Wen’s 280 Build

[Wen]

Left for wkend with no tank sitter, so I was worried about the hangry emperor.
Two auto feeders drop pellets 3x a day, but definitely not enough food.
So I dug a big rock out of the fuge and placed on back wall of dt. This would keep the fish busy while I was gone.
Before and after photos of same rock.

 

[rds85]

Left for wkend with no tank sitter, so I was worried about the hangry emperor.
Two auto feeders drop pellets 3x a day, but definitely not enough food.
So I dug a big rock out of the fuge and placed on back wall of dt. This would keep the fish busy while I was gone.
Before and after photos of same rock.

Your emp did all of that?!?

 

[Wen]

Your emp did all of that?!?

The emp, Caribbean blue and hippo loved the wkend salad bar, haha. I’ll be doing that more often.

I’m struggling with glass cleaning on this tank. My original, off the shelf marineland glass was way easier to keep clean then this tank.
Idk if it’s the spread of these lights, and if it’s low iron glass (I specifically didn’t order low iron due to scratching), but it scratches and holds algae in a bad way. It’s frustrating.

 

[rds85]

The emp, Caribbean blue and hippo loved the wkend salad bar, haha. I’ll be doing that more often.

I’m struggling with glass cleaning on this tank. My original, off the shelf marineland glass was way easier to keep clean then this tank.
Idk if it’s the spread of these lights, and if it’s low iron glass (I specifically didn’t order low iron due to scratching), but it scratches and holds algae in a bad way. It’s frustrating.

Definitely should do that more often. natural way of harvesting.

Ohhh you are referring to the inside glass. Vinegar and water wont work for the inside glass when it is full. I am honestly one of the few people I know who uses the non blade side of the flipper magnet cleaner every two-three days. I will use the blade side but not as often. Once a month I go old school and get a fresh razor blade and scrape all the corners and back wall.

 

[this is me]

Glass cleaning is a biatchhhhhh

 

[Wen]

Got 3 tanks going again, hahaha. Just can't help myself.

DT
Single pearly jaw nano by my desk.
QT for $39 Petco cleaner shrimp. (they had a really nice coral beauty, was temped for 10 seconds.)

Idk what happened, but my cleaner shrimp disappeared, no it's not molting. And my red planet colony is in full rtn meltdown! Phosphate running a tad high, but all else status quo. Mailed an icp today.

 

[Wen]

@rds85 and @this is me
What return pumps do you guys use?

The volt error on these Cor20s drive me nuts.

 

[Wen]

@rds85 and @this is me
What return pumps do you guys use?

The volt error on these Cor20s drive me nuts.

Just required a new power brick, thankfully had a spare, just ordered more.

Nano pearly.

 

[rds85]

@rds85 and @this is me
What return pumps do you guys use?

The volt error on these Cor20s drive me nuts.

I use AC, Sicce ADV 9.0, two of them. Work like a charm for half the price. Little loud but in the fish room and I do not need to alternate my flow from sump to display.

 

[Wen]

I use AC, Sicce ADV 9.0, two of them. Work like a charm for half the price. Little loud but in the fish room and I do not need to alternate my flow from sump to display.

Hmmm, wonder if it’s louder then the syncra pro? It was a pretty quiet model, not enough gph for return though.

Ok, added Sicce adv 9. to BRS wishlist.
Thank you.

 

[this is me]

Wen,
I'm using the Ecotech L2. My sump is in the basement. I would say it has about 9' of head to pump up. I don't know what's my GPH is but it's at 70% power. I can go to about 80% but anything higher than that, the overflow box starts to sound like a water fall because the water is falling in too quickly. The overflow box is designed too short (I think). I don't really care much for turnover rate. 2x-3x is good enough. In-tank flow is provided by the powerheads.
I like the Vectra pump because they can be calibrated for zero flow when you power the pump off. Meaning, it will power down enough to not have any water going into the tank but it has enough power to hold that water in the pipe so that you don't have the water draining down. This is helpful for feed mode(which I don't use) and also when you're doing maintenance on the tank where you have to power down the return pump but don't want water draining back down like water change. I don't use check valves in my plumbing.
At 9' of head, the pump isn't exactly silent. It does have a slight whine that you can hear from upstairs. But you know what, when the Radion fans come on, that's all you hear. This whining noise can also be due to the restriction of the return pipe size which is 3/4". I think it wants to see as large as possible match to its output.
The price isn't bad. It's one of the best value for a pump in terms of power/$ and features.

 

[Wen]

Wen,
I'm using the Ecotech L2. My sump is in the basement. I would say it has about 9' of head to pump up. I don't know what's my GPH is but it's at 70% power. I can go to about 80% but anything higher than that, the overflow box starts to sound like a water fall because the water is falling in too quickly. The overflow box is designed too short (I think). I don't really care much for turnover rate. 2x-3x is good enough. In-tank flow is provided by the powerheads.
I like the Vectra pump because they can be calibrated for zero flow when you power the pump off. Meaning, it will power down enough to not have any water going into the tank but it has enough power to hold that water in the pipe so that you don't have the water draining down. This is helpful for feed mode(which I don't use) and also when you're doing maintenance on the tank where you have to power down the return pump but don't want water draining back down like water change. I don't use check valves in my plumbing.
At 9' of head, the pump isn't exactly silent. It does have a slight whine that you can hear from upstairs. But you know what, when the Radion fans come on, that's all you hear. This whining noise can also be due to the restriction of the return pipe size which is 3/4". I think it wants to see as large as possible match to its output.
The price isn't bad. It's one of the best value for a pump in terms of power/$ and features.

