Blaxsun's Abyss: Red Sea 750XXL

[blaxsun]

awesome! forum downsampled the image so hard to read the subtitles.

I'll see what I can do about clearing it up for the next version (possibly make the font size larger as well).

 

[blaxsun]

October 30. They Mostly Come Out At Night. Mostly.

I finally managed to snag a decent shot of our mutant turbo snail (we've named him "Kong"). I was only able to capture him with my iPhone camera because as soon as I turn on the lights in my office he speeds back into his "lair" (the main cave where he hangs out at the back most of the day).

I barely caught these two images (in the second he's already moved down about 2" in just a few seconds). How big is Kong? The shell is easily 4-4.5" in diameter and his royal "slugness" sticks out about a 1/4" in spots. We've had him for just over 2 years now. He was pretty big when we got him as a re-home, and he came from an old tank so I'm guessing he's at least 10 years old (supposedly under the right conditions they can live that long or even longer).


When you're this big... they call you the King... Kong.


You can see a few 2.5" wide hairy mushrooms on the rock in front of him.

I originally thought Kong was a trochus snail, but the shell markings (and its speed) lead me to believe it's most likely a Zebra turbo snail (like this stock image). They can apparently reach 3.5" in size, but Kong is obviously pushing the weight limits...


3.5"? I laugh in your face...

Kong decided to come back out of his lair while I was letting the hound out for a pee break and I managed to snag one last shot of him adjacent to a large 1.5" Mexican turbo snail (in the center just between Kong and the monti). Short of getting him to climb alongside a ruler, this is probably the best I'll be able to achieve in terms of size/scale. Unless he and the abalone decide to pose for pictures, that is.


"Who turned the lights back on?! All that gorgeous algae... my precious!"

 

[Projects with Sam]

OMG Its Huge!

 

[blaxsun]

OMG Its Huge!

"That's no moon... it's a space station..."

 

[Susan Edwards]

huge snail!!

 

[Simon_M]

Pump Speed & Performance
The maximum speed for all return pumps is rated at 0 head height. Head height is the distance between the water level the pump is pumping to the water level of the return outlet(s). All pumps have a performance range - which diminishes the longer the distance and height.


Performance chart for Red Sea's new ReefRun series of return pumps.

Head Height Calculation
There is a very complex formula for calculating head height, but this is a simplified formula that you can use in absence of an actual flow meter.
• (1x vertical feet) + (1x # 90° turns) + (0.5x # 45° turns) + (0.1x horizontal feet)

For example, on my Red Sea 750XXL the head height is calculated as follows:
• (1x 4.5) + (1x 3.0) + (0.5 x 2.0) + (0.1x 3) = 8.8ft (approximate)

 

[Simon_M]

Nice writeup. Do you use the Red Sea Chart or the equivalent one from Sicce? 5500 = 6.0, 7000 = 7.0 and 9000 = 9.0 ?

Sicce use a straight line between the pump without a load and the head height where the pump no longer delivers anything. Red Sea use these two points but they draw the Chart with a curved line. It shows an increase (optimistic at best) for each pump that is up to 1,500 litres/minute higher.

 

[crabgrass]

Do you have a listing of all of of the coral you have stocked in this beast?

 

[R33f_Hacker]

Also may be worth talking to Steve at precision converting about his custom cut filter paper. I get 100yards of 100 micron at 5" wide from him for a fraction of production filter floss rolls. whether it'll work in a RollerMat is another question.

@Projects with Sam - I have the trigger system sump filter roller. I believe it is also 200 microns. It doesn’t keep the water very clean. Have you had success with the 100 Micons roll? I just emailed Precision to see if he can make one for trigger systems. Thanks for the info.

 

[Projects with Sam]

@Projects with Sam - I have the trigger system sump filter roller. I believe it is also 200 microns. It doesn’t keep the water very clean. Have you had success with the 100 Micons roll? I just emailed Precision to see if he can make one for trigger systems. Thanks for the info.

yes! My DIY roller is still going strong! I don't have any complaints about my water clarity. I am in an older tank but it does have the low iron glass.

 

[R33f_Hacker]

yes! My DIY roller is still going strong! I don't have any complaints about my water clarity. I am in an older tank but it does have the low iron glass.

Did you notice a big difference from the 200 micron to 100?

 

[Projects with Sam]

Did you notice a big difference from the 200 micron to 100?

I don't think I really noticed the difference.
Wish I could say I had an epiphany moment but I'm not even sure I noticed the difference.

 

[crabgrass]

Custom UV Setup (closed loop)
I've mounted (and this is the only place I drilled into my cabinet) a AquaUltraviolet 57-watt UV (3/4" barb model). Upside down. And yes, this is not the recommended position (while it works, there's a few things you have to do to properly prime it to avoid air pockets). Water is drawn from the media chamber and returned to the skimmer chamber; in this manner, UV-filtered water can never return through the weir back into the media chamber. Along the left you can see my Poseidon 200 ozone system that feeds into the top (not bottom) of my Nyos Quantum 160 protein skimmer. Despite being slightly undersized for my stocking, the ozone actually destroys a lot of skim on contact - so I typically get a week (sometimes more) between collection cup empties (and I do recommend buying an extra collection cup to make swaps easier).

@blaxsun - quick question. How did you physically attach the UV to your setup? On the ceiling of my stand, is a half-inch rubber/pastic mat. It is screwed into other parts of the stand.

I am not 100% sure that is sturdy enough for me to screw in/attach UV directly. The other consideration I have is potentially attaching a board to mounts within the stand (or the top all together), and then attaching UV to that.

Also, what do you do special to prime the UV if its mounted upside down like that.