kinetic RSR 170

[kinetic]

Cycling Complete for 5 days
Good news, my tank cycled well! For 5 days now, I've been able to dose 2ppm of ammonia and have levels come down within 12 hours to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. My Nitrates were 50ppm, but after three 50%+ water changes, I'm down to 10ppm. I didn't have any containers big enough to do anything bigger than that. I used two 18 gallon tubs, which I premixed about 16 gallons into one, and drained the same amount into the other.

There's no green algae anywhere, which I guess is good. Nothing really was put in the tank that could've had algae hitch hike over. But there is a film of transparent stuff, that looks a bit brown when I scrape it off with my flipper magnet. My skimmer started picking it right up. That's a good sign. No clean-up-crew until I build up a good amount of algae...

Algae Reactor done
Finished building my algae reactor. My chaeto should be arriving tomorrow from reefcleaners.org. Once I have that in the reactor, I'll take some photos of the final product and post the specs. It's not the prettiest, but it should work well.

NoPo4-X
I decided to try some NoPo4-x, since it came with my Red Sea Mature kit, and I ended up not using it. I think it's just vinegar to be honest. Anyway, I'm on day 3 of using it. Hasn't really helped nitrates, though hard to tell since I'm doing huge water changes. But today I'm done doing big water changes, and I'll see if the NoPo4-x does anything with the remaining nitrates. I'm getting the chaeto tomorrow, so I'm thinking of just not using it anymore and saving it for later if my nitrates aren't able to come back down.

At this rate, I probably will have a ULNS tank and not even need a CUC =P

Lights on
Turned the lights on! Here's a properly white balanced photo of it:

 

[kinetic]

Full system setup. Main display tank with sump, and in the adjacent closet is the carbon reactor (brs mini), Algae Reactor (AquaMaxx XL with custom aluminum heat control), and chiller. Also in the closet is a 5 gallon HPDE ATO reservoir with the ATK PMUP, OS-1 level sensor for low water. The ATO reservoir is fed by my RO/DI.

Algae Reactor

All the parts used for this algae reactor:
AquaMaxx Reactor XL:
https://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMax...cal_Reactors-AquaMaxx-UJ5313-FIFRISCR-vi.html

LED Grow Lights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRHQMYH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Clip on Fan:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BKZC86/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Aluminum tube:
http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-4689-8379-6-sq-wall-sq-tube-6063-t52-aluminum.aspx

Heatsinks:
http://www.heatsinkusa.com/4-850-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/

Just added some chaeto from ReefCleaners.org. I decided to go with them because the chaeto is grown in a fishless system. I'm crossing my fingers it's also GHA, Bubble Algae, etc. free. When I put the chaeto in, there was a bit of sand in the chaeto, as well as a few big amphipods. Didn't see any nuisance animals.

Here's a look at the sleeve I put together for the LED lights. I'm probably overly scared of heat problems with these Amazon grow lights, so I bought a 5.75"x19" square aluminum tube and stuck the lights on the inside of it. I probably should've gotten a 6" tube because it's a tight squeeze getting the reactor in and out with the LED lights.

Attached to two sides are 4.8" x 8" heatsinks. Lots of thermal paste + some JB weld to hold them on. Cured for 24 hours.

Lastly, very quiet low powered clip on fan above. So this is probably the coolest algae reactor in the world LOL.

Here it is all assembled:

And a fun glorious photo down the tube with the lights on:

 

[jasonw]

Nice clean tank! And good idea for that diy cheato reactor. I wanna diy one too [emoji39]

 

[kinetic]

Nice clean tank! And good idea for that diy cheato reactor. I wanna diy one too [emoji39]

You should! It's not too hard. The biggest thing is to make sure you have a pump with enough flow, and a way to cool the lights. It's a bit scary, but I've seen people who have lights that damaged the actual reactors because of heat, or had some other heat related issues. I went a tad overboard, but it works. Aluminum conducts heat well, and the heatsink fins help passively move heat from the aluminum into the air. The fan adds even more movement and cools even the inside as well.

