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

[Reefer525XL]

I have a friend who is using those LED/T5 bulbs and he's happy with them. I didn't want to give up 2 of the 4 T5 bulbs so just got the led strips. Makes the fixture a bit bulkier but doesn't look bad at all.

 

[Broadfield]

I have a friend who is using those LED/T5 bulbs and he's happy with them. I didn't want to give up 2 of the 4 T5 bulbs so just got the led strips. Makes the fixture a bit bulkier but doesn't look bad at all.

It doesn't hurt that the shape of the Aurora and Spectra fixture are set up pretty nice to add those ReefBrites!

 

[Scarybo]

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.

Glad everything is doing better. I'm curious as to why the bio pellets went into overdrive. Was there a significant heat issue when you added MH? Growth spurt on the corals?

 

[Scurvy]

Glad to hear of the rebound but man you you took a big hit. Are you done with Bio Pelets altogether? I know I'd be very gun shy to go back.

 

[Broadfield]

Glad everything is doing better. I'm curious as to why the bio pellets went into overdrive. Was there a significant heat issue when you added MH? Growth spurt on the corals?

Over the course of the day, my temp rises about 3 degrees Fahrenheit because of the addition of the MH. I did notice a little more coral growth and definitely more coralline algae growth when I switched to MH. With my old fixture, I ran a somewhat low percentage. I am a believer that nutrients and light need to somewhat match for optimal coral health. So maybe the low nutrient content was fine with the lower PAR. Then once I switched to MH, the corals weren't getting enough nutrients due to the bio pellets!?! I may never know. Still not sure what was up with the crazy white film/snot... I can only assume too high of a quantity of bio pellets. Let's not forget that I changed sumps late last year. At that time, I changed over to an actual Aquamaxx bio pellet reactor, as opposed to just using their standard media reactor. I simply dumped the current pellets into the new reactor. So it may have been that the bio pellet reactor was more efficient than the media reactor, thus increasing nitrate/phosphate export. And maybe it was all of the above, thus compounding the issue.

Glad to hear of the rebound but man you you took a big hit. Are you done with Bio Pelets altogether? I know I'd be very gun shy to go back.

Not sure on that one. Maybe go back if needed, but only use half of what I did when things were doing well... just to be safe.

 

[Scarybo]

Over the course of the day, my temp rises about 3 degrees Fahrenheit because of the addition of the MH. I did notice a little more coral growth and definitely more coralline algae growth when I switched to MH. With my old fixture, I ran a somewhat low percentage. I am a believer that nutrients and light need to somewhat match for optimal coral health. So maybe the low nutrient content was fine with the lower PAR. Then once I switched to MH, the corals weren't getting enough nutrients due to the bio pellets!?! I may never know. Still not sure what was up with the crazy white film/snot... I can only assume too high of a quantity of bio pellets. Let's not forget that I changed sumps late last year. At that time, I changed over to an actual Aquamaxx bio pellet reactor, as opposed to just using their standard media reactor. I simply dumped the current pellets into the new reactor. So it may have been that the bio pellet reactor was more efficient than the media reactor, thus increasing nitrate/phosphate export. And maybe it was all of the above, thus compounding the issue.



Not sure on that one. Maybe go back if needed, but only use half of what I did when things were doing well... just to be safe.

I'm just speculating but you had several thing in my opinion working together to create the chaos.

• Increased efficiency with the new bio-pellet reactor (lowered nutients)
• Increased heat=increased bacteria growth (white film?)
• Increased PAR =increased coral growth (increased nutrient needs)

I think all of the above resulted in lower available nutrients for the corals. It would be very hard to pinpoint the exact cause.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

I appreciate you breaking it down for me!

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.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

Then it started getting thicker and turning into a clear mucus/snot in my skimmer, reactors etc.

There was someone over on the zeo forums that had the exact same issue. The stuff looked awful lol. Glad to hear it's gone!

 

[Broadfield]

Now that my tank is recovering, I thought it would be best to get back to taking pics! I recently received the Avast Porthole for winning one of the Photo of The Month contests here on R2R. Thought I would give it a shot. I'm definitely not use to doing top down shots... I'll have to keep working at it. I love the Porthole though!

IMG_0522 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

 

[Sharkz]

C'mon Toby...^^^ That picture is spectacular! Gorgeous colors and super clear. Is there anything your NOT good at

 

[hybridazn]

Now that my tank is recovering, I thought it would be best to get back to taking pics! I recently received the Avast Porthole for winning one of the Photo of The Month contests here on R2R. Thought I would give it a shot. I'm definitely not use to doing top down shots... I'll have to keep working at it. I love the Porthole though!

IMG_0522 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Great pic! And congrats on the photo of the month!

 

[Mattres]

Gorgeous photo! The detail in the clown looks great above the Goni.

 

[Maddlesrain]

I love the gonioporas! Do you feed them often?

 

[Broadfield]

I love the gonioporas! Do you feed them often?

I mix several coral foods into one mix and spot feed the tank twice/week. Reef Roids, Coral Frenzy, Reef Blizzard-L etc.

