Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[chingchai]

Shawn. Thanks so much for the reply.
This is great info. Not dizzy at all.

And the new bulb sounds very interesting.
Worth trying for. Isn't it?

 

[elijaher]

That is one long check list.

 

[markob]

Nineball, Mr. Wilson, team, and all posters,

Congratulations on a truly awesome build and thread!
I am impressed (beyond what my limited english vocabulary can express) with the quality of the posts in this thread and the general conduct of everyone.
It has taken me a good three weeks of hard evening labour to catch up with the thread, and even if my better half would disagree, it has been worth while.

Mr. Wilson you discussed earlier a method of dealing with nuisance algae (GHA) with very high Mg levels - how did that work out?
Considering the low nutrient levels in the system, did the 1600ppm Mg level give measurable/observable effect?
You also wrote that it was harmless to invertebrates and corals? Is this true for fish as well?
If you have some time to spare from mangrove plant showering I would appreciate a bit more elaboration on this subject and especially the chemical/biological mechanisms behind this method.
Also how did you eventually lower Mg levels (assuming you are back in the 1300-range now) - water change, consumption in the system or some other method?

Again, thank you all for a very informative and inspiring thread, and congratulations to you Nineball - truly a magnificent build!

Marko

 

[mr.wilson]

Nineball, Mr. Wilson, team, and all posters,

Congratulations on a truly awesome build and thread!
I am impressed (beyond what my limited english vocabulary can express) with the quality of the posts in this thread and the general conduct of everyone.
It has taken me a good three weeks of hard evening labour to catch up with the thread, and even if my better half would disagree, it has been worth while.

Mr. Wilson you discussed earlier a method of dealing with nuisance algae (GHA) with very high Mg levels - how did that work out?
Considering the low nutrient levels in the system, did the 1600ppm Mg level give measurable/observable effect?
You also wrote that it was harmless to invertebrates and corals? Is this true for fish as well?
If you have some time to spare from mangrove plant showering I would appreciate a bit more elaboration on this subject and especially the chemical/biological mechanisms behind this method.
Also how did you eventually lower Mg levels (assuming you are back in the 1300-range now) - water change, consumption in the system or some other method?

Again, thank you all for a very informative and inspiring thread, and congratulations to you Nineball - truly a magnificent build!

Marko

Hej Marko,

Congratulations on the long read! We are hoping to continue the flow of information so stay tuned.

Quite a few people, myself included, have had success killing off bryopsis hair algae with 1600ppm Mg. It seems that only Kent Marine brand (Tech-M) magnesium works. The magnesium level of surface water from the Red Sea is 1600ppm, so it isn't the magnesium itself that is working. One of the chemists from SeaChem did a talk on how elevated magnesium cannot kill off nuisance algae at MACNA two years ago, so something else in Tech-M is the key.

There are reports that Kent Tech-M (and other forms of magnesium) is high in lithium, and further speculation that this is the causative agent in the algae "cure". It is likely that lithium levels range from batch to batch so this would explain the hit and miss success reports as well.

I'm nit sure if our Tech-M helped, or if it was the snails and hermit crabs, copepods, or the low nutrient levels, but whatever it was, the algae is gone. :bounce3:

 

[Ketchup]

I think both Peter and Shawn has shown tremendous grace and respect by not revealing the wholesaler.

I agree with the spirit of the thread that its probably better not to name the wholesaler. Perhaps those who are really keen or may be affected (like going to order from a wholesaler in LA) can PM them

 

[mr.wilson]

I think both Peter and Shawn has shown tremendous grace and respect by not revealing the wholesaler.

I agree with the spirit of the thread that its probably better not to name the wholesaler. Perhaps those who are really keen or may be affected (like going to order from a wholesaler in LA) can PM them

Above and beyond any perceived pre-existing problems with the livestock we received, the buck stops here! There are always health issues to deal with and there is always something you can do about it. I will take my share of responsibility for the losses.

The lesson here is we have a healthy tank because whatever goes on with our new orders is segregated to a back room acclimation system. We take our losses, pick up the pieces and move on.

I don't buy a lot from this particular supplier. I was the first person in Canada to buy from them back in 1993, so in the grand scheme of things it's a small bump in the road.

 

[Ancelot]

Hello there,

Just a quickie. How is the skimz skimmer doing for your system so far?

Are you satisfied with it?

 

[Briney Dave]

to add to the person with the bryso question: That person must be sure its bryso and not normal hair algae: Mr. Wilson is 100% right about both the brand and dose level. I had a tank full before I got the correct treatment info:

I never found a algae eater that would eat it (or at least eat enough to notice)
the Kent Tech M and a level of at least 1500: I used 1700

The bryso began turning white and then died off in short order: There are many threads regarding the use here on R/C including how to safely raise the level up in daily doses rather than dumping and praying.
Best of luck to you as that algae had me ready to quite before I finally found someone who really knew what they were doing rather than just guessing or telling me that my water must be dirty to have it growing and so I need to do more water changes.

 

[vipulgshukla]

Nineball, Mr.Wilson, your mentors, team-members and all posters,
Many Congratulations to all of you for conceiving and then actually building this behemoth tank! Your dedication and perseverance is astounding and yet humbling.
I am also impressed by how well the posters are behaved here. I have tried and read almost all posts in this long thread over the past 3-4 days when I discovered it looking for treatment of gill flukes for my sailfin tang.
Keeping my awe aside for a moment, I am seeing that you seem to still have problems with fish disease and algae outbreaks just as we mortals do! I was about to throw in the towel after a particularly long battle with ich and hair algae was followed by gill flukes in one of the tangs now. After reading this thread, I am a more informed (maybe wiser?) hobbyist with respect to quarantining new arrivals.
What would you recommend for a sterile (no Live Rock) -no sump-bio-wheel type filtration QT under 10g for less than $50. I plan to use ich-X and Prazipro prophylactically on ALL fish I ever ever ever buy in the future from my LFS here in Mississauga.
Thanks.

 

[Chago09]

I'm tired of all the people saying how well behaved we are..... the hell with it, I'm setting a new tone... who's the moron who designed the RODI system!!!! :fun2: LOL just kiding

It really goes to show you how an amzing system this is when on everyone of the 252 pages there is at least 2 or 3 posts like the one above simply thanking Peter and the crew for an amazing build and information resource.

Sorry for my wildness, I'm not as sophisticated as Peter and Shawn.... I'm just the waterboy :wave:

 

[nuccadoc]

Lol!

 

[dave.m]

I'm just the waterboy

You mean you're all wet?

Dave.M

 

[elijaher]

This thread have a good change of being thread of the year.

 

[mr.wilson]

It's hard to do an update because we are always doing something new. I can't keep track of what I've shared on here and what we didn't end up doing that we said we would

The 6 Orphek LED lights or the Mars invert system arrived yesterday. Mounting options are limited with the Mars construction, but I figured out a way to do it properly and will have them installed this week.

We added some more corals on friday. They are colouring up nicely and the tank is starting to look like a reef, but we have a lot of stocking to go.

I managed to crack the Schuran Calcium reactor on the top and bottom of the tube while adding the media. I find it hard to believe that it was due to over-tightening the four plastic screws by hand, but what can you do. I tried acrylic glue and epoxy, but it cracked again. I'm hoping the replacement body doesn't cost more than a (perhaps better) American-made complete calcium reactor. The control valves are cheap on the Schuran unit, I'm not crazy about the amount of work involved in changing the media, and it doesn't have a second pass reactor to remove/buffer residual carbonic acid (low PH). The body is thin acrylic and the bond is weak. I may have to get a replacement part fabricated locally to save time and money. I will fire off an inquiry to Schuran tomorrow.

Let's see, what else did I break recently...