 

[ricenoodle]

That is a beast of a reactor, loving the ingenuity. My OCD self would have painted it too to match the stand lol. Good job bro. Makes me want to Paypal you for one.

 

[kinetic]

That is a beast of a reactor, loving the ingenuity. My OCD self would have painted it too to match the stand lol. Good job bro. Makes me want to Paypal you for one.

I think the paint might hinder the conductivity. If I made another, I would polish the aluminum surface and edges. It’s a bit crude, but I don’t think the intention of the manufacturer is to produce a beautiful showpiece haha.

It would be fun to make a bunch of these for people. Though it’s not too hard, it takes a bit of time to find the pieces and put it together.

I might make another one soon with polished edges and possibly slightly larger. Painting it could work if the heat sinks are exposed too.

 

[ricenoodle]

I think the paint might hinder the conductivity. If I made another, I would polish the aluminum surface and edges. It’s a bit crude, but I don’t think the intention of the manufacturer is to produce a beautiful showpiece haha.

It would be fun to make a bunch of these for people. Though it’s not too hard, it takes a bit of time to find the pieces and put it together.

I might make another one soon with polished edges and possibly slightly larger. Painting it could work if the heat sinks are exposed too.

Let me know, Paypal on standby =)

 

[kinetic]

Let me know, Paypal on standby =)

I'll make you one if you really want it! Not sure if I can get it polished, I don't have the tools for it, but maybe I can just do it by hand. Let me price out the whole thing and I'll get back to you. Think you'd want the XL reactor or something smaller?

 

[ricenoodle]

I'll give you the dims as it has to fit on the left side under the sump.

 

[kinetic]

I'm starting to do some research on dosing pumps. Probably won't need them for awhile, since I'll be getting anemones, but might as well start looking into good solutions.

I am thinking of a Bubble Magus. The Apex DOS seems nice, but it only has two heads rather than 3. I know Mg isn't dosed as much, but still, if I'm already dosing two things automatically, I might as well dose EVERYTHING.

Anyone have suggestions?

Also, I'm still on the fence about getting a H. Magnifica. If I do get one, I'm all set with Cipro and treatment tanks, but I probably want to get a nice pedestal rock for it to perch on. I'm thinking of getting the flat top pedestal from marcorocks.com and using epoxy to fill in the bigger holes to make it smoother.

Otherwise, still on the lookout for awesome BTA's.

 

[kinetic]

A few new additions:

AlgaeBarn 5280 pods
https://www.algaebarn.com/product/combo-5280-pods-oceanmagik-phyto/

And picked up a rainbow BTA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/292061300381?ul_noapp=true

I offered $70 for the BTA on ebay, not expecting him to take it, but he took it so I guess I had to pay. I put it in a QT for a day and he seemed fine. I had cipro tabs ready, but looked good after 24 hours. I acclimated for 1.5 hours (30 min temp + 1 hour drip) and put him in the tank. He bubbled up, walked around, floated around, walked around some more, and now he's half hiding in a crevice.

It came with a lot less color than the photo (obviously the photo is ridiculous), which was totally fine. But since I introduced it, I think it's lost even more color. Bummer. So it's on day 3 now, and even with pumps off and squirting mysis into it's face, it won't eat. I can touch the tentacles and feel it stick, but I guess it's not hungry yet. It's peaking out into the light, so hopefully it'll be happy soon.

Measuring all my parameters, still 0 on ammonia/nitrites and about 10ppm on nitrates. Just got my Hanna phosphate checker, but haven't busted it out yet. Good amount of brown algae film everywhere though.

I'm guessing it'll figure itself out and hopefully color back up.

I'll keep trying to feed it, and maybe it'll absorb some of the phytoplankton I'm dosing everyday for the pods.

