SuncrestReef's Reefer XL 425 Rebuild
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Good to see you back up and running John. If you ever need anything......or just want to see another tank....I'm within walking distance of your house just on the other side of the Tualatin Hills Nature park in Kemmerview.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
The arm mount for my Neptune GRO (refugium light) was a little bit in the way of where I intend to place a couple of media reactors:
I ended up mounting the GRO directly to the Trigger sump's top cross brace with a single bolt:
I can slide the GRO to the side to access the refugium below:
The light coverage is just right for the refugium space:
I ended up mounting the GRO directly to the Trigger sump's top cross brace with a single bolt:
I can slide the GRO to the side to access the refugium below:
The light coverage is just right for the refugium space:
TonysReef
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I tested the roller for the first time this morning and it worked as expected. What surprised me was the amount of dirt it captured from a completely empty tank (no rocks, no sand, no fish) that was just filled 12 hours ago with freshly mixed saltwater. I can't wait to see how much real crap it filters out once the tank is stocked!
The roller motor is nearly silent, and it rotates the roll very slowly. But you can see the water level lowering as the filter moves, and it stopped as soon as the float switch dropped.
It's amazing to me that anybody still uses filter socks. I've been swearing by rollermats (clarisea in my case) since I got back into the hobby two years ago.
Typhon
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I absolutely agree. I switch with my new tank. I will never go back.
Zayne
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Wow that much gunk already is crazy.
Are you planning on using a dedicated UV/return pump and a another for the reactors this time? Or still running the entire manifold from the one COR?
Are you planning on using a dedicated UV/return pump and a another for the reactors this time? Or still running the entire manifold from the one COR?
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
One COR20 is dedicated to the return line and UV. Another COR20 will be used for reactors. Since one of my main goals was to have a quiet system using the gate valve instead of the Red Sea diaphragm valve on the drain pipe, I don’t want the return flow rate to vary. Using a separate pump for the reactors will make this possible since the reactor media gets clogged up over time which reduces flow rate.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
So far, so good. I moved all the fish and surviving corals back to the Reefer display tank one week ago. I'm still waiting on the cleaned rocks to cycle in a tub in my garage before moving them back to the main tank, so for now I just have one large rock from the original tank that has a few corals attached. The tank looks pretty bare, but it's a much better environment for the fish than the little 20 gallon tank.
Today I measured phosphate at 0.02 ppm, and nitrate at 0.25 ppm. Prior to the rebuild I was unable to get these parameters down below 0.15 ppm and 30 ppm respectively. The new roller is doing a good job so far.
I need to get some chaeto for the refugium to help building up my pod population again. During the rebuild I've been manually adding live pods for my mandarin goby.
Today I measured phosphate at 0.02 ppm, and nitrate at 0.25 ppm. Prior to the rebuild I was unable to get these parameters down below 0.15 ppm and 30 ppm respectively. The new roller is doing a good job so far.
I need to get some chaeto for the refugium to help building up my pod population again. During the rebuild I've been manually adding live pods for my mandarin goby.
PanhandleReef
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How does the Sky compare to ReeFi for your coral color and growth? Your initial impression of the Sky? I’m in the middle of a new build and lights are the last thing I’m trying to decide on.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
I honestly can’t make any comparison yet. I’ve only had the SKY for 2 months, and it was just mounted over my old sump that I was using as a frag tank to keep what’s left of my corals alive as I rebuilt the Reefer. These are just about 20 frags that survived the tank crash from my original collection of over 100 corals. I’ve just been providing feedback to Neptune on the user interface as part of their NSI testing team.
Overall I like the SKY. But it only has 4 color channels so it’s not as flexible as the ReeFi in terms of color spectrum. However it does have a larger footprint so the light spread is wider with less shadowing. I needed 3 ReeFi’s on my Reefer XL 425 for full coverage, but I would only need 2 SKY’s for this tank. The Apex integration is nice, but not a dealbreaker for me.
Again, until my corals have fully recovered and I add more frags once my rockscape is rebuilt, I can’t make any determination on growth differences between the lights.
Tuffloud1
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I would switch, but there is no reliable option right now for retrofitting sumps built for 7 inch filter socks.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
That's why I replaced the whole sump with this Trigger. I couldn't find an easy option to fit the weird Red Sea 3.5" sock chamber.
Tuffloud1
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I have a Synergy Reef CL60. The Klir DI-7s would fit, but they look like more of a hassle than just switching the socks out.
I have 20 Innovative Marine 7 inch socks. 55 bucks for a 10 pack, can’t beat that. I switch 2 at a time out, toss in a bucket with a sealed lid. Once a month or so, I hose them all off and toss in the washing machine with no detergent, extra rinse cycle.
To me, at this point in time, this is the easiest solution for me. Until the technology improves with the roller mats to provide a viable option to retrofit my sump. I like my sump too much to change it out just for that. Only takes me an hour or less once a month to wash them.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
Yes, I was using the GRO since August 2020 before I tore down the tank and it worked well. I was on Neptune's NSI testing team, and you can read all of my NSI testing feedback at the Neptune Community Forum. They made these threads public after the official release of the GRO:
SuncrestReef - My GRO Experience
My GRO is scheduled for delivery on Monday, so for now I'll post about my current refugium setup. Tank description I have a Reefer XL 425 established in May 2018 and 3 ReeFi DUO Extreme LED's for lighting. My tank is highly automated with 14 Apex modules. See my build thread at Reef2Reef...
forum.neptunesystems.com
It's hard to see in the photos, but the Trigger sump has blue colored baffles between each chamber which blocks the majority of the refugium light from spilling into the other chambers. It looks like a lot of light spillage in my photos, but it's actually very dim light that makes it through.
DS204
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Please remind me of the width for your new sump!
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
Just a quick update. The rocks finished cycling so I added them back to the tank along with some new sand. I'm going with a very thin 1/2" layer of sand this time instead of the 2"-3" sandbed I previously had. I'm using Tropic Eden Reefflakes, same as before, because I really like the grain size.
It looks so empty. Time to start re-stocking with frags!
It looks so empty. Time to start re-stocking with frags!
Daveobrien
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I know that feeling! Congratulations on getting to the next stage of... Return To Glory!
