Catching Up (this could become pic intensive)
- Thread starter stonynut
- Start date
stonynut
Member
more sharing.... this is my closed loop. water is pulled thru two 1.5" bulkheads in the back of the tank that go thru the floor and feed a sequence4300 under the house. it shoots the water back up to the gray device in the picture called an oceansmotions 4-way. there are various drums you can put in it to achieve whatever waterflow you desire. i wanted a strong/broad current sweeping back and forth across the tank and i achieved. i get about 3500gph from the two left then 3500gph from the two right and repeat on a 1 minute full cycle
hurt
Active Member
StonyNut--Absolutely amazing, one of the nicest reefs I have yet to see
! I am just a mere novice sps reefer after seeing your work of art. By chance are the KIP4110??? or something along those #'s. I looked at your homepage, but it seems many of the links are not working? Gallery? Could you post a little more info on your tank specs-size, lighting, water parameters, temp, fuge, skimmer, etc, etc. I want to learn more
. And keep the pics coming, more please
stonynut
Member
parameters:
sal: 35ppt (refractometer & pinpoint)
pH: 7.9-8.1 (milwaukee and pinpoint controllers)-gonna be re-working some things to bump this a tad
temp 79-82 (pair of aqualogic temp controllers)
ca: 440-460 (salifert)
dkh: 11 (salifert)
mag: 1200 (salifert)
Sr: 4 (this is a hard test to run.. .if i get a zero i will dose, if i get a reading at all i leave it alone)
I: less than .1 (same rule as above... both Sr and I tested w/ salifert)
no3: (zilch... salifert.... see note ***)
po4: (zilch... salifert.... see note ***)
key is not only achieving these levels, but maintaining it. i can randomly pic a time to test and these levels will be dead set at any given moment (of course there are very, very small fluctuations)
note*** .... po4 is another test that can give you a false sense of satisfaction. if i get a reading at all, then i definitely know there are problems. if i get a zero, i dont stop there. while readings are zero, a visual analysis is still in order. easy way to do this is by charting film algae growth on your glass. if you cant go a week without your glass staying clear without cleaning it, then you have po4 issues. tough part about no3 and po4 is they can exist in your tank, but not allow you to read them in a test. they can be sequestered so quickly that there isnt enough free ions to test. its still in your tank, just not free to be tested. SPS growth and color can be an excellent indicator of po4 as well.
sal: 35ppt (refractometer & pinpoint)
pH: 7.9-8.1 (milwaukee and pinpoint controllers)-gonna be re-working some things to bump this a tad
temp 79-82 (pair of aqualogic temp controllers)
ca: 440-460 (salifert)
dkh: 11 (salifert)
mag: 1200 (salifert)
Sr: 4 (this is a hard test to run.. .if i get a zero i will dose, if i get a reading at all i leave it alone)
I: less than .1 (same rule as above... both Sr and I tested w/ salifert)
no3: (zilch... salifert.... see note ***)
po4: (zilch... salifert.... see note ***)
key is not only achieving these levels, but maintaining it. i can randomly pic a time to test and these levels will be dead set at any given moment (of course there are very, very small fluctuations)
note*** .... po4 is another test that can give you a false sense of satisfaction. if i get a reading at all, then i definitely know there are problems. if i get a zero, i dont stop there. while readings are zero, a visual analysis is still in order. easy way to do this is by charting film algae growth on your glass. if you cant go a week without your glass staying clear without cleaning it, then you have po4 issues. tough part about no3 and po4 is they can exist in your tank, but not allow you to read them in a test. they can be sequestered so quickly that there isnt enough free ions to test. its still in your tank, just not free to be tested. SPS growth and color can be an excellent indicator of po4 as well.
murph145
Active Member
thanks for the info stony....
ive been keepin a saltwater tank for over 2 years ....
i finally upgraded and got the right lighting for sps....
i run 2-250W 20K DE HQI bulbs along with 200W of 10K PC
i have a 1/3 hp aquavia chiller to keep temp right at 80
all water parameters are stable....
ph 8.3
na,ni,am,po all 0
calcium 420
salinity 1.024
i think my only issue is flow....
my tank was set up with a drilled bottom and has no fuge.... i have 150lbs LR in the tank with lots of hitchinkers residing in the DSB and rocks lots of sponge growth and such....
i have 2 fluval 404's that are bottom fed and i run chemi-pure carbon 24/7 with a uv filter and a skimmer capable of keeping on a 200 gallon tank.... i also run 3 power heads in the tank for flow im not sure if it is enough??
