DF Red Sea Reefer 250

[Flameback Pair]

@Difrano I love your selection of fishes!!

 

[RL6723]

Thanks! I really like how the tank is coming along, livestock is doing great, my only issue is cabinet space at the moment, today during lunch had a talk with the boss about an extra Ikea cabinet and she is starting to get sold to the idea, maybe by mid August I can get it installed, I will have 4 crazy weeks 1 vacation, 3 commissioning of a new brewhouse, I want to change those:

• Redesign the right part of the cabinet and do an equipment only cabinet there.
• Remove the standard ATO reservoir that is giving me headaches to access the sump, and use it to add more sump space maybe converting it into an extended refugium.
• On the new cabinet place a new ATO, reservoir and all the food, and testers.

Regarding nutrients I was feeding just enough before, but the past 3 weeks I am feeding for champs, 3 times a day: Midday Nori pellets for my Tang, mid afternoon frozen LRS reef frenzy, and in evening a mix of Reef Nutrition flakes, pellets and nori pellets.
My GHA is exploding and have green film algae growing the glass like everyday. I think they are outcompeting the Caulerpa in the sump. So I am revising what's going on. Tank is still very new so I was expecting those struggles, especially with algae and Cyano, my only concern is Dinos I lost the fight once and don't want to repeat it, but reading here in R2R I found good info on how to fight them.

Thanks! I really like how the tank is coming along, livestock is doing great, my only issue is cabinet space at the moment, today during lunch had a talk with the boss about an extra Ikea cabinet and she is starting to get sold to the idea, maybe by mid August I can get it installed, I will have 4 crazy weeks 1 vacation, 3 commissioning of a new brewhouse, I want to change those:

• Redesign the right part of the cabinet and do an equipment only cabinet there.
• Remove the standard ATO reservoir that is giving me headaches to access the sump, and use it to add more sump space maybe converting it into an extended refugium.
• On the new cabinet place a new ATO, reservoir and all the food, and testers.

Regarding nutrients I was feeding just enough before, but the past 3 weeks I am feeding for champs, 3 times a day: Midday Nori pellets for my Tang, mid afternoon frozen LRS reef frenzy, and in evening a mix of Reef Nutrition flakes, pellets and nori pellets.
My GHA is exploding and have green film algae growing the glass like everyday. I think they are outcompeting the Caulerpa in the sump. So I am revising what's going on. Tank is still very new so I was expecting those struggles, especially with algae and Cyano, my only concern is Dinos I lost the fight once and don't want to repeat it, but reading here in R2R I found good info on how to fight them.

Thanks! I really like how the tank is coming along, livestock is doing great, my only issue is cabinet space at the moment, today during lunch had a talk with the boss about an extra Ikea cabinet and she is starting to get sold to the idea, maybe by mid August I can get it installed, I will have 4 crazy weeks 1 vacation, 3 commissioning of a new brewhouse, I want to change those:

• Redesign the right part of the cabinet and do an equipment only cabinet there.
• Remove the standard ATO reservoir that is giving me headaches to access the sump, and use it to add more sump space maybe converting it into an extended refugium.
• On the new cabinet place a new ATO, reservoir and all the food, and testers.

Regarding nutrients I was feeding just enough before, but the past 3 weeks I am feeding for champs, 3 times a day: Midday Nori pellets for my Tang, mid afternoon frozen LRS reef frenzy, and in evening a mix of Reef Nutrition flakes, pellets and nori pellets.
My GHA is exploding and have green film algae growing the glass like everyday. I think they are outcompeting the Caulerpa in the sump. So I am revising what's going on. Tank is still very new so I was expecting those struggles, especially with algae and Cyano, my only concern is Dinos I lost the fight once and don't want to repeat it, but reading here in R2R I found good info on how to fight them.

I totally agree, back when everybody strived for undetectable nutrients I got dinos and ended up breaking that tank down. I believe it was me being over cautious about feeding as well as trying to get the magical 0 reads on nitrates and phos. My corals struggled and never had good coloration and when the dinos hit it choked everything out. I wanted to do a seperate equipment cabinet, but my boss too said no way lol you definitely want to ditch that stock ATO, I ended up ordering a reservoir from advanced acrylics. I dont have it yet, but it is super slim and will fit perfectly next to the stand. Not to mention they look awesome too. That sounds like a busy month!! Its hard to find time as it is between work and my son so I cant imagine adding more into the mix. Keep doing what you are doing though the tank looks nice and happy!!

 

[Flameback Pair]

Since we’re on the subject of adding cabinets, I made a very brief announcement on post #388 of my build thread. On my IKEA, and connected to the other two cabinets, I will have a 12V electromagnetic lock switched by a keyed switch wired to the a BOB. I have the parts ordered. It will lock all the cabinet doors.

 

[Difrano]

I totally agree, back when everybody strived for undetectable nutrients I got dinos and ended up breaking that tank down. I believe it was me being over cautious about feeding as well as trying to get the magical 0 reads on nitrates and phos. My corals struggled and never had good coloration and when the dinos hit it choked everything out. I wanted to do a seperate equipment cabinet, but my boss too said no way lol you definitely want to ditch that stock ATO, I ended up ordering a reservoir from advanced acrylics. I dont have it yet, but it is super slim and will fit perfectly next to the stand. Not to mention they look awesome too. That sounds like a busy month!! Its hard to find time as it is between work and my son so I cant imagine adding more into the mix. Keep doing what you are doing though the tank looks nice and happy!!

Yes is going to be long month ahead but it pays the tank bills . Yep Dinos are my worst nightmare, my cube was always high on nutrients and I was not chasing that magical 0 number, I even like to have some GHA around it doesn't dislike me, I only kept Softs and a few hardy LPS so never paid attention, I was working away for long time periods and my mother in love was taking care of the feeding, she was way overfeeding so when I came back after a couple of weeks the GHA was exploding, so I told her to reduce the quantity and to feed only every 2 days, I was loving that my GHA was disappearing the following weeks until one week my wife called me that the tank was growing a nasty brown algae, we did a facetime and to looked like it was the GHA dying, I did not know about Dinos at that time, a couple of weeks laterI came back home and the tank was literally covered wall to wall bottom to top in this stringy bubbly algae, I started treating it as cyano and BHA, so lees feeding nopox and all that crap.... big mistake... by the time I learned what Dinos were was too late, I battle them for months until broke down the tank and reset the tank. It managed to kill even the GSP from my tank, those things are impossible to kill.....

 

[Difrano]

Quick update, been on vacation at North Captiva for the past week. I am terrified to come back to a mass death tank but at the same time I am so relieved that I got an APEX, I have been checking every 4 hours and all is looking good, the AFS, Pumps, Return, light power consumption, dosing, trident and my AFS. The only weird thing is that I setup my Echo Show in front on my tank and since the echo show camera looks up i but some books to pint it straight to the tank. 6 hours after leaving home I drop in the camera to notice that is not looking at the tank... I think my cat knocked it over ;Cat.

This weekend after I come back from vacation I will do a update on the tank. I am 100% sure that after a week the tank will be a mess with film algae on the glass.

 

[Flameback Pair]

Quick update, been on vacation at North Captiva for the past week. I am terrified to come back to a mass death tank but at the same time I am so relieved that I got an APEX, I have been checking every 4 hours and all is looking good, the AFS, Pumps, Return, light power consumption, dosing, trident and my AFS. The only weird thing is that I setup my Echo Show in front on my tank and since the echo show camera looks up i but some books to pint it straight to the tank. 6 hours after leaving home I drop in the camera to notice that is not looking at the tank... I think my cat knocked it over ;Cat.

This weekend after I come back from vacation I will do a update on the tank. I am 100% sure that after a week the tank will be a mess with film algae on the glass.

@Difrano I have a terrible time getting someone to tank sit while I’m gone. I no longer trust my dad God bless him. Our LFS charges $10 every time they come out when they tank sit.

 

[revhtree]

Thanks for sharing your build!

 

[RL6723]

@Difrano I have a terrible time getting someone to tank sit while I’m gone. I no longer trust my dad God bless him. Our LFS charges $10 every time they come out when they tank sit.

Id definitely pay $10 to have somebody with knowledge come check the tank once a day!

 

[Difrano]

Post vacation update:
FTS:

So I went on vacation from 07/10/2020to 07/17/2020, we went to North Captiva Island 3 1/2 hours from Orlando only accessible by boat or by ferry. So I considered my tank ready for a week vacation away as I stated on this post:

Quick update, been on vacation at North Captiva for the past week. I am terrified to come back to a mass death tank but at the same time I am so relieved that I got an APEX, I have been checking every 4 hours and all is looking good, the AFS, Pumps, Return, light power consumption, dosing, trident and my AFS. The only weird thing is that I setup my Echo Show in front on my tank and since the echo show camera looks up i but some books to pint it straight to the tank. 6 hours after leaving home I drop in the camera to notice that is not looking at the tank... I think my cat knocked it over ;Cat.

This weekend after I come back from vacation I will do a update on the tank. I am 100% sure that after a week the tank will be a mess with film algae on the glass.

So today when we arrived at home I was really excited to check how the tank was and what was left. Well when we opened the door there was a terrible noise coming form the living room, like a grinding machine running full speed! When I arrived at the tank the water was completely white, I almost died thinking here it is my tank crashed and I a soup of dead fish, corals and inverts, when I came closer the noise was coming from the sump and noticed that the white water was due to micro bubbles coming from the return pump nozzles and the fish were alive, so then I realized that the return must be running dry as soon as I opened the cabinet door noticed the ATO reservoir was a little less than half full when it should have been almost empty, so the only piece of equipment I did not automate on my RSR failed! The default ATO float valve was stuck and did not refill the tank so the return pump chamber dried out... Good thing is wife was afraid that everything was lost and she approved the IKEA cabinet and the budget to automate ATO .

I must have noticed that something was wrong with the tank because my magnesium was increasing and salinity was increasing too:

I should have set an alarm for the return pump wattage as you can see on this chart is easy to identify when the pump started running dry:

Anyways I did not had someone to call in case of emergency (bad from me) so it was better not to know that the tank was having an issue.

I am happy that everything on the tank was OK no looses and my corals look like they liked the salinity increase so I will push up the salinity a little on the upcoming weeks.

Tank update:

My parameters:
Temp: 77.5 - 78.5 F. Apex
Salinity: Apex: 33
pH: 8.05 Day - 7.7 Night Apex
Alk: 7.6 Apex
Ca: 475 Apex
Mg: 1349 Apex
PO4: 0.09 Hanna
NO3: 2 Nyos

So I was able to raise my nutrients a little by feeding heavy and only running the skimmer overnight, I am happy with those values, salt is a little low due to the ATO disaster I would like to slowly ramp it up back to 1.026.

Equipment:

My only change since last update is that I added a DIY battery backup for my MP10 in case there was a power outage when I was away the MP10 would keep running at least for 46 hours, I used this from amazon:

Amazon product

Also had to replace my first ALK reagent on my Trident and it lasted 1 month as expected, I also 3D printed and installed the needle guides on the Trident.

Livestock:

I added a new frag that now don't remember the name of it ;Facepalm, nothing else changed. I haven't seen my 2 YWG and my pistol in a long time, this time I think they are gone... I will give them some more time to reappear if not I will consider replacing them.

Tank status:

Well the cyano made its appearance at DT during vacation, It started filling the sand around the GSP rock and the glass around it, the green film algae on the DT is not as bad as before. I will start fighting the cyano with siphoning the sand and basting the rocks, I hope I can fight it this way, if not I can start dosing Vibrant or MB7 I have a bottle of each one because I knew I would be in cyano world at this time on the tank.

My urchin is growing and getting fatter and stronger, he unglued a Zoa frag and a GSP frag and took them on a ride.

So far I like my tank is maturing the way as I expected and I am having lots of fun with it. Some pictures:

Cyano Issue:

Urchi spreading the Cyano happines:

I am in love with him:

There she is thinking on how to murder me:

From right to left Zoa, Zoa both ripped by Urchi, GSP rock, Xenia rock, all over the place Cyano

 

[Flameback Pair]

@Difrano close call on your ATO. I hope you didn’t damage your return pump. I tried a little vinegar in my ATO reservoir once and it gummed up the ATO pump which then quit on me while I was out of town. The sump level went down and exposed a heater burning out the heater element and melting its suction cups.

 

[Difrano]

@Difrano close call on your ATO. I hope you didn’t damage your return pump. I tried a little vinegar in my ATO reservoir once and it gummed up the ATO pump which then quit on me while I was out of town. The sump level went down and exposed a heater burning out the heater element and melting its suction cups.

At the moment I am doing heavy maintenance to the tank, I am about to open the return pump and check the status, it has been working fine since I refilled the sump, good thing is that living on Florida I don't need to use a heater so that part is spared. I will let you know after I check the pump.

One question, did you bought a Neptune ATK? Since I have the Apex make sense to use the ATK and the awesome thing is that it comes with a FMM module, but the reviews are mixed, so IDK if to go full DIY.

 

[mdromaine55]

Nice holders for the Hanna Testers....

 

[Flameback Pair]

At the moment I am doing heavy maintenance to the tank, I am about to open the return pump and check the status, it has been working fine since I refilled the sump, good thing is that living on Florida I don't need to use a heater so that part is spared. I will let you know after I check the pump.

One question, did you bought a Neptune ATK? Since I have the Apex make sense to use the ATK and the awesome thing is that it comes with a FMM module, but the reviews are mixed, so IDK if to go full DIY.

@Difrano what is your opinion of the eFlux pump? I wonder how to tell if there’s damage. You are fortunate enough to not need heaters, they are the least reliable piece of equipment yet they are very necessary for livestock comfort. Although the livestock can usually go through up to 24 hours without heat with no set back as long as the temperature drop is only around 10 degrees.

As far as the ATK, I have one but haven’t used it yet. From what I hear once you get it setup correctly it runs great.

 

[Difrano]

@Difrano what is your opinion of the eFlux pump? I wonder how to tell if there’s damage. You are fortunate enough to not need heaters, they are the least reliable piece of equipment yet they are very necessary for livestock comfort. Although the livestock can usually go through up to 24 hours without heat with no set back as long as the temperature drop is only around 10 degrees.

As far as the ATK, I have one but haven’t used it yet. From what I hear once you get it setup correctly it runs great.

So far the eFlux has been an awesome piece of equipment, I had running dry twice, once for a day and this time for about 2 days and no issues. It is also super silent.

Best way to know if there is damage:

• After I disassembled the pump checked impeller and moved the axe manually, there should be no noises of resistance.
• When running checked that I am getting the same flow always, didn't need to change the adjustment on the return valve to keep same level on the overflow.
• With APEX current and wattage monitor, compared the chart of Amps and Watts before and after the pump running dry and there was no change on power consumption.

I really like the Apex, is like what I do everyday but for fish tanks

 

[Difrano]

Nice holders for the Hanna Testers....

I 3D printed them myself, if you pay for shipping I can print some free ones for you.

 

[Flameback Pair]

I 3D printed them myself, if you pay for shipping I can print some free ones for you.

@mdromaine55 I had @Difrano 3D print me a couple Hanna holders and a float switch holder. They are really nice and he just charged for shipping.

 

[Difrano]

Thanks for sharing your build!

Thank you for stopping by my build @revhtree , it is an honor to receive you visit!

I also have few updates on tank but I am super busy with work at the moment.

Cheers

 

[RL6723]

Post vacation update:
FTS:

So I went on vacation from 07/10/2020to 07/17/2020, we went to North Captiva Island 3 1/2 hours from Orlando only accessible by boat or by ferry. So I considered my tank ready for a week vacation away as I stated on this post:



So today when we arrived at home I was really excited to check how the tank was and what was left. Well when we opened the door there was a terrible noise coming form the living room, like a grinding machine running full speed! When I arrived at the tank the water was completely white, I almost died thinking here it is my tank crashed and I a soup of dead fish, corals and inverts, when I came closer the noise was coming from the sump and noticed that the white water was due to micro bubbles coming from the return pump nozzles and the fish were alive, so then I realized that the return must be running dry as soon as I opened the cabinet door noticed the ATO reservoir was a little less than half full when it should have been almost empty, so the only piece of equipment I did not automate on my RSR failed! The default ATO float valve was stuck and did not refill the tank so the return pump chamber dried out... Good thing is wife was afraid that everything was lost and she approved the IKEA cabinet and the budget to automate ATO .

I must have noticed that something was wrong with the tank because my magnesium was increasing and salinity was increasing too:

I should have set an alarm for the return pump wattage as you can see on this chart is easy to identify when the pump started running dry:

Anyways I did not had someone to call in case of emergency (bad from me) so it was better not to know that the tank was having an issue.

I am happy that everything on the tank was OK no looses and my corals look like they liked the salinity increase so I will push up the salinity a little on the upcoming weeks.

Tank update:

My parameters:
Temp: 77.5 - 78.5 F. Apex
Salinity: Apex: 33
pH: 8.05 Day - 7.7 Night Apex
Alk: 7.6 Apex
Ca: 475 Apex
Mg: 1349 Apex
PO4: 0.09 Hanna
NO3: 2 Nyos

So I was able to raise my nutrients a little by feeding heavy and only running the skimmer overnight, I am happy with those values, salt is a little low due to the ATO disaster I would like to slowly ramp it up back to 1.026.

Equipment:

My only change since last update is that I added a DIY battery backup for my MP10 in case there was a power outage when I was away the MP10 would keep running at least for 46 hours, I used this from amazon:

Amazon product

Also had to replace my first ALK reagent on my Trident and it lasted 1 month as expected, I also 3D printed and installed the needle guides on the Trident.

Livestock:

I added a new frag that now don't remember the name of it ;Facepalm, nothing else changed. I haven't seen my 2 YWG and my pistol in a long time, this time I think they are gone... I will give them some more time to reappear if not I will consider replacing them.

Tank status:

Well the cyano made its appearance at DT during vacation, It started filling the sand around the GSP rock and the glass around it, the green film algae on the DT is not as bad as before. I will start fighting the cyano with siphoning the sand and basting the rocks, I hope I can fight it this way, if not I can start dosing Vibrant or MB7 I have a bottle of each one because I knew I would be in cyano world at this time on the tank.

My urchin is growing and getting fatter and stronger, he unglued a Zoa frag and a GSP frag and took them on a ride.

So far I like my tank is maturing the way as I expected and I am having lots of fun with it. Some pictures:

Cyano Issue:

Urchi spreading the Cyano happines:

I am in love with him:

There she is thinking on how to murder me:

From right to left Zoa, Zoa both ripped by Urchi, GSP rock, Xenia rock, all over the place Cyano

That was a close one!! I never had trust in the stock ATO, so its still sitting in the box. Good excuse for an upgrade for you!! I just got back from vacation as well, and I ended up buying a Wyze cam and set it up to check on the tank. Between the cam and the Apex, I think Id be able to identify any problems I could have had. Luckily everything went smooth.

On that battery backup, what cord did you need to connect it to the Vortech?

 

[Difrano]

That was a close one!! I never had trust in the stock ATO, so its still sitting in the box. Good excuse for an upgrade for you!! I just got back from vacation as well, and I ended up buying a Wyze cam and set it up to check on the tank. Between the cam and the Apex, I think Id be able to identify any problems I could have had. Luckily everything went smooth.

On that battery backup, what cord did you need to connect it to the Vortech?

It comes with the cables for 24V and 12V the only issue i had is that the MP10 external voltage supply plug had smaller tip than the one supplied with the battery. so bought some tips on amazon and made my own cable.

 

[Difrano]

deleted