jlanger's Reef Build: Episode II - The 120gal Strikes Back (1 Viewer)

[abhishek]

Nice ! Am sure you will be extremely happy with the Geo 618 as I am . So what was the starting point of pH that you opened up the solenoid and at what point do you switch it off ?
Also, hows the effluent drip rate ?

In all my experience with calcium reactors now with 2 years and previously for about 5 years I can say - its always easier to start tuning from a higher set point but with a constant continuous stream drip rate .
No drops ! I never had a peristaltic pump but even if I did, I would always make a steady stream of water and start at around 7.1 ON of carbon doser and 7.05 OFF of carbon doser.
Also have the carbon doser pump in 1 bubble per 9 seconds .
The ultimate goal is to reach a steady flow of CO2 gas such that the carbon doser never gets switched off and APEX acts just as a safeguard to switch it off in case of any issues . You will watch your pH graph bounce up and down in sine wave. Idea is to have a very smooth sine wave instead of choppy triangles .

Only now we have APEX but 10-12 years back , without APEX too you could run calcium reactor and the steady continuous slow flow of CO2 is very key to long term stability .
Also, pH probe calibration is extremely important as all hobby grade pH probes are nothing but junk mostly . It looses calibration easily in a week or so. I generally calibrate once a month although I should do more often though . I have personally found the apex pH probes to loose calibration way faster than BRS double junction one. So if you can, replace the apex probe with a BRS double junction one .

Someday down the line you can get a hanna bluetooth one (if you don't have one) and have the BRS one calibrate according to the Hanna one. Its worth 300$ and way more due to its accuracy .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[OldNemo]

Nice! Looking good!

 

[jlanger]

Shaping up to be a beautiful system! With that kind of filtration you can have a hundred fish!

The sad thing is that I only want to add a pair of angels and possibly two more wrasses.

Nice ! Am sure you will be extremely happy with the Geo 618 as I am . So what was the starting point of pH that you opened up the solenoid and at what point do you switch it off ?
Also, hows the effluent drip rate?

In all my... I have personally found the apex pH probes to loose calibration way faster than BRS double junction one. So if you can, replace the apex probe with a BRS double junction one.

Regards,
Abhishek

Thanks, Abhishek.
I'm really liking this CaRx; the reactor itself and the other components.
The CarbonDoser is set at 1 bubble every 5 seconds. I'm using the Kamoer pump to draw water through the reactor and I started at 50ml/min, but today I turned it down to 40ml/min. The alkalinity level is rising so I'd like to find that sweet spot where it stays stable. I plan to use the BRS double junction probes once I need to replace these.

Nice! Looking good!

Thanks!


After a couple of days in, the CaRx is running quite well. I mentioned that the alkalinity levels started to rise a bit, so I slowed the feed rate down a tad. I'll be monitoring the pH level inside the reactor to see if that varies; I'd like to keep it pegged at 6.7.

I have been slowly dosing the potassium nitrate to the display to see if I can get some measurable nitrates. Today's nitrate test showed 0.75ppm of nitrates, so it's slowly coming up. Since I have seen no negative effects from dosing the potassium nitrate, I increased the dose to see if I can get up to 5ppm quicker. Some corals are looking quite pale and I noticed small dots of cyano appearing in a couple of places on the rocks; both are signs of a nitrate imbalance. My phosphate results showed 0.02ppm.

 

[BEAV9900]

Didn’t you learn anything from the speaker event? Post a FTS!

 

[jlanger]

Gotta love "a small victory!" (Great point!)

After some larger doses of potassium nitrate, my nitrate levels have finally registered at 5ppm. I'll be testing every day over the next week just to see how much nitrate and phosphate are being removed by my filtration.
I should note that I did change my lighting schedule for the ATS. I have the two LED fixtures running a 12 hour photo period for only four days per week. The lighting schedule alternates each day but both fixtures run on Saturday night.

Still tweaking the CaRx to find that sweet spot. (Some corals are not happy!!!)

 

[jlanger]

Sorry... Nothing new to show from the display.
The 120gal system is still trying to find it's sweet spot so I've been trying to keep my hands away from tinkering with things too much. I need to let my nutrient levels rise and my alkalinity levels fall; quite the exact opposite of my previous setup. I went into this build knowing that I wanted to "beat" these issues before they start, but I'm finding out that my planning has overachieved my expectations and is inhibiting the system in getting a foundation set up before the equipment is even needed.

