600 Gallon Upgrade Build

Well I see now that I have to add a real pump to feed the calcium reactor. The perilstalic pump isn't doing it's job and it's inconsistent. I will be adding a maxi jet 600 to the system.
 
Wayne; I am going to throw in my few cents and I hope something I state here maybe of use to you. I had three major tanks over the past 18-20 yrs. I always started by dosing two elements Cal Alk. I increase the daily dosage based on how the corals react . Are they opening, semi open or closed ( of course taking daily rdgs maybe better, but that is not my thing). Then I learned that to get higher concentration I needed to add Mag so I started dosing all three components. After a year or so from using a doser and seeing that my tank is going on well I start a Kalkwasser reactor and a Calc reactor to decrease cost. And I gradually wayne off the dosing and rely fully on the Kalk & Calc reactors. Keeping my three parts doser always handy just in case.... Hope something in here makes sense in your setup..
 
Osama said:
Wayne; I am going to throw in my few cents and I hope something I state here maybe of use to you. I had three major tanks over the past 18-20 yrs. I always started by dosing two elements Cal Alk. I increase the daily dosage based on how the corals react . Are they opening, semi open or closed ( of course taking daily rdgs maybe better, but that is not my thing). Then I learned that to get higher concentration I needed to add Mag so I started dosing all three components. After a year or so from using a doser and seeing that my tank is going on well I start a Kalkwasser reactor and a Calc reactor to decrease cost. And I gradually wayne off the dosing and rely fully on the Kalk & Calc reactors. Keeping my three parts doser always handy just in case.... Hope something in here makes sense in your setup..
Click to expand...


Thanks Osama. I will go to that method if I don't get the calcium reactor back to being stable. Your words are grateful.
 
I don't know that there would be enough O2 depletion to kill all those fish with that massive skimmer injecting all that oxygen into the tank at all times. In any case, how is the reactor set up? Do you control it with a regulator and ph controller? Or no controller?

Ideally on any tank, but especially a tank this size, you should have a good regulator like the aquarium plants electronic to control the ph level inside the reactor, and use a ph controller as a backup in case the regulator fails.
 
hobbzz said:
I don't know that there would be enough O2 depletion to kill all those fish with that massive skimmer injecting all that oxygen into the tank at all times. In any case, how is the reactor set up? Do you control it with a regulator and ph controller? Or no controller?



Ideally on any tank, but especially a tank this size, you should have a good regulator like the aquarium plants electronic to control the ph level inside the reactor, and use a ph controller as a backup in case the regulator fails.
Click to expand...


No controller but I do have the aquarium plants electronic. I never used a ph probe in the reactor also. Just tested my alk everyday and made adjustments if needed.
 
Because of the distance of my calcium reactor to the sump, I replaced the peristalistic pump with a maxi jet 1200. I have a check valve on it to control the flow back into the sump. I will give you periodic alk readings until it becomes stable. As of today it has tested out at 6.8 dKh(Salifert) and 6.5 dKh(Hanna).
 
UPDATE!!!!!

I have been sitting back and looking at my system and was thinking for someone who's suppose to be using the kids method, you she are not using the KISS method. So I was thinking to myself what's a simple method especially with a system as large as mine?

As you all know I've been battling a lot of alkalinity problems as of late. So I took it upon myself to revamp my system and go with my original plan with some new additional ideas.

ZeoVit:

I believe in my heart that this is a good system but for my condition a little bit to much for me. So I removed both ZeoVit reactors and replaced them with two power heads to keep detritus suspended and further removed by my protein skimmer. I will still be dosing Sponge Power, Coral Vitalizer, Amino Acids, and Pohl's Extra as I have seen the great results it has produced.

Nitrate and Phosphate Removal:

At one point and time I was dosing vinegar, iron citrate, and ZeoVit Biomate for a low nutrients. I have since for about a month discontinued all of those and now just dose Red Sea NoPox and it has on average kept my nitrates between 0-2 ppms(depends on how much I feed as I make my own food now) and phosphates between 0-.06 but has bottom as high as .1(I'm assuming it's a master of water level in the vial and powder added to the vial.

I will continue to do my biweekly 40 gallon water changes as it applies me to keep my water a little dirty and also keep my phosphates in check.

Lighting:

That's another story. Will update you on that when have an answer.

The Top Three- Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium:

I finally figured out my calcium reactor problem and added a pH probe to it. So now I understand what's really going on inside and how the properties work. I also changed my auto top off by adding kalk. In a weeks time my alkalinity has gone from 5.8 dKh to as of yesterday 7.1 dKh. Once I get it to the level I want, 8.0-8.5, them I will add the co2 to maintain that parameter. As for calcium and magnesium I will manually dose until I reach the parameters if like and hopefully the calcium reactor will keep them maintained also.

Thank you everyone for assisting me through my build and as always accept any ideas or inputs.
 