We received our Blueline 70 pump for the RK2 skimmer venturi. It's installed and running WAY better. I can't believe they don't supply it with this pump from the factory. It's magnet coupled (safer) and provides more bubbles and pressure for the wash-down feature... Oh yeah! I broke a bulkhead and the garden sprinkler solenoid on the RK2 when we moved it last time We will be replacing the solenoid with a 1/2" Hayward AC actuator valve. We will add a second actuator (run on the same timer) to run the inner wash-down feature. Does anyone know where I can get these at a decent price? Georg Fischer wants $370 each

The 130 gallon hospital tank came in and looks great. I'm ordering an 80/20 T Slot stand for it tomorrow. We will be using our Aqua-Ilumination SOL LED to illuminate it. I ordered a new controller to replace the one we broke

The Aqua-Medic order came in today. We received a large kalkwasser reactor that we will put online now and add kalkwasser to later as needed.

We played around with LED supplemental lighting for the display, but I will let Peter handle that one...

 

[dahenley]

Before the BlueLine70, what pump were you using? the DC pump or the factory 1/4HP RK2 pump?
just curious....

also, because i know nothing other then the picture of the RK2, why cant you use the "garden sprinkler" valve? if its a 12-24volt valve, just run a converter over to your controller, and let it regulate the voltage down for you.. just an option. (if you think its not letting enough water pass, just install 2 with a tee on both sides. this will let 2x the flow past. plus you can pick them up at your local Bigbox store for a lot less....
just another option..

Mr. W, honest opinion.
i know you have dealt with a lot of CA reactors over the years, why was the Schuran picked? was it a part of the original build before you came on or what? i have never used one but they seemed (to me of course) to be a little over priced. are they that much better then the ones found on/manufactured on this side of the ocean? just curious.
(if you had to replace the unit for a local brand, what are some choices that you like or prefer? thanks)

 

[RGibson]

If i were going to replace the unit Geo would be the one,it is well built and easy to work with.

 

[Scej12]

We received our Blueline 70 pump for the RK2 skimmer venturi. It's installed and running WAY better. I can't believe they don't supply it with this pump from the factory. It's magnet coupled (safer) and provides more bubbles and pressure for the wash-down feature... Oh yeah! I broke a bulkhead and the garden sprinkler solenoid on the RK2 when we moved it last time We will be replacing the solenoid with a 1/2" Hayward AC actuator valve. We will add a second actuator (run on the same timer) to run the inner wash-down feature. Does anyone know where I can get these at a decent price? Georg Fischer wants $370 each

Hey Shawn for miscellaneous plumbing parts that aren't easy to find you can try Regional Hose and Hydraulics. I have a great pal who runs the Kitchener/Waterloo site ... he's been able to source whatever I've needed in the past for a very competitive price. Give Wilton Grant a call, and tell him Sheldon referred you:

Wilton Grant
Regional Hose and Hydraulics
519-896-3701; www.regionalhose.com
4-250 Trillium Drive
Kitchener, ON N2E 1X2

At one time I scavenged the better part of an old CO2 Refilling station, Wilton was able to source all of the miscellaneous missing fitting I needed to complete the system.

HTH,

Sheldon

 

[mr.wilson]

Before the BlueLine70, what pump were you using? the DC pump or the factory 1/4HP RK2 pump?
just curious....

also, because i know nothing other then the picture of the RK2, why cant you use the "garden sprinkler" valve? if its a 12-24volt valve, just run a converter over to your controller, and let it regulate the voltage down for you.. just an option. (if you think its not letting enough water pass, just install 2 with a tee on both sides. this will let 2x the flow past. plus you can pick them up at your local Bigbox store for a lot less....
just another option..

Mr. W, honest opinion.
i know you have dealt with a lot of CA reactors over the years, why was the Schuran picked? was it a part of the original build before you came on or what? i have never used one but they seemed (to me of course) to be a little over priced. are they that much better then the ones found on/manufactured on this side of the ocean? just curious.
(if you had to replace the unit for a local brand, what are some choices that you like or prefer? thanks)

The RK2 throughput pump was the monster pictured earlier. It was replaced with an efficient DC pump. The venturi closed loop bubble generator pump was the stock RK2 Dart clone. It's a low pressure pump and it is direct drive. We have replaced all direct drive pumps with magnet coupled chemical pumps. This way there are no leaks, corrosion, or bearings to replace every 2-3 years. The pump I just took off had a slow leak in the seal already. It was encrusted in salt. It was a night and day difference with the pump upgrade.

