Stone's 225 Carbonate Factory

[Delphinus]

Cool, thanks Stones, yeah I agree Vertex seems pretty top notch on all their other things too. I'm still sort of tempted to consider Avast because I'd probably get one of their waste collector buckets (with a skimmer shutdown relay? Boo yah!)

Brett - Oh wow, neat, it almost looks like that would spray down into the cup area. I didn't even think of that but man would that make for a nice feature.

[lockrookie]

Next thing you guys will want is the fish to be potty trained lol.. Cool stuff tho I've thought of the skimmer cleaner but now I won't have the room to fit it

[Stones]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Cool, thanks Stones, yeah I agree Vertex seems pretty top notch on all their other things too. I'm still sort of tempted to consider Avast because I'd probably get one of their waste collector buckets (with a skimmer shutdown relay? Boo yah!)

Having a skimmer shutdown relay has been one of the best additons I've made to my equipment lineup in years and I highly recommend installing one for all those hobbyists using in sump skimmers. Prior to the Vertex Alpha 250, I had never ran an insump skimmer before and didn't realize how finicky they were in regrard to water level consistency. I'd end up with an overflowing skimmer every time the power would go out or if for some strange reason the water level in my sump rose by more than 1".

Posted this pic at the beginning of the build but it shows how I added a 2 way shutdown relay to my skimmer.



This way if the sump level rises above the level where I have float switch #2 or if the skimmer collection cup gets full it triggers float swith #1. If either switch is engaged, power is cut to the skimmer pump until the float drops back down. This way, I'm protected against power outages where the sump level rises by ~6" or if I add something to my tank like 2 part epoxy that makes the skimmer go crazy for a day or two the skimmer also shuts down when the collection cup is full.

[Reef Pilot]

Not sure if you have an Apex, but if you do, you can use it to have your skimmer come on 5 min after your return pump following a power outage. Also similar to your float switch relay, you can use the Apex with a water sensor to shut down your skimmer when it overflows. I use this DIY sensor with my Apex (which can recognize an off/on switch event) to shut off pumps. It could be taped to the outside of your skimmer cup. Or use your float switch inside with the Apex (no relay needed). Just some alternatives...

[Stones]

Thanks for the advice Reef Pilot but I do not own a reef controller at this time. I think you have the option to shut down your skimmer after a power outage on pretty much all of the major brands of controllers now whether it be via timer, sensor or float switch.

As stated earlier, this feature has saved me multiple times from having to shop vac my aquarium stand after it gets blasted with gross skimmer foam following a power outage. Depending on how long its been since I drained my collection cup, it also prevents all of the skimmate from flowing back into my sump and contaminating the system with a concentrated shot of nutrients.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Stones

As stated earlier, this feature has saved me multiple times from having to shop vac my aquarium stand after it gets blasted with gross skimmer foam following a power outage. Depending on how long its been since I drained my collection cup, it also prevents all of the skimmate from flowing back into my sump and contaminating the system with a concentrated shot of nutrients.

Totally agree you need some kind of solution with these skimmers. Sounds like yours does the trick. I learned my lesson a couple years ago, when I had a skimmer overflow that splashed water outside my sump and onto a power bar that I had hanging on the wall. Almost had a fire....

I also had a hose pop off a return pump outlet (wasn't using a clamp) once when I was adjusting flow with a ball valve. Water shot right up to the ceiling of my sump room. Luckily I was right there, but I still got soaked and lots of water on the floor before I found the right plug to pull. That's what inspired me to use a water sensor to instantly shut off my pumps...

BTW, you could use my DIY water sensor (nails and solder) with a relay too (without a controller), to stop a pump. It acts like a closed switch as soon as the paper towel sucks up some water. Works on RO/DI water just as well as salt water.

[Stones]

So in order to help combat my nitrate issues and to hopefully prevent further instances from happening, I decided to give a new product a try about 8 weeks ago.



I've never used any of the Brightwell products before but their price point was much more competitve than probidio or zeovit so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm not running their full blow zeolith system but simply using a combination of the Xport-NO3 media and MB7 dosing to keep the beneficial bacterial populations well stocked and diversified. I also picked up some amino acids to dose as well as some marine snow as I've heard that it can help prevent cyano.

Here is a close up of what the Xport-NO3 media looks like. First thing I thought of was that they look almost exactly like the bite size mini wheats.


Prior to ordering, I wasn't exactly sure whether or not this media acted like a sponge and absorbed nitrate from the water column or if it was simply an inert substrate meant to be colonized by beneficial bacteria as their product description is a bit ambigious.

After seeing the product in person, I'm assuming it's just an inert substate with tons of surface area for bacteria to colonize. However, there are these little yellow "chunks" embedded into the media as well which I'm assuming may be some sort of bioplastic used as a food source for the bacteria.

Prior to first use, you are required to "seed" the media with a mixture of tank water and microbacter7 for 24 hours. After this has been completed, you can then add the media to a filter bag or reactor.

Here is the media inside the reactor downstream of my carbon and GFO. You can sort of see the yellow chunks I was speaking of earlier in this pic.



The product instructions also state to replace a 25% of the media every 3-4 months which doesn't make much sense to me if it is simply meant as a substrate for bacterial colonization. If for some reason, nitrate levels do not seem to be dropping after a few weeks, Brightwell also recommends adding a carbon food source for the bacteria which they offer in the form of Katalyst (biopellets which I'm assuming should be run inline prior to the Xport NO3 media) or Reef Biofuel (liquified bioplastic similar to Instant Ocean Nitrate Reducer).

After running the Xport NO3 for ~8 weeks and dosing the MB7 whenever I'm home from work (at least once per 10 days) I have noticed a substantial difference in the health of my corals as well as nitrate level in my system.

Prior to running this product, I was using only biopellets and despite this, I was still getting readings of 10-20 ppm nitrate using a titration based test kit. The test kit was very expired however and my other test kit usually showed nitrate levels <10 ppm. Now I'm reading zero on both test kits and the SPS are all starting to show signs of color darkening. Hopefully after a few more months, their color will recover to the extent they were prior to the tank crash last April.

[Stones]

Quick update, tank is back down to zero nitrates and phosphates thanks to a combination of microbacter 7, Brightwell Xport NO3 and biopellets.

Cleaned the glass and everything was looking so good I had to snap a few pics. I'm still having major issues getting the white balance set correctly as the blues and purples in the pictures are not nearly as dark or intense as they are in person. I tried using a piece of grey rock in the tank to balance the WB but 99% of my rock is deep purple from corralline.

Does anyone use a piece of white or grey plastic that they can submerge in the tank to set their WB? I need to figure out a way to get the WB set consistently so I don't have to waste half my time fighting with it before finally settling on a mediochore result and snapping some pics.

Cali tort



Rainbow monti


FAL mystery Millepora


Efflo


Unknown tabler. Anyone have an idea on species?





Another mystery FAL frag

[kien]

Nice. Looking good man.

Your mystery tabler looks like a Loripes to me. Also, your mystery millepora looks like a "sunset" or "christmas" millepora.

[lastlight]

What's FAL stand for? Glad you've gotten things under control! Those colonies are just huge nice work.