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

[PanchoG]

So you haven’t clean the rear chamber in more than a year ? !

I have to admit it happen to me as well. My circulation pump 2 failed yesterday night.

 

[SPR1968]

So you haven’t clean the rear chamber in more than a year ? !

I have to admit it happen to me as well. My circulation pump 2 failed yesterday night.

No, it was about 15 months to be precise since I last cleaned those pumps! And yes I am a bad man! Lol.

I think it actually all started when I accidentally cut the power off whilst meddling with something, and let me tell you the resultant ‘bang’ proves why water and electricity don’t go. And of course then the dreaded pumps won’t start.......

I have to admit when I swirled around the chamber the stuff that came up filled the new socks immediately. But this shows what a bad design the whole chamber is. It shouldn’t have any debris in it and certainly not the amount present. You would think those pumps should swirl any debris back into the tank, but they don’t.

What it needs is a powerful circulation pump pointing down the chamber, picking all the rubbish up so it goes into the socks and I might well put one in. I’ve got a 12000 lph pump in the new saltwater mixing station which was only £20 and works a treat so I might put one of those in.

My new MP40’s are arriving tomorrow so that’s the last time I’m ever cleaning them. I might remove the pumps but the nozzles will need to stay in place

 

[SPR1968]

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.

Thank you, the Twin Tech is a great piece of kit. I’m just monitoring the alkalinity readings every other day while it settles in.

The S650 circulation pumps are going and 2 MP40’s will be in tomorrow if they arrive at a reasonable time. I ordered them this morning, so that piece of maintenance is finished once and for all.

 

[SPR1968]

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.

I’ve never seen that before it’s hilarious! Lol. I'll keep a note of that one Rich

And if you’ve played golf your whole life you know how it went. I play of 16 handicap, so when the moon and sun aline, the time is right, the birds sing and the grass is at the exact perfect height, I play like a golfing god. The rest of the time, 90% to be precise, I play like a man who’s never held a golf club before! Lol

 

[PanchoG]

Thank you, the Twin Tech is a great piece of kit. I’m just monitoring the alkalinity readings every other day while it settles in.

The S650 circulation pumps are going and 2 MP40’s will be in tomorrow if they arrive at a reasonable time. I ordered them this morning, so that piece of maintenance is finished once and for all.

Good for the MP40s Shaun, I am sure you will get good flow out of them and as you have the Apex module you could set up some random flow. It would be nice to compare your coral growth before and after the MP40s.

I still like the rear chamber design, the fact of having no cables and no bulk heads in the glass is appealing to me.

 

[najer]

And if you’ve played golf your whole life you know how it went. I play of 16 handicap, so when the moon and sun aline, the time is right, the birds sing and the grass is at the exact perfect height, I play like a golfing god. The rest of the time, 90% to be precise, I play like a man who’s never held a golf club before! Lol

This makes me feel so much better, I haven't played for about 10 years and my last handicap was 14, I also can look after marine aquariums and like a drink, you so need to hire me, I will take up golf again, long story short, I have played the old at Wentworth 3 times, we nearly talked Bruce Forsyth into 9 holes as we waited on the first tee outside the clubhouse, his reply "that would make me late for lunch and the wife would kill me!

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I’ve never seen that before it’s hilarious! Lol. I'll keep a note of that one Rich

And if you’ve played golf your whole life you know how it went. I play of 16 handicap, so when the moon and sun aline, the time is right, the birds sing and the grass is at the exact perfect height, I play like a golfing god. The rest of the time, 90% to be precise, I play like a man who’s never held a golf club before! Lol

"That's why they call them strokes, cause everytime you miss hit you feel like you're gonna die" ;Hilarious

 

[emvanburen]

Love the Robin Williams video. Priceless!

Talked to DeltecUSA and they think I’m kinda at the cutoff of the two sizes. Instinct says go big or go home - 3000?

I really like the self regulating aspect of it That it reduces maintenance. No probes to clean and calibrate and fail. Easy open top. And the lack of the little nylon flange screws/ keyholes has me! I hate them! Thanks for the inspiration Shaun!

 

[SPR1968]

Love the Robin Williams video. Priceless!

Talked to DeltecUSA and they think I’m kinda at the cutoff of the two sizes. Instinct says go big or go home - 3000?

I really like the self regulating aspect of it That it reduces maintenance. No probes to clean and calibrate and fail. Easy open top. And the lack of the little nylon flange screws/ keyholes has me! I hate them! Thanks for the inspiration Shaun!

I was going to get the 3000 originally, there’s only around £400-500 difference so I thought the same as you.

i then spoke with Tony at DD, Technical Support Director (and one of my Samaritans! Lol) who runs the 1500 on his 1400 litre tank and it’s only using 49lph out of a potential 350 ish. He has a full blown SPS tank as below

So we decided apart from not having to fill the 3000 up with media as often, there was no point having the 3000, as in reality the 1500 is more than adequate and is probably under rated as far as real world performance is concerned.

