GoVols: Red Sea S-400

[GoVols]

Hahaha sorry it's so long. Hopefully you found some useful stuff in there

Hydird,
It's been a great read and well worth the the time.
When I catch up, I would like to make a post on your build thread.

Sorry for all the "Likes" but I read, like I'm with you in the moment when you made your postings.

Thanks, Freddie

 

[GoVols]

I did mention that I had an Achilles Tang for two years and then I lost him because I was not paying enough attention to the reef after lights out.

When he past away it broke my heart. I bought him from Divers Den (WYSIWYG) and he was only about 2.5" long. Absolutely the hardest fish to acclimate and feel comfortable that I've ever purchased. The reason my scape is the way it is today was for him. They need high flow, plenty of open water and plenty of tunnels to feel safe but after six weeks he was eating from my hands.

I hardly ever add a fish so when I buy one then I wait it out and get the species and specimen that I want. If you start off with a weak Achilles or Powder Blue the chances of survival could be slim to none.

So the year before I bought a cute 4 stripe damsel. Then I added the Achilles a year later. You think those damsels are so cute when tiny and it won't turn into the monsters that you read about. Well 3 years later the 4 stripe had hit full maturity and the growth to go with it. During the day both of the two would flash their fins at each other and then go about their business. I did not realize it at the time but during lights out the damsel was still active going in and out of the rock work. He was pestering the Achilles through out the night and stressing him out. Then one day, not to long later the Achilles was dead. As soon as he got rid of the tang he picked out my clown, keeping her pinned in one of the anemones all of the time. So I knew ASAP what happened to the Achilles and that damsel had to go!!!!!!!!!!

That once cute little 4 line damsel didn't want apart of the reef but wanted the entire reef as it's territory and that was all there was to it.

I don't know if I'll ever do another Achilles but that will be the last time I ever put a species like a 4 stripe damsel in my reef.

Please don't make the same mistake that I did and think that a cute baby fish want turn into a monster when they hit full maturity if that's their know nature. After the damsel was removed then my reef went back to instant piece and harmony.

Sometimes death does not come in a one time war. Pestering over time will still come with a bad outcome. If I fully understood what was going on after lights out then I'd still have the Achilles to this day.

Thanks, Freddie

 

[justingraham]

Hydird,
It's been a great read and well worth the the time.
When I catch up, I would like to make a post on your build thread.

Sorry for all the "Likes" but I read, like I'm with you in the moment when you made your postings.

Thanks, Freddie

Yea I've been getting likes from his thread from u as well it's funny to read what I wrote sometimes

 

[prsnlty]

I'm getting close to catching up with @hybridazn.

Jackie,
If you don't mind, I want to take on you build next.

Freddie

Haha Freddie, of course I don't mind but have you seen the size of it?! Lol

 

[GoVols]

Haha Freddie, of course I don't mind but have you seen the size of it?! Lol

It may take a month but I'm up for It!!!!!!!!!

 

[Centerline]

@fabutahoun @bif24701
I love ROX too but if I run it with the Purigen reactor then all my organics get stripped out of the water column and then my nitrates will bottom out. The Purigen still keeps my water clear and shimmering at the surface.

bif,
I looked and researched a lot of reactors (including the Spyglass) but I went with this one https://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMax...ntent=UJ5113&gclid=CNf05czXpNQCFUQ2gQodkiwB0A

I liked how it has no sponges and swirls media at the bottom like a tornado.
Your right Purigen is very light and some of the beads are super tiny. So if you look at the picture very close, I keep "The Bag" strapped to the output in the sump.

When I re-charge, I set the reactor to a higher flow rate for a few hours to capture the smallest beads in "The Bag". Then I reduce the flow and the rest of the beads settle back down to a tumble.

When I do my next water change then I clean "The Bag" and discard the captured micro beads. After that I rinse "The Bag" once a week and there is no more beads inside it but I keep it on the outlet for "just in case"

If I put a micro mesh filter inside of the reactor then I'd have to shut down and open the reactor every time that I needed to clean or replace the micro mesh filter.

I re-charge the reactor every six weeks with 500ml of Purigen. That dose is a happy # for my reef and tumbles very well inside that 22" tall reactor.

For Purigen I'd recommend a 22" or taller reactor because the Purigen is so light.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Purigen reactor works for my reef and I just loathe carbon dosing.
"Many ways to skin a cat"

I think Purigen does a better job than GAC polishing the water. Btw, that's a very nice tank. Well done!

 

[GoVols]

I think Purigen does a better job than GAC polishing the water. Btw, that's a very nice tank. Well done!

Thank you!!!!!!

Red Sea makes some nice products.

