ksfulk's Red Sea Reefer 525xL

[ksfulk]

Day 17

Interesting discussion I had with a local vendor this weekend, about how you can tell an experience reefer from a new one - and it really boiled down to the reactions to waiting. A new reefer gets panicked when their new pristine reef start to shows a speck of algae, while an experienced reefer gets excited when the first bits of life begin in their tank - showing you that the progression of the beginning cycle and the start of the "uglies" are well underway. Just one more step in the progression of the tank

That said, I'm well into the uglies. Brown diatoms have showed up and have receded quickly, barely anything this evening when I came home. Ive started the "standard" dosing with the Zeo additives and so far things are going well I think. Still watching my Calc/Alk and getting them to drop to the recommended levels... Zeo has alk so much lower than Ive run before... I feel like its too low, but there's a reason the numbers are a part of the system, so I'll follow as the best I can.

Anyhow, I cleaned the glass, did a water change on the QT tank, fed everything and just watched some things tonight, so Ive got a couple of pictures of that below. I cleaned out the Deltect skimmer cup for the first time - that was some seriously foul smelling stuff! Not sure if its a side effect from the Zeo, or if its just been that long since Ive had a skimmer that wasnt draining into a skimmate locker - but WHEW! Nasty!

Two more weeks until fish! I did some consolidating this weekend, and got rid of some fish out of the QT - some more than I wanted to, but I can be a pushover when selling livestock at times - I let go almost all of my wrasses (I kept the ornate leopard), ditched most of the anthias as well. I figure I can move over what I have and then think about what I would like to fill in any niches that are left open in a few months.

 

[Scarybo]

Great Thread. Amazing set up

 

[ksfulk]

Great Thread. Amazing set up

Thanks!

 

[ksfulk]

Random shots for today.

Water tested at:
Alk: 7.95
Calcium: 510
Mag: 1310
Nitrate: < 5
Phosphate: 0.00

 

[john.m.cole3]

lookin' good!

 

[john.m.cole3]

What are you taking your pictures with?

 

[ksfulk]

What are you taking your pictures with?

My iPhone (6s I think?). I have a nice DSLR, but theres nothing really exciting to take pictures of yet, and my laptop is angry when it comes to photo processing (the video card is dying a ssslllooowwwww death). The cell is ok, but with the type of bulbs that are on when Im taking most of my shots, the pictures are quite blue. Unfortunately, I have to get pretty motivated to break out the big camera. The cell does an ok job - Ive thought about picking up some gel filters for it, but generally I remember to do that when a package from Amazon shows up at the house, rather than when Im checking out

 

[john.m.cole3]

I have a Canon T3i and no post processing program. I need to look into a gel filter and a 100mm lens. Do you know if the make gel filters that screw on the end of a DSLR lens?

 

[DT Prime]

So much space, so clean- so jealous! Love the scape and especially the big island, can't wait to see what you do with it down the road.

 

[ksfulk]

Well... big news today. Though Im not sure if its in a good way.

Long story short, I was getting something for my wife out of the basement, when I smacked the QT tank I have sitting in there and popped the seam. Water started shooting everywhere and so all the fishes went into a 5 gallon bucket with an airstone while I worked on cleaning up the mess. Luckily there was only a few gallons of water sprayed all over the floor, but after cleaning it all up and draining the tank I realized all I had available was a 10 gallon tank - and so, well before I am ready to, I had to add the whole enchilada to the tank... so all the fishes went in this afternoon.

We'll see what the parameters do tomorrow, but Im sure there's going to be some sort of consequence from this. The fish seemed to be alright - I cut the light early so they could settle in, so we'll see where everyone is in the morning. I might have to figure out some kind of lid while Im waiting for my artfully acrylic lid which should be showing up soon (next week or two). Its exciting to see them in the tank, but Im bummer that its earlier than I wanted it to be.

I have a Canon T3i and no post processing program. I need to look into a gel filter and a 100mm lens. Do you know if the make gel filters that screw on the end of a DSLR lens?

I think most DSLR cameras use photoshop or similar programs to adjust white balance or manual adjustment. Ive never seen or heard of a gel filter for DSLR.

So much space, so clean- so jealous! Love the scape and especially the big island, can't wait to see what you do with it down the road.

Yeah, should be a fun ride, assuming I can keep everything alive The far right island will be zoas and rock nems - maybe a forest fire digi. Not sure on the single larger island on the mid right, and then the left hand side is all prime sps land

 

[Run4Fun]

Awesome setup! Would you mind sharing specifics on the return plumbing? What parts/sizing? I have an eheim on my 525 and soft tubing connecting to the return. I've been considering switching to a Vectra and hard plumbing but I'm just a bit too nervous to start the project. I always seem to be missing parts whenever I start a project and with the tank up and running I don't want to find myself running back and forth to the hardware store 100 times because I'm missing something or I don't have the right parts.

