250 Gallon Starphire tank

[Farrmanchu]

Yeah, I was thinking, 3 lbs per month of Coral growth should mean that you could remove "X" amount of LR in a month without impacting the system. I wonder if your system would work with 60 lbs LR in the display, 300 lbs of SPS and Clams, and "Frags only" in the sump. Does Coral reduce nutrients as well as LR does?

[littlesilvermax]

Originally Posted by Farrmanchu

Yeah, I was thinking, 3 lbs per month of Coral growth should mean that you could remove "X" amount of LR in a month without impacting the system. I wonder if your system would work with 60 lbs LR in the display, 300 lbs of SPS and Clams, and "Frags only" in the sump. Does Coral reduce nutrients as well as LR does?

Coral uses nutrients, so that is always good.

LR is your bio filter though, and corals do not do that.

[littlesilvermax]

Suppose I should update this thread too.

I am awaiting an Ozotech 260 mg/hr ozonizer and air dryer.

So I guess my old Red Sea 200 mg/hr and 500 mg/hr air dryer will be for sale shortly. (PM for a real steal on a used product, not the best quality by any means, but it works if you just want to try it out for a while for cheap).

The Ozotec unit creates a real minimum of 260 g/hr and has replaceable parts, and is easy to take apart to clean. I got an awesome deal from SWC on the unit (still well over $500 taxes in).

I am also getting an automated air dryer, cool eh?

I am sick and tired of baking beads, and I refuse to do it anymore. Unfortunately the real nice auto air-dryers cost $800+. They have two dryers packed into a single unit, and switch between units when one is being automatically recharged. I am not that rich, so I opted for a $400 dryer that uses a timer to recharge the beads.

I will post pics and explanations when I get it.

[Quinster]

I stopped baking beads long ago, and instead just throw away the silica beads I use. I only use them for 2 - 4 weeks depending on the humidity level of the air I am drawing in, then dispose of them.
I am sure anyone who has used the regenerating silica is thinking this is a waste, but I switched to silica cat litter, as it is pretty well the same material, and for $3 a 5# bag, every bag lasts 6 months +.
They do color change from white to a cream color when they are getting saturated, also I can tell by the make up and consistency of the bubbles in the reaction chamber of the skimmer.

FYI for a cheap alternative.

[Dave C]

Something else to consider is that maybe a skimmer isn't the best place to be injecting ozone.

[littlesilvermax]

Originally Posted by Dave C

Something else to consider is that maybe a skimmer isn't the best place to be injecting ozone.

I thought of that too, and have read all about ozone reactors.

IMO s big skimmer is a much better reaction chamber then a relatively small ozone reactor.

[Delphinus]

I suppose if your skimmer is a recirc style it increases the contact time.

How come you weren't happy with the Red Sea ozonizer? I have one (not using it yet), it seems kinda basic but it seems like it should work?

[Dave C]

Originally Posted by littlesilvermax

I thought of that too, and have read all about ozone reactors.

IMO s big skimmer is a much better reaction chamber then a relatively small ozone reactor.

I guess. My ozone reactor is 24" tall, 7" in diameter. But it could be much more then just size. A protein skimmer injects ozone into a column of water/bubbles. An ozone reactor injects/disperses drips of water into a column of ozone gas. According to dudes like Randy Holmes-Farley on RC that's the best way to get ozone to do its stuff. I'm not suggesting I'm right, just something to consider.