What did you pick up?
200g Mixed Reef - ProClear Aquatics ProStar 200 v2 + Apex Goodies
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- Thread starter craftbrews
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What did you pick up?
I rinsed my established tank sand bed. Turned out nice. Most people like the live sand to help the cycle along, but with all the cycle starters out there I’m sure you can rinse it clean of junk and be fine using bottled bacteria.
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
Lighting is too dark, will get some photos before work tomorrow.
The following are in quarantine:
- 2x Black Ice Clowns
2x Two Spot Goby(died in quarantine - bullied from the Dottyback and didn't take well to the copper power)5x4x Blue Green Chromis (1 died in quarantine)- 1x Purple Dottyback (this fish is a real meanie, I want to flush him down the toilet)
Current Livestock Wishlist:
- 1x Dwarf Lionfish
- 1x Coral Beauty Angel
- 1x Purple Tang
- 1x Powder Brown Tang
- 1x White Tail Bristletooth Tang
- 1x Royal Gamma Basslet
- 2x Blue Mandarin
- 2x Ruby Red Dragonet
- 2x Fire Shrimp
- 2x Blue Banded Coral Shrimp
- 1x Tuxedo Urchin
- 1x Emerald Crab
Last edited:
Shadows Reef
Active Member
I love your build man I have literally thousands of dollars of equipment :Neptune systems (apex,DOS x 2 ,trident, auto top off,auto feeder, flow module for carbon reactor and overflow and return), ecotech (Radion XR15 G5 x2 and vortech mp40 x2, and vectra S2), Reef Octopus Regal 200 space saver w/varios, and 2 Klir DI-4 rollermat fleece filter. There’s more but that’s all the big stuff
But then my tank.... cheap dollar per gallon sale 55 gal tank with a HOB overflow(tank is tempered otherwise I’d drill it) and my sump is a diy 10 rimless I got acrylic precision cut to make my own design with the baffles it’s actually pretty crazy how I got it all to fit.
But I’m Justin waiting for the in stock email to get my pro star rimless V2 200
tell me how do you like it?
One of my concerns i if the filter sock tray will be compatible with my Klir DI-4 fleece filter in needs to be able to have 1’1/2” of water to collect when dirty.
But then my tank.... cheap dollar per gallon sale 55 gal tank with a HOB overflow(tank is tempered otherwise I’d drill it) and my sump is a diy 10 rimless I got acrylic precision cut to make my own design with the baffles it’s actually pretty crazy how I got it all to fit.
But I’m Justin waiting for the in stock email to get my pro star rimless V2 200
tell me how do you like it?
One of my concerns i if the filter sock tray will be compatible with my Klir DI-4 fleece filter in needs to be able to have 1’1/2” of water to collect when dirty.
Shadows Reef
Active Member
As far as maybe some help with your build I did this
www.reef2reef.com
And I can get 4 days of run time on my mp40s and vectra return pump off a deep cycle battery in a fancy acrylic enclosure but any enclosure is fine. Just to protect against potential battery acid.
DIY Ecotech Battery Backup for $60
I’m going to be showing you how to make a battery backup with a group 24 deep cycle marine battery, which cost roughly $80, and are rated at 75 ah. You might be asking yourself why such a large battery, when the standard 18AH battery can last 20 hours on a MP60, 36 on a MP40, and 72 hours on a...
www.reef2reef.com
And I can get 4 days of run time on my mp40s and vectra return pump off a deep cycle battery in a fancy acrylic enclosure but any enclosure is fine. Just to protect against potential battery acid.
Shadows Reef
Active Member
Would you be able to do me the favor of measuring how much water could collect in the filter sock tray if the filter sock tray was clogged?
That’s my only hold up since I have the two Klir DI-4 rollermat fleece filter.
That’s my only hold up since I have the two Klir DI-4 rollermat fleece filter.
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
The tank is great - no complaints. The sump on the other hand.... It makes me scratch my head. Also, I recommend redoing the plumbing in the sump if you're in the states, the metric fittings are hard to buy for.
For the Klir, you might be in trouble, I think you could get the water level up that high,but you'd want to take a look at baffle measurements earlier in the thread.
We don't regret the purchase one bit but I have had a large amount of cussing and swearing while cramped up below the cabinet, haha.
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
Alright, lots of quick updates. Apologies for being MIA - the tank has been a secondary priority, we have both been crazy busy with work and some medical stuff.
