My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
The Litermeter uses its own pump built in to take water from the tank and another litermeter pump that plugs into the main unit which return water to the tank from a 55G drum outside in the shed. I will probably set my mixing pump to come on a couple times a day to circulte the water in the drum.
Here is a picture of the calcium reactor when I got it. The price was reasonable enough that I figured it be sacraficed (worst case scenario).
Here is where I am at. The white PVC down below on the left side will be replaced with black stuff. The tops are connected via 1/2" semi rigid lines with JG fittings. I need to get a stainless pressure guage for the top of the unit so I can monitor pressure. That will help me dial in my flow to optimize it effeciancy.
I am pretty pleased with the way its turning out. I need to check to make sure my JG fittings and lines are ozone safe. Fortunately nothing is glued or permanant at this point.
Im also debating on whether I should have the ozone and water injected into the base of the right side cylinder or at the top of it. If I inject it at the base, the ozone/water would be sprayed in to the cylinder and distributed through the bubble plate at the bottom and travel upwards through the bale. If I inject from the top, The water would only be in the last few inches at the bottom. The water mixed with ozone would be sprayed through the bio bale and run slowly downward instead of running through it like a big pipe. Im building it so I can switch it around if needed. I figure I will only be running between 100 and 300 GPH through it. Probably closer to 100 which is withing range of the flow needed for the Mazzei injector Im using.
I might cut the cylinders off the base and remount them to a new base. The cement joint at the base of one of the cylinders is not to my liking. My plastics guy will make quick work of that for me should I decide to do that. That will all depend on how this turns out which I think will be great. I also want to come up with a way to mount it to the wall. I have a couple simple ideas in mind for that.
It will also be able to be returned to a calcium reactor if ever needed.
Yep, I was dissapointed with the quality of the MRC calcium reactor as well and I bought mine brand new. First off, every acrylic manufacturer knows you don't use Weld On 3 or 4 to glue a cylinder to a sheet of cast acrylic. A cast acrylic cylinder is a cross linked acrylic and does not bond well to cast sheet using weld on 3 or 4. You must use the two part Weld On cement to get a good clean permanent seal!!! Duhhhh MRC!!! or Duhhh "My Reef Copy Cats"
Marc
lost in it all
New member
Here is a picture of the calcium reactor when I got it. The price was reasonable enough that Iks/reactor.jpg[/IMG]
Here is where I am at. The white PVC down below on the left side will be replaced with black stuff. The tops are connected via 1/2" semi rigid lines with JG fittings. I need to get a stainless pressure guage for the top of the unit so I can monitor pressure. That will help me dial in my flow to optimize it effeciancy.
I am pretty pleased with the way its turning out. I need to check to make sure my JG fittings and lines are ozone safe. Fortunately nothing is glued or permanant at this point.
Im also debating on whether I should have the ozone and water injected into the base of the right side cylinder or at the top of it. If I inject it at the base, the ozone/water would be sprayed in to the cylinder and distributed through the bubble plate at the bottom and travel upwards through the bale. If I inject from the top, The water would only be in the last few inches at the bottom. The water mixed with ozone would be sprayed through the bio bale and run slowly downward instead of running through it like a big pipe. Im building it so I can switch it around if needed. I figure I will only be running between 100 and 300 GPH through it. Probably closer to 100 which is withing range of the flow needed for the Mazzei injector Im using.
It will also be able to be returned to a calcium reactor if ever needed.
Are you planing on running the second chamber as a cal rx yet? if so isn't that amount of flow way to much? maybe I just misunderstood.
Be careful with this MRC reactor, they are not pressure rated!!! The o ring will leak if degraded by the ozone as well, be careful. I think it would be much safer to run the ozone through the skimmer instead to be the most effective. If you have an ozone leak, the ozone has the potential of making you sick and killing your dog! Seriously!!!
Marc
Marc
slief
RC Sponsor
The second chamber gets filled with carbon. The ozone reactors effluent is run through carbon to remove any residual ozone.
Now thats a great idea!
I planned on changing the rings. It will only have to maintain 3PSI or less which should be much more than the head pressure created by the reactor and it plumbing. The underside of the tank is well ventilated and ventilates outside. This is a bit of an experiment with promise . A decent reactor can be more efficient than pumping ozone in through the skimmer as I can obtain more contact time. Plus with the reactor, I can keep it all external and not have to have a carbon catch for the skimmer effluent in the back of my sump.
The second chamber gets filled with carbon. The ozone reactors effluent is run through carbon to remove any residual ozone.
Now thats a great idea!