Skimmer Update

Got a replacement Simplicity skimmer impeller to see if it helps the sound. After a few seconds of screaming baby noises, it actually dropped down considerably in noise.

Before the new impeller, I was measuring 65 decibels.

After new impeller, it was 77 decibels... and about 10 minutes later it's now at a cool 58 decibels! Much better. I think I'll just keep this skimmer. The sound is definitely manageable.

If Reef Octopus ever puts together a smaller Elite skimmer, I'll get that, but I think I'll just settle for this at the moment.

 

[kinetic]

I've been waiting and waiting to find a H. Magnifica anemone, but nothing turned up yet. I'm going to work on getting a flat top rock as a pedestal for the magnifica. I'll try to figure out how to work it into the rockwork to make it look nice. Probably will be 6"x10", which is going to be pretty big compared to the minimal rock I have.

In the meantime, my rainbow BTA is finally coming out a bit more and bubbling during the day. I think he finally ate some mysis yesterday, hard to tell though.

I have 1ppb phosphates, and less than 10ppm of nitrates. I'm trying to feed a whole lot more to get these poopy parameters up. Decided to get a small geometric pygmy hawkfish. I guess they're technically anthias, but they act just like hawks. He's been eating at least 3 - 4 big mysis a day:

I thought he would just disappear into the rockwork, but he perches out on a rock most days. The only other live creatures is the hiding anemone and 4 nassarius snails, so I think he feels pretty comfortable. Eventually when I get the h. mag into the display and settled down, I'll add the small harem of clownfish...

 

[ricenoodle]

I thought about a harem of clowns, too much risk of aggression as they get older. As much as i wanted it, i had to pass on the idea.

 

[kinetic]

I thought about a harem of clowns, too much risk of aggression as they get older. As much as i wanted it, i had to pass on the idea.

Yeah, hard to know for sure. I'm working on finding a nice sized Ritteri / H Magnifica anemone, and getting all the clownfish as juveniles at the same size and introducing all at once. I'm pretty sure the magnifica will take over the entirety of the tank when it's grown a bit.

 

[kinetic]

Sustainable Aquatics has a bunch of new ocellaris in stock. I was hoping to get all of them individually, but looks like there aren't any single mochavincis in a small size (only medium), but they do have a pair that has an established female I guess and a male that's small enough to blend in. Will this work? Who knows. I might pull the trigger...

1x MochaVinci Pair (1.75" and 1.25")
2x Fancy White - EXTREME
2x Fancy White Gladiator
1x Chocolate Midnight
1x Mocha (Caramel)

8 fish. 1 female, the rest males. Also thinking of just doing six, and not getting two of the fancy whites. The thing is, the fancy white extreme looks similar to gladiator, just the patterns are different.

 

[kinetic]

Well, my anemone is really coming out these days. Not hiding in a cave at night either. Won't eat any mysis though, even though i turn off the pumps and just lay down at least a whole cube of PE mysis.

 

[jasonw]

Hi. Follow ur diy [emoji1365]will use black paper close it up later.

 

[kinetic]

Hi. Follow ur diy [emoji1365]will use black paper close it up later.

Hey that looks ok, but quite a bit different than my DIY. Not sure what lights you're using, but the ones I posted were red/blue grow LED's. I also didn't wrap the LED's on the reactor and actually have them in an aluminum tube with aluminum heatsinks to keep the whole unit cool. Sure it was my DIY that you followed?

 

[jasonw]

Hehe. I can't find any aluminum heat sink and just wrap the led that I have. Yeah yours is red blue led. I will go get it later. now just temporary like this [emoji51]anyway my tank running chiller

 

[kinetic]

Hehe. I can't find any aluminum heat sink and just wrap the led that I have. Yeah yours is red blue led. I will go get it later. now just temporary like this [emoji51]anyway my tank running chiller

I posted links on where you can get the aluminum tube and the heatsink. I have a chiller too, but the chiller can't chill the lights. That's the problem.