OP
OP
blaxsun
10K Club member
Dec 22. Blaxun's Abyss: Year-End Review, Part II - Gear
Aside from adding another EcoTech Radion XR15 G5 Blue to the tank (which seems to have improved overall PAR levels), the three main things I added this year were a Innovative Marine Helio heating system, a Red Sea ReefMat 500 fleece roller (since upgraded to a ReefMat 200) and a OzoTech Poseidon 200 ozone system.
..........
Innovative Marine Helio Heating System
The heating system wasn't something I'd planned on even touching this year, but Innovative Marine was kind of enough to send me one of their new Helio systems this Spring (controller plus 2x 350-watt heaters). After testing it for just 48 hours I found it to be far superior to my current Inkbird/titanium heater setup and swapped out the old system completely. Instead of the wild 1.0-1.5°F temperature swings, the Helio was consistently maintaining 78.0°F within 0.25-0.5°F of all the independent temperature probes/readings. Having the heaters and temperature probes on magnets instead of suction cups has been a huge bonus!
The Helio didn't need any calibration out-of-the-box and has been consistent since day one. While it doesn't have WiFi connectivity, it's rock solid and the one minor alarm it generated this summer was easy to troubleshoot/resolve. I really like the dependability and the fact that if for any reason one of the heaters should fail there's less than zero chance of it impacting the tank. IM has recently released a new version of their controller that let's you use non-IM heaters as well (but the real benefit is with the Helio heaters themselves).
..........
Red Sea ReefMat 500/1200 Fleece Roller
Overall - an extremely worthwhile upgrade, with the bonus that I can monitor it through the ReefBeat app. If you hate cleaning filter socks - this is definitely the upgrade for you! Ease of installation was not quite as easy the video would lead you to believe. Trying to retrofit an existing (active) sump without nicking anything (and potentially causing a leak), working in reduced lighting and space constraints and trying to ensure all the teeny tiny bits of black silicone don't end up everywhere required a second set of hands, a some nets and a few choice colorful metaphors.
The ReefMat 500 fits a lot easier into the sump (you have to remove the motor from the ReefMat 1200, flip it sideways, insert and then rotate down to get in-place). The 1200 also makes it harder to access anything you have in the rear chamber - so it's a bit more juggling to get things in and out when required. If you have a really light bio load the 500 will probably work fine on a 625 or 750, but if you love fish and have a lot of them - you'll want the larger 1200 to avoid having to chance fleece rolls out every 1-2 weeks (right now with the 1200 I'm averaging 25-28 days between fleece rolls).
Unlike what a lot of people have reported, my nitrate levels didn't really chance. The rationale for this is that the fleece is 200-micron whereas the filter socks I was using were 100-micron. So I gain some nitrates for the 200-micron fleece but lose some nitrates by not having it submerged in the water. The sump is probably a little dirtier overall with the addition of the ReefMat compared to filter socks.
While a neat addition, use of the included media tray isn't recommended. Even with bio media it tends to accumulate detritus (etc.) which restricts flow and raises the water level prematurely (leading to anywhere from 50-100% more fleece use - because it hardly gets dirty).
None of the other fleece rollers offer the ease-of-use, performance and functionality of the ReefMats - which is why there were extremely hard to get for the longest time. If you have or are thinking of getting a Red Sea tank - this is a "must have" upgrade that you should budget for (and ideally a G2 tank with the improvements and ReefMat-ready sump).
..........
OzoTech Poseidon 200 Ozone System
This is something I got on a whim, and I largely have @Sean Clark to thank for this! I've only been running it since the summer, but I've already noticed quite a few benefits:
• The water is definitely clearer (I also run a AquaUV 57-watt and carbon in a Nyos Torq reactor)
• There seems to be less coral chemical warfare going on (or at least it's taken care of)
• My oxygen levels have stabilized (within ±20 ORP during a 24-hour period)
• It seems to be destroying a lot of crap in the skimmer as I've gone from having to empty it every 2-3 days to typically 7-8 days (I'd even purchased a second collection container because I was emptying it so frequently).
I have the Poseiden pull in air from the bottom of the tank through the ozone unit and into the top of the silencer on my Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer (I originally had this on the bottom ozone connection port but I inadvertently broke it trying to remove the tubing for cleaning, so I've now retrofitted a much more "idiot-proof" setup where it pulls ozone in through the top and air in through the bottom. The only caveat with running an ozone setup like this is that your skimmer needs to be ozone-compatible with respect to the plastics and construction. You will also need to replace the nylon screw with a titanium one as this will degrade over time.
Some additional benefits from an ozone system:
• Preserves, brightens vibrant coral colors
• Improves water quality for fish
• Returns saltwater to a NSW state, reducing or eliminating the need for water changes
I've been running the Poseiden 200 between 0.1 (max) and 0.4 (max), with a current setting of around 0.35. I may try experimenting next year by running it for a few weeks at higher settings. I have not detected any ozone odor of any kind - either in the fish room or sump itself (I'm hyper sensitive to any smells, so this was always something I was going to immediately sense).
..........
Other minor additions (in no particular order):
• A second Tunze Strong+ magnet scraper (the one with the floating handle; much easier on the hands)
• A second Neptune AFS feeding system so I can dispense pellets on either side of the tank, both with the Printed Reef AFS Feeder Rings (highly recommended).
• A flow aerator from GrowGreenie (this worked exactly as advertised, but created too much mist in my sump and I wasn't happy with the additional condensation around some of the electronics). If you have a sealed tank or area where this isn't an issue, this is definitely a cost-effective upgrade (since it works on any kind of outlet or return pump).
Aside from adding another EcoTech Radion XR15 G5 Blue to the tank (which seems to have improved overall PAR levels), the three main things I added this year were a Innovative Marine Helio heating system, a Red Sea ReefMat 500 fleece roller (since upgraded to a ReefMat 200) and a OzoTech Poseidon 200 ozone system.
..........
Innovative Marine Helio Heating System
The heating system wasn't something I'd planned on even touching this year, but Innovative Marine was kind of enough to send me one of their new Helio systems this Spring (controller plus 2x 350-watt heaters). After testing it for just 48 hours I found it to be far superior to my current Inkbird/titanium heater setup and swapped out the old system completely. Instead of the wild 1.0-1.5°F temperature swings, the Helio was consistently maintaining 78.0°F within 0.25-0.5°F of all the independent temperature probes/readings. Having the heaters and temperature probes on magnets instead of suction cups has been a huge bonus!
The Helio didn't need any calibration out-of-the-box and has been consistent since day one. While it doesn't have WiFi connectivity, it's rock solid and the one minor alarm it generated this summer was easy to troubleshoot/resolve. I really like the dependability and the fact that if for any reason one of the heaters should fail there's less than zero chance of it impacting the tank. IM has recently released a new version of their controller that let's you use non-IM heaters as well (but the real benefit is with the Helio heaters themselves).
..........
Red Sea ReefMat 500/1200 Fleece Roller
Overall - an extremely worthwhile upgrade, with the bonus that I can monitor it through the ReefBeat app. If you hate cleaning filter socks - this is definitely the upgrade for you! Ease of installation was not quite as easy the video would lead you to believe. Trying to retrofit an existing (active) sump without nicking anything (and potentially causing a leak), working in reduced lighting and space constraints and trying to ensure all the teeny tiny bits of black silicone don't end up everywhere required a second set of hands, a some nets and a few choice colorful metaphors.
The ReefMat 500 fits a lot easier into the sump (you have to remove the motor from the ReefMat 1200, flip it sideways, insert and then rotate down to get in-place). The 1200 also makes it harder to access anything you have in the rear chamber - so it's a bit more juggling to get things in and out when required. If you have a really light bio load the 500 will probably work fine on a 625 or 750, but if you love fish and have a lot of them - you'll want the larger 1200 to avoid having to chance fleece rolls out every 1-2 weeks (right now with the 1200 I'm averaging 25-28 days between fleece rolls).
Unlike what a lot of people have reported, my nitrate levels didn't really chance. The rationale for this is that the fleece is 200-micron whereas the filter socks I was using were 100-micron. So I gain some nitrates for the 200-micron fleece but lose some nitrates by not having it submerged in the water. The sump is probably a little dirtier overall with the addition of the ReefMat compared to filter socks.
While a neat addition, use of the included media tray isn't recommended. Even with bio media it tends to accumulate detritus (etc.) which restricts flow and raises the water level prematurely (leading to anywhere from 50-100% more fleece use - because it hardly gets dirty).
None of the other fleece rollers offer the ease-of-use, performance and functionality of the ReefMats - which is why there were extremely hard to get for the longest time. If you have or are thinking of getting a Red Sea tank - this is a "must have" upgrade that you should budget for (and ideally a G2 tank with the improvements and ReefMat-ready sump).
..........
OzoTech Poseidon 200 Ozone System
This is something I got on a whim, and I largely have @Sean Clark to thank for this! I've only been running it since the summer, but I've already noticed quite a few benefits:
• The water is definitely clearer (I also run a AquaUV 57-watt and carbon in a Nyos Torq reactor)
• There seems to be less coral chemical warfare going on (or at least it's taken care of)
• My oxygen levels have stabilized (within ±20 ORP during a 24-hour period)
• It seems to be destroying a lot of crap in the skimmer as I've gone from having to empty it every 2-3 days to typically 7-8 days (I'd even purchased a second collection container because I was emptying it so frequently).
I have the Poseiden pull in air from the bottom of the tank through the ozone unit and into the top of the silencer on my Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer (I originally had this on the bottom ozone connection port but I inadvertently broke it trying to remove the tubing for cleaning, so I've now retrofitted a much more "idiot-proof" setup where it pulls ozone in through the top and air in through the bottom. The only caveat with running an ozone setup like this is that your skimmer needs to be ozone-compatible with respect to the plastics and construction. You will also need to replace the nylon screw with a titanium one as this will degrade over time.
Some additional benefits from an ozone system:
• Preserves, brightens vibrant coral colors
• Improves water quality for fish
• Returns saltwater to a NSW state, reducing or eliminating the need for water changes
I've been running the Poseiden 200 between 0.1 (max) and 0.4 (max), with a current setting of around 0.35. I may try experimenting next year by running it for a few weeks at higher settings. I have not detected any ozone odor of any kind - either in the fish room or sump itself (I'm hyper sensitive to any smells, so this was always something I was going to immediately sense).
..........
Other minor additions (in no particular order):
• A second Tunze Strong+ magnet scraper (the one with the floating handle; much easier on the hands)
• A second Neptune AFS feeding system so I can dispense pellets on either side of the tank, both with the Printed Reef AFS Feeder Rings (highly recommended).
• A flow aerator from GrowGreenie (this worked exactly as advertised, but created too much mist in my sump and I wasn't happy with the additional condensation around some of the electronics). If you have a sealed tank or area where this isn't an issue, this is definitely a cost-effective upgrade (since it works on any kind of outlet or return pump).
Last edited:
