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kinetic Red Sea Reefer 170


kinetic

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5 hours ago, Lynton said:

Yea I changed the sock over to one of these and stuff it with filter floss and also put my carbon in there in a bag

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That looks really great. I should've thought about doing this before getting a BRS reactor...

 

5 hours ago, Lawnman said:

Who makes that? I had that idea about 2-3 years ago and called them Crapper Trappers. 

LOL what a great name

 

5 hours ago, Lynton said:

It's from a company called little ocean  here in the UK, it's called the crud catcher actually ?.. it'sjust starting to get popular over here thanks to you guys across the pond, I love it no more washing filter socks

And there it is, crud catcher. slightly more civilized.

 

2 hours ago, scurvy dawg said:

Is photography your job or hobby?  I have to say that you are making some pretty mundane equipment look beautiful.  Who would have thought that a picture of a sump could look so good.

 

Kudos!

 

I have a RSR 170 and can't say enough good things about it.  I was on the fence about keeping the filter sock but after watching a vid on BRSTV, they convinced me that socks can be a great mechanical filter as long as you change them out every 3 days or so.  I swap out the 225 mesh versions of the socks every 3-4 days and they are pretty easy to clean.  Now the 100 Felt ones are a different story, they are a PITA to clean.  I usually use one once a month to polish the water a bit.

Photography is a hobby, though I do shoot a lot of commercial work on the side (check my portfolio out). My main job is running a company that innovates on tech around photography. All my friends are photographers too. So that's my world.  And thanks for the compliments! Maybe Red Sea will send me their Peninsula 500 Reefer to photograph and keep ;)

 

Re: filter socks. My Red Sea came with the mesh one, and not the felt. In the past my felt socks just overflowed and I just gave up on them eventually. I'm hoping the mesh one works well enough. I'll just wash it off and rinse in RO/DI every couple days.

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Added cable raceways to hide as much of the black cables as possible. Still need to wrap the last bit of black in some white neoprene sleeves. Then I'm going to paint the raceways to match exactly the wall. Put my house plant next to the tank for fun.
 
Thanks a ton @madtrax for the suggestion!
 
Preview before paint:
 
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On 08/09/2017 at 7:09 PM, kinetic said:

 

That looks really great. I should've thought about doing this before getting a BRS reactor...

 

LOL what a great name

 

And there it is, crud catcher. slightly more civilized.

 

Photography is a hobby, though I do shoot a lot of commercial work on the side (check my portfolio out). My main job is running a company that innovates on tech around photography. All my friends are photographers too. So that's my world.  And thanks for the compliments! Maybe Red Sea will send me their Peninsula 500 Reefer to photograph and keep ;)

 

Re: filter socks. My Red Sea came with the mesh one, and not the felt. In the past my felt socks just overflowed and I just gave up on them eventually. I'm hoping the mesh one works well enough. I'll just wash it off and rinse in RO/DI every couple days.

When I did use the filter socks I put filter floss in them, they lasted a lot longer before I had to wash them out, ( a week)

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The day has come, the replacement tank arrived on Wednesday morning. After a VERY close inspection, I took delivery of the tank. It came with the plastic overflow top too (which I thought it would not). This tank was not cracked, though quite a bit dirtier inside (cobwebs, dead moth, dusty). Not a big deal, quick vacuum and towel + water, it was cleaned up.
 
The finishing touches:
  1. Plumbed the drain pipes and return
  2. Hooked up the return pump (which was being used to cycle my rock in a tub)
  3. Fitted the Maxspect Gyre XF130 to the overflow (fit perfectly, a little snug on the drain silencer, but otherwise good)
  4. Put in the rock
  5. Started the slow process of filling with RO/DI from my RO/DI unit (75gpd, with quite a bit of distance traveled to the room with the tank)
  6. Put in sand I rinsed like crazy. I had initially rinsed it with garden hose water for 2.5 hours. Then I rinsed it with the water from the tub that was cycling the rocks. Just a little at a time, multiple times. Pretty sure it diluted the tap water out (which was treated and left for 2 days anyway), and got the sand crystal clear. Added the sand to the tank, and zero cloudiness. horray!
  7. The rest of the cycled water I had left, I put into the sump, and it actually filled it almost perfectly.
  8. Marinepure plate that was cycling with the rock was also placed in the sump.
  9. Finally the tank was full. I turned her on and somehow no major leaks. Maybe I killed all the cycled bacteria with just RO/DI water? Who knows. Then I just mixed the salt right into the display (Aquaforest Reef Salt). Not sure if that was the best idea, but it worked great. NO residue at all anywhere. Pretty cool! I actually over dosed the salt, and spent most of the next day dumping out water and replacing it with more RO/DI. But as of today, it's perfect 35ppt.
  10. Dosed ammonium chloride to just under 2ppm, dumped a new bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only, and now I wait. (by the way, Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride bottle says 4 drops per gallon, which is way over 2ppm. I tried with 1 drop per gallon, and it hit 2ppm easily. So if you're using it, don't do 4 drops per gallon. Heck, go under at like 1 drop per half gallon to start just in case).
What's left:
  1. My chiller (TECO SeaChill TR10) has these two shutoff valves for the input/output. They are complete crap. The tops just started spouting water out of them. So I took the chiller off the line and am now waiting for replacement elbows from TECO. So no chiller for now (not a big deal).
  2. My Neptune ATK FMM module starts beeping warning alarms after 5 minutes, and I can't figure out how to control it independently of my Apex Jr. So I hooked in the Apex Jr. into the aquabus, but I can't seem to connect to it with ApexFusion unless I do a (laborious) firmware upgrade. So I still gotta do all of that. Ugh. Any tips would be great!
  3. My Maxspect Gyre is brand new, yet the left impeller (marked A) runs opposite flow of the right impeller (marked B). WHAT? The right side has flow coming in from the bottom, out from the top. The left one is the opposite. No matter what mode I put the stupid thing in, it's opposite. I don't know... Contacted CoralVue with all the details, and they want photos. So I gotta deal with that too.
  4. And lastly, just gotta wait for this to cycle. The whole hiccup with Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride didn't really get me the head start I was hoping for. So oh well! I'll probably wait until mid october or early november at this rate to introduce a CUC if anything.
Here are some photos. The weird glare fuzzy stuff in the photos is me holding up two wine glasses on both sides of my camera lens. Just messing around a bit with the reflections (it's not some cheesy filter or effected added in later).
 
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Sump / cabinet shots are in. I kept things pretty simple inside. All controllers and electrical are mounted on a marker board behind the tank in a 5.5" space between cabinet and wall. Also the 1/2" mur-lok tubing goes out the back, down through the floor, and back up into the closet on the right where my BRS Mini reactor is with activated carbon (and soon the Chiller once I get the replacement elbows). So it's really clean. The ATO reservoir is also in the closet, and plumbed through the floor. You'll notice a cable raceway, that's for the Apex PMUP, the chiller power cable, and an extra Neptune Optical Sensor (that will let me know when to refill the ATO reservoir, still have to set that up). I was going to try to route those cables through the floor too for extra cleanliness, but those cables were mostly too short.
 
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All photos taken on a Sony camera, used Priime app to edit (https://priime.com)
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Christopher Marks

Looks fantastic all put together! Can you share a photo of the reactor in the closet, that sounds pretty cool to hide it away.

 

Bummer on the Gyre issue, what luck! Hopefully that's the last bug with your new gear.

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40 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Looks fantastic all put together! Can you share a photo of the reactor in the closet, that sounds pretty cool to hide it away.

 

Bummer on the Gyre issue, what luck! Hopefully that's the last bug with your new gear.

 

The closet is currently where I'm hiding the mess of junk at the moment ;) Once I get the chiller plumbed, I'll take a few photos. Nothing fancy in there. Everything is going to run inline off a Skimz QuietPro 2.0 DC pump (which is at about 35% strength right now). I'm considering also putting together a macro algae reactor and running that inline as well. Plenty of space for it. I'm only concerned about the LEDs people are using around the reactors get too hot.

 

22 minutes ago, schgr.cube said:

Hnnnnggggg. What is your address, and when are you away from home? Asking for...reasons. 

 

Continues to look amazing!

 

Haha, thanks! It's a pretty simple setup, nothing fancy. Just took A LOT of time making sure it looks good enough to photograph ;)

 

I still have some holes to patch and haven't painted those cable raceways yet since I think I might have more modifications soon.

 

I also am not sure what to do about the black bit of wire from the cable raceway to my light. I can probably wrap it in white tape or something, but hope to find the most elegant (and non-expensive) solution. Maybe a braided chord sleeve: https://www.amazon.com/PET-Expandable-Braided-Sleeving-White/dp/B01919FEII/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505522846&sr=8-4&keywords=white+cable+sleeve

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On 9/8/2017 at 1:09 PM, kinetic said:

 

That looks really great. I should've thought about doing this before getting a BRS reactor...

 

LOL what a great name

 

And there it is, crud catcher. slightly more civilized.

 

Photography is a hobby, though I do shoot a lot of commercial work on the side (check my portfolio out). My main job is running a company that innovates on tech around photography. All my friends are photographers too. So that's my world.  And thanks for the compliments! Maybe Red Sea will send me their Peninsula 500 Reefer to photograph and keep ;)

 

Re: filter socks. My Red Sea came with the mesh one, and not the felt. In the past my felt socks just overflowed and I just gave up on them eventually. I'm hoping the mesh one works well enough. I'll just wash it off and rinse in RO/DI every couple days.

how does this work?  

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4 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

how does this work?  

The mesh sock?

 

If that's what you're referring to, well, so far it has caught nothing in it. My tank, however, is void of anything except dosed ammonia and Dr. Tim's one and only bacteria. Not even a flake of sand or particle from it or rock made it into my water column haha. So far, no results ;)

So the marinepure plate I have in my sump is kind of too big. I have to angle it to have it fully submerged, which takes up a lot of sump space and creates quite the dead zone behind it.

 

A few things that might be good with this setup:

  1. The plate has a lot of surface area
  2. I hear the amount of flow through and around the plate will change what it does, meaning higher flow deals more with the beginning of the nitrogen cycle, while slower deals with nitrates/phosphates more. So if there's a big dead spot, maybe it'll actually be good

I want to maybe add the 1.5" spheres around the sump. Just have them roll around all over the place. Add them into the return chamber, skimmer chamber, drain chamber. And monthly maintenance just roll them out of the way to suck up any detritus...

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10 minutes ago, kinetic said:

The mesh sock?

 

If that's what you're referring to, well, so far it has caught nothing in it. My tank, however, is void of anything except dosed ammonia and Dr. Tim's one and only bacteria. Not even a flake of sand or particle from it or rock made it into my water column haha. So far, no results ;)

So the marinepure plate I have in my sump is kind of too big. I have to angle it to have it fully submerged, which takes up a lot of sump space and creates quite the dead zone behind it.

 

A few things that might be good with this setup:

  1. The plate has a lot of surface area
  2. I hear the amount of flow through and around the plate will change what it does, meaning higher flow deals more with the beginning of the nitrogen cycle, while slower deals with nitrates/phosphates more. So if there's a big dead spot, maybe it'll actually be good

I want to maybe add the 1.5" spheres around the sump. Just have them roll around all over the place. Add them into the return chamber, skimmer chamber, drain chamber. And monthly maintenance just roll them out of the way to suck up any detritus...

curious why not put the plate in the small area in between the areas in sump where black sponge went?

 

ditch the black sponge

 

I'd use a large knife and carefully trim off 1.5" of it, then put it in there...take the excess marinepure and keep it in the sump or bury it in sand.  (always helpful to use in a pinch for a QT tank)

 

tank looks great btw

 

 

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4 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

curious why not put the plate in the small area in between the areas in sump where black sponge went?

 

ditch the black sponge

 

I'd use a large knife and carefully trim off 1.5" of it, then put it in there...take the excess marinepure and keep it in the sump or bury it in sand.  (always helpful to use in a pinch for a QT tank)

 

tank looks great btw

 

 

Doesn't the black sponge help with microbubbles? My skimmer basically has a cloud of bubbles around it at all times right now. Will the marinepure do the same? I'm also wondering if I should just let the marinepure plate stick out of the water a little. Can't hurt right?

4 hours ago, medinar83 said:

Looks so fresh... So clean! Love the set up 

Thanks! It took a bit of planning to make sure everything looked clean and uncramped. But it's the honeymoon phase. No detritus, no algae, just clean water with some invisible ammonia waiting for bacteria to eat it.

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Tank looks awesome so far.  In your case, it's too bad you can't keep your rocks and sand bleach white like they are right now.  That look is perfect in your case.  Add some black ocellaris clowns or some other black and white fish and you have a stunner.

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19 hours ago, kinetic said:

Doesn't the black sponge help with microbubbles? My skimmer basically has a cloud of bubbles around it at all times right now. Will the marinepure do the same? I'm also wondering if I should just let the marinepure plate stick out of the water a little. Can't hurt right?

Thanks! It took a bit of planning to make sure everything looked clean and uncramped. But it's the honeymoon phase. No detritus, no algae, just clean water with some invisible ammonia waiting for bacteria to eat it.

the microbubbles will be temporary...marinepure there might dissapate it some.  

 

you can not trim it I guess, but i think I'd much rather have it trimmed and submerged VS. a portion sticking out of the water.


 

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51 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

the microbubbles will be temporary...marinepure there might dissapate it some.  

 

you can not trim it I guess, but i think I'd much rather have it trimmed and submerged VS. a portion sticking out of the water.


 

Seems like when you trim that stuff, it's constantly flaking off on the side that is trimmed.

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6 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

the microbubbles will be temporary...marinepure there might dissapate it some.  

 

you can not trim it I guess, but i think I'd much rather have it trimmed and submerged VS. a portion sticking out of the water.


 

I 2nd this, but don't trim it as it will just fall apart... I took my black sponge out and replaced it with a marine put block, After a while the black sponge starts to fall apart anyway, u should be gd for no microbubbles going in to tank as it will act as bubble trap going through block.

 

def guna keep on that gyre idea as I'm looking at getting one also, will the magnet be ok from rusting?

 

tank build is looking the ??!!!

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12 hours ago, scurvy dawg said:

Tank looks awesome so far.  In your case, it's too bad you can't keep your rocks and sand bleach white like they are right now.  That look is perfect in your case.  Add some black ocellaris clowns or some other black and white fish and you have a stunner.

 

Thanks! My goal is to try to keep it that way. My past tank (ELOS 120) was pretty white for a year. Low bioload, and was very careful to never introduce coralline (removed frags from frag plugs before dip and QT, scrubbed snail shells before adding them, etc). Ultimately failed though and a bit of coralline figured it's way in. I got a tuxedo urchin that went to town and slowly started removing it all. He did a poor job, as there were just streaks of white where he went but it wasn't a very thorough job ;)

 

6 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

the microbubbles will be temporary...marinepure there might dissapate it some.  

 

you can not trim it I guess, but i think I'd much rather have it trimmed and submerged VS. a portion sticking out of the water.


 

Do you mean the microbubbles from the skimmer will go away? Not sure how that happens?

 

5 hours ago, scurvy dawg said:

Seems like when you trim that stuff, it's constantly flaking off on the side that is trimmed.

 

26 minutes ago, Lynton said:

I 2nd this, but don't trim it as it will just fall apart... I took my black sponge out and replaced it with a marine put block, After a while the black sponge starts to fall apart anyway, u should be gd for no microbubbles going in to tank as it will act as bubble trap going through block.

 

def guna keep on that gyre idea as I'm looking at getting one also, will the magnet be ok from rusting?

 

tank build is looking the ??!!!

OK not trimming! Thanks. i might just leave it leaning in the sump like that...

 

I've never had a Gyre before (they didn't exist in this form back when I had a tank last). I cranked mine up pretty high, and it seemed good. Nothing really moved other than sand being pushed out of the way and flying around a bit. We'll have to see once animals get in there.


My last tank had a ton of flow. barebottom, with about 100x to 150x turnover of gph. It was kind of overkill. I think with this one gyre I should be good to keep a couple SPS and an anemone.

 

18 minutes ago, nicholase22 said:

I feel like I'm looking at an Ikea ad with those photos. So clean.

I aspire to be more West Elm or DWR than Ikea, but I'll take it haha. Thank you.

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11 minutes ago, kinetic said:

 

Thanks! My goal is to try to keep it that way. My past tank (ELOS 120) was pretty white for a year. Low bioload, and was very careful to never introduce coralline (removed frags from frag plugs before dip and QT, scrubbed snail shells before adding them, etc). Ultimately failed though and a bit of coralline figured it's way in. I got a tuxedo urchin that went to town and slowly started removing it all. He did a poor job, as there were just streaks of white where he went but it wasn't a very thorough job ;)

 

Do you mean the microbubbles from the skimmer will go away? Not sure how that happens?

 

 

OK not trimming! Thanks. i might just leave it leaning in the sump like that...

 

I've never had a Gyre before (they didn't exist in this form back when I had a tank last). I cranked mine up pretty high, and it seemed good. Nothing really moved other than sand being pushed out of the way and flying around a bit. We'll have to see once animals get in there.


My last tank had a ton of flow. barebottom, with about 100x to 150x turnover of gph. It was kind of overkill. I think with this one gyre I should be good to keep a couple SPS and an anemone.

 

I aspire to be more West Elm or DWR than Ikea, but I'll take it haha. Thank you.

It will be fine like that great product but just to brittle, mine came in 3 pieces so glued them back together and put in bubble trap ?

 

yea ive gone bare bottom and going SPS route and looking at more flow eventually but don't like wires in tank and wat uve done looks really great so guna Ave to pinch that idea when I eventually get one.. ? How did u get the wire through the overflow cover?

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13 hours ago, Lynton said:

It will be fine like that great product but just to brittle, mine came in 3 pieces so glued them back together and put in bubble trap ?

 

yea ive gone bare bottom and going SPS route and looking at more flow eventually but don't like wires in tank and wat uve done looks really great so guna Ave to pinch that idea when I eventually get one.. ? How did u get the wire through the overflow cover?

Oh the wire just goes over the top of the overflow. It's not the cleanest look, but it's black so it's not bad. Once I feel like the Gyre is going to stay, I might use a hacksaw or a drill to punch a whole through something. But it's fine for now.

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15 hours ago, kinetic said:

Oh the wire just goes over the top of the overflow. It's not the cleanest look, but it's black so it's not bad. Once I feel like the Gyre is going to stay, I might use a hacksaw or a drill to punch a whole through something. But it's fine for now.

That's why I asked cuz it doesn't look bad at all, it looks like uve already done a little mod to it 

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1 hour ago, MockandRoll said:

Great start! I bet the Gyre in the middle gives awesome flow and no dead spots. Are you getting sand storms?

So far I can't see any dead spots just yet. The corners next to the overflow might be problematic, but I have no rock blocking them so they seem to be getting plenty of flow.

 

I have the Tropic Eden Mesoflakes, so they're pretty big. No storms, but lots of the sand is being pushed from the from the front of the glass. I'm only at about 40% capacity. If I crank it to 60% lots of sand starts moving.

 

Also, I rinsed the !@#%&^& out of the sand. 2.5 hours of rinsing the first day. And then started rinsing a few cups of it at a time until it was crystal clear. So all the little bits of sand never actually made it into the tank. So the biggest mesoflakes are left, and seem to be holding well.

 

1 hour ago, Rehype said:

Wow looks fantastic kinetic..love all the natural lighting. Cant wait to see this mature.

 

Thanks me too! Cycling process is slow... but hopefully it'll pick up in a couple weeks ;)

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