2016 200 gallon reefing restart

[windwaterwaves]

So after years idling in the back with my old aptasia infested 120 gallon acrylic, I am jumping back in to do it right.

Here is the status so far...
I picked up a 200 gallon glass tank, 48x36x27, star fire glass. A beauty and a pain to move but she is in place.

Purchased an apex controller, wavetek 12000 (3,000 gal hr) return pump, and 2 reef radiance prostar+.

Last weekend I picked up around 200lbs of live rock (been brewing for 3 years under lights and fed, great rock). Things are stabilizing, started hanging out at Bellingham pet supply / crystal reef aquatics / oceans by design here in Bellingham. They are great, convinced me to pick up an eco tech mp40qd. This pump moves water I will probably get another one once I complete my plumbing.

Julian et al are coming over Tuesday to help me in final rock layout, design ideas, plumbing tips, and to get the sand in. I am super excited to do this tank perfectly.

Next post will have pictures and post rock layout and design. Then on to fish selection!

 

[mfinn]

Sounds like a great start.
You got lucky with the new store in town.

 

[Therapy1]

Sounds great. I am like you re-starting. Keep us updated!

 

[Katchupoy]

Very nice... I will be watching.....

 

[halmus]

Looking forward to to pictures.

I loved my MP-40s. I am curious what difference the quiet drive technology makes. Mine have been in storage for years now without a tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mfinn]

I loved my MP-40s. I am curious what difference the quiet drive technology makes.

There is a lot of difference. The Quiet Drive does exactly what the name says. Even the upgrades.

 

[1guydude]

Ya those r nice. No wires in the tank!
Looking fwd to more to come. Keep at it!
D

 

[windwaterwaves]

Initial Pictures

Initial Fill, added Salt, picked up aged live rock from a friend.

Ok, it's not easy to upload a photo and display it apparently.. :/

 

[spieszak]

Pictures are much easier if you upload them to an external site first...
I use photobucket for mine.
I moved you image inline below though. (I clicked on the little thing that looks like a picture in the editor tools, and pasted in the link I copied from the window that opened when I clicked the link above)

 

[mfinn]

nice to get water in it.

 

[windwaterwaves]

Cool thanks, ya it was a pain with iphoto to export...

 

[windwaterwaves]

Yesterday I plumbed in a temporary sump, an old 55 gallon glass, added the salt threw in some rubble and started up the Waveline 12000. Well to say that is a little too much power for two 1" returns is an understatement, but I will be able to baffle out some for refugium, gfo, carbon etc, glad this is an adjustable DC pump.

I have around 150lbs of cycled live rock in there that I picked up from a friend. He had been cycling it for 3 years.. But under the recommendation of the local fish guy I have added Dr. Tom's one and only bacterial additive, and am following the no fish cycle by adding ammonium chloride, 200 drops yesterday. Tests so far show .1 level of ammonia on my red sea test, and still 0 nitrite/nitrate. Added another 220 drops today post test, will check ammonia again in an hour for kicks.

One thing I will say, I purchased an MP40QD ecotech, I am really impressed with this powerhead/wavemaker. I will be getting a second one. I know they are quite expensive but having the motor and electricity be outside of the tank is amazing. After servicing my Tunze's for years it will be easy to clean these.

One last final thought, now that I have gone down the ecotech road I wish I had picked up the Vectra pump instead of my waveline, it would be nice to integrate these all together with the Apex. The apex is SHORT on variable controller ports, it only comes with (2) ports on the main controller that has 4 variable outputs. I wanted to control lights and pumps but alas with only 4 variable outputs it controls (2) reefradiance proline 2 lights (a blue set of led's and a colored set) so in order to control the waveline I need to by ANOTHER led/pump controller with 2 more ports for $100. If I had gone the ecotech route I would just by that controller for apex (again about $100) but could control the MP40's, the Vectra and if I bought the ecotech lights.. $$ caching I could do some crazy light control stuff.

I am disappointed in the reef radiance lights due to the fact the individual color LED's are so far apart you have a disco ball affect on the reef, I like the controllability, but looking at some of the other LED's (more expensive) on the market the lensing they are doing makes them almost halide like. So I will slowly retire these and pick up something else. Plus just because I am going to put a pair of T5 actinic in the back of the tank...

Until next time!

 

[mfinn]

If you ever decide to change out the pump, then the Vectra L1 or M1 would be a awesome choice.
I have the L1 for my closed loop and a M1 for my return pump.
Both pumps together running and you really have to listen to hear anything above my skimmer pump and water noise.

 

[windwaterwaves]

Ya I wish I had spent the extra for the Vectra L1, then bought he apex ecotech add on module hindsight...

 

[Maxx]

The Vectra pumps by Eco Tech are NOT Apex compatible. To control the vectra pumps you will need to buy a Reef Link from Eco Tech, and then dowbload Eco Smart live to your computer and/or cell phone.

 

[windwaterwaves]

Apex makes a WXM module for the ecotech's no reeflink required. https://www.neptunesystems.com/vortech-wireless-module-wxm/ Up to 11 pumps and lights are controllable from it.

 

[mfinn]

To control the vectra pumps you will need to buy a Reef Link from Eco Tech, and then dowbload Eco Smart live to your computer and/or cell phone.

The Vectra pumps work out of the box without a reeflink.

 

[windwaterwaves]

yes the vectra pumps talk to each other and sync, you just can't see the cool graphs.. or switch modes dynamically. Reef link pushes the info up to ecotech's cloud service, like apex pushes theirs to the apexfusion site. The reeflink has some unbelievable controls for their lights, I wonder if the wxm does the same. Although their lights are serious $$$

 

[mfinn]

yes the vectra pumps talk to each other and sync, you just can't see the cool graphs.. or switch modes dynamically. Reef link pushes the info up to ecotech's cloud service, like apex pushes theirs to the apexfusion site. The reeflink has some unbelievable controls for their lights, I wonder if the wxm does the same. Although their lights are serious $$$

I've shopped the boards for several gen 1's and sent them in for the gen 3 upgrade.
Saves a few hundred.

As far as the Vectra's and Apex, Ecotech and Apex has to do something about the control issue.
So many are very upset about it. Almost childish in the rants I see.
But whatever. I think they will probably find a work-a-round.

 

[Maxx]

Apex makes a WXM module for the ecotech's no reeflink required. https://www.neptunesystems.com/vortech-wireless-module-wxm/ Up to 11 pumps and lights are controllable from it.

Yes, Apex makes the WXM module which will allow you to control the Vortech pumps, and the Radion lights. However, Eco Tech itself has posted over on RC that the Vectra pumps can NOT be controlled by the Apex WXM Module. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2538832
There are many other threads, (one at least 5 pages long), complaining of the same thing - the Vectra pumps cannot be controlled by Apex.

The Vectra pumps work out of the box without a reeflink.

yes, they work without a reef link. But they cannot be controlled by Apex.