EVB's Red Sea Max S 650 LED

emvanburen

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Thanks for the ideas. I have gac going but nothing else. My lfs is pushing biopellets but I’ve wanted to give Red Sea a shot. I may try adding some gfo to my gac reactor if my increased NOPOX dose doesn’t make a difference. Right now it’s at 8ml and I’m going to run it here for about a week as long as I don’t get clouding or angry coral. Then may bump it up more. Then gfo if need be.

What max intensity are you running lights at? Mine are still at 60% max. Wondering if I should raise that and if so would that make my gha worse. I am using the Red Sea spectrum however.


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SPR

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the ideas. I have gac going but nothing else. My lfs is pushing biopellets but I’ve wanted to give Red Sea a shot. I may try adding some gfo to my gac reactor if my increased NOPOX dose doesn’t make a difference. Right now it’s at 8ml and I’m going to run it here for about a week as long as I don’t get clouding or angry coral. Then may bump it up more. Then gfo if need be.

What max intensity are you running lights at? Mine are still at 60% max. Wondering if I should raise that and if so would that make my gha worse. I am using the Red Sea spectrum however.


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I run max on everything other than 60% white and 0% red and green and yes I would raise it as far as the corals are concerned but it could make the GHA worse as it's also photosynthetic.

I believe (I've read it somewhere!) the reason Red Sea don't recommend red/green light in the Reef spec settings is that it can encourage algea growth.

When I had Nitrates at around 12-16ppm, and after speaking with Red Sea, I was dosing 20ml NoPox daily (roughly 4 ml per 100 litres after displacement using 500 litres capacity as guide as I have loads of rock etc). I actually went to 24ml per day although anything over around 20ml i started to notice slight clouding do to bacteria blooms so I just backed down on the dose.

You just need to closely monitor the dosage and how your system reacts to it as you increase it slowly, and then back off a bit if needed.
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I run the Red Sea spectrum without any reduction. It's a bit of a waste of time running it in reduction mode, unless you add all your corals in one go. As I tend to add a couple here, a couple there, spread over many weeks, there is no logic to running a reduction. I just place the new corals at the bottom, and gradually move them up the rock over a period of time.
 
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SPR

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I run the Red Sea spectrum without any reduction. It's a bit of a waste of time running it in reduction mode, unless you add all your corals in one go. As I tend to add a couple here, a couple there, spread over many weeks, there is no logic to running a reduction. I just place the new corals at the bottom, and gradually move them up the rock over a period of time.
That's what I do. When I add a new coral I just leave it at the bottom of the tank until I decide were it's going. I do know roughly wether they like high or low light and then after a few days or even weeks it goes to its final home.
 

Nobbygas

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Yep, I think it takes a genius to decide where a coral should go at the first attempt.......and I'm a long way down from that level :Flustered:
 
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emvanburen

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Very helpful, thanks all. I’ve got gfo running now with my gac and have increased NOPOX and I think my gha is getting under control. Will probably hold where we are if my po4 drops at this Saturday’s test. I get my ddr back from Neptune this week and will get my mg and ca back online. Always something. Once my gha is gone I’ll go up to 100% on those nonlimited colors. Thanks.


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emvanburen

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Ok the ddr is back and reinstalled. Hair algae continues to decline. Hope my tests tomorrow are in zone. Next step is increasing lighting and doing something better with my aquascape.


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emvanburen

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710c316ffd8b2c7c280b1fc5ed6dbe1f.jpg



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emvanburen

Well-Known Member
Thanks!

PO4 down from .1 to .07 so clearly some progress there. NO3 still at zero. Using 12ml per day of NOPOX.

I had my color channels at 60 (except red and green). Took them to 70- will do that weekly until I’m at Red Sea settings. White stays at 60 though.

Tank is looking healthier.


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9fa77b02d0cceae10dfc8af35e3ac4b1.jpg
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Looking very good!

I would watch it with the zero nitrates though as you may need to keep an eye out for any cyno bacteria forming and also as the water is very ‘clean’ start feeding your corals if your not already as there isn’t much food in there.

I found that my nitrates increased over time as I added more and more fish. So there you go, an excuse to go and buy some more fish! Lol

When using NoPox on the enhanced Colouration parameters (very low nutrient) if Nitrate falls below 0.25ppm you should drop the dose by 50% but at this point, zero Nitrate, you maybe should be dosing only around 5-6ml as the level has been falling. If you do drop it I would just adjust it slowly back down, although the instructions say just drop it but.....

