THE Tank Build By Aqua Digital

[AQD_ottawa]

Sorry updates have been a bit thin of late we have been so busy all week, our new lines are taking up so much of our time.

I will finish off the balling instructions this weekend for everyone and see if I can get some good pics of my corals which are all doing really well. I have not added anything new as the system now needs a break before loading it further.

The big blue tipped stag horn colony is growing 5mm a week at the tips and has started to cover the rock around it, I have just increased my Ai's to 60% white and 80% blue this is for the main peak of the day which is 5 hours.

My little acro frag has now covered the plug and starting to head off into new territory, the base is vibrant purple but the body is still light brown but starting to show signs of purple/red tips.

My superman has gone vibrant green and growing well, and my purple rimmed green plating monti (now two frags) is going great guns and colouring up well.

The green stag has gone very bright green but a slow grower.

The orange Ecno has gone bright orange also and starting to encrust over its wounds from fragging.

Birdsnest - well growing like a birdsnest really but would like to see more colour in it, I hope the brighter light intensity will help.

Absolute no algal issues, zero nutrients, but I can see the tank is now maturing as the ORP reading is starting to fall from its sky high readings.

Water change this weekend also.

So what am I dosing? Ha well thats going to remain unanswered for at least another 8 weeks, other than of course the Balling dosing. Once I have have finished my ruthless experiments in pushing a new sytem to the limits I will post my results, yes Claude and Valerie will sink their heads and suck on their teeth, but I am having fun with this

 

[camnbron]

If anyone has eagle eyes you will note something different to this screen shot

Well??

Is it that you have used an outlet on your powerbar to provide power to your dosing pump station (S5 for those playing at home).
Do I win a prize?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Nope, it was answered a few posts back

Version 5.001 comes with new socket graphics.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

I would like to now conclude for everyone the balling set up guide, and I think this is the most important part for everyone.

" have all the equipment now what?'

Ok so you have downloaded the manual and have added your salts and trace elements, of course if using the 2.5L containers you just halve all quantities.

Note - it is imperitive if you are following the ballign method to use the Ultra trace B elements as well.

The biggest missconception here is accuracy of the amount of salt to use, the simplest way to explain this worry away is this

Question -I added too much salt OOPS!

Answer - You mix will be stronger so you will find you will require to dose less per dosing cycle.

The opposite of course goes for if you mixed too weak a mixture. So you see no big issue you just adjust your dosing to suit. of course it is advised to try and keep some level of accuracy otherwise everytime you have to make up a fresh batch you would be adjusting your dosing rate to suit.

Initial dosing

Before you dose one single drop make sure you know your levels of Ca,MG,and DKH. Next step is to dose one element and see how that measured amount effects your systems level after 2 hours.

Example - dose 50ml of Ca and then measure who much your calcium rose in two hours from dosing the 50ml amount. if it rose by 50 points you know then 50ml has xx effect on your system.

Repeat this for the DKH and Mg. Once you have reached your target values then it will take about a week for you to dial in exactly what your system draws from the elements. You will find you use 4x the amount of DKH than any othr element this is normal, and also due to the fast take up of FM sodium bicarbonate by your corals do not be surprised if you use even more than this, it is a normal and positive outcome.

Your target values should be

Ca 380-420
Mg 1200-1350
ALK 6.5-8Dkh
Salinity 33-35PPT

A thorough explanation of initial set up is covered in the guide.

Good luck with the system, and you will soon see how great the FM system is and also how amazingly easy the GHL dosers make running such a system

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Update

Photos to follow this weekend.

Things are going great, I finally got the ProfiLux wireless, much to do about nothing in regards to my failed attempt at using a D-Link wireless bridge, after spending about 7 hours fighting with the thing to get it connected to itself (nothing to do with profiLux, had not even got that far) I finally got it connected and working, GREAT! so my next step was to get it connected to the profiLux Ha no! I did not even get that far, I found the D-Link had a loop back issue that locked up my access point. Lots of phone calls to D-Link Bombay R us support service resulted in a confirmed faulty D-Link bridge

So long story short, booted it back to when'st it came and moved my access point to the basement and ran through the duct work a Cat5 cable directly from the ProfiLux to the router, wahey!! For free I am now ProfiLux wireless!

So how is everything? Well the profiLux as would be expected is bullet proof it is easy to forget the huge features the controller is munching on every day, I do not even consider the complexities of the control it just - well - runs really. This is what profiLux is all about, fit set up forget not worry what might fail or bug out on you, and this is what all of us pay for, rock solid worry free reliability. How many return to base warranty cases do you see here on this forum?? ERM - None! case closed

The doser - well again it has taken over my system, I do not have to worry about my balling dosing, I check the params once a week after a water change and thats about it really, the doser does its thing and I sit back and enjoy the tank. The only annoying thing is the ProfiLux does not clean the glass, clean out the filter sock or pour me a fine malt whisky when my glass runs out while chilling out watching the tank, I really must speak to matthias (GHL) about built in servant control!!

