Alex’s IM 150 EXT

[Alexander1312]

Still many mysteries in this hobby for me, one of it some of you call sump kung fu.

I have seen the water level continously rise in my sump, above the desired level for the skimmer (7.9 to 8.7 inch). I only realised today that this was due to a blockage caused by the growing cheato. I have removed some of the cheato now and cleaned the drain, and the water level in the other section of the sump controlled by the ATO rose by approx 3/4 inch or so instantly.

This seems to be only a temporary fix though as I would expect the cheato to continue to grow and block the drain again. Now I am probably not able in the next 10 or 20 years to achieve a spinning cheato but I was wondering how this problem could be addressed otherwise?

 

[Kensington Reefer]

I do enjoy staring at the rotating chaetomorpha ball!

Increase the surface area of the drain
That way you have more “time” before it’s clogs again
Unless you can increase the drain size

 

[Alexander1312]

Missed the CFM today which bugged me, wanted some NPS, but I had to get some tank maintenance done. Biggest achievement for me was to deep clean the skimmer for the first time since I bought it about five months or so ago. I procrastinated this as I was concerned I would not be able to put it together anymore (dismantled it completely), but despite some emotional outbreaks, it was done and has been working better than ever now.

 

[Alexander1312]

So after several months on and off this topic, I feel have everything I need to purchase an ozone setup.

However, at the 11th hour, I came across a comment from someeone who advised to not put biomedia after the skimmer with the ozone, as it will destroy beneficial bacteria.

Now I do not have biomedia in my sump, but the chamber after the skimmer is the refugium, and I wonder if ozone would have a detrimental impact on it? Any thoughts?

 

[Alexander1312]

I installed the ‚long‘ planned ozone setup on Saturday. It is pretty much outlined here by Ozotech (picture), without the flow meter (mainly because there seem to be many customization options with the flow meter; I am not sure which one to pick; in progress).

ORP was at around 130 mv when I started (using activated carbon) and is now between 310 and 325 (endpoint, Poseidon 200 setting at level 2). Water clarity has significantly (!) improved. The recirculating CO2 scrubber setup with the skimmer top cup fully enclosed does not release any ozone smell without using carbon.

The setup was super easy in connection with the Octopus skimmer. The only minor issue was that it was unclear which tubing I needed since the airline tubing I thought needed to be used was too small. I contacted Ozotech, who was super responsive and advised that the correct tubing is a 3/16 inch PVC.

 

[Alexander1312]

On the light front, I also made a couple of changes:

- Added the v2 reflectors for the Reefi Uno Pros (@Darkxerox - sorry, I did not have time for the comparisons).
- Changed the light settings to Andrew Bouwma's/lexinverts default light settings but adjusted them to 50% of his current values. These look now much (!) better than the ones I have been using previously, specifically in connection with the clarity I am getting from the ozone use.

 

[Darkxerox]

Run the fan on cooler, keeps overall temps lower on the board.

 

[Alexander1312]

Run the fan on cooler, keeps overall temps lower on the board.

Done. Thanks for the tip. I had this on cooler when I got them but switched to normal when I read in Daniel’s instructions somewhere to run them at normal. I wondered if this was really the preferred choice for the settings.