Col's Red Sea S-650

SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
I forgot about the lighting fixture. A long scrapper it is, its on the list lol. Ive bought a Kamoer 4 channel wifi doser, a flipper max pro magnet thing and a Brightwell NO3 brick today. I'm running out of space for all the stuff I've bought
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Just watch out for the Brightwell Bricks, they break down very badly. I've had 6 including 2 replacements and they make a right old mess in the sump and are now all in the bin.

Seachem Matrix is the way to go, its basically stones that wont ever break down.

And welcome to Reef Sanctuary, sorry im late Ive been travelling a little ! lol
 
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Collo

Well-Known Member
SPR said:
Just watch out for the Brightwell Bricks, they break down very badly. I've had 6 including 2 replacements and they make a right old mess in the sump and are now all in the bin.

Seachem Matrix is the way to go, its basically stones that wont ever break down.

And welcome to Reef Sanctuary, sorry im late Ive been travelling a little ! lol
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Thanks for the welcome, and the heads up, I may as well keep it until it falls apart, I only ordered one (was going to get 2 but they only had one in stock) will stick with something else as my additional bio filtration. (I'm only half way through your build thread so not seen what you did with the seachem yet lol - theyre the little ball things aren't they?

Just ordered the jbl uv too. Iv'e got a couple of the tmc vectrons lying around but I hate the look of them. I know you ditched your jbl in the end, but I like where you had it placed so will most likely fit mine there too
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
Thanks for the welcome, and the heads up, I may as well keep it until it falls apart, I only ordered one (was going to get 2 but they only had one in stock) will stick with something else as my additional bio filtration. (I'm only half way through your build thread so not seen what you did with the seachem yet lol - theyre the little ball things aren't they?

Just ordered the jbl uv too. Iv'e got a couple of the tmc vectrons lying around but I hate the look of them. I know you ditched your jbl in the end, but I like where you had it placed so will most likely fit mine there too
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Ah the JBL AKA The Rocket Launcher ! Lol

I only changed it because it needed a new bulb and I seem to remember something happened maybe when I was cleaning it, or maybe I just got fed up with it I can’t recall but it will be revealed on my build thread. It’s just ‘very’ big.

The Seachem Matrix is like pieces of stone/grey slate and infact is a type of stone, so it will never break up and in theory never need replacement, just an occasional wash down.

When I say the Brightwell falls apart, I don’t mean just splits. It’s made from like a sandy material and basically you will have sandy material all in your sump, but try it if you have it but I would maybe leave it until your nitrates start to increase, so you give the brick a bit longer life. Before it disintegrates! Lol
 
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Collo

Well-Known Member
SPR said:
Ah the JBL AKA The Rocket Launcher ! Lol

I only changed it because it needed a new bulb and I seem to remember something happened maybe when I was cleaning it, or maybe I just got fed up with it I can’t recall but it will be revealed on my build thread. It’s just ‘very’ big.

The Seachem Matrix is like pieces of stone/grey slate and infact is a type of stone, so it will never break up and in theory never need replacement, just an occasional wash down.

When I say the Brightwell falls apart, I don’t mean just splits. It’s made from like a sandy material and basically you will have sandy material all in your sump, but try it if you have it but I would maybe leave it until your nitrates start to increase, so you give the brick a bit longer life. Before it disintegrates! Lol
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I just got to that bit (ref the Brightwell) in your build thread lol - I'm too lazy to return it so I will maybe sit it in a plastic Tupperware tub of some sort to catch the bit as it breaks down. What have you done with your seachem? is it in a bag or just loose in your sump?
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
I just got to that bit (ref the Brightwell) in your build thread lol - I'm too lazy to return it so I will maybe sit it in a plastic Tupperware tub of some sort to catch the bit as it breaks down. What have you done with your seachem? is it in a bag or just loose in your sump?
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It’s inside several Seachem large zip bags, just to keep it in place. You could just put it in the sump if you wanted but it stacks better in bags. I also have a Marine Pure block. You will see pictures of it all later in my build.

I added 4 more litres about 4 weeks ago so probably have about 10 litres now! Lol.

I do less water changes these days as I find it upsets the water chemistry, so I need to increase the biological filtration and Nopox dosing to keep everything in control. It’s like industrial standard control, but you can’t have to much filtration! Lol
 
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Collo

Well-Known Member
SPR said:
It’s like industrial standard control, but you can’t have to much filtration! Lol
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100% agree, I've battled nitrates in the past and because everything takes a while to work its frustrating, this time I want as much filtration as possible. I like a tank full of fish, but obviously want stable params for coral.
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
So I have no other pics to post, so may as well post the 4l of seachem I've View attachment 49147 View attachment 49148 just bought and a marine pure block lol
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You forgot one thing. Apex........

If you have the brass just burning a hole, get it. It’s well worth having, yes it’s not essential, but if you travel (I do occasionally! Lol) or just like gadgets it’s worth every penny. Simple things like once you set it, you rarely need to check salinity. I only check salinity these days before a water change which is getting rarer these days.

And with the UK arrival shortly of Trident.....

I’ll spend ya money for you! Lol

And for shopping try:
Charterhouse Aquatics
Aquadabra (on eBay I get most consumables and Matrix etc as cheaper than anyone and excellent service)
Complete Aquatics
 
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Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I also have a Marine Pure Block like the one you've ordered. Following on from the dodgy advice from Shaun and Pancho I also have four litres of Seachem Matrix in the Sump as well. Does any it work? Well, it is difficult to actually work that out, but suffice to say I only have about 45kg of rock in the DT, when all convention says I should have 55Kg (1kg per 10 litre of water). This allows more swimming space for the fish, and more growing space for the corals. My Nitrates seem locked around 5ppm, so I think it must be working. I feed heavily and I've never had a problem with Nitrates.

As for Apex, real marine aquarists just stick their finger in the tank and then lick it to get a feeling for the salinity levels. Best spend the money on alcohol and hookers....apparently...or so a friend told me.
 
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Collo

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My tank is coming from complete. Aquadabra are the sellers of my Brightwell and Seachem on Amazon, I'm just lazy and have prime lol.

I love gadgets, and I am toying with the Apex, I'm not sure if I'm too lazy to set it up lol. I was considering a Seneye reef for salinity and NH3 - but obviously doesn't give anywhere near the flexibility of an Apex. I was also considering re-wiring the power draw thing and using smart wifi controllers I could hook up to Alexa, my home is pretty smart at this point already. "Alexa, turn off my skimmer" lol. I appreciate this doesn't give the level of monitoring an Apex does with high and low alerts etc. I guess I'm going to have to do some serious thinking
 
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Collo

Well-Known Member
Nobbygas said:
I also have a Marine Pure Block like the one you've ordered. Following on from the dodgy advice from Shaun and Pancho I also have four litres of Seachem Matrix in the Sump as well. Does any it work? Well, it is difficult to actually work that out, but suffice to say I only have about 45kg of rock in the DT, when all convention says I should have 55Kg (1kg per 10 litre of water). This allows more swimming space for the fish, and more growing space for the corals. My Nitrates seem locked around 5ppm, so I think it must be working. I feed heavily and I've never had a problem with Nitrates.

As for Apex, real marine aquarists just stick their finger in the tank and then lick it to get a feeling for the salinity levels. Best spend the money on alcohol and hookers....apparently...or so a friend told me.
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If I stick to a combination of what you have all usd I should be fine with nitrates - when in doubt throw more money at the problem, that seems to be the moto in marine aquariums lol.
My biggest issue is I love the idea of being able to check my tank when not around, but I also hate the idea of it too. I'd be fairly stuck if away and there was an issue for someone with the knowledge to be able to do anything. If I'm honest id rather not know till I got home. That said I like the control you can have with an Apex. Hmmmmm decisions decisions
 
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Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
My tank is coming from complete. Aquadabra are the sellers of my Brightwell and Seachem on Amazon, I'm just lazy and have prime lol.

I love gadgets, and I am toying with the Apex, I'm not sure if I'm too lazy to set it up lol. I was considering a Seneye reef for salinity and NH3 - but obviously doesn't give anywhere near the flexibility of an Apex. I was also considering re-wiring the power draw thing and using smart wifi controllers I could hook up to Alexa, my home is pretty smart at this point already. "Alexa, turn off my skimmer" lol. I appreciate this doesn't give the level of monitoring an Apex does with high and low alerts etc. I guess I'm going to have to do some serious thinking
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Ah, I remember a thread somewhere regarding Alexa and Apex. I'll try and find it for you. It can be done.
I'm also a big fan of Alexa, although in our house it's 'Echo' as She Who Casts No Shadow refuses to "talk to a woman!"..........Don't worry, I've no idea either. I'm just trying to work out how I can modify the outdoor blinds on all the windows to work with Echo.
 
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Nobbygas

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Collo, the way this forum works is that you now have to go out and buy everything you need, plus loads of other stuff you don't need. You then have to spend hours getting it to work, complete with all the disasters and mistakes. When you've got it up and running, you then tell us the cheapest and quickest way to do it!

Off you go :)
 
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Collo

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I would be the wrong person to ask about the cheapest way. I've spent thousands on this hobby. And that's not including my latest adventure that's yet to arrive, I must be £6k in already lol

I've just looked at the apex trident - WOW!!!! I think that's probably sealed the deal for me. I may return my Kamoer doser in favour of an Apex, my understanding is it will adjust the dosing for me (if I have the trident) Or maybe I will keep the Kamoer and set up a frag tank lol
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Collo said:
Is the 2016 Apex the newest one available?

http://prntscr.com/o0t7u1
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The 2016 is the current Apex Model and the UK version still has the old energy bar so no power monitoring and you need the current Apex to run Trident.

You probably won’t need the Kamoer for 6 months or so depending on how you get on so might be worth sending back if your thinking of Trident but your choice I guess

I have the non WiFi Kamoer and their certainly a very well made piece of kit and simple to use.
 
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