The garden solenoid is broken at the actuator side, the controller is still working. The other thing we don't like about it is it squirts water out of the side when it goes on and off. Not a problem in a garden, but not good when it gets the plasma light control wet We have considered buying a new garden-grade unit, but the controller it comes with is likely proprietary. We need a chemical grade actuator for the inner wash-down so we will use two new chemical valves... but I'm not crazy about the price tag

We changed almost everything from the original build, but the calcium reactor is one of the things that stayed, mostly due to the amount invested and good reputation of the product. I don't see much value in the three jets on the bottom of the reactor, and they don't cost much to make. Especially with large media, a simple drip plate would be the same or better. The control valves are cheap airline valves, but if they work they work. It has a cone shaped top to help collect stray Co2 and redirect into the system, but most manufacturers have this feature. The Eheim pump is nice, but again, many manufacturers here use this as well.

I've seen them from $850 - $1350 on the web and agree that the price isn't warranted. As I mentioned before, it doesn't have a second pass reactor chamber to lower PH, so you need to ad this yourself. We are feeding the effluent drip line into the mangrove system at the top so residual Co2 can be utilized by the mangrove leaves and the Miracle Mud can buffer the Ph back up to 8.4. If we add macro-algae it will remove the Co2 (carbonic acid) from the water as well.

The Schuran has an oversized bubble counter (not sure why), but no drip counter (not sure on that either). The fact that I was able to crack the media chamber in three places on the top and bottom by hand tightening four screws (top & bottom) leads me to believe that the thin wall acrylic and end caps are poorly bonded and designed. If they used a thicker tube and more screws to spread the torque, I wouldn't have this problem.

My (cynical) prediction is that Schuran will charge $500 for a replacement body and I will have to wait & pay for it to be shipped from Germany. I believe that I can find an equivalent or better CA reactor here in North America for the same cost as the replacement part. Hopefully I'm wrong and they can send a free replacement from a distributor in the US. I think I can get a stronger replacement part fabricated locally for under $100.

I don't have a favoirite CA reactor right now. Someone recommended a digitally metered Co2 regulator earlier in the thread that I like. I would incorporate the following features if I was designing one...

- Peristaltic dosing pump for versatile and accurate throughput
- Digitally metered Co2 regulator
- Final pass PH buffer chamber
- Fluidized bed reactor chamber
- Mixed dolomite & aragonite fine media
- PH controller/probe holder with easy to read (large) dual display (set value & current value)
- Eheim closed loop pump
- Easy to view, "set & forget" drip counter

Supplemental:
- Calcium chloride solution tank with dosing pump
- Magnesium chloride & magnesium sulphate solution tank with dosing pump

 

[mr.wilson]

If i were going to replace the unit Geo would be the one,it is well built and easy to work with.

There is nothing fancy about the design or build of the Geo unit, but the price isn't fancy either, it's easy to use, and it works reliably without mods. I do like to support North American suppliers when I can. Above and beyond the obvious recovery of our economy and helping our neighbours, NA products save on shipping, timelines, and the quality is predictably reliable. Replacement parts and service are also unbeatable in North America.

European manufacturers have excellent quality and design, but I would only deal with local distributors that carry a full line (in stock) including all replacement parts.

I don't need to go into the issues of Asian-made equipment. Some are better than others, and we can't avoid components from China.

 

[mr.wilson]

Hey Shawn for miscellaneous plumbing parts that aren't easy to find you can try Regional Hose and Hydraulics. I have a great pal who runs the Kitchener/Waterloo site ... he's been able to source whatever I've needed in the past for a very competitive price. Give Wilton Grant a call, and tell him Sheldon referred you:

Wilton Grant
Regional Hose and Hydraulics
519-896-3701; www.regionalhose.com
4-250 Trillium Drive
Kitchener, ON N2E 1X2

At one time I scavenged the better part of an old CO2 Refilling station, Wilton was able to source all of the miscellaneous missing fitting I needed to complete the system.

HTH,

Sheldon

I will add him to my ever-growing list of resources. I like the name Wilton, there's something noble sounding about it