So here's the current status of things:
Plumbing:
Lighting:
Cycling:
Few general updates:
Next steps:
So here's the current status of things:
Plumbing:
- Completed a few weeks back and the system was running wet without skimmer, roller, or fuge while cycling
- I do not recommend the soft PVC we purchased from Amazon, it's hard to work with. I highly recommend not using it to plumb the Clarisea, go with a softer tubing.
- The gate valve is set to around 80% closed and floods into the sump so that we can let some water bypass the Clarisea since I've read on early tanks it can be too good at filtering and kill your Chaeto.
-
-
Lighting:
- We've mounted the Aquatic Life Hybrid fixture in the ceiling with the Reefbreeders Photon V2+
- Running 2x Blue+ and 2x Coral+ in the T5 fixture and i'm still playing with the Reefbreeder lighting profile - if anyone out there has recommendations, happy to copy pasta them
- The Apex is now setup and controlling the lights - the T5's turn on at 10am and run to 8pm
-
Cycling:
- Microbacter Start XLM is awful - seriously, the product didn't work for us. We tried two bottles from Marine Depot. We're on Day 38 or something and we're just starting to see ammonia levels drop. Nitrite is >5ppm and Nitrate is just hovering at 10ppm.
- Couple disclaimers first that I want to call out for user error: I put too much ammonia in the tank to start, it ended up at 1.25ppm instead of the 1ppm they recommend. We didn't have the tank at a consistent 78 as recommended (we were around 77). We also got fed up and added sand at around 20 days which they recommend not doing until it cycles.
- All that being said, I don't feel like this was a user error issue. The bacteria just takes a REALLLLLLLY long time. Our fish will be done with quarantine before the tank is cycled.. Wouldn't recommend or use again!
- Mostly up and running but need to finalize chord management.
- Apex is setup and scripting on about 60% of the outputs is complete. Need to finish this up next weekend.
Few general updates:
- Seeded the tank with ArcReef Purple Helix Corraline Algae
- Seeded the tank with two cans of Ecopods from @AlgaeBarn
Next steps:
- Finish cycling tank
- Start tank on Microbacter CLEAN after cycle completes
- Move quarantine fish/inverts into tank
- Finalize electrical chord management
- Finalize Apex scripting
- Install DOS and DOS Reservoir for 2-part
- Figure out short term ATO approach
- Buy second batch of fish for quarantine
- Water Change/ATO Station - This is a big project, I want to knock a room out below our staircase and build it down there. That seems easier than plumbing my garage with a utility sink and then running RO 40 - 50ft through my ceiling to get to the tank.
Shadows Reef
Active Member
Yeah I most likely would change out the plumbing and also use gate valves and silicone soft tubing to reduce vibrations
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
I think I went with this place for the transition unions:
pvcpipesupplies.com
I ended up just plumbing the whole thing with 1in PVC. If I recall I needed 3x 1" x 32 mm Schedule 80 PVC Transition Union.
Triple check the earlier thread though, I definitely ordered too many parts and had a couple purchases where I ordered too many or too few..
I also had to call ProStar for an additional drain, since I wanted them all 1in.
PVC Pipe, PVC Fittings & PVC Valves | PVC Pipe Supplies
PVC Pipe Supplies is a national supplier of PVC Pipe, Fittings, Valves, and Piping Accessories. Shop online or call our sales team for your PVC needs.
pvcpipesupplies.com
I ended up just plumbing the whole thing with 1in PVC. If I recall I needed 3x 1" x 32 mm Schedule 80 PVC Transition Union.
Triple check the earlier thread though, I definitely ordered too many parts and had a couple purchases where I ordered too many or too few..
I also had to call ProStar for an additional drain, since I wanted them all 1in.
Drewker
New Member
How hard was it to remove and replace the 25mm/.75" bulkhead? I've been kicking around the idea of running the supplied bulkheads as a 3-pipe Bean Animal, and drilling a new hole for a return bulkhead.
Are you satisfied with the existing drains? Running quietly? What is your sump turnover rate?
Are you satisfied with the existing drains? Running quietly? What is your sump turnover rate?
I would say somewhat painful. Tight space and they are siliconed in. I have a few pics in the thread early on. It is a bit noisy. I actually don’t mind, think I posted a few videos. Some folks do. I would say that this is the biggest drawback.
Not sure in the sump turnover. Maybe running 700-800 gpm and maybe 25-30 gallons in the sump.
