Shaun's 2000 Litre (530 USG) Living Reef & Red Sea Max S 650 LED Design & Build

Blue Space

Well-Known Member
oh no'z! he's just a sweet little yellow goby looking for a snack. :D

well, we can't have that... Some folks have been able to curb this by additional feedings.
 
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SPR

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So you see this coral below, it’s now a stump, something has eaten it......

Oh and does anyone know the lifespan of a yellow goby!.....

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Blue Space

Well-Known Member
I've heard of people emptying the volume of a normal water change and then draining as much as possible into containers, making it easier to capture the fish. Not sure if that is an option for you with your 500+ gallon system.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
I've heard of people emptying the volume of a normal water change and then draining as much as possible into containers, making it easier to capture the fish. Not sure if that is an option for you with your 500+ gallon system.
Mmm, I don’t think thats an option to catch a 1 inch fish. For the sake of my mind I’m going to just await a natural occurrence, death!
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Shaun, I have to ask you to cast your mind back to when you cleaned your JBL 36W UV-C. I remember you said something about scrapping off a whiteish almost calcium like covering on the glass sleeve, and it was a mistake? and you had to order a new one? Did the new one have this covering on it?
I am only asking because mine also had this type of covering, but it literally fell off. To me it just seemed like a Calcium type covering that had formed on it.
 
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SPR

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I think it’s just calcium deposits and will drop off with citric acid or whatever your using.

I can’t remember buying a replacement JBL, I changed to the 20w DD which is a fraction of the size. Infact it’s not been running since January as the bulb needed changing, the pump needed cleaning as it was making a noise, and, well, I couldn’t be bothered! Lol

I haven’t added any new fish to that system for a long time, so I’m not as concerned as before, but the large system has an 80w installed and will remain up and running,

Mmm, I seem to remember something happened to the JBL now you mention it, but I can’t remember what!
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
I just started dosing the all for one tropic marin stuff, have you ever tried that? If you buy in bulk it can be affordable.

Im doing that until Bill at Aquarium Engineering gets his stuff together and responds to my phone calls, I need a reactor!
 
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SPR

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I just started dosing the all for one tropic marin stuff, have you ever tried that? If you buy in bulk it can be affordable.

Im doing that until Bill at Aquarium Engineering gets his stuff together and responds to my phone calls, I need a reactor!
I haven’t tried it, but I have used the Red Sea ABC+ in a small tank years ago but in larger systems like the S650 the elements tend to be used up at different rates, and you end up having to correct it.

In the S650 i dose each one individually and it keeps them all in line.

In the big tank we have a calcium reactor which is the way to go with very large systems
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
The new large systems been running since December 2019 and the Red Sea S650 since June 2016

The systems are completely independent at the moment, although they both get fresh saltwater from the same system, and I think it’s now time to link the 2 together

This will effectively make the entire cabinet and filtration under the S650 redundant, and all filtration will be carried out using the equipment in the sump of the 2000 litre system which is more than capable of handing the extra water volume

This will make a huge difference to running costs, maintenance, testing and potential failures and also with the use of the Twin Tech Calcium Reactor, the water stability in the S650 should be better, although it’s fine anyway.

Im not concerned about any issues with disease or anything like that, all fish are healthy and all that will happen is the S650 will benefit from all the equipment in the large system, including powerful UV-C, skimmer, X Filter…….. When I think of the maintenance it will save for the sake of drilling a few holes…..

Ive got to check the sump can handle the extra water in the event of power failure, I’m pretty sure it can, and I can lower the water level a little anyway, and also use a good quality non return valve on the return. I’ll also drill an anti siphon hole in the top of the main return nozzle in the tank, and that will reduce the amount if water that siphons back.

I was going to buy an additional Abyzz A200, but I’ve got the original Red Sea Sicca pump and also a spare, so I thought that was a waste of money. The head pressure is 3.8m and 7000 lph. The pipe run will be adding around 5 metres so I’ll test the pump before connecting back up to the S650 to make sure its got enough power, it should have. If it doesn’t it will be another A200 and I also have a spare one of those.

The concept is pretty straight forward and basically means attaching longer pipes to back of the tank, going through an outside wall and then back into the sump of the 2000 litre system

You can see in the picture below, from left to right, the 32mm emergency overflow, the main 40mm overflow which will be refitted with a gate valve, and then the 32mm return hose. You can also see top middle, that stupid Red Sea valve which is already obsolete in this system.

ill make new connections with unions, and keep the original pipe work available in case we need to correct anything during testing.

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The other option I’m considering, and awaiting a price for, is a brand new 2 metre long tank, same specs as the large system but slightly shorter, to completely replace the S650.

I don’t think I’m going to do this, because we’ve been together for over 5 years, and apart from gaining some extra space, and a much better design, the cost will be significantly higher with new lights etc., but it’s an option.

I’m just taking a few weeks to think over the plumbing parts needed, and ways of doing it, but that’s what I’m thinking.

These are the 2 systems

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SPR

Well-Known Member
I’ve just had a light bulb moment for the plumbing of joining the 2 systems together…..

I was going to hard plumb the long lengths of pipe, with numerous fittings connectors etc., like the main system plumbing

But how much easier would it be if I don’t need to worry about 90 degree elbows, tight turns, exact cuts….. Then I thought why don’t I just use black flexible pipe, other than the termination points to connect into the pumps/tank…….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17114228...var=470292986426&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

How much simpler is this, and it means I can take the full lengths of the downpipes and drop them into the X Filter as well……
 
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