SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

SuncrestReef · Jun 20, 2018

I have two Radion XR30 Pro G4 lights controlled by my Apex WXM module. Several times per week I will notice that the left Radion is off and it shows up as "Missing" on the Apex. Usually it will come back on by itself within an hour, or immediately if I unplug the Radion power cord and plug it back in. I started to wonder if perhaps RF interference may be disrupting the wireless signal between the WXM and this light. The WXM is mounted on the side of the divider wall under my Reefer cabinet, so it has a straight line above it to communicate with the right Radion, but for the left Radion the signal needs to pass diagonally through several power cords, my UV sterilizer, and my refugium LED light.

A few days ago I removed the WXM from the cabinet and relocated it to the wall behind my display tank, directly behind the return nozzle. Since that move, it has not lost the connection. I'm hoping this will be a permanent fix. Has anyone else experienced interference with a WXM?

NY_Caveman · Jun 20, 2018

SuncrestReef said:
I thought this was funny. It looks like one snail went to wake up another snail because it was late for work.

LOL!

SuncrestReef · Jun 25, 2018

Occasionally the carbon or GFO pellets make it past the sponge filters in my reactors and end up in the bottom of my sump. This usually happens when I first turn on a reactor and the initial rush of water forces them out. To help catch these escaping pellets, I covered the output pipes with small mesh filter bags and used rubber bands to hold them in place. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Aquarium-Mesh-Media-Filter/dp/B01MY3L61V

Works great.

The only other problem is that my flow sensors get jammed with the escaping pellets, so I frequently need to clean them out. If I ever re-do my plumbing I will place the flow sensors on the input pipes instead of the outputs, but that would require more PVC gymnastics with such a small sump space to work with.

SuncrestReef · Jun 28, 2018

The big day I've been waiting for since I first ordered my Reefer in February 2018 has finally arrived. I finally have some coral in the tank!

Here's a full tank shot. While the corals are beautiful, those tiny frags leave a lot of empty space yet to fill.

I also added a yellow watchman goby and a pistol shrimp. I should have snapped a photo right away before the shrimp burrowed under a rock at the back of the tank because I'll likely never get a chance again.

Meanwhile, the other tank inhabitants are still doing great!

(not sure if this photo is appropriate in these forums???...Ha!!!)

NY_Caveman · Jun 28, 2018

SuncrestReef said:

Get a room you two!

SuncrestReef · Jun 29, 2018

Now that I have coral, I can start putting my PAR meter to use. I have Neptune's PMK attached to my Apex, but holding the sensor under water while waiting for the Apex to update the reading is a pain. Using a scrap of PVC, I built a nice little handle for the PAR meter, sort of like a selfie stick:

1. Cut about 3/4 of the way through the PVC pipe about 1.5" from the end.
2. Use metal shears or any other cutting tool to leave the tab of PVC attached to the pipe.
3. Gently bend the tab to about a 45 degree angle, and drill a hole for the screw.

4. Mount the PAR meter with the screw, and use zip ties to hold the cable in place.

5. Enjoy taking PAR measurements without getting your hands wet!

With my Radion XR30 Pro's (with diffusers installed) currently set to 50%, here are the PAR readings at each of my 4 new corals. Over time I plan to increase the intensity until the ones at the top are near 350 PAR.

SuncrestReef · Jun 30, 2018

With only 4 coral frags the tank still looked pretty empty, so I picked up a few more:

SuncrestReef · Jun 30, 2018

It took a few days, but my new goby managed to find his pistol shrimp friend! They've been busy all morning burrowing under a big Pukani rock. This particular rock is pretty hollow and I've seen the shrimp peeking out from several different holes up and down the rock. Too bad it's toward the back of the tank and the only good view of the pair is from the top down. But I'm just happy they found each other!

SuncrestReef · Jul 2, 2018

Today I changed out the sediment filter on my RO/DI system. Here's how the old filter looked compared to the new filter after 3.5 months of use:

I expect the new filter to last a little longer now that the tank is up and running. During the first 2 months I did many large water changes while curing the rock and cycling the tank, so my rate of RO/DI consumption will be lower now.

