HighEndOfTheLow's Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL

[najer]

You can really see at the start my chronic "eh my Alk is low but I'll throw a random amount in when I remember" to "geez I need to dose significantly more alk then u thought..." to the ritual 2x a day...

Looks like you nearly have it balanced, nice work.

 

[dragon99]

So do you plan to give it full control of dosing?

I've been using the GHL KH director, but I still cover most of my consumption with limewater in the ATO.

 

[highendofthelow]

So do you plan to give it full control of dosing?

I've been using the GHL KH director, but I still cover most of my consumption with limewater in the ATO.

Kinda but not in the sense you think.

In the official documentation it describes the Alkatronic as "drive assist" and its a pretty good analogy.

The Alkatronic is not a primary source of alkalinity supplementation but used to ensure your primary device (Ca reactor/doser/manual) stays within desired parameters ether by switching off a wirelessly controlled switch that you plug your doser or ca reactor into.

Or by supplementing your existing device if your primary device isn't keeping up with demand.

Focustronic is In the process of creating the dosatronic (multiheaded doser) that will take input from an Alkatronic and act as the primary soon.

I am seriously tempted in it but have 2 issues,

1) how would the dosatronic react if the Alkatronic died/ran out of reagent etc

2) I don't really have space for the dosing vessels I would need for a tank my size

Which makes me lean towards a Ca reactor as being more economical.

I am however considering picking up a cheapish doser in the meanwhile...

I may get a third replacement screen for my old GHL series 1 doser I have in storage to tie me over...


I'll also add it is now live, it'll dose alk solution if it detects a downward trend where the next testing window would take me below my lower threshold value (7dkh)

Occstionally it'll notify me my Alk was low and I can see a correctative measure was taken (red dot) and X ml of solution was added (generally about 20ml)

 

[dragon99]

In the official documentation it describes the Alkatronic as "drive assist" and its a pretty good analogy.

Ah, I see. The GHL can be programmed as both primary dosing and assisted/corrective dosing. I had assumed the Alkatronic was the same way. Makes sense though since Alk is only 1 of 2 (or 3 or 4) parts needed.

 

[highendofthelow]

Ah, I see. The GHL can be programmed as both primary dosing and assisted/corrective dosing. I had assumed the Alkatronic was the same way. Makes sense though since Alk is only 1 of 2 (or 3 or 4) parts needed.

Agreed, the Dosatronic is meant to dose the required Alk + Cal+ Mag to keep everything in ratio; having said that I've yet to own a tank that runs a perfect ratio so it'll be interesting to see how their product develops over time.

It's also nice not being solely dependant on 1 product, if a doser or ca reactor died the Alkatronic would notify me and if Alkatronic died my tank would still be dosing and I'd have to call back to manual testing

In the meanwhile I razored the glass and had one of those "this tank doest look half bad from the top down thoughts ..."

 

[dragon99]

I know monti caps are space hogs, but they sure are beautiful.

 

[highendofthelow]

I know monti caps are space hogs, but they sure are beautiful.

Yea I kinda haven't got the heart to frag that green but it's getting kinda close, ice already decided to phase out the monti digi and don't intend to have many entrusting monti's.

Even in a reefer 750xxl space already feels a premium

 

[Geebs19]

Great looking tank and progress so far!! This is a dream tank for me someday when we move to a home with a built out basement.

 

[highendofthelow]

Great looking tank and progress so far!! This is a dream tank for me someday when we move to a home with a built out basement.

Geez I'd kill for a garage or a basement or a spare room but we have neither.

Everything that supports the tank ether lives outside or under the tank in the cabinet, we don't even have space for a unit by the side of the tank! But don't tell Liz about the slowly growing pile of "things to sort" by the side of the tank........[emoji16]

 

[highendofthelow]

I love the fact that Luke thinks that I haven't noticed the ever growing pile of crap by the side of the tank; I think I am more than accommodating when I drive him upwards of an hour each way for him to indulge in coral......

Further update really. Last night we had some trouble with the alkatronic not uploading the readings to the website. It has now updated, and you could see it slowly updating when we discovered it. We think it was due to the new feature update, however it does seem to be working ok now.

I am still on the hunt for a big male mandarin to join the female. It upsets me that we have been unable to replace the male yet as I was hoping that it wouldn't be too long before true spawning would happen. I have some apprehension over adding a new male; what if the male I pick is not to her liking? I am under the impression from other breeding reports that generally they can be somewhat keen to mate assuming their food needs are taken care of. Also there is that niggle in the back of my mind wondering why the male didn't survive in the first instance; if there is a killer in the tank I want to know about it whatever the cause.

Liz

 

[highendofthelow]

SO kids what lesson did we learn today? Anyone?

Today's lesson everyone is don't ever put a £5 frag anywhere near the overflow let alone an £85 one...

Yes...I did...yes I did it when we were walking out of the door...yes Liz got pi$$ed and had to essentially climb over the tank and reach in with some long forceps.

