Beginnings of the Acro Reef --- RS Reefer 425

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

Great project Vinny! Any chance you can share your flow programming with the vortechs on the back? I currently have mine set up like a DJ with his headphones and curious how they do on the back wall.

Thank you!

I haven't done any special programming on those pumps just yet. Actually, right now I have only 1 of the 2 running. These came from my previous tank and after being left dry for over a year, one of them will need a new wet side.

When both were running, I ran them at 40% and did not have too much stand getting pushed to the back of the tank. One of the reasons why I went with the larger grain sand was because I wanted something "heavier" and knew about the risks of the sandstorm. My hopes is that once the tank is cycled and the corals go-in, there will be enough flow deflection and bacterial weight to keep the sand in-place...but we'll see how that works out. ;Bookworm

Once I get it figured out, I would be happy to share the details with you.

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

My god that’s like 10k ghl gear you better put another 10k of corals in there

The things we do for our coral...

 

[Whipples]

Thank you!

I haven't done any special programming on those pumps just yet. Actually, right now I have only 1 of the 2 running. These came from my previous tank and after being left dry for over a year, one of them will need a new wet side.

When both were running, I ran them at 40% and did not have too much stand getting pushed to the back of the tank. One of the reasons why I went with the larger grain sand was because I wanted something "heavier" and knew about the risks of the sandstorm. My hopes is that once the tank is cycled and the corals go-in, there will be enough flow deflection and bacterial weight to keep the sand in-place...but we'll see how that works out. ;Bookworm

Once I get it figured out, I would be happy to share the details with you.

Cool, thanks for that. I still run your GHL Mitras program from the FB group- I assume you plan on doing that for this tank as well? I never thought about the smaller fixture for between the two larger ones. When I get back into the coral scene i'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks again for sharing this with us!

 

[Scdell]

Thank you!

Positioning of the 7206 (6-cluster) light makes a big difference. The way I have it placed gives me a coverage of about 36" front to back and 24" left to right. I chose to do it this way for two reasons; aesthetics and more space for additional lighting. By placing those fixtures perpendicular to the length of the tank, I was able to fit the 7204 model which gives me extra focused light towards the middle.

Since the overflow in the middle takes up about 4" of depth real estate, I thought this would be the ideal choice instead of going with 2x 7206 positioned parallel. Even though 2x 7206 is perfectly doable for this size tank, having that 3rd light in the middle will give me additional overlapping light, more even distribution and more fine-tuning control for spectrum and intensity. The tank is going to be 95% SPS so the extra light will only help maintain proper coloring on the undersides of the coral tissue.

I'm really curious about this light setup and how intense you'll be running the Mitras.
I have two over a 150 gallon tall. Running them perpendicular also. About 8 1/2 inches high.
These lights are strong. I made a mistake and upped the UV for too long of a time period and basically cooked some corals.

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

Cool, thanks for that. I still run your GHL Mitras program from the FB group- I assume you plan on doing that for this tank as well? I never thought about the smaller fixture for between the two larger ones. When I get back into the coral scene i'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks again for sharing this with us!

Yes, I'll still be using the same schedule. The only changes I plan to make is with the initial brightness. Since this tank will have the overlapping light of 3 fixtures, I'll likely have to start at 50% or 60% and see how the starting coral react to it over a 4 week period.

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

I'm really curious about this light setup and how intense you'll be running the Mitras.
I have two over a 150 gallon tall. Running them perpendicular also. About 8 1/2 inches high.
These lights are strong. I made a mistake and upped the UV for too long of a time period and basically cooked some corals.

For their size, they do pack a nice punch.

The UVs on these lights are very potent (385nm) so that's a channel I'll be keeping a close eye on. I believe the original light schedule has a UV peak of around 60% which may be too intense for some pieces. Depending on how the first batch of coral react, that channel may be reduced.

 

[LeprechaunReefer]

Thank you!

I haven't done any special programming on those pumps just yet. Actually, right now I have only 1 of the 2 running. These came from my previous tank and after being left dry for over a year, one of them will need a new wet side.

When both were running, I ran them at 40% and did not have too much stand getting pushed to the back of the tank. One of the reasons why I went with the larger grain sand was because I wanted something "heavier" and knew about the risks of the sandstorm. My hopes is that once the tank is cycled and the corals go-in, there will be enough flow deflection and bacterial weight to keep the sand in-place...but we'll see how that works out. ;Bookworm

Once I get it figured out, I would be happy to share the details with you.