currently i dose every day with b-ionic 2 poart system.... i want to get a calcium reactor but how can i hook it up without a sump or fuge?? i do have an auto top off system hooked up to my tank a 5 gallon tank with fresh ro/di water.... can i drip into that system and have it dose as it refils my tank??
i know i really need to get a tank with a sump and a closed loop system for the perfect flow but im just gonna wait on that until i move to my next house....
what do yoiu think about my setup and what should i do about flow and calcium??
thanks for all your help and info!!!
ive been keepin a saltwater tank for over 2 years ....
i finally upgraded and got the right lighting for sps....
i run 2-250W 20K DE HQI bulbs along with 200W of 10K PC
i have a 1/3 hp aquavia chiller to keep temp right at 80
all water parameters are stable....
ph 8.3
na,ni,am,po all 0
calcium 420
salinity 1.024
i think my only issue is flow....
my tank was set up with a drilled bottom and has no fuge.... i have 150lbs LR in the tank with lots of hitchinkers residing in the DSB and rocks lots of sponge growth and such....
i have 2 fluval 404's that are bottom fed and i run chemi-pure carbon 24/7 with a uv filter and a skimmer capable of keeping on a 200 gallon tank.... i also run 3 power heads in the tank for flow im not sure if it is enough??
currently i dose every day with b-ionic 2 poart system.... i want to get a calcium reactor but how can i hook it up without a sump or fuge?? i do have an auto top off system hooked up to my tank a 5 gallon tank with fresh ro/di water.... can i drip into that system and have it dose as it refils my tank??
i know i really need to get a tank with a sump and a closed loop system for the perfect flow but im just gonna wait on that until i move to my next house....
what do yoiu think about my setup and what should i do about flow and calcium??
thanks for all your help and info!!!
stonynut
Member
someone asked about lighting... here it is (old shot from when was putting the tank together, there are now moonlights and fans in there)
3x 250wDE phoenix 14ks in ROIII pendants powered by 250w PFO HQI magnetic ballasts (remotely located in the garage)
and
2x 140w URI actinic VHOs powered by an icecap ballast (seen)
i have had pretty good success with this lighting, but i am soon to rework the lighting system for something with a little more punch. the DEs have excellent intensity directly under the bulb, but i am not sure the spread their PAR very well. So i am going back to a bulb set up i experimented with a coupla years ago. I am soon to switch this lighting out for 3x 400wSE radium bulbs overdriven by 400w PFO magnetic HQI ballasts.
here is the 250wDE setup:
3x 250wDE phoenix 14ks in ROIII pendants powered by 250w PFO HQI magnetic ballasts (remotely located in the garage)
and
2x 140w URI actinic VHOs powered by an icecap ballast (seen)
i have had pretty good success with this lighting, but i am soon to rework the lighting system for something with a little more punch. the DEs have excellent intensity directly under the bulb, but i am not sure the spread their PAR very well. So i am going back to a bulb set up i experimented with a coupla years ago. I am soon to switch this lighting out for 3x 400wSE radium bulbs overdriven by 400w PFO magnetic HQI ballasts.
here is the 250wDE setup:
stonynut
Member
a device i believe every reefkeeper should use... a temperature controller.
a dual stage temp controller is designed to control a heater and a chiller. if for some reason the heater sticks... the TC will cut it off for you. even if you dont have a chiller, you can control fans, lights, an any other temperature associated device.
i use my dual stage aqualogic TC to control the heating system and the cooling system. i also have another single stage aqualogic TC as a backup for my chiller. if the chiller fails and the tank gets too warm, the single stage TC will shut off lighting so the tank can cool down. i believe it to be a wise investment for everyone to run their lighting this way. (as far as i know you can only do this with aqualogic TCs (also made by ranco).... medusa controllers wont work for some reason told to me by someone that tried it)
pic of the temp controllers:
a dual stage temp controller is designed to control a heater and a chiller. if for some reason the heater sticks... the TC will cut it off for you. even if you dont have a chiller, you can control fans, lights, an any other temperature associated device.
i use my dual stage aqualogic TC to control the heating system and the cooling system. i also have another single stage aqualogic TC as a backup for my chiller. if the chiller fails and the tank gets too warm, the single stage TC will shut off lighting so the tank can cool down. i believe it to be a wise investment for everyone to run their lighting this way. (as far as i know you can only do this with aqualogic TCs (also made by ranco).... medusa controllers wont work for some reason told to me by someone that tried it)
pic of the temp controllers:
