900 Gallon Reef Project

[DFL18]

What a clean and amazing setup, extremely efficient looking and thought out.

 

[Marc]

So what type of liverock is that? Aquacultered fiji? Absolutely stunning pump room as well!!!! Great Job!!! Does that small Deltec skimmer really keep up with a tank this size???

Marc

 

[FloodXL]

I love this build and look forward to future pics and video updates. Gorgeous looking tank!

 

[Blown76mav]

WOW................. Just WOW!!!!!

 

[reeftanknewbie]

I think it would be cool to make one of those underwater crafts with a video camera to float around the reef.

 

[Rytek]

+1 on the underwater video craft and +2 if you make it so you can drive the craft via WI-FI so you could drive around your tank while touring Europe!

An update will be nice when you can! The tank is an inspiration. Your blessed to have a wife that puts up with a reefer extremist

 

[reeftanknewbie]

+1 on the underwater video craft and +2 if you make it so you can drive the craft via WI-FI so you could drive around your tank while touring Europe!

An update will be nice when you can! The tank is an inspiration. Your blessed to have a wife that puts up with a reefer extremist

+3 if you could make the craft remote operated like that new car commercial that allows you to drive the car via the internet for a test drive. :spin1:

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Okay more updates. We put a limestone tile along the back and far side of the tank. The limestone tile does a few things, it does help with PH a bit, it frees me from having to clean the back of the glass and it also acts as a nice place for corals to grow on. This is pretty much a signature item for any tank that RAD builds and I think its great.

Also the glass build is finally done!!! The last few pieces were put into place for bracing and now we wait 3 weeks as it drys for our first fill with fresh water. I can't wait...:celeb1:

Can you help me out please i started a thread about finding the right type of tiles to us to grow out coral frags mainly zoas into full colonies please can you check it out and give me some advice im on my 2nd try of tiles from LOWES and would love your input and help.
Thanks,
link
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1925853
great build btw!:thumbsup:

 

[noobtothereef]

still no updates? things must not be going so well

 

[Bennytheblenny]

still no updates? things must not be going so well

Things were going well for quite some time, until some pretty large setbacks hit the setup.

THE SKIMMER
First one of the motors on the brand new Deltec Skimmer literally blew up:

Because of the blowout happened on the far side of the pump, I couldn't really tell anything had happened. But clearly the thermal protection switch failed, leading to a catastrophic failure. Whatever insulating material and other contents in the pump leaked into the sump over a period of a few days, leading to 3/4 of my corals bleaching out within 24 hours even with the addition of poly filters and changed out GAC. Overall it was a pretty crappy experience and considering these pumps were both "fixed" with a Deltec provided kit, I was understandably upset. Deltec sent over their US rep to fix the issue, and basically gave me a pump he had run for 40 or so hours and was operating effectively. Their service and responsiveness get an F from me. They rarely respond to emails or to voice mails. Also the technician was supposed to leave 2 backup pumps, but instead installed one replacement pump and simply left my house without saying a word. He did mention they were having some issues with these pumps failing and that my pump was very interesting since the pumps as designed should never blow up in this manner. That pump was then sent overnight to Germany. Since the replacements, I have had both pumps have intermittent issues which require cleaning and resetting the impellers prior to resumed normal operations. I am still waiting for a Deltec's redesigned pumps to come in to fix the problem.

Water Chemistry/Lighting/Aquarium Water Testing
Also since this lovely experience, approximately 5 water changes ago (meaning 1.5 tank volume) I have been unable to keep SPS happy in the tank and have had some issues with lobos. With the tank up and running for some time now, I should not be having RTN/STN/polyp extension/bleaching issues on the scale that I have been. All my parameters are within normal range with very little swings from one week to another. I still can't really pin down what is going on. I will however mention that I decided one day to send in five samples to AWT the online water testing folks from Aqua Medic and got five wildly different results on each test, even though they were taken from the same tank and from the same batch of water. I have now gone back to using Salifert tests because I can't trust AWT's results to be accurate, I get more accurate readings by asking my cousin to look at the tank and guess what the parameters are.... :furious:


The Snails from Hell

Also along the way I lost a Maxima that had been with me for quite some time. As I pulled the shell out I noticed hundreds of tiny white snails. Turns out I had those nasty Pyram Snails. I ended up yanking all my clams, including a 12 Derasa from the tank and scrubbing them down. Then I placed them in the Coral Grow out tank and have been scrubbing them once a week since. I have now successfully cleaned them off but am waiting to make sure any remaining in the display have died off prior to reintroducing them.


So I will post up some up some pictures of the tank shortly. The fish are all doing really well. I am just waiting to see what is causing the issues I have with the SPS corals, especially the complete lack of polyp extension (meanwhile my frogspawn is doing amazingly well) I have it narrowed down to either lighting, water chemistry or the bio pellets. Its looking like its water chemistry at the moment, as any corals I take to my cousin's 125 setup under T5s seem to bounce back in a few weeks. I take corals out from the display to the grow-out and the same issues persist. I am not going to give up, this is the first tank I have setup that has had issues of this magnitude but I will keep at it until I get it right, even if I have to toss out the Live Rock and start from scratch.

Any advice would be appreciated at this point.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

What blend did you dose for cyano? I have cyano problem for some time, and I cant get rid of it.

It's called Special Blend and its sold @ That Pet Place for like $10 a bottle. For the 1500ish gallons of water volume, I had to dose 2 full bottles a week for 5 weeks. Cleared my cyano like a champ. The first 2 weeks it grew faster and then it simply receded and died off.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Can you help me out please i started a thread about finding the right type of tiles to us to grow out coral frags mainly zoas into full colonies please can you check it out and give me some advice im on my 2nd try of tiles from LOWES and would love your input and help.
Thanks,
link
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1925853
great build btw!:thumbsup:

I would give JR @ Reef Aquaria Design a call
(954-596-2800). They have the supplier and the type used. I am sure they can point you in the right direction.

 

[Bax]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles!

Pyrams are a battle, I had them and found daily inspections and scrubbing was needed. Also check your snails too.

Bummer about the Deltec experience!

 

[Bennytheblenny]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles!

Pyrams are a battle, I had them and found daily inspections and scrubbing was needed. Also check your snails too.

Bummer about the Deltec experience!

It's strange because I have never had an issue with Deltec. But then again the old Ehiem's were built like tanks and were not first gen units. I am just going to have to fix one item at a time and then hope I can solve the SPS issue. I mean the tank looks great otherwise.

 

[dahenley]

is your skimmer a dual recirc skimmer, or single pump? (i know its external.)

also, you might think of putting your skimmer in its own container.
kind of like this
http://www.reef addicts.com/content.php/119-How-to-Clean-your-Skimmer-with-style
(just remove the space before addicts)
you could put it in your sump, and it would prevent any contamination....

did Deltec say if the pump problem is overheating? (being as the pumps are out of the water.)

just an idea....

and you said that if you put your corals in the holding tank, they bounce back? (just like when you put them in your friends tank?)
that would mean a light problem if your running the same water in both. weather or not they are connected or not)
just an opinion

 

[Elliott]

SPS not doing well, which require superior water quality

Frogspawn is doing well, which require much less water quality

Water quality would be my first place to look. For SPS usually Phosphates and Alkalinity are the culprits, Phosphates too high or Alkalinity instability can be trouble.

Measureable phosphates do not tell the whole story..

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/aafeature

 

[Bennytheblenny]

is your skimmer a dual recirc skimmer, or single pump? (i know its external.)

also, you might think of putting your skimmer in its own container.
kind of like this
http://www.reef addicts.com/content.php/119-How-to-Clean-your-Skimmer-with-style
(just remove the space before addicts)
you could put it in your sump, and it would prevent any contamination....

did Deltec say if the pump problem is overheating? (being as the pumps are out of the water.)

just an idea....

and you said that if you put your corals in the holding tank, they bounce back? (just like when you put them in your friends tank?)
that would mean a light problem if your running the same water in both. weather or not they are connected or not)
just an opinion

The pumps had a known design issue where they have a special plate that blocks foreign materials from entering the impeller chamber. The problem is this also restricts the amount of water going into the chamber and cooling that area of the pump. Essentially the pump locked up and heated up, normally there is a thermal protection switch that kills the current to the pump when it overheats, that featured failed in mine. Which is why I am assuming they sent the blown unit to Germany overnight. The representative claimed that what happened was "impossible per the design".

The unit is designed to be an external unit so the pumps aren't effected outside of the water. This was a "known" issue and the new pumps do not have this issue. I will find out once Deltec decides to return my calls and send me 2 replacement and 2 backup units. Properly designed pumps shouldn't never blow out in this manner but I am going to consider adding in something to catch anything if this happens in the future. At this point I wish I went with another skimmer.

