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

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SPR1968

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Nice plumbing work.
It will be a blast to see this beast wet and running.
If the plumbing work isn't good, you might see me wet and running Jan!! Lol
 
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SPR1968

SPR1968

No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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"Just off out for a game of golf love!"
"It's snowing!"
"I'll be fine!"

Shaun on his phone as soon as he walks out of the front door booking a flight to Spain! ;)
Have you been watching me!! Lol
 
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SPR1968

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I’ve ordered one of these which is coming tomorrow. I’m fed up with trying to look through the Red Sea refractometer having calibrated it however many times before getting a reading I think might be reasonable

The only time I actually use it to be fair, is when the Apex salinity probe needs cleaning and goes haywire and I need to calibrate it back again. I calibrate Apex to the refractometer when I’m happy the water is at 35ppt.

https://www.hannainstruments.co.uk/hi-98319-waterproof-salinity-tester.html
 
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Janci

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I’ve ordered one of these which is coming tomorrow. I’m fed up with trying to look through the Red Sea refractometer having calibrated it however many times before getting a reading I think might be reasonable

The only time I actually use it to be fair, is when the Apex salinity probe needs cleaning and goes haywire and I need to calibrate it back again. I calibrate Apex to the refractometer when I’m happy the water is at 35ppt.

https://www.hannainstruments.co.uk/hi-98319-waterproof-salinity-tester.html

The day I changed my refractometer to a Milwaukee digital salinity meter, changed my life.
Best investment ever.
 
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SPR1968

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No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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The day I changed my refractometer to a Milwaukee digital salinity meter, changed my life.
Best investment ever.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to say exactly the same shortly Jan!

Why have I been using this stupid refractometer for so long....... ! Lol
 

RichtheReefer21

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The day I changed my refractometer to a Milwaukee digital salinity meter, changed my life.
Best investment ever.
I was going to mention Milwaukee. But man the price tag is serious ..
 
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SPR1968

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So guess what. The Neptune Apex ATK has failed, well the pump won’t work in the S650! It’s only been in about 2-3 weeks or something like that.

Ive reported it to Neptune, taken it to pieces to check for blockages (it’s in an RODI container and brand new!) and have had a reply and just waiting for another reply having taken the new pump to pieces and it still doesn’t work

I’ll see what happens but the 2nd I purchased for the new tank is going back for a refund.

i was going to get the Tunze which I had before, and interestingly I tested it yesterday having thought it had failed in the S650 and it was working, so maybe the sensor just needed a good clean and dry out.

I only didn’t get the Tunze Osmolator because I didn’t think the wires would be long enough for the new system, but I put it in position yesterday and it does fit. So at the moment I’ll see what happens but I think I’m going to get another Tunze.

Ive also ordered one of these for a backup in the new system. It’s ridiculous that with all the technology the most reliable piece of kit, certainly in the S650, has been the plastic ATO float system which has worked flawlessly!!

 
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SPR1968

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Sorry to hear about the Neptune failure - I decided against it when I did my build since it had such lousy feedback. Getting the Tunze into my Apex has worked great for me so far!
I think where I’m heading is back to the Tunze Osmolator for the new tank and I’m going to return the 2nd Apex ATK for a refund and depending on what happens with Neptune support, if I can return the one installed in the S650 I will.

The design of it is brilliant, if it works fine, but the one I have doesn’t reliably, and I have better things to worry about than something that should be doing it’s job but isn’t. The S650’s currently using the built in Red Sea float ATO which is faultless. This costs about £10 not £200!

The Tunze needs a little help for tanks over 1000 litres so I’ll be getting the Tunze power socket outlet, which basically means I can attach a more powerful pump and wider tubing for it for the larger water volume.


By doing this and by getting longer tubing, I can also eliminate the risk of siphoning from the 425 litre RODI water tank into the sump as the sump is lower than the top of the water tank.

Siphon problems have always been in my mind, so I’ll install a piece of plastic pipe at the back of the tank, with the inlet at the top much higher than the water level in the water tank, and then the pipe will go vertically down into the return part of the sump. The Tunze outlet hose will then be placed and secured into the top of the pipe and as it’s higher than the water tank maximum water level, there will be no siphon issue when the pump turns off.

So that’s a bit of an update and more to come as I’ve been busy......
 

Mortie31

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I only didn’t get the Tunze Osmolator because I didn’t think the wires would be long enough for the new system, but I put it in position yesterday and it does fit. So at the moment I’ll see what happens but I think I’m going to get another Tunze.
The wires are easy to extend if you need to get it in an ideal position. I use an old osmalator as back up to my GHL ATO, it’s never kicked on yet but I’m a bit of a redundancy nut...
 

Fudsey

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I read somewhere that it should stay calibrated for 30 days and it comes with 3 packets of 35 standard. This to me would just be an easier way to check alkalinity especially when mixing new water.
 
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