Red Sea Max 170 AIO

[AlessandroB]

I’m starting the new year fighting some ugly tank syndrome. There are some patches of hair algae I will work on removing next water change. I have cut the light back to 40% blue and 0% white for 8 hours a day plus an hour ramp when coming on or going off.

The pink corraline I’m not sure about. There is a pink hue to the rock and the tank is eating about a half ounce of alkalinity solution each day to stay at 9 dkh. However, there is no strong encrusting going on. I’ll give it a little longer but may end up seeding some purple corraline.

Tank parameters stay around 8.5. - 9 dkh. 425-450 Calcium. 1360-1400 Mag. 4-8 Nitrates. .01 to .08 Phosphates, ph 8.1 to 8.3.

Any thought or ideas for improvement please share. Thanks in advance.

Hi, it’s a little hard to tell from the photo, but could it be bryopsis? Does it look like ferns? Vibrant is the goto solution for most hair algae, but for bryopis (for all I read) is ReefHD (fluconazole)

 

[Crabby48]

Well friends, I took a dive off the deep end today. The purpose of this AIO tank has been to get my wife involved and she is, so today, in preparation for the dream tank, I purchased a Neptune Apex system and the DOS pumps. Yes it is crazy overkill for the Max e 170, but I would rather learn to use it and program it on a small system and know I can depend on it when it gets moved over to a larger one. Merry Christmas everyone!

Very nice tank I really like the Red Sea 170.

Apex is a wonderful tool For any size tank or skill le. I’m not around my tank much so having alarms and it Monitoring the tank is a great thing. Apex has saved my tank a few times for a few reasons with in the first year.

I’m starting the new year fighting some ugly tank syndrome. There are some patches of hair algae I will work on removing next water change. I have cut the light back to 40% blue and 0% white for 8 hours a day plus an hour ramp when coming on or going off.

The pink corraline I’m not sure about. There is a pink hue to the rock and the tank is eating about a half ounce of alkalinity solution each day to stay at 9 dkh. However, there is no strong encrusting going on. I’ll give it a little longer but may end up seeding some purple corraline.

Tank parameters stay around 8.5. - 9 dkh. 425-450 Calcium. 1360-1400 Mag. 4-8 Nitrates. .01 to .08 Phosphates, ph 8.1 to 8.3.

Any thought or ideas for improvement please share. Thanks in advance.

Do you make Rodi or buy it? Your RODI could be why you are seeing algae. Now as just part of a phase the tank is going through you may want a fish that will eat algae. Manual removal but don’t let the algae free in the tank.
I wouldn’t worry about a little algae.

If there is any coralline algae in the tank it will grow with time. My tank is a year old and had 2 3x3” plates of coralline and it’s just starting to get thick and encrusting patches on the rocks. It started with small spots then started on power heads and over flow box growing fast then stopped for a while.
It may take the clean rock sometime to grow coralline

 

[DukeLeto]

Hi, it’s a little hard to tell from the photo, but could it be bryopsis? Does it look like ferns? Vibrant is the goto solution for most hair algae, but for bryopis (for all I read) is ReefHD (fluconazole)

Hi Alessandro,

Im pretty sure its green hair algae. It is not fern like. Nutrients aren't very high so I guess its too much light to soon. I started the programming of the ReefLed 90 at 50% blue 0% white for 10 hours with a one hour ramp going on and off. I then cut it back to 8 hours. Now I'm at war with the algae so Ive dropped it 20% blue and just for 4 hours each day we are usually relaxing in the living room.

I am treating with Vibrant now.

The same gunk is in my quarantine tank, I hit those rocks tonight with peroxide and a toothbrush and that got almost all of it off. Have cut the lights completely off on that tank. Nothing in there but some GSP and Xenia right now.

Unfortunately I cannot remove the rock structure in the 170 to give it the same treatment. I did scrub where I could and took scissors and gave a trim to some particularly long hair and netted it out.

I was going to do a water change tonight but decided to let the Vibrant work for a while before doing that.

I did pick up a yellow tang from a quarantine system and placed him in the 170 last weekend. (No hate from the tang police...either I will have a 6 foot tank before he grows up or he will find a new home.) He has a voracious appetite. However, he doesn't eat the algae where the hair is very long.

How do you have your light set?

 

[DukeLeto]

Very nice tank I really like the Red Sea 170.

Apex is a wonderful tool For any size tank or skill le. I’m not around my tank much so having alarms and it Monitoring the tank is a great thing. Apex has saved my tank a few times for a few reasons with in the first year.


Do you make Rodi or buy it? Your RODI could be why you are seeing algae. Now as just part of a phase the tank is going through you may want a fish that will eat algae. Manual removal but don’t let the algae free in the tank.
I wouldn’t worry about a little algae.

If there is any coralline algae in the tank it will grow with time. My tank is a year old and had 2 3x3” plates of coralline and it’s just starting to get thick and encrusting patches on the rocks. It started with small spots then started on power heads and over flow box growing fast then stopped for a while.
It may take the clean rock sometime to grow coralline

Thanks for the info. I have a 7 stage BRS RODI unit that I make the water with. The TDS reads 0 but after watching today’s BRS video I will pick up a chloramine test kit.

 

[DukeLeto]

Thinking I may be getting my dream tank this year Santa delivered an Apex. It’s a rat maze of wires right now but was fairly easy to set up

 

[Crabby48]

i haven’t used vibrant but a few friends have and one uses it weekly or biweekly with great success. Do you know if vibrant will kill coralline? Not a big deal if it removes the algae just nice to know

 

[DukeLeto]

i haven’t used vibrant but a few friends have and one uses it weekly or biweekly with great success. Do you know if vibrant will kill coralline? Not a big deal if it removes the algae just nice to know

I used to saltwater version of vibrant in a fish only tank at work and turned the lights off except for a short period to feed. I dosed twice a week for two weeks, then down to once a week. After about 4 weeks you could siphon it all it. After 8 weeks there was no visible sign of algae anywhere and the tank was crystal clear. I now maintenance dose that tank every other week.

My understanding from other blogs is that the reef version is milder to protect the corals. I know people who use a small dose after water changes to keep the water crystal clear.

From what I have read, it is not suppose to harm coralline algae. It is a bacteria additive that out competes the nuisance algaes for resources and slowly starves them. It has to be reapplied frequently because the type of bacteria in Vibrant does not reproduce in salt water.

Again, I am no expert but this is a summary from several sources.

 

[Crabby48]

I used to saltwater version of vibrant in a fish only tank at work and turned the lights off except for a short period to feed. I dosed twice a week for two weeks, then down to once a week. After about 4 weeks you could siphon it all it. After 8 weeks there was no visible sign of algae anywhere and the tank was crystal clear. I now maintenance dose that tank every other week.

My understanding from other blogs is that the reef version is milder to protect the corals. I know people who use a small dose after water changes to keep the water crystal clear.

From what I have read, it is not suppose to harm coralline algae. It is a bacteria additive that out competes the nuisance algaes for resources and slowly starves them. It has to be reapplied frequently because the type of bacteria in Vibrant does not reproduce in salt water.

Again, I am no expert but this is a summary from several sources.

Thank you for your detail post. I have never tried Vibrant becaus I have a refugium full of different macro algae and figured Vibrant would kill or not allow imacro’s to be healthy.
Wish I could use it for maintenance because I have seen great results using it.

 

[PanchoG]

Thinking I may be getting my dream tank this year Santa delivered an Apex. It’s a rat maze of wires right now but was fairly easy to set up

Nice equipment and control board.

 

[DukeLeto]

Thank you for your detail post. I have never tried Vibrant becaus I have a refugium full of different macro algae and figured Vibrant would kill or not allow imacro’s to be healthy.
Wish I could use it for maintenance because I have seen great results using it.

I would be happy to forgo it if zi had a refugium!

 

[DukeLeto]

Well I finally got the last of the apex set up today. I set up the DOS and DDR and got them calibrated and programmed. Perhaps I can finally keep consistent readings in the tank now

 

[GregH]

Thinking I may be getting my dream tank this year Santa delivered an Apex. It’s a rat maze of wires right now but was fairly easy to set up

I have an E-170 as well. Have you just bypassed the cabinet power strip? Seems like a waste and part of my dilemma in considering the Apex. Lots of automation for things that are already powered & automated. I know you are planning a future upgrade, hence the Apex purchase, curious if you would recommend the Apex for the AIO 170?

 

[DukeLeto]

I have an E-170 as well. Have you just bypassed the cabinet power strip? Seems like a waste and part of my dilemma in considering the Apex. Lots of automation for things that are already powered & automated. I know you are planning a future upgrade, hence the Apex purchase, curious if you would recommend the Apex for the AIO 170?

Hi GregH
Yes I have bypassed the cabinet power strip.

I think the Apex is great. I do not have a sump with my E-170. If you do not have a sump, and you are putting the 4 probs from the apex, the auto top off sensor and fill line, the heater, and the dosing lines, you will find as I have that the back of the E170 is very very crowded.

If I wasn't planning to upgrade to a larger system, I would add the sump to my setup. Then the spacing wouldn't be an issue and the nutrient export would be much better.

So, if money isn't an object I'd do the apex. The alerts that it can provide may save your tank one day.

Thanks for dropping by, I hope this helps.

Have a blessed day!

 

[Ky_acc]

so I have been thinking about this some more and here’s what I’m currently testing out.

I am cutting a strip of filter floss and putting it behind the surface skimmer grill, letting the protein skimmer hold it in place.

it seems to drop the water level quite a bit if I push the floss down too far, but hoping this works out as I like the idea of catching stuff before it gets into the rear chamber at all.

Here’s what it looks like:

Just following up on the above. I have been running a filter floss pad in front of the grill for about a month and I think it is doing a pretty good job of keeping junk out of the rear chamber.

I have been changing it out once a week, but I’ve started changing it out twice per week since it’s pretty easy to do.

here’s a picture of what the filter pad that I just changed out last night looks like for reference.

 

[NOHtorious]

Greetings. I just joined this forum and learning so much from reading everyone's "build thread". I'm considering Red Sea E170 so yours was of particular interest. I was a bit sad when I realized that some of the build threads have stopped updating since the start of the pandemic. I pray that everyone's well and the lives are returning to (new) normal. DukeLeto, I was especially impressed with your tank topper! Hope your tank is doing well.

 

[DukeLeto]

Greetings. I just joined this forum and learning so much from reading everyone's "build thread". I'm considering Red Sea E170 so yours was of particular interest. I was a bit sad when I realized that some of the build threads have stopped updating since the start of the pandemic. I pray that everyone's well and the lives are returning to (new) normal. DukeLeto, I was especially impressed with your tank topper! Hope your tank is doing well.

Hi NOHtorious. Thanks for checking in. My tank has had its up and downs but it doing ok. I'm soon approaching one year old and I will do a full update. I have no complaints with the E170 except that it is not 6 feet long holding 200 gallons

 

[NOHtorious]

Hi DukeLeto,
Thank you for the reply. I didn't set up the notification so I didn't know you replied until I just accidentally ran into this thread again. Looking forward to seeing your one year update! I have yet to pull the trigger on purchasing this particular tank. I waver between E170 and IM's SR60. Ultimately, I think it'll be easier for me to setup the E170 as I don't have to make any decisions on the skimmer/light etc. My ONLY hang up right now is...... I used to have a SantaMonica filtration's HOG algae scrubber and wondering if I should have one of their new drop-in type of algae scrubber for the nutrient export. Of course, I then start down the path of thinking about how to create a refugium (mostly so that I can keep copepods) without significant bulk of adding a HOG add-on box. I'm sure I'm just asking for too much

 

[DukeLeto]

Hi everyone. I know its been a while since I posted. The tank is now one year old. I posted a short video showing its inhabitants at:

 

[DukeLeto]

Well, I am afraid I’ve gone to the dark side.

 

[PanchoG]

Well, I am afraid I’ve gone to the dark side.

What is going on in there?