When I put the corals in the grow out, they experience the same issues, its only in another system do they start to bounce back. This pretty much cuts the lights out as a potential problem. Also my clams all did fantastic under the LEDs, which was rumored to be an issue under LEDs. My only qualm with the LEDs is that certain things look a touch washed out under them and that oranges and reds do not pop as much as the greens, blues and purples.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

SPS not doing well, which require superior water quality

Frogspawn is doing well, which require much less water quality

Water quality would be my first place to look. For SPS usually Phosphates and Alkalinity are the culprits, Phosphates too high or Alkalinity instability can be trouble.

Measureable phosphates do not tell the whole story..

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/aafeature

I went out and purchased a Hanna phosphate meter and am getting 0 readings, and am getting almost no noticeable algae growth in the refugium. I am also running a Bio Pellet reactor. I only have to clean the DTs glass once a week if that. Could it be a case of too few nutrients?

The alkalinity has been stable and I have been testing bi-weekly. The strange thing is my Blue Ridge and Stylos all look awesome with full polyp extension and solid growth and color. On the other hand my lobos, montis, acros, policipora and other encrusters look horrible with random STN/RTN/Bleached patches and no polyp extension. I have never had this problem before on any of my other tanks. I'll post up a few of the AWT tests to show you how different they are from one test to the other and why I went back to testing the old fashioned way. My next question is does anyone know of a lab that will do a real formal work up on water samples? Cost is not an issue. I want to see everything that is in the water to narrow down if there is something in the water that I can't test for that is causing issues.

 

[dahenley]

You might send reefski a pm. He has a large tank and may know a reputable place to get a workup.

Nineball is in Canada and may know someone as well.
Mr. Wilson knows a lot about the hobby and has been in it for many years. Those 3 should point you in the right direction

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Here are my results with AWT. All taken from the same sample of water at the same time. Boxed and taken to the post office immediately. Also it turns out I am not the only one with funny results coming back....

Test 1/3
Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................ Good ......................................... 0.003
Nitrite (NO2) ................................ Good ......................................... 0.003
Nitrate (NO3) ............................... Good ............................................. 2.6
Phosphate (PO4) .......................... Good ........................................... 0.02
Silica (SiO2-3) ............................. Good ............................................. 0.1
Potassium (K) ............................... Low ............................................. 305
Calcium (Ca) ................................. Low ............................................. 320
Boron (B) .................................... Good ............................................. 4.9
Molybdenum (Mo) ......................... High.............................................. 0.2
Strontium (Sr) ............................. Good ........................................... 10.6
Magnesium (Mg) .......................... High........................................... 1411
Iodine (I¯) ................................... Good ........................................... 0.08
Copper (Cu++) ............................ High............................................ 0.05
Alkalinity (meq/L) ......................... Good ........................................... 4.10

Test 2/3

Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................ High.......................................... 0.080
Nitrite (NO2) ................................ Good ......................................... 0.002
Nitrate (NO3) ............................... Good ............................................. 1.5
Phosphate (PO4) .......................... Good ........................................... 0.05
Silica (SiO2-3) ............................. Good ............................................. 0.3
Potassium (K) ............................... Low ............................................. 258
Calcium (Ca) ................................. Low ............................................. 315
Boron (B) ..................................... Low .............................................. 2.5
Molybdenum (Mo) ......................... Good ............................................. 0.1
Strontium (Sr) ............................. Good ........................................... 10.6
Magnesium (Mg) .......................... Good .......................................... 1387
Iodine (I¯) ................................... Good ........................................... 0.09
Copper (Cu++) ............................ Good ........................................... 0.03
Alkalinity (meq/L) ......................... Good ........................................... 4.29

Test 3/3

Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................ Good ......................................... 0.020
Nitrite (NO2) ................................ Good ......................................... 0.003
Nitrate (NO3) ............................... Good ............................................. 2.0
Phosphate (PO4) .......................... Good ........................................... 0.07
Silica (SiO2-3) ............................. Good ............................................. 0.1
Potassium (K) ............................... Low ............................................. 271
Calcium (Ca) ................................. Low ............................................. 323
Boron (B) ..................................... Low .............................................. 2.5
Molybdenum (Mo) ......................... Good ............................................. 0.1
Strontium (Sr) ............................. Good ............................................. 9.3
Magnesium (Mg) .......................... Good .......................................... 1250
Iodine (I¯) ................................... High............................................ 0.14
Copper (Cu++) ............................ Good ........................................... 0.01
Alkalinity (meq/L) ......................... Good ........................................... 3.99

All of my manual tests, using 2 different brands of test kits, say my Copper/Calcium/Boron/Iodine are at normal levels. And notice the "High" ammonia? :hmm1: