SubzeroLT

Nice pics!!

Goes into a pail before allowing it to overflow to the drain hole - in case livestock gets sucked in the hose

Some green pics : Chilli pepper monti. Some bits died when it was transferred to this tank. Seems be better now.

Thanks. I change ~ 100L once every 2 weeks. Not too troublesome. Mix salt/RODI water in a blue drum in the toilet. Drain display tank with a long hose to a marked level, then pump in the fresh water with the same long hose. Then drop in one vial of Prodibio Biodigest for added bacteria.

Nice netting The RODI tubing fits better that the rubber inserts? Should get end caps for the 2020 profile.

Current light setting

The pinch valve works very well. Somewhat slightly less chance of clogging compared to the SMC needle valve at lower drip rates. Having said that, the pinch valve won't eliminate the clogging issue entirely, but only minimize it as it has a 'smoother' surface inside the tube, less chance of calcium deposits being caught on sharp edges. 2 key issues with the calcium reactor are (1) Not aware that CO2 runs out. Tank kH continues to drop until corals start to show signs of damage (2) Effluent clogs & nothing comes out. PH remains very low in the CR & the media just melts like crazy to become mush. Disaster. With the Apex Neptune, its possible to set up triggers to warn the above situations. A typical Calcium reactor pH chart Virtual outlet program to check if CO2 tank is empty - Between 10am to 6pm, the CO2 should be running & pH levels should be quite low - If it detects that pH still remains high >8, then it means that CO2 tank is empty. Virtual outlet program to check if effluent is clogged - CO2 stops around 11pm. By about 2am, the pH in the CR should have climbed up. But if pH remains low (<7.8), it means the effluent is clogged & little or no 'new' tank water is going into the CR Alarm trigger -> The following outlets sends a message to my mobile, office email & yahoo email

Purchased from USPlastic.com. I'm using the flow-rite one for CR effluent.

Yes, no need for the needle/pinch valve. However, a good peristaltic pump is expensive & noisy. Hence the economical approach of using a feed pump method may just be more practical for many. Personally, the 2 best flow control valves used are the (1) SMC needle valves, and (2) Flow-Rite Controls Pinch valve

That's very nice cabinet setup you have there. Look forward to more updates

The peristaltic pump now becomes the 'feed' pump before the CR (i.e. replace original feed pump with peristaltic pump). With a good peristaltic pump, you can adjust the motor speed -> effluent drip rate

Potassium is a main element in NSW (not a trace element). Hence its considered one of the more important parameters. I'm not an expert but based on what i understand, lack of Potassium will result in dull colors especially blue/purple. I always check potassium before dosing. Iodide is used by macro algae (eg Coralline). This helps the rocks color up purple quicker. I copy/paste this from google : Iodine is a critical element for cellular function and the transfer of nutrients within cells. Larger organisms require Iodine for proper thyroid function, production of hormones, and regulating metabolism. Iodine is utilized by corals for the synthesis of pigments, which allow them to adapt to varying light conditions and provide their tissue with protection from UV radiation. Invertebrates with exoskeletons (primarily shrimp and crabs in the aquarium) incorporate iodine in to exoskeletons and require iodine for molting and forming new exoskeletons as they grow. I test for iodide but test kits may be inaccurate - always reads below specs close to 0ppm From what read, Bromide must be present in order for Iodide to be metabolized by marine organisms. Can't test for bromide with home test kits. I suppose that regular water change should suffice to maintain good water parameters. But i'm changing 10% every 2 weeks, so more attention is probably needed with dosing. The CR was run at a fast drip rate to minimize the chance of clogging. Plan B will be for reefer to come in to help check & purge the tube to unclog it. A more certain way would be to use a high duty cycle peristaltic pump to push water through & not restrict it after the CR (similar to Ian's set up). I've not implemented it yet.

Yeah. Lovely video. Thanks for sharing.

Feeding was done mainly with the auto feeder. 2 rotations twice a day. I engaged a pet sitter to come in daily to feed my cats. They are not familiar with marine aquariums, so they were only able to drop a cube of frozen mysis shrimp into the tank. Not safe to get them to dose stuff. The calcium reactor covers the basic Ca, Mg, KH. Other things dosed regularly are FM color elements (manual at the moment). Other things dosed are Potassium (2x a week), Bromide (2x a week), Iodide (daily)

Thanks....pics taken a moment ago. I didn't measure phosphate after i got back. Wasn't too concerned about it as there is Rowaphos running in a reactor. Nitrates was between 0.5ppm - 1ppm, KH 8, Potassium was 360ppm (low). 2 colonies were faded possibly due to lack of supplementation & feeding. Hope they recover. The rest are generally OK.

Some photos to share : Acans from recent LCK shipment Browned up blue stag. New growth is more blue. Yuma from early SA shipment Time to molt. Shell growing algae Sunflower from reefer Anthony. Recall exchanging a few polyps from him in exchange for a tube of BSI glue at 12.30am in the morning.

Just back from an 11 day overseas trip. Thankfully, there weren't too much issues. A couple of things done : - Connected a drain tube to the skimmer cup to an external bucket - Hooked up a float switch to the bucket in case it overflows. These things can happen (eg. Anemone gets stuck in the wavemaker). If too full, the Apex Neptune will shut off the skimmer & send me a mobile phone notification. - Placed a larger ATO bucket - And many thanks to Lawrence & Chun Wai for coming in to check on my tank occasionally. At the mid point, they helped to test KH levels....found it was dropping to from 8.5dKH to 7dKH. With the Apex, it was possible to increase the CO2 timing of the calcium reactor to bring it back to the 'regular levels'.

Happy New Year 2017. The anemone looks very nice! Splitting?

Very nice. Must come visit one of these days.

No brand type. Got it from Gmarket/Qoo10 about 4yrs ago. Its something like this : http://list.qoo10.sg/item/24-HOUR-AC-WALL-PLUG-DIGITAL-TIMER-SWITCH-AUTO-ON-OFF-TIMER-SMART/406861331

Ha...thanks. Water temperature get get up to ~31 Deg C . That room gets afternoon sun.

No 'scientific proof', but just my anecdotal feedback. I'm using mostly new media (sand, rocks). Did not use yeast. There was loads of diatoms everywhere on week 1 (no ATS yet) But they started to disappear a couple of days after I started the ATS (on week 2). And completely went away within a week.

Definitely helps

Tank is now about 1 month old. Still trying to stabilize things (CR tuning, light setting......) Some photos to share : The very effective skimmer does a fantastic job of removing organics fast & helped keep nitrates quite low. Diatoms appeared during the 1st week then disappeared after 1 additional week & never came back. I'm attributing the reduced diatom / algae in the display tank to the ATS. 1.5wks of hair algae from the ATS screen. Green Monti nicely encrusted on back wall already. This has lighted up significantly Jade green digi

I like the idea of peaking it occasionally & will try the same. Thanks for sharing.