I planned on changing the rings. It will only have to maintain 3PSI or less which should be much more than the head pressure created by the reactor and it plumbing. The underside of the tank is well ventilated and ventilates outside. This is a bit of an experiment with promise . A decent reactor can be more efficient than pumping ozone in through the skimmer as I can obtain more contact time. Plus with the reactor, I can keep it all external and not have to have a carbon catch for the skimmer effluent in the back of my sump.
What about excess gas in the chamber? How is that going to be vented out???
Marc
slief
RC Sponsor
If I feed the water through the top, I will have a vent line on the side of the ozone reactor cylinder. If I feed through the bottom, I will likely place the vent at the top of the carbon reactor.
slief
RC Sponsor
I figured I would post an update as its been a few days. The water change and top of system is working like a charm! I love the fact that all I need to do is add salt to a drum now. There is always fresh RODI water and a drum full of clean saltware. The water change is switching out 3.57 gallons a day and the water level and salinity level in my tank have remained stable as can be. My skimmer is dialed in as a result of the perfectly constant water level in my sump.
It gets me thinking that if I wanted to wet skim, I could adjust my litermeter to add more saltwater than it takes out to compensate for my skimmate volume or more freshwater if my conductivity gets too low. More to come on that subject as I get bored.
Phosphates have been a battle for the last couple months. My GFO reactor has had little impact. I have come to the conclusion that my live rock and sand/crushed coral in the tank are probably saturated with the stuff. Old tank syndrome of sorts. Tomorrow I will begin lanthanum chloride dosing. It pains me to think that I picked this stuff up at the pool supply store!
My plan is to do very conservative doses. I will shoot for a .04-05 daily reduction of phosphates by mixing 10ml of lanthanum to 2 liters of RODI. I will put that in an IV bag and drip it into a 10 micron filter sock which will need to be swapped out every couple hours for the duration of the dose. I will be monitoring my Alk closely during the treatment and have what I need to dose in case it drops. I will probably do this every other day until I have my phosphates low enough or near 0 to manage with my GFO reactor. Many thanks to Gary Majchrzak for the tips and advice.
I have also come to the conclusion that my little water shed isnt big enough. My plan is to get a larger shed that will accomodate a total of 4 55G drums, my supplies and potentially additional filtration whether it be reactors or dosing tanks.
I am near completion of my ozone reactor and carbon scrubber. I have the pressure gauge installed and holes tapped out for the new fittings as well as my Mazzie injector. I had to have my acrylic fab guy cut the base of the reactors as they looked like the had leaks at their seams coming in their future from the looks of the salt creep. MRC does not seem to make quality stuff judging by the glue seams. Their lack of response to my email inquiring of the size of the o-rings and whether they were ozone safe is a true testiment to their customer service or lack of.. Sorry, I call it like I see it. None the less, the cylinders will be sepated from the base and each hother. They will be mounted to seperate 5"x5" acrylic bases so I can squeeze them in between my sump and fuge in order to be able to pull them out as well as access them for easy maintenance. I will get those back Friday from my acrylic guy if all goes well. In the mean time, my ozone unit is hooked up and plugged in with the ozone shut off so I can get that probe acclimated. Once I get the reactors back, I will will finish putting them together and plumb them in.
My chaeto is out of control. In the 30 or so days that I have had the fuge running it has to have grown to 15x its original size. Not exageration either. It has gone from a football size chunk to 30"x30" and thick enough that you can see the sand below it. I have made it a point to reach in and spread it out a bit so the light can get through but its at the point where I need to start pruning it. Even my mangroves seem to be getting new leaves and I dont do a damn thing but remove the dieing leaves. The poor mangroves are having to grow sideways as they cant get past the lids....
I will post an update on the lanthanum dosing including pictures of my IV contraption as well as before and after test results. That should be tomorrow or the next day.
Ich is gone as are many of my fish. I cant go back but as I said before, their fate was not in vein. The system is better as a result of that experience. I am dont treating the ich. The UV is running as is my carbon reactor. Ozone will go on line as soon as I get the reactors back.
It gets me thinking that if I wanted to wet skim, I could adjust my litermeter to add more saltwater than it takes out to compensate for my skimmate volume or more freshwater if my conductivity gets too low. More to come on that subject as I get bored.
Phosphates have been a battle for the last couple months. My GFO reactor has had little impact. I have come to the conclusion that my live rock and sand/crushed coral in the tank are probably saturated with the stuff. Old tank syndrome of sorts. Tomorrow I will begin lanthanum chloride dosing. It pains me to think that I picked this stuff up at the pool supply store!
My plan is to do very conservative doses. I will shoot for a .04-05 daily reduction of phosphates by mixing 10ml of lanthanum to 2 liters of RODI. I will put that in an IV bag and drip it into a 10 micron filter sock which will need to be swapped out every couple hours for the duration of the dose. I will be monitoring my Alk closely during the treatment and have what I need to dose in case it drops. I will probably do this every other day until I have my phosphates low enough or near 0 to manage with my GFO reactor. Many thanks to Gary Majchrzak for the tips and advice.
I have also come to the conclusion that my little water shed isnt big enough. My plan is to get a larger shed that will accomodate a total of 4 55G drums, my supplies and potentially additional filtration whether it be reactors or dosing tanks.
I am near completion of my ozone reactor and carbon scrubber. I have the pressure gauge installed and holes tapped out for the new fittings as well as my Mazzie injector. I had to have my acrylic fab guy cut the base of the reactors as they looked like the had leaks at their seams coming in their future from the looks of the salt creep. MRC does not seem to make quality stuff judging by the glue seams. Their lack of response to my email inquiring of the size of the o-rings and whether they were ozone safe is a true testiment to their customer service or lack of.. Sorry, I call it like I see it. None the less, the cylinders will be sepated from the base and each hother. They will be mounted to seperate 5"x5" acrylic bases so I can squeeze them in between my sump and fuge in order to be able to pull them out as well as access them for easy maintenance. I will get those back Friday from my acrylic guy if all goes well. In the mean time, my ozone unit is hooked up and plugged in with the ozone shut off so I can get that probe acclimated. Once I get the reactors back, I will will finish putting them together and plumb them in.
My chaeto is out of control. In the 30 or so days that I have had the fuge running it has to have grown to 15x its original size. Not exageration either. It has gone from a football size chunk to 30"x30" and thick enough that you can see the sand below it. I have made it a point to reach in and spread it out a bit so the light can get through but its at the point where I need to start pruning it. Even my mangroves seem to be getting new leaves and I dont do a damn thing but remove the dieing leaves. The poor mangroves are having to grow sideways as they cant get past the lids....
I will post an update on the lanthanum dosing including pictures of my IV contraption as well as before and after test results. That should be tomorrow or the next day.
Ich is gone as are many of my fish. I cant go back but as I said before, their fate was not in vein. The system is better as a result of that experience. I am dont treating the ich. The UV is running as is my carbon reactor. Ozone will go on line as soon as I get the reactors back.
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Untamed12
New member
I know that ozone is not good for anyone...but the ozone generators that we use in this hobby aren't generating THAT much ozone and it doesn't linger long if released to the air.
Really, then you haven't seen my Ozotech 500 unit. It's HUGE!!! LOL!!!:lolspin:
Hey Scott,
Glad to hear that your Ick is finally subsiding... As for My Reef Creations, or "My Reef Copycats", I told you they suck!!! Well maybe that was to harsh but there customer service is aweful! Oh hell, they suck!!! :lolspin: If you do decide to reglue the cylinders you may have a problem with crazing since these cansiters have already been exposed to water and formed expansion of the cylinder itself. As for your GFO reactors, the BRS reactors you have now are way to small for your huge system. You might have to look into a large Fluidized Reactor that is 6 inches in diameter by 30 inches high so you can fill it with some Rowaphos. I am not familiar with the "BRS" GFO media so I can't give any opinions on it but I can tell you that those reactors are to small. They can't possibly hold 2000 ml of media. I am not familiar with lanthanum? What is it and is it Reef safe??? If you have any more questions, PM me...
Marc
slief
RC Sponsor
Lanthanum is reef safe is used correctly. I wasnt familiar with it myself until very recently.
Here is a good read on it from coral magazine.
There is also this thread here.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839
As for the reactor.. Yea, there is a bit of crazing but its not horrible. They cut it from its base today and attached each one to a 5"x5" base so I can place them between my sump and fuge. I will pick them up tomorrow and possibly get it put together this weekend if I pick up the glue I need to glue the PVC fitting to the cylinders. Once I have the glue, I have about an hours worth of work to finish it up.
I am in the process of dosing 10ml of lanthanum right now. I am using an IV bag at a drip a second. 10ml mixed with 2 liters of RODI water. Its like watching paint dry. I placed a pair of 10 micron socks in my sump and clearly the one that is getting the dose is starting to clog while the second one is not. It would appear that the stuff is doing is job. I am halfway through with today treatment or the first bag of 5ml. Once the first bag is done, I will drip the second bag into the other sock and retest my phosphates.
Speaking of phospate tests. Those kits suck! I am using the Elos kit and its so damn hard to pinpoint the exact level as the colors on the charts are so close. It looks like I am at .05 or .1 on the test. That is down from when I first installed my GFO reactor substantially so the GFO does appear to be working. Its just working slowly. The lanthanum should me to a very low managable point.
