Equipment Updates
I have made a number of equipment adds/updates to my system over the last 8 months. I will simply list what I have added/changed and why.
UV Sterilizer
I had been researching this for some time and the ich event was the catalyst to add it. I went with
Vecton-6: V2 600 25 Watt due to its compact size and cost. I run it at level one sterilization which is required for the ich management. I plumbed this completely separately from my return pump meaning it is its own return and run it at a the required 10gph/watt meaning ~250gph. I will say that water clarity has gone up, issues with algae and of course the ich have decreased significantly since adding this. I have not put my water under a microscope to compare before and after, so all I have is anecdotal evidence. I have not noticed any impact to pods running this.
BRS Dosing Pumps
I did invest in some BRS dosing pumps to take care of my Alk and Calcium dosing. Setting up with the Apex was easy and consistent. I use the Red Sea alk and calcium along with the Magnesium. I test using the Hanna Checkers. This method is somewhat expensive but my alk and calcium levels are consistent. I run the Calcium at around 450 and the Alk elevated at 10. I am considering a calcium reactor going forward.
Neptune FMK
As a result of adding the UV sterilizer I needed a way to ensure I was running it at the required 10 gph/watt for sterilization. I decided to purchase the FMK for my Neptune Apex, I also purchased the 2” sensor for my return pump. Boy was this an eye-opening event. I was able to correctly tune my UV return to the requirements stated above. I also realized that my current return pump was only pumping on average at 500gph. (More detail below) It was rated at 1720gph. I cleaned the thing, turned it all the way up, made sure it was running like it was new; however I could never get over the 500 gph. I had 5 feet of head pressure so a drop in performance from the 1720 gph was to be expected to roughly around 900gph. I never was able to achieve that.
Return Pump
I was running the Reef Octopus Varios-6 pump rated up to 1720 gph. My expectation was that I would get around 900 gph running full speed. As I mentioned earlier I only ever realized 500gph. The pump eventually died after about 15 months of use. I replaced the pump with an AC pump, the Fluval Sea SP6 which is rated for up to 3434 gph. With my setup I would expect it to run at ~3000gph… way more than I needed. Since this was an AC pump I needed to modify my plumbing to add a valve to control the flow. I updated the plumbing to include a Spears Valve which allows me to very finely tune the flow. With this pump I was able to realize all 3000 gph as a test; however, I now run this at ~850gph. Combine that with my UV return I have a total flow rate of around 1100 gph which for my system of 160 gallons means I turn my system over at 6.875 times per hour. That is up from the 3.125 times per hour prior to the addition of the UV return and this new pump. Again nothing scientific here but anecdotally I have noticed, clearer water, more stable parameters including temp (heaters are in my sump), salinity, PH and finally no issues with any sort of algae and of course no symptoms of ich.
It is important to note that I did have to add an additional overflow, I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of drilling my already established tank so I did add a HOB overflow which I will discuss more later.
Here’s the graph of when I changed the pumps out:
Hang on Back Overflow
With the increase of the flow I my single H2Overflow wasn’t enough to handle the flow, regardless of the rating. I purchased the CPR Aquatics CS150 with Lid and Aqua Lifter. I plumbed this separately from my existing return allowing me to again fine tune my flow and to have a backup in case I ever needed to perform maintenance on one of my returns. This is something I would do again in the future if I ever add a tank or setup a new, larger tank.
The issues I had were around noise and the Aqua Lifter pump failed after only three months of continuous operation. To fix the noise I built a drain system based upon Hofer Gurgle Buster (and variations) to my design. It has worked well with no issues of clogging.
Picture of the drain is below.
I replaced the Aqua Lifter pump with the Hydrofill Titanium which is technically a dosing pump but is self-priming. Instead of running it constantly I have it connected to my Apex to turn on every 10 minutes for 30 seconds to make sure the siphon doesn’t break. So far so good.
Skimmer
My first skimmer, Reef Octopus Classic 150INT 6”, seemed to do ok for the first 4-5 months but never seemed to perform that great. It was sized according to my system for medium feeding, but I just wasn’t happy with the performance. Add to that I had to constantly clean it in order for it to perform optimally which meant about once a month, it became a maintenance burden. Additionally, the pump seemed to clog often no matter what I did. I did some research on skimmers and came across the Venturi style skimmers which lead me to LifeReef Filter Systems. I knew I was going to get to a heavy bioload in my system and was ready to spend more on a skimmer. I purchased the Lifereef SVS3-24 and I couldn’t be happier. The performance has been outstanding, after adding this skimmer I noticed my PH did go up from an average of around 7.9/8 to around 8.1/8.15. The bubbles seemed to be more productive and I could very finely tune this thing. It fit better in my sump, all around I was much happier. Also, Jeff was great to work with. Living here in Colorado I picked the skimmer up from his place and got to see his shop on where he manufactures the skimmers… let me just say, top notch!
T5 Lights
Up until September 2018 I had been running 2 of the SBreeflights sBox Extreme 32” Wifi. My corals seemed ok but they never really popped nor grew like I wanted. I also struggled some with anemones. All of my other parameters were in decent shape, ph could have been higher, but was in acceptable range. After doing some research online, lots of reading, and re-watching the BRS160 I decided to go ahead and add 2 48” T5 lights. I purchased 2x of the Reef Brite 48” Supra Slimeline Single T5 retrofit from Bulk Reef Supply and run the 54w T5 Coral Plus bulbs. I mounted one toward the back of the tank and one on the forward side of the tank. I also built a canopy to house the lights (wow what a difference that made to the look of the overall tank. More below). I connected the lights to my Apex to control the timing of the lights. Since my tank faces east/west I have the back T5 light come on at 9:45am and run until 4PM. My front T5 light comes on at 12:30pm and runs until 6:30PM. My LED lights ramp from 7:30am until the moonlights shut off at around 11PM. After adding the T5’s the look of the tank is much more brilliant and real with less disco effect and shading. The corals I have, particularly my SPS’s have brightened and my anemone is opens more. These have only been running for around a month, so I will continue to monitor and update.
Canopy
My wife was complaining about the look of the tank and the fact that the lights in my office where my tank is caused a funny glow at night. I decided I would build a canopy which coincided with the addition of my T5’s. I am not a professional wood worker, so the canopy turned out ok aesthetically and very functional for me. Pictures of the canopy are below along with a before picture without the canopy.
And this was an old picture from about 2 years ago showing how I had the lights originally:
General Tank Update:
1. No more losses except for an anemone which I have since replaced and seems to be doing wonderful, my maroon clown loves it!
2. Due to the fires and heat in California I was notified by my black worm supplier that black worms wouldn’t be available until November. I increased my white worm cultures, continued feeding the blended fish leftovers that I get from Wholefoods and feed nori and frozen foods. The fish are still doing wonderful, colors are great and some exhibit spawning behavior.
a. Btw I am convinced it you want to keep a copperbanded butterfly white or blackworms are the way to go, he/she loves them!
Upcoming changes:
1. I plan on making are to take a serious look at the new Kessil A360X once available. After speaking with them they recommended I run at least 3 of them. I like my Sbreeflights as they seem to grow corals; however the lack of integration with Neptune and the disco effect are enough to make me want to look at other options.
2. I am considering adding a calcium reactor as it seems the more cost effective option in the long term as well as consistency.
3. I do plan on adding more coral once I make these changes; however I am letting things settle in for a bit and see the results of some of the more recent changes I have made such as the addition of the T5’s.
Until next update! Happy Reefing!
Definitely is a tradeoff between the equipment and the water changes, and of course keeping up with the major, minor and trace elements.
