Devoted Reefer 250

FLG · Aug 30, 2017

pelphrey said:
Saw the baby snail this morning when I took the skimmer cup off to clean. Also a top down picture of the anything acrylic filter sock replacements. Ignore my crazy dremel skills!

Is there a link to these filter sock replacements other than the FB link?

pelphrey · Aug 30, 2017

FLG said:
Is there a link to these filter sock replacements other than the FB link?

Not to my knowledge.

Scurvy · Aug 31, 2017

pelphrey said:
I've been testing nitrates once a week for awhile now, a month with no water change and I'm still at zero. I suspect 0 anyway, I'll find out this weekend when I test. I've actually cut my scrubber lights down a few hours to see if that helps raise them. If that doesn't help option B) Stump remover! Haha

I was nervous about doing it but went the stump remover route myself and had good results. Had to dose 3 or 4 times to get a reading and once I was around 5-10ppm I've been for the most part able to maintain that. As @Broadfield said above I saw quite a few corals shrivel and die before realizing what was really happening. I think the folks that do run Ultra Low level systems are adding lots of Amino's and other foods to compensate. That can certainly work but also adds to what we spend on consumables. I'd rather buy coral

pelphrey · Aug 31, 2017

I agree with you! Do you still have to does stump remover? If so how often? I'd be skeptical of my test kit, except I bought a brand new kit. I did nitrate tests before I stopped doing water changes. I never got a reading. It had been months since I'd tested nitrates so I'm not sure what they registered, or if they ever have! I supposed I could cut the algae scrubber lights off longer, right now they are turning off for 2 hours. On the flip side there is another thread on here somewhere, they ran the RAIN2 and ultimately had to pull it off of their system because it was keeping their system to clean. I'm not opposed to that, it's doesn't have a ton of growth but just enough to keep any nuisance algae out of my display. Knock on wood it's been many months since I've seen any algae in my display tank.

Scurvy said:
I was nervous about doing it but went the stump remover route myself and had good results. Had to dose 3 or 4 times to get a reading and once I was around 5-10ppm I've been for the most part able to maintain that. As @Broadfield said above I saw quite a few corals shrivel and die before realizing what was really happening. I think the folks that do run Ultra Low level systems are adding lots of Amino's and other foods to compensate. That can certainly work but also adds to what we spend on consumables. I'd rather buy coral

Scurvy · Aug 31, 2017

pelphrey said:
I agree with you! Do you still have to does stump remover? If so how often? I'd be skeptical of my test kit, except I bought a brand new kit. I did nitrate tests before I stopped doing water changes. I never got a reading. It had been months since I'd tested nitrates so I'm not sure what they registered, or if they ever have! I supposed I could cut the algae scrubber lights off longer, right now they are turning off for 2 hours. On the flip side there is another thread on here somewhere, they ran the RAIN2 and ultimately had to pull it off of their system because it was keeping their system to clean. I'm not opposed to that, it's doesn't have a ton of growth but just enough to keep any nuisance algae out of my display. Knock on wood it's been many months since I've seen any algae in my display tank.

I think the closer you get to zero then the line you're walking gets slimmer and slimmer if you know what I mean... On my tank if I'm not having to quickly clean the glass every 4 or 5 days then I'm probably too close to zero levels.

Since the first few days/doses of stump remover back in March/April I've probably dosed it 4 or 5 times two of which were just after getting the chaeto reactor runnning and seeing zero's on the test kit. I use Salifert and/or Nyos for Nitrate and they typically register similar readings.

I'm not too familiar with the Rain2 but I would suspect you really want to feed up to the recommendations of the scrubber or maybe just shy of it. I think they're sized based on feeding if I remember correctly? I think you're on the right track with reducing the light. I might also try cutting it back to 16 or 18 hours on until you see some measurable nutrients.

dmw913 · Aug 31, 2017

The idea of stump remover freaked me out so I've been using food grade sodium nitrate. It has made a significant difference in my tank. I now put it in my auto top off so that there is a constant food source at a lower level

pelphrey · Aug 31, 2017

Scurvy said:
I think the closer you get to zero then the line you're walking gets slimmer and slimmer if you know what I mean... On my tank if I'm not having to quickly clean the glass every 4 or 5 days then I'm probably too close to zero levels.

Since the first few days/doses of stump remover back in March/April I've probably dosed it 4 or 5 times two of which were just after getting the chaeto reactor runnning and seeing zero's on the test kit. I use Salifert and/or Nyos for Nitrate and they typically register similar readings.

I'm not too familiar with the Rain2 but I would suspect you really want to feed up to the recommendations of the scrubber or maybe just shy of it. I think they're sized based on feeding if I remember correctly? I think you're on the right track with reducing the light. I might also try cutting it back to 16 or 18 hours on until you see some measurable nutrients.

Exactly, it is based on feedings. I have my auto feeder rotating once at noon and once again at 4PM. In the evening I feed a frozen cube and add selcon and reef roids to that cube a couple times a week. I've actually been against reef roids up until this point. I felt like everytime I used it prior to the ATS my levels would rise and I would see algae. Could be the product, could be the user! I know a lot of people use it with success. Matter of fact I probably need to order some frozen food, I can get it locally but my choices are limited!

dmw913 said:
The idea of stump remover freaked me out so I've been using food grade sodium nitrate. It has made a significant difference in my tank. I now put it in my auto top off so that there is a constant food source at a lower level

I am with you, it makes me nervous thinking about adding stump remover to my tank. From the various posts that I have seen the chemicals in it are fine and people have used it successfully, but it still has me second guessing! Your idea of putting sodium nitrate in your ATO is brilliant, that thought had never even crossed my mind. Do you mix it first before adding it to your ATO container?

dmw913 · Aug 31, 2017

pelphrey said:
I am with you, it makes me nervous thinking about adding stump remover to my tank. From the various posts that I have seen the chemicals in it are fine and people have used it successfully, but it still has me second guessing! Your idea of putting sodium nitrate in your ATO is brilliant, that thought had never even crossed my mind. Do you mix it first before adding it to your ATO container?

Thanks! I wish I could take full credit, but like anything in this hobby, I was bootstrapping an idea I read about here on R2R.

Long story short: I was reading on nitrate dosing and posted about stump remover freaking me out. Randy HF was kind enough to link me a food grade sodium nitrate. I then found another link where Randy and another reefer figured out the math to take that powder and dissolve it into 1L of water. I used their math to make my own fluid. I also happened to have some older Sodastream polycarbonate bottles that were exactly 1L laying around so I repurposed one as my nitrate liquid holder. I then began very lightly dosing to test and saw almost immediate results with corals being happier. I tested, upped dose, tested, upped dose, etc. but was still hand dosing because it was 20-25 drops per day...not really enough for doser.

However, I had been using lanthanum chloride (specifically Brightwell Phosphate E) regularly as a phosphate management tool and saw where someone had been putting it in their ATO. Randy had signed off on this process (as I am not a chemist, I try not to do anything without a subject matter expert weighing in) so I felt good about trying it. I did the math and put the lanthanum in the ATO with great results. Phosphate ways staying very stable and Deltec was pulling out the gunk. Winning!

Well, then I was getting ready to go to MACNA...do not trust husband or teenager to dose tank. Tried to logically think through adding the nitrate to the ATO on top of the lanthanum. Seeing no conflicts or reason they would cancel each other out, I gave it a try. Came back from MACNA to stable, good looking tank. Need to do full weekly test panel tonight because I am a few days behind to see if the dosing was too much, too little, and adjust accordingly.

I am happy to provide links to products and math posts I used if anyone is interested. I will also post test results on my build thread tonight or tomorrow. I really, really like the process so far. The tank gets a very diluted amount of phosphate remover and nitrate 24 hours a day. The only very small challenge is waiting until your ATO reservoir is nearly empty to fill up each time so your dose is regulated and even. I hate when that container is low so that's annoying my OCD...

. But a small price to pay.

Probably way more than anyone wanted to know but hey, I had a lot of coffee this morning!

Best,
Denise

pelphrey · Aug 31, 2017

dmw913 said:
Thanks! I wish I could take full credit, but like anything in this hobby, I was bootstrapping an idea I read about here on R2R.

Long story short: I was reading on nitrate dosing and posted about stump remover freaking me out. Randy HF was kind enough to link me a food grade sodium nitrate. I then found another link where Randy and another reefer figured out the math to take that powder and dissolve it into 1L of water. I used their math to make my own fluid. I also happened to have some older Sodastream polycarbonate bottles that were exactly 1L laying around so I repurposed one as my nitrate liquid holder. I then began very lightly dosing to test and saw almost immediate results with corals being happier. I tested, upped dose, tested, upped dose, etc. but was still hand dosing because it was 20-25 drops per day...not really enough for doser.

However, I had been using lanthanum chloride (specifically Brightwell Phosphate E) regularly as a phosphate management tool and saw where someone had been putting it in their ATO. Randy had signed off on this process (as I am not a chemist, I try not to do anything without a subject matter expert weighing in) so I felt good about trying it. I did the math and put the lanthanum in the ATO with great results. Phosphate ways staying very stable and Deltec was pulling out the gunk. Winning!

Well, then I was getting ready to go to MACNA...do not trust husband or teenager to dose tank. Tried to logically think through adding the nitrate to the ATO on top of the lanthanum. Seeing no conflicts or reason they would cancel each other out, I gave it a try. Came back from MACNA to stable, good looking tank. Need to do full weekly test panel tonight because I am a few days behind to see if the dosing was too much, too little, and adjust accordingly.

I am happy to provide links to products and math posts I used if anyone is interested. I will also post test results on my build thread tonight or tomorrow. I really, really like the process so far. The tank gets a very diluted amount of phosphate remover and nitrate 24 hours a day. The only very small challenge is waiting until your ATO reservoir is nearly empty to fill up each time so your dose is regulated and even. I hate when that container is low so that's annoying my OCD... . But a small price to pay.

Probably way more than anyone wanted to know but hey, I had a lot of coffee this morning!

Best,
Denise

I would love to hear more! I am the same way about my ATO water, I love my container and the amount of water it will hold. What I didn't really think about is the last gallon or so being almost unusable. My apex will notify me when the water level reaches the 2 gallon mark and I rarely ever let it get down that far. I am always affraid of my Tunze pump running dry and I don't keep a spare one (I should probably order a spare!). Had I planned this out better I would have left another inch or so behind my tank and had one built to fit behind the stand. With that said I could get away with a smaller ATO container and use my Apex and webcam when we are away to view the ATO container, along with another container next to the tank with a pump in it that I can shut on and off from the Apex remotely. Woulda Coulda Shoulda! haha

I really wish I had gone with a different sump in general, I really hate having the return pump in the rear section of the sump. With that said I highly doubt I invest any money into replacing the sump at this point, it will be a lesson learned type of deal for the next tank down the road.

M4rtin · Aug 31, 2017

Thank you pelphrey for this awsome idea, 15month son at home with sticky fingers trying to touch everything

Subscribed and keep them videos coming

pelphrey · Aug 31, 2017

M4rtin said:
Thank you pelphrey for this awsome idea, 15month son at home with sticky fingers trying to touch everything
Subscribed and keep them videos coming

Thank you!! I am in the same boat as you. I have 2 little ones running around, the younger one of course watches her big sister. If I open the cabinet for a second they are both moving me out of the way to see what is inside. The magnetic locks keep the clean look on the outside and keep everyone out! Word of caution, keep some rare earth magnets or something else on hand! I've admittedly shut the door with the magnet lock inside my stand. Luckily I've got some strong magnets in the garage that I bought for a project I never did! haha

pelphrey · Aug 31, 2017

Bought the Netgear N300 ( http://amzn.to/2emYZzw )awhile back, got it hooked up to the apex tonight. The linksys router was working, just taking up to much room!

Also tested the LD-1 leak detector. Worked like a champ, may add a second one to the system. Use one for notifications and the second to shut down equipment.

Also picked up some thread sealant to get the flow sensor hooked up. Neptune recommends this over Teflon tape - http://amzn.to/2etqkDT

pelphrey · Sep 1, 2017

Time to do some more research! I read a lot about the aqua forest products, could have very well went that route. I didn't because this will be my first time dosing, and it's just these 3 solutions with the Tropic Marin. I even bought the elements in liquid form to take out the mixing part! My plan is test a lot, I already test Alk every 3-4 days, and start slow. Dosing by hand at first, will graduate myself to a doser eventually!

Wish me luck! Haha