Some pictures

[bobbyblank]

Not much going on in the coral department unfortunatly, but i have been getting some new equipment, re-plumbing, and some DIY stuff, so i got bored and snapped some pics.



Pretty much finished DIY sump with a spiderweb mess of hoses

My DIY auto top off

Top off resivour with rio90

Relay box with easy access for fixing parts

WOOOHOOO PHOS REACTOR!!

Coralline growth on containers in fuge in just 5 days

Full tank shot.......WILL WORK FOR CORALS

Thanks for lookin

bobby

 

[Fragmented]

Very tidy mess you have there. Looks great! You're off to a wonderful start.

 

[dots]

Looking good, good choice on the resevior, given the size of the tank and your sump, a failed switch in the on position should not cause too much of a problem.

Clean design on the electical, make sure its GFCI as well as surge protected. Just watch on the timers, I have had some of the cheaper ones go out on me, esp. the coralife ones. I opted for outdoor electrical timer switches for mine and is working well, I may eventually convert the other over and get rid of the coralife P.O.S. timer I have...........ESV.......DIGITAL DUAL TIMER look into it, your mechanical SUCKS!!!!

You may want to consider fabing up a cover for it to prevent splashing and fires

Ohh did notice something, the Phosban reactor......have the same one, the top does not seal right and the fittings that come with that are terrible, I would relocate that puppy into the sump so if it does leak, and it will, it leaks into the sump and does not drain into the floor and "popcorns" the particleboard in that stand. I also through in less Phosban and mix in some carbon.....works well.

The tank looks good, it looks like your off to a good start......looks nice and clean........especially with none of that pesky coralline to make it look messy!!!!

 

[bobbyblank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10721592#post10721592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dots
Looking good, good choice on the resevior, given the size of the tank and your sump, a failed switch in the on position should not cause too much of a problem.

Clean design on the electical, make sure its GFCI as well as surge protected. Just watch on the timers, I have had some of the cheaper ones go out on me, esp. the coralife ones. I opted for outdoor electrical timer switches for mine and is working well, I may eventually convert the other over and get rid of the coralife P.O.S. timer I have...........ESV.......DIGITAL DUAL TIMER look into it, your mechanical SUCKS!!!!

You may want to consider fabing up a cover for it to prevent splashing and fires

Ohh did notice something, the Phosban reactor......have the same one, the top does not seal right and the fittings that come with that are terrible, I would relocate that puppy into the sump so if it does leak, and it will, it leaks into the sump and does not drain into the floor and "popcorns" the particleboard in that stand. I also through in less Phosban and mix in some carbon.....works well.

The tank looks good, it looks like your off to a good start......looks nice and clean........especially with none of that pesky coralline to make it look messy!!!!

I have a backup switch to keep from overflow, but if BOTH were to go out, the small size of my 7g resivour would not flood my sump.
I hate these timers because they plug into the bottom of the timer and not the sides like most so i loose an outlet for each timer . If i had the side plug-ins i would have 3 more outlets. These timers are much more accurate then the HD versions though. I have also hear bad reviews on the coralife timers. Hopefully i can afford a contoller soon and not worry about the crappy mechanical ones.
I already noticed problems with the top conecting hoses with the reactor the first day i hooked it up. When i move the lines around when working in the sump the can leak a little. I will be relocating into the sump. About the carbon... I was thinking something like that but was worried the large carbon would grind the smaller softer phosban into a pulp??

thanks for all the constructive critisim.....exept the last part

 

[dots]

Is the denisty of Ferric Oxide less than the activated Carbon?.......I am pretty sure its not, and can double check if you want, I have a chem book about 10ft away, but its late and I get lazy when I am not at work....... with enough velocity it will probably be the other way around, but that is difficult to quanitify and to what degree.

Grinding the phoban down wouldn't nessesarily be a bad thing, it would have more surface area to absorb P04, move easier and faster to increase interaction. I used to use a filter sock and dump the exhaust through that, so if any particles did get through it was collected, I thought about suggesting that, but filter socks are personal preference and brings into another maintenance issue.

Currently I don't exaust mine into one as I have a BB tank and actually want more nutrients in my tank,
(my display drains into a SSB that I built which is also a lower velocity zone, so any debris settles there and feeds the SSB, the rest is pulled out through a top exit kinda like how the JBJ nano cubes work.) I digress......,
however I am currently thinking that a build up of misc granuelles could back pollute the tank, I am considering reusing the filter sock again for this reason....seems to be less clear without it as well.

Regardless, you should be using the ball valve with the reactor and have plenty of flow to adjust the fluidization. You should adjust it to where there is a clear visible portion below the filter as the materials "dance" around. If adjusted properly, and you use less media than you have now, in combination with carbon and change it regularly, leeching into the system will not present a problem. If it does and it is small enough to pass through, it is small enough to be picked up by the skimmer.

My favorite tanks are the clean, wide open, minimalistic cubes.......they look the best and create the illusion of a box of water the best without a bunch of coralline defining the edges of the tank......Though I prefer it....I am just giving you a hard time about it because you were asking about it. You have a bunch of coralline on your rocks that is already purple, you will have plenty to scrape in no time......buy a box of razor blades soon, you will need them!!!

 

[bobbyblank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10721720#post10721720 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dots
Is the denisty of Ferric Oxide less than the activated Carbon?.......I am pretty sure its not, and can double check if you want, I have a chem book about 10ft away, but its late and I get lazy when I am not at work....... with enough velocity it will probably be the other way around, but that is difficult to quanitify and to what degree.

Grinding the phoban down wouldn't nessesarily be a bad thing, it would have more surface area to absorb P04, move easier and faster to increase interaction. I used to use a filter sock and dump the exhaust through that, so if any particles did get through it was collected, I thought about suggesting that, but filter socks are personal preference and brings into another maintenance issue.

Currently I don't exaust mine into one as I have a BB tank and actually want more nutrients in my tank,
(my display drains into a SSB that I built which is also a lower velocity zone, so any debris settles there and feeds the SSB, the rest is pulled out through a top exit kinda like how the JBJ nano cubes work.) I digress......,
however I am currently thinking that a build up of misc granuelles could back pollute the tank, I am considering reusing the filter sock again for this reason....seems to be less clear without it as well.

Regardless, you should be using the ball valve with the reactor and have plenty of flow to adjust the fluidization. You should adjust it to where there is a clear visible portion below the filter as the materials "dance" around. If adjusted properly, and you use less media than you have now, in combination with carbon and change it regularly, leeching into the system will not present a problem. If it does and it is small enough to pass through, it is small enough to be picked up by the skimmer.

My favorite tanks are the clean, wide open, minimalistic cubes.......they look the best and create the illusion of a box of water the best without a bunch of coralline defining the edges of the tank......Though I prefer it....I am just giving you a hard time about it because you were asking about it. You have a bunch of coralline on your rocks that is already purple, you will have plenty to scrape in no time......buy a box of razor blades soon, you will need them!!!

]


I am not sure of the exact density, but i can crush ferric oxide in my fingers much easyer then carbon, or at least it seems like i can lol. Im no scientist thats for sure! About the filtersock, i designed my new sump so i could get away without useing one as before i alwase had high nutrient levels when useing it, so i would like to stay away from that problem again. Unfortunatly, the reactor was purchased used and did not come with the ball valve, i wish it would have though. Luckly, the pump has and adjustable output so i fine tuned the reactor there, Its just quite difficult to adjust at the BOTTOM of the sump. I have not found anyone who makes ball valves for vinal tubeing to replace it though. Regarding the carbon leaching.. I was hesitant to toss carbon in because of the exact reason you said. "If adjusted properly, and you use less media than you have now, in combination with carbon and change it regularly, leeching into the system will not present a problem." . I didnt want to mix the two because i would have to change media more often then just with the ferric oxide because of the leeching carbon. And since they would be mixed i would waste phosban thats not depleted. Money is tight as alwase and i didnt want to have to change media until all is depleted. There isnt as much media in the reactor as it seems, just the angle of the shot i think. Its about 1/3 of a can, Maybe its still to much? Its a 50g system with sump and the can treats 150g. What are your thoughts about placeing a small micron baggy (like the one that comes with the phosban) filled with carbon into the reactor for easy seperate changes? Would that just inhibit proper fluidization of the ferric oxide? I dont know it just seems like it would.

Thanks again for your comments, it has sparked an interesting conversation! Something i noticed that the RC forums have been missing IMHO.

 

[dots]

The can treats 150 gallons you say, treats what to what for how long? I have always hated those vague intructions with this product.

Read this, but particularly take note to the charts.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

This reactor is just really supposed to pick up the rest from what regular WCs should be taking care of. If you begin to have a phosphate problem, you should look at your water or food and remove the phosphates before they enter the system, rather than relying on this type of removal. On bigger tanks, they use more than one, being a pretty affordable piece of equipment it would be better to have a seperate one for carbon and GFO.

GFO in large quanities has been linked to depressing your Alkalinity, so err on the conservative side with the stuff and make it dance around where is resembles oil and water in a glass floating around. Too much of a rapid drop when adding a fresh batch could shock an SPS system as well. I think less is more with this stuff and use a larger ratio of carbon to GFO.

9/10 on a tank that small, if you have P04 problems, you are feeding too much and doing to little/few WCs.

But play with it and see what works for you, just put it inside the sump.

The summer is the reefing slow season. The boards will pick up back again as the weather changes and people are indoors more. It was a ghost town last summer, this is good believe it or not.

 

[bobbyblank]

I will have to read tomarrow, im busy today. I think my PO4s were comeing out of my LR. Most was purchased from an established tank, but i am not aware of his PO4 problems. I do not currently feed and do a 5 gallon WC every week. I am useing all RO/DI water but i cannot keep them down without the reactor. I think the previous owner of most of the LR may have had a PO4 problem and its now leaching from the rock. Just an asumption. I think im going to take a piece or 2 out and seperate them in a tank for a few days then test for phospates. If i read any, it must be leaching from the LR.

 

[dots]

Here is some information that may help

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

 

[funman1]

Very very nice...
Looking forward to more!!!