Arin's Reefer-S 850 Build
- Thread starter phatduckk
- Start date
phatduckk
Supporting Member
@Coral reefer came by and help me get this guy filled up and running.
Huge thanks to Mike! I’ll post better pics once the cloudiness is gone
Huge thanks to Mike! I’ll post better pics once the cloudiness is gone
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
The cloudiness will let you see the water flow
Let the fun begin!
Let the fun begin!
phatduckk
Supporting Member
I added the clarifier and have the drain going to a 10 micron sock in the sump. It’s pretty close to clear already.
phatduckk
Supporting Member
< 48 hour update.
Tanks running fine. Just doing minor tuning on return pump speed and overflow adjustments. Got the ATo hooked up which I was slacking on.
I’ve been running the drain into a 10 micro filter sock to make sure all the sand fines are out. Pretty sure we’re all set there.
I went thru my brute full of cured rock (all the rock from previous reefer 350) and put a few large pieces in the sump to get some bio things happening.
This evening I’m gonna pull the filter sock & dump in some Turbo Start. Maybe 2-3 days after that I’ll hook up the filter roller…
The rock & bottled bacteria should get the tank fish friendly in short order.
I also did “all” my Apex programming & setup. I messed up calibrating the conductivity probe (human err) so I’ll eventually have to buy more of that stuff to get it calibrated properly.
Tanks running fine. Just doing minor tuning on return pump speed and overflow adjustments. Got the ATo hooked up which I was slacking on.
I’ve been running the drain into a 10 micro filter sock to make sure all the sand fines are out. Pretty sure we’re all set there.
I went thru my brute full of cured rock (all the rock from previous reefer 350) and put a few large pieces in the sump to get some bio things happening.
This evening I’m gonna pull the filter sock & dump in some Turbo Start. Maybe 2-3 days after that I’ll hook up the filter roller…
The rock & bottled bacteria should get the tank fish friendly in short order.
I also did “all” my Apex programming & setup. I messed up calibrating the conductivity probe (human err) so I’ll eventually have to buy more of that stuff to get it calibrated properly.
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Live sand should have gotten bacteria going pretty good already I’d expect
phatduckk
Supporting Member
Tank's been running for a few weeks. So far so good. I have a few small fish in there now so its starting to get some signs of life.
The main items worth sharing are that the skimmer and roller mat are now online and doing their thing.
The ReefMat is pretty cool. I've never used any of the previous rollermats on the market so I can't draw any comparisons but I'm digging it quite a bit. It just sits there and rolls things out as you would have guessed. One thing I'm interested in trying out is a feature called "scheduled advance". Essentially you can pick a time of day and have the unit roll away some length of fleece that you choose. So, theoretically I can have it pull out N" at 2am to make sure there's no leftover food sitting there "unrolled" at the end of each day.
Can you hear it? Yup - its not silent but it only rolls for a few seconds a couple times a day.
The skimmer tho... that is dead silent! I'm still tuning it but it's working, is very quiet and, thankfully, its not "too big". Its probably too much for m current bio load but its productive and isn't randomly overflowing so I'm good with it... especially since I'll definitely be adding a lot of fish.
Keeping with the "sound" theme... the Cor 20's are the only gear in the tank that are audible. When the TV is off you can hear them hum. I was super close to just buying new pumps last night but held off. Why 1) no guarantee I'll like something else better 2) I kinda wanna wait to see what Neptune & EcoTech come up with (possibly nothing) 3) eh, it costs $ I could put towards fish and 4) all the other pumps have massive controllers and I dont want to find/make room for them just yet.
So far, so good...
The main items worth sharing are that the skimmer and roller mat are now online and doing their thing.
The ReefMat is pretty cool. I've never used any of the previous rollermats on the market so I can't draw any comparisons but I'm digging it quite a bit. It just sits there and rolls things out as you would have guessed. One thing I'm interested in trying out is a feature called "scheduled advance". Essentially you can pick a time of day and have the unit roll away some length of fleece that you choose. So, theoretically I can have it pull out N" at 2am to make sure there's no leftover food sitting there "unrolled" at the end of each day.
Can you hear it? Yup - its not silent but it only rolls for a few seconds a couple times a day.
The skimmer tho... that is dead silent! I'm still tuning it but it's working, is very quiet and, thankfully, its not "too big". Its probably too much for m current bio load but its productive and isn't randomly overflowing so I'm good with it... especially since I'll definitely be adding a lot of fish.
Keeping with the "sound" theme... the Cor 20's are the only gear in the tank that are audible. When the TV is off you can hear them hum. I was super close to just buying new pumps last night but held off. Why 1) no guarantee I'll like something else better 2) I kinda wanna wait to see what Neptune & EcoTech come up with (possibly nothing) 3) eh, it costs $ I could put towards fish and 4) all the other pumps have massive controllers and I dont want to find/make room for them just yet.
So far, so good...
phatduckk
Supporting Member
Quick livestock update…
I have a pintail, exquisite, possum, rhomboid & flasher wrasse in the tank and the exquisite hated the 2 red guys (pintail & flasher). He relentless chaces them if they come out of hiding etc.
Luckily they’re brave and still snuck in a few bites during feeding but it was getting to be much. So I had to catch him.
Terrible pic & I accidentally caught the rhomboid too but I’ll set him free soon.
Now I’m wondering if I should leave the exquisite in the trap for a while & let him back out or just rehome him.
I have a pintail, exquisite, possum, rhomboid & flasher wrasse in the tank and the exquisite hated the 2 red guys (pintail & flasher). He relentless chaces them if they come out of hiding etc.
Luckily they’re brave and still snuck in a few bites during feeding but it was getting to be much. So I had to catch him.
Terrible pic & I accidentally caught the rhomboid too but I’ll set him free soon.
Now I’m wondering if I should leave the exquisite in the trap for a while & let him back out or just rehome him.
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Reefinglens
Supporting Member
From my experience a fish that’s in a trap in the same tank will continue to be a jerk once released. I’ve had the best luck with taking aggressive fish out and keeping it in a different tank for a couple weeks then put them back in. Same idea as “sumping” the fish, but I always hate the idea of a fish getting sucked into a pump down there!
phatduckk
Supporting Member
I’m leaving him there for now. I’ll probably move him to the 40 breeder or just rehome him.
It’s nice seeing the other fish out & about.
phatduckk
Supporting Member
So today was garage re-organization day… hence all the random stuff I posted on the pay it forward forum.
Main goal was to declutter & get the cabinets that were on the opposite side of the wall from the tank relocated so I could make room for my AWC, ATO & all that good stuff.
Nothings set up yet but I got everything moved & the cut the holes in the wall.
I have 4 2” holes and 2 brush plates cut out and all set.
Next up was replacing all the filters and membranes on my RO unit. That was easy enough… now I’m just letting it run for a while to run off all the manufacturing crud.
I’ll install an additional 2 DI stages & a new TDs meter soon but that’s gonna have to wait as the kids just got home from camp.
Main goal was to declutter & get the cabinets that were on the opposite side of the wall from the tank relocated so I could make room for my AWC, ATO & all that good stuff.
Nothings set up yet but I got everything moved & the cut the holes in the wall.
I have 4 2” holes and 2 brush plates cut out and all set.
Next up was replacing all the filters and membranes on my RO unit. That was easy enough… now I’m just letting it run for a while to run off all the manufacturing crud.
I’ll install an additional 2 DI stages & a new TDs meter soon but that’s gonna have to wait as the kids just got home from camp.
