m0jjen's reefer 425XL

m0jjen · Dec 26, 2016

Broadfield said:
I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with! Please make sure to join us over in the Red Sea Reefer specific thread if you haven't already!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-off-and-discuss-your-red-sea-reefer-series.219309/

I have skimmed pretty much the whole thread!

Will join in and post stuff when im up and running!

I have also decided that i will infact get a CaRx for the setup. I have a great deal on it and see no real reason not to besides the learning curve

The setup will concist off:

Grotech HCR110 with 1.8L media
Milwaukee MP815 feed pump
Aqua medic Solenoid and manometer
5KG Co2 tank
A lab-grade ph probe controlled by my apex

Im not really sure what media i will use in it. time will tell. Leaning toward Dastaco/Triton or KZ since its what available here.

Happy reefing and happy holidays!

m0jjen · Jan 5, 2017

Less then a month until the move and im pretty excited! No major updates at the moment. I've started contructing the light mounts. I couldnt justify the 180$ for two AI ext mounts so i decided i'd go ahead and get myself some aluminum pieces simular to the 8020 stuff you can get in the US for less than 50$. I think they came out pretty good (recently painted in the picture). The mounting will be simular to the picture i posted previously with the far ends of the radions getting attatched to the mounts and connected in the middle by two ecotech rails.

The CaRx came today. A new area for me personally but i belive ill manage. I got all the good stuff to use it properly. PH probe so i can control it via my apex. Feeder pump 0-2000 ml / hour and whatnot. Hopes are high!

Thats about it at the moment. The thread will keep a pretty low phase until february first since we get access to the new apartment on that date.

m0jjen · Jan 30, 2017

Tomorrow ill get my reefer delivered and im a bundle of joy! The build will start abit more serious now and hopefully you guys will enjoy it.

My plan at the moment is:

Tuesday:
Assembly of the tank and stand, hardplumb the return pvc and manifold for reactors and whatnot. Hopefully i get long enough to start filling the tank and mixing saltwater.

Wednesday:
Assuming the salt is mixed properly and everything seems okay ill start scaping the rock. My hopes are that all the livestock along with most of the technical parts are moved on this day. The move will be LR, then Corals and fish if everything goes according to plan. If not they corals and fish will have to make due without most of the LR until thursday.

Thursday:
Finish up what i didnt have time for on wednesday. Which hopefully is just some cable management, calibrating the apex probes and so on.

Friday:
Actuall move of the apartment.

I have no idea if this is a reasonable timetable for the move. Im guessing i can start scaping tomorrow depending on how much water i can produce. The tank will be deilvered around 14 pm which leaves me with roughly 8 hours of fixing on this particular day.

Pictures will come as soon as there are any to be shown!

m0jjen · Feb 5, 2017

Okay, lets get this thread started!

Tank assembled and light mounting has been attatched!

Some manifold action, will do another one since i noticed now that all the tech is in place that this is far from optimal. But thats a project for the future.

Light mounted and scape has been made and placed. Aquaforest stonefix is some really good reef cement i must admit!

Corals... WE NEED CORALS STAT! Counted 26 different species of sps and only 4 non-acropora

In the picture are only 1/3 of the bags with livestock.

Dirty glas after mounting corals and making a total mess everywhere. Coral coloration crap and they are pretty upset from the car ride.

Some changes from the original plan has been made. Some fish have been sold to local aquarists to make room for new onces. I found that i want more "functionality" from my fish rather than e.g. the four anthiases i had. The plan is to get a mandarin (because they are bloody awsome) and a copperband butterflyfish.

That will make my fishlist:

Paracanthurus hepatus
Zebrasoma flavescens
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Amphiprion percula x2
Salarias fasciatus
Oxycirrhites typus
Chelmon rostratus
Synchiropus splendidus

Im quite happy with that list. The only thing i need to add is some type of sandshifter, either Invertebrates or fish. Im planing on picking up a Harlequin Shrimp aswell so shifting seastar isnt really an option

Over and out!

Maacc · Feb 5, 2017

Looks great! Really looking forward to seeing it grow out.

m0jjen · Feb 15, 2017

Hokay!

The copperbander is in the tank now after getting dewormed in the QT for afew days. The problem now is that my yellow tang is chasing it ever so often. Im debating if i should catch the yellow tang and put it in an acclimation box for afew days so the CB can get setteled in. The CB is abit larger than the yellow tang but thats isnt stopping him like i hoped. We'll see how they play along coming this weekend. If they still are cat and mouse ill catch the tang!

My mandarin is currently in the acclimation box (quality DIY work). It will stay there until i see it eat prepared food properly.

The tank has been blessed with sand (huge sand fan!) and i think it looks great. Afew additions in the coral department has been made aswell. Dont have pictures of them all yet but i will bust out the camera during the upcoming weekend.