Other dosing, well i am still playing around, all i will say at this point is that I am using ProdiBio for nutrent reduction control, and the rest is Fauna based. I love Prodis dump in the tank and forget for two weeks concept, none of this once a day dosing, the need of some reactor.

I will be changing my carbon over to FM Ultra Carb L this weekend from ESV, I have used Carb-L before and think it is far superior in my view.

My Ai's are now set to 60% white and 80% blue this is on a ramp up and down, of course ProfiLux has full control of this and I love the cloud effect it really does add an element to the tank and also I believe take the heat off the lamp intensity in a good way.

The Bubble magus BM150Pro does what it says on the can really, pulls crud daily even in a Low nutrient enviroment, if you are looking to get a new skimmer seriously get one of these babies, German pumps and highly quality engineering at an affordable price. (contact me if you want one)

The corals are doing well, I do want to push the envelope in colour a bit more, getting very impatient! growth is good, I just want to get the colour going, my blue stag colony has amazing vibrant blue tips, I just need to get the body to lighten up, but the tank is new and this will come in time.

Will be off to Ottawa inverts for some more sticks and critters this weekend so pics most likely Sunday evening (oh great here goes two hours of frustration mounting the new arrivals)

 

[jjk_reef00]

This is an awesome build!
I'm trying to mimic this setup. P3, AI lights, 30" x 30" x 36" cube. Are you using V1 or V2 AI lights? I've heard they produce a tremendous amount of PAR and can easily bleach corals if you don't acclimate them. It looks like you easily have enough coverage for your cube, do you think they will cover 30" x 30"?

I can't wait to see what you report for dosing/balling experiments.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Glad you like the build

I am using V2 Ai lamps, I think 2 is a good starting point for your system, you may want to mount them high to give the spread as, yes they whack out a lot of PAR.

I have not experienced bleaching thus far in fact I am still ramping up the intensity, at present my settings are

on at 8.30 0% white and blue
Ramp up to 60% to 12pm white and blue
Ramp down to 50% by 5pm
then down to 0% for whites by 9pm and 0% blue by 12am

I will be increasing the 60% duration flat lining it soon from 12pm until 2.30pm to give a high intensity peak.

My suggestion is to use full use of the cloud effect this take the intensity away but still gives full sun power in between the clouds, this is great for acclimatization. Really not just a gimmick.

 

[BigAl2007]

My suggestion is to use full use of the cloud effect this take the intensity away but still gives full sun power in between the clouds, this is great for acclimatization. Really not just a gimmick.

Could you describe how this works? Since you're using 2 different fixtures does it simulate "clouds" on both at the same time or randomly between them or are they sequenced to one follow the other (emulates clouds moving across the tank)?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Hi

The Ai's are linked together so hey both work as a pair, what happens with one will happen with the other.

In PLC (profiLux control) you tick the box in the illumination channel for cloud effect, then go to simulation and set up how you want the clouds to dim the lights.

Cloud probability %
Max darkening %
Min duration %
Max duration %

 

[BigAl2007]

Ahhh now I see. I'm thinking I might run multiple smaller lights front to back in my tank instead of longer units length wise. This way I can control them left to right and right to left where-by having different light levels across the tank and being able to create light "motion". In effect creating a light "Wave" side to side if you will.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Can you post what your specs were?
Cloud probability %
Max darkening %
Min duration %
Max duration %

What intensity percentages did you start with? I'm thinking no more than 40% white.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Well I finally got time last night to take some pictures, noting of course I am as good at photgraphy as my wife is at driving a car (and no she does not have a DL)

So lets start with eye candy shot

General tank view

Obscene Stag horn - No I have not cut of Shreks bits!

Birdsnest colouring up and in front a rather hairy Acro

This pic really does no justice to the vibrant blue tips on the Stag horn colony, and the polyp extension at night is insane, but this was before lights out

 

[AQD_ottawa]

The purple edges on this Monti are really awesome under the Ai's sadly my camera lets me down again here

This used to be boring brown, but have a look at the colour coming out!

 

[AQD_ottawa]

So what am I dosing then? Oh ok I will tell.

every 14 days ProdiBio BioDigest and BioPtim

The bio digest is a slow release bacterial additive and the BioPtim is the food source for the bacteria. I chose this option over FM bio and Bak as i hate doing so many daily doses, furthermore the water went Gin clear after starting this dosing regime and my nitrates and Phosphates are non existant.

For coral supplementation I am following the Fauna marin balling method and it is this i account my colour to. I know there is a huge debate about high quality salts and the use of trace elements. Well my view is I had none of this colour until I started the balling with trace elements, so??????????????

I am also adding
FM ultra Min-s 1ml a day
FM Ultra Amin - 2ml a day

Carbon was ESV but now switching to FM Ultra carb-L

 

[joe_dejesus]

what salt are you finally using? TM pro?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Claude gave me a trick to lower the calcium in the salt so using up the RC first

Just adding a small amount of Carbonate to the water this brings down the calcium levels.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Been a long time since an update so here goes

It has been 12 weeks since the tank started and hand on heart this is the first time I have ever run the profilux as a full on system controller for a reef tank!!

