Cpllongjk's Red Sea Reefer 170

[cpllongjk]

Looks really good Jared! Ill be following closely.

Thanks. I just finished draining it for the last time, leveling the tank, and filled it up. Gonna start adding salt now. Sometime next week, whenever VIVIDAQUARIUMS sends it out, I will start the RedSea Mature Pro Kit to cycle the tank.

I will follow their instructions closely and will not add any tester frags until at least 2 months. I want the tank to fully develop some good bacteria and I also am deciding on whether or not to add sand.

 

[cpllongjk]

Added some salt and skimmer is going nuts already. I had to set it to dry skim because we are going out to dinner and I dont want it overflowing. Even with an acid bath there is still a lot on the rocks.

 

[Frontier]

Looking good! Tagging along for the ride! Should be setting mine up this week if the aquarium gods are smiling on me. I'm going to try flatter, shelf pieces of rock I think. Do you think 20 pounds would be enough?

 

[cpllongjk]

Looking good! Tagging along for the ride! Should be setting mine up this week if the aquarium gods are smiling on me. I'm going to try flatter, shelf pieces of rock I think. Do you think 20 pounds would be enough?

Let me put it this way, I bought 50lbs of Fiji and only ended up using about 20-25lbs. A lot of the pieces were very horribly shaped footballs and I had to use a hammer to make worthwhile. There were maybe 2 nice pieces out of the lot. If you go with shelf rock its going to be hard to find. I ordered 10lbs of Tonga shelf and the MarineDepot couldnt tell me when it would be back in stock.

Fiji is a heavy rock and pukani will give you the most bang for your buck. I went with Fiji because its what the wife wanted and Ive had pukani in the past and dont like mounting frags to it. Fiji is much easier for mounting sps frags.

 

[doradosteve]

How is that top-off container sitting on the sump?

I would like to do that to one of my tanks.

 

[Frontier]

Let me put it this way, I bought 50lbs of Fiji and only ended up using about 20-25lbs. A lot of the pieces were very horribly shaped footballs and I had to use a hammer to make worthwhile. There were maybe 2 nice pieces out of the lot. If you go with shelf rock its going to be hard to find. I ordered 10lbs of Tonga shelf and the MarineDepot couldnt tell me when it would be back in stock.

Fiji is a heavy rock and pukani will give you the most bang for your buck. I went with Fiji because its what the wife wanted and Ive had pukani in the past and dont like mounting frags to it. Fiji is much easier for mounting sps frags.

I ended up ordering:
http://www.marcorocks.com/dry-rock/20-pound-box-prime-cuts/

I went with the mixed which will mean that some pieces will be cut only on one side and some on both.

Since I'm in Florida, I'll probably receive it before the tank at this point and will spend my time dry-arranging it like an 80's geek with a Rubik's Cube. :bigeyes:

 

[cpllongjk]

How is that top-off container sitting on the sump?

I would like to do that to one of my tanks.

Its resting on some glass they put in the sump for the overflow chamber.

1. The water comes down from above into that section and then the bubbles diffuse.
2. The water goes through the filter sock.
3. Then into the skimmer chamber.
4. Finally though an over under pass to the return pump area.

 

[cpllongjk]

I ended up ordering:
http://www.marcorocks.com/dry-rock/20-pound-box-prime-cuts/

I went with the mixed which will mean that some pieces will be cut only on one side and some on both.

Since I'm in Florida, I'll probably receive it before the tank at this point and will spend my time dry-arranging it like an 80's geek with a Rubik's Cube. :bigeyes:

Thats nice. I like that. You can really get some nice scaping going with those rocks.

 

[cpllongjk]

Updates...

1. Started cycling the tank with RedSea Reef Mature Pro Kit yesterday.

2. Added sand per wife's instructions and will probably move it around and thin it out with some vacuums over time. There's more sand than I thought but that's alright.

3. Added a 250w Reefbrite Halide Hybrid w/ Radium bulb.
Overall the color is a much better blue that my t5s could produce. I also forgot how much I missed the shimmer. As an added bonus my wife said they don't blind her as much as the t5s did so she's happy. She also loves the color more too. All around I am very pleased going back to MH. Heat is an issue right now since I still don't have the hanging kit. My fixture is resting 3" off the surface and heats the tank up quite a bit. My tank heater is set to 78 and my tank goes up to 82+ during the day. I cannot wait for the hanging kit and will probably have to add a fan or chiller soon. I know the chiller will be a must over the summer, could probably get away with a fan for now.

4. Going off the Cycling Program I will be adding a cleaning crew on day 10 and on day 14 I can add a herbivorous fish.

 

[Frontier]

Looks great!