So to keep myself occupied, yet still engaged in my aquariums, I have taken this time to clean up my "fish room". It really is just one of the walls of the mechanical room where we had a utility sink installed when the house was built; #planningahead.
I removed an old drawer stack along that wall that held junk; old powerstrips, speaker cords, coax cable, phone cords (we still need that stuff, right?).

I built a new mounting panel for my RODI system; which used to be mounted above the utility sink. I have been using a 4-stage RODI since I returned to the hobby. Since I wanted to upgrade to a 6-stage, I needed more room to mount everything in one spot. I also decided that this was a good time to to update some old pieces of the system. As I started to add up the costs of adding new parts to the old, I just decided to purchase a completely new BRS 150 GPD 6-stage RODI Deluxe System and why not, it's much quicker to install when it's all ready for you. I also upgraded to the Triple TDS Meter so I can better monitor my filters, blocks and resins. I also picked up a couple packs of the 1/4" tubing mounts to keep my tubing tucked away and organized.



I built a simple base cabinet to hold boxes of salt and extra storage totes and added a countertop to give me a work surface along side the utility sink. (My wife doesn't really enjoy it when I clean my scrubber screen or powerheads on the kitchen countertops; the real reason motivating this project.) It has been nice the past few days to have the available work space for cleaning equipment and what not.
I also built a cover box for the electrical panel and DISH cables so they're protected from any water mishaps, I still need to pick up a melamine panel to make a door.



The right end of the wall remained almost the same. The 42gal Brute can has always been tucked between the utility sink and the sump pump plumbing. The DJ Powerstrip has been there since I tore the old 120gal system down. I use the power strip for the heaters and pumps that I place in the reservoir when making fresh saltwater. It's really nice to flip a switch to turn those items on/off when needed.
With the open wall space above the utility sink, I want to add some slot panel accessories for holding test kits and cleaning equipment. I figure if my test kits are extremely accessible, I will do more testing as my system settles into a "regular" routine.



If you were paying attention to the second photo, there's a smaller Brute can sitting on the countertop. That's something that I've been wanting to do for a couple of years; its a kalkwasser mixing station.
I "use" kalkwasser in the ATO for my smaller 32gal system; by "use" I mean I use it when I want to go through the hassle of mixing it up and pouring out the clear solution into another bucket.
The 10gal Brute can is connected to my RODI lines so it can be filled by opening a valve. There is a float valve inside the can so that it will stop filling with fresh water when it reaches eight gallons. I add the kalkwasser to the water, mix it up and then let the solution rest and settle out the particulates. There's 3/4" Uniseal and an elbow fitting placed near the bottom of the can that leaves the bottom 1-1/2" of solution in the can. By opening the ball valve, I'm able to quickly drain out the clear solution while leaving the sediments in the can for manual removal.



The original idea for the kalkwasser mixing station was to use one of those orange "drink" coolers that has a spout already installed. But once I remembered how slow it fills an 8oz. plastic cup, I knew I needed to find a better and faster solution. I've only done the leak test and drain, so I'll have to see how well it performs when it's a mixed solution.

With that project almost finished (the door slab for the electrical panel), I'm ready to start making better use of my "fish room"; and I can hopefully keep the wife happy with keeping my "smelly messes" in the mechanical room!

 

[H2OHOH]

I think there is some opportunity in lining up the utility tub to be a bit more flush with the countertop.

 

[jlanger]

I think there is some opportunity in lining up the utility tub to be a bit more flush with the countertop.

Ha! You’ll want the countertop sitting above the utility tub so that you can quickly swipe spilled water or other messes into the tub without having it hit the side of the utility sink. #stayinyourlane

 

[H2OHOH]

No, that is a urban legend. Also, your doors fell off your cabinet.

 

[jlanger]

Here's an update on the "fish room".

I mixed up my first batch of kalkwasser this week.
Eight gallons of fresh RODI water in the new Brute mixing container and 1/3 cup of BRS Bulk Kalkwasser.



I added a small powerhead to mix for a couple of hours and then removed the powerhead to allow the solution to rest overnight.
The solution looked clear but even with the lid placed on top of the container, a slight crust was forming on the top of the solution.



I opened the ball valve and collected some of the solution into a clear plastic storage container; looks clear to me.



I drained the remaining solution into the reservoir for the 32gal system. The placement of the uniseal and plumbing leaves 1-1/2" of solution in the mixing container leaving all of the settlement at the bottom.



To clean up, I disconnect the RODI tubing from the float valve and rinse out the Brute container in the sink just four feet away. Easy, peasy.

My old method of mixing kalkwasser involved filling up one of those 5gal water cans (usually over-filling and then dumping out a gallon and slowly adding the kalkwasser powder with a tablespoon and funnel. To mix the kalkwasser, I would cap the can and vigoursly shake the can back and forth for a few minutes; switching arms as they would tire out. Let the solution settle and then pour out the clear solution until I noticed the settlement starting to empty into the reservoir. After each refill of the reservoir, the new solution would agitate the settlement and create a milky solution again. After a few refills, the reservoir would need to be cleaned of the settlements that accumulated int the reservoir.
Not so easy and often bypassed for just adding fresh RODI to the reservoir.

So... why am I posting this information in the 120gal build thread and not the 32gal build thread?

I have started using kalkwasser for my top off of the 120gal system.
Since my tank is not filled up with corals yet, the calcium reactor is oversized for the system to maintain stable alkalinity and calcium levels. I have turned the CarbonDoser all the way down to one bubble every ten seconds and have turned the dosing pump all the way up to 120ml/min and the effluent is still too rich for the system. My alkalinity and calcium levels continued to rise and the coral frags did not respond very well; another batch of SPS frags crashed.
I have disconnected the calcium reactor (for now) and I have decided to use kalkwasser in my ATO reservoir to maintain my alkalinity and calcium levels. My LPS colonies are looking stressed, but they're doing fine; feeding responses every night and some even respond when I feed the fish. When I can keep SPS frags alive and have montipora corals starting to consume larger amounts of carbonates and calcium, I will go back to the calcium reactor.

Another big decision...

I have taken my algae turf scrubber offline.
I have been dosing potassium nitrate to get my nitrate levels up to the 4-5ppm range and within a couple of days, it's right back down to 1ppm or less. I decided that instead of fighting against the efficiency of the ATS unit, I would rather remove the ATS from the system and let the skimmer handle the "nutrient" load for now. Once the nutrient levels start to rise and and become an issue, I will address the situation then. I have the prototype for a smaller ATS unit completed but I haven't built a functioning unit yet. I may also experiment with the existing unit to see if I can find that window that works on my 120gal system. Once I get more corals and fish in the system, I'm sure I'll end up running the ATS unit again.
With the low nutrient levels and the imbalance of nitrates to phosphates, I'm getting some cyano patches popping up on the substrate. I'll probably start a routine with Dr. Tim's Re-Fresh and Waste Away; as I did on the 32gal that worked very well.

Fish are fine.
Tangs are growing.
Tusk is growing.
Wrasse is growing.
They've been feeding VERY WELL the past month or so.

 

[H2OHOH]

After you mix up the 32 gallon and let it settle, and remove it from the brute, does it all remain suspended or is there further settling in your ato container

 

[jlanger]

After you mix up the 32 gallon and let it settle, and remove it from the brute, does it all remain suspended or is there further settling in your ato container

Twenty-four hours later, the solution in the ATO reservoir is still clear but it has gotten some crusting going on the surface as the reservoir is not air tight.
*** Ten gallon mixing container. Who needs 32gal of kalkwasser???

 

[Nickz]

I wish I could fit a 32 gallon kalk container under my stand, mines only 20. The crust on the top protects the solution underneath from the air

 

[Mordim]

Lots happening. I was wondering what you needed 32gal of Kalk for. 10 sounds better. I wonder if all the changes are causing issues for your sps more than CaRx.

 

[H2OHOH]

Can you keep a small power head in container to keep it suspended? I thought I read once that is a no no?

 

[jlanger]

Lots happening. I was wondering what you needed 32gal of Kalk for. 10 sounds better. I wonder if all the changes are causing issues for your sps more than CaRx.

These last changes were made after the SPS have crashed.
When switching over to the new CaRx, the effluent was raising the alkalinity and calcium higher and higher; over 11.5dKH.
I think the bigger issue is the nutrient poor water was starving out the corals and making them more susceptible to changes in the rest of the parameters.

Can you keep a small power head in container to keep it suspended? I thought I read once that is a no no?

That is a no-no. I did that years ago when I was using kalkwasser in my ATO. I had a tiny powerhead keeping the solution in suspension, but then a very wise man enlightened me about the error of my ways; Thanks, David.

 

[jlanger]

After a busy, busy [and a slight mishap of a] summer and autumn, I have been able to spend some time reacquainting myself with my 120gal system.
Some needed updates and maybe a photo or two will be posted soon.

 

[Fishfoo]

How are the nutrients since taking the ats offline?

 

[jlanger]

How are the nutrients since taking the ats offline?

Up until this past weekend, I hadn't tested my nutrient levels since this summer.
Nitrates came in at about 6ppm, phosphates at 0.04ppm.
The ATS unit has not been reinstalled yet but I have kept the skimmer running this entire time.
I stopped dosing potassium nitrates after removing the ATS unit so I could see how the system would react naturally with the scrubber offline.

I haven't really changed much else in the past few months. I still mainly feed prepared foods; LRS frozen blends, TCMAS blend and Reef Nutrition bottled feeds. I have been target feeding the lobophyllia corals periodically to fatten them up. I have also acquired a decent collection of goniopra corals over the last month so I do blast them with foods as well.
With the addition of the live rock this summer, I was dosing Live Rock Enhance and I saw benefits from that. My substrate was looking grungy from various issues; a minor algae outbreak, bubble algae and cyano. The Live Rock Enhance and some Fritz products cleaned up the algae and grunge in the substrate. I dosed Vibrant to eliminate the bubble algae which, of course, led to another cyano outbreak. Over time, everything has cleared up and the tank looks good now. Coralline algae is growing very fast!

My LPS corals are doing great! Fat lobophyllias and fluffy goniporas!
Certain montipora corals are doing fine but some still suffer after a couple of weeks; baffling!?!
After attending both Aquashella and Reef-A-Palooza in Chicago and the TCMAS Fall Expo, I started buying frags again; mostly goniopora and montipora. There's a couple larger goniopora pieces that aren't on this frag rack. I still need to decide where I'm going to place the goniopora garden.

I also grabbed the PolypLab Coral View lens kits, so this was one of the first photos taken with the lens on my iPhone.

 

[jlanger]

Here's some more information and a couple of photos of where my system is at now.

As noted above, my nutrient levels are now measurable; NO3 at 6ppm and PO4 at 0.04ppm. There's only a few spots of a green cyano that are clinging to a few spots, other wise the tank is looking very good. I do have some small vermetid snails that I could possibly take care of if I want to tackle more issues.
Since I have added more corals and coralline algae is covering my rocks like crazy, I brought my calcium reactor back online. I've been using kalkwasser in my top off water over the past few months while the reactor was offline. The CaRx has just been sitting in my stand recirculating the water within the reactor without any CO2 being dosed. I purged the reactor for a couple of hours (basically performing a small water change) before adding the effluent to the system. Right now, my alkalinity level has crept up to 10dKH from 7.9dKH over the last week so I will be monitoring those levels to dial in the CaRx. I'd like to target a good 9.5dKH once it gets dialed in.

I did have a disappointing episode concerning my fish recently. Earlier this fall, I fostered a cleaner wrasse for a month or so to help a friend out. During that stint, my Eight Lined Flasher Wrasse became skittish and would only swim in the upper corner of the display. I'm guessing that the cleaner wrasse tried to "clean" the flasher wrasse and it was perceived as a sign of aggression; the cleaner wrasse would pick at the tangs. I decided that the cleaner wrasse needed to go as I was more concerned about (and favored) the flasher wrasse. In trying to catch the cleaner wrasse, it took three of us quite a while and we really disrupted the 120gal. After that night, the flasher wrasse stayed in the top corner and stopped eating; likely stressed by the whole ordeal. Needless to say, after a couple of weeks, the flasher wrasse died.
The two tangs are growing and doing well. The tusk is still my favorite; albeit still quite shy. The clownfish lives in the duncans.

Since I added some new corals (and destroyed the previous placement), it was time to start placing the corals in their more permanent locations.
I decided that I wanted to keep like corals together. The Lobophyllia corals would be placed near one another to create a "lobo garden". And the Goniopora corals would be grouped into. "goni garden". Once the montipora corals start to grow, I will start mounting them onto the rocks and create a montipora dominated reefscape.

Here's a couple of photos from this week using the PolypLab Coral View Lens with my iPhone; not liking them as much as with my camera.