Bubba's SPS Journey

[Graffiti Spot]

I know you werent asking me but I'd just like to say that I found this brand to work better than what brs sells and its cheaper in bulk.

https://www.amronintl.com/wr-grace-sodasorb-carbon-dioxide-absorbents.html

Hey thanks!

 

[bubbaque]

I use to have the tiles directly on the ground but when I got frags in and wasn’t ready to mount them to the tiles I would have no where to put them as I didn’t have a frag rack. I ended up adding eggcrate to lift everything off the ground an inch, which now allows me to stick a frag plug in it.

What I did was cut little 2” squares of eggcrate, stacked them on top of each other and placed them all around to hold up the main eggcrate. Not the best pic but you can see the eggcrate stacked and also see the frag plug to the left that’s now able to go into the eggcrate.


For flow I use two of the maxspect gyre 250’s. I put one on each end of the tank and offset them a little from each other to make sure the whole tank gets good flow. I run them at about 40% in alternating gyre mode.

 

[CoralWealth]

I use to have the tiles directly on the ground but when I got frags in and wasn’t ready to mount them to the tiles I would have no where to put them as I didn’t have a frag rack. I ended up adding eggcrate to lift everything off the ground an inch, which now allows me to stick a frag plug in it.

What I did was cut little 2” squares of eggcrate, stacked them on top of each other and placed them all around to hold up the main eggcrate. Not the best pic but you can see the eggcrate stacked and also see the frag plug to the left that’s now able to go into the eggcrate.


For flow I use two of the maxspect gyre 250’s. I put one on each end of the tank and offset them a little from each other to make sure the whole tank gets good flow. I run them at about 40% in alternating gyre mode.

awesome, thanks a lot

 

[bubbaque]

Also Cody when you get the Lowboy make sure to check these corners as both of my lowboys were not sealed all the way to the corner and leaked when the water got that high. I added a little silicone and all was good.

 

[CoralWealth]

Also Cody when you get the Lowboy make sure to check these corners as both of my lowboys were not sealed all the way to the corner and leaked when the water got that high. I added a little silicone and all was good.

I appreciate the input! I definitely will look out for that.

 

[Crimsonvice]

Couple updates on some frags.

BC Bonfire looks like it's about to sprout some branches.

Is your Bonfire a slow grower? How much PAR are you throwing at it? I have had mine for a year and it is the same small little frag I purchased. It is getting blasted with light and flow, and I cant seem to get it to do anything.

 

[bubbaque]

RR Lady in pink

Pretty accurate all blue pic

 

[bubbaque]

I had someone message me about the "lady in pink" and asking if it really was. They said it looks like RRA UOP and you know what, I think they are right. I am going to take a pic of my UOP later today and see what you guys think. The "lady" gets way more par but I think it's pretty dang close.

 

[FarmerTy]

I had someone message me about the "lady in pink" and asking if it really was. They said it looks like RRA UOP and you know what, I think they are right. I am going to take a pic of my UOP later today and see what you guys think. The "lady" gets way more par but I think it's pretty dang close.

Touch them together Bubba! Do it! Do it! Do it! [emoji23]

 

[Fishfinder]

Is that all cyano or red coralline?

 

[bubbaque]

Touch them together Bubba! Do it! Do it! Do it! [emoji23]

I actually broke off a piece of my UOP today and stuck it to the "lady in pink" to see what happens. I will know soon enough if its the same.

Is that all cyano or red coralline?

If you look at the top pic of the "lady in pink" you will see that dark red coralline, that's what it is. Combine that with a phone and a filter and it looks even more red.

 

[bubbaque]

Is your Bonfire a slow grower? How much PAR are you throwing at it? I have had mine for a year and it is the same small little frag I purchased. It is getting blasted with light and flow, and I cant seem to get it to do anything.

I would consider it an average grower for me. Its getting about 325 par under the radions.

 

[spartanman22]

Hey Bubba did you run one end of your scrubber to pull from outside? I hooked up my scrubber (pH is 7.6-7.8 usually) and after a week I haven’t noticed any change in pH. I did not setup mine so that the inlet to the scrubber is pulling from outside.

I’m not sure if maybe it’s because I’ve got a small AIO and it’s a small skimmer (DOC Comline 9004), but I was expecting to see at least a little change.

 

[bubbaque]

Hey Bubba did you run one end of your scrubber to pull from outside? I hooked up my scrubber (pH is 7.6-7.8 usually) and after a week I haven’t noticed any change in pH. I did not setup mine so that the inlet to the scrubber is pulling from outside.

I’m not sure if maybe it’s because I’ve got a small AIO and it’s a small skimmer (DOC Comline 9004), but I was expecting to see at least a little change.

Hmm that is weird to see no change. Are you seeing a color change in the media?

Mine is setup to where it pulls air out of my skimmer lid (reusing the already scrubbed air). I had to pull from the outside air originally but it was not lasting as long.

 

[spartanman22]

No color change in the media. Makes me wonder if I screwed it up somehow!

 

[bubbaque]

No color change in the media. Makes me wonder if I screwed it up somehow!

could be your skimmer not pulling enough air.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Hmm that is weird to see no change. Are you seeing a color change in the media?

Mine is setup to where it pulls air out of my skimmer lid (reusing the already scrubbed air). I had to pull from the outside air originally but it was not lasting as long.

So you originally had it pulling from outside air and it was using more media than pulling from your skimmer lid? That's super interesting! I just got one during the BRS BF sales and was planning to hook it up based on your results. I was deciding whether to draw from outside -> scrubber -> skimmer or skimmer lid -> scrubber -> skimmer. Sounds like the latter is the best bet? That would actually be far easier than me running an outside line.

As I recall, you have two scrubbers linked together right? About how often does the media last?

 

[bubbaque]

So you originally had it pulling from outside air and it was using more media than pulling from your skimmer lid? That's super interesting! I just got one during the BRS BF sales and was planning to hook it up based on your results. I was deciding whether to draw from outside -> scrubber -> skimmer or skimmer lid -> scrubber -> skimmer. Sounds like the latter is the best bet? That would actually be far easier than me running an outside line.

As I recall, you have two scrubbers linked together right? About how often does the media last?

Yes it last longer that way for me. If you think about it, the skimmer is making all the bubbles and filling up the body with "scrubbed" air and it exhaust it through the holes on the top of the skimmer. If you are pulling that air back through the scrubber it's using air that's mostly been "scrubbed" mixed with a little bit of air from the room that goes through the other holes. The air from the outside has a higher co2 level than air than what just went through the scrubber. Also in my experience having a little bit of moisture helps the media last longer and the skimmer provides that. I think they even recommend you add a couple teaspoons of water at the bottom of the co2 scrubber but I stopped doing that since it draws moisture from the skimmer.

One thing you need to be careful of though is if your skimmer overflows it's going to suck that water up through the scrubber and back into the skimmer and fill your tank with whatever comes off the media. I recommend you put a float valve in the skimmer lid and connect it to a controller to turn off if it overflows or have your skimmer drain somewhere else just in case this does happen.

I do have two linked together so I don't have a dip in ph when the media exhaust.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Yes it last longer that way for me. If you think about it, the skimmer is making all the bubbles and filling up the body with "scrubbed" air and it exhaust it through the holes on the top of the skimmer. If you are pulling that air back through the scrubber it's using air that's mostly been "scrubbed" mixed with a little bit of air from the room that goes through the other holes. The air from the outside has a higher co2 level than air than what just went through the scrubber. Also in my experience having a little bit of moisture helps the media last longer and the skimmer provides that. I think they even recommend you add a couple teaspoons of water at the bottom of the co2 scrubber but I stopped doing that since it draws moisture from the skimmer.

One thing you need to be careful of though is if your skimmer overflows it's going to suck that water up through the scrubber and back into the skimmer and fill your tank with whatever comes off the media. I recommend you put a float valve in the skimmer lid and connect it to a controller to turn off if it overflows or have your skimmer drain somewhere else just in case this does happen.

I do have two linked together so I don't have a dip in ph when the media exhaust.

I use an auto waste collector off my skimmer so the level in the cup never rises. I should be good to go there.

I see you mentioned the media lasts about 2 weeks between changes. Did you just run a single for a while till you calculated your use period, then plumbed in the second and now just replace the older of the two every 2 weeks?

Do you put the new media in the first or second scrubber?

 

[bubbaque]

I used a single for a while but realized my ph would dip when it got close to the end of the media even if there was a little bit of unused left. I got tired of throwing away good media so I added the second to make sure it used it all before changing and I wouldn't experience a dip in ph.

I get about 2 - 3 weeks out of the media before I change the first canister. I rotate the canisters when I fill the first one up as the second canister starts to turn purple before I refill the first one.