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

SPR1968 · Sep 3, 2018

Janci said:
How long were the bricks inside before they started to disintegrate?
I did not know they were so brittle.

They started to break down after around 3 months I think and there has been some write ups about certain batches which may have had issues, but the LFS/Brightwell replaced them and the new 2 seem better. I just left the originals in place and tried not to move them, but having done so you can see the mess.

I’ve gone with Matrix as it can’t break down as it’s rock, and everything I’ve read seems good so I’ll give it a go. The water looked very clear last night, but that could have been the ‘refreshment’ I was consuming! Lol

SPR1968 · Sep 3, 2018

Here’s a picture taken with some camera filtration.....

GoVols · Sep 3, 2018

Shaun,
Do you think you'll buy the Red Sea dosing pumps?

SPR1968 · Sep 3, 2018

GoVols said:
Shaun,
Do you think you'll buy the Red Sea dosing pumps?

I’m currently using the kamoer 4 channel doser Freddie, which I have had for over 2 years and it’s been faultless (yikes!! lol) and it’s very easy to program so I don’t think I would get the Red Sea one which presumably is new and could have potential issues.

To be honest, if the Kamoer went down, it’s so good I wouldn’t hesitate to just order a new replacement. I got it originally because of all the good reviews about it and it can be extended with slaves if I ever need more channels.

Having said this I have my eye on the new Trident system from Neptune, and there is also Mindstream although that doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere quickly so I’m not holding my breath there..

GoVols · Sep 3, 2018

I hear ya on the Trident, but that thang scares me.

It's too much automation for my liking.

SPR1968 · Sep 3, 2018

GoVols said:
I hear ya on the Trident, but that thang scares me.

It's too much automation for my liking.

I agree completely, but I’m thinking more from the point of auto testing the water parameters, and maybe controlling dosing manually (if that’s possible). I don’t know if I would trust something to make potentially critical decisions but then again I don’t know yet exactly how it works and safety features etc. It certainly sounds good.

I mainly use Apex as a monitoring system with just a few safety fallbacks, like turning the skimmer off, UVC, if the leak detector activates and things like that. Oh and switching the sump light on so I don’t need my rubbish torch anymore! Lol

Apart from the skimmer, heaters and UV-C which is connected to Apex, all my pumps are not as they should always be on and I don’t trust machines to much.

najer · Sep 3, 2018

SPR1968 said:
I’m currently using the kamoer 4 channel doser Freddie, which I have had for over 2 years and it’s been faultless (yikes!! lol) and it’s very easy to program so I don’t think I would get the Red Sea one which presumably is new and could have potential issues.

To be honest, if the Kamoer went down, it’s so good I wouldn’t hesitate to just order a new replacement. I got it originally because of all the good reviews about it and it can be extended with slaves if I ever need more channels.

Having said this I have my eye on the new Trident system from Neptune, and there is also Mindstream although that doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere quickly so I’m not holding my breath there..

This comment I love, I have a Kamoer 3 channel that has been new in the box for a couple of years, doser disasters have always stopped me setting it up, might actually go for it, imagine the minutes I could save every day!?

HolisticBear · Sep 3, 2018

najer said:
This comment I love, I have a Kamoer 3 channel that has been new in the box for a couple of years, doser disasters have always stopped me setting it up, might actually go for it, imagine the minutes I could save every day!?

It could even like add water or maybe auto water change for you ;Smuggrin;Smuggrin

EDIT: Now that I've jinxed you, you should really leave it in the box

najer · Sep 3, 2018

HolisticBear said:
It could even like add water or maybe auto water change for you ;Smuggrin;Smuggrin

EDIT: Now that I've jinxed you, you should really leave it in the box

I was wondering what to do do with the third one, I can deal with ro top up manually twice a day, I wonder if I can set it to dose me vodka!?

Janci · Sep 4, 2018

najer said:
This comment I love, I have a Kamoer 3 channel that has been new in the box for a couple of years, doser disasters have always stopped me setting it up, might actually go for it, imagine the minutes I could save every day!?

At least get it out of the box, give it some air and time to get used to the future possibilities and purpose it would have.

SPR1968 · Sep 6, 2018

I’ve got a green and a red sand anemone in the tank about 8 inches apart.

I’m not sure but I think they have fallen for each other. They have always been tucked down into the sand, and last night especially the red one, rose up about an inch and then the display began.

Captured in glorious video............

So here you are, anemones spawning ?

NY_Caveman · Sep 6, 2018

SPR1968 said:
I’ve got a green and a red sand anemone in the tank about 8 inches apart.

I’m not sure but I think they have fallen for each other. They have always been tucked down into the sand, and last night especially the red one, rose up about an inch and then the display began.

Captured in glorious video............

So here you are, anemones spawning ?