Yes the frag has been rescued.

Yes I've learnt my lesson and won't do it again

[emoji28]

On a completely unrelated comment <.< >.> I've slowly starting mounting a few more pieces.

 

[Brew12]

SO kids what lesson did we learn today? Anyone?

Today's lesson everyone is don't ever put a £5 frag anywhere near the overflow let alone an £85 one...

Yes...I did...yes I did it when we were walking out of the door...yes Liz got pi$$ed and had to essentially climb over the tank and reach in with some long forceps.

Yes the frag has been rescued.

Yes I've learnt my lesson and won't do it again

[emoji28]

On a completely unrelated comment <.< >.> I've slowly starting mounting a few more pieces.

Sounds like a win-win-win for Liz!

Frag wasn't harmed.
You learned a lesson.
She has something to hold over you for the rest of your life.

 

[highendofthelow]

Sounds like a win-win-win for Liz!

Frag wasn't harmed.
You learned a lesson.
She has something to hold over you for the rest of your life.

Her parents have already been told *rolls eyes* [emoji23]

 

[highendofthelow]

The only magazine we subscribe to (yes it's the American edition which means we normally receive it a few weeks after postal release)

We've been subscribers since 2012 (I think!)

Always look forward to having a new edition to read it.

 

[highendofthelow]

[emoji7]

So our LFS managed to track down us a super chunky male spotted mandarin to pair up with our female.

After aclimmatising; the male and female have found eachother and are getting to know each other

Luke also stuck a few odds and ends, broken tip etc frags to plugs to grow out.

The tank is particularly looking good today the trace elements evidently are at the right level, it's amazing how quickly colour can change over 24-48 hours.

 

[najer]

Very handsome boy, I hope they settle well!

 

[highendofthelow]

Very handsome boy, I hope they settle well!

I think he's settling in just fine...

 

[dragon99]

Well, that escalated quickly. It appears they have a fondness for each other.

 

[highendofthelow]

Well, that escalated quickly. It appears they have a fondness for each other.

Yea; it didn't overly suprise us, the male was a healthy weight and the female was looking particularly gravid however they did struggle to spawn I'm the water column height due to the location they started from which didn't help,

We aren't 100% sure they're fertile however research has led us to believe that generally amber/ Orange eggs are and they hatch around 12 hours in.

We don't expect this batch to survive nor are we anywhere near raising a brood but it has been on the bucket list for years...

 

[highendofthelow]

So sorry for the radio silence, we've had a busy few weeks, firstly it was my birthday! nothing tank related this year; but it was nice to have a bit of down time with the family, We also went away for a long weekend (Norfolk, UK) which was nice, Along with this we've been super busy with work in between and in honesty i cant say I've even looked at the tank and cant remember the last time i razor ed the tank glass or did a water change! (I know I know) thankfully the tank has been ticking a long nicely, no major issues but I've started to get a number of minor issues cropping up,

Firstly Aptasia are starting to rear up in places, there has been a bit of a boom over the last week or so and i can see a number of small Aptasia, I'm going to have to throw in some Peppermint shrimp / Monico shrimp (
Lysmata seticaudata) which I've had reasonable success with in the past, annoyingly they're in places i simply cant get to without stripping the tank out.

Secondly Ive started to see a bit of a .. fuzz and the odd bubble algae starting to appear in places; I'm assuming this was being kept under control by the foxface but now thats gone there is nothing filling that niche; I still have hundreds (literally) of snails which do a real good job of keeping most if it in check and the rocks clean i just have the odd place. I'm toying with adding a tang (its kinda overdue on the 750) but I'm not really sure which i should go for.

Finally Im keenly aware that there isn't much time between now and Christmas (where we'll be away for ~ 10 days to Liz's family) and I still havent sorted some from of Alk/Cal/Mag automation! I'm not worried about the tank per say as the Alk can be kept in check with the Alkatronic but It would still be worth while sorting something out, I'm still leaning towards a calcium reactor but may look to get a cheap doser to tie me over.


This brings me onto another question (one which I'll probably create a dedicated thread in reef chemistry) but does anyone know what ratio of Alk/Cal/Mag (approx) that Calcium reactors generate?

like every one of my tanks that I've owned; I feel like i'm putting in a lot of Alk compared to Calcium, (I'm also aware that this is entirely based on the concentration of the dosing solutions, i tend to make a weaker Alk solution (to the recomended strength for Alkatronic) but my Ca and Mg solutions are generally saturated solutions.

I assume given the success and long term use of Calcium reactors they generally tend to supply Alk / Cal and Mag in the approximate required ratio? or does over time this drift to say an imbalance towards Calcium? and therefore i assume water changes would help "reset" these values along other pollutants/ unwanted compounds and elements that may overtime build up? would I therefore be better off with a dosing unit (it would be significantly cheaper outlay)? at least a dosing unit would give me the ability to adjust the input of each trace to match my tanks needs? make sense?

Luke.