Re-building a RedSea Reefer 350 and converting to Triton

[Joe Batt]

Well after 3 years in the hobby and my tank slowly going south, I decided its time to sort it out.

I live in the Middle East and after many trials and tribulations, plus numerous threads on here trying to sort it out. I have decided the best way to fix my tank would be to re-start and try something different.

It is also a good time to sort out my aquascape and get rid of the aptasia in the tank, hopefully once and for all.

The plan is :-

1) Sort out a Triton sump, since I would like to move to this method.

2) Build and sort out a new aquascape, and cycle it in a big trash can, before stripping down my tank and ditching the current rocks.

3) Hospitalise the current inhabitants of my tank so I can break the old tank down.

3) Restart the tank with the fresh aquascape, fresh sand. Plus add a Kessil H380 over the new refugium.

4) Stabilize the tank and move the inhabitants back in.

5) Triton test the tank and see how things go!



So for step 1, the new sump.

I currently own a RedSea Reefer 350 and thought about moving to the RedSea Peninsula 650 and the Triton Method. Unfortunately however despite having a refugium built into the sump, even at its maximum setting it only accounts for about 6-7% of the display volume, and as such is unsuitable for Triton. It seemed pointless to spend a fortune on a new tank and have to add a new sump, so I looked around for a ready-made Triton sump that fits the 350. Checked the Trigger 34 but it won't fit because of the compartment separator in the Reefer cabinet.

That has left me with having to design my own custom sump and getting it built for me from acrylic at one of the local acrylic manufacturers. I designed it with Sketchup, and incorporated a 15% refugium (since Triton recommend 10-20% display volume) plus a variable height water-gate to adjust and tune to my skimmer, a Reef Octopus 220 sss.

I enclose the design overview and welcome any comments as to its suitability. I haven't pressed go yet with the manufacturer.

 

[Matthew Frost]

Are you planning to incorporate any mechanical filtration?

 

[Joe Batt]

The centre compartment will hold the skimmer and a carbon reactor. I won't be using any socks or the like since the Triton method recommends not to.

 

[Joe Batt]

So the sump is on order and should take 2 weeks, cost a fortune because of where I live (Dubai) but at least it's on the way.
That's number 1 sorted ish..... on my list.

I wanted to go with dry rocks this time, since my first tank with live rock ended up with aptasia and possibly some unknown pest that may have contributed to its slow decline.After a few WhatsApp messages I found 20kg of dry rocks (out of his old tank and dry over a year) from a local reefer and another 20kg from a local LFS.

This time though I wanted to cook them (not with boiling! Don't ever EVER do that, it is too easy to poison yourself with aerosolized toxins from long-dead zoa's hidden deep inside).
I am patient ( a good thing and pretty much a necessity in this hobby) but I didn't want to wait weeks and weeks with the traditional method of heated seawater in a brute tub, in the dark. After some research I decided on the acid and bleach method of cooking the rocks, using muriatic acid and unscented pure bleach.

Finding the acid was a nightmare. The pool suppliers here all use different chemicals, not muriatic acid, and the chemical suppliers would only supply hydrochloric acid (pretty much the same as muriatic acid) in 25 gallon drums...... a little much for my little tank. After a little lateral thinking, I found a local company that makes cleaning products and they sold me a gallon of hydrochloric acid, though they had no idea as to the strength.

I decided to add the rocks to the trash can, and simply add the acid until it got a good fizz going! A word of warning though. muriatic acid and hydrochloric acid are not to be messed with, they can cause serious injuries and even death so do your research before using them. Only do it outside in a well-ventilated area and use protective gear, I used rubber gloves, a mask for the fumes, eye protection and long sleeves, long trousers and closed shoes.....not messing with this stuff! I also used a large trash can, (64 gallon) and it was only half filled with water and the acid. The videos I saw produced a lot of foam so I wanted to contain this, not have it spilling everywhere like I saw on many of the YouTube videos.

I let the rocks fizz and bubble in the acid for 3 hours, by which time the fizzing had stopped and the ph was around 6.

Now to neutralise the acid I had a large box of sodium bicarbonate. I had read however of people having problems with it solidifying on their rocks and making a real mess, so I needed a solution. I filled a large tub with water and much of the bicarb and then carefully retrieved the rocks with a long hook and swished them well in the tub, before placing them aside. I then emptied the water with the bicarb into the trash can to neutralise the remaining acid. I tested it with a pool Ph strip and it came out around 7.2, nice, neutral and safe.

