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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I’ve been monitoring nitrate levels in the new tank every few weeks waiting for it to reach around 5ppm, infact I’ve been over feeding in the last week or so to try and get there quicker. I don’t want sterile water for various reasons and this has been the aim from the very start

There’s already 10 litres of Seachem Matrix in the system and today nitrates tested at around 8ppm so it’s time to slow the rise and implement the final stages of the nutrient export plan for nitrate control. I’m trying to avoid Nopox/carbon dosing if I can, for no reason other than if I don’t need to I won’t, if I do then fine.

The fish load will over the next few months increase significantly so I want to ensure measures are in place ready and established for when the bioload increases

So today I’ve added an additional 16 litres of Seachem Matrix and 4 litres of Seachem DeNitrate (for slower flow areas). So now we have 26 litres of Matrix and 4 litres of DeNitrate in place as the basis for the biological filtration in the system. Rowaphos controls phosphate which is locked down around 0-0.03ppm

Because of the massive size of the sump, all of this is contained within the first sump compartment under the X Filter, so I still have 1 completely spare sump section empty if needed.

Anyway this is what 20 litres looks like bagged

97BBDC76-9638-49EC-9207-B2CA4A75FB17.jpeg
83A4EDA4-3B84-4C4E-BEFF-1997BDC32AF7.jpeg
F1066172-EFF2-43E3-8DDB-7D449FD0C846.jpeg
 

drawman

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I’ve been monitoring nitrate levels in the new tank every few weeks waiting for it to reach around 5ppm, infact I’ve been over feeding in the last week or so to try and get there quicker. I don’t want sterile water for various reasons and this has been the aim from the very start

There’s already 10 litres of Seachem Matrix in the system and today nitrates tested at around 8ppm so it’s time to slow the rise and implement the final stages of the nutrient export plan for nitrate control. I’m trying to avoid Nopox/carbon dosing if I can, for no reason other than if I don’t need to I won’t, if I do then fine.

The fish load will over the next few months increase significantly so I want to ensure measures are in place ready and established for when the bioload increases

So today I’ve added an additional 16 litres of Seachem Matrix and 4 litres of Seachem DeNitrate (for slower flow areas). So now we have 26 litres of Matrix and 4 litres of DeNitrate in place as the basis for the biological filtration in the system. Rowaphos controls phosphate which is locked down around 0-0.03ppm

Because of the massive size of the sump, all of this is contained within the first sump compartment under the X Filter, so I still have 1 completely spare sump section empty if needed.

Anyway this is what 20 litres looks like bagged

97BBDC76-9638-49EC-9207-B2CA4A75FB17.jpeg
83A4EDA4-3B84-4C4E-BEFF-1997BDC32AF7.jpeg
F1066172-EFF2-43E3-8DDB-7D449FD0C846.jpeg
Where did you get that giant bag? I was looking for something just like it before I ordered something different.
 
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SPR1968

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Where did you get that giant bag? I was looking for something just like it before I ordered something different.
I knitted it....

Only joking it’s the Seachem zip bag, Large and it holds 18 litres of media, I put 16 litres of Matrix in it

With 16 litres of Matrix in, it about broke my arm lifting it into place though! Lol
 

Laith

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I’ve been monitoring nitrate levels in the new tank every few weeks waiting for it to reach around 5ppm, infact I’ve been over feeding in the last week or so to try and get there quicker. I don’t want sterile water for various reasons and this has been the aim from the very start

There’s already 10 litres of Seachem Matrix in the system and today nitrates tested at around 8ppm so it’s time to slow the rise and implement the final stages of the nutrient export plan for nitrate control. I’m trying to avoid Nopox/carbon dosing if I can, for no reason other than if I don’t need to I won’t, if I do then fine.

The fish load will over the next few months increase significantly so I want to ensure measures are in place ready and established for when the bioload increases

So today I’ve added an additional 16 litres of Seachem Matrix and 4 litres of Seachem DeNitrate (for slower flow areas). So now we have 26 litres of Matrix and 4 litres of DeNitrate in place as the basis for the biological filtration in the system. Rowaphos controls phosphate which is locked down around 0-0.03ppm

Because of the massive size of the sump, all of this is contained within the first sump compartment under the X Filter, so I still have 1 completely spare sump section empty if needed.

Anyway this is what 20 litres looks like bagged

97BBDC76-9638-49EC-9207-B2CA4A75FB17.jpeg
83A4EDA4-3B84-4C4E-BEFF-1997BDC32AF7.jpeg
F1066172-EFF2-43E3-8DDB-7D449FD0C846.jpeg

Any reason for using so much Matrix? Seachem says to use 250 mL of Matrix for each 200 L of water.

