New 305 Gallon Build

Sdot · Apr 7, 2021

t5Nitro said:
Bummer, Sdot! It looks like the hard work and effort is starting to pay off. You were never bottomed out on nutrients. What do you think was the root cause for the cyano outbreak?

Sorry to hear about the abyzz pump, man.

Thanks bro! I was sooooo heated earlier. Cyano came from me not listening to what worked in the past for me... dosing nutrients. I decided to try what someone recommended which is to feed more to raise phosphate and literally in a few weeks, BAM.... Massive cyano. The worst i've ever had since i started reefing (over 10 years) .I chemicleaned the tank which apparently left an opening for the dino's. I will say that i am a believer of UV sterilizers. This is my 1st one...but wow im impressed. My cyano is also dying, which is an unexpected benefit. The Abyzz pump is a setback... the L2 doesnt have enough headroom to run my up-dated manifold design, which is why i bought the Abyzz in the 1st place. I know for sure i am on the cusp of having mass success with this tank... the pieces are slowly and sometimes painfully falling into place and these setbacks are all a distraction... Well thats what i tell myself anyway

.

I believe my tank is dialed in, once i get rid of all these issues and have working equipment.... give me time.... Tank of the month...here i come!!!

Sdot · Apr 7, 2021

AJsReef said:
So strange how these Dinos take off in such diverse conditions. I definitely bottomed out my N/P and got mine as a lovely gift. I think I have amphidinium though, only on the rocks and UV didn't do a whole lot.

Working on trying to get nutrients up for sure, finally close to .05 PPM Phosphate / 5 Nitrate recently. Never been so happy to test and see higher numbers LOL

Right! I think my dinos were slowly going away, but the toxins were taking the toll on my corals and anemones. Changing the carbon out daily did help, but UV helps alot more...since its reducing the number = reduced toxins.

t5Nitro · Apr 7, 2021

Ahh got it! I missed that you stopped the dosing in exchange for increased feeds. Im glad the UV is helping you out! Just a small setback. You clearly know how to timely get your tank back to optimal conditions--cant wait until I have that expertise.

Sdot · Apr 8, 2021

t5Nitro said:
Ahh got it! I missed that you stopped the dosing in exchange for increased feeds. Im glad the UV is helping you out! Just a small setback. You clearly know how to timely get your tank back to optimal conditions--cant wait until I have that expertise.

Well kinda sorta... I've always dosed nutrients on this tank. My phosphate can bottom out quickly (between the corals and the macro algae). I was contemplating purchasing another dosing pump to dose additional trace elements based on my ICP test results over the past year. The recommendation was to repurpose the Phosphate dosing to dose additional trace elements and bump the feeding for phosphate. Big mistake!! I am a believer of dosing nutrients, offers much more control and you know what you are putting in your tank....

I end up buying one anyway after my cyano outbreak. When you find something that works, stick with it!!

Sdot · Apr 8, 2021

AJsReef said:
Very clean, hard to tell from pictures but do you have the UV mounted with the output side slightly higher? Saw it recommended in the instructions for mine to ensure bubbles were pushed out and didn't settle in the tube which could hinder contact surface area

Hey bro, i looked through the manual and it appears the rep did provide information that aligns with the manual...fyi

AJsReef · Apr 8, 2021

Yea, the Pentair instructions go a little further to put emphasis on having the outlet side a little higher. Saw it in one of the BRS videos I believe too. Evidently, not that critical lol

Sdot · Apr 8, 2021

AJsReef said:
Yea, the Pentair instructions go a little further to put emphasis on having the outlet side a little higher. Saw it in one of the BRS videos I believe too. Evidently, not that critical lol

Right! I think its based on the design.

Sdot · Apr 9, 2021

Just getting around to this... but this cost me 800.00! I don't know how this happened... I've used Nyos skimmers since getting back into the hobby and have been impressed with them overall, this was a shocker.

revhtree · Apr 9, 2021

Sdot said:
Good morning or good evening family. I received my order a day ago, been waiting for the other supplies to come in and they finally have. Been working on cutting stuff out and adding to the manifold. There is a huge difference from the L2 and the Abyzz.... which is to be expected...but what a difference. I dont have it installed the way i want, but it will do for now. Im pretty tired but everything is installed...so lets see how things go. Here is how the plumbing looks now.

FYI the pictures are in order of the install...which is now complete.

hanging brackets install:

UV installed on the brackets:

Cutting out some of the old plumbing to route water to the UV:

Installation of ball valves:

Plumbing complete:

UV bulb installed and connected:

All done! Ill tidy everything else tomorrow.....

Abyzz A200

FYI until i build my dream setup with its own fish room.... modular stands are the way to go!!! Saved me so much time. Goodnight! ;Dead;Dead

Crazy collection of goodies you have there!

t5Nitro · Apr 9, 2021

Give LifeReef a try. Id have to say poor "bedside manner", but the skimmer is one of the best I've owned, and it smokes the >$1K skimmer I've had in the past. Im using mine with the standard Magdrive pump that he recommended for my skimmer. Probably could upgrade the pump, but it simply works and keeps working. Never clean it.

Sdot · Apr 9, 2021

t5Nitro said:
Give LifeReef a try. Id have to say poor "bedside manner", but the skimmer is one of the best I've owned, and it smokes the >$1K skimmer I've had in the past. Im using mine with the standard Magdrive pump that he recommended for my skimmer. Probably could upgrade the pump, but it simply works and keeps working. Never clean it.

Thanks bud, but hard pass for me. They remind me alot of the old school bullet line from Precision Marine. While pretty good, they were loud and power hungry...and big as well. Next issue is i dont have any space in my sump for another pump .

Sdot · Apr 9, 2021

revhtree said:
Crazy collection of goodies you have there!

Thanks Rev!

Sdot · Apr 11, 2021

Hey family... here is the latest. I received my driver today..... I opened the box to find the replacement driver i paid 650.00 for. The top is the original driver( the one that failed ). The one on the bottom is the driver i received in the mail today.

AJsReef · Apr 11, 2021

Sdot said:
Hey family... here is the latest. I received my driver today..... I opened the box to find the replacement driver i paid 650.00 for. The top is the original driver( the one that failed ). The one on the bottom is the driver i received in the mail today.

Now that picture speaks a thousand words. Abyzz has some explaining (and apologizing) to do IMO

Sdot · Apr 11, 2021

AJsReef said:
Now that picture speaks a thousand words. Abyzz has some explaining (and apologizing) to do IMO

Yeah, i think they are going to give me my money back. Perhaps the conversation with BRS may have influenced the change.... im assuming.

AJsReef · Apr 30, 2021

How's your Dino battle coming along? Hopefully seeing some progress by now!

Sdot · May 1, 2021

AJsReef said:
How's your Dino battle coming along? Hopefully seeing some progress by now!

Oh dinoflagellates were gone 2 days after i installed the UV...unfortunately it appears the toxins took a tool on some of my corals and im still battling cyano.... pics to come soon.

Sdot · May 4, 2021

Here is the latest and maybe not so greatest.

The UV removed the dino's in short order as indicated in the post above... what I didn't anticipate were the short-term impact of them. A bunch of my snails and conchs died (After the dino's were eliminated

) ... which fueled my cyano issue that I was fighting before the dino's... also it appears the toxins impacted my mag anemone..... It lost size and the tentacles are back to being short again.... this reminds me when I had to feed it multiple times per day to get it back to health...which I am doing again btw. 3 of my colonies bleached completely...and one isn't looking good at all. My consumption of ALK also fell of a cliff. Before the treatment of cyano...which caused the dino outbreak.... I was dosing 200ML each per day of Essentials Pro 1 & 2, I'm now a little more than half of that.

I'm still dealing with cyano...which is turning out to be a vicious cycle that I have heard on this very site. The treatment of chemicals reset the balance of my tank, I'm no longer interested in using them at this stage. My strategy at this point is to remove as much of the cyano as possible each day until something else good out competes it... this sucks but not sure what else to do.... I have tried the bacteria additives and haven't saw a difference. My levels of Phos and nitrate are inline... I have noticed when i stir up the sand bed and blow off the cyano... my phos jumps up...so its locked in the cyano... hopefully the corals can utilize this and slowly eliminate the cyano.

I know reefing life has its ups and downs.... but this one is really a doozy and is testing my patience. Anyway that's the latest family... thanks for reading.....

I took these a few moments ago: