druzzelle
12/07/2015, 01:05 PM
Hello all, sorry I posted this as a reply to a thread instead of its own.
In an effort to make my system more efficient and stable i've begun changing equipment... I've been in the hobby a few years now and have gone thru the challenges of losing and keeping fish... to give you a little background my system is a 240g long room divider 3 inch sand bed 250lbs live rock with a 90g refugium with 2 inch sand bed and about 50lbs of LR. From setup I was running a Vertex Omega 150 in sump protein skimmer, Mag 18 return, 2 Hydor Magnum 8 Circulation powerheads. 2 Aqua Systems LED bars in display and a 24" marineland LED over my fuge. My drain pipe is run down into the water of my skimmer chamber (trying to keep things more quiet). 4 stage BRS RODI. Instant Ocean salt mix
My issues that ive continuously experienced were high nitrate (I do not overfeed nor is my bioload high) Ph, Ammo, and Nitrites are always perfect. I've not been able to maintain consistant macro algae and i've tried Chaeto and Mangroves with little success.. Not sure if its being eaten by hermits or not. I've had infrequent green hair algae blooms but I believe i've figured that out.. too high of nitrate, too much protein. And the worst i've not had prolonged time with most fish i've had...
Now on to my thoughts and new (as of yesterday) changes in equipment to try and fix my issues. I figured my skimmer wasnt big enough for my total water volume so I upgraded to a Super Reef Octopus SSS5000INT which handles up to 500g tanks, I've added a dual BRS GFO & Carbon reactor with Seachem denitrator instead of carbon, powered by a cobalt pump. I've also added a Coralife 12X 36w UV sterilizer powered by a Mag 5 for water source
The equipment changes were made last night around midnight'ish. But already my fish look happier and more active which gives me hope that i'm on the right track.. the only issue i'm having with the new setup is my skimmer... which is one of the huge questions I have .. the recommended depth for it is 6.5-7 inches... my skimmer chamber is 13" deep... i've placed stacked egg crate under it to raise the skimmer but still need another 3 inches to meet manufacturer specs.. 6.5-7 inch depth puts the skimmers output on the gate valve half in the water and half out (which seems like a great idea to me) .. if I used PVC pipe to raise the gate valve height without raising the skimmer any further would that work well, take away from performance or does it matter at all.. The reason this is an issue is my return plumbing is currently about 2" above my collection cup but I'd need to raise the skimmer 3" .. so a pvc gate valve mod would be ideal in theory...
I do apologize for the this of this post and hope you all forgive me for it! Any input from you all will be greatly appreciated as i'm trying to get better productivity and results with my system!!
In an effort to make my system more efficient and stable i've begun changing equipment... I've been in the hobby a few years now and have gone thru the challenges of losing and keeping fish... to give you a little background my system is a 240g long room divider 3 inch sand bed 250lbs live rock with a 90g refugium with 2 inch sand bed and about 50lbs of LR. From setup I was running a Vertex Omega 150 in sump protein skimmer, Mag 18 return, 2 Hydor Magnum 8 Circulation powerheads. 2 Aqua Systems LED bars in display and a 24" marineland LED over my fuge. My drain pipe is run down into the water of my skimmer chamber (trying to keep things more quiet). 4 stage BRS RODI. Instant Ocean salt mix
My issues that ive continuously experienced were high nitrate (I do not overfeed nor is my bioload high) Ph, Ammo, and Nitrites are always perfect. I've not been able to maintain consistant macro algae and i've tried Chaeto and Mangroves with little success.. Not sure if its being eaten by hermits or not. I've had infrequent green hair algae blooms but I believe i've figured that out.. too high of nitrate, too much protein. And the worst i've not had prolonged time with most fish i've had...
Now on to my thoughts and new (as of yesterday) changes in equipment to try and fix my issues. I figured my skimmer wasnt big enough for my total water volume so I upgraded to a Super Reef Octopus SSS5000INT which handles up to 500g tanks, I've added a dual BRS GFO & Carbon reactor with Seachem denitrator instead of carbon, powered by a cobalt pump. I've also added a Coralife 12X 36w UV sterilizer powered by a Mag 5 for water source
The equipment changes were made last night around midnight'ish. But already my fish look happier and more active which gives me hope that i'm on the right track.. the only issue i'm having with the new setup is my skimmer... which is one of the huge questions I have .. the recommended depth for it is 6.5-7 inches... my skimmer chamber is 13" deep... i've placed stacked egg crate under it to raise the skimmer but still need another 3 inches to meet manufacturer specs.. 6.5-7 inch depth puts the skimmers output on the gate valve half in the water and half out (which seems like a great idea to me) .. if I used PVC pipe to raise the gate valve height without raising the skimmer any further would that work well, take away from performance or does it matter at all.. The reason this is an issue is my return plumbing is currently about 2" above my collection cup but I'd need to raise the skimmer 3" .. so a pvc gate valve mod would be ideal in theory...
I do apologize for the this of this post and hope you all forgive me for it! Any input from you all will be greatly appreciated as i'm trying to get better productivity and results with my system!!