Wayne I like very much your thought process. Good Luck. The least amount of chemicals you add that work for you is best. I rely 99% on dosing daily 200ml each of Cal Mag Alk. I weekly add (not necessary but I do it) Aragonite milk and Combi San. I have a calc reactor and Kalk reactor that I have yet to use but I will now that after 9 months my system is stable and doing very well. Gradually I will rely more on them than on dosing but will always have the doser ready. I do not check chemistry other than what is on my APEX screen unless things start looking bad. I maybe repeating myself here and if I did then my apologies to all. Just hoping to be of some help. At the end of the day we each do what we think is best for our corals & fish ... Best of luck and make sure you continue to keep us informed .. Have a wonderful weekend EVERYBODY
 
Osama said:
Wayne I like very much your thought process. Good Luck. The least amount of chemicals you add that work for you is best. I rely 99% on dosing daily 200ml each of Cal Mag Alk. I weekly add (not necessary but I do it) Aragonite milk and Combi San. I have a calc reactor and Kalk reactor that I have yet to use but I will now that after 9 months my system is stable and doing very well. Gradually I will rely more on them than on dosing but will always have the doser ready. I do not check chemistry other than what is on my APEX screen unless things start looking bad. I maybe repeating myself here and if I did then my apologies to all. Just hoping to be of some help. At the end of the day we each do what we think is best for our corals & fish ... Best of luck and make sure you continue to keep us informed .. Have a wonderful weekend EVERYBODY
Click to expand...
Your input has been very greatly appreciated since your first input on my build. I will start testing alk again daily and once stable see where it goes from there with the other two.

Thanks again and you too have a very safe weekend.
 
Just read through several pages to get an update on things. I am sorry to hear about your losses. There's a lot of different opinions and ways to do things especially here on RC.

When I was designing my large system, I knew I had to have a CA Reactor, but was currently dosing on my 90 gallon. After talking with different people and doing online research there were the pros and cons of each. I decided to continue dosing ALK, CAL & Mag via my APEX because that is what I knew and it worked great. I really like the control of testing, then making adjustments as needed. It's so easy to sit at my computer and add or take off 5 seconds via the APEX. I was looking into a all-in-one dosing system like the bubble magus etc.. but decided to purchase individual dosing pumps so I could control it via the APEX.

I am still thinking about a CA Reactor, and may set one up on my RedSea Max 650 that I am looking to revive, so I can learn more about them. There have been success stories and disaster stories on either way you go, but the challenge of this hobby is what keeps so many of us going. Keep your head up, you are doing an amazing job.
 
dotcommer said:
Just read through several pages to get an update on things. I am sorry to hear about your losses. There's a lot of different opinions and ways to do things especially here on RC.

When I was designing my large system, I knew I had to have a CA Reactor, but was currently dosing on my 90 gallon. After talking with different people and doing online research there were the pros and cons of each. I decided to continue dosing ALK, CAL & Mag via my APEX because that is what I knew and it worked great. I really like the control of testing, then making adjustments as needed. It's so easy to sit at my computer and add or take off 5 seconds via the APEX. I was looking into a all-in-one dosing system like the bubble magus etc.. but decided to purchase individual dosing pumps so I could control it via the APEX.

I am still thinking about a CA Reactor, and may set one up on my RedSea Max 650 that I am looking to revive, so I can learn more about them. There have been success stories and disaster stories on either way you go, but the challenge of this hobby is what keeps so many of us going. Keep your head up, you are doing an amazing job.
Click to expand...


Thanks dot. The things we do for this hobby. Especially when it depends on the best success for your corals and fish. I'll see what happens this time around and if it doesn't meet my standards then it's back to dosing. But I do know more now about calcium reactors than I did in the beginning even with the aid of some reefers.
 
Good morning, afternoon, or evening depending on where you are in the world. This is just a small but very important update. Important for me as I finally have my alk stable.

As you know my calcium reactor was having its moments so I started adding kalk to my ATO these past two weeks and I finally have my alkalinity stable the past 7-9 days at 8.5-8.6 dKh but my calcium was still hovering around 390-400. So I had an open head on my dosing pump and started adding calcium and will adjust from there.
 
Osama said:
Good news Wayne .... next is calcium and Mag I assume as well
Click to expand...
Mag is at 1400 ppms right now. Calcium tested at 400 but I'd like it around 420-450 ppm range. I can't believe that my coralline algae is consuming all of it. I hate to see what happens when I add corals to the system.
 
It is just money we drip slowly away for our beloved corals.. What can we say about the hobby and our addiction to it.... Time to go now and dose my Mag Calc and Alk before these corals wake up fully and scream at me
 
Osama said:
It is just money we drip slowly away for our beloved corals.. What can we say about the hobby and our addiction to it.... Time to go now and dose my Mag Calc and Alk before these corals wake up fully and scream at me
Click to expand...
Yea we can't allow that to happen. Have a good day sir.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

U
New build
Replies
3
Views
553
griss
griss
L
Equipment help
Replies
8
Views
162
lilredwuck
L
LJA
Fish addition order
Replies
2
Views
183
OrionN
OrionN
M
Iam about to build my forever tank. Any advice? I want to migrate my current two ranks
Replies
5
Views
549
Paul B
Paul B
V
Feedback on this stocking list for 30g
Replies
0
Views
104
Varanis
V
Back
Top