Not sure in the sump turnover. Maybe running 700-800 gpm and maybe 25-30 gallons in the sump.
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
It would be tough to drill anything inside that overflow box. It's really tight. If you were to do that, I'd recommend just ripping the overflow out and getting a local machinist to make you a custom acrylic or glass overflow.
The drains are 5/10 quiet, once they are dialed in they are pretty hard to hear. We don't sleep with it, though. It's in our living room and occasionally can be heard from the family room about 30 feet down a hallway.
In terms of GPH - I'm running a closed loop UV system that puts out around 450 GPH through a return bolted to the back. In addition to that, I have my COR20 running at 100%. If you dial that UV up any further the overflow can't handle it and it would probably flood.
I don't have a flow meter on the return, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's putting out another 500 - 600 GPH. So I am probably turning over the tank through the sump around 6x per hour? 1 drain goes 100% through my Clarisea and the other drain is dialed to about 25% and it goes into a filter sock I have just laying in the bottom of the sump.
Full disclosure, I can't stand this sump. It's been the bane of my existence. I am about 1 - 2 months away from chucking it and buying a Trigger Platinum 39 to replace it with. I also hate our MacroAlgae reactor, it's killed 3 batches of clean chaeto and I can't get it even at 10% output and only running 4 - 6 hours to not cook the algae alive.
On a complete side note, we've neglected this build thread for a few months. Life has been busy - I'll get some photos and updates in the next few weeks.
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
Here's some updates on the last few months and some ramblings on gear and what I would have done differently.
New Gear:
Platinum 39 Sump: Installing it this weekend. Super excited and looks easy to use. Planning to do fuge in 3rd chamber and no fancy reactors.
ReefBreeders Pico Refugium Light x2: Just got these guys for the new sump's refugium. Planning to run one point directly down into chaeto and one off the side of the sump pointed through the acrylic.
Lifegard Aquatics 90w UV w/ COR 20: Added a new COR-20 return to a closed loop UV system. It's supposed to control algae currently but I have hair algae all over this thing. Tangs are working on it and we have some new CUC inbound from Reefcleaners. Not sure this thing works.. It did add 3 degrees to my tank, though. BE PREPARED FOR HEAT!
Neptune Trident: I LOVE THIS DEVICE. It makes dialing in the DOS so easy and if I never have to run an ALK, CA, or MG test again I will be happy.
Sump Fan: Added a small fan to the sump to control temperature, I probably need a second. It's Apex controlled and cheap. Lowers the temp by about 1 degree at the cost of evaporation / RO water.
MP40: Added a third MP40 for flow. All of them run at around 40% tops, one on each back wall and one on the right. side window.
Gear I am replacing:
ProStar Sump: This thing works fine if you are running filter socks and the stock configuration with a small skimmer. It's a huge pain in the butt if you try to add a filter roller or any other type of reactor. I am in the process of removing the sump and replacing it with a Trigger Systems Platinum 39. I also hate working in it. It kills my back.
Reef Octopus Algae Reactor: I could NOT get Algae to grow in this thing. It killed 3 batches of chaeto. I thought it might be the light so I tried turning it down. Maybe the Clarisea was too powerful and stripped all of the nutes? Not sure but I'm selling it. It's also got a huge footprint in the sump and even though it can run out of the sump, whenever you unscrew it water floods out, so would need to go into a separate container.
Clarisea 5000: I like this filter roller and highly recommend it as a an entry filter roller. It's a pain to change the filter fleece but the amount of life I get from it is probably 2.5 months, so it's great. I am frustrated that it only has 1 inlet for the drain, though. I have my second drain just flooding into the sump with a filter sock on it.
Livestock Updates:
QT Disaster: We had a large batch of fish we received from ReefBeauties that went into QT and about 7 days into the QT process the tank crashed and they all died overnight. Temps looked ok as did all the other parameters. Never seen something like this before and unsure if it was us or the fish that caused the issue. We absorbed the cost since we weren't sure and ordered another batch from ReefBeauties. Nate is awesome BTW and the second batch did fine.
New Fish:
- Purple Tang (ReefBeauties)
- Orange Fin Tomini Tang (ReefBeauties)
- Blue Tang (ReefBeauties)
- 2x Sunburst Anthias (ReefBeauties)
- Aptasia Eating Filefish (ReefBeauties)
Fish we are removing:
- Purple Dottyback: This fish is aggro as hell, was an impulse buy from LFS that we regret. I've been trying to trap it for 2 days and haven't been able to get it out yet. It's going into sump to live out the rest of its meager existence.
