Reefer 525 XL ...#upgrades

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Pics!

Titus the Tomini Tang
DSC01074 by Andrew English, on Flickr
DSC01075 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Cleaner Wrasse (I don't want to name him )
DSC01065 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Kenya Tree (sorry bad pic)
DSC01061 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Duncan looking semi-happy next to my recovering Trumpet Coral (very unhappy after my lighting incident)
DSC01060 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Goniopora frag
DSC01059 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Nice big leather
DSC01058 by Andrew English, on Flickr

I'll add FTS soon... I just scraped the glass so the water's a little cloudy.

Cheers!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Turns out my tank consumes just enough of Alk/Ca to necessitate dosing. I'm only seeing about a 1.3 drop in dkh over 6 days and a 30ppm drop in Ca over 6 days, but it is getting tiresome having to test, calculate, dose, test to confirm... rinse and repeat every few days.... and I can't imagine the instability is exactly helping my corals grow. So I figure while I only need to dose low quantities per day it would be a good idea to figure out dosing now -- so if I do mess up it shouldn't be anything drastic.

So I ordered a couple BRS 1.1mL/min dosers and a tube holder for the sump. I plan to calibrate the dosers by running them for 60s, seeing how much they actually dosed, and then using that observation to drive the calculations for daily dosing (I've heard these dose closer to 2mL/min). I will just be dosing Soda Ash and Calcium Carbonate.

I also ordered a new BRS 100GPD RO/DI unit. I wasn't satisfied with the tech support for my 75GPD unit (not BRS; TDS already up to 4 over a few months making tiny amounts of water but they still think it's my fault) so I decided it wasn't worth it and since BRS has treated me so well I went with their brand.

Speaking of BRS treating me well, I decided to return my UV-A mini magnums. I think the net effect is rather disappointing and the marketing around it is also a bit of an overstatement. Yes, it's actually really cool to see your corals fluoresce under those as moonlights, but the effect is so subdued and you'd need so many to truly color the tank up (maybe 4 instead of the 3 I got for a 525xl)! At $50/unit that adds up and I definitely expected better performance out of them given the price. Maybe putting one over a nano or something could be cool but otherwise it's just not worth it.

Lastly, I'm adding some T5 supplementation for my Kessils. Not for more light, just better colors and to help subdue the shimmer just a little (the shimmer hurts my eyes when I have enough surface agitation to prevent film buildup). I really dig the Kessils and their simplicity but I'm also missing some of the color I was able to get out of my Hydra's. Some of my corals look better, but a few quite worse under the Kessils, because I feel they lack the pink/purple spectrum. So I ordered two T5 ballast/reflector combos and an ATI Coral + and Purple + bulb. I originally wanted to get an Actinic bulb but I was worried just one would be completely overpowered by the Kessil's. Anyways, I hope it works out.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

My order was supposed to come in monday and half came in yesterday... hopefully the T5 bulbs get delivered today.

I mounted the new RO/DI unit and tested it but I don't think my faucet is providing enough water pressure to the unit as it operates significantly slower than 100GPD.

I also mounted the T5 fixtures in the canopy by using the same sliding rack design as the Kessil's. Should make maintenance and adjusting easy. I'm concerned about the amount of heat generated but at least it shouldn't be an issue with winter approaching.

I also completely rewired the dry side of the cabinet to make room for the dosers. I upgraded the power strips too since I wasn't confident in the cheap ones I had lying around the house.

The T5 kits I bought come with two brackets that bolt into a structure and clip onto the light. I attached the bracket to the fixture and clipped the light in; stupid simple.
20181023_170904 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Here's what the first one looks like in the canopy:
20181023_171012 by Andrew English, on Flickr

I got lucky and the cables for the Kessil's barely fit over the aluminum bar:
20181023_173746 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Everything mounted up and testing. Had to use the bulbs that came with it to test since my shipment is delayed.
20181023_175707 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Definitely not flattering.
20181023_175625 by Andrew English, on Flickr

Mounted the new 100GPD BRS unit. WAY bigger than my old 75GPD unit haha. I just tied it into the faucet and faucet drain but this weekend I'll use the washer supply/drain for a cleaner look.
20181023_184958 by Andrew English, on Flickr

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

New bulbs came in. Everything looks much better. Too much pink but I can fix that by swapping the Purple + for an actinic bulb down the road. So far I'm pretty happy. Tomorrow I plant to calibrate and set up dosing.

BTW, the Jebao OW-25 wave makers are super powerful. I have them running on the lowest or second to lowest setting and it is plenty of flow.

Both T5 and LED (color at 20% intensity at 40% now):


LED:


T5 (purple+, coral+):
















This guy is a character and I really hope I can keep him alive





I think everything is going ok so far!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Did a bunch of chores today. Calibrated the BRS dosing pumps... they claim 1.1 ml/min but I got 2ml/min and 1.8ml/min lol. No problem. Got those mounted in the dry side of the cabinet and ran the dosing lines out to the sump. I'm dosing after the skimmer return based off of suggestions from lots of people on here. Seems like a good balance of dosing into a turbulent area whilst preventing the skimmer from taking it up or it depositing on pump hardware.

I also hooked up the RODI unit to the washer line and drain line. Looks much cleaner now. Although I'm still having issues with the 100GPD unit operating closer to 50GPD... hmmm.

Revised RODI setup. I think I will eventually tee off the blue line and run it out to the garage where I have a barrel for salt (still no water changes, just for emergencies) and RODI water. Then the laundry room sink will finally be free!


Testing station just keeps getting more and more complex.


Probably should move the power strip on the left just in case something fails on the doser... but even then I'm confident any liquid would not spill near the strip.


My buddy stopped by and wanted cuddles so break time


Dosing lines in the sump. I found cable organizers at Home Depot that double as 1/4" line holders... they were greatly overpriced but the adhesive backing on them was so much better than anything I've purchased on Amazon I'm convinced it's worth it! I had to trim the screws down on the dosing line bracket so I could close the cabinet door. But stupid me trimmed them barely too short so now I have cardboard shims to help out lol. Oops.


Going to the LFS tomorrow

 

[Mordie101]

Looks like a great build!!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Looks like a great build!!

Thank you! Glad someone reads it haha.

Update:
The lemonpeel tang and carl the clownfish were sold back to the LFS. The clownfish was my first fish that really was a bummer but after learning so much he's really not the right clown as the anemones they live in are typically hard to keep. I plan on purchasing a pair of gold stripe maroons so they a bubble tip anemone can host them. Down the road, of course. The lemonpeel tang was picking at corals so that was an easy decision but a hard catch! I had to make a divider to divide the tank into 1/3 and 2/3. I made sure it was on the small side with the island and cornered it. Not bad but makes me worried about putting more rock in the tank.

I also purchased a torch coral (much healthier specimen to start than the one I have that's currently recovering from bleaching), a birdsnest coral (first SPS), clove polyp, and gsp to cover the back of the tank. It looks great finally having more color in there.

Lastly I've decided the tank looks best with 50% color on the Kessils and 2 actinic t5 bulbs. Unfortunately one of those bulbs was defective but I'll get a pic up soon. I would like to increase the Kessil's intensity to about 70% eventually as the tank just looks dark and drab with them at 40%.

 

[PDR]

Update:
The lemonpeel tang and carl the clownfish were sold back to the LFS. The clownfish was my first fish that really was a bummer but after learning so much he's really not the right clown as the anemones they live in are typically hard to keep. I plan on purchasing a pair of gold stripe maroons so they a bubble tip anemone can host them. Down the road, of course. The lemonpeel tang was picking at corals so that was an easy decision but a hard catch! I had to make a divider to divide the tank into 1/3 and 2/3. I made sure it was on the small side with the island and cornered it. Not bad but makes me worried about putting more rock in the tank.

I also purchased a torch coral (much healthier specimen to start than the one I have that's currently recovering from bleaching), a birdsnest coral (first SPS), clove polyp, and gsp to cover the back of the tank. It looks great finally having more color in there.

Lastly I've decided the tank looks best with 50% color on the Kessils and 2 actinic t5 bulbs. Unfortunately one of those bulbs was defective but I'll get a pic up soon. I would like to increase the Kessil's intensity to about 70% eventually as the tank just looks dark and drab with them at 40%.

I'm not sure what you have been told about clowns but they can be finicky when it comes to anemones. There is a chance that ocellaris clowns will host in a BTA and there is also a chance maroons will not host in a BTA. It took my maroon about 3 months to discover my BTA's. Also while my maroon is a model citizen, many maroons, especially a pair that are hosting in a nem, tend to get very aggressive toward other tank mates and the aquarist.

@PDR you've replied to like every thread I've ever created. Seriously thank you for always offering help and advice... can you get like a 'super excellence award'?

I promise I'm not stalking you, I was in the process of replying to this thread when I saw this post lol.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I promise I'm not stalking you, I was in the process of replying to this thread when I saw this post lol.

LOL I thought you were chasing the 'super excellence award'

As for the clowns, I did read the maroons can be jerks. It's a risk I supposed but IMO they are really awesome looking clowns and since they prefer BTA's normally I figured the chances of success with hosting would be higher. Their tankmates will be fish that can hang with the agression or outrun it to be safe. The desire to have that kind of clownfish is enough to make changes to the tank for the better.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

So. I have made a bunch of changes to the tank and my process. I:

Boosted my RO system with a booster pump
Created a mixing station
Introduced another 25 lbs of rock and rescaped most of the tank
Introduced a carbon reactor
Switched from filter socks to Red Sea media baskets and floss
Increased flow in the tank
Purchased lighting for a refugium in the future
Added a couple frags (birdsnest, torch, GSP for the back wall, clove polyp)
Traded in a few fish (lemon peel that was eating corals, clown that was too young)
Had my first loss... a couple Anthias (they just withered away even though they were eating... not sure cause of death... the third is still healthy and active)

So now my tank is pretty lonely fish wise as I have a cleaner wrasse, ingitus anthia, and tomini tang. I'm probably going to keep it that way for a while (we'll see how long that lasts) and see if it helps get the algae back under control. The weird stuff growing on the rocks seems to have slowed down, but I'm getting very rapid algae growth on the glass.

I bought and set up a couple dosing pumps with a dosing reservoir but my tank still hasn't shown a stable consumption pattern. I don't want to start dosing without having a good idea of average consumption. My alk and cal are barely dropping weekly and my mag finally dropped below 1300 after not dosing it or doing water changes for 2 months. So the tank is still young and I don't think there's a need for dosing until there's a more stable demand.

I am also going to start water changes. After seeing BRS recommend them for starting tanks as well as numerous members here on the forum I think 20% changes every 2 weeks are a good start. I can then look at weaning off when the tank gets more mature. I have noticed my leather corals are unhappy and one of my LPS (consistently) but my test results don't indicate any issues. Maybe water changes can help with that.

Mixing station: RODI on left with float valve, salt on right. Pumps in both and powerheads and heater in the salt side. There is a tee with valves in the middle so I can fill my ATO containers.
20181105_170906 by

Filter floss

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

It's been a month! Updates:

I bought a green BTA and maroon clown. It's awesome! My tank is only 4 months but I am religious with testing and dosing and I believe the tank is plenty stable. It has been very happy for the past three weeks so hoping all goes well. I had it set up in a nice area of the tank for viewing but it packed up and decided hanging out FACING THE OVERFLOW where I can barely see a bit of it was better. Hopefully it moves again lol.

I believe I'm seeing pretty good coral growth. My bird nest has grown maybe 0.25"-0.5" on its digits and has certainly grown more digits. I think I've had that coral for about a month. My hammers have split heads once or twice and my Duncan is about to explode with baby heads all around the main head. Ironically the corals that haven't shown as much growth (and have been grumpy) are the leathers lol.

I also got a few new fish:
Lightning Maroon
Marine Betta
Yellow-eye Kole Tang
Foxface Lo
Bar Goby (flew out and hit my neck already; has jumped three times)
Engineer Goby

First one is a marine betta. I've always wanted one and finally found a healthy one eating frozen food. Of course now that he's in my tank with ample hiding spaces I barely see him and am struggling to get him eating. I know this does improve as they get used to the tank so time will tell. I bought some larger krill and am waiting on feeding stick so I can get him food easier.

Adding the kole tang was sort of stressful with the existing adult (6"+) tomini tang in there. He's relatively peaceful so I was confident but I did (and still do) have a bucket of water and a second bucket ready in case one of them needs to be caught and sold back. When I fist added the kole tang the tomini tang harassed him endlessly for a few minutes... then just left him alone. I watched the tank for the rest of the day and they were fine swimming and grazing together. I guess he was just showing who's boss.

I also have a Lamarck's -or- Spotbreast angel on order. Angelfish are awesome and I just found out these kinds are reef safe. If they can get one I'll be taking the Foxface back to make more room (he would get too big for this tank anyways -- and his behavior is just weird lol). I'm ordering a trap as I'm worried trying to net the fox face will get me stung or damage his spines.

New corals:
Red Montipora
Superman Montipora
Some other vivid Montipora
Yellow Millepora

Starting to love SPS lol... I want to have Montipora plating out off my overhangs to provide more cover and shade. I think it'll be a cool look.

Parameters:
Alk: 8.5
Salinity: 1.0255
Temp: 78
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.01
pH: 8.3
Cal: 420
Mg: 1320

Still no need for automated dosing as I'm maybe consuming 0.1 kh per day and undetectable amounts of ca/mg per day. However I have started a low dose of 12mL/day of Acropower to try to get a registered amount of Nitrates in the tank (and I think the SPS will like it).

Unknown monti:
DSC01262

Birdsnest growth:
DSC01263

Yellow milli:
DSC01264

Superman monti:
DSC01265

Foxface (his name rhymes with a fun expression):
DSC01267

Goniopora like 1.5x growth:
DSC01268

Kole tang:
DSC01269

FTS:
DSC01261

 

[erichuyn]

If you find the marine betta in front of your lens I'd love to see it.
I love the way it looks, unsure about adding it to my tank though

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

If you find the marine betta in front of your lens I'd love to see it.
I love the way it looks, unsure about adding it to my tank though

What are you unsure about? Feeding is the only difficult part IMO they're tough fish! I'll see if I can capture him. It's VERY difficult as he only comes out at night when it's too dark for the camera!

 

[Mordie101]

Looks great!!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Looks great!!

Thank you! It’s so hard to go slowly!

 

[ncaldwell]

I had a betta in my 525 but it was to hard to feed, he couldn't compete for food with anything. I ended up making him his own small tank and hes much happier. My purple tang also decided it didnt like the betta out of the blue and messed up its tail. Probably the only fish I cant/won't get rid of

 

[erichuyn]

What are you unsure about? Feeding is the only difficult part IMO they're tough fish! I'll see if I can capture him. It's VERY difficult as he only comes out at night when it's too dark for the camera!

Well that Feeding and visibility. They need shelter and will then be out of sight quite some time. Seperate feeding and on some level it munching on my still tiny clownfish :
They're beautifull though, hardy and not really expensive.
Like I said, unsure

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Well that Feeding and visibility. They need shelter and will then be out of sight quite some time. Seperate feeding and on some level it munching on my still tiny clownfish :
They're beautifull though, hardy and not really expensive.
Like I said, unsure

I do have a juvenile maroon clown that the betta hasn't touched. But he has his anemone for protection. I get what you're saying about visibility; I have the same problem with that. But it's awesome when he graces us with his presence for like a few seconds during the day lol.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Fox face and kole tang were sold back. The fox face would not eat hair algae and would scare all the other fish into the rocks by randomly darting into hiding as if there was danger. I cound’t get the kole tang to stop attacking his reflection, to the point where he damaged his scalpel, so I think getting him into a new environment was best.

Unfortunately to get them out I had to tear the tank apart. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I rescaped the tank and LOVE the way it looks now, much more depth to it. All the corals are happy and out as usual. The green BTA however is pretty angry but still healthy. I moved him back out of his cave facing the overflow and into the light and he completely retracted his tentacles and looks like a giant cauliflower. Mouth is tightly shut and his foot is still stick though so I’m not concerned. I’m sure it just needs time to find a new spot that feels safe.

I discovered a bubble algae infestation on the side of my Goni (it recently hasn’t come out as much, probably from that, allowing me to see the algae). So I bought a couple emerald crabs in hopes they will help clean it and clear any that may be growing in the rock.

On that same trip to get the crabs my LFS had some beautiful rainbow BTA’s for sale at a great price... so I caved and got one about twice the size of a hand. Acclimated it and successfully stuck it to a rock. Mouth slightly open but tentacles out and well inflated so looking good so far. Unfortunately it’s almost 12AM and it decided to move. So now I get to stay up and babysit it for a while to see what happens. I did this to myself. Lol.

Side note I’m amazed at how little ca/mg/Kh the tank is consuming. I barely dose, like 1–2x a week so I just dose by hand. Still maintaining kH aroun 8.6 and CA around 420, MG around 1350. KH fluctuates at a rate of about 0.1/day. SPS is growing well and all corals are happy so I won’t rock the boat and just keep it going.

I’ll get pictures tomorrow, bored watching the anemone right now so figured I would do a write up.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Wow, what a day. I forgot to turn off the power head behind my rocks and my beautiful new rainbow BTA walked straight into it... and got demolished. Tank cloudy, angry corals, I went into a craze and prepped a bunch of water, did a big WC, ran fresh carbon, and went out and bought a 36g tank and stand on sale for me to save the anemone (or at least try). I have a 30L Nuevo but it wouldn’t fit and I couldn’t move the stand myself. I have now decided that’s going to become an anemone tank after I attempt to save this guy.

Unfortunately the power head it got stuck in blows from behind the rocks around to the front, where my favorite torch coral is. I think chunks of the anemone were blown into the torch which stung the torch and damaged it. I’m sure it will recover but it’s like 50% the size it used to be

Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s the setup:

Heater, HOB filter w/ floss from big tank and carbon, old tunze nano ATO, and some LED strips for now.

Tank is in the fish room so w/c are as easy as hooking up hoses and running pumps. If I want to convert it to a nem tank I have plenty of live rock and will slowly cycle it piece by piece in the sump of my big tank to get the good stuff. Just need to figure out how to get flow in there WITHOUT A POWERHEAD and how to retrofit my old Hydra lights into the canopy.

What a day indeed.