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

[SPR1968]

All systems in the new 2000 litre tank are now fully operational including the Twin Tech Calcium Reactor

I’m testing the water parameters every few days, and at the moment dosing at a rate of 10 litres per day, Alkalinity is holding around 8.6 dKH. I’ve bumped up Calcium to 460 and am just still increasing Magnesium which is currently at 1280 to around 1350-1400 as a target, although the current level is ok. Once the levels are boosted up to what I want they should remain stable.

Phosphate is around 0 or just above which is were I want it, and nitrate is around 1 and this should continue to rise a little to get some nutrients into the system

By using a high dose of rhowaphos at 1kg, I’ve removed any silicates from the water which has meant apart from a few minor patches in the sand, which are receding, and some brown on the rocks, again which lasted about 7 days, we’ve avoided the diatoms pretty much which was the plan. So we’re skipping any ‘ugly’ stages.

I’ve added about 44 red, blue and general algae eating hermits and 10 Mexican turbo snails over the last few days. I won’t add any more snails as I prefer Tuxedo urchins when they have something to feed on.

As far as the fish are concerned there’s been no further additions. I did however return one of the yellow tangs as although to start they were getting on well, one of them turned on the other and was bullying him relentlessly. I managed to catch the one being bullied, but even in a fish trap for protection the other kept trying to attack him. So back to the shop he went. Any further Yellow tangs will be added in groups of 3+ so try and avoid this in the future. I should have known but the LFS only had 2 at the time, so I took a chance, so lesson learned.

I’ve also added 7 coral frags today, currently just acclimatising on the bottom, all other corals are growing and healthy and below are a few shots from the new system.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Nice work passing up the ugly sisters and heading straight to the prize! No easy task at all.

 

[SPR1968]

Nice work passing up the ugly sisters and heading straight to the prize! No easy task at all.

For some reason Rich, this reminds me of the scene on Full Metal Jacket with the general and the guy with the piece keeping badge! Lol

Or maybe its my twisted mind!

But thank you yes hopefully the ugly stage avoided!

 

[RichtheReefer21]

For some reason Rich, this reminds me of the scene on Full Metal Jacket with the general and the guy with the piece keeping badge! Lol

Or maybe its my twisted mind!

But thank you yes hopefully the ugly stage avoided!

Looks like we got ourselves a Fargin comedian. We will call you...

PRIVATE JOKER.

By chance might u know anything about golf balls and garden hoses? Asking for a friend.

 

[SPR1968]

Looks like we got ourselves a Fargin comedian. We will call you...

PRIVATE JOKER.

By chance might u know anything about golf balls and garden hoses? Asking for a friend.

Lol!
One of my favourite films! Lol

 

[SPR1968]

I was asked for an explanation on a few points so here’s what’s what in the fish room

The left hand tank is RODI and the right fresh saltwater for auto water changes

On the right hand side is the Osmotics RODI system including auto shut off valve. I added a booster pump a few weeks ago, which I’ve never used before. This makes a massive difference to the amount of water produced, and also reduces waist water. It also has a high pressure switch which along with the auto shut off valve shuts the water system down when the float valves in the tanks close

If you look below the booster pump, there is a blue RODI line that then splits and goes into separate tanks. Each line then has a valve that can be closed. So for example once the saltwater container has filled, I close the valve as of course I don’t want this to refill (otherwise it would dilute the salinity) The RODI valve is left open, so effectively both water tanks can be run from the single system.

The tubes and pipes to the right of the RODI system feed the S650’s auto water change pipes, and also the RO reservoir for that tank. The other tubes are for the waste saltwater from both systems and go outside.

On the right hand tank you can see 2 wires going into the tank along with some others including DOS tubes. The 2 wires are for a 12000 lph mixing pump and the other is for a heater for the water. Now this isn’t needed really, but in winter it means the room is kept warm because of all the insulation, so no issues with freezing etc. For the rest of the year it will be switched off.

Also in the saltwater tank is an Apex optical sensor to send an alert if it goes empty, which will also stop the DOS water changes automatically. Theres also an optical sensor in the RODI tank to alert if it gets near to empty.

Because of the potential for water leaking from somewhere, on the floor between the 2 tanks at the back (you can’t see it) is an Apex leak detector so I’ll be notified if there are any issues in there.

There is an Apex FMM module on the back wall for the 2 optical sensors and leak detector and this is plugged into a DOS module as it all ‘daisy chains’ together

The Apex DOS unit at the top is for the S650’s water changes and the DOS to the left is for the 2000 litre system, all fed from the single saltwater tank. Water changes for the new tank haven't started yet, and not for a few more weeks, but the S650 has been getting 10% per week (7.5 litres per day) although I’ve now reduced this to around 5% per week (3.5 litres per day) so the water chemistry is not affected to much.

On the left tank you can see a tube coming up and out in the back middle and also a lightish blue pipe to the right. The thicker middle tube is the ATO tubing for the 2000 litre system. The tube going ‘up’ is the anti siphon tubing so when the ATO pump switches of, air is sucked back down via this tube and breaks the siphon. The ATO is a Tunze Osmolator with an additional outlet socket to power an Eheim CompactON 2100 same as below. This is turned down to about 3/4 power.

The light blue tube slightly to the right if this, feeds the RO reservoir of the S650. It has an Eheim CompactON 2100 pump and with a switch on Apex I can pump water from the RODI tank into the reservoir of the S650 which is at the side of the tank under the power centre. Because of this I can refill the reservoir in the S650 from anywhere in the world. It’s a slow refill and takes about 7 minutes on purpose so we havet got water blasting into it. But it means I no longer need to carry buckets of water to fill it up.

This would also have a siphon issue, or at least potential for one, so for this Just under the black tank lid, I installed a plastic pipe coupler, to join 2 pieces of the tube together. I drilled a small hole pointing down into the water into this coupler, which again creates a siphon break and sucks in air when the pump turns off.

Because of the height of the RODI tank, in particular the water level, I had to be very careful to ensure siphon issues were taken care of as both sumps/reservoirs are way below this level.

The left hand side wall is were most of the power switches are, and the main one is connected to Apex so power to the shed can be switched off either automatically if I program it, or as it is at the moment manually, again from anywhere in the world.

And finally in the left corner is the DD 80w UV-C unit. I put it there vertically for ease of maitenance. There is enough height space to just lift the bulb out to change it

Anyway that’s a brief outline of whats in here.

 

[PanchoG]

Wow, that station looks very good.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

So much thought and process into this Shaun. I admire so much about your logistics.. Really well thought out, tons of redundancy, and anti-Murphy corrective backups. Great job so far sir. So much can be learned in this build. Really appreciate all the time u put into sharing the details in depth like u have. Cheers.

 

[SPR1968]

So much thought and process into this Shaun. I admire so much about your logistics.. Really well thought out, tons of redundancy, and anti-Murphy corrective backups. Great job so far sir. So much can be learned in this build. Really appreciate all the time u put into sharing the details in depth like u have. Cheers.

Thank you Rich

i tried to think of ‘everything’ over the months planning each individual part of the system and if I can help anyone that’s all good. We’re all here to learn

I’ve still got to add a second return to the new tank, with an additional Abyzz a200 but that will be done in a week/month or so when I get around to it. I’m just taking ‘a breath’ at the moment and letting everything settle.

The current Abyzz a200 is at 86% power output, and I need to increase the flow through the sump a little more. Because of the power output anything above 85% doesn’t make much difference to the actual outflow, I’ve tried it, (this is also shown on the Abyzz power graphs for anyone interested) so the plan is to get an additional pump, which will also be for redundancy, and then balance the flow between them both so roughly 50/50.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Thank you Rich

i tried to think of ‘everything’ over the months planning each individual part of the system and if I can help anyone that’s all good. We’re all here to learn

I’ve still got to add a second return to the new tank, with an additional Abyzz a200 but that will be done in a week/month or so when I get around to it. I’m just taking ‘a breath’ at the moment and letting everything settle.

The current Abyzz a200 is at 86% power output, and I need to increase the flow through the sump a little more. Because of the power output anything above 85% doesn’t make much difference to the actual outflow, I’ve tried it, (this is also shown on the Abyzz power graphs for anyone interested) so the plan is to get an additional pump, which will also be for redundancy, and then balance the flow between them both so roughly 50/50.

That should ensure a much longer life for both of the RP's as well. Some day I will have to choose between a sports car or a dream tank. Cuz I doubt I'll be able to swing both!

 

[SPR1968]

Today, I didn’t play golf, because the weather wasn’t perfect, and well to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered!

So along with generally fiddling and meddling with anything I could find, (and I have lots to play with now! Lol) I physically removed the 4 rear circulation pumps from the S650. The output nozzles are still in place and I’ve folded the hoses over and fastened them closed with zip ties (to stop fish etc going down them)

So the rear chamber is empty apart from the Neptune Apex probes. It’s also clean and easy to keep clean now.

I might however fill it with Seachem Denitrate in zip bags as I think the flow will be ideal for this as it should be a little slower in there especially when packed with media.

I also cleaned the rear wall on the new tank, which actually wasn’t as bad a job as I thought it might be. It was fairly easy with the right scraper, which is a long metal one and the blades are standard razor blades and I can reach to the bottom of the tank without getting wet.

It’s quiet mesmerising watching the new tank. During the daytime from around 1pm, the Radions are on about 85% power but with cloud effects, and it’s very effective how the clouds work and sweep across the tank, giving the corals a break from the light intensity

Anyway, time for a fish picture, this is one of my favourite friends........

 

[the_cros]

Incredible. I made it from page 70 onward and couldn’t stop. Now that’s a crazy setup...and here I thought I had a broken calculator

 

[SPR1968]

Incredible. I made it from page 70 onward and couldn’t stop. Now that’s a crazy setup...and here I thought I had a broken calculator

I think my calculators broken to, my bank account is! Lol

Thanks for stopping by and saying hello

 

[SPR1968]

I thought I would try out my fish trap for the first time yesterday. There are a few of the bigger fish I would like to move from the S650 into a new bigger home. I wanted to see how difficult it might be as well.

I caught the Sailfin Tang straight away, and added him to the new tank, and immediately the anti social bully of a Yellow Tang started on him and the Sailfin is much bigger. Bear in mind the previous incident with the Yellow Tang I had to return.

So I thought ill catch another to distract him, so caught the Magnificant Foxface as well and added him to his new home, much to his alarm at the time

This morning the Yellow Tang was still bullying the Sailfin so I thought I need to spread the aggression out here so went to the LFS and picked up 3 beautiful Yellow Tangs, so now 4 in total

The only other fish I needed to get out of the S650 (other than the Emperor Angelfish who will be last) is the Regal Tang, he’s getting to big.He wouldn’t play ball with the trap, but I eventually caught him using my superior brain, a clip of nori near the top of the tank, and a swift ninja move with a large net!

He was a little startled but now happily in his new home

Now at this stage of the tanks life, I didn’t want this many fish, but I also didn’t want all new additions to be terrorised by the Yellow Tang, and the new tenants seem to have put him in his place, or at least spread his aggression around.

Its quiet funny, I could have caught all the fish I wanted in the trap, they all went in and the Emperor practically made it his new home!! Lol. Well apart from the Regal Tang!

In view of the increased bioload I’ve today added 8 litres of Seachem Matrix as although nitrates are only just registering at around 1, I want to try and control and balance it all out.

So there will be no more fish added for the foreseeable future as I want to concentrate on building the corals and reef up now.

Here are 2 short videos showing the fish, reef and shoaling tangs......

 

[crusso1993]

I thought I would try out my fish trap for the first time yesterday. There are a few of the bigger fish I would like to move from the S650 into a new bigger home. I wanted to see how difficult it might be as well.