I like the idea of zero flow for tank maintenance, I do have check valves because my sump water level is high. Had too or else water on the floor. So far, they have been staying clean and doing the job.

Looks like the Vectra2 pumps 3100 GPH, nice! And you like the radions?
Only eco techs I have are some old mp40s. Back of my mind thinking of what will replace the hydra52hds when they start breaking down.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[this is me]

I strongly advise against relying on check valves to prevent back siphon overflow. They will fail at the worst possible time. Using them for maintenance purposes is okay but you have to ensure enough headroom in the sump in an event of return line back siphon. I think this is the most important aspect of the plumbing. It’s also an excuse to get an oversize sump.
I can’t say I’m overwhelmed by the Radion G5 performance. I don’t know if I’m just suck at coloring up sps or it’s the lights. But I’ve recently increase the intensity of the Radions and seeing improvements. I will wait until the end of the year. My tank is only 9 months young. 2 years is my probation period.
Fix your sump volume. Time to get a bigger sump.

 

[Wen]

I strongly advise against relying on check valves to prevent back siphon overflow. They will fail at the worst possible time. Using them for maintenance purposes is okay but you have to ensure enough headroom in the sump in an event of return line back siphon. I think this is the most important aspect of the plumbing. It’s also an excuse to get an oversize sump.
I can’t say I’m overwhelmed by the Radion G5 performance. I don’t know if I’m just suck at coloring up sps or it’s the lights. But I’ve recently increase the intensity of the Radions and seeing improvements. I will wait until the end of the year. My tank is only 9 months young. 2 years is my probation period.
Fix your sump volume. Time to get a bigger sump.

You speak the truth, thank you.
If the 2 check valves failed and the skimmer power was off, I’d probably have 5-10 gallons on the floor.
So would you consider adding a few t5s and go hybrid? For me hybrid is the key for happy sps.

 

[this is me]

I want to wait for next year when I finally stop adding fish to see how the acros are doing and after they have grown a bit. I think the Radions have potential. I see an improvement in colors when I up the intensity.
Adding T5s is an option. The canopy will accommodate them just fine. However, I just don’t want more wires to manage but if that’s what the tank needs, so be it.
I’m still in the phase of adding fish. Mainly wrasses. Every time I add a new fish, the tank see a spike in nutrients because of the food bombs I drop in the tank to get get the new fish to eat and survive the already busy tank.
My PO4 just spiked to double digit of 0.14 from 0.04 when all the new fish added. Lineatus, Labouti, Rhomboids trio in the first round a month ago. A second round of adding a pair of Eight Line Flasher two weeks ago, and just recently some more leopard wrasse that my existing Meleagris Leopard are not too fond of. I don’t think the existing pair of Meleagris(large female, and medium female) will let the new female Meleagris live. However, they left the new Bipartitus(Blue Star) Leopard alone. I added 3 Blue Stars and only one is swimming and eating. The other two is MIA and it has been 4 days. If the one Blue Star live, I’ll pursue the goal of having a trio. If they all die…
My first year of new tank is pretty heavy in fish loading.

 

[Wen]

I want to wait for next year when I finally stop adding fish to see how the acros are doing and after they have grown a bit. I think the Radions have potential. I see an improvement in colors when I up the intensity.
Adding T5s is an option. The canopy will accommodate them just fine. However, I just don’t want more wires to manage but if that’s what the tank needs, so be it.
I’m still in the phase of adding fish. Mainly wrasses. Every time I add a new fish, the tank see a spike in nutrients because of the food bombs I drop in the tank to get get the new fish to eat and survive the already busy tank.
My PO4 just spiked to double digit of 0.14 from 0.04 when all the new fish added. Lineatus, Labouti, Rhomboids trio in the first round a month ago. A second round of adding a pair of Eight Line Flasher two weeks ago, and just recently some more leopard wrasse that my existing Meleagris Leopard are not too fond of. I don’t think the existing pair of Meleagris(large female, and medium female) will let the new female Meleagris live. However, they left the new Bipartitus(Blue Star) Leopard alone. I added 3 Blue Stars and only one is swimming and eating. The other two is MIA and it has been 4 days. If the one Blue Star live, I’ll pursue the goal of having a trio. If they all die…
My first year of new tank is pretty heavy in fish loading.

You buying fish online or have a trusted LFS?

 

[this is me]

I get mine from LFS and online places like LA, NYA. Nothing special.

 

[Wen]

Check out this creature! I was hoping it was a baby red ball of death, but think it’s a sort of limpet?
3”z, slimy and now moving for cover. Not a baby RBD.

cool worms in sump

 

[Wen]

Emperor is growing fast and look how nice the hippo looks!

This is hippo when adopted year ago.

 

[this is me]

Excellent! I better stop looking at that emperor. Too nice!