My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

[Kharn]

Here is how the reactors will sit within the sump, there isn't much space left in the 1st compartment...and the second compartment is all refugium so the last compartment or the return area is where they sit.

 

[Kharn]

Recent knowledge has taught me that all media should be tumbling inside a reactor to help maintain optimal surface area coverage for the media within it, the current pumps I have are far to weak for the flow I need even on max setting so tomorrow I will go about getting 3xEheim 3000's which should cover the flow I desire. Even with 1x1000 on just 1 of the reactors doesn't cause enough tumbling for my liking, the Eco Phos is heavy and won't move at all whilst sharing the pump or by itself...but the RowaCarbon does move very slightly whilst sharing the pump and moves a bit more whilst it is the only one on the pump but still not enough some doesn't move, each Reactor is filled with the recommended amount of media that it's designed for per gallon.

I'm still going to keep these and use 2 of the 1000's straight away, I'm going to replace the 2x 300s on the fake walls in the mushy tank with the 1000s and dial back as needed.

 

[TundraGuy]

You are upgrading by leaps and bownds!

 

[Kharn]

You are upgrading by leaps and bownds!

Well I am still on holidays and since they literally told me on Friday before the weekend that they do not want to see me for a month....I had no plans of an actual "holiday", so all my time over the past 2 & 1/2 weeks has been based around upgrading the systems, it was all inevitable and the fact that I had a large sum of money just sitting there waiting for me to find time to do the upgrade all basically meant...

NOW.

I'm sick of "skimping" on the simple bounds that I have so many tanks to cover...I made the commitment when I had the tanks made and thus must follow it through not for just for the sake of live stock but for the sake of showing all that no matter how small or big the setup you cannot skimp anywhere...

You could look through this thread and see the "evolution" of mistakes made and learn a great deal, particularly with lighting, how I started out with the cheapest of the cheap HETO strip leds which provided next to no light and chewed more power then a halide, to the Evergreen "firestarters" but slightly more powerful then the HETO and slightly less energy consuming but still through the roof energy consumption...and the now to date ReefBreeders.

The price of both the Hetos & Evergreens together is less then that of all the ReefBreeders I have purchased...and an FX5 is more then twice that of the Skimmers I purchased...then there is the powerheads and the simple fact that ONE MUST NEVER GO WITH SUCTION CUPS...all learning curves duly noted .

 

[Kharn]

If there is one thing looming over my head with all this "Change", its me being paranoid that I will walk into a flooded room, for some reason....

I know everything is in the tanks that can be in the tanks besides the now added reactors which only added to the paranoia xD....even though I put all faith in LifeReef HOBs I am still kind of "embracing for the worst" its all still new, its all still new to me, like my current larger HOB that I have had for a few years now gives me no worry what so ever, none.

So I hope in time I feel the same way with the sumps, so many HOB overflows one cannot feel but a bit nervous but I know Jeff won't let me down...it's more myself =X.

 

[Kharn]

I knew this would happen....



And I knew how to prevent it when I was setting them up but I didn't buy what I needed to prevent this...

None the less easy fix

They are easy to take off the stands and all I need do is cut the frame in the center, then insert a long piece of solid material maybe wood and as thick as the interior of the pipe, this will make it rigid and hold up for sure .... can glue back together with joiners since the middle of the frame is no area the cables go near.

 

[Kharn]

Once I get the Reactors all done and running I'll begin work on the Refugiums, I will probably go with a DSB & Macro Algae only but the DSB will only be able to be shallow so it might not be a true DSB...its a 225mm Deep Chamber...maybe 2-2.5inch DSB so the macro has room to grow, it's a large foot print though but lacks overall depth as I said only 225mm Deep but 340mm Long & 450mm Wide.

I'm gonna go all "Japanese" on the refugiums to try and make them less of an eye sore and see if I CAN do what I vision...I'm going to carefully "pluck" the longest single lengths of my current algae and "plant" the vine length just beneath the sand in the DSB in a straight line, leaving the 'leaves' up and in the water (450mm to 450mm width) and see if I can get a nice neat carpet of the algae .

One thing I have learned about the macro algae is that in low flow areas it does carpet and grow in a neat layer if it manages to reach the area "equally", but where there is flow it grows all sporadic and crazy, so the low flow of the Refugium is giving me hopes it will be a nice neat grass bed .

 

[TundraGuy]

Shallow sand bed no point. Why not go mud? Shallow mud beds do the same thing as deep sand beds.

 

[Kharn]

I've never had Mud before...lol

I assume your talking about Miracle Mud yeah ?

 

[TundraGuy]

Or Fiji mud. There are a lot of them on the market. I used Fiji on a softy tank and found five things of note. 1. It dose not need to exceed 1" to function as a nitrate reducer. 2. It grows a ton of micro organisms! 3. Don't disturb it unless you have time to let it settle. 4. Macro algae root in it like crazy. 5. Sponge growth was faster in that system then any other I have tried to grow.

So if your thinking of trying it make sure the water flow does not stir it up.

I am just throughing ideas at you that you may not have thought of. I am not pushing mud on you at all.

 

[Kharn]

Or Fiji mud. There are a lot of them on the market. I used Fiji on a softy tank and found five things of note. 1. It dose not need to exceed 1" to function as a nitrate reducer. 2. It grows a ton of micro organisms! 3. Don't disturb it unless you have time to let it settle. 4. Macro algae root in it like crazy. 5. Sponge growth was faster in that system then any other I have tried to grow.

So if your thinking of trying it make sure the water flow does not stir it up.

I am just throughing ideas at you that you may not have thought of. I am not pushing mud on you at all.

The general peoples I speak with have all come to a single conclusion, including your own opinion.

And the refugium will be thus.....

ONLY macro algae, no substrate & no live rock!

From what too many have told me...DSBs are actually on their way out, they are "old" albeit trusted but there is a better "thing" out now that does the same thing and gets up and running faster then any DSB...

FBFs - Fluid Bed Filters

You know what that means :bounce1:....

I need 2 FBFs and will only run Macro Algae in the shallow Refugium, the caulerpa I have from my displays all have told me will be great by itself in the compartment, I plan on getting 2 FBFs (no need for STAND C as the displays are giant DSBs).

This simplifies things not too mention the advent of putting a Stomatopod within this refugium is highly likely so the substrate is likely going to be stirred up a lot...if there was substrate, if a stomatopod does go in I will throw a handful of coral rubble in with it along with a suitable piece of PVC.

 

[Kharn]

Once I learned about the "Zombie Snails" or Nassarius Snails I knew I had to get some I think they will go well in STAND C with the giant spearers, not only should they be safe from the Stomatopods (spearers not really wanting anything to do with hard prey), but all the sand in the tanks should make them quite at home

I got 20 in this bag the beginnings of my own little Zombie Snail Horde

They are soooo kool and equally cute and they move really fast for snails xD...

 

[TundraGuy]

Zombie snails. Lol. Good call rise from the ground

 

[Kharn]

Zombie snails. Lol. Good call rise from the ground

.... but they are actually called that "Down Under" haha....

There is a video on a LFS website on FB where all you see is an empty tank with sand in it...then he drops a piece of meat in the tank and swiftly.... .... The Horde emerges 50+ Nassarius all marching toward the meaty food xD

Was so kool and I think the music from Disney Fantasia where Mickey Mouse is the Sorcerers Apprentice would fit perfectly, how the magical brooms relentlessly march to fill the overflowing well .

First there was "March of the Penguins"....soon there will be "March of the Zombie Snails" ...

 

[Kharn]

Seriously considering getting a block of this for each Refugium to replace the lack of Live Rock & Substrate...not onlythat but recent reading and questioning has taught me that this stuff doesn't need light to "work" or be "beneficial" like Live Rock does...

So it would be ok for Macro Algae to smother and cover it



I'm going with the 4" thick block, 1 per Refugium.

 

[Kharn]

I'm officially confused about my reactors and the flow they should be set to...

50% of people have said the media should tumble.
50% of people have said my media doesn't need to tumble.

-_-

<iframe width="800" height="600" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kLJHFU-z4hA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[TundraGuy]

On the tumbling thing. It all depends on the type of media used. Gfo tends to break down into dust if it tumbles to much or to hard. The idea is that some media gets caked with gunk or gets stuck together and water "channels" around the media leaving much of it unused. Also the thought is if it is floating in the water more area of the media is in contact with the water there by making it more effective. Biopellets tend to stick to one another and grow anaerobic bacteria that can become very harmful to the system, along with this BPs also benefit from tumbling by knocking off the biofilm that naturally grows on them. The bio film is then directed into a skimmer to be removed from the system. The biofilm is what is taking up the nitrates and small amounts of phosphate so by skimming it out you effectively locked it up and removed it from the system (ideally).

To sum this all up let me know what media you want to use and I can steer you in the right direction when flow is in question.

 

[Kharn]

On the tumbling thing. It all depends on the type of media used. Gfo tends to break down into dust if it tumbles to much or to hard. The idea is that some media gets caked with gunk or gets stuck together and water "channels" around the media leaving much of it unused. Also the thought is if it is floating in the water more area of the media is in contact with the water there by making it more effective. Biopellets tend to stick to one another and grow anaerobic bacteria that can become very harmful to the system, along with this BPs also benefit from tumbling by knocking off the biofilm that naturally grows on them. The bio film is then directed into a skimmer to be removed from the system. The biofilm is what is taking up the nitrates and small amounts of phosphate so by skimming it out you effectively locked it up and removed it from the system (ideally).

To sum this all up let me know what media you want to use and I can steer you in the right direction when flow is in question.

Well the media is in the video xD....

RowaCarbon in 1 reactor
EcoPhos in the other reactor

?

 

[Kharn]

Here is the next piece of equipment I am eye balling...and whilst I am getting 3 of each even 1 for STAND C, I am only doing it because I am not 110% confident in the Display Tanks DSBs, they are consistently shifting and moving and being turned over unlike a true DSB and rather have a true DSB, I'm opting for the FBFs.



This is actually quite a cheap setup with the FBFs chosen come from a good make even though they are so cheap...one of my collectors recommended it because I lacked the space of a DSB and he uses one himself and they are dirt cheap...FBF & Pump together are less then $100 .

 

[TundraGuy]

The flow needed to fludize gfo is different then that of carbon. So I like your split idea with two ball valves to control the flow to each reactor or are you going with a one pump one reactor set up?

This seems a bit much. IMO.