I caught the Sailfin Tang straight away, and added him to the new tank, and immediately the anti social bully of a Yellow Tang started on him and the Sailfin is much bigger. Bear in mind the previous incident with the Yellow Tang I had to return.

So I thought ill catch another to distract him, so caught the Magnificant Foxface as well and added him to his new home, much to his alarm at the time

This morning the Yellow Tang was still bullying the Sailfin so I thought I need to spread the aggression out here so went to the LFS and picked up 3 beautiful Yellow Tangs, so now 4 in total

The only other fish I needed to get out of the S650 (other than the Emperor Angelfish who will be last) is the Regal Tang, he’s getting to big.He wouldn’t play ball with the trap, but I eventually caught him using my superior brain, a clip of nori near the top of the tank, and a swift ninja move with a large net!

He was a little startled but now happily in his new home

Now at this stage of the tanks life, I didn’t want this many fish, but I also didn’t want all new additions to be terrorised by the Yellow Tang, and the new tenants seem to have put him in his place, or at least spread his aggression around.

Its quiet funny, I could have caught all the fish I wanted in the trap, they all went in and the Emperor practically made it his new home!! Lol. Well apart from the Regal Tang!

In view of the increased bioload I’ve today added 8 litres of Seachem Matrix as although nitrates are only just registering at around 1, I want to try and control and balance it all out.

So there will be no more fish added for the foreseeable future as I want to concentrate on building the corals and reef up now.

Here are 2 short videos showing the fish, reef and shoaling tangs......

Looking very nice, Shaun!

Superior brain AND ninja moves... impressive!

 

[emvanburen]

Looking great!

 

[kookahdoo]

Hi MrMichael

The triggers are blue throats and are great to watch. I thought they were breeding a few months ago but nothing as yet as far as i know anyway!

Here's a close up of them. The male has the yellow fins.

Any issues with them in the reef? I want one in my 450gallon

 

[PanchoG]

It is looking better and better, the big fish make a big difference. The yellow tangs loom great swimming together.

 

[SPR1968]

Looking great!

Thank you, were getting there!

Any issues with them in the reef? I want one in my 450gallon

No problem at all in my S650 and a full reef. Apart from taking crabs ‘tank surfing’ occasionally their model citizens but are a mated pair and start trying to build a nest every 3-4 months.

There’s some videos here of them in action

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

Lol... Start at about 21 mins. in the video. You might have to soak the tube in vinegar. I'm keeping my Bubble King. :) He doesn't know how to get in it either! Thought I was watching @2una (Red Sea main pump!) when he started with the fast hands lol! Why would soaking the tube in vinager...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for stopping by as well, and welcome to R2R by the way !

It is looking better and better, the big fish make a big difference. The yellow tangs loom great swimming together.

They do Pancho actually, they make quiet a difference amongst all the little fish

 

[SPR1968]

Satan Tang

Never heard of one?

Maybe it’s a new species I brought back from Galapagos with me ? No, it’s the nastiest most viscous fish, a Yellow Tang I’ve ever had!!

It was caught yesterday evening, once again using my superior brain and fishing skills, and is currently in a fish trap at the end of the tank awaiting being returned to the LFS and ‘thrust’ upon them. It’s like having some psychotic killer in the corner of the tank

You may recall he terrorised the first Yellow Tang a few days ago, so I removed that and took it back to the shop, but it didn’t make it apparently. He then attacked the Sailfin Tang which was twice his size, and then when I added the 3 Yellow Tangs he relentlessly went after the smallest, constantly.

So I started the evening watching the tank with a few glasses of wine, and getting angrier at this fish until I snapped, and out came the nets. After about an hour thrashing around with the nets (getting madder and madder!) it was time for the fish trap. And I caught the little ‘gem’ in about 30 minutes. He wasn’t happy! Lol

So whilst walking around the room doing fist pumps shouting ‘who’s the ..... daddy’, my wife appeared and said ‘You caught him then’.........