Devoted Reefer 250

[pelphrey]

Sorry to hear about your yellow wrasse. Awesome fish to take care of bristle worms. I think your sand may be to thick for it, I use to have one that love to sleep in the sandbed. Until it decided to carpet surf, and jumped through the lid.

As in the later of sand, which is roughly 1” of the grain size?

 

[Mystikal]

Yes. I believe the grain was alittle to large for it to dive into the sandbed

 

[Mystikal]

How’d you like the baffle kit?

I’m getting mine in the mail today and ripping apart my build and replacing it to the baffle. I think it may be much cleaner approach.

 

[pelphrey]

Yes. I believe the grain was alittle to large for it to dive into the sandbed

That makes sense, I did use 2 different grain sizes!

How’d you like the baffle kit?

I’m getting mine in the mail today and ripping apart my build and replacing it to the baffle. I think it may be much cleaner approach.

I loved it, I wanted one for awhile but wasn't willing to pay the high shipping from the UK. It fit perfectly and did exactly what I needed and wanted it to do! You will love it as well!

 

[pelphrey]

When I did the sump swap I took the eheim heaters out for the first time in well over 2 years. I noticed some debris in one of the heaters, not sure how long it has been like this. I ran two eheim heaters in the baffle the sponge came in on the stock sump. The other heater (in the image below) looked fine. Awhile back I picked up two Finnex titanium heaters, one is in the sump now. Should I run the titanium heaters with the plastic shield on it? I am wanting to put them in the drain chamber. Also, are there any concerns with running the titanium heaters and relying on the neptune apex to control the temps. This thought never crossed my mind since the eheim heaters have their own thermostat and I had it turned up slightly higher than my apex programming.

Also the bubble algae is starting to really get out of hand, I did buy some vibrant. If I go the vibrant route I plan to dose 2.5-3ml twice a week. I'd really like to get 2-3 emerald crabs and try them first, the only downside is I have to order those. To make it worth while I always order "other things" to justify the shipping. Should I move forward with vibrant or suck it up and order the emerald crabs and some fish?

 

[Mystikal]

Emerald crab will do the job. I had one in my reefer 250, but then I caught it picking at my SPS...threw him in the sump

 

[rtparty]

I run my Finnex titanium heaters off an Inkbird and have the Apex there for backup only. I don't trust Neptune's outlets to turn on and off 1000s of times and not get stuck. My temperature swings a little more than most but I don't care. A swing from 76.5 to 78° isn't a big deal to me.

 

[pelphrey]

Emerald crab will do the job. I had one in my reefer 250, but then I caught it picking at my SPS...threw him in the sump

I've got some in my cart on live aquaria, just need to order now! haha Going to cost me a little money just for the emerald crabs!

I run my Finnex titanium heaters off an Inkbird and have the Apex there for backup only. I don't trust Neptune's outlets to turn on and off 1000s of times and not get stuck. My temperature swings a little more than most but I don't care. A swing from 76.5 to 78° isn't a big deal to me.

I do have 2 inkbird controllers and I could very well do the same thing. I use one of the titanium heaters and inkbird when I warm my water up for water changes!

 

[pelphrey]

Well... No sooner than I made the post above saying the emerald crabs were in my cart, I refresh my Live Aquaria cart and the emerald crabs are no longer in stock! grrrrr

 

[Crabby48]

Apex even recommends a back up for the heaters. I also use the eheim heaters but want to switch to finnex because the eheim are so long they are hard to fit in the sump.
That is a bummer that they sold the emerald crabs that fast

 

[pelphrey]

Apex even recommends a back up for the heaters. I also use the eheim heaters but want to switch to finnex because the eheim are so long they are hard to fit in the sump.
That is a bummer that they sold the emerald crabs that fast

I didn’t know they recommend a backup! That’s good to know. I suppose I’ll be running a finnex and eheim!

I ended up ordering the emerald crabs and a few other items from reef cleaners. They saved me $80! Although I do want another yellow wrasse! Reef cleaners says their emerald crabs will eat bubble algae! I’ll find out soon!

 

[Crabby48]

I saw a video or read somewhere that Terrance recommended a back up. Maybe I’m crazy lol.
I like the choice of a yellow wrasse it adds nice color and it looked good on your tank

 

[pelphrey]

Walked past the tank last night, this is where my eyes went immediately.

 

[infinite0180]

Hey @pelphrey

In your videos i noticed that you had your ato feed line in your sump running into a piece of tubing. That creates a siphon break right? Allowing you to leave the output end high up above the water level of the water in the storage container right? Im setting up a reefer nano and want to make sure i never flood my sump. I will use the siphon that came with my ato but i figured doing what you did will add an extra layer of protection. If i do, can the tube that the ato output feed into go all the way into the water in my sump so i dont have any splashing? Thanks!

 

[pelphrey]

Hey @pelphrey

In your videos i noticed that you had your ato feed line in your sump running into a piece of tubing. That creates a siphon break right? Allowing you to leave the output end high up above the water level of the water in the storage container right? Im setting up a reefer nano and want to make sure i never flood my sump. I will use the siphon that came with my ato but i figured doing what you did will add an extra layer of protection. If i do, can the tube that the ato output feed into go all the way into the water in my sump so i dont have any splashing? Thanks!

You are correct, it creates the break to prevent a flood! You can submerge the tubing into the water. I found out though that the tubing gets dirty over time and needs cleaning. I can hear the tunze pump running when the ATO turns on, but I always like to hear the water to. It lets me know it stopped, at least when I am home to hear it!

 

[pelphrey]

Using the building an obsession Neptune AFS feeding ring to raise the skimmer!

 

[tenurepro]

Using the building an obsession Neptune AFS feeding ring to raise the skimmer!

With the taller sump, are you finding it more difficult to get equipment in and out?

 

[pelphrey]

With the taller sump, are you finding it more difficult to get equipment in and out?

The only issue I’m having is keeping a rock solid water level in my return pump section for my ato. I believe that is because of my skimmer. Using the BOA acrylic feeder that raised it up almost 2”, I need to raise it a little more. However, raising the skimmer is a good thing. These Nyos skimmer cups fit on snug, I need to be able to grab the body when I pull the cup off. I have a piece of acrylic coming I plan to glue some feet into.

When it comes to the return pump it should be a breeze, since I used a Union before it goes into the soft tubing. I do wish the return chamber and skimmer chambers were bigger. The inlet of my return is 1/2”-3/4” away from the wall. Adding an inch or so to those chambers means you’ve lost refugium space, but for me I’m okay with that.

I actually also need to swap my 1” plumbing with gate valve out for a 3/4” with maybe some 90’s. The sump could slide over to the left an inch or so, I plan to do that at some point. I’d like to get the maximum of room out of my cabinet.

The sump is awesome though, no doubt about that. It added 8-9 gallons to my system. And now I can either have a LARGE refugium or run that section as a pretty good size frag tank if I ever got to that point. Right now I have a sicce .5 in the refugium section moving water in there, may actually add a powethead at some point.

Overall I’m very happy with it, I have a complete video of the install coming out, but it will be 3-4 weeks. I have some videos that will be published before it. Then I plan to do a follow up video on what I had to do to make it work for me.

 

[tenurepro]

The only issue I’m having is keeping a rock solid water level in my return pump section for my ato. I believe that is because of my skimmer. Using the BOA acrylic feeder that raised it up almost 2”, I need to raise it a little more. However, raising the skimmer is a good thing. These Nyos skimmer cups fit on snug, I need to be able to grab the body when I pull the cup off. I have a piece of acrylic coming I plan to glue some feet into.

When it comes to the return pump it should be a breeze, since I used a Union before it goes into the soft tubing. I do wish the return chamber and skimmer chambers were bigger. The inlet of my return is 1/2”-3/4” away from the wall. Adding an inch or so to those chambers means you’ve lost refugium space, but for me I’m okay with that.

I actually also need to swap my 1” plumbing with gate valve out for a 3/4” with maybe some 90’s. The sump could slide over to the left an inch or so, I plan to do that at some point. I’d like to get the maximum of room out of my cabinet.

The sump is awesome though, no doubt about that. It added 8-9 gallons to my system. And now I can either have a LARGE refugium or run that section as a pretty good size frag tank if I ever got to that point. Right now I have a sicce .5 in the refugium section moving water in there, may actually add a powethead at some point.

Overall I’m very happy with it, I have a complete video of the install coming out, but it will be 3-4 weeks. I have some videos that will be published before it. Then I plan to do a follow up video on what I had to do to make it work for me.

Cool - the idea of using the sump as a frag tank is really intriguing !

 

[pelphrey]

Reef cleaners order came in today!

Soaked the gyre 230’s in water and vinegar! @Crabs Mcjones sold me his two ecotech Vortech MP10wQD’s. I put them on the back wall.

If you have a wxm you can search for my profile I am running.