SubzeroLT

Testing out a chaeto reactor. Some pics to share. Got some chaetomorpha from fellow reefers some weeks back. Took advantage of the time from having time to set up the reactor by growing it in a tub for a couple of weeks. Dosed the water with Zeo Cyanoclean & Salifert Flatworm exit as a precautionary measure. Prepping the stand Close up of the light tube Running it for about 2 weeks now. Able to see the chaeto growth progression through the translucent housing. Didn't go the DIY route for the chaeto reactor due to fear of getting the DIY external LEDs wet. So far, this reactor has been running well. I don't see any stray chaeto escaping into the sump. Installed additional Eheim double taps for ease of moving the reactor to the toilet to open up for maintenance

Finally finished this bottle of coral dip. Lasted one year. Not cheap but definitely very effective for flatworms (frags from fellow reefers). Always dip corals before they go into the tank. I found it quite convenient to place a small pump (300l/hr) in the tub & allow it to circulate the water. This helps remove the suffocating slime & provide some flow to remove pests. Got some of this brand of coral glue from Pure Aquatic. Cheaper than BSI glue It does harden quite fast so place your frags quickly. One thing done recently to improve long term adhesion is to make some cuts at the bottom of the rock/cement before applying the glue. Makes a big difference.

I use a Phosban 150 reactor for my 5ft tank. And have a tap to slow the flow down through the reactor to take out the 'remaining' phosphates not exported by the ATS. Phosban reactor is sufficient for rowaphos purpose. Cheap & easy to maintain. Skimz has recirculating & non-recirculating reactors. Both should work. The ATS screen is approximately 27cm x 15cm. As long as your phosphate remains detectable, ATS growth will not be affected.

I agree on this comment. Tigger pods are pelagic (i.e. free swimming). As mentioned by Damon, they eaten by fishes very quickly because they are free swimming. If you observe mandarin dragonets, they peck surfaces and are terrible at catching free swimming pods. The best pods for them are small "Benthic" (bottom dwelling type). Example is Tisbe or baby amphipods. I've also noticed that mandarins have small mouths and they skip the larger amphipods (Mine won't eat 2mm sized amphipods) While pods can survive on detritus, the population will explode if you feed it phytoplankton. Ideally live phyto.

I got it from a fellow refer who got it from Taobao. Apologies I don’t have the link to the product. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

GSP & softies are generally quite hardly - They should be ok with 5ppm nitrates & 0.25 phosphates. But many other SPS & LPS will probably not do so well with 0.25 phosphate levels. Using rowaphos can bring the phosphate levels down to the 0.03 target levels easily within a week.

Calibration fluid is 35 PPT salt (parts per thousand). For most general purpose, using RODI water is sufficient. The final objective is to get mixed salt at the correct levels. But there is slightly more to calibrating the refractometer than just using RODI / calibration fluid. I'll update something over the weekend.

More pics!!

1st attempt at stitching some video clips. Taken last night with iPhone

I have a 10 gallon (40L) tank with common zoa, plenty of ultra luminous GSP, some snails & 4 baby clown fishes (1-2cm size). No rocks & bare bottom.Very simple but yet motivating to see a simple tank do well. For your tank half that size, a similar set up is possible & easy to maintain.

Side view Some of the supersuns. Pic taken with iphone

I like the dimensions of the tank. Good for scaping. Look forward to more pics & updates.

I got a query on PM about the tubing connection for Soda Lime. Basically you can use any container that allows air to enter from one end. On the other end of the 'soda lime reactor), connect it to the air inlet of your skimmer via a short tube/hose.

Can. Sent you a PM

The grill guard is called a ‘weir comb’ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally took out the Jebao RW20 wavemaker..... ...... replaced with another Vortech. Current configuration : 2 at left glass of the tank. 1 at the back glass near the right side. I have been running the RW20 since day 1 & never realized how noisy the RW20 whirring sound was, till I changed all to the Quiet Drive wavemakers. Living room is amazingly silent now. You an also see the rogue bubble tip anemones attached on the green monti. Troublesome creatures.

Initial findings is that it brings pH up by about incremental 0.1 from my previous numbers. Happy with it so far. No final opinion on the cost/benefit of the soda lime yet. Need to run it a little longer to decide on it. Below is the my current pH chart. Do note that i also drip kalk at night via a kalk stirrer. PH probe calibrated last week. Acknowledgement to Sherman & Daniel Poh for sharing about soda lime in their posts that led me to try it. In any case, I heard that Iwarna brought in Fauna Marin CO2 scrubber media & reactor in case you are not keen on the DIY route. This is the product literature. https://www.faunamarin.de/en/skim-breeze-reaktor-set-1-liter-air-filter-incl-1000-ml-special-granule-to-purify-the-air-of-your-protein-skimmer/a-91309/

Thanks. This is the tank placement. I’ve realized that not all Zoa can handle the higher temperature. Mine are mostly the common ones. Nothing fancy. Because of the temperature, lighting hours is at night only 6pm-12am. Just nice as that's the time i'm home for work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, using iSocket. It is more for power failure notification. It uses a $5 M1 SIM card which lasts 6 months.

A new set of compressor/coil/controller/installation is roughly around $1400. 2nd hand set can be found occasionally in the forums typically between $400-$900. Then need to factor in about $250 installation for the 2nd hand set.

It’s 1hp. Calculations correct? [emoji51] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a compressor next to my 5ft tank (850l). It takes about 20-30min to cool 1degC. Based on my tracking, it runs a total of about 4-5hrs per day. It does get quite windy/warm when the compressor is on since all that heat is now removed in a shorter time. But i'm sure a chiller takes a longer time to cool & will overall run longer & more expensive. Here is the bill cost :

That's the un-used secondary chamber of my Skimz calcium reactor (changed it to a full sized secondary chamber instead).

Olympus TG4

While dosing kalk is probably a much cheaper option to increase pH, i'm quite curious about the consistency & running cost of the CO2 scrubber. Best thing to do is to get one going & try it first hand. DIY a CO2 scrubber with soda lime. Connected to intake of the skimmer. Added a MP60 wavemaker. The corals are loving the broad flow it provides Thanks Shri & Larry for giving me some chaeto recently. Started a chaeto reactor. Updates to come.