Bills Crystal Dynamic Aquarium 225 gal tank upgrade

The header, for the most part is finished. I have one side capped off as I do not what I will use it for. The other side with the flow sensor on it will be for the carbon reactor. I need to get it up and running as the pvc glue has effected my tank and may loose a few SPS corals.



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I have been running the Carbon reactor for a day now. As soon as I turned it on I was even more impressed with the Abyzz. I truly wish their was a direct way I could tag Coralvue and Abyzz thru thru tagging, but I do not know of any, because when I turned on the Carbon reactor, I only saw a 20 GPH avg drop. This is on a system that is only running 1 pump. If you remember I was running 2 Neptune Cor 20's at 100 percent. When I turned on the Carbon reactor on the left return it dropped it to 440 gph. I only was able to get 600 gph on the right, and it steadily dropped over a few months to 540. 2 Neptune Cor 20's equals 4000 gph, while the Abyzz A200 is only 3750 gph under normal circumstances, and YET, I am running the Abyzz a very small touch more that half of both Cor 20's at 100 percent. This is not a true comparison as I also upsized my plumbing from 1" to 1 1/4", BUT, I also had to restrict a foot sooner as the GHL flow sensors are only 3/4" while the Apex flow sensors are 1". SO YOU SEE, Apex can not talk themselves out of this one, THE ABYZZ is that much better.

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Billldg said:
I have been running the Carbon reactor for a day now. As soon as I turned it on I was even more impressed with the Abyzz. I truly wish their was a direct way I could tag Coralvue and Abyzz thru thru tagging, but I do not know of any, because when I turned on the Carbon reactor, I only saw a 20 GPH avg drop. This is on a system that is only running 1 pump. If you remember I was running 2 Neptune Cor 20's at 100 percent. When I turned on the Carbon reactor on the left return it dropped it to 440 gph. I only was able to get 600 gph on the right, and it steadily dropped over a few months to 540. 2 Neptune Cor 20's equals 4000 gph, while the Abyzz A200 is only 3750 gph under normal circumstances, and YET, I am running the Abyzz a very small touch more that half of both Cor 20's at 100 percent. This is not a true comparison as I also upsized my plumbing from 1" to 1 1/4", BUT, I also had to restrict a foot sooner as the GHL flow sensors are only 3/4" while the Apex flow sensors are 1". SO YOU SEE, Apex can not talk themselves out of this one, THE ABYZZ is that much better.
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Those Abyzz pumps sound bass. But they are way out of my budget. The head pressure for the Abyzz is 31' where the COR 20 is 20' my guess is with that much more head pressure and the 3/4" piping for the flow meters is giving you ample flow to the three outputs so far. It's good to hear that the pumps are worth the expense!

I'm not going to defend Neptune here either, as I've always thought those COR pumps were crap. Their flow sensors work but are prone to the same issues pumps are with slim build up.
 
Adam said:
Those Abyzz pumps sound bass. But they are way out of my budget. The head pressure for the Abyzz is 31' where the COR 20 is 20' my guess is with that much more head pressure and the 3/4" piping for the flow meters is giving you ample flow to the three outputs so far. It's good to hear that the pumps are worth the expense!

I'm not going to defend Neptune here either, as I've always thought those COR pumps were crap. Their flow sensors work but are prone to the same issues pumps are with slim build up.
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Here's the thing though, the Abyzz A200 has a head pressure 28.6 actually, while a single Neptune Cor 20 is 20'. Now we need to multiply the Cor 20 by 2 as I was running 2. I ran the Cor 20's at 100 percent, while I am running the Abyzz at 55 percent. I ran the Cor 20's thru 1" PVC until the last few inches, WHILE, I can not do the same on the new return setup as the GHL have a 3/4" connection on the 9000 lph flow sensors. Staying true to Apex and GHL, I allowed 4-5". I tried to maintain as long a stretch as possible before restricting down to 3/4". I truly fell that the Apex setup had a slight advantage in this, but, not much. I feel at the same, I have roughly 50 percent leverage in using the Abyzz A200 over 2 Cor 20's. The drawback is the price of the Abyzz, no doubt.

The Cor 20's are great pumps, BUT, just don't buy into the hype.

I will venture to say MOST pumps are not.
 
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Billldg said:
Here's the thing though, the Abyzz A200 has a head pressure 28.6 actually, while a single Neptune Cor 20 is 20'. Now we need to multiply the Cor 20 by 2 as I was running 2. I ran the Cor 20's at 100 percent, while I am running the Abyzz at 55 percent. I ran the Cor 20's thru 1" PVC until the last few inches, WHILE, I can not do the same on the new return setup as the GHL have a 3/4" connection on the 9000 lph flow sensors. Staying true to Apex and GHL, I allowed 4-5". I tried to maintain as long a stretch as possible before restricting down to 3/4". I truly fell that the Apex setup had a slight advantage in this, but, not much. I feel at the same, I have roughly 50 percent leverage in using the Abyzz A200 over 2 Cor 20's. The drawback is the price of the Abyzz, no doubt.

The Cor 20's are great pumps, BUT, just don't buy into the hype.

I will venture to say MOST pumps are not.
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The Abyzz pumps are beasts. We now have over 50’ of return line and our A400 handles it easily, along with UV, manifolds, multiple tanks and floors and many twists and turns while running below 60%. If you are on Instagram you can tag Abyzz and Alex at Abyzz- he appreciates feedback. Coralvue responds to positive feedback on their website and email as well as Instagram.
 
Got anything with out mark in it ? Lol.

Sent from my LM-K500 using Tapatalk
 
Tested the tank again yesterday, N03 is a little high at 23.4. I had already turned back on my AWC. I was doing 1 gal a day. I upped it to 3 gals a day. I may need to finally hook up the Algae scrubber. I may need to get some clean GHA from someone to seed the scrubber.
 
Billldg said:
Tested the tank again yesterday, N03 is a little high at 23.4. I had already turned back on my AWC. I was doing 1 gal a day. I upped it to 3 gals a day. I may need to finally hook up the Algae scrubber. I may need to get some clean GHA from someone to seed the scrubber.
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I've got plenty. I toss 3 to 4 cups every 10-14 days. Hellofa long ride for just GHA though.
 
Adam said:
I've got plenty. I toss 3 to 4 cups every 10-14 days. Hellofa long ride for just GHA though.
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I am on call this weekend, but, may be able to stop by the club meeting to pick some up. I still need to hook up the scrubber though. When I get home today I will see if I can hook it up today, and if so I will let you know. Also, if I can't pick it up then it gives me an excuse to see your tank, lol!!!
 
Billldg said:
I am on call this weekend, but, may be able to stop by the club meeting to pick some up. I still need to hook up the scrubber though. When I get home today I will see if I can hook it up today, and if so I will let you know. Also, if I can't pick it up then it gives me an excuse to see your tank, lol!!!
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I've never "Seeded" mine. It would probably shorten the time to get producing though. From the time it's up and running it usually takes a good 6 weeks to be running optimally.
 
I am a few pieces short of being able to install my Algae scrubber today. I ordered the parts, but, won't get them the end of the week. Until then I guess I am Gorilla crab hunting today...UGH!!! I know where its at, its just a matter of installing a eggcrate barrier around the rock it calls home and then getting it out.
 
How big is the crab? Any casualties? I've heard one person say they had a massive one they never knew about. They speculated that it had come in really small off of an LPS skeleton and it was in there for awhile.
 
Doberman13 said:
How big is the crab? Any casualties? I've heard one person say they had a massive one they never knew about. They speculated that it had come in really small off of an LPS skeleton and it was in there for awhile.
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It wasn't that big, maybe the size of a standard emerald crab. No fish casualties.
 
I was able to catch the Gorilla Crab easily. I also hooked up my Clearwater Algae scrubber this weekend. I will need to install a 2nd gate vale so I can turn up my flow on my pump and then restrict the flow coming out of both of my returns and force more flow thru the header to increase the flow thru my scrubber. Always something, LOL!!!
 
I took Par readings Sunday and was surprised. I would get 300+ under the 3 center Radions, but, I would get 230-240 on the outside 2. I understand why, it was just surprising. I had to create another scheme in Mobius and then start o raise the outside 2 Radion XR15 Blues intensity.

For anyone that has multiple LED's, if you take Par readings, you will understand. The photons react against each other and thus, elevate the Par. They don't actually raise it, they just keep it from dropping off as quickly. My outside Radions don't have that ability on the sides of my tank, thus me having to raise the intensity to maintain 300+ Par. I know it sounds complicated, but, its really not. I will end up having to raise my intensity to 90-100 percent to get 300+ Par on the edges.

I will also need to change out my T5 bulbs, as they are going on a year old. This will raise the Par across the whole tank. I will change out 1 bulb a week to make sure I don't shock the corals, as new bulbs will produce a good bit more Par.
 
Having posted much lately, Ick ruined my vacation. What's worse is that it got into my tank on a coral frag from a big online vendor. Been dealing with that for the past week. Had to setup a permanent QT station in the basement. I also had to pretty much tear apart my tank to get out 7 fish. I still have 7 more to catch. I will use a fish trap for them.

On a better note, I ended up going to Reef Shac on Wednesday, and was truly impressed with the quality of coral frags. I highly recommend stopping buy and taking a look.
 
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