(Seachem makes Purigen but the above poster wanted to see how the Red Sea ABC+ with colors C & D were doing)

 

[GoVols]

@bif24701
When your Berghia Nudibranchs were doing the job.
Did it look like that they would come from behind the aiptasia and pull them into the rock work and eat the oral disk last.

Thanks, Freddie

 

[GoVols]

How I got to the lighting that my reef has today.

First off, I still feel that MH/T5 is the gold standard in lighting. We'll have to see how the Philips CoralCare plays out.

My 2013 came with a 10 t5 bulb factory canopy. Then Red Sea showed the original led upgrade in 2014. Then they killed it and to say I was mad would be a understatement.
I do believe in par but spread is just as important to get good wide carol growth. In early 2016 I stripped out the two bulb mid section and slid in a 36" wide orbit marine pro strip and still ran 4 t5's. It was a good move but the led's have a tight focus and I missed the Kessil shimmer that I had in 2012 with the A350w that I hung over my 2010 Red Sea Max 130.

When Kessil released the a80's last fall it got me thinking. Mean while I talked myself in buying the Red Sea led upgrade. Well it only comes with 2 hydra 26hd's and Red Sea uses two of then over their 69 gallon E-Series and I'm rated at 110 gallons???????
So when I hung the upgrade kit it was shadow and hot spot city. Even my wife knew I went backwards and I got "the look".

I did sell the two hydra's at a $200 loss but I still have the S-400 factory led mounting kit.

I'm not one to give up so I started thinking about the A80's again and I knew that they would fit inside my canopy and I could make it look total factory.

So I emailed Kessil and told them what I was thinking and gave them all my reefs specs. I did not know if the a80's had enough juice to do the job and I told Kessil in the email that I would follow up with a phone call later in the day. I made the call and Kessil was waiting on it.

They were kind enough to put one of their engineers on the phone with me and he had done his homework on my specs. He gave me the green light and said it will work great with two t5's on my 24" deep tank.

Well, My mid section is just under 4" wide and the a80's are 5" wide. I band sawed and sanded down the 5" wide heat sinks to 3.75" wide to fit and had wires to run a hide all over the place. It took about 7 hours from start to finish including a trip to Best Buy.

In the end this was the best lighting mod that I've ever made. The factory canopy holds the lights about 4" above the water line and the Kessil's have all the colors pre-mixed right out of the lens.

I'm glad that I was able to do it that Friday night because I came down with the stomach flew the next day and it lasted about a month.

I was pushing 20% color at 75% intensity with 2 KZ Super Blues. I tried pushing 4 t5's but my reef could not take it at that time.

Over time I was able to push up to 100% intensity at 20% color but I did fry my birdsnest but it is recovering and branching out again.

I did switch my t5's to the 22k Red Sea "Reef Spec" bulbs. Over the years they have been my favorite blue bulb and they have a quick spike of full daylight built into them.

Two weeks ago I adjusted the Kessil's to 50% color at 100% intensity. I also tried to add two KZ genii bulbs (these are my favorite full day light t5's and par monsters) It was a no go and all my lps totally freaked out. So I tried 2 ATI C +'s. Not as bad but my acans were freaked out.

Tried two more Red Sea 22k bulbs and the reef could take it and all corals are happy.

So, Now I'm at 50% color and 100% intensity while pushing 4 22k t5's.

I have the Kessil shimmer with the t5 front and back fill in (+ par) and the corals are very happy with the Kessil/T5 lighting.

Thankfully I have a wonderful wife that is very supportive. I made a bad call with the Red Sea 2 unit upgrade and she gave me the support to get it right with Kessil's.

My local reef shop has the S-650 with 4 hydra's and they get the job done but 2 over the S-400 does not.

Nothing against AI but 2 26hd's over a 110 ain't going to cut it.

Below was Red Sea's led upgrade kit before they dropped the ball for bigger profits.
You can see the S-Series later on in the video as well. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Regards, GoVols

 

[GoVols]

@MrMichael @prsnlty @bif24701 and (lol) anyone else how cares.

Today's Berghia Nudibranchs (AKA-assassin) Update:

Still got a long ways to go but "I think" we are on the way.
What do you guys think?

 

[HolisticBear]

It's been just over a full week, that seems like some excellent progress.

 

[prsnlty]

It's been just over a full week, that seems like some excellent progress.

+1! It's looking pretty good Freddie [emoji1]

 

[jsker]

How I got to the lighting that my reef has today.

First off, I still feel that MH/T5 is the gold standard in lighting. We'll have to see how the Philips Coral Care plays out.

