Mystikal's Tank Journal

[PyroSteve]

Great pics! I'm looking at similar set-up and hoping it comes out this nice.

[mystikal]

Thanks!

Well things are going to change pretty soon

[mystikal]

Well, ran into a little issue... while I was filling the REEFER 250, I noticed that the main drain line was leaking. I tried to tighten the top, it was good. I noticed the leak was coming from the junction/connector that connects the main drain to the flow regulator. I removed the regulator and noticed that the thread from the main drain plumbing was broken!

I contacted RED SEA and hopefully I can get a replacement asap.

As of now, I have a mp10 circulating the main tank water....
And a return pump circulating the sump respectively. I've added MacBac, ammonia, live rock, rock from my first tank, and filters to help with the cycle.

Here's some pictures:

[tenurepro]

Can't wait to see what toy do with the reefer!
What are your plans for light, flow and filtration for it?


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[mystikal]

Originally Posted by tenurepro

Can't wait to see what toy do with the reefer!
What are your plans for light, flow and filtration for it?


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Well...I'm thinking so far
Lights- 1 or 2 Radion XR30s (moving over from old tank)
Flow- Vectra with split nozzles with 2 or 3 MP10 (moving over from old tank)
Filtration- still looking around...either eshopps S series, classic octopus, nyos or bubble mag...trying to find one with a small footprint. The skimmer isn't a must right now, since I'll use a lot of natural filtration until I find something ideal

I'm planning to build a refugium, have reactors and start dosing. So the need for room is a must.

[mystikal]

Update!!!

Spoke to Red Sea on Tuesday about ordering a new main drain pipe since mine broke. Well they finally shipped it out today, or at least they said they did. The tracking info says "shipping label printed"
Oh well.. The tank is cycling at this time anyways, so no biggie. I've been dosing ammonia and macbac to kick start things. Also I used live rock, and some of my old water from my other tank to speed the process. I'll probably check the parameters over the weekend for the first time, since I've decided to slow down the transition.
Here's my aquascape so far:

[tenurepro]

Originally Posted by mystikal

Update!!!

Spoke to Red Sea on Tuesday about ordering a new main drain pipe since mine broke. Well they finally shipped it out today, or at least they said they did. The tracking info says "shipping label printed"
Oh well.. The tank is cycling at this time anyways, so no biggie. I've been dosing ammonia and macbac to kick start things. Also I used live rock, and some of my old water from my other tank to speed the process. I'll probably check the parameters over the weekend for the first time, since I've decided to slow down the transition.
Here's my aquascape so far:

Nice! I also used some live rock from a nano and it helped cycle the reefer 250 very quickly!

One little tip about scape and radions. My scape is similar to yours in that the rock goes to about 2/3rd up the tank. The radions have a very distinct spotlight effect that dissipates with distance away from light. In other words, difference between center and peripheral par is pretty large closer to the light, but the disparity drops off with distance. What that means is that in the top shelf, frags right underneath of the light will get a lot of light and those a few inches away will get less. This will mark it hard for you to light things consistently. The variation in par wjll drop if you shift your top shelf down by several inches...

I would use this tool to help you visualize par in your tank, so they your scape will get the light intensity you need for your corals (ps their calculator says that par for sps needs to be 400+, but really 200 to 300 is good, other than that, it's a great tool)
http://www.aquaticlog.com/radion


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[mystikal]

@tenurepro I will definitely check it out. I was attempting to mimic the same placement as my current tank. So my calculations should be 1-2" off as far as light being hung and depth of the coral placement. I am trying to keep the SPS on top of the base rock, and have the radions 7-9" off the water line. My corals are doing great at this height, good growth and coloration. Buttttt I'm also thinking of adding an extra xr30 light as well...but I'm hanging them differently. You will see

[mystikal]

Alright! So I did my first water test:

https upload

Guess it's looking;
Salt: 1.023
Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate:

Over the weekend I'll probably dump some more of my first tanks water into the Reefer to help things along.
Tomorrow I should be getting my main drain from Red Sea, AND I ORDER A SKIMMER

[Zoahoarder]

Wow great upgrade man. I love those reefer tanks. Definitely beats the others I've had.

[mystikal]

Originally Posted by Zoahoarder

Wow great upgrade man. I love those reefer tanks. Definitely beats the others I've had.

Thanks man!

Quick update:
I got the main drain pipe from Red Sea! I installed it and so far it's working great. After I filled it up and dailed it in. So far it is quiet. I also attached the MP10 to the back glass and turned up the flow. Needed to get some more circulation going.

Here's a quick picture of some frags with my phone...they are waiting for more room

image

[mystikal]

Adding some pictures of the current Innovative Marine 40.




Ghost skimmer got a good vinegar cleaning yesrurday, so it's putting in some work today

[mystikal]

So.... here a sneak preview of the skimmer I got for the reefer

[pelphrey]

Very nice!!! You are going to love that skimmer!!!

[mystikal]

Haven't got much done...but got a couple of new stuff!!!




I'm debating on the plumbing situation...should I order the plumbing? Lowes or Home Depot doesn't have anything other than white pvc
I'm thinking something colorful or painting the pvc.
Any thoughts?

[tenurepro]

Nice! White or order. Painting will take a while and may introduce some unwanted chemicals / fumes into the water?


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[mlew]

Order the colored pvc. So much easier in the long run.

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[mystikal]

Originally Posted by tenurepro

Nice! White or order. Painting will take a while and may introduce some unwanted chemicals / fumes into the water?


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Originally Posted by mlew

Order the colored pvc. So much easier in the long run.

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Any suggestions of places online?

[mystikal]

Update, added the Vectra and calibrated the bad boy...added two mp10s on the rear glass and the split return nozzle


Currently the Vectra is plumbed with Sch80 that I found locally. Think I'll keep the gray Sch80 but will add a manifold. The Sch80 that I used are screwed on, with plumbers tape. As of right now, no leaks and it's flowing.

I installed the Nyos 120 skimmer and it's super pretty.

As the days go by, I'll slowly adjust the skimmer to specifics. It's sitting in 8" of water, so the height is perfect. I haven't messed with a skimmer like this, so I'm learning about the muffler/air flow/height etc. My previous ghost skimmer had one adjustment lol. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I did purchase lights for the reefer, however I want to hang them... so I'm waiting to get the hanging kit and then I'll be in business. Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll start transitioning. I'm a bit afraid but I'll start with my LPS and maybe wait a bit to add in the SPS. As for livestock, I still have the wrasse in the sump, and he is eating and roaming.

[tenurepro]

Nice! Things are rolling along. Let me know how you make out with the nyos...


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[oseymour]

Looks good. Is that a brass/metal pipe you have on the reefer pipe?

I wouldn't want anything like that close to my tank.


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[CButkos]

Looking good, following along!

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[mystikal]

Originally Posted by oseymour

Looks good. Is that a brass/metal pipe you have on the reefer pipe?

I wouldn't want anything like that close to my tank.


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Unfortunately you are right...stupid mistake...hopefully I didn't screw up a new start already. I'll be changing out the fittings tonight, my Sch80 fittings are suppose to be here today. Probably run some polyfilter and monitor the tank.

Also, skimmer is running great! No issues, except another mistake I made, I forgot to place the wrasse in the display tank.... well you could only guess what happen to him this morning.


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[tenurepro]

Originally Posted by mystikal

Unfortunately you are right...stupid mistake...hopefully I didn't screw up a new start already. I'll be changing out the fittings tonight, my Sch80 fittings are suppose to be here today. Probably run some polyfilter and monitor the tank.

Also, skimmer is running great! No issues, except another mistake I made, I forgot to place the wrasse in the display tank.... well you could only guess what happen to him this morning.


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Did the sixline get jammed on the skimmer? Ouch


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[mystikal]

Originally Posted by oseymour

Looks good. Is that a brass/metal pipe you have on the reefer pipe?

I wouldn't want anything like that close to my tank.


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Here's the updated Sch 80:
Got these from another lowes in Orlando. The one closes to me only carried 3/4"-1 1/2". I wanted to keep the Sch80 to 1/2" to allow me to install a manifold. I didn't glue all of the pieces, just the union pieces because they didn't have any other option. This would allow me to remove and adjust the pipe in the future with ease. Just used plumbing tape on the treads and hand tighten them together for a snug fit.





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