My Slice of Nature (Part 2)

[SubzeroLT]

This is part 2 of my reefing journal since starting the hobby about 8 months back.

Link to Part 1 which covered much of the initial setup :

More pictures to share here:

Clown sucking on anemone tentacle

This clown was hosting with another anemone in the past & moved to this pink one recently.

Noticed it suckling & putting the tentacle/tip into its mouth.

Google stated that its a common phenomenon - that its actually taking in the anemone's slime, causing it to change its own slime coat - so it gets immunity from being stung..... or something like that.

Pink/Orange Yuma

Torch Coral that's with me for many months -

There's an odd 'mouth' which opens & closes.

I'm not sure if its a clam (odd that its integrated into the flesh of the torch) or whether its the torches' mouth itself?

[Admiraltian]

It look very much like a clam integrated to ur torch. Very interesting. Keep the photos coming.

[ahchris]

Nice!!! Keep the updates coming!!!

[leejwa]

Do you face problem of yuma detaching itself for the rock?

[dinGdinG]

That's an interesting combination bro! Saves u a lot of trouble finding a good spot for the clam!

[SubzeroLT]

On 7/13/2015 at 10:01 AM, leejwa said:

Do you face problem of yuma detaching itself for the rock?

I occasionally have Yuma detaching when they are newly introduced into the tank. They just need some time with low flow to attach.

But once settled in, they stay in place.

Putting them in a small plastic tray with several small rocks help. They'll finally find one to attach.

Another method I tried is this :

Then cover with a mesh

[SubzeroLT]

Some of my remaining Zoa.

Feeding bits of market prawn. They love it.

[Guest]

On 7/13/2015 at 9:42 PM, SubzeroLT said:

I occasionally have Yuma detaching when they are newly introduced into the tank. They just need some time with low flow to attach.

But once settled in, they stay in place.

Putting them in a small plastic tray with several small rocks help. They'll finally find one to attach.

Another method I tried is this :

Then cover with a mesh

Great tips !

[leejwa]

Thanks for sharing

[Lee Hon Myung]

got to view the tank in person the other day, just 1 word to sum up: stunning!

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[SubzeroLT]

got to view the tank in person the other day, just 1 word to sum up: stunning!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha...thanks for the kind words. Appreciate that you came all the way over too.

[ahchris]

On 7/13/2015 at 11:03 PM, SubzeroLT said:

Some of my remaining Zoa.

Feeding bits of market prawn. They love it.

Lovely

[SubzeroLT]

The yellow watchman goby finally paired up with a pistol shrimp, after almost 7 months.

There were introduced into the tank separately back then. Best buddies now.

Blenny got too close....

[SubzeroLT]

Lovely

Thanks.... wish I had a Zoa garden like yours.

[SubzeroLT]

Hermit crab attacking an astrea snail this morning. Moments later, it reached in to pull out the astrea snail from its shell.

I decided to intervene since I paid good money ($2) for the astrea snail.

I happened to have an empty shell picked up from Pasir Ris beach recently

Placed it 1" away from the hermit crab.....and it moved 'house' immediately.

[Bunster]

Great tips on the yuma attachment. Love the photos you took of the hermit

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[SubzeroLT]

Sharing my Apex Neptune programming & setup.

I'm not that great at scripting & hope to get useful tips from more experienced Apex Neptune users to improve things. Feedback welcome.

The Apex Neptune is costly & by no means a must. But it does make things much simpler for forgetful people like myself.

First, the dashboard.

[SubzeroLT]

Standard kit :

• Apex Fusion
• 1x Energy Bar 6
• pH probe
• Temperature Probe

Additional modules :

• Break Out Box
• ALD – Advanced Leak Detection module
• Automatic Feeder
• WXM – Vortech Pump control

 

Modifications & setup :

 

Wired 3 switches to the breakout box.

The red & green buttons are push & release type. The on/off one is protected by a 'cage' as this turns everything off.

2 float switches in the sump

Left one to detect sump level low. Right one to detect sump level high. Used to trigger on/off for auto top off.

Float switch at the display tank. To trigger event in case the overflow box breaks siphon & that its going to overflow.

DIY cable harness to control variable speed DC motors.

Plugs into the variable speed ports of the Apex Neptune main module V1/V2 & V3/V4. Used to control DC return pump & wavemaker.

[SubzeroLT]

Profiles

Profiles are used to manage pump / wave maker behaviors.

