My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics

saf1 said:
Nice update.

If you haven't done so, or don't plan to, secure the Co2 bottle. Especially if you live in Ca ;) I've seen those things go through cinder block(s), a house, back yard, and neighbors house...
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LOL!!! Funny you mention that. We had some tremmors yesterday morning and I just strapped it to the shelving this morning!
 
slief said:
LOL!!! Funny you mention that. We had some tremmors yesterday morning and I just strapped it to the shelving this morning!
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Good for you. Not only is it a VERY BAD THING for the bottle to fall over and break off the valve (think CO2 powered bottle rocket!) but it's important to never store CO2 on it's side. The CO2 is mostly in liquid phase and will damage the regulator if used that way.
 
Why do you suddenly care so much about your calcium and alk levels? Are you just shooting for more stability, or are you planning on livestock additions that need higher levels?
Are you putting in some SPS or a big clam?

Daniel. :wildone:
 
scubadan206 said:
Why do you suddenly care so much about your calcium and alk levels? Are you just shooting for more stability, or are you planning on livestock additions that need higher levels?
Are you putting in some SPS or a big clam?

Daniel. :wildone:
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I am planning on adding some SPS frags in the near future.. I already have a green slimer that appears to be doing well so that is kind of what is motivating me to add some more SPS. That and my branching hammer corals are growing like weeds.
 
I got a great deal on a Cole Parmer 7523-80. It's a new style 600 RPM digital brushless pump that was barely used. It was a good enough deal that I couldn't pass it up. This thing is deal silent. I will be replacing my other digital Cole Parmer on my calcium reactor with this new later today and will put my original one up for sale.

image_zpstnhqdsqn.jpg
 
2_zoa said:
Hey man, any updates?
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None really to speak of.. I've been caught up in some home automation projects lately that have nothing to do with the tank.

The tank is on cruise control and doing very well though. The new Cole Parmer is dead silent and running like a champ. So is the calcium reactor that it's connected to. My Ca has been hovering around 450 and Alk at about 9.2dkh for the last couple months so I know my reactor is dialed in well and with the Cole Parmer and AP Regulator, it's perfectly consistent. Between the Cole Parmer and AP Reg, my Apex has never had to intervene with the Co2 regulator. My reactor pH is perfectly stable on it's on because of the perfectly consistent effuent rate and consistent Co2 bubble count. As a result, my Apex only serves as a failsafe for the Ca reactor. I have to say, especially having run calcium reactors before, the Cole Parmer pump combined with a great regulator make tuning and maintaining a calcium reactor a dream. I haven't had to touch anything on my reactor in over 2 months now other than when I swapped in the new Cole Parmer and even then, all I had to do is set the flow to match the ml/hr of the pump it replaced. Couldn't have been more simple. No adjustments needed. Just set it and forget it.

No issues at all with the tank. No new additions either. Just keeping my mixing tank & RODI tanks full, adding food, changing socks once a week, emptying the skimmer cup once a week, and scrubbing the viewing panes on a weekly basis. I think I spend less than 5 minutes a day on it including making and feeding food. That does remind me, I need to change my socks today, trim a bunch of chaeto and should run my Ca, Alk and Mg tests..

That said, LA Fish Guy Jim is about to release the long overdue display refugium upgrade video followed by the coraline removal video and scratch removal video. Once those are uploaded, I will add links here.
 
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A_CoupleClowns said:
Good to hear!

I would love to get my daily tank maintanence down to 5 mins per day. My wife would really appreciate it too LOL....
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The best part is that the 5 minutes a day is mostly feeding and is a realistic average across the entire week including the time it takes to change the filter socks, add food to the out feeders, daily hand feeding, mix salt water, trim cheato etc. Having a fully automated and very stable system makes that possible. Most days, I spend less than two minutes as the only thing I need to do is my nightly hand feeding. :thumbsup:
 
Wow!!! That's awesome man!! It's really cool that you have your setup running smooth and its rocking. Really good to hear. I'll look out for those videos.
 
Looks like Jim is finally getting caught up.. Well sort of anyway. This was shot a few months back when I switched out my 30 gallon display refugium for the larger 60 gallon display refugium. This was also before we removed the coraline algae from viewing panes. He just today finished his edits and uploaded these.

Still to come is an episode covering the swap of one of my Dart pumps to the Royal Exclusiv RD3 Speedy, coraline removal on my viewing panes, scratch removal on my viewing panes and my calcium reactor setup with the Cole Parmer pump. Those will start being released over the next couple weeks.

Here is the LA Fish Guys episode covering my display refugium upgrade.
Part 1.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bwn9fNB4fFo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Part 2
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bLuLviWfLkI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Part 3
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j9KNVPYuMiU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Part 4
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QsqXe04Y2fg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
LNell said:
Nice update! I've been meaning to ask: what do you use to hold up your mangroves? They look pretty slick.
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I used some little clamp brackets I put together using parts from my local acrylic shop. If you want some, send me a PM and I will get you a price as I can put together more since I have more of the parts.
 
slief said:
I used some little clamp brackets I put together using parts from my local acrylic shop. If you want some, send me a PM and I will get you a price as I can put together more since I have more of the parts.
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Oh, clever. I'll shoot you a PM in about a decade when I have room for them :lol:
 
Hey Scott that bio mag that comes with the caribsea actually works great. I'm ashamed to say it but I was hoping you would forget that collar on the union lol, I hate when that happens!!! Would have been great in the vid lmao! :D Really looking good!
 
daveM100 said:
Hey Scott that bio mag that comes with the caribsea actually works great. I'm ashamed to say it but I was hoping you would forget that collar on the union lol, I hate when that happens!!! Would have been great in the vid lmao! :D Really looking good!
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I did end up dumping the packets of bio mag in figuring they couldn't hurt a thing.

With regards to the union collar, it seems you weren't alone as Jim aparently was also hoping I would forget to put it on before gluing too. I didn't even realize that until I saw these videos. It certainly was pretty funny though hearing him whisper into the camera about it and had I actually forgoet to put them on, it would have been even funnier. I've made that mistake before though and it's one I probably won't be making again anytime soon.
 
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