Devoted Reefer 250

[pelphrey]

Picked up some supplies I'll need when I redo my manifold -

AquaMaxx Fluidized GFO and Carbon Filter Media Reactor - XS
http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx...te_Reactors-AquaMaxx-UJ45114-FIFRISPR-vi.html

AquaMaxx XS Reactor (iPhone 6 for size comparison)-

I actually got two reactors, not sure if I'll run the both of them or not -

Attemping to design my manifold. Doubt I use the 90 on the end, but I will need an output to run my RAIN2 algae turf scrubber. Using a Wye fitting to split the flow-

 

[pelphrey]

Thanks for the info. I didn't think about the mp 10's and the glass thickness, so thanks for bringing that to my attention. Doing more research it seems like they are hit or miss, but don't affect the integrity of the glass if they fall off, so I'll probably give them a try.

A lot of people have had success running mp10's on their tanks. No harm in trying!!!

 

[pelphrey]

Got tired of pulling the tray out to replace filter socks, finally got around to fixing that problem! Drained 5 gallons of water out of the sump, used a dremel to make the cuts. Might not be pretty, but it works! Took about 20 minutes and the mess wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Originally planned to pull the sump out to do this, glad I didn't!

 

[kto17]

Pelphrey - what setting do you put your Gyre on?

 

[pelphrey]

Pelphrey - what setting do you put your Gyre on?

Pulse mode currently.

 

[pelphrey]

Guy who built my ATO container came up with a great idea!! Got tired of the Tunze pump never standing straight, problem solved!

 

[bitwise]

Good call on the Tunze pump bracket.

 

[pelphrey]

​

 

[pelphrey]

Picked up another 40 gallon container from Rural King. The 65 and 75 gallon containers used to ship for free, I wanted to grab another 40 gallon before he shipping goes up to $150 on it.

Also in preparation for some fish I want an a vacation I got the Neptune AFS and Building an Obsession feeding ring.

 

[tenurepro]

​

Hi P. Left a comment on the YouTube vid, but thought I post some additional ideas here.
So I have the same tank and the same ato and my salinity has been rock solid. Here is the graph from my salinity probe. You can see when evaporation raises saintly, tunze kicks on to lower it back.

I have my sensor mounted on the left side of the return chamber, between and bubble trap and the black triangle for the stock ato float.

So if the tunze turns on when the water level is low and then shuts off when the water level is back to normal, then I think something else is causing your low salinity. Reason being -> the ato can not lower your salinity long term; only short term. Even if it completely malfunctioned and got stuck in the on position, it would dump a lot of fresh water in your sump, but that would be a 1 time shot. Salinity would drop, but then evaporation would increase salinity again.

The only way to get low salinity on the long run is if your are replacing salt water with fresh water or if salt is creeping out of your system.

Some possible sources: water changes with lower salinity water. Perhaps your refractometer is out of calibration or inaccurate. This recently happened to me. Made a batch of salt water that I thought was 35 ppt but actually was 33.5 ppt. When I did a water change, salinity dropped
2) acclimating / removing salt water when the ato is on: this will lower salinity because your are removing salt water and the ato is immediately replacing it with fresh water.

Just some thoughts to consider


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[solitude127]

Guy who built my ATO container came up with a great idea!! Got tired of the Tunze pump never standing straight, problem solved!

how much does he charge for that?

 

[pelphrey]

how much does he charge for that?

I'm not sure to be honest, he sent this one to me. I'll PM you his contact information.

 

[pelphrey]

Rural King used to ship the 65 and 75 gallon containers for free. When they started charging 140ish to ship the containers I decided I should go ahead and pickup another 40 gallon. The 40 gallon will ship for around $10 in my case. Having 80 gallons of stored RODI water should last me right at 2 months.

My next project is figuring out the best way to run my RODI line through the dry wall from the laundry room into the garage. The garage is NOT temperature controlled, I am worried about condensation in between the dry wall. Is this a legitimate concern? Or should I drill the 1/4" hole and run the line through?

Before -

Plywood for extra security -

In place -

Need to pickup another 3/4" slip to thread fitting. These containers will not be recirculating water, I had left over parts so I went ahead and used the fittings and ball valves. May actually put a gate valve on the down spout in an effort to keep the kids from turning either valve or both in the "ON" position.

 

[pelphrey]

​

 

[pelphrey]

I've ran my tank bare bottom since I started the tank back in November, BB does have its benefits I am just tired of trying to keep the bottom of the tank clean all the time. Picked up a few bags of sand I am going to mix up and add to the tank. I'll be stirring up the sand at least once a week in an effort to try to keep it clean. Also decided I wanted sand for the more "natural" look. May be a few weeks before I get around to getting the sand into the tank!

 

[Xandernfs]

What CUC do you have currently?

 

[pelphrey]

What CUC do you have currently?

Probably a hand full of turbo snails.

 

[pelphrey]

I've ran my tank bare bottom since November, I've tried to keep the bottom clean with little success. It never got super dirty and for the most part all of the debris would settle in 2 locations. Aside from that and wanting to mimic an ocean to the best of my ability I added the sand. I am very glad that I did, it changed the look of the tank dramatically!

First I added a test cup to see how much the water would going to cloud up. To my surprise the Tropic Eden sand did could the water up, but not as bad as I thought. It is also important to note that I did NOT rinse this sand before adding it.

Final results! I added the sand using a 1" PVC pipe a funnel and a measuring cup. I would add a couple cups of sand then use a coral feeder to blow the sand into its place. Using this method turned out to be great, easy and kept my hands 100% out of the water.

To offset the sand that was added to the tank I had to remove about a half a gallon of water. It is also worth mentioning that I bought a 30lbs bag of sand and two 15lbs bags of sand. I didn't even open up one of the 15lbs bags and hardly put a dent in the 30+15lbs bags that I mixed up.

 

[LQT]

Any plans to rig up that ATS yet?

 

[pelphrey]

Any plans to rig up that ATS yet?

It is still sitting on a shelf in my garage! I need to get a new manifold built before I can get the ATS in the sump. My urgency to complete this project is not very high! haha