The grand total of corals dying sofar is 4 acroporas. All which can be replaced by visiting my local friend, so not that big of a deal. Most acroporas have encrusted by now so some growth should start soon enough!

Pandy · Feb 15, 2017

That looks really really nice - will be following the progress of this.

Constrictor6090 · Mar 4, 2017

Out of curiosity, are you using the specific SPS ulns guide out of the book AQF recommends? Anything your aren't dosing/adding to the list? Tank looks great so far!

m0jjen · Mar 4, 2017

Constrictor6090 said:
Out of curiosity, are you using the specific SPS ulns guide out of the book AQF recommends? Anything your aren't dosing/adding to the list? Tank looks great so far!

Im afraid i dont have any good awnser haha

Im using exclusivly aquaforest products. At the moment im experementing with dosing and salts to see where it goes. My nutrients are pretty much non-exsisting without much GFO or zeoliths.

My current dosage and salt:

Reef salt: 10% week WC
Coral ABEV: 1 drop / day alternating A + V with B + E
Components: ABC (not component strong) 10 ml / week, gonna increase this.
Iodum: 3 drops / day
Coral food: 2 spoons every 3 days

I've dosed NP-Pro and ProBioS at 3 drops / day but recently paused it since i dont have any nutrients for the bacteria to use. Im getting some bacteria buildup on the glas so i figured ill give it a week or two and then continue the dosing at 1 drop / day.

In short im trying to use the SPS recommendations. Since im already ulns without much media to reduce nutrients, im also skipping the zeoliths all together since im already at 0 no3, might take it up tho, but for now im not.

Hope this awnsers your question.

Got my triton results aweek ago or some. Overall it looks okay but still has some things to work with!

Gonna try and update with some pictures tonight, been rather busy with finishing up the move to the new apartment and studies.

bpapo · Mar 4, 2017

m0jjen said:
Im afraid i dont have any good awnser haha Im using exclusivly aquaforest products. At the moment im experementing with dosing and salts to see where it goes. My nutrients are pretty much non-exsisting without much GFO or zeoliths.

My current dosage and salt:

Reef salt: 10% week WC
Coral ABEV: 1 drop / day alternating A + V with B + E
Components: ABC (not component strong) 10 ml / week, gonna increase this.
Iodum: 3 drops / day
Coral food: 2 spoons every 3 days

I've dosed NP-Pro and ProBioS at 3 drops / day but recently paused it since i dont have any nutrients for the bacteria to use. Im getting some bacteria buildup on the glas so i figured ill give it a week or two and then continue the dosing at 1 drop / day.

In short im trying to use the SPS recommendations. Since im already ulns without much media to reduce nutrients, im also skipping the zeoliths all together since im already at 0 no3, might take it up tho, but for now im not. Hope this awnsers your question.

Got my triton results aweek ago or some. Overall it looks okay but still has some things to work with!

Gonna try and update with some pictures tonight, been rather busy with finishing up the move to the new apartment and studies.

Love the tank ... I'm thinking of getting the XL525 and would love to see pictures of the sump and controls for some ideas

m0jjen · Mar 4, 2017

bpapo said:
Love the tank ... I'm thinking of getting the XL525 and would love to see pictures of the sump and controls for some ideas

Haha unfortunately cabelmanagement and pretty sumps isnt my strongsuit. Id recommend looking at the https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-off-and-discuss-your-red-sea-reefer-series.219309/ thread which contains alot of smart ideas!

I might actually have time to fix mine tomorrow and can attatch a picture then, but at the moment its just a mess

Regarding the reefer series i cant stress enough have pleased i am with it. Its highly customizable and i just love it!

m0jjen · Mar 4, 2017

For the record im a useless photografer and pretty much try to get close to what i see, I have _NO IDEA_ how lightroom works haha

Anyway! some pictures as promised. Playing with my macrolens abit.

A.Humilis, wild frag from Fiji

A. Tenuis, Probably has some cool name here in the US

A. Desalwii (atleast i think so?)

A. Gomezi

A.Suharsonoi

Bird of Paradise (Seriatopora sp.)

Porcelain Anemone Crab (Neopetrolisthes ohshimai)

Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)

As seen in the pictures i have some cyano here and there. Im hoping its just a "new tank thing" and it will blow over. Atleast its not getting any worse than a spot here and there

Thats pretty much it for today. Got about 7-8 new acros since last FTS so ill go ahead and take a new one pretty soon.

Peter Hand · Mar 4, 2017

m0jjen said:
Hi guys!

Time to get a new thread going for the upcoming tank! Im really excited about it and im going to do my best to create an awsome reef out of it. Im mainly an SPS guy and will carry on in this direction. Hopefully with more success than my previous 2 tanks!