 

[cpllongjk]

Small Update...

Received ReefBrite Halide Hybrid Hanging Kit last night and hung the pendant. Its a bit off center due to bulb placement I wanted it slightly left. I added a fan from Target on the wall. It's not the most attractive addition to a reef tank, my wife hates it btw, but it works. The halide was heating my tank from 78-83 daily and this fan keeps it at 76 if I wanted it to. I just really hope this works over the summer because I do not want to use a chiller unless I absolutely have to. I was looking at the tunze aquawind but couldn't justify 80 dollars for 2 computer fans in a nice package. This fan only cost me 15 dollars.


I replaced the 1.5 gallon ATO under the tank with this 14g rubbermaid container. Between the bulkhead, container, and fittings, this only cost me 25 dollars for a 14g top off. Its placed on the wall on the other side of my tank in our laundry room. I have easier access to fill it and a nice counter to put it. I eventually want to drill a small hole in the wall so its not so obvious, right now I just have tubing going around the wall. (Wanted to make sure everything worked before I drilled holes int he wall.)


This is day 8 of the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro Kit cycle. As you can see I have some algae growth. I ordered a small clean up crew that should be here Thursday or Friday. Ordered 4 reef hermits, 4 astrae snails, and 1 fighting conch.


Coming next... I'm going to make some homemade fish food this weekend. Stay tuned for pictures and my recipe. I've made a complete blend in the past, the fish and corals go NUTS. And best thing, is its a fraction of the cost of the pre-packaged stuff. This time I'm going to make a smaller batch for my nano tank though.

 

[cpllongjk]

Update...

Ok, so I didn't like how long the cycle was taking with the red sea cycle kit. The kit is set up for using "live" rock not "dead" rock. They really should have both sets of instructions in the box since so many people use dead rock now.

On wednesday my nitrates were 60-80 and my phosphates were 0.15

I added 5mL of Microbacter7 on Thursday and Tonight and kept up with the red sea dosing regime and my nitrates are 10-20 and 0.04

On Sunday I will be out of the nitrate and phosphate reducer and will convert to microbacter7 and vodka dosing for the duration of the tank. The only thing I dont like about dosing microbacter7 is the fact that I have to turn the skimmer off for 4 hours following dosing, but it isn't a big deal because I created a feed mode for 4 hours when I dose it.

My goal is to get nitrate and phosphate stable at around 0ppm for both while making sure algae isnt in the tank, I still have a bit of diatoms and a few sprinkles of green hair like algae on the glass, rock, and sand. I am going to slowly add 3-4 fish over the course of the next 2 months before I even attempt adding my first piece of sps. This will also allow the tank to truly cycle and develop a bacteria culture in the "dead" rock. I will also use this time to figure out a schedule for alk/ca/mg dosing.

My parameters are:
pH 7.9-8.2 (looking for a way to keep it in the 8.2-8.4 range, while keeping dKH lower)
Temp 76.7-78.6
Mg 1200
dKH 9.9-10.5 (letting go down a bit, want it to be around 7.5-8)
Ca 340

Any ideas?

 

[cpllongjk]

Ok, A little over a month into the build and parameters are...


What's going on:

pH 7.9-8.2 (depending on if I air out room, sticks to 8.1-8.3 when I air the room out.)
Temp Avg 78 (give or take 1 degree, pretty rock solid)
Mg 1320-1350 (red sea)
dkh 7.0-7.5 (red sea and hanna)
Ca 390-420 (red sea)
Nitrate 0.2ppm (salifert)
Phosphate 0.02-0.05ppm (hanna)

There is a small bit of hair algae left that the snails and manual removal are taking care of. I was dosing Vodka to aide in reducing nitrates and phosphates and am switching over to RedSea NO3PO4X from here on out for a more balanced carbon source.

I dose 2mL of KZ Coral Snow daily in the morning before the MH comes on.

I'm running 1/2 cup of BRS ROX 0.8 Carbon in a filter sock (have a BRS Mini Reactor on its way.)

Running RowaPhos to aide in removal of phosphates locked in the rock, I know it's advised to not do this while carbon dosing but I know the rock is leaching phosphates so I am just trying to pick those up as they release. When I run out of Rowa, probably another month, I will just stick to dosing a carbon source. I hope the rock are not leaching as bad by then.

I'm changing 2 gallons of water using Instant Ocean every week on Saturday or Sunday. In order to keep parameters stable I have to add 12 mL of Magnesium and 5 mL of Calcium to each water change. The IO is lacking in some things. After I run out of this bucket of IO, long time, I will most likely be switching to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and then increasing my water changes to 5 gallons per week. TM Pro Reef has spot on my ideal parameters out of the bucket so I wouldn't have to fiddle with the mix to get it right.

