Broadfield's Red Sea Reefer 450 Build - OCD Inspired... Going Back To a Reef

[amnesiac]

Hey Toby. Sorry to hear that youre having issues with the tank. Hope you get your hands around it. Couple of questions if you dont mind.

1. What T5 bulbs and color scheme were you running with the Aurora??? I myself have an ATI Powermodule and just cannot seem to replicate the AMAZING color you had while using the Aurora.

2. I've read that you moved the DOS downstairs into the basement. I know that you are also using a DDR that is inside the stand. Did you have to use an extension for the 6 pin DDR to DOS cable and if so where did you get it??? I've looked and cant find a Neptune branded extension cable and I've also tried to just find the connectors to fabricate my own with no luck.

Appreciate the help

 

[boozeman27]

Hey Toby. Sorry to hear that youre having issues with the tank. Hope you get your hands around it. Couple of questions if you dont mind.

1. What T5 bulbs and color scheme were you running with the Aurora??? I myself have an ATI Powermodule and just cannot seem to replicate the AMAZING color you had while using the Aurora.

2. I've read that you moved the DOS downstairs into the basement. I know that you are also using a DDR that is inside the stand. Did you have to use an extension for the 6 pin DDR to DOS cable and if so where did you get it??? I've looked and cant find a Neptune branded extension cable and I've also tried to just find the connectors to fabricate my own with no luck.

Appreciate the help

I too would love these details , as I have an Aurora on the way. Also, any details on all of the settings you set up for the led portion too (moonlights, spectrum, running times). Thanks!

 

[Krazie4Acans]

Toby you mentioned you think you got your tank issues under control. Do you mind posting what was going on an dwhat your solution was to fix it?

 

[Broadfield]

Hey Toby. Sorry to hear that youre having issues with the tank. Hope you get your hands around it. Couple of questions if you dont mind.

1. What T5 bulbs and color scheme were you running with the Aurora??? I myself have an ATI Powermodule and just cannot seem to replicate the AMAZING color you had while using the Aurora.

2. I've read that you moved the DOS downstairs into the basement. I know that you are also using a DDR that is inside the stand. Did you have to use an extension for the 6 pin DDR to DOS cable and if so where did you get it??? I've looked and cant find a Neptune branded extension cable and I've also tried to just find the connectors to fabricate my own with no luck.

Appreciate the help

1. I was using all Giesemann Aquablue-Coral T5s and then used the blue LED channels to get the color spectrum I wanted. However, the LED section on the Aurora is a lot more robust than the Powermodule.... and different colors of blues on top of that. So unfortunately I'm not sure that my settings for the Aurora are going to do you any good on the Powermodule.

2. I did not have to use an extension cable... the DDR and DOS are only about 3-4 feet apart. If needed, I would of just cut the cable in half and then extend the wires to the desired length.

I too would love these details , as I have an Aurora on the way. Also, any details on all of the settings you set up for the led portion too (moonlights, spectrum, running times). Thanks!

I pretty much ran an equal percentage of T5 channels, using all Aquablue-Coral bulbs, accompanied by a slightly higher percentage of both blue LED channels. I did not run the white LED channel at all.

Toby you mentioned you think you got your tank issues under control. Do you mind posting what was going on an dwhat your solution was to fix it?

I want to give it at least another week to confirm my findings. I will post it here though.

 

[amnesiac]

Thanks Toby!!!

 

[Broadfield]

Thanks Toby!!!

No problem... please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

Hey bud, what's your home thermostat set to? I'm trying to determine if I'd need a chiller or not if I went the MH route. Do you notice the room 'feeling' warmer when the lights are on full blast?

 

[Broadfield]

Hey bud, what's your home thermostat set to? I'm trying to determine if I'd need a chiller or not if I went the MH route. Do you notice the room 'feeling' warmer when the lights are on full blast?

It's still in the 60's for a high here, so I won't know until it gets warmer and I have the AC on. I really only feel the heat of the lights when I'm standing next to the tank.

 

[andrew james]

Hey bud, what's your home thermostat set to? I'm trying to determine if I'd need a chiller or not if I went the MH route. Do you notice the room 'feeling' warmer when the lights are on full blast?

I know you didn't ask but I thought I'd share since I think I use the same light. I run a 48" Spectra over my tank here in Atlanta, GA. My Nest thermostat is set to keep the house at 75 in both summer and winter. Using only a fan sitting on a shelf next to the tank and aimed at the waters surface I'm able to maintain a water temp of 78.5 -79.5. The fan is controlled by my Apex to turn on when the water temp reaches 79.3 and off at 78.8 with a 5 minute delay on both on and off. This causes me to evaporate around 2.5 gallons per day but easily keeps my temps stable. My ATO is plumbed directly from my RO holding tank so it's not a big deal.

 

[Scarybo]

How's the tank? Hopefully the issues are resolved.

 

[IvanW]

Hi Broadfield what is that gizmo you use to clean your sand bed with. I know it is in the thread somewhere just don't have the time right now to look for it.Thanks

 

[Reefer525XL]

Hi Broadfield what is that gizmo you use to clean your sand bed with. I know it is in the thread somewhere just don't have the time right now to look for it.Thanks

Kent Marine Sea Squirt Feeder

 

[DipSpit]

DISCLAIMER: I did not read through 46 pages. Only about 5. So, apologies in advance.

Can you touch on how the graphs were displayed? Apex? I have the apex but how would I create a display like that?

 

[Broadfield]

Hi Broadfield what is that gizmo you use to clean your sand bed with. I know it is in the thread somewhere just don't have the time right now to look for it.Thanks

 

[Broadfield]

How's the tank? Hopefully the issues are resolved.

The tank is under control now and back to doing great. I lost several large chalices, a couple of wall hammers, some heads off of other euphyllias, some acans, all of my brain corals except for one. Several other things also. I came close to losing my 10" red planet, but it is on the mend. It had zero polyp extension for about 2-3 months.... they just started coming out last week and extending more every day. It's slowly starting to color back up.

I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was definitely related to my bio pellets. I had been running them for over a year with zero issues. Then it's like they kicked into super overdrive and my tank was severely deprived of nutrients. Even feeding heavy and spot feeding corals didn't help. I started getting a white film on the glass, sump, skimmer etc. A tale-tale sign that you are overdoing it a little on the bio pellets. Then it started getting thicker and turning into a clear mucus/snot in my skimmer, reactors etc. It was causing my filter socks to clog much faster. So I cut the bio pellets in half what I normally run. The film started to go away within a couple of days... so I thought I was on the mend at that point. Then it went into overdrive and my socks were clogging every 12 hours and the skimmer needed emptying about as often. The white film on the glass needed wiped off every 12 hours also. In a last ditch effort, I took the bio pellets off line and dumped them in the trash. Very next day the tank was completely clear and I had polyp extension on corals that I hadn't had in weeks. This whole event took place over a 2-3 month period and I was racking my brain for answers the entire time. I was testing daily, but my nitrate and phosphate numbers were kind of jumping all over the place. I'm still not sure why that was happening with my testing, but it definitely did not help in trying to narrow down my issue. I also switched over to MH right before this happened. So that was in the back of my mind also.

 

[Broadfield]

DISCLAIMER: I did not read through 46 pages. Only about 5. So, apologies in advance.

Can you touch on how the graphs were displayed? Apex? I have the apex but how would I create a display like that?

Simply download the Apex app and there's a little heart beat symbol in the top corner of the main display panel. Click on that and you have it. Note: It is not the Fusion app.

 

[Reefer525XL]

I think you mentioned you were running the Giesemann 21k mh bulbs but I don't recall reading about which t5's you are using.

 

[Broadfield]

I think you mentioned you were running the Giesemann 21k mh bulbs but I don't recall reading about which t5's you are using.

I am running all Giesemann Actinic Blue.

 

[Reefer525XL]

I am running all Giesemann Actinic Blue.

Thank you, I just got the Spectra and Im running same T5's but 20k Radium and 2 ReefBrite LED.


Reefer 525XL -5-17-2017-3 by Reefer525XL, on Flickr

 

[Broadfield]

Thank you, I just got the Spectra and Im running same T5's but 20k Radium and 2 ReefBrite LED.


Reefer 525XL -5-17-2017-3 by Reefer525XL, on Flickr

Nice! Technically I am currently running two Actinics on the inside and two of the new Biotek Marine LED T5 bulbs on the outside. So it's the same affect as the ReefBrites, but without having to add anything additional to the fixture. I'm running the all blue.