Some info regarding the build

Tank and stand: Red sea reefer 425XL
Light: 2x Radion XR30W pro (might get another gen 4 at some point)
Streamers: 2x MP40QD. Thinking of placing them on the backside and getting a FX150 on one of the shortsides.
Skimmer: Deltec SC1456
Heaters: 2x Eheim Jäger 150w each
Controller: Apex 2016 and Ecotech Reeflink
Dosing: ATi DP-6
Returnpump: Jebao DCT-6000 (at some point it will get replaced with a Vectra L1)

Livestock:

1x Zebrasoma flavescens
1x Paracanthurus hepatus
1x Ctenochaetus strigosus (blue eyed)
4x Anthias squamipinnis
2x Amphiprion ocellaris
1x Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
1x Oxycirrhites typus
1x Salarias ramosus

Plans:

* Purchase a calcium reactor. Might get me one of these soon enough. Nothing set in stone.
* Full Aquaforest Probiotic program for SPS (ULNS).
* Semi minimalistic scape filled with SPS and a selected few SPS (acans and fugia mainly)
* Hardplumb the return on the exsisting reefer plumbing and adding a fragtank (fragtankg wont be added from start)

Cant really think about anything else to mention atm. Feel free to ask questions! Build will start on february first since thats when we're moving into our new home!

How do you like the AF Products? I have been using their Probiotic Salt however the Alk Levels are very low. Ive been forced to dose alk

m0jjen · Mar 4, 2017

Peter Hand said:
How do you like the AF Products? I have been using their Probiotic Salt however the Alk Levels are very low. Ive been forced to dose alk

If you have corals you will have to replenish alk ca and mg among other things naturally. No saltmix will keep your alk up unless you are hosting softcorals only.

Im quite happy with the AF series myself, i personally use a calciumreactor to replenish ca mg and alk

Constrictor6090 · Mar 4, 2017

Peter Hand said:
How do you like the AF Products? I have been using their Probiotic Salt however the Alk Levels are very low. Ive been forced to dose alk

If you mix their salts at a higher salinity then the buffering will increase. If you have a low KH you may have a high calcium, or if both are low then you need to dose magnesium. I will say that unfortunately they do expect you to dose their other products as they have recommended "systems" for each type of tank.

Peter Hand · Mar 4, 2017

Constrictor6090 said:
If you mix their salts at a higher salinity then the buffering will increase. If you have a low KH you may have a high calcium, or if both are low then you need to dose magnesium. I will say that unfortunately they do expect you to dose their other products as they have recommended "systems" for each type of tank.

My calc is normally around 400-440 .... My Alk is normally 5-6dkh.... I have been dosing but have been struggling to keep it up.

Constrictor6090 · Mar 5, 2017

Peter Hand said:
My calc is normally around 400-440 .... My Alk is normally 5-6dkh.... I have been dosing but have been struggling to keep it up.

Check your magnesium, if you are dosing and the magnesium is low, then the calcium carbonate is just going to precipitate out onto the pumps, powerheads, pumbing, sand, etc and not go to your corals

m0jjen · Mar 8, 2017

Recently I discovered a problem :/ the CBB is nipping on my acans. Im gonna go ahead and assume it will go after other LPS aswell (thinking lobophyllia, Trachphyllia etc)? This forces me to make a decision, should i keep the fish and neglect LPS corals or remove the fish and be able to have LPS.

Im thinking it rather hard to stop the fish from nipping once it has started?

m0jjen · Mar 20, 2017

Its apparent that i dont deserv a nice tank. No mather how hard I try i how good i research my tanks seems to fail. Im currently at a point concidering throwing in the towel on this hobby as a whole.

I have dino, and cyano. Acros are dying left and right. Even if my parameters are spot on. The only thing i can feel is abit off is my PH which is at 7.8x-8.0x

The parameters are, and should be about the same as the posted tritontest. All calcification has pretty much stopped so the calcium reactor had to be offline for 3 days to lower the KH 1.0 dkh.

Im at a loss. I really dont feel like throwing more money into this when pretty much everything is dying anyway.

Parameters from testkits just if anyone has any ideas:

Temp 25c / 77F controlled by my apex
Salinity: 1.025
No3: 2.5 ppm
Po4: 0.028
Ca: 390
Mg: 1320
Kh: 7.3

Skimmer is running properly. Nothing out of the ordinary, im only dosing iodine (also testing for it, always low). Feed 2-3 times aday and always frozen or nori.

Worth mentioning is the fact that i dont have any algae what so ever, only dino and cyano. Havent scraped the glas for about 2 weeks and its prestine not counting the dino spots here and there.

If anyone has any ideas that isnt just a bandaid (blackout, fancy miracle stuff and what not) id really appreciate it.