THE Tank Build By Aqua Digital

[Aqua-Digital]

Update

Photos to follow this weekend.

Things are going great, I finally got the ProfiLux wireless, much to do about nothing in regards to my failed attempt at using a D-Link wireless bridge, after spending about 7 hours fighting with the thing to get it connected to itself (nothing to do with profiLux, had not even got that far) I finally got it connected and working, GREAT! so my next step was to get it connected to the profiLux Ha no! I did not even get that far, I found the D-Link had a loop back issue that locked up my access point. Lots of phone calls to D-Link Bombay R us support service resulted in a confirmed faulty D-Link bridge

So long story short, booted it back to when'st it came and moved my access point to the basement and ran through the duct work a Cat5 cable directly from the ProfiLux to the router, wahey!! For free I am now ProfiLux wireless!

So how is everything? Well the profiLux as would be expected is bullet proof it is easy to forget the huge features the controller is munching on every day, I do not even consider the complexities of the control it just - well - runs really. This is what profiLux is all about, fit set up forget not worry what might fail or bug out on you, and this is what all of us pay for, rock solid worry free reliability. How many return to base warranty cases do you see here on this forum?? ERM - None! case closed

The doser - well again it has taken over my system, I do not have to worry about my balling dosing, I check the params once a week after a water change and thats about it really, the doser does its thing and I sit back and enjoy the tank. The only annoying thing is the ProfiLux does not clean the glass, clean out the filter sock or pour me a fine malt whisky when my glass runs out while chilling out watching the tank, I really must speak to matthias (GHL) about built in servant control!!

Other dosing, well i am still playing around, all i will say at this point is that I am using ProdiBio for nutrent reduction control, and the rest is Fauna based. I love Prodis dump in the tank and forget for two weeks concept, none of this once a day dosing, the need of some reactor.

I will be changing my carbon over to FM Ultra Carb L this weekend from ESV, I have used Carb-L before and think it is far superior in my view.

My Ai's are now set to 60% white and 80% blue this is on a ramp up and down, of course ProfiLux has full control of this and I love the cloud effect it really does add an element to the tank and also I believe take the heat off the lamp intensity in a good way.

The Bubble magus BM150Pro does what it says on the can really, pulls crud daily even in a Low nutrient enviroment, if you are looking to get a new skimmer seriously get one of these babies, German pumps and highly quality engineering at an affordable price. (contact me if you want one)

The corals are doing well, I do want to push the envelope in colour a bit more, getting very impatient! growth is good, I just want to get the colour going, my blue stag colony has amazing vibrant blue tips, I just need to get the body to lighten up, but the tank is new and this will come in time.

Will be off to Ottawa inverts for some more sticks and critters this weekend so pics most likely Sunday evening (oh great here goes two hours of frustration mounting the new arrivals)

[mseepman]

We need a new FTS on this baby!

[Aqua-Digital]

Well I finally got time last night to take some pictures, noting of course I am as good at photgraphy as my wife is at driving a car (and no she does not have a DL)

So lets start with eye candy shot


General tank view


Obscene Stag horn - No I have not cut of Shreks bits!


Birdsnest colouring up and in front a rather hairy Acro


This pic really does no justice to the vibrant blue tips on the Stag horn colony, and the polyp extension at night is insane, but this was before lights out










The purple edges on this Monti are really awesome under the Ai's sadly my camera lets me down again here




This used to be boring brown, but have a look at the colour coming out!

[Aqua-Digital]

So what am I dosing then? Oh ok I will tell.

every 14 days ProdiBio BioDigest and BioPtim

The bio digest is a slow release bacterial additive and the BioPtim is the food source for the bacteria. I chose this option over FM bio and Bak as i hate doing so many daily doses, furthermore the water went Gin clear after starting this dosing regime and my nitrates and Phosphates are non existant.

Prodibio without doubt is the most simplest method to achieve Low nutrients in my experince so far, dose once every two weeks and let the little ampoule contents do their job. Results = zero nutrients and Gin clear water

For coral supplementation I am following the Fauna marin balling method and it is this i account my colour to. I know there is a huge debate about high quality salts and the use of trace elements. Well my view is I had none of this colour until I started the balling with trace elements, so??????????????

I am also adding
FM ultra Min-s 1ml a day
FM Ultra Amin - 2ml a day

Carbon was ESV but now switching to FM Ultra carb-L

I will be introducing to the mix prodiBio reef booster once I have done 6 weeks on the bacterial elements I will then stop Ultra min-s and Amin

[Aqua-Digital]

Well an update is long over due so here goes. Photos at the bottom of this thread

The tank is now coming onto 3 months of age, the corals are doing really well and the tank params are rock solid. this is mainly down to the dosing I am doing.

The tank maintenance a day is about 5 minutes if that. water changes just over 10% every two weeks

Dose elements
clean glass
Check all pipe work and skimmer.

The Skimmer

As those that have been following this thread know the skimmer is a Bubble Magus BM150Pro, it was important for us to test what we distribute as with all our products and this is one hell of a work horse. As you can see from the photo it gets very little in the way of maintenance (on purpose) and it still pulls gunge like I have never seen before. The skimmer is well over rated for the size of tank but still pulls goodness knows what on a daily basis!

The aqua bee pump is dead silent and is holding up to its great reputation.



ProfiLux controller

Its hard really to know what to write here, the ProfiLux just sits there takes control of virtually every element of the tank and just runs. The optical sensors have not been cleaned once, the probes calibrated only once in 3 months and last time I checked were as accurate as before calibrating. The salinity probe is correctly calibrated as with the refractometer to NSW and both read within .001 point of each other.

The ProfiLux doser again is set up and forget, pumps dead silent, never drift in accuracy.

Parameters

Salinity 34.2PPT
Redox drifts from night to day from 412 down to 360
pH 8.1 during the day and 7.9 at night
Calcium 420
Mg 1350
DKH 7
NO3 0
Po4 0

Fauna marin Balling Light
The ProfiLux doser and Bubble magus canistors make this again set up and forget, I check the levels 3 days after a water change and adjust if required, and thats about it. My biggest dosing amount is DKH at 60ml a day

What am I dosing

ProdiBio BioDigest one vial every 2 weeks
ProdiBio BioPtim one vial every 2 weeks

These are the Low nutrient additves and I think my cystal clear water and rock solid low nutirents is a testiment to this stuff, no need for Zeo reactors and daily dosing etc, this is real easy stuff with proven amazing results. I really suggest anyone thinking about LNS look at this, try following my dosing regime and see how you go? BUT dose first the Prodibio before introducing the rest of my recipe, you must have zero nutrients for the other dosings to work.

Onto the rest of the dosing then

Fauna marin Ultra Min-s 1ml daily
Fauna Marin Ultra Amin 2ml daily
Fauna Marin Power trace 1,2,3,4 @ 1ml daily

Ultra Min-s for the basic amino acids and vitimins
Ultra Amin is a more advanced amino acid supplement that promotes SPS health and growth
Power traces for fine tuning colouration, each element tunes the colours different. As you can see from the photos the colours are popping and I am now fine tuning the blues to get the Blue tipped acro to burst out of its brown coat, you can see it is starting to do so from the top down.

My purple tipped plating Monti is growing like mad and the purple edges are so beautiful.

[Aqua-Digital]

Canada Day update for you all and a bit of eye candy

Thanks at Aqua Valley in Ottawa for this gem!

Name that coral!

[whatcaneyedo]

I love the new purple hydnophora. I've only ever seen them available in green before.