Tim's 230G Peninsula
- Thread starter TimSc2013
- Start date
TimSc2013
New member
I love a peninsula reef tank
really like your aquascape too.
I hope to pull the trigger soon on a large tank
what you run for lighting?
Thanks! On the 230G I use a MH and T5 combination. On the 3 tanks in the fish room, I use a T5 fixture (20G High), a Power Compact and MH fixture (34G - top down view of frags shown in Post#3) and a LED/MH combination (65G).
Good luck on you new system. It took me awhile to pull the trigger on mine, but am so glad I did...
TimSc2013
New member
Thanks for the compliment! I really wanted the aquascaping to provide plenty of open space for the fish and future coral growth and am quite happy with how it turned out. The scary part is that the aquascape was just stacked and not secured together with epoxy/rods. Let's hope I don't create a landslide doing maintenance...:worried:
TimSc2013
New member
Since setting up my 230G, I have had rare sightings of an elusive hitchhiker crab that I call 'Black Betty'. I could not photograph it before as it is very shy but today I found its exoskeleton completely intact. I damaged it a bit while trying to remove it but the picture shows it is quite large. The legs are hairy and the claws appear to have flat spots at the tip where I have observed it picking at rocks, assuming it is picking at small amounts of algae. Anybody know what kind of crab it is? I assume it is reef safe as none of my corals show any signs of distress/damage and no disappearance of fish, as of yet...
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TimSc2013
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Thanks for the compliment!
TimSc2013
New member
In December of 2014, I purchased three Triton test kit packages while they were on sale as I was curious how my water would test out especially as I was seeing loss of coral coloration in my 230G display vs my spate 100G fish room system. On January 12, 2015 I sent in a sample of each system and based on the results I looked into my dosing quantities of the Red Sea Coral Colors and found an error I had made based on their dosing instructions. It appears as though I was dosing too much, even though I thought I was being conservative and not dosing as much as instructed. Based on this finding, I ceased all dosing of the Coral Color additives. Since that time, my colors have come back significantly and so I sent in the third triton test on the 230G only to see what the difference was, and if I could attribute the color change to any specific tested element. To my surprise, it appears my results have not changed that much but in fact have gotten worse with a detection of some heavy metals. The results are as follows:
Element Triton Setpoint 100G (1/12/15) 230G (1/12/15) 230G (4/19/15)
Hg 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Se 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cd 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Sn 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Sb 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
As 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Al 0 ug/L 0.24 0.00 0.00
Pb 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Ti 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cu 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 3.90
Na 10700 mg/l 11080 10581 10529
Ca 440.00 mg/l 460.70 388.40 479.10
Mg 1370.00 mg/l 1367 1416 1279
K 400.00 mg/l 464.30 493.80 460.50
Br 62.00 mg/l 62.38 70.16 54.74
B 4.50 mg/l 3.34 3.88 2.88
Sr 8.00 mg/l 7.28 4.29 7.23
S 900 mg/l 912.50 924.90 916.00
Li 200.00 ug/l 190.30 220.10 204.40
Ni 5.00 ug/l 1.20 4.47 3.91
Mo 12.00 ug/l 20.72 58.53 59.69
V 1.20 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Zn 4.00 ug/l 3.25 19.46 30.56
Mn 2.00 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
I 60.00 ug/l 81.48 134.80 198.69
Cr 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Co 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fe 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 6.10
Ba 10.00 ug/l 59.68 25.46 17.11
Be 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Si 100.00 ug/l 84.12 92.17 67.20
P 6.00 ug/l 6.17 8.27 5.03
PO4 0.018 mg/l 0.019 0.025 0.015
Not sure what to think other than it is interestingly confusing"¦lol. I did change all of my RO/DI filters and am keeping an eye out for a shiny penny that hopefully did not get thrown in by my toddler! Any thoughts from the chemistry gurus would be interesting but other than that I am not sure I will do any more Triton testing in the near future.
Element Triton Setpoint 100G (1/12/15) 230G (1/12/15) 230G (4/19/15)
Hg 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Se 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cd 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Sn 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Sb 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
As 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Al 0 ug/L 0.24 0.00 0.00
Pb 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Ti 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cu 0 ug/L 0.00 0.00 3.90
Na 10700 mg/l 11080 10581 10529
Ca 440.00 mg/l 460.70 388.40 479.10
Mg 1370.00 mg/l 1367 1416 1279
K 400.00 mg/l 464.30 493.80 460.50
Br 62.00 mg/l 62.38 70.16 54.74
B 4.50 mg/l 3.34 3.88 2.88
Sr 8.00 mg/l 7.28 4.29 7.23
S 900 mg/l 912.50 924.90 916.00
Li 200.00 ug/l 190.30 220.10 204.40
Ni 5.00 ug/l 1.20 4.47 3.91
Mo 12.00 ug/l 20.72 58.53 59.69
V 1.20 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Zn 4.00 ug/l 3.25 19.46 30.56
Mn 2.00 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
I 60.00 ug/l 81.48 134.80 198.69
Cr 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Co 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fe 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 6.10
Ba 10.00 ug/l 59.68 25.46 17.11
Be 0 ug/l 0.00 0.00 0.00
Si 100.00 ug/l 84.12 92.17 67.20
P 6.00 ug/l 6.17 8.27 5.03
PO4 0.018 mg/l 0.019 0.025 0.015
Not sure what to think other than it is interestingly confusing"¦lol. I did change all of my RO/DI filters and am keeping an eye out for a shiny penny that hopefully did not get thrown in by my toddler! Any thoughts from the chemistry gurus would be interesting but other than that I am not sure I will do any more Triton testing in the near future.