My 2013 came with a 10 t5 bulb factory canopy. Then Red Sea showed the original led upgrade in 2014. Then they killed it and to say I was mad would be a understatement.
I do believe in par but spread is just as important to get good wide carol growth. In early 2016 I stripped out the two bulb mid section and slid in a 36" wide orbit marine pro strip and still ran 4 t5's. I was a good move but the led's have a tight focus and I missed the Kessil shimmer that I had in 2012 with the A350w that I hung over my 2010 Red Sea Max 130.

When Kessil released to a80's last fall it got me thinking. Mean while I talked myself in buying the Red Sea led upgrade. Well it only comes with 2 hydra 26hd's and Red Sea uses two of then over their 69 gallon E-Series and I'm rated at 110 gallons???????
So when I hung the upgrade kit it was shadow and hot spot city. Even my wife knew I went backwards and I got "the look".

I did sell the two hydra's at a $200 loss but I still have the S-400 factory led mounting kit.

I'm not one to give up so I started thinking about the A80's again and I knew that they would fit inside my canopy and I could make it look total factory.

So I emailed Kessil and told them what I was thinking and gave them all my reefs specs. I did not know if the a80's had enough juice to do the job and I told Kessil in the email that I would follow up with a phone call later in the day. I made the call and Kessil was waiting on it.

They were kind enough to put one of their engineers on the phone with me and he had done his homework on my specs. He gave me the green light and said it will work great with two t5's on my 24" deep tank.

Well, My mid section is just under 4" wide and the a80's are 5" wide. I band sawed and sanded down the 5" wide heat sinks to 3.75" wide to fit and had wires to run a hide all over the place. It took about 7 hours from start to finish including a trip to Best Buy.

In the end this was the best lighting mod that I've ever made. The factory canopy holds the lights about 4" above the water line and the Kessil's have all the colors pre-mixed right out of the lens.

I'm glad that I was able to do it that Friday night because I came down with the stomach flew the next day and it lasted about a month.

I was pushing 20% color at 75% intensity with 2 KZ Super Blues. I tried pushing 4 t5's but my reef could not take it at that time.

Over time I was able to push up to 100% intensity at 20% color but I did fry my birdsnest but it is recovering and branching out again.

I did switch my t5's to the 22k Red Sea "Reef Spec" bulbs. Over the years they have been my favorite blue bulb and they have a quick spike of full daylight built into them.

Two weeks ago I adjusted the Kessil's to 50% color at 100% intensity. I also tried to add two KZ genii bulbs (these are my favorite full day light t5's and par monsters) It was a no go and all my lps totally freaked out. So I tried 2 ATI C +'s. Not as bad but my acans were freaked out.

Tried two more Red Sea 22k bulbs and the reef could take it and all corals are happy.

So, Now I'm at 50% color and 100% intensity while pushing 4 22k t5's.

I have the Kessil shimmer with the t5 front and back fill in (+ par) and the corals are very happy with the Kessil/T5 lighting.

Thankfully I have a wonderful wife that is very supportive. I made a bad call with the Red Sea 2 unit upgrade and she gave me the support to get it right with Kessil's.

My local reef shop has the S-650 with 4 hydra's and they get the job done but 2 over the S-400 does not.

Nothing against AI but 2 26hd's over a 110 ain't going to cut it.

Below was Red Sea's led upgrade kit before they dropped the ball for bigger profits.
You can see the S-Series later on in the video as well. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Regards, GoVols

It all a process of learning what works for our systems

Great read as usual and I did read everything, as I am cleaning up a preview build with windows

 

[GoVols]

as I am cleaning up a preview build with windows

jsker,
Is work picking up?

Freddie

 

[jsker]

jsker,
Is work picking up?

Freddie

Busy, busy. Thank you for asking Freddie.

 

[GoVols]

Busy, busy. Thank you for asking Freddie.

That's good news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must agree with you on the fact that we find our own way or ways.
No one best way.
Every reef is different and what works for one may not do the job for another.
Do enjoy reading other builds to try to gain knowledge and when they stumble we can't help feeling the pain because we've all been there.

Lot of great reefers over here that think outside the box.

We truly have the gift of being on the best reef site in the world and we learn from each other in a respectful manner.

 

[jsker]

I could not agree with you more on all points Freddie, especially on reading through build threads which are my favorite.

 

[GoVols]

I can happily report that the "assigns" have paved the way for the "Red Hot Chilli Pepper" and it will not have to grow in a horseshoe shape anymore.

 

[GoVols]

Just for the record on how the Kessil/T5 is doing in growth...
This coral is about 20" down.
Shot #1 was taken on April 13th.
Shots #2 and #3 were taken today.

1)

2)

3)

 

[HolisticBear]

Huge improvements. Those aiptasia had to be causing him pain. Attempting to solve that problem with a syringe and Aiptasia-X looks exhausting.