I am working out a dosing schedule for the Alk/Calcium. I need to keep testing but I think, at this point, I am losing about .2-.3 dkh per day and 5ppm calcium per day. Spots of coralline algae are popping up on the back wall and near the sandbed on the front and sides of glass so it's just a matter of time before the alk/calcium starts getting heavily consumed.

Issues:
The glass is dusted with a very fine layer of algae 2-3 times a day. It comes off very easily however it clouds vision of the tank. I'm thinking it's coming from the leaching phosphates from the dry fiji rock that was used.

I figure I am probably going to dose 2/3 part with this build since it's smaller however, I don't know which 2/3 part solution is best. I want the highest quality solutions since this is going to be mostly sps tank and I want great color and growth. I've heard great things about Fauna Marin and RedSea. Any suggestions? I typically used BRS 2/3 part in the past.

Coming Soon:
I am switching out my LifeReef skimmer for a Deltec SC 1351. I love my LifeReef however it is waaaay oversized for my reef.
I don't plan on adding any SPS until the all the GHA disappears and I finish adding my bioload. So far I have 5 blue/green chromis, 1 pygmy cherub angel, 1 tailspot blenny, and 1 clown goby. I plan on adding 1 helfrichi firefish and I cannot decide on the last fish, maybe a mystery wrasse or a flame wrasse (the mystery wrasse is probably more suited to my size tank)

 

[cpllongjk]

Upgrades... Upgrades... Upgrades...

I replaced the Lifereef Skimmer with the Deltec SC 1351. The Deltec is super small compared to the Lifereef. It is also sooooooooo much quieter and it's not even broken in.

I also added a 2nd mp10w and now have them on the back wall facing forward. One on the right wall and one on the left wall.

 

[Frontier]

Good idea with the 2nd MP10. How high are you running yours?

 

[cpllongjk]

Good idea with the 2nd MP10. How high are you running yours?

Both are running at 100% in pretty much every mode. Throughout the day I run almost every mode as well. Night mode is the only time when they run less. At night they both run reefcrest at 40%. Feed mode is 10%.

 

[rehype]

Upgrades... Upgrades... Upgrades...

I replaced the Lifereef Skimmer with the Deltec SC 1351. The Deltec is super small compared to the Lifereef. It is also sooooooooo much quieter and it's not even broken in.

I also added a 2nd mp10w and now have them on the back wall facing forward. One on the right wall and one on the left wall.

Looking good... the deltec look much better in your sump. Any microbubbles?

 

[cpllongjk]

Looking good... the deltec look much better in your sump. Any microbubbles?

Theres always a few microbubbles when the skimmer just starts breaking in. I had a foam head about 8 hours after start up but it has collapsed. The jury is still out on microbubbles, ill give it a good month to break in before I write a review. First impressions are that its a very nice skimmer. I wish it had more weight to it but I dont expect perfection at this price point. The skimmer has been going for 24 hours and I increased speed on the dc pump from 4/8 to 8/8. Before the skimmer went in the tank I ran in it vinegar/rodi water for a good hour then rinsed it and wiped it dry.

Even at full speed this little beast is much more quiet than the lifereef. The crazy thing about the lifereef is its not even the pump. You could use a red dragon pump and still get lots of noise. The noise came from the venturi where the air met the water. The only way to reduce noise on the lifereef skimmer is to reduce pump speed and also air draw, since they are linked together.

From what I can tell, venturi skimmers require much larger pumps than needle/pinwheel skimmers. Only time will tell how good the deltec is but im sure it will be a better fit for my tank since its rated for a heavily stocked tank at 79 gallons. I believe this is much closer to my setup than the lifereef was. I shouldn't have problems with the foam head collapsing as much.

When I cleaned the lifereef all the gunk was collecting in the neck and not the cup, which is totally normal on a smaller and newer tank.

 

[sahin]

Hey buddy. Hopefully I'm picking up a Giesemann 400w Spectra tomorrow. Look forward to your tank progressing with Radium.

 

[cpllongjk]

Hey buddy. Hopefully I'm picking up a Giesemann 400w Spectra tomorrow. Look forward to your tank progressing with Radium.

I couldn't decide on the 250w radium and the 400w radium but I ended up going with the 250w even though with an m80 ballast the 250w runs at 330w and the 400w runs at 360w.

I probably should have gone with the 400w but I went with the 250w. Is the spectra easily switched from 250w to 400w? Same fixture just different bulb or do you have to switch out sockets?

I added 2 tester frags yesterday afternoon and hope everything goes well. I have a huge order from battlecorals I am waiting for but don't want to ship it yet until I know my system is stable.