TimSc2013
New member
I took a couple weeks off of work over the holidays which gave me a lot of time to research calcium reactors. Since I didn't know much about CO2 delivery side of the process, I decided to look into that first as this equipment is needed for all reactors. I quickly learned that it is more than just a CO2 tank with a couple pressure gauges and costs vary significantly and can be as much, if not more, than the reactor itself! I quickly got sucked down the 'rabbit hole' when I came across several threads on how to DIY the gas regulator using equipment rated for "ultra high purity" industrial uses. At first I was shocked at prices of some of the dual-stage regulators, particularly stainless steel which listed near $1K but was intrigued when fellow reefers and planted tank enthusiast got huge deals on new regulators by searching eBay and surplus sites. With these deals they could DIY a regulator assembly for prices comparable to the CarbonDoser Electronic CO2 regulator sold as the regulator of choice for the reefer application for around $300.
With plenty of time on my hands, I began my late night search/drinking escapades for finding these so called deals the expert DIY'ers said they could get. After about a week, I began to doubt that these deals ever existed on new units as I could only find used set-ups that I was uncomfortable paying without knowing how good it would work or if it leaked. The new units were endless as to the manufacturer, type and price which made it difficult to choose as I have no experience with a CO2 set-up. Therefore, I generally was looking for the two-stage brands listed in the forums such as Matheson, Victor and Parker and decided I was going to purchase a new brass set-up. I was settling on the fact that I would go for a Harris two-stage brass regulator for around $300 to $400 but wasn't ready to pull the trigger quite yet. During one of my final last ditch searches for these so called deals, I found my way onto Grainger and to my surprise I found a Parker two-stage brass regulator that was discounted from $475 to $123.60 ($144.79 after taxes and shipping) so I purchased!!
The remaining parts to complete the set-up have been purchased and are in the process of delivery:
Burkert brass Solenoid and LED plug: $68.44
GCA 320 brass nipple and nut: $20.98
Various Swagelok fittings: $55.75
Ideal brass needle valve with Vernier Micrometer: $100
Winters 2 1/2" HP & LP gauges: $40.79
The total of the set-up cost is $430.75 so about 45% more than the CarbonDoser. I am overall satisfied with the higher price as the components are a much higher quality and should last a lifetime.
I also recently pick up a new 20-lb CO2 cylinder for $110 so now in a total of $540 just for the CO2 system. Now I can move on and look for the reactor set-up to go with it. I am currently considering Life Reef, MTC or GEO. Any thoughts, comments or recommendations?
With plenty of time on my hands, I began my late night search/drinking escapades for finding these so called deals the expert DIY'ers said they could get. After about a week, I began to doubt that these deals ever existed on new units as I could only find used set-ups that I was uncomfortable paying without knowing how good it would work or if it leaked. The new units were endless as to the manufacturer, type and price which made it difficult to choose as I have no experience with a CO2 set-up. Therefore, I generally was looking for the two-stage brands listed in the forums such as Matheson, Victor and Parker and decided I was going to purchase a new brass set-up. I was settling on the fact that I would go for a Harris two-stage brass regulator for around $300 to $400 but wasn't ready to pull the trigger quite yet. During one of my final last ditch searches for these so called deals, I found my way onto Grainger and to my surprise I found a Parker two-stage brass regulator that was discounted from $475 to $123.60 ($144.79 after taxes and shipping) so I purchased!!
The remaining parts to complete the set-up have been purchased and are in the process of delivery:
Burkert brass Solenoid and LED plug: $68.44
GCA 320 brass nipple and nut: $20.98
Various Swagelok fittings: $55.75
Ideal brass needle valve with Vernier Micrometer: $100
Winters 2 1/2" HP & LP gauges: $40.79
The total of the set-up cost is $430.75 so about 45% more than the CarbonDoser. I am overall satisfied with the higher price as the components are a much higher quality and should last a lifetime.
I also recently pick up a new 20-lb CO2 cylinder for $110 so now in a total of $540 just for the CO2 system. Now I can move on and look for the reactor set-up to go with it. I am currently considering Life Reef, MTC or GEO. Any thoughts, comments or recommendations?