So what can i say about it - well the darn thing just sits there, runs the tank zero input from me and just does what it is supposed to do.

So i thought today I would at least give it some servicing, heck the probes have not been calibrated for nearly 3 months.

So first the pH, it was reading 8.02 prior to calibrating and 8.02 afterwards! So 3 months no calibration and the probe still is accurate!

Next the redox, well this always is a different ball game, you callibrate a redox probe and it will fall off the edge of the earth for a few days, but within 2 hours it had already bounced back and i am quite sure by tomorrow it will match the graphing of the previous few weeks.

Salinity next, yer I hear all the time, `ya kidding me I am not paying that for a salinity probe!!

Remember 12 weeks (3 months ish) no calibration. No servicing, you would expect something to be out! Na sorry to dissapoint the little beauty went right back to what it was reading prior to calibration 34.2

So conclusion - yes the probes might be more than you would pay in the reef industry but based on this, worth every penny in my view!

Another notch on the ol` GHL bed post

 

[dancewithethan]

The equipment set up.

As you can see below the whole system is set up minus adding the actual elements which I will do tomorrow.

GHL 4 stage doser connected to the profilux and plumbed in

All Pipe work going to the tube holder and coming from the balling containers, the containers come with screw tight fastners for the tube so no risk of one flying off.

Close up of the tube holder, I have been crafty and used spare peri tubing to run through the bubble Magus holder so the pipes are nice and tidy going into the sump. I have also used the more flexible air line as the Calcium line especially can choke up like a vein and is easier to unblock with this pipe.

And 1 x stand back and admire the goodies shot

Tomorrow I will discuss GHL programming with screen shots and also how to work out initial dose rates. I have cheated and already done this by 5 days of manual pre dosing and measuring of the element depletion per day, so i know already what my system draws, but I will focus on this important step more tomorrow

Hi

just got my package today:bounce3: I noticed that it does not come with tubing. can I use any standard RO/DI 1/4 mm tubing for the dosing pump with the BM canister?

Thanks

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Hi, yes you an but I found it a bit inflexible so use the silicon tubing you see in the photos. It is also easier to clear carbonate deposits from inside a flexible walled tubing than solid.

More updates on the tank coming very soon

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Well an update is long over due so here goes. Photos at the bottom of this thread

The tank is now coming onto 3 months of age, the corals are doing really well and the tank params are rock solid. this is mainly down to the dosing I am doing.

The tank maintenance a day is about 5 minutes if that. water changes just over 10% every two weeks

Dose elements
clean glass
Check all pipe work and skimmer.

The Skimmer

As those that have been following this thread know the skimmer is a Bubble Magus BM150Pro, it was important for us to test what we distribute as with all our products and this is one hell of a work horse. As you can see from the photo it gets very little in the way of maintenance (on purpose) and it still pulls gunge like I have never seen before. The skimmer is well over rated for the size of tank but still pulls goodness knows what on a daily basis!

The aqua bee pump is dead silent and is holding up to its great reputation.

ProfiLux controller

Its hard really to know what to write here, the ProfiLux just sits there takes control of virtually every element of the tank and just runs. The optical sensors have not been cleaned once, the probes calibrated only once in 3 months and last time I checked were as accurate as before calibrating. The salinity probe is correctly calibrated as with the refractometer to NSW and both read within .001 point of each other.

The ProfiLux doser again is set up and forget, pumps dead silent, never drift in accuracy.

Parameters

Salinity 34.2PPT
Redox drifts from night to day from 412 down to 360
pH 8.1 during the day and 7.9 at night
Calcium 420
Mg 1350
DKH 7
NO3 0
Po4 0

Fauna marin Balling Light
The ProfiLux doser and Bubble magus canistors make this again set up and forget, I check the levels 3 days after a water change and adjust if required, and thats about it. My biggest dosing amount is DKH at 60ml a day

What am I dosing

ProdiBio BioDigest one vial every 2 weeks
ProdiBio BioPtim one vial every 2 weeks

These are the Low nutrient additves and I think my cystal clear water and rock solid low nutirents is a testiment to this stuff, no need for Zeo reactors and daily dosing etc, this is real easy stuff with proven amazing results. I really suggest anyone thinking about LNS look at this, try following my dosing regime and see how you go? BUT dose first the Prodibio before introducing the rest of my recipe, you must have zero nutrients for the other dosings to work.

Onto the rest of the dosing then

Fauna marin Ultra Min-s 1ml daily
Fauna Marin Ultra Amin 2ml daily
Fauna Marin Power trace 1,2,3,4 @ 1ml daily

Ultra Min-s for the basic amino acids and vitimins
Ultra Amin is a more advanced amino acid supplement that promotes SPS health and growth
Power traces for fine tuning colouration, each element tunes the colours different. As you can see from the photos the colours are popping and I am now fine tuning the blues to get the Blue tipped acro to burst out of its brown coat, you can see it is starting to do so from the top down.

My purple tipped plating Monti is growing like mad and the purple edges are so beautiful.