SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[SuncrestReef]

Great build! Where did you find those power cables?

I picked them up locally at PCHCables.com, but I don't see them listed on their web site. Search for "90 degree C13 to 5-15P" and you'll probably find a vendor that has them.

 

[tdunmore2]

I picked them up locally at PCHCables.com, but I don't see them listed on their web site. Search for "90 degree C13 to 5-15P" and you'll probably find a vendor that has them.

Awesome! Many Thanks.
Here is the link from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-PWC-141R-Right-Angle-NEMA-5-15P/dp/B004NCRDYW

 

[SuncrestReef]

Awesome! Many Thanks.
Here is the link from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-PWC-141R-Right-Angle-NEMA-5-15P/dp/B004NCRDYW

Glad you found them. It makes a huge improvement by avoiding all those coiled-up 6 foot power cords!

 

[SuncrestReef]

Update on my cycling process: It's been 23 days since I added Dr. Tim's bacteria and started dosing with ammonium chloride as prescribed by Dr. Tim. The ammonia is consumed within 24 hours, but the nitrites have been high since the first few days into the process. I've done several water changes as recommended to keep nitrites low, but I still haven't seen any improvement in nitrites being converted to nitrates. It seems the bacteria responsible for converting nitrite to nitrate is not populating.

When I first set up the tank, I knew that the dry Pukani rock was known to leach phosphates, so I started running my GFO reactor to lower phosphates. This worked well as the phosphates dropped from over 1 ppm to 0.1 ppm. Once phosphates were low I started the cycling process. However, I recently converted my ATO into a refugium and added chaeto, and the chaeto has been growing like crazy. It tripled in size within 1 week. But today I tested for phosphates again and discovered it was at 0 (using a Hanna ULR tester). After a bit of research I found some people saying zero phosphates can stall the cycling process since the nitrifying bacteria needs some phosphates to be able to multiply. I'm thinking I may have over-compensated for the phosphates by running both GFO and growing chaeto.

For now, I'm shutting down the GFO reactor but will leave the chaeto in place, and I'll start testing phosphates again on a daily basis to see if I can get some measurable phosphates. Hopefully this will get the bacteria multiplying so the cycling process can complete.

Anyone run into this issue before when cycling?

 

[Lasse]

I have answered in your other thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/zero-phosphates-stalling-cycling-process.390335/

Sincerely Lasse

 

[CDavmd]

question- which UV sterilizer is that? Your first page says its the Pentair 40....the dimensions on BRS for that model is 43 inches in length?? Did you end up with a smaller one?
Thanks

 

[SuncrestReef]

question- which UV sterilizer is that? Your first page says its the Pentair 40....the dimensions on BRS for that model is 43 inches in length?? Did you end up with a smaller one?
Thanks

Sorry for the confusion. When I first designed my system I was planning to buy the Pentair, but it's large size posed a challenge. I ended up with the AquaUV Classic 15 with 2" fittings, then used a reducing bushing to fit my 1" plumbing. I was going back & forth on deciding between the 15 watt or the 25 watt, but after researching the UV exposure rates and water flow, I determined that the 15 watt would be sufficient.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I can officially say that my Red Sea ATO reservoir converted to a refugium is a success! (see post# 82 on how I built it) Below is a photo of my chaeto after 13 days of growth. It started out the size of the tennis ball.



Since my phosphates have been very low from running GFO and adding the chaeto, I turned off the GFO reactor and pruned (trimmed? harvested? I'm not sure of the appropriate term for algae...) the chaeto down to tennis ball size again and threw it back into the refugium. Phosphate was back up to 0.04 ppm today, up from 0.0 ppm since 4 days ago.

I'm pretty pleased with the results of the ChaetoMax LED light. It's tiny, but for this size refugium it seems perfect.



Still waiting on nitrites to drop while cycling.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I think I may finally be nearing the end of cycling my tank! One month ago I started the cycling process using Dr. Tim's bacteria and since day 2 the nitrites have been very high. I've done several water changes to try to keep nitrite below 5 ppm, but I hadn't seen any low test results until yesterday when it was suddenly down to about 0.25 ppm. This morning nitrites were almost at 0, so I did another dose of ammonia chlorate so I can test again tomorrow to see if ammonia and nitrite is near zero. Hopefully I can finally start adding fish this week.

 

[rsumner]

Here's the new refugium in place under the cabinet. Everything fits, water is flowing, and no leaks.

@SuncrestReef, great job on the ATO conversation and your manifold design is ingenious. A few questions for you (I figured I would dump a bunch on you at a time):

• Is the overflow noisy without a valve on it to control flow? I have a 1/2" drain drilled in mine and find that if I don't use a ball valve to control the flow, it will syphon quite a bit of air -- my drain bulkhead is placed at about the same height as yours.
• Do you find that the PMUP adds any significant noise running 24x7? I'm considering a Sicce Silent 0.5 because the noice my PMUP in my ATO makes is noticeable.
• Are you getting any detritus buildup in the ATO? I'm hoping by converting mine to smaller diameter outlet like you've done will help direct the water to create a more direct flow. I'm running 1/2" PVC dropped in over the top of the ATO right now (running off my manifold) and have zero chaeto tumbling
• Are you running anything behind the skimmer? I noticed you have the skimmer pushed to the front of the sump and was wondering what you had in all that left over space?
• Are the 1/2" male PVC adapters that you have on your AquaMaxx reactors standard? I tried to replace the barb adapters that were included with the reactor and had major leaks. More o-rings?
• Is that a third gate valve and reactor behind the Carbon and GFO?
• I noticed you have your probes and dosing lines on the first baffle. Do you find that adds quite a bit of noice from water flowing over the baffle into the bubble trap?
• In addition, have you started dosing at all yet? I find that having the dosing lines in or near the return section causes my calcium and carbonate to get sucked up into the return before it dissolves which forces all of those chemicals to be pushed (at high concentrations) through my reactors causing significant precipitation in my plumbing and clogs my carbon/gfo/biopellet rectors that I run off my return manifold. As a result, I moved my dosing lines as close to my filter socks as I could so that the chemicals could dissolve before falling over the first baffle.
• How far away is your garage and salt water container from your tank? It seems like the DOS is handling the head pressure quite well. I would love to do a automatic water change setup like you've done but have a significant distance to cover from my home office (where the tank is) and where I could store containers that my wife wouldn't scream about.

 

[SuncrestReef]

@SuncrestReef, great job on the ATO conversation and your manifold design is ingenious. A few questions for you (I figured I would dump a bunch on you at a time):

• Is the overflow noisy without a valve on it to control flow? I have a 1/2" drain drilled in mine and find that if I don't use a ball valve to control the flow, it will syphon quite a bit of air -- my drain bulkhead is placed at about the same height as yours.

No, the only sound from the overflow is when I first fill the fuge and the water reaches the overflow. It makes a gurgling sound for about 5 seconds and then settles down. I think the strainer somehow helps with air and water flow going into the drain pipe.

• Do you find that the PMUP adds any significant noise running 24x7? I'm considering a Sicce Silent 0.5 because the noice my PMUP in my ATO makes is noticeable.

To be honest I can't hear the PMUP unless I turn off my skimmer, which is the loudest component in my whole system. When I first installed it the PMUP was sitting on the bottom of the sump, but I could hear a bit of vibration resonating through the glass. I shortened the 3/8" tubing so now the PMUP is suspended about 1" above the bottom of the sump so it's not in contact with the glass and that eliminated the vibration.

• Are you getting any detritus buildup in the ATO? I'm hoping by converting mine to smaller diameter outlet like you've done will help direct the water to create a more direct flow. I'm running 1/2" PVC dropped in over the top of the ATO right now (running off my manifold) and have zero chaeto tumbling

I've found the glass gets a buildup of green slime anywhere the chaeto does not make contact with the glass. Every couple weeks I drain the fuge and scrape off the slime with a credit card. I'm not sure more water flow would help in my situation.

• Are you running anything behind the skimmer? I noticed you have the skimmer pushed to the front of the sump and was wondering what you had in all that left over space?

The reason I have my skimmer all the way forward is due to the return line plumbing coming down from my UV sterilizer at the top of the tank, then it goes down at a 45 degree angle so I have enough length for a 1" flow meter. It was the only way I could fit all those components inside the cabinet. You can see the return line and flow meter better in this photo with the skimmer cup removed:


The only actual equipment behind the skimmer are my two heaters at the very back of the sump.

• Are the 1/2" male PVC adapters that you have on your AquaMaxx reactors standard? I tried to replace the barb adapters that were included with the reactor and had major leaks. More o-rings?

I replaced the stock AquaMaxx barb adapters with 1/2" PVC adapters as seen in this video, compliments of @pelphrey:

• Is that a third gate valve and reactor behind the Carbon and GFO?

Yes, I have 3 AquaMaxx reactors. The one at the very back is a biopellet reactor, though it's not currently in use. I pre-plumbed it just in case I ever need it.

• I noticed you have your probes and dosing lines on the first baffle. Do you find that adds quite a bit of noice from water flowing over the baffle into the bubble trap?

No noise. I moved the magnet holder up just above the lip of the baffle glass and found the water flows around it without making any noise.

• In addition, have you started dosing at all yet? I find that having the dosing lines in or near the return section causes my calcium and carbonate to get sucked up into the return before it dissolves which forces all of those chemicals to be pushed (at high concentrations) through my reactors causing significant precipitation in my plumbing and clogs my carbon/gfo/biopellet rectors that I run off my return manifold. As a result, I moved my dosing lines as close to my filter socks as I could so that the chemicals could dissolve before falling over the first baffle.

I have not started dosing yet. My tank is still cycling (nitrite is finally falling so I think it's close to done) so I don't have any livestock in the tank yet. Thanks for the tip about line placement; I'll keep that in mind once I start dosing.

• How far away is your garage and salt water container from your tank? It seems like the DOS is handling the head pressure quite well. I would love to do a automatic water change setup like you've done but have a significant distance to cover from my home office (where the tank is) and where I could store containers that my wife wouldn't scream about.

The tubing runs about 25 feet from my sump to the mixing station in the garage. The DOS has been working flawlessly for water changes and I couldn't be happier with it. It took quite a while (nearly 5 minutes) to get the lines primed, but once they are primed they stay filled with water and never break siphon. I bet you could run 100 feet of tubing and it would still work fine. You just have to be patient getting it primed the first time.

I hope these answers help you out!

 

[rsumner]

I hope these answers help you out!

Thanks for taking the time to reply and everything you've mentioned was a great help. Something that may help you: I dropped a cheap Hydor Koralia powerhead in my skimmer section on the far back left (magnet is attached inside of the bubble trap underwater) of the skimmer compartment forcing water over my heaters (attached to the back wall) and creating more circulation within that section of the sump. I'm convince this is also helping with my precipitation issues.

Next, I rebuild my manifold for a third time to use a similar design as yours -- I'll tell my wife it's all your fault.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Next, I rebuild my manifold for a third time to use a similar design as yours -- I'll tell my wife it's all your fault.

Ha! My wife will get a good laugh from that one.

 

[Rctreece]

Sweet setup.

 

[SuncrestReef]

It took longer than I expected, but my tank has finally completed cycling! I began the process on April 20th using Dr. Tim's bacteria and dosing ammonium chloride. It took just over 5 weeks, during which time my nitrites were very high, but now for the past 2 days I have consistently measured 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites within 24 hours of dosing ammonia. I did a partial water change to bring the nitrate level down to 5 ppm. Here are my current water parameters:

S.G. = 1.026
Temp = 78
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 5 ppm
Phosphate = 0.02 ppm

So far I still have not seen any diatoms, algae, or anything but crystal clear water. I'm not sure if that's the result of running carbon & GFO reactors, keeping the lights off, and growing chaeto in my refugium while cycling. I also have not had the problem of high phosphates that everyone warned about from the dry Pukani rock. Perhaps these issues are still to come with more time, but so far things are looking really good.

The wife and I will pick up a pair of clownfish this weekend and just take it slow with stocking the tank.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Wow, maybe I spoke too soon about my lack of algae. I've had my tank lights off the entire 5 weeks while cycling, and now after only 8 hours with the Radion lights on I'm starting to see the tops of several rocks completely covered in algae. What a difference.





We also just came home from our LFS, Cuttlefish & Corals (thanks to Jeff and his friendly staff!), with two beautiful C-Quest Onyx clownfish.



I have them drip acclimating with this handy acclimation system I picked up from Amazon:



It holds the plastic bag neatly and has a reservoir above with an adjustable drip nozzle. Couldn't be easier.



Super excited to finally have some life in the tank!

 

[Mebeknob]

That’s a slick little gadget! Now they need to figure one out for multiple bags.... because who comes back from the LFS with only one?!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Wow, maybe I spoke too soon about my lack of algae. I've had my tank lights off the entire 5 weeks while cycling, and now after only 8 hours with the Radion lights on I'm starting to see the tops of several rocks completely covered in algae. What a difference.





We also just came home from our LFS, Cuttlefish & Corals (thanks to Jeff and his friendly staff!), with two beautiful C-Quest Onyx clownfish.



I have them drip acclimating with this handy acclimation system I picked up from Amazon:



It holds the plastic bag neatly and has a reservoir above with an adjustable drip nozzle. Couldn't be easier.



Super excited to finally have some life in the tank!

Funny. That algae was just laying in wait.

Those clowns are very nice!

 

[SuncrestReef]

So far the clowns seem happy. I'll need to break out my DSLR to get some better photos.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Here's a better photo. The clowns have a healthy appetite and are starting to explore their new surroundings.