SuncrestReef · Jul 7, 2018

Today I checked off another aquarium inhabitant I've wanted for a long time...a bubble tip anemone. In preparation I was sure to add protective covers to my WAV and Gyre powerheads to avoid any accidents. For the WAV I used a foam cover designed for a MP40, but it fits fine. For the Gyre FX230 I ordered mesh covers from CoralVue. Since you need to actually disassemble the Gyre to be able to install the cover, you definitely don't want a foam version because they would get clogged within a day or two, so it would be a pain to change them frequently.

I placed the anemone on a prominent rock near the front of the tank and so far it seems happy with that spot. The clowns have looked at it a couple times, but haven't tried going in yet. Hopefully they will figure out that this should be their new home...

davehead86 · Jul 7, 2018

Great build thread! So informative.

SuncrestReef · Jul 7, 2018

Here are my newest additions:

Cyphastrea:

ORA Kelly Green Psammocora:

SuncrestReef · Jul 10, 2018

My pistol shrimp made a new burrow right at the front of the tank so I can see the pair much better now! I also caught him red-clawed burying one of my coral frags.

SuncrestReef · Jul 12, 2018

Here are a few more additions to my tank:

SuncrestReef · Jul 14, 2018

Here's a quick video of the display tank with my latest corals:

offtropic · Jul 15, 2018

Everything is looking tremendous (been following your RSR posts on FB as well). I'm slowly getting things put in place (using a lot of inspiration found in your build thread and @Broadfield and others as well).

As I have many similar equipment pieces, I do have a question about how you are running your ATK from your mixing station area - The ATK wants me to plug the PMUP (with that weird 24V connector) and the sensors into the same FMM module. With my mixing station about 20' away (and under the house in my water heater room) don't see a way to do that without running some enormously long extension on the sensor wires. I can see you aren't doing that as your have two FMM modules in your mixing area so I'm wondering if you just purchased another module separate from the one the sensors connect to, put that into your mixing area and then programmed the APEX to get sensor readings from the FMM in the DT area but pump from the FMM in the mixing area? If so, was it pretty simple to do (I'm just starting to figure out the APEX stuff as I don't have water in my tank yet)?

SuncrestReef · Jul 15, 2018

offtropic said:
Everything is looking tremendous (been following your RSR posts on FB as well). I'm slowly getting things put in place (using a lot of inspiration found in your build thread and @Broadfield and others as well).

As I have many similar equipment pieces, I do have a question about how you are running your ATK from your mixing station area - The ATK wants me to plug the PMUP (with that weird 24V connector) and the sensors into the same FMM module. With my mixing station about 20' away (and under the house in my water heater room) don't see a way to do that without running some enormously long extension on the sensor wires. I can see you aren't doing that as your have two FMM modules in your mixing area so I'm wondering if you just purchased another module separate from the one the sensors connect to, put that into your mixing area and then programmed the APEX to get sensor readings from the FMM in the DT area but pump from the FMM in the mixing area? If so, was it pretty simple to do (I'm just starting to figure out the APEX stuff as I don't have water in my tank yet)?

Yes, I split up the ATK functions across two FMM modules. One FMM is in my Reefer cabinet and it connects to the two optical sensors. The 2nd FMM module is in my garage above my water storage tanks, and that's where the PMUP is connected. I ran a 30 foot AquaBus cable between my Reefer cabinet and the mixing station through a conduit along with 3 tubes for water transfer (see post# 38 of this thread). I set up the ATK using the task wizard in Fusion, but then took the resulting program code and simply applied it to the PMUP output on the other FMM module. It works great!

offtropic · Jul 15, 2018

SuncrestReef said:
Yes, I split up the ATK functions across two FMM modules. One FMM is in my Reefer cabinet and it connects to the two optical sensors. The 2nd FMM module is in my garage above my water storage tanks, and that's where the PMUP is connected. I ran a 30 foot AquaBus cable between my Reefer cabinet and the mixing station through a conduit along with 3 tubes for water transfer (see post# 38 of this thread). I set up the ATK using the task wizard in Fusion, but then took the resulting program code and simply applied it to the PMUP output on the other FMM module. It works great!

Perfect thanks! I figured it would work but then remembered you would have had the same issue so figured I'd ask before buying another component. I will post a build thread at some point but this has been a painfully slow process as I've been out of town most of the summer.

SuncrestReef · Jul 17, 2018

The final piece in my master plan is to provide emergency power for my Reefer. Today I ordered a whole-house standby generator, which is something I've wanted for a long time even before I got into reefing. It's a Generac 22kW powered by natural gas: