125 GAL Mixed reef

Z

Zakk

Guest
Trying to bring an almost dead tank back to life.  Phosphates were .78 and Nitrates were 50.  cyano and hair everywhere, ballasts were going, skimmer wasn't calibrated, and RO unit wasn't hooked up.  Shame on me I know. :(

So it's a 125 with dual overflows, and a 40 gal sump.  Recent upgrades have been:
RO/DI finally installed with new everything.
80+ cree DIY LED's.
2 aqueon powerheads (waiting on the new wave-friendly koralia ones)
2x phosban reactors with BRS hi-cap and rox.
Skimmer tune up
Mexican turbos for the red velvet problem
dosing pumps for BRS 2-part
all new test kits including 2 of the hanna digital testers
new fuge setup with chaeto and a new 'redneck-worthy' turf scrubber on one of the return lines.
Neptune apex controller (will run the dimmable LED's eventually)

So not too much to look at now, except that the cyano and hair are definitely receding, and there is recovery in the corals.  I have high hopes for the turf scrubber, with that, the skimmer, the cheato and the hi-cap I should be able to get the phosphates out.  The apex is awesome, but a huge learning curve.  It's not a matter of what it can't do, it's that it does so much!

Anyway, that's it for now, hopefully the tank goes over the top in the next year or so, there is also a learning curve with the LED's, a lot of corals can't take the intense light, so there is a lot of moving things around, and deeper into the tank, and so far I only have 36 of the LED's wired in.  Tank is actually 7 years old, was going pretty good until 'real life' kept me occupied and my mind elsewhere. 

Nice to find a community group like this, I want to pick up some nice frags as the tank comes back online, some of you guys have some fantastic specimens from what I've seen on here. 
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
Neptune apex.  http://www.neptunesys.com/

Pretty pricey (order from canada if possible, UPS raped me on 'brokerage'), but this thing does everything, and will keep me from letting my system go downhill like last time.  In 2007 this tank was almost overgrown with corals, and had no hair algae or velvet.  A month and a half ago this tank looked like black death.  I can't let that happen again.  So I figured something that could control everything, and e-mail me when things aren't right, would be a good little helper. 
 
K

Krazykarl

Super Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Is that the Jr model or the full apex system!? 500 bucks is a bit pricey ya but I can't believe what this thing does. I'd be interested in the Jr model with an added ph probe. Thanks for the quick response
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
It's the full apex with PH and ORP probe.  Total tally on that to get it here?  $750.  $188 of that was shipping through UPS.  They refuse to ship any other way, and ordering from J&L aquatics would have been almost the same price, so no matter what you take it in the rear because we're cute and cuddly Canadians, that never complain or get even.  I did write "UPS BROKERAGE is criminal" on the cheque, but they still cashed it no problem. 

That said, it's an amazing toy.  I am glad I didn't get the Reef Keeper Elite, even though BRS pays shipping and brokerage fees.... if only he sold the APEX!!
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
http://reeftech.webs.com/Apex%20New%20User%20Guide.pdf

That guide shows what the unit is capable of.  Wet floor sensors, float sensors, ATO, dosing, moon phases, wavemaker, you name it, it will do it. 
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
The tank today, and a pic of the tank from my cellphone just a month ago (!)
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
Thanks!

That cell pic doesn't do justice to how bad it was.  Almost every inch was covered in bubble-making algae or bacteria of some sort.  All the rock looked sparkly, in a really really bad way.  :)

Amazing what a little effort and a lot of money can do, eh?  ;D
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
I know, I know...too many photos, but I'm just so pleased with the water clarity from the rox charcoal.  Camera filter gives it more purple than in person, it's a very crispy blue.  Not much nuisance algae now.  I cat take pictures like the water isn't even there, couldn't do that a month ago either...just can't get over the improvement.
 
K

Krazykarl

Super Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Are your LEDs DIY? Looks great. Love the colour... If it is a DIY do you have a write up on it
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
Krazykarl link said:
Are your LEDs DIY? Looks great. Love the colour... If it is a DIY do you have a write up on it
Click to expand...

Yep, totally DIY.  If it was storebought it wouldn't look so ghetto :)

I have a lot of the process on video, just have been pretty preoccupied to put it together into a proper how to.  Personally I like that I can fix a single burnt out bulb, or add in an extra blue if the colour is off.  Plus if a driver goes, you can just replace that.  I even cool it with PC fans I bought in bulk, and it's 1/100th the heat output of my old MH when the fans are running.  Shimmer is unreal too.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the look of MH, but this whole setup is brighter and only pulls ~250 watts.  An added bonus, the neptune apex can be used to control the dimming, giving you true moon cycles and whatnot. 
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
A shot of some fairly plain zoos, acans  and my duncans under the 'actinic' stip I have in there.  I tell you the led's are just crazy good. 
 
K

Krazykarl

Super Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
I wish I knew how to do it... I'm running mh and putting out 500 w. I'd run all blues and keep mh to gimme an actinic look.
 
Z

Zakk

Guest
I'm using the led's from rapid led. 

I went with a mix of white and royal blues, although it doesn't hurt to throw an extra blue in the mix.  Those are 12 LEd's per 9" hear sink (so I can direct the light better).  80 degree lenses up the par value.  I then grabbed an 'actinic' pack from the site and up it onto a 12" stip heatsink. 

The setups are neat.  You can buy a dimmable setup, and you could wire 12 blue to one driver and 12 white to another, then change the output of each colour until you have your perfect mix.  I did 6 and 6 on each heatsink so that each sink has its own driver (easy to diagnose and replace).  It's a bugger to solder everything, but all told I spent about $1K on everything, and now pretty much every bit of it can be replaced (although each LED is rated for thousnds of hours use).  So after that outlay, my upkeep is bare minimum (bulbs for my last setup could be $300 every few months). 

I also grabbed the 'dual fan kit' which allows you to just plug in normal computer case fans, and they even had a speed control.  I turned it down until I could feel the heat on the heatsink.  The LED's run hot enough to loosed the solder if you don't run fans (found that out the annoyingly hard way).
 
M

MDGraves

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
I would also like info on your lights and maybe see them in person someday as we are in London too
Thanks
 
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