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kgk
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I am so spoiled. I don't look at anything on Amazon if I can't get Prime. LOL.
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Keith's new 120 build. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter kgk
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I hear you about Prime...
I'd also say to spend the time and get the return just the way you want it. It is such a PITA to change once you've salt water and critters in the tank.
I didn't take that advice and there are things about my return plumbing that annoy me. I'm stuck with them unless I want a ton of work in an awkward place.
I'm also interested in hearing what you think of that DC pump. I think one of those are in my future.
I'd also say to spend the time and get the return just the way you want it. It is such a PITA to change once you've salt water and critters in the tank.
I didn't take that advice and there are things about my return plumbing that annoy me. I'm stuck with them unless I want a ton of work in an awkward place.
I'm also interested in hearing what you think of that DC pump. I think one of those are in my future.
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kgk
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I built a bigger Durso yesterday, and will install it today. Hopefully that helps.
I don't want to have to cut pipes and do the Herbie. I like having all the traveling water enclosed in the glass of my yank or over the sump.
The dc pump is awesome. Tunable flow is cool, but the great thing is that it is basically silent.
I don't want to have to cut pipes and do the Herbie. I like having all the traveling water enclosed in the glass of my yank or over the sump.
The dc pump is awesome. Tunable flow is cool, but the great thing is that it is basically silent.
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kgk
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Neptune Apex is pretty awesome.
There is a learning curve, but once you get over the top of it, you quickly come to the conclusion that you have no idea how you did all this crap before the integrated controller.
It's really, really good. WXM control makes programming Vortech pumps a snap. I will be playing with complicated programming charts for days, I am sure.
There is a learning curve, but once you get over the top of it, you quickly come to the conclusion that you have no idea how you did all this crap before the integrated controller.
It's really, really good. WXM control makes programming Vortech pumps a snap. I will be playing with complicated programming charts for days, I am sure.
Yes, that WXM is cool. I'm using mine to control my Radions. When I was running the T5s, I could turn on the actinics if someone wanted to see the tank outside of the programmed light times. I lost that ability when I went to the Radions.
Now, via the WXM, I can flip a virtual switch and the lights will come on at 14%, overriding the Apex programming. When the virtual switch is off, the programming takes effect again.
The WXM is a nifty device that brings the Radions and pumps within the Apex family. I suppose the same could be done with the Reef Link but using the WXM means it can all be done and managed via Apex.
I love it.
Now, via the WXM, I can flip a virtual switch and the lights will come on at 14%, overriding the Apex programming. When the virtual switch is off, the programming takes effect again.
The WXM is a nifty device that brings the Radions and pumps within the Apex family. I suppose the same could be done with the Reef Link but using the WXM means it can all be done and managed via Apex.
I love it.
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kgk
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The 1 1/4" Durso seems to be working. The overflow is quiet. Loudest thing on the tank are now my MP40's.
Jason
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kgk
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Started with 1/16" and ended with 3/32".
OP
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kgk
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Apex fun... Looking at power usage. You can see my lights ramp up over the day, and when my heater is on and off.
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kgk
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Tank is doing well. I started it with Fritz-zyme and never saw any ammonia in the tank. Got a couple rocks from Dennis' sump, and have diatoms on the rocks and bare bottom. Not much to talk about really.
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kgk
Guest
Word.
My CUC from Reefcleaners is supposed to show up tomorrow, so I have that going for me.
My CUC from Reefcleaners is supposed to show up tomorrow, so I have that going for me.
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kgk
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One other nugget of new-build wisdom. I wouldn't recommend starting a new tank with Red Sea Coral Pro salt. It may be the bee's knees once you're growing coral, but for now, the high levels of CA/Alk are causing precipitation in my tank, especially on my heater. It's not cool. I'm going to use Fritz for a while, I think, and move back towards RSCP once I start growing stuff.
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kgk
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I really like Fritz Pro salt so far. It mixes up quick, clean and clear. Alk comes in right about 8.5 on each batch I've made so far. I haven't measured Cal on it, been getting temp & Sg right, measuring pH and Alk, and doing water changes once a week. I assume cal is fine & in the 400 range.
Since I've put water in the tank, I've added my pair of snowflake clowns, 4 chromis, and now I have two Tangs as well - a Purple & a Yellow. Got them all from Dennis. The purple came out of a customer's tank and was fat when I got him, the yellow was just slightly bigger than the purple but emaciated & starving. They jostled a bit the first two days, but have settled down into a rhythm where the Purple is the boss. No tail dancing anymore (the yellow did get one really nasty puncture wound on his side that is nearly fully healed), but some raised fins and short sprints now and then. They're both eating like hogs & the yellow is putting on weight as fast as I put nori into the tank. Now that I have the tangs, my skimmer is pumping out nasty brown gunk - before it hardly did anything.
I also picked up a couple SPS frags from David (reeftopia). I went for a couple different flavors of staghorn. They look good so far - my water (as far as I can measure) is perfect - but I will have to watch the tank over the next week closely to really see how it's going to go. It's still a really new tank & I am positive someone is going to tell me to slow down, but so far it seems to be working.
I also love the mobile water change station. I will never schlep a bucket around again.
Since I've put water in the tank, I've added my pair of snowflake clowns, 4 chromis, and now I have two Tangs as well - a Purple & a Yellow. Got them all from Dennis. The purple came out of a customer's tank and was fat when I got him, the yellow was just slightly bigger than the purple but emaciated & starving. They jostled a bit the first two days, but have settled down into a rhythm where the Purple is the boss. No tail dancing anymore (the yellow did get one really nasty puncture wound on his side that is nearly fully healed), but some raised fins and short sprints now and then. They're both eating like hogs & the yellow is putting on weight as fast as I put nori into the tank. Now that I have the tangs, my skimmer is pumping out nasty brown gunk - before it hardly did anything.
I also picked up a couple SPS frags from David (reeftopia). I went for a couple different flavors of staghorn. They look good so far - my water (as far as I can measure) is perfect - but I will have to watch the tank over the next week closely to really see how it's going to go. It's still a really new tank & I am positive someone is going to tell me to slow down, but so far it seems to be working.
I also love the mobile water change station. I will never schlep a bucket around again.
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kgk
Guest
Time for a little update. The tank is a 4' 120 gallon Planet Aquariums tank, and the stand is about 7.5' long. The extra space gives me room for equipment & room to work. I hated being cramped under my other tanks.
On the left is my ATO reservoir. It holds about 20 gallons & last about 10 days (ergo, I am evaporating a little under 2 gallons a day). It's gravity fed - there is a float valve on the right side, in the return portion of the sump. The sump is 3'x16"x16", with black baffles and bottom. Both the ATO res & sump were made by Advanced Acrylics (this is before BAO was doing their thing I guess - probably built ~2 years ago). On the left you can see my recirculating Avast CS1 skimmer w/ a swabbie and a Davy Jones locker - mmm, look at all that fish poop. You can also see a Reef Octopus BR-110 biopellet reactor. The manifold feeds the BP reactor, which then feeds the input for the recirculating skimmer. I just hooked up the BP reactor tonight - we'll see how that goes. I used to run it on my old tank. The return pump is a Waveline DC-6000 and I have a single 300W heater under there. Everything is controlled by an Apex. Ignore the mess of black 1/4" tubing on the right side of the sump - that's where my calcium reactor will go, when I get it fixed. The pump made an awful racket & I'm changing it out. There is also a single BRS reactor running a mixture of 1/3 GFO and 2/3 carbon. You can't see in the electronics compartment, but there's an Apex, drivers for the lights and pumps, and a 10lb CO2 bottle in there. The electronics section is fully separated from the sump area.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. Clearly the tank is bare bottom, and the rocks are all Marco Rocks and the arch is held together with his E-Marco 400 cement. I got three little rocks from Dennis' sump to seed corraline & things of that nature. There are two Vortech MP40's, and the tank is lit by dual Radion Pro's (gen 2 version). Yeah, I was doing custom LEDs and they work, but I didn't have enough control channels to mix colors nearly as well as these Radions - live & learn. There are 10 fish in there - a Purple Tang, a Yellow Tang, a Flame Angel (this is the risky fish of the bunch but my daughter... you get the picture), a pair of snowflake clowns (~3 years old, these guys have been through several tanks & lasongo's sump), a Bellus Angel, and four blue-green Chromis. There are also some SPS frags from various places, including reeftopia's tank, rlpardue's tank, and lasongo's tank.
I think I'm doing typing for now.
On the left is my ATO reservoir. It holds about 20 gallons & last about 10 days (ergo, I am evaporating a little under 2 gallons a day). It's gravity fed - there is a float valve on the right side, in the return portion of the sump. The sump is 3'x16"x16", with black baffles and bottom. Both the ATO res & sump were made by Advanced Acrylics (this is before BAO was doing their thing I guess - probably built ~2 years ago). On the left you can see my recirculating Avast CS1 skimmer w/ a swabbie and a Davy Jones locker - mmm, look at all that fish poop. You can also see a Reef Octopus BR-110 biopellet reactor. The manifold feeds the BP reactor, which then feeds the input for the recirculating skimmer. I just hooked up the BP reactor tonight - we'll see how that goes. I used to run it on my old tank. The return pump is a Waveline DC-6000 and I have a single 300W heater under there. Everything is controlled by an Apex. Ignore the mess of black 1/4" tubing on the right side of the sump - that's where my calcium reactor will go, when I get it fixed. The pump made an awful racket & I'm changing it out. There is also a single BRS reactor running a mixture of 1/3 GFO and 2/3 carbon. You can't see in the electronics compartment, but there's an Apex, drivers for the lights and pumps, and a 10lb CO2 bottle in there. The electronics section is fully separated from the sump area.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. Clearly the tank is bare bottom, and the rocks are all Marco Rocks and the arch is held together with his E-Marco 400 cement. I got three little rocks from Dennis' sump to seed corraline & things of that nature. There are two Vortech MP40's, and the tank is lit by dual Radion Pro's (gen 2 version). Yeah, I was doing custom LEDs and they work, but I didn't have enough control channels to mix colors nearly as well as these Radions - live & learn. There are 10 fish in there - a Purple Tang, a Yellow Tang, a Flame Angel (this is the risky fish of the bunch but my daughter... you get the picture), a pair of snowflake clowns (~3 years old, these guys have been through several tanks & lasongo's sump), a Bellus Angel, and four blue-green Chromis. There are also some SPS frags from various places, including reeftopia's tank, rlpardue's tank, and lasongo's tank.
I think I'm doing typing for now.
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Looks good man!
Dsophia
Guest
Very cool!
