siwelk Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 patiently waiting... its sunday so theres no excuse for not getting this thing set up woot! Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 patiently waiting...its sunday so theres no excuse for not getting this thing set up woot! You kidding me? I opened the box the minute it arrived! I wouldn't be a reef addict otherwise. There was a big local poker tournament up here last night- $150 Buy-In, and I was late by 20mins due to having to set up the system 1st. haha. Ended up at the final table and lost with pocket JJs for 6th place. Got my prize money and raced home and stayed up until 3:30am calibrating the water levels. THIS SYSTEM IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT LOOKS. Be prepared to make errors (overflowing the tank, overfilling the sump, correcting the overflow height) before you get this right. I almost chucked the damn thing out the door last night when the tank kept overflowing onto the hardwood floors. No worries. I am ok now Pics speak for themselves... Taking off now to Home Depot for CLEAR or BLACK overflow and return piping. Glad to say the filter functions great! The components are of much higher quality than expected for $200. I cut power and "rebooted" 10+ times so far without fail. But the blue look is AWFUL. At this time I am too embarrassed to show pics of the actual overflow and return. Hopefully, the display tank starts to look better as the day progresses... Link to comment
siwelk Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 aww man, that sucks. i love pocket JJs, almost as much as pocket deuces. glad you got it all setup. it looks to be working well. i agree that the blue isn't very aesthetically pleasing but it seems to be functioning well. i didnt know it was so difficult to calibrate though. it seems like it should be easy to get running but i now know that is not the case. nice pics! cant wait to see how its running after a few weeks. hopefully you can do something to make it easier on your eyes. let us know how that skimmer works, which is what ive heard the most negative comments about. looks good! keep us posted. now over to drsfostersmith.com to see if its still on sale. hmmm. Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 aww man, that sucks. i love pocket JJs, almost as much as pocket deuces. glad you got it all setup. it looks to be working well. i agree that the blue isn't very aesthetically pleasing but it seems to be functioning well. i didnt know it was so difficult to calibrate though. it seems like it should be easy to get running but i now know that is not the case. nice pics! cant wait to see how its running after a few weeks. hopefully you can do something to make it easier on your eyes. let us know how that skimmer works, which is what ive heard the most negative comments about. looks good! keep us posted. now over to drsfostersmith.com to see if its still on sale. hmmm. I think this just might work out. The blue return tubing has been replaced with slick black vinyl and now runs cleanly and nicely up from the cabinet below. Even the return spout was fitted with a Hydor Flo, so I can now do without the MJ1200 - since this RapidsPro has quite sufficient pump power. Bio Media it came with was removed and replaced with filter pad from PetsMart. And the heater now fits in the 3rd media chamber of the wet/dry. Digital thermometer reads from the sump. Definitely more room in the tank! Only the Koralia1 and inside overflow box can be seen from the front and sides. Trial and error. I bought the incorrect sized overflow tubing. Going back to HD... Project is almost complete. Will post pics when finished. Link to comment
siwelk Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 cant wait...im gonna go to my LFS before they close and see what they got for my new Tom Deco 3 Link to comment
Krayon Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 hey purpleup, got any new pics of your tank?(a new fts perhaps?) Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 hey purpleup, got any new pics of your tank?(a new fts perhaps?) Here you go, Krayon! INCREDIBLY happy now with this setup. The "aqua-lifter" pump was mounted on the back of the overflow instead of hanging it next to it on the tank. Conceals it much better. Black vinyl tubes curl very nicely down into the cabinet. Only the Hydor Flo and Koralia1 are visible inside the tank. So much more room for SPS corals to flourish. Water hasn't cleared up yet. Filter was just powered up. I've been shutting down and restarting the system to test how flood proof it really is. See my BC14 in the background. Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 simply amazing Thank you very much. This high maintenance ADA tank just become fully automated. Topping off alone was a pain in the a$$. Most servicing is now done below the cabinet. Less mess! Overall, I am very very pleased with the Rapids Pro PS4 - so far. The protein skimmer has yet to prove its worth. BTW: That 7UP bottle collects the gunk from the protein skimmer. So far no gunk. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Prob needs to break in like all other skimmers, Looks great, I love that filter and ATO. Link to comment
siwelk Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 once the skimmer gets "dialed-in" im sure youll start to see some nasty stuff show up in your cup. that setup looks really nice! im diggin the black vinyl tubing...much better than the blue. im really startin to think i need to order that ps4 next payday. Link to comment
keith1569 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 very nice man..im def looking forward to see how it starts working..if you are happy with it i might have to get one for myself hah..i do hate topping off 20oz of water ed sucks! keith Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 very nice man..im def looking forward to see how it starts working..if you are happy with it i might have to get one for myself hah..i do hate topping off 20oz of water ed sucks! keith Tx. Yeah, I'll keep posting performance updates. Do you want one for your 10gal? or do you have another? Link to comment
2t2_crash Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I am esp. curious about the flow rate and the skimmer. This thing is supposed to move 1k gph... which is great for my 55gal.. maybe that is why you are having a hard time with the smaller tanks (ok I'll admit I am not a nano reefer, but I am a Nor*Cal boy... Richmond born and raised, stationed in okinawa!) Reviews prior had given the skimmer a hit but most people post reviews of things a day or two after having it. Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 I am esp. curious about the flow rate and the skimmer. This thing is supposed to move 1k gph... which is great for my 55gal.. maybe that is why you are having a hard time with the smaller tanks (ok I'll admit I am not a nano reefer, but I am a Nor*Cal boy... Richmond born and raised, stationed in okinawa!) Reviews prior had given the skimmer a hit but most people post reviews of things a day or two after having it. You're right. This thing can definitely move water. You can tell just by the size and weight of its pump. It creates s a rhythmic wave at the surface of my tank, just like the ocean. It made me remove my MJ1200, which caused heavy currents as well. Both of them together actually pushed water over the lip of the tank! I think it would do fine for a 55G. The protein skimmer is using an air stone, but the pump for that is powerful too. I'll keep the air setting the way it is for the next several days before I make any adjustments. My tank is less than 2 mos old, so I'm not sure how much gunk is in there to begin with for the skimmer to remove. We shall see... Link to comment
keith1569 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 ya it would be for my 10 gallon tank...from the sounds of it..do you think it may to much strength for a 10 gallon tank? keith Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 ya it would be for my 10 gallon tank...from the sounds of it..do you think it may to much strength for a 10 gallon tank? keith yup. a little too much flow for a 10g. you may want to pick up a simple auto top-off unit for it so you won't have to add water every day. For my BC14, I use JBJ's A.T.O. with 2 sensors in my tank. One for a top-off trigger and another for shut-off, to prevent the tank from overflowing if the 1st sensor fails. For a 10g, a simple HOB and 10-15% weekly water changes will do the trick. Link to comment
keith1569 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 thats what i have been doin currently..i was lookin at the jbj ato a week ago or so Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 20, 2007 Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 I got skim action after 1 day. Looks promising. It's difficult to tell from the photo - since the collection cup instantly empties through the tube and into a 2-Liter 7UP bottle - but the foam is nice and dry. Link to comment
keith1569 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 very nice!! damn my small 10g tank hahah Link to comment
DarkMazda Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 wow the overflow inside the tank seems to take very little space up very nice! Doesnt look as cluttered without the maxijet, filter + surface skimmer, good move aesthetically Link to comment
pattykat99 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Gosh Randy, I'm speechless, your tank is CLEAN!!! i think the filter system was a good choice, it's barely visible from the front and it doesnt take anything away from the focal point. GOOD CHOICE!! Link to comment
2t2_crash Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 very nice!! damn my small 10g tank hahah nice! I gotta decide between sump or one of these Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted November 20, 2007 Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 wow the overflow inside the tank seems to take very little space up very nice! Doesnt look as cluttered without the maxijet, filter + surface skimmer, good move aesthetically I really appreciate that. Constructive comments from this thread are what made me switch out. If it weren't for siwelk, I wouldn't have found out about this new product in the first place. You are so right. Not only is it not as cluttered, but it adds plenty more space for corals. The new filter and powerful protein skimmer has given me more confidence to stock the tank with rare, hard-to-keep SPS. I'll need to mod it a bit to integrate a drip doser for calc and alk. At last, the hardware is done for the most part, and I can now focus on maintaining water quality and coral selection. Tx for the words of encouragement, Patty. Can't wait for those blue tubs. They're going in the BC14 though. crash, if it isn't too difficult for you to drill your tank, I'd say go with a full blown sump. You'll have way more flexibility and added water volume. It just doesn't get any cleaner than a closed-loop system with no visible pumps inside. Now if you CANNOT DRILL, but need to settle for a hang-on overflow instead, this is the simplest/cheapest way to do it. Most importantly, you can sleep at night or leave your home for a few days without worrying about your home flooding. BTW: Does anyone have any recommendations for a good low-cost dosing system? Link to comment
2t2_crash Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Thanks for the reply purpleup. Let us know how often the filters need cleaning. Drilling isn't an option unfortunately and being as my location is okinawa trying to find things (IE proper algae for the sump/fuge) is fun (sarcastic). Just keeping my options open. oh, BTW, I was born and raised in Richmond Cali.. my old man works at the refinery there. Link to comment
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