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Wow this sounds like an intense way of removing PO4. If I were you I would stick to GFO. This stuff needs to be reasearched more to accuratly assess it's effectivness as well as how safe it is to use in the home aquarium.
I wouldn't try it...
Marc
slief
RC Sponsor
Well the next episode is up. I will be the Sea Kitten killer posterchild for PETA.. The next PETA campain will have my mug shot. LOL I read through the comments and couldnt resist posting some comments myself to clarify things. There is a bit of an exageration with the casualty figures. I have at least 10 healthy fish left now. Still kills me..
Here is the video..
In the mean time, I am about 2/3 the way through with my second 5ml dose of Lanthanum. The 10 micron socks are plugging up as they are supposed to. I'm looking forward to testing my phosphates later to see what the results are..
Here is the video..
In the mean time, I am about 2/3 the way through with my second 5ml dose of Lanthanum. The 10 micron socks are plugging up as they are supposed to. I'm looking forward to testing my phosphates later to see what the results are..
Just saw the video Scott, It seems that Jim Stiem is a little upset at me of much of the advice I have given you. Pretty funny, but he is right and wrong at the same time though. He is right about one thing, we have to make a choice of a fish only tank or a reef tank. It seems that we can't have both. I have though for the past 10 years and it was difficult to do so but well worth the extra work invloved. But also I believe you made the right choice to not use the copper because it would have made disastrous effects on your liverock, the refugium, and coral and inverts in the system. I guess you have to balance your pros and cons here but you made the right decision.
Marc
Marc
Untamed12
New member
Well..I respect that you are putting yourself out there and saying "I'm not perfect". Who is?
It is so odd to me to hear stories like yours when I have had ich in my tank forever, yet my fish just seem to live with it and have no serious problems. In fact, the only fish that seems to display the symptoms all the time is my achilles tang...and it has been that way for almost 3 years now. My yellow tang seems immune and my Atlantic Blue rarely shows any sign at all. Every other fish also seems completely immune.
I do feed a LOT. No garlic. The diet I feed is similar to that which you are trying now. I don't do that much prep work though. I just take a cup of tank water, throw in a variety of frozen seafoods, thaw for a few minutes, then chop and toss. Once they devour that, then I clip in a whole lot of nori. That's my feeding procedure..once a day.
However, if you are down to only a couple of fish...then I would just do what is needed to get them out of the tank. Then, you only have to leave the tank without fish for...what..8 weeks? Problem solved without harming your reef or rock.
By the time I realized my problem, I couldn't possibly get the fish out. So I decided to see what happened if I did nothing and it has worked out just fine.
It is so odd to me to hear stories like yours when I have had ich in my tank forever, yet my fish just seem to live with it and have no serious problems. In fact, the only fish that seems to display the symptoms all the time is my achilles tang...and it has been that way for almost 3 years now. My yellow tang seems immune and my Atlantic Blue rarely shows any sign at all. Every other fish also seems completely immune.
I do feed a LOT. No garlic. The diet I feed is similar to that which you are trying now. I don't do that much prep work though. I just take a cup of tank water, throw in a variety of frozen seafoods, thaw for a few minutes, then chop and toss. Once they devour that, then I clip in a whole lot of nori. That's my feeding procedure..once a day.
However, if you are down to only a couple of fish...then I would just do what is needed to get them out of the tank. Then, you only have to leave the tank without fish for...what..8 weeks? Problem solved without harming your reef or rock.
By the time I realized my problem, I couldn't possibly get the fish out. So I decided to see what happened if I did nothing and it has worked out just fine.
reefman911
New member
hheyyy i saw you on la fish guyysss
slief
RC Sponsor
Wow.. Lanthanum REALLY works! In the few hours it took to drip the solution of 10ml Lanthanum to 2L RODI into the a 10 micron sock in sump. My Phophates went from between .05 and .10 to right around .01 measured from the DT. I will test again tomorrow as I expect the levels to rise a bit . I am sure the phosphates are embedded in my rock and crushed coral. Needless to say, I am very impressed with the results so far!
Here are the tools I used:
This is how I rigged it up..
Here are the tools I used:
This is how I rigged it up..
slief
RC Sponsor
I figured I should put these up too. This is the Litermeter III and second pump used for my auto water changes and the dosing pump below used for my top off. They are in my tank closet. next to the tank.
Here is how I set up the top off and water change lines into my sump. They are routed into the airtrap where the return pump draws from the fuge.
Here is how I set up the top off and water change lines into my sump. They are routed into the airtrap where the return pump draws from the fuge.
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