I'm asking because according to their figures, I would only need about 2 to 2.5 liters of Matrix (and on top of that I have quite a bit of rock in the DT). At the moment I have a lot of live rock from my old tank in my sump and I'm dosing NO3 to keep the numbers above 0. But eventually if I want to use the space in the sump as a frag area (which will take awhile!) I will need to move the live rock. Matrix looks perfect for this since 2-2.5l of the stuff won't take up that much space at all...
 
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SPR1968

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Any reason for using so much Matrix? Seachem says to use 250 mL of Matrix for each 200 L of water.

I'm asking because according to their figures, I would only need about 2 to 2.5 liters of Matrix (and on top of that I have quite a bit of rock in the DT). At the moment I have a lot of live rock from my old tank in my sump and I'm dosing NO3 to keep the numbers above 0. But eventually if I want to use the space in the sump as a frag area (which will take awhile!) I will need to move the live rock. Matrix looks perfect for this since 2-2.5l of the stuff won't take up that much space at all...
I can only assume the amounts they publish are a general guide (they claim even more on the box’s I think) and if you have a very lightly stocked aquarium and not necessarily in a reel world situation. I can pretty much guarantee around 2 litres will make zero difference in your system.

If you think about it, I already had 10 litres in place and that couldn’t keep nitrates down as they were slowly rising which I new would happen which I why I had the additional amount standing by. I also have a spare section of sump to add a lot more if needed. The S650 has 8 litres in, a marine pure block, and purigen. Oh and Nopox.

I have big plans as far as fish stocking is concerned so need serious amounts of biological filtration ready to handle the load. I chose Matrix because apart from maybe an occasional clean in theory it will never need replacing because is basically stones. Some other forms of media can break down eventually.

Ill see how I get on, but before I would start carbon dosing if needed, I would fill the spare sump section and that will hold another 40-50 litres I guess, so there’s plenty of capacity still.
 

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I can only assume the amounts they publish are a general guide (they claim even more on the box’s I think) and if you have a very lightly stocked aquarium and not necessarily in a reel world situation. I can pretty much guarantee around 2 litres will make zero difference in your system.

If you think about it, I already had 10 litres in place and that couldn’t keep nitrates down as they were slowly rising which I new would happen which I why I had the additional amount standing by. I also have a spare section of sump to add a lot more if needed. The S650 has 8 litres in, a marine pure block, and purigen. Oh and Nopox.

I have big plans as far as fish stocking is concerned so need serious amounts of biological filtration ready to handle the load. I chose Matrix because apart from maybe an occasional clean in theory it will never need replacing because is basically stones. Some other forms of media can break down eventually.

Ill see how I get on, but before I would start carbon dosing if needed, I would fill the spare sump section and that will hold another 40-50 litres I guess, so there’s plenty of capacity still.

Yes, I understand your thinking and it makes sense. Thanks for the detailed response!
 

RichtheReefer21

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Seachem matrix and denitrate are on their own level imho concerning bio media. Best product on the market. Especially since matrix doesnt leech copper and can be used in QT scenarios as well.

The deep looks lovely at twilight :)

Cheers.
 
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SPR1968

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Seachem matrix and denitrate are on their own level imho concerning bio media. Best product on the market. Especially since matrix doesnt leech copper and can be used in QT scenarios as well.

The deep looks lovely at twilight :)

Cheers.
Thank you Rich and I completely agree, ive tried Marine pure, bright well, but settled on Matrix, just because, well it works albeit you need much more than they advertise, but more importantly it can’t degrade over time.

And yes ’the deep’ looks stunning at twilight it’s my favourite time. But I just seem to fall asleep/pass out! lol
 
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Just for a comparison on coral growth in the new tank, the first picture was taken 10th January 2020 and the second picture was taken today 10th May 2020

BBBF3308-EE45-4D2C-938E-6B76A6173004.jpeg
F8360B64-264F-4904-81C8-60DA693B1F2D.jpeg
 

GoVols

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Just for a comparison on coral growth in the new tank, the first picture was taken 10th January 2020 and the second picture was taken today 10th May 2020

BBBF3308-EE45-4D2C-938E-6B76A6173004.jpeg
F8360B64-264F-4904-81C8-60DA693B1F2D.jpeg

Wow... ;Wideyed

Shaun,
She is coming along super nice!!
 
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