I have 2 Vortech MP10es on each side of the tank controlled by the WXM module. Apex Neptune has a nice graphical interface for it. Vortech_Rt is the master wavemaker. Vortech_Lt is the slave.

Below are the Vortech wavemaker profiles which is well explained on the Vortech website.

Pulse : Max intensity 40%

Sync : Max intensity 30%. Master pump Vortech_Rt

Antisync : Max intensity 30%. Master pump Vortech_Rt

ReefCrest : Max intensity 50%

Night : Constant 20%

Vortech_Rt

The general idea of the programming is

- Constant slow speed ~ 19% power at 12am & throughout the night. Allow the fishes to rest in peace

- Nutrient export mode make short pulses which is good for lifting detritus off the sand bed. Triggered in the early morning around the morning feeding time.

- Reef Crest, Tidal, Pulse modes during the day for some form of randomness of flow

- Nutrient export mode again around the evening feeding time

Vortech_Lt

- Switches between sync & antisync mode through out the day to give it some randomness of water movement.

Other profiles

PF5_Return. Start intensity 50%. Ramp time 1min. Max intensity 95%

- This runs the Jebao DC6000 return pump connected directly to the Apex Neptune base unit.

Bclean. On time 3s. Off time 3s. Max intensity 40%

- Runs an extra Jebao RW8 wavemaker at the back of the tank. This turns on periodically to rid detritus behind the rockwork

[SubzeroLT]

Great tips on the yuma attachment. Love the photos you took of the hermit

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks.

BTW, i just ordered a yellow filter. Going to try your method to get better colors

[chercm]

Fts pic please

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[SubzeroLT]

Below is the programming for each of the outlet. This is where i'd appreciate feedback or suggestions to make it more robust.

Outlet : Feed_Red Explanation : Controls a DIY red push button during feeding event. Changes state for 8min which is used to turn pumps/wavemakers off for 8min

Set OFF If something goes wrong, set feeding to OFF

If SW_Red CLOSED Then ON If the button is pressed, turns the state to ON

Defer 008:00 Then OFF Hold ON state for 8min then turn the state back to OFF

Outlet : Dose_Green Explanation : Controls a DIY green push button. Changes state for 4hrs which will later be used to turn the skimmer off for 4hrs after dosing stuff.

Set OFF If something goes wrong, set dosing to OFF

If SW_Gre CLOSED Then ON If the button is pressed, turns the state to ON

Defer 240:00 Then OFF Hold ON state for 240min (4hrs) then turn the state back to OFF

Outlet : Wave_Rt_I1 Explanation : Control the Jebao RW8 wavemaker at the back of the tank to turn on occassionally to clean detritus off the back of the tank

Set OFF By default, the pump is OFF

If Time 09:00 to 09:15 Then Bclean Turns pump on for 15min at 9am. Uses the Bclean pump profile that sets the pump intensity to apply

If Time 12:00 to 12:15 Then Bclean Turns pump on for 15min at 12pm

If Time 16:00 to 16:15 Then Bclean Turns pump on for 15min at 4pm

If Time 22:00 to 22:30 Then Bclean Turns pump on for 30min at 10pm

If Outlet Feed_Red = ON Then OFF During a feeding event, i want the water to be totally still. Don't turn the pump on during this time

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then OFF During tank maintenance, i want the everything in the tank to be off. Don't turn the pump on during this time

[SubzeroLT]

Below are the standard outlets from the energy bar. I left the socket number as a suffix to help identify the location of the plug.

Outlet : TOM_OF_1 Explanation : Turns on a Tom's aqua lifter occasionally to suck air out from the Skimz overflow box. Minimize chance of siphon breaking

Fallback ON If communication is lost, the aqua lifter will default to ON

Set OFF Turns the pump off

If Outlet ReturnPump_5 = OFF Then OFF For any reason the return pump is off (eg during feeding), don't turn the aqua lifter on else it will drain all the water from the overflow

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then OFF For any reason the return pump is off (eg during tank cleaning), don't turn the aqua lifter on else it will drain all the water from the overflow

If Time 00:10 to 00:11 Then ON Turns on the pump for 1min from 12.10am

If Time 08:10 to 08:11 Then ON Turns on the pump for 1min from 8.10am

Outlet : CO2_2 Explanation : Controls the CO2 solenoid on the calcium reactor. Apex Neptune pH probe is inserted into the CR to measure the levels in the reactor

Fallback OFF If anything goes wrong, CO2 regulator is OFF

If pH > 6.70 Then ON Turn on CO2 when pH is higher than 6.70. pH will start to drop when the CO2 dissolves.

If pH < 6.65 Then OFF Turn off OC2 when pH is lower than 6.65. This is to prevent excessively acidic water that will turn the CR media to mush

Defer 000:30 Then ON Adds 30s buffer so that the outlet does not switch on/off too quickly around the pH threshold levels

If Time 20:00 to 10:00 Then OFF Ensures CO2 is off between 8pm to 10am => my calcium reactor runs between 10am to 8pm

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then OFF Ensures that CO2 is off during tank maintenance time when all pumps are off

Outlet : Refugium_3 Explanation : Turns on the refugium red LED at night to grow chaeto. I also use this red light to highlight when any of the pumps are off

Fallback OFF If anything happens, the light is OFF

Set OFF

If Time 00:00 to 08:00 Then ON Red LED to grow chaeto comes on between midnight to 8am

If Outlet Feed_Red = ON Then ON Red LED is ON during feeding where pumps are off

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then ON Red LED is ON during tank cleaning where pumps are off

If Leak1 CLOSED Then ON I have a leak detector module. If excessive water on the floor is found, turn the red LED on

[SubzeroLT]

Outlet : Skimmer_4 Explanation : Skimmer on all the time except during feed, dose & tank maintenance

Fallback ON If communication is lost, keep the skimmer ON

Set ON

If Outlet Feed_Red = ON Then OFF Turn off skimmer when stuff during feeding. Feed_Red sets it off for 8min.

If Outlet Dose_Green = ON Then OFF Turn off skimmer when stuff is dosed (eg. bacteria). Dose green sets it off for 4 hours.

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then OFF Turn off skimmer when the tank is shut down for cleaning

Outlet : ReturnPump_5 Explanation : Turns off the return pump if display tank is going to overflow, leak found on floor or during feeding

Fallback OFF If anything goes wrong, turn off the return pump

Set ON

If DTHigh OPEN Then OFF Linked to float switch in display tank. If its going to overflow, stop the return pump

Defer 000:03 Then OFF Float sensor needs to be stable for 3s before pump is switched off. This is to take care of waves which may toggle the state continuously

If DTHigh CLOSED Then ON Linked to float switch. Turn on return pump when level is low.

If Outlet Feed_Red = ON Then ReturnFeed Turn off return pump when feeding

If Leak1 CLOSED Then OFF Linked to ALD leak sensor. Turn off return pump when floor is wet

If Outlet Maintenance = ON Then OFF Turn off pump during tank maintenance when everything is off

Outlet : ATO_6 Explanation : ATO. Links a Tom's aqua lifter to a jerry can of RO/DI water. Turns on once every hour for 1.5 min if the sump level is low

Fallback OFF If anything goes wrong, turn off pump

Set OFF

OSC 000:00/001:30/058:30 Then ON Using the oscillate command. Turn off pump at 0min. Then on for 1min 30sec. Then off for another 58min 30sec. Repeat

If Outlet SumpH2 = OFF Then OFF SumpH2 is a float switch that detects if the sump level is reached.

[SubzeroLT]

Output : Feeder_timer Explanation : An output to set an On/Off state for automatic feeding at specific timing

Fallback OFF If anything goes wrong, turn off auto feeding

Set OFF

If Time 07:00 to 07:05 Then ON Triggers feed mode at 7am. Keep in feed state for 5min

If Time 20:00 to 20:05 Then ON Triggers feed mode at 8pm. Keep in feed state for 5min

Output : Feeder_6_1 Explanation : Triggers the Apex Neptune AFS feeder to turn once.

Fallback OFF

Set OFF

If Outlet Feeder_timer = ON Then ON Timing is set by Feeder_timer outlet.

Defer 001:00 Then ON AFS will turn 1min after the above stated time. This allows the return pump/wavemaker to turn off & let the water settle before food is dropped

If FeedA 000 Then ON Same thing if FeedA button on the ApexNeptune front panel is triggered

** Its currently not in the script but what I also do is to turn off return pump/wave maker during feed mode. To do this, insert this for output return pump (ReturnPump_5) or wavemaker (Vortech_Rt)

If Outlet Feeder_timer = ON Then OFF Keeps return pump during the duration of feed event. In this case, its set to 5min