 

[ksfulk]

Awesome setup! Would you mind sharing specifics on the return plumbing? What parts/sizing? I have an eheim on my 525 and soft tubing connecting to the return. I've been considering switching to a Vectra and hard plumbing but I'm just a bit too nervous to start the project. I always seem to be missing parts whenever I start a project and with the tank up and running I don't want to find myself running back and forth to the hardware store 100 times because I'm missing something or I don't have the right parts.

Thanks! I stole most of the ideas for the return plumbing from other people in the long "Red Sea Reefer" thread on this forum. Its worth the read if you have time. There's LOTS of good information in there. And I know how you feel about the plumbing. I have two boxes filled with "extra" plumbing parts that Ive picked up over the years when I wasnt sure what I had or what I would need.

Here's a picture of the plumbing disassembled and being glued, I'll use it to reference.

So I'll start at the Vectra and work towards the red sea return pipe (threaded potion only).

Vectra union (comes with the pump - its the blue ring)
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" dual true union ball valve
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" 90 degree slip/slip elbow
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" "T" slip/slip fitting (3/4" red schedule 40 pvc - 3/4" union - 3/4" red schedule 40 pvc - elbow - 3/4" to 1/2" adapter - Reactor)
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" "T" slip/slip fitting (3/4" red schedule 40 pvc - 3/4" slip/slip Gate valve)
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4'" "T" slip/slip fitting (3/4" red schedule 40 pvc - 3/4" slip/slip Gate valve)
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" 90 degree slip/slip elbow
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" 90 degree slip/slip elbow
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" 90 degree slip/slip elbow
3/4" red schedule 40 pvc
3/4" threaded male adapter (about 15-20 wraps of teflon tape)
Red Sea threaded pipe

 

[DT Prime]

Yikes, that must have been loads of fun. Glad everybody is doing well in their new home though, guess it's good you got rid of a few extra when consolidating too!

 

[Clarksski]

Hey there.. I know you are experienced reefer... But just keep a check on any ammonia in the system since you had to add all your fish prematurely...could be a big bio load for the new system.. Might require a few bid water changes...
Otherwise, looking real good! Really like what you did with sump area. .

 

[ksfulk]

Yikes, that must have been loads of fun. Glad everybody is doing well in their new home though, guess it's good you got rid of a few extra when consolidating too!

Definately used a few choice "f" words... not sure fun was one of them Nothing goes as we plan, at least not for me!

Hey there.. I know you are experienced reefer... But just keep a check on any ammonia in the system since you had to add all your fish prematurely...could be a big bio load for the new system.. Might require a few bid water changes...
Otherwise, looking real good! Really like what you did with sump area. .

Thanks! You're build is looking great too! I've got an ammonia badge in the tank just in case - but the Zeolite materials really suck that stuff up, so Im hoping its a minimal impact. Really the premature part is because I dont have a lid. Zeo allows you to start adding fish around Day 10. Adding all these guys at once isnt ideal and I'll definitely will be some intense monitoring over the next few days - nitrate as well. Really I think the biggest test will be the copperband and the acans and clam. I was so excited to have a copperband that eats frozen and pellet foods, I forgot that they can be bonkers when they have access to big fleshy LPS and clam mantles. Im completely unsure as to which I'll rehome if it becomes and issue - I love both equally.

 

[Run4Fun]

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[ksfulk]

Morning video

 

[john.m.cole3]

everybody looks happy!

 

[DT Prime]

Morning video

Beautiful, great variety and aesthetic balance between them! What kind of anthias(?) are the 3 hanging out just left of center?

 

[ksfulk]

everybody looks happy!

Thanks! There's still some jockeying for the "best" positions, but thats pretty well expected. Funny thing I noticed - I couldnt figure out why the pyramid kept to the corner, but watching him for a bit this morning, I think he's trying to intimidate the "other" pyramid thats there (he's displaying for his reflection, lol)

Beautiful, great variety and aesthetic balance between them! What kind of anthias(?) are the 3 hanging out just left of center?

Thanks! There are three types of anthia in the tank - but Id guess what you're looking at are two of the carberryi (more orange & pink) and two of the bartlett's (yellow and pink). They have similar body types and shapes, so they tend to stick together. The lyretail is doing a lot of hiding, but eventually seems to gather with them as well. I have 3 bartletts, 2 carberryi and a lyretail in the tank. Id like to get a few evansii, but they dont tend to do well here for some reason - hard to get them eating and they seem to ship poorly. Id love to get a trio of ventralis, but I think thats a dream for another time