

[Nobbygas]

Nice, never been brave enough to take the 160 apart!

The 160 is very easy to take apart and clean. It's one of those jobs I don't mind doing.

 

[Doglips56]

Red Sea S 650 August 2018

Red Sea S 650 June 2019

The deep ocean, Red Sea Max S650 in the evenings........

And now for the arrival of the new custom made 2000 litre system. The new and the old. You can see the reflection of the S650 in the glass. September 2019 the big build begins..... Page 70+

July 2020 7 months old



October 2020 10 months old



19th December 2020, exactly 1 years old...

Here’s a few closer pictures




My view in the evenings as the lights dim and the systems go blue, it’s simply magical......

Here’s a video of the new system at exactly 1 years old, 19th December 2020. I hope you enjoy it.



Feeding Time




Sunrise in the Red Sea S650 around 4 years old, 28th April 2020




January 2019 side shot of the S650

Gorgeous!! What kind of camera do you use?

 

[SPR1968]

Gorgeous!! What kind of camera do you use?

Thank you, a Canon EOS 750D and sometimes a Canon Macro lens

 

[SPR1968]

So for those of you paying attention, you’ll recall I have a slight nitrate issue do to a defective NYOS Nitrate kit. I tested today and it was around 25-30 not 6. I had been over feeding because of this, along with reduced water changes, and hence the raised level.

Im continuing with water changes at around 25-30% per week daily with Apex DOS. Do you know how much water that is, it’s like an entire ‘normal large size‘ tank every week!

The SPS corals are growing like crazy because of the increased food, to the point the Deltec calcium reactors been turned up from a flow of around 16 litres per day to 29 to keep up with it and probably also the water changes reducing the level slightly each day.

Anyway, I’m not very patient with this sort of thing, so I thought I know what I’ll try, and what’s been sat in the garage for a year or so, and what’s not very effective sat in the garage...

All I needed was a pump so I purchased the eheim compactON 2100 which is what I use for the Tunze/ATO so it’s handy to have a spare anyway.

This should work along with increased water changes, if it doesn’t we’re going to the Deltec NFP512 nitrate reactor as the final step. Ive been studying how to use it and also been in touch with the guys at DD The Aquarium Solution for some tips.

I think once the levels are reduced the Matrix and water changes should take care of it.

Anyway,

 

[George Collins]

Hello, just seen this thread and wanted to say what a amazing tank you have. This is one of the best looking tanks I have ever seen. Just wanted to ask I looked through several pages in this post and seen where you have purchased several fish and put them in the display tank right away, my question is do you not quarantine your fish and if not have you ever had an outbreak of ich or anything? If not please let me in on the secret lol.