If you watch those videos on the previous page, he has the 3000 and is dosing only 10 lph for a 400usg system

Once you get your head around how it works, it’s very simple. It just looks complicated to look at but in reality it isn’t.

Tony Rogers Aquarium | D-D The Aquarium Solution

www.theaquariumsolution.com

 

[SPR1968]

Silence!! Lol

 

[najer]

Silence!! Lol

I love how you do ghetto fixes in a stylish way?!

 

[SPR1968]

I love how you do ghetto fixes in a stylish way?!

I had run out of egg crate on that one, but don’t worry another is in ‘beta testing’! Lol

I didn’ get the picture of it on its side with water pouring out of it when the skimmer freaked out today for the first time. And when a NYOS Quantum 300 freaks out, it freaks out big! Lol

 

[najer]

When my 160 throws a hissy fit I have foam overflowing from the sump!

 

[PanchoG]

Silence!! Lol

LOL !

It seems the engineering prowess has the same problems as the Titanic.

 

[SPR1968]

Ok, following some serious ‘beta tests’ here is mark 2 of the skimmate locker and it’s simply magnificent stand. Revel in its glory and the build quality!

The original version was never going to be right, it was to low so the skimmate dropped straight down into it which isn’t the idea. What should happen is the skimmer will hold most of the liquid until it gets to a certain level, after which air pressure forces the liquid into the skimmate locker (or grape juice jug!). So the level of the tubing is around 3/4 of the way up the skimmer cup. It now also has a zip tie securing the hose, just in case, although this isn’t shown.

By doing this you get a lot more liquid capacity for holiday periods etc and it also means removing the skimmer cup less often.

So, marvel at its design and beauty..........

 

[SPR1968]

In addition to designing my new, and patent pending skimmate locker and stand, I’ve decommissioned the 4 rear circulation pumps in the S650.

Ive installed 2 Ecotech VorTech MP40’s one at each end, and in my humble opinion it makes no difference to the look of the tank. You can’t see any wires inside the tank, or on the outside whilst looking through the tank, because the reflection prevents it. The only visible sign of wires is on the outside at the end, and after a few minutes gazing at the tank you don’t notice that either as it just blends in and the wires are tucked away in the cable guides with the wires for the lights

Im still experimenting with the flow, but the movement looks similar to what it’s always been, although the fish are still getting used to them, and apart from nutrient export mode which is at 100% power, they are turned down a little at the moment

Because the two tanks are relatively close, the VorTech’s have been hooked up to the Neptune Apex WXM module on the new tank and I now have complete control and below is the initial schedule for the right hand side pump

And here is a quick shot of them in place. No more cleaning of those stupid rear pumps for me.......

 

[crusso1993]

Hey Shaun... I'm not exactly sure how I have never found your build until today. Now that I have, I'll be haranguing and harassing, er, um, I mean following along. I'm not going to make a false statement about reading all 95 pages of this thread because I probably won't and I do not like lying. So, there, you've been warned!

Ok, following some serious ‘beta tests’ here is mark 2 of the skimmate locker and it’s simply magnificent stand. Revel in its glory and the build quality!

The original version was never going to be right, it was to low so the skimmate dropped straight down into it which isn’t the idea. What should happen is the skimmer will hold most of the liquid until it gets to a certain level, after which air pressure forces the liquid into the skimmate locker (or grape juice jug!). So the level of the tubing is around 3/4 of the way up the skimmer cup. It now also has a zip tie securing the hose, just in case, although this isn’t shown.

By doing this you get a lot more liquid capacity for holiday periods etc and it also means removing the skimmer cup less often.

So, marvel at its design and beauty..........

I'm marveling... I'm marveling!

 

[SPR1968]

Hey Shaun... I'm not exactly sure how I have never found your build until today. Now that I have, I'll be haranguing and harassing, er, um, I mean following along. I'm not going to make a false statement about reading all 95 pages of this thread because I probably won't and I do not like lying. So, there, you've been warned!



I'm marveling... I'm marveling!

Lol!!

Thanks for stopping by, if you want the new tank it’s from page 70 onwards but the threads a mix of both as I have them both as you can see above.

So you see boys and girls, my new skimmate locker and stand is drawing them all in now! Lol

 

[emvanburen]

Good job adiosing the recirc pumps! MP40s look fine.

 

[Blutspitze]

Ok, following some serious ‘beta tests’ here is mark 2 of the skimmate locker and it’s simply magnificent stand. Revel in its glory and the build quality!

The original version was never going to be right, it was to low so the skimmate dropped straight down into it which isn’t the idea. What should happen is the skimmer will hold most of the liquid until it gets to a certain level, after which air pressure forces the liquid into the skimmate locker (or grape juice jug!). So the level of the tubing is around 3/4 of the way up the skimmer cup. It now also has a zip tie securing the hose, just in case, although this isn’t shown.

By doing this you get a lot more liquid capacity for holiday periods etc and it also means removing the skimmer cup less often.

So, marvel at its design and beauty..........

Marvels adequately