I have in the back of my mind you need some Nitrate for NoPox to work properly on phosphate reduction. I believe it’s to do with the cell walls of bacteria that forms and then skimmed out, the Redfield Ratio I think.

For what it’s worth, from my experience, as long as phosphate is locked down at lets say 0.03ppm, my tank and in particular corals were glowing at around 10ppm Nitrate. Plenty of food for all and zero algea issues. You may have read an article elsewhere Tanks Of The Masters, and most have nitrates way above low nutrient levels.
 

mr_tap_water

Well-Known Member
I totally agree with spr phos needs a certain amount of No3 to feed off each other it also states on the instructions of Nopox once you reach zero you should be reducing the amount of Nopox until you find a maintenance level ideally between 1-2.5


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emvanburen

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Yeah i am in the low no3/ higher po4 camp and hopefully this phase of NOPOX and gfo will get it down and I can cruise at 6ml NOPOX. I’m going to run it as long as I can while hair algae goes away and I don’t get cloudy.

I think I got the hair because I dropped NOPOX to like 2ml when my no3 went down. I think it needs more...


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emvanburen

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I posted too soon. Cloudy returned and softies unhappy. Dropped nopox to 8ml.


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SPR

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I posted too soon. Cloudy returned and softies unhappy. Dropped nopox to 8ml.


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I would drop the NoPox right down (remember the 50% drop in the instructions) as if your is at 0 Nitrate i don’t think it’s going to be doing much anyway, especially if your getting cloudy water which will be bacterial blooms. You don’t want to stop it altogether as you still need to feed the bacteria that’s present . You might also start getting white slime in your sump.

I had this exact situation with the Nitrate/phosphate in balance and GHA with NoPox which gradually got worse and worse until I realised what it (GHA)was. It’s all documented on my build thread.

I installed Rhowaphos (GFO) in the reactor and it’s be locked down ever since. GHA stopped growing and I hit it with 2 doses of Vibrant over 4 weeks and it dropped of and disappeared. I’m not recommending Vibrant at all, but it worked for me, and I have documented some problems I had, but if your patient the GFO should sort it. But I’m not patient!

If the water becomes to ‘sterile’ the soft corals won’t like it, unless your feeding them (Red Sea Reef Energy and in your case maybe 20ml of each per day ) and at your 0 Nitrate that maybe why they aren’t happy. Also maybe feed the fish a bit more and/or get more fish. Basically get your Nitrate up from zero to 2/5/10 ppm or whatever you fancy.

NoPox is s very powerful tool on nitrates, as you have found, but it’s not as good at phosphate control, in my own experience, and the experience of my LFS who I didn’t believe at first. Maybe it’s good on smaller less stocked systems were it can provide total control for both.
 

emvanburen

Well-Known Member
I’ve been having problems with the nyos skimmer restarting after being shut off for reef energy dosing. Ecotech replaced the motor block. Problem is still there and they are refusing to do anything else. Their position is it’s a cleaning issue. Really disappointed. I think I may move to a bubble king mini 160. Anyone have experience with this unit?


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SPR

Well-Known Member
I’ve been having problems with the nyos skimmer restarting after being shut off for reef energy dosing. Ecotech replaced the motor block. Problem is still there and they are refusing to do anything else. Their position is it’s a cleaning issue. Really disappointed. I think I may move to a bubble king mini 160. Anyone have experience with this unit?


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Yes it happened to me about 4 weeks ago, post 258, (shut off for reef energy) and it’s on my build thread with pictures of it. Exact same issue. But then I cleaned it all and the worst part was getting the plug cable out of the wire nest! Lol. I’m going to resolve this next clean with Velcro and extension leads.

How often to you clean out your sump? I ask because I get an awful lot detritus accumulate despite socks and also filter wool and i now do all water changes by completely emptying the sump with a Python, and then refilling with about 100 litres of new saltwater. It helps get rid of all the rubbish in the sump and may help the skimmer. Mine has only stopped once since I got it.
 
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emvanburen

Well-Known Member
Shaun- this is going to drive me crazy. If I have to remove and disassemble this skimmer every few weeks I’m going to lose it. Just read your post - must have missed that one!
I have a fair amount of detritus- but am running the mesh socks continuously. I wonder if the NOPOX induced slime doesn’t contribute as well...any reoccurrence for you?


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