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

[SPR1968]

I did my usual water tests yesterday and the Alkalinity was showing 6.5 dKH. I was it’s usual 8 last week although Calcium was a little low at 400

I have a large coral growing (name to follow!!) and I’m starting to think the calcium and Alkalinity usage is increasing as the coral gets bigger. I have a few frags of it in the tank and they are all growing like crazy to the point I may have to ‘prune’ them severely.

I’ve topped up the Alkalinity and also increased the daily dosage and I’ll check it again in a few days.

The Mg is 1600 again. I don’t dose it so it must be coming from the Red Sea standard salt i use.

I tried a new tinned fish food this week from Arcadia. I’ve used it about 3 times this week and when I tested the phosphate it was 0.13 despite me having changed the Rhowaphos 7 days ago! I’ll test is again with the Alkalinity and see if it’s gone back down. I'll stop using this for the time being.

 

[SPR1968]

I changed over the main pump to my spare about 10 days ago and also removed the rear circulation vents and again put in the spare set.

I then dropped the whole lot including the dismantled pump into a bowl of citric acid were it’s been soaking for about 10 days.

The circulation vents were covered in coralline algae and after soaking it just wiped off with no effort.

I’ve also used vinegar but the citric acid seems to be better. I get it in powder form and then just add some water and leave it.

 

[Frizzles7]

I changed over the main pump to my spare about 10 days ago and also removed the rear circulation vents and again put in the spare set.

I then dropped the whole lot including the dismantled pump into a bowl of citric acid were it’s been soaking for about 10 days.

The circulation vents were covered in coralline algae and after soaking it just wiped off with no effort.

I’ve also used vinegar but the citric acid seems to be better. I get it in powder form and then just add some water and leave it.

What do you use as your spare pump? Did you get another of the main pumps from Red Sea or did you get something else? Just curious, as I was looking at buying spares, and not sure what to get.

 

[SPR1968]

What do you use as your spare pump? Did you get another of the main pumps from Red Sea or did you get something else? Just curious, as I was looking at buying spares, and not sure what to get.

I’ve got a spare Red Sea one.

The reason I got this was simply that when I started out I had never cleaned a pump or taken one to pieces. I thought it was some mythical very technical thing with wires everywhere.

So as I was frightened to take the ‘heart’ out of my system whilst not having a clue what to expect, and terrified of it breaking down, I purchased an identical Red Sea pump from them at about £269.

I now realise that it’s very simple to clean and take to pieces (unless your like Freddie @GoVols Lol! Yes I still laugh at this my friend and at the video of @2una magical super fast technique!).

So what I now do is just a straight swap over every 4-5 months or so and it’s very simple. I would recommend it actually as it makes cleaning etc much easier as there is no rush and you need a spare pump really anyway for backup.

I did however look at other pumps (whilst worrying about it breaking!) and have a fitting that screws onto the Red Sea pump like the main manifold pipe does, so basically I can take it to LFS and buy a pump that the fitting will screw onto. Then I know the pump will fit if you see what I mean.

 

[SPR1968]

Infact if you want a laugh the following is a link to mine and @GoVols learning about main pump cleaning including the very nifty video from @2una ! @Nobbygas was just as bad lol!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2629456

PS I hope I dont get into trouble for posting this, but it can always be deleted!

 

[Frizzles7]

That’s awesome!

 

[GoVols]

That’s awesome!

Frizzles7,
I keep a factory backup pump too ;Wacky

Lol!!
I'm still waiting for @2una to give the answer to post #24 on that old ;Oldman thread.. and I no longer use a toothpick to hold the impeller's shaft.

 

[GoVols]

I did my usual water tests yesterday and the Alkalinity was showing 6.5 dKH. I was it’s usual 8 last week although Calcium was a little low at 400

I have a large coral growing (name to follow!!) and I’m starting to think the calcium and Alkalinity usage is increasing as the coral gets bigger. I have a few frags of it in the tank and they are all growing like crazy to the point I may have to ‘prune’ them severely.

...

.......... ;Writing it down, as we go.

 

[SPR1968]

I’ve been away for a while on an adventure holiday walking around the Amalfi coast in Italy were we walked around 11km every day up and down mountains. 1 day we descended from our hotel into Amalfi which involved 3000 steps!

We also climbed up mount Vesuvius to the crater, and visited Pompei and Herculaneum

Here are a few shots

This is Positano

This is Amalfi from the mountains

This is Amalfi from the sea

And this is a picture I took of the Terrace Of Infinity at Ravello

 

[SPR1968]

I wonder if there is a relationship between a protein skimmer and paint vapour?

Because my painter painted the room yesterday, with the tank completely covered in plastic sheet with the lights off, and later that evening the skimmer went crazy!

There is the normal slight smell of paint in the room although the windows were open but talk about sensitivity....

 

[elisa h]

Beautiful pictures!

 

[SPR1968]

Beautiful pictures!

Thank you Elisa, they don’t show how tired we were ! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

This is a picture of us at the top of mount Vesuvius around the crater!

 

[elisa h]

Wow! Must’ve been an awesome vacation!! I’m jealous [emoji5]

 

[Chrisfish]

Beautiful pictures of your vacation and your awesome tank, thanks for sharing them.

 

[SPR1968]

Beautiful pictures of your vacation and your awesome tank, thanks for sharing them.

Your more than welcome @Chrisfish and thanks for taking the time to post.

It was a great adventure and well out of our comfort zone as we normally go for beach vacations!

 

[SPR1968]

Wow! Must’ve been an awesome vacation!! I’m jealous [emoji5]

Yes it was a fantastic adventure to be honest and we saw things we would have never seen on a normal holiday, because of the guides we employed for the different areas. We had a main team guide who was with us all the time who then employed specific guides for Vesuvius, Pompei etc.

We used a company called Exodus and are going to the Galapagos Islands in March next year with them.

We really enjoyed it.

 

[fabutahoun]

I wonder if there is a relationship between a protein skimmer and paint vapour?

Because my painter painted the room yesterday, with the tank completely covered in plastic sheet with the lights off, and later that evening the skimmer went crazy!

There is the normal slight smell of paint in the room although the windows were open but talk about sensitivity....

Yes it happened to me before, the skimmer is pulling air that is full of vapor

 

[SPR1968]

Yes it happened to me before, the skimmer is pulling air that is full of vapor

Thanks Fadi.

I suppose I’ve just got to leave it for a few days until it settles down. The air intube is currently screwed nearly shut otherwise it ‘freaks out’! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

So then, who do you think has been eating my green star polyps in the centre of my tank that I’ve had since I started!

The accused......

Now getting really stuck in...

And what’s left! Little sh..! But such a pretty face...