 

[1$adream]

Is the plumbing/pvc sizes for returns and drains all the same across all the Reefer range? Eg: Drain pipe size for a Reefer 170 is the same as a Reefer 350?

 

[Dawsokj1988]

@Broadfield Hey man what size oxydator are you running? I've been using the A for a little while and I'm trying to figure out if it's "leaking" too fast out of the bottom. I've lost about half the fluid in 2-3 days running 2 catalysts using 6% solution. I have the thing sitting in a measuring beaker right now and I'm measuring how much fluid is leaking out the bottom per day.

 

[g5flier]

Over the course of the day, my temp rises about 3 degrees Fahrenheit because of the addition of the MH. I did notice a little more coral growth and definitely more coralline algae growth when I switched to MH. With my old fixture, I ran a somewhat low percentage. I am a believer that nutrients and light need to somewhat match for optimal coral health. So maybe the low nutrient content was fine with the lower PAR. Then once I switched to MH, the corals weren't getting enough nutrients due to the bio pellets!?! I may never know. Still not sure what was up with the crazy white film/snot... I can only assume too high of a quantity of bio pellets. Let's not forget that I changed sumps late last year. At that time, I changed over to an actual Aquamaxx bio pellet reactor, as opposed to just using their standard media reactor. I simply dumped the current pellets into the new reactor. So it may have been that the bio pellet reactor was more efficient than the media reactor, thus increasing nitrate/phosphate export. And maybe it was all of the above, thus compounding the issue.



Not sure on that one. Maybe go back if needed, but only use half of what I did when things were doing well... just to be safe.

Toby, glad to hear your tank is on the rebound. Are you still running the bio-pellets to control nitrates or did you change over to something else? My set up is nearly identical to yours and in the last few days, about 2 weeks after I added more bio-pellets to my Aquamaxx, several corals just don't look good, torches, a scoly, a blasto and a lobo all suddenly looking dismal. I'm going to turn off the reactor for a day or two to see if any changes but wondering if it should just be ditched altogether and start using NoPox or something???

 

[Joaquin Garcia]

Toby, I love your set up. I'm setting up my 450 and wanted to ask you a question about the plumbing. When you did your plumbing with the gray pipes, I saw you used 3/4 in. pipe. I see now you are using 1 in. pipe. Is the 1 in. working out better with the flow and the reactors? I know bigger pipes more water volume. I plan only two reactors. I may add a third gate valve just in case of later upgrades to the sump. I also saw you first used a 3/4 hose out of the pump the first time. You said it was for vibration Do you suggest the hose or hard line all the way. Do you also suggest I go with the 1 in. return? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[enveeRF]

Beautiful setup, great work.

 

[Broadfield]

Is the plumbing/pvc sizes for returns and drains all the same across all the Reefer range? Eg: Drain pipe size for a Reefer 170 is the same as a Reefer 350?

That I'm not sure... I would recommend emailing Red Sea directly.

@Broadfield Hey man what size oxydator are you running? I've been using the A for a little while and I'm trying to figure out if it's "leaking" too fast out of the bottom. I've lost about half the fluid in 2-3 days running 2 catalysts using 6% solution. I have the thing sitting in a measuring beaker right now and I'm measuring how much fluid is leaking out the bottom per day.

I run an A and I use 1 catalyst. I make my own 19.9% solution. Mine definitely does not disappear that fast.

Toby, glad to hear your tank is on the rebound. Are you still running the bio-pellets to control nitrates or did you change over to something else? My set up is nearly identical to yours and in the last few days, about 2 weeks after I added more bio-pellets to my Aquamaxx, several corals just don't look good, torches, a scoly, a blasto and a lobo all suddenly looking dismal. I'm going to turn off the reactor for a day or two to see if any changes but wondering if it should just be ditched altogether and start using NoPox or something???

I am back to running biopellets as my nitrates climbed up to 15.0. I am starting slow with this new batch and will see if running 2/3 of the recommended amount will keep my nitrates low enough. I didn't want to use NoPox as I felt it was just too much work. Biopellets worked great for me for over a year and they are hassle free.

Toby, I love your set up. I'm setting up my 450 and wanted to ask you a question about the plumbing. When you did your plumbing with the gray pipes, I saw you used 3/4 in. pipe. I see now you are using 1 in. pipe. Is the 1 in. working out better with the flow and the reactors? I know bigger pipes more water volume. I plan only two reactors. I may add a third gate valve just in case of later upgrades to the sump. I also saw you first used a 3/4 hose out of the pump the first time. You said it was for vibration Do you suggest the hose or hard line all the way. Do you also suggest I go with the 1 in. return? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Yes, I originally ran a soft hose out of the pump, but that pump was not near as silent as the Vectra. I only ran that Sicce pump for about 2 months before the Vectra pump was released and in my sump. The Vectra pumps are silent, even when hard plumbed... so no need for a soft hose section. I originally had a M1 which had a 3/4" outlet collar... so I ran 3/4 . My flow was sufficient with 2 reactors. When I upgraded to the new sump, a third reactor was added and a L1 to make sure I had sufficient flow. The L1 has a 1" outlet collar... so I ran 1".