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

[Blutspitze]

The fish additions so far sound great and loving the tech side of things. Hoping that you'll get the PO4 under control shortly and that the corals remain healthy and growing, as well.

 

[SPR1968]

The fish additions so far sound great and loving the tech side of things. Hoping that you'll get the PO4 under control shortly and that the corals remain healthy and growing, as well.

Phosphate is now under control and today read 0.02ppm from 0.10 a few days ago, so basically the Rhowaphos is sucking it all out of the system so we should be off to a good start.

 

[SPR1968]

Today I installed the media into the Twin Tech calcium reactor and on the basis alkalinity is being used as it went from 8.7dKH 7 days ago, to 7.4dKH today I think I’ll bring it online in the next few days on its lowest settings to start and then bring it up from there.

ive also been to collect 12 Blue Leg Hermit crabs and 12 Red Legs from the LFS and added them, and they just, well, disappeared!

Here are a few full tank shots taken today

 

[Blutspitze]

So incredible! And so exciting to see life inside!

 

[emvanburen]

Looking really good Shaun. Happy New Year!

 

[SPR1968]

Looking really good Shaun. Happy New Year!

Thank you and you to, and all you guys have a great day!

 

[SPR1968]

I added around 20 SPS coral frags last week from the S650, and the growth is crazy to say this is a new tank. The birds nest corals have all puffed out and there growing. I had to add 6 scoops of Red Sea Foundation Alkalinity powder and the same Calcium yesterday as the levels had dropped in just a few days.

I can actually see the growth on them and there is no way you could continue to run a system of this size by dosing, well you could but it would be a pain and cost an absolute fortune!

I finished installing the Twin Tech calcium reactor today, and it was actually very simple after I had a bit of advice from Tony at DD and the correct CO2 flow rate. I had it flooding into the gas chamber to quickly and it kept causing air locks, but once you dial down the CO2 inflow to fill the chamber to around 1.5 to 2 minutes it’s simple to set up and use.

All you do to alter the amount of alkalinity etc., to be added to the aquarium, is turn the flow up or down with a button on the controller. It’s that simple.

ive dialled it down to 5 litres of effluent per day to start as the alkalinity is at 8.7 so I’ll go very slowly and increase from here as need be. Its set on 10 in the picture below.

The CO2 bottle is one of those I used for my beer, so will probably last a lifetime in the Twin Tech!

Ive got a couple of videos once I find out how to upload them

 

[SPR1968]

Here are the videos showing the Twin Tech Calcium Reactor and the rear of the tank. The second video shows the reactor topping up the CO2

 

[Mortie31]

Here are the videos showing the Twin Tech Calcium Reactor and the rear of the tank. The second video shows the reactor topping up the CO2

Nice looking bit of kit...

 

[Sonja]

June 2017



August 2018

April 2019



June 2019 The Living Reef......

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+

January 2019 side shot

Hi Guys

I've just started my new build thread on here and my tank has reached 1 year old this month.

This is pretty much my first tank of any kind, other than a Max E260 which I had for a few months before getting hooked on the hobby.

I've learned quickly as much as I can. Anyway, I know everyone likes pictures so here are a few and also a video link if it's works!

Wow, your tank is incredible!

 

[SPR1968]

Wow, your tank is incredible!

Thank you Sonja, which one ?! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

So what’s Shaun been doing today.....

Well I noticed a few days ago that 2 of the 4 rear circulation pumps in the S650 weren’t working at all. It’s not really surprising they failed as the last time I cleaned them according to my spreadsheet, was October 2018 of which I was well aware!

But I hate doing it, it’s an absolute pain clambering around and over the back of the tank, balancing on one leg, praying the steps don’t slip. It’s the worst part of the Max S series design in my opinion. As you can probably tell I’m not keen! Lol

I considered just leaving them, and getting 2 Vortech MP40‘s, but thought I’ll give them a clean.....

So I played golf this morning and instead of going for a ride in the countryside in something ‘exotic’ on this fine day, I decided to clean the circulation pumps, rear overflows and rear vents. S series owners will now what I mean

So after 3 hours of my life, which I will never get back, the 2 pumps that stopped working, still don’t work. So I’m done with them all and also the whole rear chamber of the S650.

In the morning I’m ordering 2 MP40 wQD’s which will hook up to the Apex WXM module on the new tank for full control. Ill leave the circulation pumps and nozzles in place and I’ll probably fill the rear chamber with Seachem Matrix or De-nitrate in media bags and be done with it. It has a purpose, but now I’m going to start modifying things to suit me.

And for anyone thinking you can see wires with the vortechs, which might spoil the clean look, I’m currently looking at the MP60’s in the new tank on the ends. You can’t actually see any wires through the glass, because the reflection hides them. All you can see is the wet side, which apart from the obvious is no different to seeing a nozzle/jet.

 

[najer]

Gotta hate first world problems like this!

Exotic = ?

 

[Sonja]

Thank you Sonja, which one ?! Lol

Opps, I didnt read the entire thread, mostly looked at the pretty pictures. So im going to say all of them!

 

[PanchoG]

Here are the videos showing the Twin Tech Calcium Reactor and the rear of the tank. The second video shows the reactor topping up the CO2

Looking good Shaun, the Ca reactor is working fine.

 

[emvanburen]

Shaun, well done. I feel for you! I cleaned my rear chamber, pumps and grilles for the last time last night. I will not miss this task with the new tank! And thank you for extinguishing the last little bit of regret for selling the tank and not putting it somewhere else in the house.

and on a very serious note, I had considered putting mangroves in the back chamber and having them grow up out the top. There is light....crazy but would be kinda cool.

 

[emvanburen]

Next question - can you share your ca rx selection process? What models did you consider besides the Deltec? What was most important to your choice? I need to pick one as well...

 

[SPR1968]

Shaun, well done. I feel for you! I cleaned my rear chamber, pumps and grilles for the last time last night. I will not miss this task with the new tank! And thank you for extinguishing the last little bit of regret for selling the tank and not putting it somewhere else in the house.

and on a very serious note, I had considered putting mangroves in the back chamber and having them grow up out the top. There is light....crazy but would be kinda cool.

The problem is, when you design a tank yourself, with all maintenance so easy, anything that’s not easy drives you mad, and those rear pumps are the top candidate, and their also noisy. I went down this morning and their rattling against the glass, although yes they just need adjusting. And that ridiculous rear downpipe valve at the back, why it’s not been replaced by a simple gate valve inside the cabinet I do not know!

As you can probably tell, I’m suffering from the post traumatic stress of cleaning them, or rather wasting my time cleaning them because they don’t work!! Lol

So the calcium reactor, these looked scary beasts as I’ve never used one. I wanted the best, and also one that’s simple to use and maintain. In my opinion the one that’s meets all criteria is the Twin Tech, simply because its fully automated with German build quality. When I took it out of the box, it’s like wow....

If I set it up again, it would be running in 5-10 minutes it’s that easy. Unfortunately they are expensive, but in your tank the 1500 version is plenty big enough as well.

And all you do to adjust the alkalinity etc., is press and up/down button to alter the flow, that’s it. It degasses itself automatically, you set the period (same as the amount dosed). It even has a little funnel on the top so you can just drop new media in without taking it to pieces.

There is also the first class support from DD The Aquarium solution who are the wholesalers and customer support, certainly for UK.

The other option is the Dastaco, or you can go down the basic non automated reactors which I didn’t even look at.

These videos are well worth watching the whole way through as there very informative





This video shows how to set it up

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Sorry to hear about the frustration with the pumps. Howd the golfing go? I have been playing my whole life.

I dont wanna risk the forum policies by sharing a video full of curse words, but if u havent seen the Robin William's skits on how golf was invented, please youtube it. Timeless.

 

[Blutspitze]

Glad the new reactor is treating things so well thus far; the setup is looking great as always! Really sucks about the pumps, though... hope that you can get the new ones up and running with no major issues.