Gilroy 425g Build Thread (All Apex, all the time)

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Sweet coral additions!

 

[Terence]

Terence. I've got Reefbrites with controller/dimmer coming tomorrow, plan on using the Apex to control them/the Varspd port, I"m guessing you will do the same? Will programming the RB be the same as the Kessils but without the color control? Also once you set up yours , would you mind sharing your programming for the RB
Thanks

Yes, but I had some custom stuff done for this tank. I have a XHO in actinic coming that will be dimmed on one channel. A XHO in UV coming that will be dimmed on another, and then a XHO in White with two colors of white LED that will be independently dimmable.

 

[Black Pearl]

Wow, I think that will cover all spectrums. Are all these going over the display tank. Can't wait to see this

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Adding a large second chamber to my calcium reactor made a significant difference in my display tanks PH. I was pretty surprised.

 

[Terence]

Wow, I think that will cover all spectrums. Are all these going over the display tank. Can't wait to see this

I think so. The idea is to run the Halides when I can and get the heat from them (usually at times I cannot be watching the tank like 5AM) as well as the benefits they give the corals. The LED will be used mostly for the times when I don't run the Halides which will give me some nice viewing time and a chance to play.

Adding a large second chamber to my calcium reactor made a significant difference in my display tanks PH. I was pretty surprised.

I always have run two chambers before. With this CR, the pH set point for this media is super low. That means when the demand starts going up, it would have definitely brought my pH levels too far down.

 

[Terence]

Sticks from my good buddy @Brad Syphus from Utah should be arriving this evening via air transport courtesy of fellow employee and Apex guru Paul. I can't wait to open the box and start gluing! Christmas in August! Thanks Brad!

 

[ReefToLive1]

Nice looking tank... Maybe one of these day!

 

[Brad Syphus]

I hope they arrived ok. Can't wait to see them flourish in your tank.

 

[Terence]

I hope they arrived ok. Can't wait to see them flourish in your tank.

Everything looked great. Amazing pieces Brad. And that Pearlberry! You really spoiled us! Thanks so much Brad.

Everything is in place on "SPS Island". Some fit in nooks and crannies and required no glue. Others required some glue since I put them out on the branches. Those will take a bit until they overcrust the glue crud. I put them in after lights off so the real show will be tomorrow morning. I did take a peek with the AquaMaxx coral flashlight though and things were poppin'

The tank got a 90g water change this morning in anticipation and I will be watching the parameters like a hawk now until I see what it takes to keep them stable with the calcium reactor.

Also earlier today I put the fish from the QT into the DT. They were doing great in the QT. In the big DT they all were shellshocked at all the space. Also my dick of a Melanarus was harassing them a bit too. I hope they work it out without too much fisticuffs tomorrow.

Tomorrow the LED arrive and I have a weekend project - if I can wait that long!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I can't wait to get my package when my new tank is ready @Brad Syphus.....Just saying... HAHAHAHAH! JK!

We need some photos @Terence!

 

[Terence]

I will try and get some snaps tonight. Might be tough though since the LED are coming and might not be able to wait until the weekend!

 

[Terence]

So I installed the right side LED this morning. I still need to mount up all the power supplies. No dimming capability yet, ReefBrite accidentally forgot to include the dimming module. I will have than next week. No biggie.

The lights look awesome. Very pleased.

The entire lighting configuration is using 1413 watts at 100% for all the LED and the halides. All the lights are about 6" off the water and at 10" below the surface of the water, right next to my awesome new pearlberry colony from @Brad Syphus, I am reading 495 PAR with the Apex PAR Monitoring Kit. I haven't tried to map the PAR across the grid yet, but I think I am getting a very nice even spread with my lighting choices.

Also, right now I am running all but one of the LED bars on a single custom power supply. It works great, but the fan noise is a bit too much for me so I will be switching it to four independent ones. For testing purposes, I put each of the white channels of one bar on separate power supplies for now so I could independently switch them. That is why you see what you do on the power chart from the Apex Energy Bar 832 that is running all my lights.

Of course, I have a bunch of frags in the tank courtesy of @Brad Syphus. Everything but the Green Slimer and the Echinata seem to be doing great!

I also have my wrasses in the DT now - they are loving life.

So now, just enjoy the pics below.

 

[Terence]

Here's a quick video of my wrasses hanging out:

 

[vhuang168]

Terence, awesome build! Do you have a picture of how you have the WAVs setup in the tank?

 

[Terence]

No pic but basically I have one at each end on the upper back side glass at about 2" below the surface and angled to flow toward the front middle of the tank. I then have a third one mounted on the back wall between the overflows just to the left center and have it pointed left toward the front glass. I am not running them all anywhere near there full capacity.

 

[vhuang168]

That's good to hear. I have 2 ready for my 190 but was worried it won't be enough. I've heard the flow is more directional than the MP series and I was worried it won't be enough.

 

[Terence]

A few more pics I just shot with a better camera.

 

[jl283467]

Very nice pics what camera are you using

 

[Terence]

Nikon D9o with the 105mm macro lens I bought recently from Johnny Ciotti.

 

[Terence]

Here is a very important lesson for those running a calcium reactor. If your effluent dKh just won't get to where you want it to be, even while still lowering your set points, it may be that your pH probe in the reactor is bad, out of calibration, or both.

This is what was happening to me. I kept lowering the pH on the set points for the CO2 solenoid on my CR and I still could not get enough dKh in the effluent even all the way down to 6.2 which is approaching the bottom range of the Deltec CR media.

Finally it clicked. So I simply disconnected my second chamber, pulled some effluent from the reactor, and put the tanks pH probe in it. To my surprise instead of being close to the 6.25 that the CR pH probe said, it registered 6.75, that is a big difference.

The first thing I did was immediately change the set points to 5.90-5.95 to account for the difference a bit.

So, since the probe was already rather old I opted to put a new on it. So why not go for the best!? I asked Paul to bring me home one of the new Neptune Systems double-junction pH probes and calibrated it with 4 and 7 pH calibration solution. I then reset the set points to 6.2-6.25 and dropped my effluent rate on my DOS to 60ml/min.

Since Friday my dKh has been creeping up from 7.2 to this mornings 8.7. Success!