I've got a 525xl and am running a Profilux 4e. I still have not unlocked the full potential of the 4e as i'm a little slow on the tech side (just need to sit down and spend some time on it). My question to you, though, is what made you decide to put the MP40s on the back? I currently have 2 on my 525, but placed on the sides. I haven't seen a ton of information about the changes this will make for the flow in tank (besides the obvious directional changes). I also have the y-splitter for the return. Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

@LeprechaunReefer
I decided to put those pumps on the back mainly because I didn't want anything obstructing the side-views of the tank. On my last tank I had them on the sides and it worked out nicely, but was a pain to keep clean and take side-shot photos without the pump in the way. Sometimes water would spill over the edge of the tank when I'd be working on it and if it wasn't cleaned perfectly I would see some salt creep on the edge of the pump.

Having them on the back wall does however have its downsides. Since the flow has a much shorter run in this position, the current has an easier time deflecting off the glass which can make flow adjustment a bit trickier. Over the past week, I have seen some sand get pushed to the back of the tank. After some more adjustment and moving the pump slightly higher I was able to get the sand pile issue under control.

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

Build update: Bacteria & Ammonia added. Cycling in progress...

Tomorrow will mark the 2nd completed week of the cycling stage. We're getting there!

To kickstart the cycling phase, I added a hefty dose of Fauna Marin Bacto Blend. In order to seed the tank with enough bacteria, I followed their "New aquarium" dose schedule which involves daily dosing for the first three days followed by weekly doses thereafter.

After the 2nd day of bacteria dosing, I poured in 25ml of Ammonia to help feed the bacteria. By day 7, I did a quick test and found that my ammonia was back down to (0) so I added 25ml more.

Fast forward to today and...we have Nitrates!

Maybe in another 2 - 3 weeks, the first set of fish will go in. I'm thinking to start with a trio of chromis.

On the meantime, here's an updated set of photos:

 

[KenO]

Question about controlling the LX7 lights. If you didn't install the PLM-PWC (For wireless Mitras LX7 control from ProfiLux), how would you control the lights? Would it be from the GCC or phone apps? Is there an advantage to control the lights directly from the ProfiLux?

 

[Vinny@GHLUSA]

@KenO
The LX7s can be used as standalone fixtures because they also have built-in wifi and cloud connectivity options. If I wanted to control them separately from the P4, I can do that through the same GHL Connect app that I would use for connecting to the ProfiLux.

Convenience is the main reason for getting a PWC card. It allows you to wirelessly control and setup light schedules through the ProfiLux instead of connecting directly to the light. One less thing to connect to.

 

[fishlover1478]

what fish do you plan to have?

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Following along, love this build. So far I have the profilux and KH director, need to still get the mitras and the slave dosers.

 

[Scdell]

what fish do you plan to have?

Yep, fish are important. They create the "movement"
There needs to be a lot of thought put into them.

 

[KenO]

When I look at the spread of the LX 7206 it says 35″ x 23″. If the light is mounted perpendicular to the tank like Vinny has it mounted, is the 35" spread to the left and right of the fixture?

 

[nmo0ory]

amazing build, please share with us as much information as possible for the ghl controller and customization it can do
becouse i am planing now to get the full GHL to my system

 

[Scdell]

amazing build, please share with us as much information as possible for the ghl controller and customization it can do
becouse i am planing now to get the full GHL to my system

Do it, take the plunge. It's worth every penny.

 

[nmo0ory]

Do it, take the plunge. It's worth every penny.

for sure i will
best thing i love about it i can buy part by part
first of all i will buy KHD as its the most impotent for me right now to monitory my KH then i will wait for ION i really love it because its going to test for Potassium as well, i am running Zeovit so it will be very helpful to test this
last thing i will by the Profilux

 

[Scdell]

for sure i will
best thing i love about it i can buy part by part
first of all i will buy KHD as its the most impotent for me right now to monitory my KH then i will wait for ION i really love it because its going to test for Potassium as well, i am running Zeovit so it will be very helpful to test this
last thing i will by the Profilux

I have the P4, deluxe kit, Vortech controller. Waiting on the Ion director. I was thinking about the KHD, but I'm running a calcium reactor and I have that dialed in pretty good for now.

 

[nmo0ory]

I have the P4, deluxe kit, Vortech controller. Waiting on the Ion director. I was thinking about the KHD, but I'm running a calcium reactor and I have that dialed in pretty good for now.

very nice
i can controller Vortech mp40 with GHL ?
now i have only reefbot that test my aquarium and change dose manual