SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[DS204]

Really nice video. Still new to the saltwater hobby over here, so forgive my ignorance. Are the creatures crawling over the rocks in the background nudibranchs or some type of pods? Very curious.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Really nice video. Still new to the saltwater hobby over here, so forgive my ignorance. Are the creatures crawling over the rocks in the background nudibranchs or some type of pods? Very curious.

Those are stomatella snails. I have a ton of them in my tank because they breed like rabbits! They're good cleanup crew members.

 

[SuncrestReef]

The new lobo looks a lot happier today. I love the variety of colors and patterns.



Top down photos:

 

[Jimbo662]

WOW...Amazing everything!

 

[SuncrestReef]

My Trident has now been in use for just over 7 days. I've been manually increasing my dosing a bit, but no major swings. Here's my alkalinity over the past several days, with testing every 6 hours. Notice the up and down swings throughout the day, even though I only ever adjusted the dosing amount once per day in the mornings:



I'm getting impatient and decided to configure the Trident controlled dosing. It's an amazingly simple process done through a Fusion task:

1. From the list of tasks, select Trident Controlled Dosing
   
   
2. Check the box confirming you understand the requirements
   
3. Select the parameter you want to dose based on Trident readings
   
4. Select the DOS pump for the appropriate additive
   
5. Optionally rename your DOS pump
   
6. Enter the parameter level you wish to maintain, and the normal volume you've been dosing
   
7. Select whether to dose a consistent amount daily, or to dose more during daylight hours and less at night
   
8. Review the summary and send the configuration to Apex
   
9. Read the reminder, then finish the task wizard
   

Once the configuration has been sent, your DOS now has a new schedule defined along with variable adjustment limits based on the Trident readings:


After a few days, I'll post a graph showing if this has smoothed out my parameters.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Here’s the Trident waste. I’m replacing this small 1000ml bottle with a gallon jug. Trident keeps track of how full the container is and alerts when it’s full.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Now that Trident is controlling my dosing, I'm also changing the testing frequency from 4/2 daily tests to 6/3 tests. I just want a little more granularity to see the daily fluctuations. You can go as high as 24/12 tests per day, but that would be ridiculous.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I've only had the Trident controlling my dosing for a couple days now, but it does appear to have reduced the day/night swings a little bit. This graph shows the days leading up to switching over (while I was also increasing the alkalinity), and two days of data since. I have it set to target 8.20 dKH, but keep in mind the Trident has a +/- 0.05 dKH margin of error, so the reported numbers could be anywhere within that range.

 

[BigMo]

After calibration my Trident readings are still lower than my manual test kits. Trident says my Alk is 7.8, but Hanna says it's 8.3, so a 0.5 dKH difference. I tested the leftover Trident calibration solution (labeled 8.4 dKH on the bottle) and the Hanna measured it as 8.9, so now I'm thinking my Hanna has been off by 0.5 this whole time. I might take a sample to my LFS to get another opinion.

Just wondered if you were able to check Alk level with your LFS to make sure your calibration is correct? Overall this Trident gadget looks very promising and helpful, thanks for sharing all the steps and thanks for the time you put for making this wonderful thread, its amazing.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Just wondered if you were able to check Alk level with your LFS to make sure your calibration is correct? Overall this Trident gadget looks very promising and helpful, thanks for sharing all the steps and thanks for the time you put for making this wonderful thread, its amazing.

Yes, my LFS measured my alk at 8.6 on their Red Sea kit. I still can't say for sure which measurement to trust, but the fact that my Hanna reported the Trident 8.40 calibration fluid as 8.9 makes me think perhaps the Trident is closest. Neptune claims it has an accuracy of +/- 0.05 dKH. Hanna's accuracy is listed as +/- 5% of the reading, so at 8.6 that is +/- 0.43 dKH.

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how it's able to automatically adjust my DOS day and night to smooth out the daily swings.

Thanks for following along!!

 

[SuncrestReef]

Here's my latest addition. I really like the striped polyps.

ASD Floyd Acro

 

[SuncrestReef]

Today I replaced my carbon and GFO media in my reactors. A few hours later, my Trident reported a big drop in alkalinity, from 8.23 down to 7.77. I assumed something was wrong with the Trident, so I did some troubleshooting and ran a few manual tests that reported the same lower values than I was expecting. After some research I learned that GFO can impact alkalinity. This is something I never knew before, and thanks to the frequent testing by the Trident, I saw the immediate impact on my water chemistry.

All I can say is that the Trident is awesome for catching things so quickly, and I'm humbled that it taught me a lesson in this situation.

 

[SuncrestReef]

It's pretty cool to see how the Trident is constantly adjusting the DOS to maintain stability. Here's the past 24 hours on my 2-part dosing. It makes significant changes between lights off and lights on:

 

[Crabby48]

Your goby moves a lot of sand. Mine seems to dislike the taste of sand so far.
The write up one the trident is perfect. Like seeing your feed back of what your learning.

Glad to see you had good time on vacation and tank is doing good.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Your goby moves a lot of sand. Mine seems to dislike the taste of sand so far.
The write up one the trident is perfect. Like seeing your feed back of what your learning.

Glad to see you had good time on vacation and tank is doing good.

Yes, my goby is a monster! I just leveled out a 6" pile of sand he built.

Thanks for following along!

 

[SuncrestReef]

Today my Trident warned me that Reagent A is empty:



Here's the process to replace the reagent. Start by going into Tasks in Fusion:

 

[blstravler]

Today I completed all the connections on my RO/DI system and made a few additions to my mixing station. I decided to purchase an auto-flush system to help preserve the life of the RO/DI filters and to help me save time. Since I have 75 gallon tanks, using the BRS 5-stage RO/DI 150 gallon per day setup will take at least 12 hours to fill a single tank. The auto-flush system will automatically flush the filters every hour.

I also added optical sensors in both tanks. For the RO/DI tank, I just used magnetic mount sensors. On the saltwater tank, I was concerned if the mixing pump might cause enough flow to dislodge a magnet mounted sensor, so instead I built a PVC mount to attach to the PVC structure already holding the heater and temp/salinity probes at the bottom of the tank

Awesome build! Have a question on the use of the sensor in the RODI tank. Once the water level hits that sensor do you open the solenoid and start filling the tank via the Apex and then once it starts to fill what shuts off the RODI so you don’t overfill the tank?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Awesome build! Have a question on the use of the sensor in the RODI tank. Once the water level hits that sensor do you open the solenoid and start filling the tank via the Apex and then once it starts to fill what shuts off the RODI so you don’t overfill the tank?

Filling my RO/DI tank is still a manual process. While I do have optical sensors at the bottom and top of the storage tank and Apex alerts configured to warn me about water levels, I have not installed a solenoid to control it.

Since I’m doing auto water changes, I mix up a new batch of saltwater about every two weeks. While I’m doing that I just manually turn on the RO/DI valve to refill the storage tank as part of my routine.

 

[Dub_G]

Just finished your build thread. Great build and love the pictures!

 

[SuncrestReef]

I rarely ever shoot photos of the full tank from the top down. Pretty cool view: