EddieJ's Red Sea 425xl Build

[EddieJ]

Looking good, can't wait to see the progress, can I just ask, why the skimmer stand?

The NYOS runs best in around 8 inches of water .. the reefer sump runs at around 11 inches in the skimmer compartment. So the stand will raise it up 3 inches ..

 

[EddieJ]

Houston , we have ignition..

Ok, initial saltwater fill and startup is in the books. Still waiting on my skimmer stand but I figured I would get it starting it’s breakin routine. Have the Tunzes in the tank and have started fiddling with the flow. Still messing with the drain as you can hear some noise in the video. Very happy with the very low noise level of the equipment. Did some PAR test with the Mitras and wow, they can bark some PAR! Using a SPS light composer setting and then setting the energy options to high output I can get 250+ on the bottom of the tank with the Mitras 11 inches above the water line . Initial testing around the tank shows very even PAR coverage and no hot spots . So now I wait for my live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater which should make it here by the end of the month. Gives me some time to get the electrical done and Profilux setup.

 

[Brew12]

Houston , we have ignition..

Fantastic!

How many days until it goes to "Houston, we have a problem"?

 

[EddieJ]

Fantastic!

How many days until it goes to "Houston, we have a problem"?

Isn’t that the truth !! One thing about this hobby .. there is always a problem ..

 

[EddieJ]

And Houston, we have a problem right out of the gate!!

While waiting for my shipment of live rock from Tamp Bay Saltwater to arrive, I started noticing my water getting cloudy. Now the system has been running at 78 degrees with the pumps running and skimmer running to break in, but man , the water looks terrible! Real cloudy like a bacterial bloom I would say.. So first off I turned off the skimmer thinking maybe micro bubbles, no change after 24 hours. I then put 2 cups of ROX .08 in bags in the filter socks, absolutely no change at all after 24 hours. I added absolutely no organics or anything to the system. So I decided to empty out the 100 or so gallons and refill fresh over the weekend. My live rock should be here next week.. Inspecting the system to see if I can figure out what caused it..

 

[Brew12]

And Houston, we have a problem right out of the gate!!

While waiting for my shipment of live rock from Tamp Bay Saltwater to arrive, I started noticing my water getting cloudy. Now the system has been running at 78 degrees with the pumps running and skimmer running to break in, but man , the water looks terrible! Real cloudy like a bacterial bloom I would say.. So first off I turned off the skimmer thinking maybe micro bubbles, no change after 24 hours. I then put 2 cups of ROX .08 in bags in the filter socks, absolutely no change at all after 24 hours. I added absolutely no organics or anything to the system. So I decided to empty out the 100 or so gallons and refill fresh over the weekend. My live rock should be here next week.. Inspecting the system to see if I can figure out what caused it..

Are you running filter socks, and if so, do you have slime forming on the inside of them?

 

[EddieJ]

I rinsed them yesterday before I put the bags of carbon in them, they didn't appear to be slimy. They had some debris in them, but that's about it. Its kind of a head scratcher. I have had saltwater run for weeks in my mixing station with absolutely no problem. The water in my tank was so cloudy you could barely see the Tunzes on the back wall. Think it's better to just play if safe and replace at this point.

 

[sebastiaan1985]

Nice build and will be following, curious to see how you like the GHL.

 

[EddieJ]

Nice build and will be following, curious to see how you like the GHL.

Loving it so far! Have been running it on my Coral/Invert QT system to get used to how things are done in GHL vs Neptune/Apex.

 

[EddieJ]

Well things look a heck of a lot clearer now! One more batch of saltwater from my mixing station and it's ready again for the rock. And no, that heater is only temporary . Not exactly sure what caused the super cloudy water, but I am running my Nyos 160 in a vinegar bath now. Maybe it was caused by skimming just clean saltwater for a couple of weeks??? In any case, not going to get the skimmer in there and fired up until the arrival of the live rock.

 

[Denisk]

Great progress so far! Can’t wait to see what’s to come.

 

[EddieJ]

Great progress so far! Can’t wait to see what’s to come.

Thanks!!

 

[EddieJ]

And the journey of life begins....

The big jet plane brought some goodies for me to the airport today.

Hats off to Tampa Bay Saltwater for some amazing live rock fresh out of the Gulf! Richard and Debbie were wonderful to work with and had great communication throughout the process. The packaging was second to none and they all arrived in excellent condition. When you opened the bags they smelled fresh out of the gulf, not a hint of death at all. And as you will see below, the rock is packed with life. I have them placed in the tank spread out as I will watch for any undesirables for a couple of weeks before I setup the aquascape. I already hear the clicking of either a pistol shrimp or a mantis shrimp. Makes it much easier to remove a rock if I have to pull something out.

Some quick IPhone Pics...

 

[Brew12]

And the journey of life begins....

The big jet plane brought some goodies for me to the airport today.

Hats off to Tampa Bay Saltwater for some amazing live rock fresh out of the Gulf! Richard and Debbie were wonderful to work with and had great communication throughout the process. The packaging was second to none and they all arrived in excellent condition. When you opened the bags they smelled fresh out of the gulf, not a hint of death at all. And as you will see below, the rock is packed with life. I have them placed in the tank spread out as I will watch for any undesirables for a couple of weeks before I setup the aquascape. I already hear the clicking of either a pistol shrimp or a mantis shrimp. Makes it much easier to remove a rock if I have to pull something out.

Some quick IPhone Pics...

If I ever set up another system I'll be using Tampa live rock. Pricey, but I think it is worth it.

 

[EddieJ]

It's great to get instant maturity and biodiversity right off the rip. Yes, can bring in some undesirable characters, but you can usually outsmart them. My first tank and most successful was started with live rock and it grew SPS something fierce. My second large tank was started with all dry rock and was a fight the entire time. Algae outbreaks, slime, and the all so popular DINOS!! and I was never able to get SPS to thrive..

 

[EddieJ]

Things are going as planned so far, About 2 and half weeks into observing the live rock and pulling out the unwanted characters. The fiancé is very much the crab/mantis huntress and spends many hours observing and locating the bad guys. Currently the 3 rulers of the sump are (quick camera pics, quality not so great)

The Sump Cleanup Crew

It's kind of like the prison yard down there. The smaller crabs that get placed in there are usually food for these 3 guys. They are all pretty good size. I always recommend not finalizing your live rockwork for a couple of weeks as it's real easy to get these guys out simply by getting them on a rock and pulling that rock out. We also had a real cool smasher mantis, but he appears to have passed. Pretty sure it's not a molt in his lair, looks to substantial for just a molt. Was looking forward to having him clean up some of the crabs as well before I pulled him out.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Looks great. Love Tampa rocks. Think I'll start with his stuff on my next tank as well.

 

[EddieJ]

Looks great. Love Tampa rocks. Think I'll start with his stuff on my next tank as well.

Thanks.. Yes, I recommend it 100 percent. Nothing like having a mature tank and all the life that comes with the rocks. Yes, it's a little work in the beginning observing and removing the bad guys, but like I said just leave the rocks easy to access for a bit and you can get them out fairly easily.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

The tank looks great [emoji1303], can’t wait to see more ! How are you liking the stream3 ? Is it quite ?

 

[EddieJ]

The tank looks great [emoji1303], can’t wait to see more ! How are you liking the stream3 ? Is it quite ?

Loving the Tunzes ... dead quiet and great flow. Actually this entire tank is super silent. The Varios return and Nyos 160 are amazingly quiet as well. So on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the quietest, this tank setup is a 10.