Juiceman Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Reef Cleaners and Vortechs are here!!!!!!!! 125g quick crew plus 3 Emerald Crabs, 45 extra hermit crabs, and 45 extra Florida Ceriths. All kinds of crap started coming out once both vortechs were on!! I like these guys. I had the 2 mag 18's running, and 3 koralias, and it doesn't come close to what these vortechs are doing! I have them running at 70% or so depending on the mode right now since I don't want to blow the corals away, I'll let them get used to the added flow and then gradually turn them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Sweet. Wish I would of bit the bullet and gotten vortex. I don't think you have a big enough CUC(insert sarcasm here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Sweet. Wish I would of bit the bullet and gotten vortex. I don't think you have a big enough CUC(insert sarcasm here) That was the suggested cuc by reef cleaners, based on how much rock and livestock plans. I'd rather have too much than not enough I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Sweet. Wish I would of bit the bullet and gotten vortex. I don't think you have a big enough CUC(insert sarcasm here) That was the suggested cuc by reef cleaners, based on how much rock and livestock plans. I'd rather have too much than not enough I guess. I think you're right on the money. I wish I ordered a larger CUC initially. Now that money is tight, I'm seeing the effects. Awesome build, by the way. Yours is one of the few I've been keeping up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 The evolution evo150 LEDs got held up in customs, but reefkoi has kept me updated every step of the way, very satisfied with his customer service so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 THERE FINALLY HERE!!!! Will update once installed tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Looks great so far! I love those vortechs now after seeing then in person. I didn't know they did the wave action or were controllable at first so I was wondering why on earth they were so expensive lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 And with the Apex and the WXM module, I have them changing modes through out the day. Keeps it as random as possible, and to the touch, its way more broad of a stream than any other power head I've used. Fallback ReefCres Set ReefCres If Time 11:00 to 13:59 Then ReefCres If Time 14:00 to 15:59 Then Tidal If Time 16:00 to 17:59 Then Pulse If Time 18:00 to 20:59 Then Tidal If Time 21:00 to 22:15 Then ReefCres If Time 22:16 to 22:59 Then Nutrient If Time 23:00 to 10:59 Then Lagoon If FeedA 000 Then OFF Looks great so far! I love those vortechs now after seeing then in person. I didn't know they did the wave action or were controllable at first so I was wondering why on earth they were so expensive lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 It's like Christmas I bet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Dude! my thoughts exactly It's like Christmas I bet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 I have had a nitrate spike right after the move. I'm pretty sure it was from that Yellow Tang dying, and prior to my new CUC coming in. I can't think of anywhere else it would have come from. I also hadn't installed my biopellets which I had running on the 90 prior to the move. I went ahead and installed them on the 200 with a new bag of pellets, the Nitrates were at 20ppm prior to their installation down from lord knows where that cause the loss of those corals, but 2 days later, they are at 0. Sadly I've lost almost ALL of my SPS, which really sucks, but I will restock once the shock of the move is over. My LPS and Softies are doing great. My electric scallop has found a home where I can actually see him! All of my other fish are doing great. My remaining SPS continues to recede, I'm not sure if they'll pull through or not. I also did the move of my 75 gallon reef into my 90 gallon tank. I did have a nitrate spike there as well, but the corals seem uneffected by it and are out and bigger than the've ever been, but then again, there's no SPS in that tank. Funny how that works, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 How are the corals liking the random flow? One of these days I'll bite the bullet and buy a couple. That sucks when I switched out a ton of my live rock with nicer looking dry rock recently I had a big nitrate spike and a gha outbreak, but the corals were all out and awesome looking with a ton of growth...? For sps all I had in there was a green stag, some green digi and red cap frags that are still recovering from being bleached, and some unknown sps, looks like a peach colored digi. Theres lps and zoas too...as ugly as the gha outbreak looked, the growth on the corals was amazing so I didn't even try to do anything with it lol. Slowly the gha is going away but the growth is still very good. I don't know why they didn't die, nitrates was around 40ppm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Well my EVO's are finally here! The first thing I wanted to do was to get a comparison of what they looked like compare to the halide and VHO combo. I mounted one EVO150 in the center of the tank and turned up both the Whites and Blues to 100% heres the full tank with the 14K Plusrite 250W halides on the Left and Right of it. The brightness is very close, but the LED is noticably more blue, but I expected that since they're supposed to show a 20K spectrum. Here's the right side of the tank comparing the LED and Halide Here's the left side comparing the LED and Halide Next step, Install all 3 fixtures! Here's all three on the tank comparing only Blues on the Left, both 100% in the center, and only Whites on the Right: My green umbrella hasn't extended it's polyps since I've set up this tank, until it got under these LED's! I've got them dimmed down for a while so as to make sure not to shock things too much. I finally got a few other things done. I realized a little late that I didn't put any type of tank to hold my RODI top off water, OOPS! I had to either make something or have something made that would fit through the door under the front of the stand. I got referred to PROF (Dave) and he quoted me a great price on a custom Acrylic resevoir. Once filled up, It holds about 15-18 gallons of water which is great! I won't have to fill it very often. I also finally organized (to an extent) my power strip. I got the American DJ station power strip with individual switches for each plug. Its pretty cool being able to turn off my pumps for a water change with a flip of a switch instead of trying to unplug stuff hoping its the right thing. Got it from BestBuy.com but they have it on alot of electronic store websites. Still a few small things to finish, and I'll watch the corals closely to see how they adjust to the LEDS, will update once acclimation goes for a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 So far the corals like the LED's more than the halides. I have more polyp extension under the EVO's than under the halides, and I still have them turned down at like 35% right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 Full Tank Shot at about 40%-50%. iphone makes it look super Blue but its a good mix. I think i'm going to go alittle more white as I turn them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Interesting find just now. I turned off my return pumps to clean my filter pad. Well I came back from cleaning my pad to find my skimmer had overflown. So I left the return pumps off long enough for the skimmer to clean the water in the sump before I turned everything back on. Prior to me turning the pumps off, My temperature was at 77.6. After those pumps were off for about an hour, when everything started looping again, the temperature had changed to 76.4! Am I to believe that the 2 mags are making that much heat. My display had both my VHO's and LED's running and my MP40's giving flow. So the only difference was the returns not being on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_schoggins Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great thread, wish I was there to see the progress but from the pics it looks like it is coming along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Yes, two Mags can definitely create that much heat. Your skimmer probably overflowed because the sump water level increased when you shut-off the return pumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Yes, two Mags can definitely create that much heat. Your skimmer probably overflowed because the sump water level increased when you shut-off the return pumps. Oh for sure. I had to get a maxi jet and pump about 15 gallons of water out of the sump to get it to start working correctly again, I then just turned it all the way down and let it clean up it's own mess. slowly added back in the 15 gallons I took out and then turned the returns back on. Crazy how the only heat issues I have now are from the pumps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Pretty much the only benefit to running an external return pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Ok so that raises a question. When I hooked up the 2 mag18s that originally planned to use, it put the water line above the center brace. So I have since put a 9.5 on the return that splits to the outside and kept the 18 on the return that splits to the center of the tank. It still puts some of the water on the center brace so its still overkill. Should I get rid of the 9.5 and just split the 18 into 4 returns? I know hat will help with heat, but my worry then would be that I wouldn't get flow that's worth anything once that 18 is split between the 4 returns? Or I can replace the 18 with an additional 9.5? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 You can continue using both pumps and just install a ball valve on the Mag 18's output/return line. That way, you can control the amount of flow you want/need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'm less interested in the flow and more interested in the heat now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 VIDEO! lol. It's a work in progress. My camera makes the tank look really blue. But I tried to hit everything in the video. Thanks for any suggestions or comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 The pump on the Euro Reef Stopped working on Wednesday. I decided since I'd so much trouble with it being too big for my sump that I would just get a new skimmer rather than try to fix it. I went with the same brand of skimmer that I had on my 90g tank. I had a ASM G-2 rated for 200 gallons on the 90. I purchased an ASM G-4+ rated for 400g, that way I make sure to get my +1! lol Gotta let it break in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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