I noticed that the rock was definitely lighter and more jagged and porous, as to be expected since the surface had been removed by the acid.

I rinsed the rocks well with the hosepipe. They looked a little paler than before but not white.

Now for the bleaching to remove any remaining organics.

I placed the rocks back in the trash bin and added 18 litres of pure bleach, and topped up with water until the rocks were once again submerged.I read a concentration of at least 1:10 bleach to water, I have approximately 1:5

Once again please be careful with the bleach and use the safety equipment. Don't mix the bleach with the hydrochloric acid since it is a recipe, for a hospital visit or worse if you inhale the fumes. Make sure the rocks are well rinsed and free of acid before they go into the bleach bath.

I will leave it for 48hours and then rinse the rock and soak it, this time with RODI and DeClor to remove any trace of bleach before sun drying it.
Hopefully, the rock will be well and truly nucked and free of everything and anything


(Tried to delete this last image but it wont let me for some reason )

 

[Matthew Frost]

Nothing organic will survive that.

 

[Joe Batt]

That's hopefully the idea Matthew. I was a bit nervous of the acid after all the warnings about using it everywhere, but it was OK actually with the right safety equipment. I also was careful to avoid splashes etc. Will use the same method in the future again.

 

[Joe Batt]

One day in after the acid bath and a day in the Chlorox bleach and I can see the rock is visibly brighter

Any suggestions on how long to leave in the bleach? BRSTV left it 48hrs others have left 7 days or even more....

 

[Hazenight]

nice refresh, good luck

 

[Joe Batt]

nice refresh, good luck

Thanks, next step will be the dechlorination to remove any bleach, followed by a few days in the sun to dry the rocks.
Then I will design the aquascape, adding the acrylic rods as required and making it easy to disassemble, before curing it in saltwater with lanthanum chloride if the Po4 is increasing too much.

 

[Hazenight]

Sounds like you got a lot of work ahead.

 

[ryanuy]

Hi Joe! What happened to your previous tank? What corals did you keep in it and what happened?

 

[Joe Batt]

Hi Joe! What happened to your previous tank? What corals did you keep in it and what happened?

I wish I knew to be honest. Slowly over the last six months, it started to deteriorate, the SPS coral dying slowly (except for the chalices) and the LPS also suffering and losing heads and growth. My Kh dosage and Ca dosage slowly reduced as the corals faded, no I am left with a few LPS and a few small patches of SPS here and there.
I use a controller on the system and there are no Kh Mg Ca or temperature swings. I sent a sample to Triton and it came back fine. The lighting is good, a mix of T5 and Hydra 52HD leds...... I was at a loss so decided to take a completely new tack and restart with a different method.

One of the good things is that the aquascape in the tank wasn't the best and it had aptasia and a red wiry algae (can't remember the name) so this is a good chance to get rid of everything and start pest free.

This is how it used to look prior to the downturn

 

[Joe Batt]

Well, after 3 hours in hydrochloric acid and 3 days in a strong bleach the rocks are well and truly cooked, clean and dead to all pests. I gave them several good rinses with just normal water and left them to dry in the sun.

The next stage was the aqua-scaping. I have decided to go for a fairly minimal look with different platforms for the various light demands of the different corals.

I used acrylic rods for the taller of the two structures and an epoxy putty called M-Seal, which is suitable for potable water apparently.
When it was all stuck together it is pretty solid.

My only concern is that even though I will add another piece of singular rock in the middle, that there is still far too little rock for a 350litre tank. The best solution that I can think of is putting some marine pier blocks in the sump to aid the biological filtration.

Next stage is the curing of the rocks, the boring bit..... into the trash can with salt water a bit of shrimp/salmon in a bag, so I can remove it after the cycle has really taken hold, and wait! Fortunately, I still haven't got the new sump yet, so I can remain patient, plus I'm off skiing for 10 days so that helps !

 

[mjlash22]

Good luck on the refresh! I would stay away from the test strip kits though! Red Sea or Salifert is the way to go for test kits.

 

[Joe Batt]

Good luck on the refresh! I would stay away from the test strip kits though! Red Sea or Salifert is the way to go for test kits.

Most definitely, I only used Salfert, Hanna, and Milwaukee for all my testing.

(The test strip above was just a pool tester to check the Ph was neutral before I disposed of the acid)

 

[Hazenight]

scape is looking good

 

[Janci]

Following.
Happy to see a familiar face here.
I hope the restart went well and cycle is on the way.