Coral Updates: Lots of new coral went in around 4 weeks ago. BTW - we love Unique Corals. Have had such a great experience working with them and we highly recommend Toni and the team there.
SPS:
Acropora
- Blueberry Shortcake (Unique Corals)
- Unique Corals: Strawberry Shortcake (Unique Corals)
- Heaven n' Hell Mille (Unique Corals)
- Toxic Chalice (Aqua SD)
- Sky Blue Staghorn (Unique Corals)
- Needle in a Haystack (Jason Fox)
- Premium Acropora (Unique Corals)
Montipora:
- Grafted Sun Monti Cap (Jason Fox)
- Red Roses Monti Cap (Jason Fox)
Stylophora
- Purple Stylo (Aqua SD)
- Bug Out Stylo (Jason Fox)
LPS:
Torches:
- NY Nicks Torch (Unique Corals)
- Dragon Soul Torch (Aqua SD)
- Supershock Torch (Unique Corals)
- Green Tip Torch (Unique Corals)
- Lightning Tips (Aqua SD)
Ricordea:
- Orange Ricordea Mushroom (Unique Corals)
Rhodactis:
- Bullseye Mushroom (Unique Corals)
- Aussie Fuzzy Shroom (Aqua SD)
Hammers:
- NY Nicks Torch (Unique Corals)
- Purple Wall Hammer (Unique Corals)
- Branching Gold Hammer (Unique Corals)
- Heaven n Hell Mille (Unique Corals)
Cyphastrea
- Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (Unique Corals)
Scoly:
- Ultra Button Scoly (Aqua SD)
Micro Lords:
- Gold Rim Micro Lord (Unique Corals)
Duncan:
- UC Green Duncan (Unique Corals)
Galaxea:
- Gold Tip Galaxea (Unique Corals)
Alveopora
- Stormy Alveopora (Aqua SD)
Blasto:
- Rainbow Ring Blasto (Aqua SD)
Zoas/Palys:
- Little Shop of Horrors (Jason Fox)
- UC Cookie Monster (Unique Corals)
- Sonic Flares (Jason Fox)
- Fireworks Zoa (Aqua SD)
- Radioactive Dragon Eyes (Unique Corals)
- Red Submarine Palys (Aqua SD)
Anemone:
- Rainbow Bubble Tip (Unique Corals)
New Gear:
Platinum 39 Sump: Installing it this weekend. Super excited and looks easy to use. Planning to do fuge in 3rd chamber and no fancy reactors.
ReefBreeders Pico Refugium Light x2: Just got these guys for the new sump's refugium. Planning to run one point directly down into chaeto and one off the side of the sump pointed through the acrylic.
Lifegard Aquatics 90w UV w/ COR 20: Added a new COR-20 return to a closed loop UV system. It's supposed to control algae currently but I have hair algae all over this thing. Tangs are working on it and we have some new CUC inbound from Reefcleaners. Not sure this thing works.. It did add 3 degrees to my tank, though. BE PREPARED FOR HEAT!
Neptune Trident: I LOVE THIS DEVICE. It makes dialing in the DOS so easy and if I never have to run an ALK, CA, or MG test again I will be happy.
Sump Fan: Added a small fan to the sump to control temperature, I probably need a second. It's Apex controlled and cheap. Lowers the temp by about 1 degree at the cost of evaporation / RO water.
MP40: Added a third MP40 for flow. All of them run at around 40% tops, one on each back wall and one on the right. side window.
Gear I am replacing:
ProStar Sump: This thing works fine if you are running filter socks and the stock configuration with a small skimmer. It's a huge pain in the butt if you try to add a filter roller or any other type of reactor. I am in the process of removing the sump and replacing it with a Trigger Systems Platinum 39. I also hate working in it. It kills my back.
Reef Octopus Algae Reactor: I could NOT get Algae to grow in this thing. It killed 3 batches of chaeto. I thought it might be the light so I tried turning it down. Maybe the Clarisea was too powerful and stripped all of the nutes? Not sure but I'm selling it. It's also got a huge footprint in the sump and even though it can run out of the sump, whenever you unscrew it water floods out, so would need to go into a separate container.
Clarisea 5000: I like this filter roller and highly recommend it as a an entry filter roller. It's a pain to change the filter fleece but the amount of life I get from it is probably 2.5 months, so it's great. I am frustrated that it only has 1 inlet for the drain, though. I have my second drain just flooding into the sump with a filter sock on it.
