New 265g from Portugal

[rmgaspar]

Hello everyone ...

Long time no update ... I have been out of home due to work. Hopefully I will have more time at home now.

Meanwhile there were a couple of changes. I leveraged the fact that I have travelled to US and bought myself the brand new ATK from Neptune.

I am very happy with the unit so far. Nicely built and a very nice addition to my APEX configuration.

The arrival of the box was a excitement for me. I think I am one of the first in Europe to have one ...

The only think I don't like is the grey of the new modules ... I have my APEX Classic all black and orange ...
Every cable is properly identified so the connections are a breeze!

It comes with an PMUP with adapter for 1/4" tubing, a check valve and the orange tubing!

The support is good crafting quality although I would love to have a little stronger magnet as any touch in the support will title the optical sensors. Since it is to be in the back of the sump I think people wouldn't be banging on the support.

And I really liked the instructions manual ... really nice!

And here it is in place! It took me roughly 5m to setup everything connected to APEX. In standalone mode would be even faster!

So far I am very happy with the security that this system brings to my installation. You can see in the above picture my old level sensors that will soon be replaced. I will only leave the low level one as I want the stop the return pump if the level in the SUMP becomes critically low.

Now I just need to add a flow sensor to FMM to control my flow in the Calcium Reactor and I am thinking also on a leak sensor to really have piece of mind!

Stay tuned as the next post will reveal more APEX new gear!

All the best,
Rui

 

[rmgaspar]

Hello again ...

And so ... the ATK could not be the only thing ... I was also planning to do an Automated Water Change system to my reef to change 12 litres of water per day. This will allow me to reduce my weekly WC to 100l instead of the 200l I was doing.

So I bought an DÖS also ...

Very well packaged ...

With a measuring cup ... plastic not glass ... and it does not seem very accurate to be honest. And it does not have also the decimal graduation so to read 41.3 is actually dificult because you only have 41 or 42ml in the scale

The configuration was also a breeze ... you set up the interval of the day you want for the WC to happen and define the total amount in millilitres you want to change

This is my setup ... I have a 1000 litres deposit where I store my Natural Sea Water

We will see overtime how this plays ... If 12 litres is too much for DÖS to handle I will change the system to PMUP to achieve the same goal.

Very happy with the purchases so far.

Also I need to give Kudos to Neptune Support. One of my WAV pumps was stalling with no apparent error and after getting an RMA I was delivered a new pump to replace ...

All the best,
Rui

 

[ClarkiiGriswald]

This is an amazing aquarium! Keep it up!

 

[rmgaspar]

This is an amazing aquarium! Keep it up!

Thank you! I will. I will ...

I am really excited!

I would actually like to know if there is anyone else in Europe with an ATK ... I would love to share some experiences ... Maybe Terence will know that?

Meanwhile here is my Fusion Dashboard. Sorry for the "missing WAV" as I haven't received the new one yet and also I had a powerline failure and need to buy new devices for my camera. That's why the image does not display.

All the best,
Rui

 

[reefzone123]

holy customness. woah. love your setup. beautiful breathtaking visuals.

 

[rmgaspar]

holy customness. woah. love your setup. beautiful breathtaking visuals.

Thank you reefzone ...

The tank actually is not going thru a good phase right now.

I have a major outbreak of diatoms. Lack of circulation I guess.

And the corals are somewhat pale!

I will keep the WC and hope this goes away soon!

All the best,
Rui

 

[rmgaspar]

meanwhile ...

One year ago ...

June.2016

Nov.2016

Dez.2016

Jan.2017

Feb.2017

Feb.2017

Apr.2017

Jun.2017

All the best,
Rui

 

[rmgaspar]

Hello everyone ...

Long time no update ... work ... vacations ... and some misadventures with the reef ...

I had created the APEX board ... altough very nice and without cables in sight it didn't prove easy to maintain. Everytime I had to change a wire or clean a pump I had to disasemble the board ...
So I reverted back to the initial concept. Not so pretty but much more practical maintnance wise. Check the video!

went from this:

to this:



What I tought was a diatom outbreak turned out to be a major dinoflagellate outbreak ... So ... AEFW, Aptaisa, Dictyiota and now Dinos ... any thing left for me to handle? bring it on baby ... bring it on ...

I will update with pictures later but after one month dinos are in check. Massive water changes with sand siphon, more light to chaeto, more fishes hence more food to try and bring the nutrients slowly up and give a chance for corals and chaeto to compete.

Seems to be working ... not perfect yet but at least dinos are slowly going away.

Uploading pictures ... be right back!

 

[Ajae]

Man everything looks great! Maybe the "newness" of the tank created some mini-cycles. I have a 225 (852L) gallon tank and sump that I had made about 6-7 months ago sitting dry because of job situation but hopefully I can get mine to revival yours someday.

 

[Jsarrow]

great looking reefs! Any updates?