My 500G Osama Reef-2

Sharing memory of old setup

Sharing memory of old setup

Here for comparison is my previous setup.. First I started with 180g tank in my HO room. Enjoyed it very much. After several years added a 320g and moved all to basement. System worked out extremely well but was not as enjoyable as having it upstairs. So now I am having a new system as a wall divider between HO room and our Family room ( retired now so HO is actually my PC room!!~)

Here is the old setup in basement when it was first setup. Moved half the corals from the overstocked 180 into the two main tanks shown here. Far end is the 320g. Drove Matt mad asking for circulation piping in all four corners plus a main header and two sea swirls plus recirc piping on the bottom to clear areound the bottom rocks. Also note DSB and fine sand that was blowing onto my corals and drove me nuts!!. Just sharing info and love of this hobby, hope it is OK by ALL..
 
Does using Phosban impact the performance of my skimmer? I have this huge skimmer that I have been learning to adjust over three weeks and for two days now it has hardly skimmed anything and I am attributing it to the phosban. Does it make sense that the skimmer would stop skimming from the Phosban? I am sure in a new system that plenty of die out etc is still happening from 1000lbs or so of LR LS .. last time I forced skimming it almost overflowed a temp waste 5g bucket
 
I have not had any effect when adding GFO to my sump, if you feed with Selcon or Zoe, it will kill the skimmer for a bit. Also sticking your hands/arm in the tank without washing/removing the oils will kill it as well. When I see mine struggling I wash the cup and neck.
 
OK it could be my hands in the water ... thanks... I have a monster size wise of a skimmer and I do not like unscrewing 10 screws and having to carefully replace so I am so far avoiding cleaning the head... I need to get with it .. Maybe after I figure out the APEX!! Thanks Sonicboom
 
Food For newly moved Corals

Food For newly moved Corals

Corals in tank No fish yet.. What is a good starter tank food for corals.. Never did feed corals before other than anemone .. Plenty of LR mostly soft corals at this point with few SPS frags
 
No complaints using coral frenzy from me, I mix up a batch in a shot glass and use a medicine syringe to target feed. Not sure how you can spot fed though.
 
OK Sonicboom is for coral frenzy anything else I should consider in addition.. Sonic: How often do U feed corals???
 
Not too often, maybe once a week since I also dose reef energy a and b and blast my rocks with a turkey baster every other day.
 
Thanks Dave for the reference material,,
Reeftanknewbie: It is a lot of money for testing for fish/reef but if it is a better more accurate machine then it worth it. A review I read said that it gave consistent reading when compared to other tester and a RC member who uses it..that was good enough for me plus if U have a large system 500+3X65 or almost 700 gallons and all the other equipment and installation costs including CR/UV/Kalk/doser/APEX ++ / 7 Maxspect lights/4 MP60/4 Dc10500 pumps etc and U are buying a ton of corals then the test of the water becomes serious business. I ADMIT, I am a gadget collector also my basement has two new sea swirls, MH,4 large pumps, 6 small pumps, doser, chiller of 1.5 tons I believe that is not being used another 1/3 t chiller in the closet as well... etc.. go figure!!
 
reeftanknewbie said:
Wow that looks serious. Feel like I should be wearing a lab coat when using it. Does anyone have experience with this device? I would hate to shell out that kind of cash for another item that goes in the garage on a shelf.
Click to expand...

I own one. After spending countless hours struggling with the hanna and inconsistent readings I bought this kit and absolutely love it. It's worth every penny.
 
Hi Steve and others : What other instruments do any feel are useful to use and what parameters U monitor that U feel are critical to keep an eye on more than just occasionally... I do have APEX for temp, pH, Orp,conductivity/salinity. I do not mind checking with another instrument the accuracy of readings rom APEX for items considered critical to my system, I will be dosing ESV B-Ionic Mag, Cal, Alk and probably should buy instruments to check on those at least or not?
 
+1 on testing for mg, ca and alk levels and you should test for nitrates as well. I like the lamotte alk kit and salifert for everything else.

ESV is great and its going to get expensive especially if you plan on having a lot of sps in the tank. You can order the bulk 5g buckets from premium aquatics but depending on demand those probably won't last you more than 6-8 weeks. Have you considered a calcium reactor?

Also, I would not rely solely on the conductivity probe on the apex to measure your sg levels. I used them in the past and found that any kind of electrical interference threw the reading off and I found calibrating it to be difficult. I would get yourself a sybon refractometer. I love my apex but some things are better off left keeping it simple.
 
SPotter said:
I own one. After spending countless hours struggling with the hanna and inconsistent readings I bought this kit and absolutely love it. It's worth every penny.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this device. Maybe I can talk to my local club and we can all share one.
 
Thanks Steve I will use the ESV product along with CR & Kalk Reactor for almost a year or until the system is stable without the dosing. I did order & did get the 5 gallons from PA and waiting to get my doser hooked up next week or week after that. I liked my previous Neptune but always checked Alk & Calc using Salifert. I am working on setting up APEX for my lights & pumps & go from there one step at a time. I do have a refractometer and hydrometers and will use the APEX conductivity as well hopefully it can at least be useful to indicate change in environment and alert me to check against my refractometer.. Thanks Steve appreciate your input
 
First Fish In 500g Main tank

First Fish In 500g Main tank

Placed in tank 24 hrs ago .. All looking good.
 
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