Livestock Updates:
QT Disaster: We had a large batch of fish we received from ReefBeauties that went into QT and about 7 days into the QT process the tank crashed and they all died overnight. Temps looked ok as did all the other parameters. Never seen something like this before and unsure if it was us or the fish that caused the issue. We absorbed the cost since we weren't sure and ordered another batch from ReefBeauties. Nate is awesome BTW and the second batch did fine.
New Fish:
- Purple Tang (ReefBeauties)
- Orange Fin Tomini Tang (ReefBeauties)
- Blue Tang (ReefBeauties)
- 2x Sunburst Anthias (ReefBeauties)
- Aptasia Eating Filefish (ReefBeauties)
Fish we are removing:
- Purple Dottyback: This fish is aggro as hell, was an impulse buy from LFS that we regret. I've been trying to trap it for 2 days and haven't been able to get it out yet. It's going into sump to live out the rest of its meager existence.
Coral Updates: Lots of new coral went in around 4 weeks ago. BTW - we love Unique Corals. Have had such a great experience working with them and we highly recommend Toni and the team there.
SPS:
Acropora
- Blueberry Shortcake (Unique Corals)
- Unique Corals: Strawberry Shortcake (Unique Corals)
- Heaven n' Hell Mille (Unique Corals)
- Toxic Chalice (Aqua SD)
- Sky Blue Staghorn (Unique Corals)
- Needle in a Haystack (Jason Fox)
- Premium Acropora (Unique Corals)
Montipora:
- Grafted Sun Monti Cap (Jason Fox)
- Red Roses Monti Cap (Jason Fox)
Stylophora
- Purple Stylo (Aqua SD)
- Bug Out Stylo (Jason Fox)
LPS:
Torches:
- NY Nicks Torch (Unique Corals)
- Dragon Soul Torch (Aqua SD)
- Supershock Torch (Unique Corals)
- Green Tip Torch (Unique Corals)
- Lightning Tips (Aqua SD)
Ricordea:
- Orange Ricordea Mushroom (Unique Corals)
Rhodactis:
- Bullseye Mushroom (Unique Corals)
- Aussie Fuzzy Shroom (Aqua SD)
Hammers:
- NY Nicks Torch (Unique Corals)
- Purple Wall Hammer (Unique Corals)
- Branching Gold Hammer (Unique Corals)
- Heaven n Hell Mille (Unique Corals)
Cyphastrea
- Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (Unique Corals)
Scoly:
- Ultra Button Scoly (Aqua SD)
Micro Lords:
- Gold Rim Micro Lord (Unique Corals)
Duncan:
- UC Green Duncan (Unique Corals)
Galaxea:
- Gold Tip Galaxea (Unique Corals)
Alveopora
- Stormy Alveopora (Aqua SD)
Blasto:
- Rainbow Ring Blasto (Aqua SD)
Zoas/Palys:
- Little Shop of Horrors (Jason Fox)
- UC Cookie Monster (Unique Corals)
- Sonic Flares (Jason Fox)
- Fireworks Zoa (Aqua SD)
- Radioactive Dragon Eyes (Unique Corals)
- Red Submarine Palys (Aqua SD)
Anemone:
- Rainbow Bubble Tip (Unique Corals)
Last edited:
RodWin007
New Member
Hello Maxine & Geoff,
Thank you for sharing all your info. We are in the process of getting ready for delivery for our Prostar 200 tank. Any suggestions or advice that you may have that could make things easier?
Thanks for any info in advance.
Rodney
OP
OP
craftbrews
Beer-a-pod
I would try to not modify the sump if you can avoid it. Just use the different compartments as they are and it will work great.
For the plumbing, you won't have a lot of choice but to modify some of it since it's metric and convert it over to imperial plumbing if you are in the states.
The tank and stand are great and high quality, no complaints there.
The drain is super loud, I would put gate or ball valves on both returns and dial them in as needed to reduce noise.
Outside of that, very happy with the purchase!
Stay away from a Macro Algae reactor and don't convert to a filter roller if you want to save yourself a huge headache
Just go lowtech with filter socks and a small fuge. Will save you a huge hassle and changing socks every 5 days is honestly not bad, I find it less annoying than using the Clarisea (though I can go 2 months without having to change it which is nice)!Good luck and make a build thread!
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